Steph & Chris see both sides of pop star

Cathy writes on Jan. 16, 2008--

Chris & Steph say "It was fun!" I think I would have to agree. After it seemed they would be unattainable, I did manage to obtain much coveted Hannah Montana tickets. I had signed up Stephanie for her fanclub and got the inside scoop through them about how and when to buy tickets. As part of their Christmas present, I ventured with them to Baltimore Jan. 8 to see the greatly anticipated concert.

Read Cathy's full story/review - with photos

Patrick pole-vaults for Fordham Prep

In this video clip from the Fordham Prep web site's Track and Field page, Patrick is seen successfully clearing 7 feet for the first time during training early in the 2007-08 season.



Part of this clip and another of a teammate were featured on Fox 5 TV to illustrate a story about the team winning the Bronx championship.

The TV reporter incorrectly said the pole vaulters were "responsible for that victory" when in fact pole vaulting was not even part of the competition! But hey, it gave Patrick a few seconds of NY TV time.

Christine's 15th birthday, Medieval style

A few days after Christine's 15th birthday, her parents, brother Andy and four close friends celebrated the occasion with a visit to Medieval Times in Lyndhurst, N.J., for a royal feast and a tournament of knights.

In a ceremony afterwards, Christine was knighted by the king in honor of her birthday. Read the full story here or here.

Four generations at Christmastime party

The 2007 Christmas gathering at the home of Daniel & Lorraine on Dec. 29 drew a bicoastal crowd of 21 ladies, gentlemen and children of all ages.

Traveling farthest to the festivities were Marie and Brian and their 1-year-old son Xander, visiting from Morgan Hill, Calif., on their first East Coast tour as a family.

The great-grandparents and everyone else were thrilled to meet the newest family member and re-connect with Marie & Brian. Xander was the life of the party, going strong for some five hours of fun.


Click the image above to see a slideshow of Dan's photos, or click twice to go to the album for larger views.

Click here to see another album of photos by Shanna, including the full group portrait at the top of this post.

The happy crowd included Kathy & Ted; Genevieve, on a break from studies at Tufts, along with her boyfriend, John; Vivien on holiday from Cornell; Patrick; Brien; Kevin and Kathy, Shanna, Kevin, Dan and Julie, Christine and Andy, and Lorraine's sister Pat, visiting from Malta, N.Y.

There was a feast of many dishes, the usual chaotic gift-opening, and the traditional game of capture the flag with Marie, who started that particular tradition, taking part once again.

Watch this video of the gift-giving fun:



Xander's presence made this the first gathering of four generations of the family, founded lo-those-many-years-ago by Daniel and Lorraine.

Holiday concerts 2007

Andy performed with the Park Middle School 6th Grade Band at its winter concert Dec. 11, 2007. Andy is a percussionist and played various instruments - snare drum, bass tom, wood block, triangle, etc. -- during the concert. In this rendition of O Little Town of Bethlehem he's playing the bass tom.



Chris performed a saxophone solo at the Cecil Manor Elementary School Christmas Concert. Says proud mom Cathy: "Some day when he's a star we can say that this is where it all began!"


(At the end of the video, links to other videos posted at Photobucket.com appear. They are not from Cathy or Birch Street TV.)

Videos of SPFHS marching band's 2007 championship season

Here are videos taken by Dan of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School Raiders Marching Band.

On Oct. 27 the band won the New Jersey State Championship in its class, Group 6A, which includes the largest high school bands in the state.

The first set of videos below is from the band's performance at the Raiders football homecoming game on Oct. 20, 2007.

Quest: Visions of a Dream
Music from "Man of la Mancha" and "Zorro."

Homecoming show, Part One:



Part Two:



Part Three:



Part Four:

Finale: An added flourish

Here's the final minute of the band's performance at the USSBA Northern States competition in Allentown, Pa., on Nov. 3. A few little visual touches had been added - you'll see Christine lead her line of flutes in a cool move at 17 seconds into this clip.

Troop 33 visits Naval Academy, other sites

Andy was among members of his Boy Scout troop who took a whirlwind tour of some historical and other sites in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia Nov. 8-10, 2007.



While at George Washington's estate in Mount Vernon, Andy took part in the daily wreath-placing ceremony at the tombs of America's first president and first lady.

See the full story and more photos

Raiders Marching Band wins NJ title

The Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School Marching Band won its second straight Group 6A New Jersey State Championship at a U.S. Scholastic Band Association competition in Sayreville on the night of Oct. 27, 2007.

Here the band's trio of drum majors marches off with the championship banner.



The victory is a credit to the many long hours of hard work that all the band and color guard members have been putting in since "band camp" began in late August.

Christine has been playing flute for several years, in school music classes and the Park Middle School band. Now as a freshman at SPFHS she's been learning to play more difficult music, while marching in complex formations. The band's show this year, titled "Quest: Visions of a Dream" includes music from Man of la Mancha and the movie Zorro.

The band's competitive season wrapped up the night of Nov. 3 at a USSBA competition in Allentown, Pa., which featured bands from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York. In Group 6A, the Raiders came in second, narrowly edged out by a band from Pennsbury, Pa.

The band will continue to play half-time shows at SPFHS football games through Thanksgiving.

FLASHBACK: 1972 - Pike's Peak or Bust

Thirty-five years ago. Can it really be that long? The six of us who trekked from Yonkers to Colorado and back again in July 1972 will never forget it. Read Lorraine's summary of that memorable trip. (If that link doesn't work, click here instead.)

FLASHBACK: 1952 - The singer and the soldiers

The passing of Teresa Brewer reminded Hugh of the day she sang for the troops at a USO show in Boston on Thanksgiving, 1952. Read his account.

Busy weekend for SPF marching band

Christine and the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School Marching Band had a very busy weekend Oct. 20-21, performing three times in two days.



On Saturday Oct. 20 the band played at the school's Homecoming football game (Union upset SP-F 22-13). Above they take the field to begin their performance; at right is a shot of Christine during the show.

Then after a dinner break the band took part in a competition at another school a few towns away.

On Sunday they went to the Central Jersey Regional competition held at the College of New Jersey in Lawrenceville, near Trenton.


Here are scenes from the Central Jersey Regional show Oct. 21, 2007. Above, Christine is at front left. Below, she marches past the musicians in the "pit" who accompany the marching musicians.

Below, Christine is at the front of the line of flutes.

Along with the color guard, the SP-F (or "spiffy") band has well over 100 students participating. At each competition, the bands are judged on various criteria of musicality, artistic presentation etc., and awarded point scores.

Xander's first birthday

Xander turned 1 on Oct. 4, 2007, and the celebrations went on through the following weekend. Grandpa Dan flew out from New Jersey to join the festivities. They included a party Saturday the 6th at Marie and Brian's home, and a visit to a pumpkin farm the following day.

Here's a slideshow of photos from the weekend.


If that's not enough you can look at the full album of photos.

But wait, there's more! See the videos in the post below...

Xander's first birthday weekend: The videos

A rousing chorus of Happy Birthday for Xander. (He looks perplexed.)



Here Xander meets the pumpkins at a local farm:



The farm has a train ride. Xander's ride was well-documented, as you can see.

BONUS VIDEOS: Here are a couple of short clips taken on a digital still camera during Xander's birthday weekend:
Xander chases Eyvonne across Marie & Brian's back yard
Xander answers the call of the wild
Relaxing at home

Stepping up in Scouting

Andy was awarded his Tenderfoot badge in a Court of Honor ceremony held by Boy Scout Troop 33 on Sept. 24. The previous weekend he hiked along a portion of the Appalachian Trail with his fellow Scouts. Details and photos are here.

Extending the summer season

Brien returned to the Long Island for a late-September visit, enjoying a week of excellent late-summer weather with his parents, Daniel & Lorraine, and with his long-time friend Madelon, who took thi "long shadows" photo on Jessup's Neck.

At the end of the week, Dan, Christine, Kathy, Ted and Patrick made it out for the weekend and helped Daniel and Lorraine celebrate their 56th wedding anniversary on Sept. 22. Among the highlights were a feast that night at Il Cappuccino Restaurant in Sag Harbor and a ride across Noyac Bay the next day on Ted's motor boat.



Here are a couple of brief video clips:

FLASHBACK-2001: Daniel and Lorraine celebrate 50 years

In August 2001, family members gathered at Long Beach near Sag Harbor to surprise Lorraine and Dan in celebration of their 50th Wedding Anniversary, which was coming up on Sept. 22.

The secret plans went off without a hitch. In this video, the surprise is evident as the guests of honor arrive at the beach. The afternoon at the beach was then followed by a fine dinner in a reserved room at a restaurant in Sag Harbor. It was a wonderful occasion from start to finish.

The cast of characters includes (in alphabetical order) Andy, Annamarie, Brien, Christine, Dan, Dan, Dan, Emory, Genevieve, Julie, Kathy, Kathy, Kevin, Kevin, Lorraine, Marie, Pat, Patrick, Shanna, Ted and Vivien.

Making the best of a bad break

Dolores recounts how she dealt with a setback just before she and Hugh flew off to Germany for a Rhine River cruise. The word "unstoppable" comes to mind.

SPFHS Marching Band's first performance of the 2007 season

The Scotch Plains Fanwood High School Marching Band performing in the stands at the SPFHS Raiders varsity football game on Sept. 8, 2007. The middle of this clip zooms in on Christine playing her flute.



Here the band performs its half-time show. This was its first half-time performance of the season, so the show was still a work in progress. This clip is the first one-third of the show.



The second third of the show is broken into two video clips. This portion features the color guard and a drum line solo.



Can you pick out Christine among the flute players in any of these clips? It's not easy in those uniforms!



The final portion of the program. Lots of percussion in this portion.



And oh yeah, there was a football game. SPFHS won 31-0.