A Christmas card

Here's hoping that all members of our extended family have a peaceful, wonderful and joyous Christmas time.

Let us gather in small groups and big parties; welcome the newly arrived (Cash, Brooklyn Rae) and the newly joined (Shauna Rae, Angela); remember the departed and treasure our memories; watch our children grow and look forward to a happy New Year.

The kids' table, Yonkers, 2000

Merry Christmas to all. And please, remember to Keep in Touch.

Celebrating the holidays with dance

Tish writes: "Lizzie has had a busy holiday rehearsal and performing season!

"The past weekend she danced in the Academy of Performing Arts' Holiday Celebration of Music and Dance. The production was a wonderful way to get into the Christmas spirit."

Photos of the show will be available in a few weeks. For now, this is a photo of Lizzie backstage, getting ready to dance to Duke Ellington's "Sugar Rum Cherry."

Tish, Liz and Owen will be celebrating Christmas on the Cape with Gerrit and Angela. Then they plan a winter getaway to Charleston.

Counting down to Christmas

Webmaster Dan writes: Well it took us until Dec. 21, but the Christmas tree at Birch Street HQ is finally up and decorated. We waited waited until Christine was home from college, and she and Andy did most of the trimming.

Are we the last to deck the halls? Hope everyone's Christmas preparations are going well. Let us know how you're spending the holidays. Remember to keep in touch!

Sharing more Christmas decorations

Here's a look at Hugh and Dolores' Christmas tree at their Oak Crest home. And at right, the decorations on the hallway shelf outside their apartment door.

Hugh explains: "At Oak Crest, there is a formica shelf in the hallway beside each entrance door. These shelves are called "package shelves." I guess the intent was that they would provide a place to rest your package while you unlocked the door to your apartment. By the time we arrived here, it had become a tradition for each resident to decorate his or her package shelf. Most decorations are seasonal with flowers in the spring, sea shells in the summer, pumpkins in the fall, and of course, Christmas decorations for this season."

Let's see your tree!

Looking more and more like Christmas (Updated 12/17)

Family members are greeting the season, decorating their homes as the days count down toward Christmas, now only about a week away. Here are the Christmas tree photos we've seen so far.

Cathy, Christopher and Stephanie say they "finally" finished putting up and trimming their tree (Dec. 10). Still, there are those of us who will wait a little longer to do our decorating.

A week earlier, Marie, Brian and Xander put up their tree. Here, the X-man poses before the X-mas tree.

Genevieve and John helped John's mother, grandmother and sisters get a head start on the rest of us by putting up the tree at the family home in Delaware over Thanksgiving weekend.

Hugh and Dolores have a tree at their home in Oak Crest and a mini-tree at their Deep Creek Lake condo. "Here is a picture of our smaller tree," Hugh writes. "Maybe when we get home next week, we can send a picture of the other tree -- if we remember to take the camera home!"

Is your tree up yet? Share a look - send us a photo!

A tour of the National Cathedral in Washington

Hugh and Dolores recently took a tour of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. The magnificent building had just been reopened after it was damaged in the Aug. 23 earthquake.

Dolores writes: "This was a wonderful tour, through almost all chapels, except the St. Mary's, which was closed for decorating for the holidays." The photo above is of the High Altar, "with the Altar Guild hard at work."

The cathedral was constructed from 1907, when the first foundation stone was laid, to 1990, when the west towers were completed. It suffered significant earthquake damage, especially to the pinnacles of its towers, although it remains structurally sound. Repairs are expected to cost millions of dollars. Here are just a few pieces of broken stonework visible on the tour.



One of the many interesting features of the cathedral is the Space Window, a stained-glass window honoring man's landing on the moon, which includes a piece of lunar rock at its center.

"We had a delicious tea at the end of the tour -- tiny little cakes and sandwiches -- in one of the towers of the cathedral," Dolores writes.

"Here is a view out the window toward the other tower."

Brennan, Shauna-Rae have a baby daughter!

Brennan and Shauna-Rae welcomed their baby daughter today!

The newest member of our family arrived on her dad's birthday. Great-grandmother Pat writes: "Brennan got the best birthday present ever! Little Brooklyn Rae, 8 pounds and 20 1/2 inches, was born shortly after noon. She has a full head of blond hair. Shauna-Rae and the baby are doing fine."

Brennan was present for the birth, at St. Mary's Hospital in Amsterdam, N.Y. He is on leave from his Marine Corps schooling at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Va.

We hope to have photos soon, so check back.

Related stories:

Brennan and Shauna-Rae are married (Jan. 29)

Brennan's next assignment (Sept. 17)

Brienna and Clay welcome baby boy (Aug. 6)

Paul Simon performs for home town crowd

Dan writes:
Paul Simon is one of my all-time favorite musical artists, from the folky early days of Simon & Garfunkel through Rhymin' Simon, Graceland and beyond. A lot of that has to do with my appreciation of a well-turned lyrical phrase, at which Simon excels.

I'd never had the chance to see him perform live, however, until he conveniently scheduled a concert near me (in Newark), at a time when I could get there (a Sunday evening), and put the tickets on sale at just the right time (for Julie to buy them as a present for my birthday).

So on Sunday night, Julie and I got to enjoy An Evening with Paul Simon in the New Jersey Performing Arts Center's beautiful concert hall. Backed by an eight-piece band, he played selections from just about every phase of his career, from "Sounds of Silence" and "The Boxer" to "Dazzling Blue" and other songs from his latest album, "So Beautiful or So What."

Here I've strung together a few video clips I took, straining the capability of my pocket digital camera. The spotlight on Simon washed out his face except when I used the digital zoom for extreme close-ups, which then look grainy. And I only shot parts of a few songs, so these aren't necessarily the top highlights. But if you're a fan of the now-70-year-old Simon, you may enjoy seeing and hearing him perform some of his most familiar tunes.



At one point in the show, Simon explained that his reggae-influenced "Mother and Child Reunion" was inspired by a Jimmy Cliff song about a mother's son killed in Vietnam. He then introduced Cliff, who performed that song, harmonized with Simon on "Mother and Child Reunion" and sang his own hit, "The Harder They Come."

Jimmy Cliff, at right, sings "The Harder They Come"

It was amusing to watch members of the audience - mostly young guys and gals around our age - bouncing in their seats and singing and clapping along.

Brian's Movember 'stache

Who is this mustaschioed gent? That's Brian, who participated in "Movember," an international campaign to raise awareness of men's health issues.

As explained at the program's web site: "During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces, in the U.S. and around the world. With their Mos, these men raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men."

Visit Brian's Movember donation page.

Marie says: "In addition to awareness, the mustache raised a lot of laughs! He has decided it's not quite his style and he'll be retiring the 'stache until next Movember."

Thanksgiving, home and away

How did you spend Thanksgiving?

Dan and Julie had a relaxed holiday at home with Christine and Andy. Christine has finished her first trimester at RIT, and after wrapping up all her end-of-term projects, was able to fly home for a 10-day visit.

RIT junior Rebecca, meanwhile, has been spending much of her break traveling and curling, Her team competed in a bonspiel in Boston and another in Washington D.C.

Marie, Brian and Xander opted for Thanksgiving at home, with Marie and Xander just back from their visit to Disneyworld.

Genevieve and John spent the week in Delaware visiting John's mom, grandmother, sisters Kellie and Lindsay and Lindsay's husband, Marc. They also helped put up the family's Christmas tree (seen at right). Yep, one holiday season leads right into the next!

Vivien was at work making sure Thanksgiving dinner went smoothly at Brookdale Senior Living's Hallmark of Battery Park City. But we hear she got up to Scarsdale in time to have pumpkin pie with parents Kathy and Ted and brother Patrick, who was home from Johns Hopkins.

Where was everyone else - and with whom? Please share your holiday stories

A double holiday!

The national holiday known as Thanksgiving happened to fall this year on Nov. 24, meaning it had to share the spotlight with Shanna's Birthday.

On Wednesday, Shanna's co-workers at Ann & Andy Child Care honored her with this Birthday Princess crown.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving

The Birch Street Web wishes a Happy Thanksgiving to all of our extended family.

If you're traveling, arrive safely. If not, enjoy being home. If you're cooking, enjoy creating the meal. If not, thank the cook. Whether in a big crowd or an intimate gathering, whether host or guest, enjoy your feast and fellowship.

And please send a note or a photo about your Thanksgiving. Remember to keep in touch!

A tour of the Southern coast

Dolores and Hugh took a 10-day tour of the Southeastern U.S. this month, starting with a visit to Charleston, S.C., followed by an American Cruise Line excursion down the coast to Florida.

Along with the photos below, Hugh sent along an account of the trip complete with local color and history. Read it here.



Charleston (which we know is one of Tish and Owen's favorite places) is a hot travel destination these days. It was voted "Top City in the United States" in the 2011 Condé Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards.

Xander meets the mouse

After hosting Genevieve and John at his California estate, jet-setter Mickey Mouse flew east to his Florida digs to meet with one of his younger fans, Xander.

Xander also got to hang out with that silly old bear, Winnie the Pooh. We're not sure why Mickey and Winnie seem to be dressed for snow, considering the temperature was around 80 degrees.

Xander is visiting DisneyWorld with his mom, Marie, and grandma Anne Marie.

Besides meeting with celebrities, they went on the Kilimanjaro Safari tour of the Wild Kingdom.

Say... is that Dumbo and his mom?

Grand finale to marching band season

Andy marching and drumming at Allentown competition

Click image to see more

The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Marching Band put on another great performance at the USSBA Nationals competition in Allentown, Pa., on Nov. 13.

Many interested viewers thought it was their best show of the season. The judges, however, ranked SPF third -- although only about half a point separated the top three scores.

So another fine SPFHS marching band season comes to an end, but Andy plans to continue drumming in other music programs at the school.

Famous mouse hosts anniversary couple

Genevieve and John were invited to the home of movie and television star Mickey Mouse to celebrate the second anniversary of their wedding.

Mr. Mouse threw them a huge party with thousands of guests. They roamed the fabulously wealthy mega-star's enormous estate, which is fitted out with rides, games and entertainment.

To mark Genevieve and John's special occasion, the spare-no-expense host treated all his guests to a fantastic light show set to music.

The Hollywood crowd is bound to be buzzing about this party for a long time!

Season's best performance for SPF band

Andy at center on quad drums

The Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School Marching Band placed second among similar-sized bands at the U.S. Scholastic Band Association's New Jersey Championship on Nov. 5. The scoring was very close: 96.600 for the first-place band and 96.050 for SPF, the band's best score this season.

"Band dad" Dan recently set up a web site featuring his photos of the SPF band over the five seasons since Christine's freshman year. Below are his photos from Nov. 5, from warm-ups through performance. To see the full collection, visit the new site.

Hilliard Darby "Superior" in season's final competition

Chris' first season as a member of the Hilliard Darby High School Marching Band culminated Oct. 29 with the band's performance in the Ohio Music Education Association State Marching Band Finals.

For the 14th season in a row, the Darby band earned a "Superior" rating from the judges, the top rating on a five-level scale. Congratulations!