Gathering at Jerry and Joanne Brown’s home 8 '08

 Aug 3, '08  Gathering at Jerry and Joanne Brown’s home

Catching Up

The next afternoon (Sunday), Jerry and Joanne Brown hosted a get together for all of the class of ‘68 from the Hull Jewish community center. 

Jerry and Joanne

  Jerry and Joanne are a lively and vivacious couple who know how to throw a really great party.  Joanne is a fabulous cook.  As she put it, after months of dieting before the reunion, everyone was ready to eat hearty.    

They have a lovely home with a large garden on the south shore.  It provided the perfect setting for all of the  Jewish kids who had gone through  kindergarten, been bar mitzvah, and on to high school together to reunite. 

BJ and Al

Maxine and Eileen

 Shelly, BJ  and Dianne

Ronna

Shelly

Maxine

Dianne

Additional reunion photos

These additional photos of the gathering at Steve’s house were provided by Ronna Townsend.

BJ Steve and Joanne

Shelly and Al

Ronna and  Bob

Terry and Steve

Maxine and her husband

Iris and Doug

Bruce and CC

BJ and Al

Bruce

Class of '68

Bruce’s 40th High School Reunion 8 '08

Hull High school

Bruce’s 40^th High School Reunion

Bruce’s 40^th High School Reunion was held at the Red Parrot Restaurant in the town of Hull, MA on evening of Saturday, August 3^rd.   

The event was well attended with close to one third of the graduating class showing up for the dinner.   The event planners did a great job.  There was a bulletin board with 1968 photos of everyone, and an original signed edition of the 1968 Hull HS year book to look through, and everyone had a name-tag with their high school yearbook photo on it, so it was easy to recognize one another. 

 There was a full bar, and a fully-loaded prime-rib buffet dinner. The DJ played dance music from those years, and 

Steve and Joanne

there was and plenty of tables and chairs 
and open space around the dance floor to catch up on one another’s lives. 

 It was a time to celebrate life’s successes and renew old acquaintances. Sure the homecoming queen and king looked a bit heavier than they did in 1968 (don’t laugh, pal, we were all in the same boat), and everyone (who hadn’t hit the bottle) looked a bit grayer.  But overall it was a handsome and welcoming crowd, with a great time had by all.  

Hull, MA revisited 8 '08

Hull Water Tower

We flew into Boston airport on Friday night before the reunion, which gave us the entire next day to visit and explore the town of Hull.  Bruce was born in Hull and lived in there until he joined the navy at age eighteen.  Needless to say he has many fond memories of the place and was anxious to show me his roots.  I had been to Hull, before, but only on a drive through basis, so I too was happy to have time to get to really know the place better.

 Early on Saturday morning we jumped out of bed and promptly set out for a long walk along the beach.  It was low tide so we were able to walk for miles along the wide clean Atlantic shoreline.  

Eventually we wound up on the street where Bruce grew up and of course had to visit his family’s home.  All Bruce could think to say when he looked at it was”It looked so much bigger when I was living here.”

Continuing on we crossed over the peninsula to bay side where Bruce had gone clamming as a youngster.  The bay shoreline with its views of Boston and of Strawberry Hill was very bit as magnificent as Bruce had told me.

By that time we were hungry, so we headed back into town for a muffin from Weinberg’s bakery. Listening to the local chatter and strolling down the main street revealed that not much had changed in the forty years Bruce has been away.  It was like stepping back in time into a place which has retained all of its small town pride and prejudices. 

Weinberg's Bakery

Refreshed, we decided to get in the car and visit some of the more distant points in Hull.

 The high school was first stop on the list.  Again not much has changed except for the addition of a giant windmill.   A visit to the local cemetery provided me with so great views of the local lighthouses and shoreline,

while Bruce had a quiet moment to visit friends who were buried there.

For Bruce, the visit was nostalgic.  It was reassuring both to know that most of the good in Hull is still there, and to find some reminders that so are its limitations.  For me visiting Hull was less complicated.  I looked at it with an artist’s eye and found it charming.

Hull Fire Department

 The views were classic New England as were its citizens.

Live Free , Rascal 6 '08

Bruce, Kat,  and I  have been being terrorized by a raccoon which we have named Rascal.

Rascal has  taken up residence  in a the hollow of a tree at the behind us  but is being kept alive by scraps from  the trash dumpster  across the street from our house..  The problem is we can't go in or out of any of our  front or back  doors without  chancing an encounter with her.  She has charged both Bruce and I several times when we have stepped out side.  And Kat is refusing to step outside at all for fear of getting attacked.

None of the  HOA  representatives, the property managers or county animal control officials could take action or recommend any solution.  So rather than allowing Rascal to keep all of us prisoner in our house, Bruce borrowed a Have a Hart trap.

Rascal has now been now relocated to a remote  uninhabited area of the NP where there is plenty of  fresh water and fish.  If she wants to get quarrelsome, it will have to be with the other wildlife.

A Family Gathering in New Jersey 5 '08

The end of the May we flew to New Jersey a family get-together.

 

Delaney, Laura, and Macie

 We stayed with Bruce's daughter Laura  and her husband Kenyatta so that we could visit with them and the grandchildren Delaney and Macie

CC playing with Macie

Bruce and Kenyatta walking with Delaney

.Bruce’s cousin, Richie had brought his family to nearby Atlantic City for a week long holiday so we were able to see them as well. Bruce and Richie played golf on Saturday morning while Laura, Cousin Carol,  and I took Macie, , Delaney, and  Carol’s son Jake to  a local park.   

Jake and the Dino

 Jake loved the dinosaur rocker,  while Delaney preferred Clifford and the big red slide.

Delaney riding Clifford

  Both of them loved the big yellow bus and each other.

Jake and Delaney and the Big Yellow Bus

Delaney on the slide

Kenyatta’s mother is an artist. On Sunday she invited to an art show which was being held at an art school. 

 It was a lot of fun.  The event had been well thought out . 

 There a wide variety of painting and fine art crafts for sale, while musicians and choral groups performed throughout the day. 

 And there were plenty of benches and shady spots to sit and enjoy the scene.

Collectors Cafe 5/21/08

  The collectors Cafe in North Myrtle beach holds a reception for their artists once a quarter.

Bruce in entry gallery

The place is always packed with lovers of contepporatry art 

(The free appetizers are bad either)

 

Bruce purchased several  small originals to add to the collection in our music room

The "Shag" 5 '08

“The Shag” is the official dance of South Carolina.  It originated in the 60s at the height of the beach music craze, and it is still popular with all ages throughout the South.  There are lots of “Shag Dance Street Festivals in the warmer months, and all of the winter holiday parties feature a “Shag Band.” Bruce and I signed up for lessons.  It is basically a simple six step routine with lots of turns thrown in for show.   You wouldn’t believe how fast the locals warm up to us when we tell them we are learning to “Shag”.   It’s better than saying you golf; after all, golf is  played everywhere, but The Shag is a Southern dance and if you are learning it - it must mean you are sincere about wanting to be a part of this community.

     Bruce is much better at the dance than I am   I have no sense of rhythm, but find it worth the effort to practice just because it opens so many doors for us.  Anyway I don’t need to be great as most of the fancy foot work is done by the male.