Still flying after all these years

Some 36 years after the band formed in California, the Eagles are currently on tour, presenting a three-hour show that includes selections from their new album Long Road Out of Eden and many of their greatest hits.

Dan and Julie went to the show at the Prudential Center in Newark on Saturday May 24.

Read Dan's review.

Marching on Memorial Day 2008

As in years past, Christine and Andy took part in the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Memorial Day Parade.

Andy and his Boy Scout Troop 33 participated in Fanwood's memorial ceremony before joining the parade.


Christine marched with the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School Marching Band, in its last appearance of the 2007-08 school year.

See the full Memorial Day 2008 report with photos and video.

Christine the equestrian

Since she was 9 years old, Christine has been taking riding lessons at the Watchung Stable, operated by the Union County parks department. As a member of the Watchung Mounted Troop, she learns equestrian skills, goes on trail rides through the 2,000-acre Watchung Reservation forest preserve, and competes periodically in troop shows.

The stable held its 75th Anniversary Spring Troop Show on Memorial Day weekend 2008. Christine, who moved up this year to A-level, won a fifth-place ribbon in an event Friday (5/23) with ten riders, to add to her collection or ribbons from past years.



Here's a brief clip of Christine riding in another event on Saturday (5/24). As the riders approach the camera, she is second in line along the rail at the right.

Highlights from past years:

Posing with a red ribbon won in the 2007 Spring Show.

.

After winning a red ribbon in the 2005 Spring Show.

The famous Preakness Party, 2008 edition

The 2008 version of Doug and Lisa's annual Preakness Party was held May 17, 2008, and was a great success.

The couple have been hosting the yearly gathering of friends, relatives, and friends of friends and relatives for many years at the family estate in suburban Baltimore.

There was a great crowd, all ages from grandparents to toddlers. Elizabeth was home from college, and she and Rebecca each had a group of friends join the party. Cathy, Christopher and Stephanie were there, and Dan & Julie & Christine & Andy made it down from New Jersey.

See lots more photos of the festivities.

The weather was fine and there was food and drink aplenty, games of badminton and ultimate frisbee, and plenty of good conversation -- interrupted briefly for the viewing of the Preakness Stakes being run not far away at Pimlico Race Course.

Here's a clip of the crowd cheering the horses down the stretch.



Big Brown, the winner of the Kentucky Derby and the overwhelming favorite, won the race by 5 1/4 lengths after flying away from his competitors in the stretch.

Playing hard: Christine on the soccer field

Christine saw plenty of action as her Scotch Plains-Fanwood soccer team took on its crosstown rival team in an Intercounty Youth Soccer League game May 11.



The two teams tied in their previous meeting this season; this time the other team edged Christine's team 1-0.

Spreading Springtime Glee

The Male Glee Club of Yonkers held its annual Spring Concert at Saunders High School in Yonkers on May 4, 2008. The club, in its 82nd year, performed a dozen numbers during the program.

This 10-minute video features two highlights: Alexander's Ragtime Band and a medley of songs from the musical Guys and Dolls. Daniel, who sings second bass, is seen in the back row at the far right of the screen.



In the audience were Daniel's wife, Lorraine, sons Dan and Brien and daughter Kathy, along with Lorraine's sister Pat, who was visiting from the Saratoga area.

After the concert, all repaired to the restaurant at Dunwoodie Golf Course for the "afterglow" party, which featured a send-off for a member who first sang with the club more than 70 years ago.

Click this link to watch the first song in your computer's video player: Alexander's Ragtime Band