Andy, Wren and long-time friends play at suburban summer party

For a second year in a row, Andy and Wren and their friends were invited to perform at a "music fest" held in the large back yard of a house in New Jersey's outer suburbs. The homeowners invite family and far-flung friends to gather each summer and share their love of music.

Andy and Wren have been making frequent trips to New Jersey this spring to rehearse with their bandmates - who are friends from their high school marching band days. The lead guitarist (at left above) and his family (his father sits in on keyboards) are friends with the hosts of the event.

Although they played harder rock than any of the other groups at the party, they were well received, and complimented by many of the other musicians. 

Family and friends celebrate Daisy's 1st birthday

Dozens of family members, neighbors and friends gathered to celebrate Daisy's first birthday. Her parents, Shanna and Rick, hosted the gathering at the Rockland Gaelic Athletic Association on June 8. Here, the guest of honor poses with her big sister Lucy and her parents, Shanna and Rick - plus Shanna's parents and brother, Kevin (above) and Rick's parents and sister, Stephanie (below).

Daisy, whose actual birthday was May 31, was presented with a "smash cake" - which, after a few tentative pokes and licks, she dove into wholeheartedly.

Click here to see an album with MANY more photos!

Julie returns as president of her Rotary club

Her arm having been well twisted, Julie will spend the next year as president of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Rotary Club. She was sworn in at a club dinner on June 5, and her term officially begins July 1.

Julie previously served as president of the self-proclaimed "greatest Rotary club in the universe" in 2020-2021 - keeping it operating and continuing its mission of community service despite the pandemic by moving its meetings, fund-raisers and other activities to various online platforms.

Dan's Class of 1975 feted at Fordham reunion

Class of 1975 group photo. Dan is 3 rows back, 3rd from left.

Dan and Julie attended Fordham University's Jubilee 2025, its annual class-reunion celebration. At a dinner in the Rose Hill campus center on May 30, Dan and the rest of the Class of 1975 were welcomed as the newest members of the Golden (50-year-plus) Rams Alumni Society. More than 40 of Dan's classmates attended, including a handful of old friends he was happy to see.

The event included a brief address by the university's president, Tania Tetlow.

Dan and Julie are seated just outside the right margin of the photo!

Dan decided to go back to campus the next day for a tour of the studios of WFUV - much modernized since his tenure there - plus a "picnic" lunch held in the athletic center due to rain, and a nostalgic walking tour of the campus.

Taking in the beautiful sights of springtime in Newark, NJ (Yes!)

As they've done the past few Springs, Dan and Julie visited Newark's Branch Brook Park in early April to see its cherry blossom trees in full bloom.

The 360-acre park, designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, contains some 5,300 cherry trees in 18 varieties. 

On this visit, D&J also visited the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, which overlooks the park. It's a spectacular building in French Gothic style, constructed in the first half of the 20th Century. 

The cathedral covers 45,000 square feet, an area equal to that of London’s Westminster Abbey, and is longer and taller than St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, according to its website.

Although it doesn't have centuries of history like the Medieval cathedrals of Europe, it rivals them in beauty with its rose windows, statuary and woodwork. Pope John Paul II visited the cathedral in 1985 and presided over an evening prayer service. It was on that visit that he designated Sacred Heart as a basilica.

Julie greets a friendly lion across Branch Brook Lake from the cathedral.

Christmas visits in New Jersey and Maryland

Christine and Jamie along with Andy and Wren visited Dan and Julie for Christmas in New Jersey. 

C&J had flown east from California the previous Saturday for a week of visiting family and friends. The traveled first to Cape Cod, where Jamie's mother, Bonnie, hosted her annual big family gathering. They also visited a friend in Rhode Island before traveling to Christine's parents' home. Meanwhile, Andy and Wren drove down from upstate New York.

Christmas morning was, of course, time to open presents. One highlight was a scrapbook Christine had made of photos and keepsakes from Andy and Wren's wedding.

The six enjoyed a big brunch of bacon, eggs, waffles and fruit, an afternoon of conversation and a board game, and a fine dinner (photo at top).

The next day, Andy and Wren returned home to mind their goats and cats. Christine and Jamie joined Julie and Dan in traveling to Maryland to visit with Julie's parents, Hugh and Dolores, at their senior-living community. They had a fine dinner at one of the restaurants there and continued the visit in H&D's apartment. Following that, the foursome were invited to Doug and Lisa's home for drinks, snacks and merry conversation, joined by Christine's cousins Stephanie and Christopher. 

Dan and Julie enjoy a visit to Alaska

Following in the footsteps, more or less, of both Dan's parents and Julie's, and as a 35th Anniversary celebration, the couple treated themselves to a sea-and-land trip to Alaska in late August and early September.

They booked a Holland America Lines package that included a seven-day cruise from Vancouver, B.C., up the Alaska coast to the port of Whittier, with stops in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. That was followed by train travel on the McKinley Explorer to Denali National Park, and finally a bus trip to Fairbanks to fly home.

In the course of the trip, and despite some spells of clouds and rain, they saw black bears, whales, sea otters, seals, eagles, at least one grizzly bear, moose, sheep and sled dogs. They saw massive glaciers and amazing landscapes all along the coast and into the mountains. And they caught clear views of Denali, the highest mountain in North America, which is shrouded in cloud about 80% of the time.

• Click here to read Dan's writeup of the trip, illustrated with some of his photos. 
• Be sure to follow the SEE MORE PHOTOS links to albums of photos, with captions, from each leg of the journey.
• Or click here to see all those photos in one album.
• Bonus for rail fans: More train photos!

Shanna, Rick, Lucy welcome baby Daisy

Shanna and Rick are happy to share that they brought their newborn daughter, Daisy, home on August 1.

Shanna writes: "After a long a complicated journey, we are now a family of four! Daisy Samantha was born on May 31st, weighing 2 pounds 14 ounces. She was born 12 weeks early due to pregnancy complications, which caused me to be in the hospital for six weeks prior to her birth.

"Daisy spent the first 62 days of her life in the NICU, and is finally home with us now. She is doing well, currently weighing nearly 7 pounds, and will be weaning off of her oxygen over the next month. Her team of doctors are very pleased with her progress, especially considering she wasn't due until late August.

"Big sister Lucy adores her new role, and we are all thrilled to finally be away from the hospital and getting used to our new normal."

Daisy just after her birth May 31

Big sister Lucy visits Daisy, July 17

Daisy 'graduates' from NICU, Aug, 1

Birthday(s) visit in Los Angeles

In celebration of two January birthdays, Julie and Dan took a little hop to Los Angeles for a visit with Christine and Jamie. The visit was two weeks after Christine's birthday and coincided with Julie's. J&D flew in from New Jersey on Saturday and spent the afternoon and evening with C&J at their West LA apartment, relaxing, playing board games and talking.

One of the conversation topics was how well Jamie is enjoying her new job. After two years at Riot Games, she started about three months ago as a system designer at Skybound Entertainment, working on a new project that has yet to be announced. The company is based in Los Angeles, although Jamie works almost entirely from home.

It was rainy on-and-off all weekend in "Sunny California," so museums were on the agenda. On Sunday, the four visited UCLA's Hammer Museum, which featured an exhibit of intaglio prints (made via engraving and related methods) from the 1500s to the present. They then took a window-shopping walk around downtown Westwood (photo above).

While Jamie worked on Monday, Julie, Dan and Christine visited the Getty Villa, one of two campuses of the J. Paul Getty Museum. It's a recreation of a Roman villa built in Herculaneum, near Pompeii. The original villa was buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in the 1st Century and excavated in the 18th Century. It houses the museum's collections of Greek, Roman and Etruscan sculptures and antiquities. Our trio also saw a temporary exbibit on the ancient Egyptian "Book of the Dead," consisting of papyrus scrolls and linens bearing heiroglyphic "spells" intended to enable a deceased person to navigate the afterlife.

Jamie rejoined the group for dinner, and the four then went to a night club in Hollywood to see an LA indie-rock band, Night Talks, perform. "I've been playing their music on Birch Street Radio for years," says Dan, "and because of that, we were on 'the list' to attend the show as guests of the band." Jamie and Christine enjoyed the show, and Night Talks now has two more LA fans.

Christmas 2023: The celebrations continue

The annual family Christmas party in Yonkers took place on Saturday, hosted by Kevin and Kathy. 

It was great to have so many of us celebrating together. The gathering included the hosts' children, Kevin and Shanna, along with Shanna's husband, Rick, and daughter Lucy. Vivien, CJ, Charlie and Austin were in from London. Genevieve, John, Bea, Jack and Liam, who missed the 2022 party due to illness, were all on hand this time. Dan and Julie drove over from New Jersey while Andy and Wren came down from upstate. Kathy and Robert were there along with Brien, cousin Mary and her cousin Elizabeth. Patrick joined the crowd although Kelsey was absent, not feeling well. Christine, at home in California with Jamie, popped in via Zoom to greet the crowd. 

Fabulous food, convivial conversation and cheerful children made for a wonderful time to wrap up the year.

Earlier in the week, Kathy enjoyed a visit at her home from all her grandchildren: Jack, Charlie, Austin, Bea and Liam.  

At midweek, Julie and Dan paid a Christmas visit to Julie's parents, brother and sister-in-law in Maryland. Here the group relaxes in Hugh and Dolores' apartment after dining at one of the restaurants in their community. 

Meanwhile, on Facebook, we find this photo of Nanette visiting daughter Courtney in Florida.

We invite everyone in the family to send along your own Christmas celebration photos! Email birchstreetweb@gmail.com (or text to Dan if that's easier).

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Merry Christmas! How we're celebrating in December 2023

Merry Christmas to all our extended family from here at Birch Street Headquarters in New Jersey. Please share glimpses of your own celebrations!

The season began early for Christine and Jamie, who traveled in mid-December to Cape Cod for the annual family gathering at the home of Jamie's mom and step-dad, Bonnie and Jay (pictured at far right).

Christmas arrived just a bit early for Dan and Julie, as they were joined by Andy and Wren on the 23rd and 24th. They had a Christmas Eve-Eve feast and exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve morning. The newlyweds would spend Christmas Day with Wren's dad and family on Long Island before heading back to their farmstead upstate.

Get-togethers in Maryland, Virginia complete Dan's birthday tour

Dan's traveling birthday celebration finished up finished up on the last weekend of October with visits to his in-laws in Maryland and his daughter, son-in-law and grandson in Virginia.

Dan and Julie set out southbound on Friday, his actual birthday, and arrived at Oak Crest Village for dinner with Hugh and Dolores, Doug, Cathy and Stephanie. Afterward, they enjoyed an overnight visit with Doug and Lisa at their home

The next day, Dan and Julie drove down to Fredericksburg to Marie, Brian and Xander's home, where they spent the afternoon talking and catching up. Xander is now a high school junior, preparing for college by taking AP courses. He is also an accomplished video-gamer, having been on a very successful team in a local e-sports league, and now focusing on a single game in hopes of moving up in competitive ranks.

That evening, the family enjoyed a wonderful meal at a Bonefish Grill restaurant and then a movie night back at the house. On Sunday, they met at the house again for lunch and more conversation before Dan and Julie hit the road back to New Jersey.

California get-together: Dan's birthday tour part 3

The Northern and Southern California branches of the family came together on the Central Coast last weekend as Dan and Julie continued their traveling celebration of Dan's "significant birthday."

The New Jersey residents flew to Los Angeles on Oct. 21 to visit with Christine and Jamie. The next day, they set out northward, while the younger Dan set out southward from his home in Santa Cruz. They met in Morro Bay, the Central Coast city known as the site of Morro Rock.

The 561-foot-tall rock, the remains of an ancient volcanic core, sits on the shore looking like it dropped out of the sky. 

On its north side is a wide ocean beach, and on its south side, the entrance to the bay.

The five family members spent the afternoon sightseeing around the rock, viewing sea lions and sea otters in the bay and swimmers and surfers along the beach. They then enjoyed an excellent meal at the Harbor Hut restaurant as the sun went down behind the rock. 

This was the first time in several years that Christine and Dan got to spend some time together, and the first time Dan met Jamie. Everyone had a great time catching up with one another while taking in the sights. 

After a night at one of the many hotels in town, they found a great local spot for breakfast (Frankie and Lola's Front Street Cafe) before parting. 

On the way back to LA, Jamie, Christine, Dan and Julie made a quick stop at El Matador State Beach, where they looked down from the cliffs at the rocky Pacific coast. (Jamie and Christine previously spent a summer day down on the beach with Jamie's mom.)