Becky graduates from Towson High

Becky was among the 350 graduates in the Class of 2009 as Towson High School held its 106th Commencement on May 30.

The ceremony included performances by the Towson High School Orchestra and the THS chorus as well as speeches by student members of the class and the assistant Baltimore County schools superintendent for the central area.

The student speakers included the class president, the president of the Student Government Association and the class valedictorian -- a friend and close neighbor of Becky's who is also the daughter of Rep. John Sarbanes and granddaughter of former Sen. Paul Sarbanes.

Becky’s Great Grandfather, Clyde Andrew, was a member of the Towson High School class of 1920.

Following the ceremony, proud parents and grandparents treated Becky to dinner at a local restaurant. (At right: a big hug for mom!)

In the fall, Becky will begin college studies at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y., where she will major in Chemistry.

Goalkeeper Patrick notches shut-out

Patrick was in goal as his soccer team shut out its opponent in Westchester Youth Soccer League action on Sunday.

Patrick plays for Mount Vernon, which beat New Rochelle 1-0. His team's record now stands at 3-1-1.

Christine scores as team wins first playoff round

A soaring shot by Christine heads toward the goal to give her Scotch Plains-Fanwood team a 1-0 lead early in their first-round playoff match against Westfield on Saturday. (Christine is at far right in the photo.) SP-F won the game 5-1 and advanced to the second round.

Dan is 'Outstanding' in his class

At the Gavilan College graduation ceremony on May 22, Dan received the school's Outstanding Scholar Award for having finished his Associate's degree with the highest grade point average in his class.

Dan had completed his Associate's degree in December, finishing with a 3.99 GPA. He recently finished his first semester at San Jose State University, majoring in communications.

After a couple of years of going to school year-round, he's taking this summer off to relax a bit, while continuing to work mornings at the Peet's Coffee and Tea shop in Morgan Hill.

The graduation write-up in the local papers mentions Dan's award

Here he celebrates with Eyvonne and Ozzie. (Click for larger views)

Memorial Day in Fanwood

Webmaster Dan writes:
For the 11th year in a row, our family participated in the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Memorial Day parade.



Christine marched with the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School Raiders Band. Andy marched with his fellow scouts in Boy Scout Troop 33. And Julie marched with some 200 Girl Scouts from the two towns, where she is service unit manager.



Earlier, Andy's troop attended the Memorial Day ceremonies at the Fanwood library.

How did you spend the weekend? Let us know!

Getting a jump on beach season

Kevin, Kathy, Shanna and Kevin headed out to eastern Long Island for the memorial day weekend. It wasn't exactly swimming weather but that didn't stop them from visiting Long Beach on Saturday and the ocean at Bridgehampton on Sunday.

Sunday at the ocean

Noyac Bay from Long Beach

Another important stop on any visit to the Sag Harbor area: Big Olaf's! Mmmm...

How did you spend the weekend?
Let us know!

Fordham Prep takes CHSAA championship

The Fordham Prep track team won the Catholic High School Athletic Association championship Saturday (May 23) on Randall's Island.

Patrick cleared 11 feet in the pole vault competition -- as he did in the varsity sectionals on May 16 and in the Freshman-Sophomore competition on May 13. The photo at right is from the varsity sectionals, held at Mt. St. Michaels in the Bronx.

CHSAA championship coverage from the Journal News

Twenty-Eight ready for summer shows

Gerrit and his band, Twenty-Eight, has a busy lineup of shows scheduled this summer on Cape Cod. They include club dates, private parties, the Fourth of July celebration in Hyannis and an August fireworks celebration in Dennis.


The band is also hard at work on a second full-length album. Check out their first album, and their summer performance schedule, on their web site. You can also follow the band on Facebook or Twitter.

Chris receives school award

Cathy writes: Chris received an award at his school on May 18.

Chris, who is nearing the end of sixth grade, was selected to receive the Grace Tharp Award, recognizing strong character and good morals. Grace Tharp was the first woman elected to the Hilliard, Ohio, Board of Education, and the school is named for her.



Each teacher may select only one student per class to receive this award. Here is Chris with his Social Studies and Language Arts teachers.

Andy on drums in spring concert

Park Middle School held its Spring Band Concert on May 19. Andy plays percussion in the 7th-and-8th-grade band.

This clip shows Andy playing snare drum on "Ballet Music from Faust." (Actually you can't see the drum, but you can hear it if you listen closely.)

Genevieve masters her field

Genevieve was awarded her Master's Degree in Art History and Museum Studies in ceremonies Sunday at Tufts University near Boston.


On hand to witness the milestone were her parents, Ted and Kathy; sister Vivien and brother Patrick; her fiance, John...



...and her grandparents, Ted and Celestine.

The university awarded some 3,000 degrees at its 153rd commencement, more than half of them to graduate students.

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences awarded 479 degrees, including 208 Master of Arts, according to the Tufts Daily.

Sideline video: Christine soccer

A few minutes of clips of Christine in action at soccer games this spring. Her team finished the regular season with a 4-1 record (I think). Playoffs to come in June.

A day at the Columbus Zoo

Cathy spent a fine Mother's Day with Christopher and Stephanie visiting the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and taking photos.
Click on the fish to see many more pictures!

Sunday was grandmother's day, too

Barbara and Steve with grandson Xander at their home on Sunday, plus a couple more photos of Xander and his parents, Brian and Marie.

Do you have Mother's Day photos or stories to share? Please send them along!

In Yonkers, all four children dropped in on Lorraine and Dan -- and shockingly, no one took pictures! "I blame myself," says Webmaster Dan, who was there along with Kathy, Brien and Kevin plus Kevin's family (Kathy, Shanna and Kevin).

Christine and her band-mates had a great time at Festival Disney (UPDATED with video and photos)

The four-day trip of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School music department to Disney World was a big success, and Christine returned on Sunday night exhausted but happy.

Christine on flute (center)

Close to 300 members of the high school's various bands and choruses made the trip to Florida to take part in "Festival Disney," which included competitions in various categories, and won numerous awards. The competitions took place Saturday in the Disney Hollywood Studios park.

Christine sang in the Concert Choir and played flute in the Symphonic Band during the competition. She also played with the SPFHS marching band in the parade down Main Street in the Magic Kingdom on Thursday afternoon.



After flying down Wednesday night, the Spiffy crowd spent Thursday at the Magic Kingdom. Christine and her friends enjoyed rides like the Pirates of the Caribbean and Buzz Lightyear before and after the parade.

Christine and Matt at the Magic Kingdom, with friend Peter at left.

Friday was a free day in Epcot Center, where they roamed through the various nation-themed areas, went on some rides and did some shopping. And a LOT of walking.
That day wound up with the spectacular "IllumiNations" fireworks and laser show.

Christine and friends posing with Pluto

Christine and her group managed to squeeze in some rides between performances at the Hollywood Studios park on Saturday, including the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, which she said was very scary, and the Rock-n-Roller Coaster.

On Sunday they visited Disney Animal Kingdom, where they took the Kilimanjaro Safari ride and roamed through other wildlife exhibits before boarding the buses to the airport for the flight home. Weather-related delays at Newark kept their flight grounded in Orlando for about an hour and a half, but other than that delay the trip went smoothly.

Check back - more pictures may be added

Julie and classmates reunite at Friends

While Christine was in Florida, Julie, Dan and Andy drove down to Maryland where Julie attended Alumni Weekend at Friends School of Baltimore.

Julie outside the Upper School

The three visited the campus for an afternoon picnic and tour of the Pre-K-to-12 school - which recently opened a new building for its middle grades.

Julie poses by her old high school locker

Dan and Julie returned in the late afternoon for a cocktail party, where class photos were taken of each of the five-year-anniversary classes. That was, followed by a dinner party at the home of one of her classmates.

Julie and some of her classmates at the dinner party

Julie and Dan thank Doug and Lisa for putting them up overnight. Andy enjoyed playing board games with his aunt, uncle and cousin Rebecca while his parents spent the evening in a 35-year time warp.

Christine embarks on band trip to Disney World

Christine and nearly 300 other student musicians from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School flew to Orlando on Wednesday evening to take part in a music festival and competition at Disney World.

As part of Festival Disney, the SPFHS concert choir, concert band, marching band and three smaller ensembles will perform at various venues in the complex.

Christine plays flute in the marching band, which takes part in the Magic Kingdom parade on Thursday, and in the concert band, and she sings in the concert choir.

More details as they become available!

A new backyard visitor

Daniel writes:
We had a couple of interesting visitors in our back yard in Yonkers: a rose-chested grosbeak, and a Baltimore oriole. I'd never seen either kind of bird before.
The grosbeak has a black back with white stripes; a white belly; and a bright red bib under its throat. Its wings are lined in bright red. A very pretty bird.