Dan and Eyvonne see family, friends and sights on East Coast tour

Dan and Eyvonne took an East Coast trip that included lots of get-togethers with family and friends plus some New York City tourism.

The gatherings included a birthday party for Dan and Marie's grandmother Joan in South Jersey that brought together all of her children and grandchildren. Marie and Brian and Xander were there as well, and it was the first chance for Xander to meet some of his uncles, aunts and cousins.


On Sunday night, Dan and Julie and Christine and Andy joined Dan, Eyvonne, Marie, Brian and Xander for dinner at Mastori's, a well-known diner/restaurant in central Jersey. It was a great time, and Xander was on his best behavior.

Hi Hopes as high art

During a Father's Day gathering at the Midland Avenue homestead, Kathy and Ted gave Daniel a beautiful painting of Hi Hopes, the family's long-serving motor boat, at its Mill Creek mooring.



"Kathy spotted it at the artist's studio at the Noyac Marina (now called Hidden Cove Marina)," Daniel writes. "The artist, who didn't know whose boat it was, said that many visitors to his studio had admired the painting. It looks almost like a photograph."

Daniel and Lorraine are hoping to head out to Noyac for the season very soon.

Happy summer!

For most of the students in our family, school's out for the summer. Shanna is an exception, taking two summer classes at Mercy College toward her master's degree.

What are your summer plans? Traveling, or working, or just relaxing? Please share your stories, thoughts and ideas with the rest of the extended family. Keep in touch!

Stitching, pitching and catching up

Dolores and Hugh were in Columbus, Ohio, in mid-June for a meeting of the International Council of Needleart Associates and related activities, which included an evening at a Columbus Clippers baseball game, joined by daughter Cathy.



From June 13-15, the National NeedleArts Association sponsored "The NeedleArts Market" in Columbus. TNNA is a trade organization representing shop owners who market supplies to needle workers—knitters, quilters, embroiderers, and needlepointers, for example. The NeedleArts Market brings more than one thousand purveyors of yarn, needlework kits, painted canvas designs, accessories, and other needleworker gadgets to display and sell their wares to the shop owners.

At the same time TNNA hosted a meeting of the International Council of Needleart Associates (ICNA), an umbrella group of representatives of needlework organizations all over the world. The National Academy of Needlearts (NAN) is one of those organizations, and as it happens, Dolores is the NAN representative to ICNA. That brought Dolores and Hugh to Columbus, where Cathy and her family now live.

TNNA has developed a promotion to interest people in the needle arts called Stitch N’ Pitch where stitchers are encouraged to take their work to a baseball game and stitch as they watch the game. And so they did, at the Clippers game on Saturday night, June 13. Dolores, Hugh and Cathy joined the crowd in the Stitch N’ Pitch reserved left field section.



The Clippers are a Triple A farm team of the Cleveland Indians, and their opponents on the Stitch N’ Pitch night were the Louisville Bats. Since the Bats are the farm team of the Cincinnati Reds, it was an all-Ohio game. The Clippers play in Huntington Park, a brand new ballpark that very much resembles a smaller version of Camden Yards!

It was a well played game. Unfortunately for the home team, the Bats won 7-2 with strong pitching and timely hitting.

The local Columbus NBC TV affiliate sent a camera man to cover the Stitch N’ Pitch event. The eleven o’clock news featured an interview with one of the people from TNNA, and they showed pictures of several people stitching while they watched the game. To our surprise, one of the stitchers on TV was Dolores!

Read Hugh's more complete account of the event

Ted's 'On the Road' chronicles

Ted writes...
Between 4/16/09 & 5/13/09, I took a ride on my motorcycle around the USA. Crazy, I know.

I rode over 10,000 miles through 28 states. Kathy met me in Sedona and then again in Chicago. ... Every three days or so, I would send back little stories, or letters from the road...

Ted has shared his dispatches and photos with us.
So come along for the ride.
Read Ted's On the Road Chronicles.

Soccer season nearing an end

Patrick has had two shut-outs this season as goalkeeper for the Mount Vernon team in the Westchester Youth Soccer League high-school-age boys division.

His team, called the Mount Vernon Buick Storm, holds a 4-2-2 record with one game left to play.

Meanwhile Christine's Scotch Plains-Fanwood team will play its final game next weekend. Her team finished the regular season with a 4-1 won-loss record. The same team that gave them their only regular-season defeat also beat them in the first playoff round, so they'll be playing for third place.

New school is 'old school' for Shanna

Shanna has found herself in familiar surroundings as she begins working on a masters degree.

"I have decided to go to Mercy College for my Masters in Childhood Education," Shanna writes.

"Although I was originally planning to start school in the fall, I was given the opportunity to get a head start on the program and take a few classes this summer, so I am enrolled in two courses.

"The classes will be intense since they are so condensed for summer, but I am excited about them."

"The funny thing about it is the classes are actually being given in my old high school, which shares a campus with Mercy. Who knew that nearly 10 years after I started high school, I would be right back in the same building starting graduate school!"

See previous story

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.