Andy in glow-in-the-dark percussion performance

Percussionist Andy performed in several numbers at the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School Spring Instrumental Concert on May 14. He was one of eight drummers that opened the show with this piece, called Short Circuits, by composer Lalo Davila. (He's the second pair of sticks from the left.)
 

Andy performed another number with the Rhythmsense percussion ensemble (below) and as a percussionist in the Wind Ensemble (not pictured).




As he nears the end of senior year, Andy has two remaining performances with SPFHS musical groups: with a jazz-lab group at the school district's Jazz Festival May 19 and with the marching band at the local Memorial Day parade the following week.

Dolores & Hugh in Europe: A visit to Bayeux

In the midst of a European sojourn, Dolores and Hugh visited the Bayeux Tapestry Museum, which Dolores has long wanted to see.

The museum houses the Bayeux Tapestry, an embroidered cloth nearly 230 feet long and more than 900 years old.

"Celebrating the conquest of England by William, Duke of Normandy, this linen canvas was embroidered after the Battle of Hastings (which took place October 14, 1066), probably in a monastery in the south of England," according to the museum web site.

Detail of the Bayeux Tapesty, via Wikipedia

We expect to see much more soon from Hugh and Dolores' trip.

Lisa, Liz go cruising and curling (Updated 5/17 with more photos)

Lisa and Liz and many of their comrades in curling recently enjoyed a combination Caribbean cruise and curling bonspiel.

"Waterspiel 2014" set out from Fort Lauderdale April 26 aboard the Royal Caribbean liner Independence of the Seas.

The 15-deck, 1,112-foot-long ship has several swimming pools, a basketball court, a rock climbing wall -- and an ice skating rink, which served as a smaller-than-regulation curling sheet.


In between matches and social events for the curlers on board, there were ports of call in St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Puerto Rico and Haiti. Above is one of Lisa's photos from San Juan.

Here's a collection of photos posted by Lisa and Liz.



Upon their return to Florida, Lisa headed home but jet-setter Liz got on a plane to Paris to join grandparents Hugh and Dolores, who were in the midst of a trip of their own.

Buyer found for family house in Yonkers

2010 file photo

After serving for 48 years as the family homestead of Daniel & Lorraine and their children, this Yonkers house is about to become another family's home.

With the long process of removing valuables and keepsakes complete, and with a lot of effort by Brien in particular to clean, paint and prepare the house for showing, it was put on the market in mid-April. Today, three weeks later, a buyer signed a contract. The sale is expected to close this month.

Last week, Dan, Kathy, Brien and Kevin met for a last get-together in the house to celebrate the pending sale and our memories of many happy years in the home.



It was on July 7, 1966 - Lorraine's birthday - that she and Daniel received the key to the house from the previous owner. "We were just finishing dinner, and Dad was about to bring out the birthday cake," Dan recalls. "We all jumped up from the table, and without hesitation, we packed the cake, a card table and chairs into the car and drove the few blocks from our apartment to our new home.

"It was one family birthday party we would never forget. In particular, we remember kicking a half-deflated basketball around the empty living room. Mom was encouraging us to run around and make noise -- she was so happy that there was no landlord downstairs to complain!"

Christopher receives confirmation

Christopher was confirmed on Saturday at St. Patrick's Episcopal Church in Dublin, Ohio, by the Rt. Rev. Thomas Breidenthal, bishop of the Diocese of Southern Ohio.

Christopher, his mother Cathy and sister Stephanie are members of the parish. The group of confirmands included members of two other parishes in the greater Columbus area.

Christopher's Uncle Doug, Aunt Julie, Uncle Dan and cousins Christine and Andy attended the service, which was followed by a reception in the parish hall.

The family group then went out for lunch and visited together for the rest of the day.

Lizzie helps raise funds for cancer fight

Lizzie is on the committee of Colleges Against Cancer: Elon University Chapter, which held its major fund-raiser of the year, a Relay for Life event, on April 26-27. The event raised $50,073.28!

Tish writes: "I cannot begin to tell Lizzie and her friends how touched I am by their efforts."

One of Lizzie's friends wrote via Facebook: "Thought of you last night as we walked Ms. Tish, and as always, we're praying for your recovery! You should be so proud of Lizzie - she put so much hard work into making Relay so special."

Easter Greetings from ...

Dan, Julie, Christine and Andy


Cathy, Christopher and Stephanie

Celebrating Easter 2014

"... And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Dolores gives lecture on quilting

Keeping busy as ever, Dolores was in Delaware last weekend for the Rehoboth Beach Historical Society's Embroidery Show, which she chaired.

She also gave a talk on Amish Quilting Design. (Photo at right)

"There was a pretty good group there, and a lot of enthusiastic questions after I finished," Dolores said.

Next: Dolores and husband Hugh are preparing for a European vacation. We look forward to their overseas dispatches.

One last (we hope) taste of winter

The Winter of '14 got in what we can only hope was its last licks this week, as snow fell in parts of the Midwest and Northeast. In Ohio, Cathy posted this photo with the caption, "I think Mother Nature is confused."

Andy among high-scoring students

The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times recently published this photo of students at SPF High School who achieved a perfect 800 score on at least one portion of the SAT exam. Andy scored 800 on the reading portion - appropriately for someone who pretty much taught himself to read at age three. Andy will be graduating in June, and plans to attend University of New Haven in the fall.

A meet-up in Saratoga Springs

Kathy was able to get together with Pat and Mary during a quick visit to Saratoga Springs last weekend. Just a couple of weeks earlier, they had met in Yonkers while visiting Lorraine at Sunrise of Crestwood.

Spring has arrived - in Charleston

For those of us still waiting for Spring to show itself, Tish sends along these pictures taken last week during a visit to Charleston, S.C.

On Monday, after returning to Cape Cod, Tish posted: "I cannot believe I left Charleston to come back to sleet, rain and snow today!"

Dolores is teacher and judge at Needlearts event

Judges at work

Dolores and Hugh attended the National Academy of Needlearts (NAN) Assembly for Embroiderers held March 21-25 at the Somerset Inn in Troy, Mich. This year Dolores served as a judge for The Exemplary as well teaching a two-day workshop called “Discovering Color and Emotion.”

Dolores leads class in exploring the relation of color and emotion.

The Exemplary is a national needlework exhibit that is part of the NAN Assembly. This year the exhibit attracted 116 entries in various categories from all over the U.S. for judging by Dolores and another NAN-certified judge. The class explored the use of different colors to express moods or emotions.

Brien hosts 2nd annual St. Pat's Parade Watch Party

The biggest Yonkers St. Patrick's Day Parade in years marched past Brien's apartment on Saturday, and a group of family and friends gathered there for a Watch Party.


Billed as the 59th Annual Yonkers St. Patrick's Day Parade, the event combined the city's traditional parade on Broadway with the three-year-old parade on McLean Avenue in the city's southeast corner, which has become home to many Irish immigrants in recent years.

As the two parade organizations begin a new tradition, Brien's Watch Party has now become a family tradition!

Signs of spring? Yes, please!

With yet another wintry storm predicted for the East this week, any sign that Spring is indeed on its way is most welcome.

Tish shared these photos taken a couple of days ago in her yard on Cape Cod.

Andy chooses University of New Haven

Andy has decided to attend the University of New Haven starting this fall. He'll be enrolling in its Tagliatela College of Engineering to pursue a major in computer science.

The private university in West Haven, Conn., has about 4,600 undergraduates and some 1,800 graduate students.

The school appealed to Andy in part because of its commitment to "experiential learning." The university describes its approach as "combining liberal-arts education with real-world, hands-on career and research opportunities."

On a couple of visits to the campus, Andy met with the computer-science faculty and said he got a good feeling about the program. In addition, he plans to take some courses in music and sound recording offered by the university's College of Arts and Sciences.

He also intends to join the UNH Marching Band. Andy graduates this spring from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, where he's been a member of the marching band and various other instrumental ensembles for all four years.

Happy Birthday to the Birch Street Web

Webmaster Dan writes: It's been seven years since I decided to try using that newfangled internet thing as a way to help connect the various strands of my extended family - to use "the web" to create a family web of communication and sharing.

The Birch Street Web was created on the weekend of March 17-18, 2007, as a sort of on-line newsletter. It took on the current format in November 2008. As of today, there are over 800 posts on this blog, along with links to feature pages, photo albums and videos.

If you haven't lately, take some time soon to browse back through the pages of this virtual family album. I'm sure, like me, you'll be surprised at some of the memories it contains - some of which you forgot you remembered.

Please, whenever you can, help me continue building this archive of moments and milestones, tidbits and trivia. All contributions are welcome and feedback is appreciated. Write anytime! Let's all Keep in Touch! Thank you.