Travels and get-togethers around Thanksgiving

At Marie & Brian's home in Virginia

At James' mother's home in N.H.

Dan and Julie traveled north and south during Thanksgiving week to celebrate with family members.

The weekend before the official holiday, they were in Rochester with daughter Christine and her boyfriend, James. They spent Sunday afternoon at the Memorial Art Gallery (which was featuring an excellent exhibit on M.C. Escher). That evening, they dined in a restaurant they had nearly to themselves as a snow-and-wind storm raged outside!

Back home in New Jersey, Julie and Dan had another little celebration on Tuesday with son Andy and his girlfriend, Shannon. Why Tuesday? Because both are working at Kohl's department store these days and were going to be very busy for the rest of the week!

Meanwhile, Christine and James headed to New Hampshire to visit his parents, then to Connecticut for a Thanksgiving gathering at the home of his dad's parents in Connecticut.

Julie and Dan hit the road again on Thursday morning and arrived in late afternoon at Marie, Brian and Xander's home in Fredericksburg, Va. Marie provided the travelers with a fine Thanksgiving turkey dinner with plenty of fixings. That was followed by an evening of board games and conversation that picked up again the next morning.

At Doug & Lisa's in Maryland

Later Friday, Dan and Julie turned back north. Next stop: Maryland for the traditional Friday crabcakes-and-ribs feast at Doug & Lisa's house in Riderwood. Among the crowd this year: D&L's daughter Liz; Lisa's sister, Susan, her husband, Dave, and daughter, Kathy; and brother David, along with daughter Lawson and son Ben.

Meanwhile, Doug and Julie's parents and sister, Cathy, were spending the day together at Deep Creek Lake.

We hope everyone in the family had a fine Thanksgiving! We'd be happy to post photos of your celebrations!

Happy Thanksgiving to all the family!

We wish a wonderful Thanksgiving Day to all!  

Please share pics and stories of your holiday gatherings 

with the rest of our extended family 

on the Birch Street Web!

Rockwell, updated

Stephanie performs in regional student orchestra

Stephanie performed as part of the Ohio Music Education Association South Central Regional Orchestra on Nov. 13.


The members of the orchestra were chosen via auditions from high school students in 20 counties in the region. Stephanie, a junior at Hillard Darby High School, was 2nd chair clarinetist.

Stephanie's mom, Cathy, reports: "The students rehearsed once a couple of weeks ago, then on Friday afternoon and all day Saturday so they could perform on Sunday. They sounded fantastic!"

Stephanie with other Darby students

"Steph really enjoyed it so I hope she has the opportunity to participate again next year."

Stephanie with her clarinet instructor, Amanda

Along with these photos, Cathy shared this video of the shortest of the three pieces the orchestra performed: "Nimrod" from Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar. Enjoy!

More video from wedding of Shanna & Rick

As promised, here's some more video from Shanna and Rick's wedding reception on Oct. 1. This clip shows Shanna's dance with her Dad and Rick's with his Mom. (Apologies again for the grainy low-light video.)

Stephanie & marching band finish on high note

The Hilliard-Darby Marching Band received top scores at the Ohio Music Education Association State Marching Band Finals on October 29.

Pre-show pep talk

"Darby earned straight Superior ratings from all the judges, for an overall score of one (the highest possible)," reports band mom Cathy. Her daughter, Stephanie, plays clarinet and was part of a clarinet trio featured at the start of the second segment of the band's show.

Pre-show rehearsal

Clarinet trio in State Finals show

Here's a video of the performance, taken by another band parent in the stands. The clarinet feature is at about the 4 minute mark.

(If you can't see the video above, click here to see it at YouTube.com.)

Cathy has posted a close-up video on Facebook of the clarinet trio from a performance at a late-October football game. Here's a link -- but it only works if you're connected with her on Facebook.