Rebecca to compete in 2018 curling nationals

Curling is enjoying a surge of popularity following the Olympic Winter Games, where the U.S. men's team won its first-ever gold medal in the sport.

Next week, the focus will be on the USA Curling 2018 National Championships.

Rebecca will be there, as a member of one of eight teams competing for the women's championship in the tournament, March 3-10 in Fargo, N.D.

Team Rhyme - Rebecca, Kim from Minneapolis, Katie from Brown Deer, Wis. and Amy from Blaine, Minn. - will start round-robin play on Sunday, March 4, playing one or two games a day through Wednesday in hopes of making the playoffs Friday and Saturday. (Updates and results will be posted on the USA Curling website, which will also have live webstreams of at least some of the games.)

Rebecca previously competed at Nationals in 2014 and 2016, as well as Junior Women's Championships in 2009, 2011 and 2012 - and was on the team that won the Mixed National Championships in 2013. She'll be returning to the Mixed Nationals this year as part of Team Maroldo, which won a regional championship in January. That competition was held on Rebecca's home ice at the Rochester Curling Club.

The Mixed Nationals competition takes place March 23-31 in Lakeville, Minn.

Correction: An earlier version of this post said the Olympic men's team would also be in the tournament. Although the USA Curling website lists it among the teams that qualified, Rebecca informs us it will not be competing in Fargo.

More musical events for Stephanie

Stephanie with Columbus Youth Symphonic Band

This month, Stephanie performed in two concerts with groups of select student musicians.

The Darby trio

The first was a performance by the Ohio Music Educators Association All State Band. Student musicians from around the state rehearsed for two-and-a-half days and then performed their program in conjunction with the annual OMEA Conference for music educators, held at the Columbus Convention Center.

Cathy writes: "Stephanie was one of three students from Darby High School that was selected to participate. She enjoyed meeting other band students from all over Ohio and having the opportunity to perform with guest conductor Alfred Watkins, a retired band director from Georgia."

No photos or recordings were permitted during the performance, but Cathy took the picture above during warm-ups. Click here for more photos, from rehearsal and after the show.

The following weekend, Stephanie performed with the Columbus Youth Symphonic Band. Stephanie auditioned last year and was accepted to the group of Columbus-area high school musicians.


The group held weekly rehearsals starting in November to prepare for the first of two concerts, presented at Capital University.

Here are two videos from the program:
Variations on a Korean Song by John Barnes Chance
Country Gardens by Percy Grainger

The musicians are now learning new music for another performance in April.

In memory of Ted Sr.

The family is saddened by the passing of Theodore, grandfather of Genevieve, Vivien and Patrick and their cousins Alexander, Nicholas and Christie. "Ted Sr." died on Feb. 14 at home. He was 89 and had been managing the aftermath of a stroke for several years.

Ted Sr. with great-granddaughter Beatrice at her christening celebration,
June 28, 2015

The following is excerpted from an obituary published in The New York Times on Feb. 16:

Ted was born in New York City on February 3, 1929. He obtained a degree in civil engineering from Manhattan College in 1951 and served in the army in 1956. After being stationed in England, he returned home in 1956 to join his father's construction business. For over 50 years Ted was involved in foundation and construction projects that helped shape the New York skyline and played an integral role in shaping some of the largest public infrastructure and private developments in all five boroughs of the city. He was President of the General Contractors Association in 1984 and 1985 and remained active in the construction industry until his stroke.

He is succeeded in his family business by his two sons, Ted Jr. and John G., his brother John, and other family members. Ted leaves his wife of 64 years, Celestine, their son Theodore Jr., daughter Margaret, son John and his wife Diane; six grandchildren, Genevieve and her husband John, Alexander and his wife Tess, Vivien and her husband C.J., Nicholas, Christie, and Patrick; step-granddaughter Emily; and two great-grandchildren, Beatrice and Rowan.

A funeral Mass was celebrated Saturday, Feb. 17 at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Scarsdale.

Stephanie debates ethics in regional competition

Stephanie participated in the National High School Ethics Bowl Ohio Regional competition, held Feb. 3 at the University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio.

Cathy writes: Hilliard was represented by three teams from two of its high schools -- Darby, where Stephanie is a senior, and Davidson. These students, all seniors, have been practicing for months in preparation for the competition.

In timed segments, each team faced off with another team to discuss a hypothetical case study, and presented their opinions. They were then questioned by the opposing team and by a panel of judges in order to support their decision regarding the ethical nature of each case.

After three rounds of two case studies apiece, the team from Hilliard Davidson ultimately prevailed in the final round and won the day's event, moving on to the next round.

This was the first time any Hilliard students have ever participated in this event so it was a new and exciting experience for all of them. Stephanie greatly enjoyed this opportunity to discuss and debate difficult scenarios with fellow students.

Frozen scenes across the Northeast

Most of our extended family is in the deep freeze, as polar air drops deep into the U.S. At this writing, we're expecting temperatures to fall several degrees below zero early Sunday at Birch Street Headquarters in New Jersey.

The photo above was sent on New Year's Eve by Dolores and Hugh from their condo at Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland. Snow fell steadily there from Friday night until that Sunday morning, and the temperature went down to at least -2.

That was before the big East Coast snowstorm of the first week of January. The heaviest snowfall was in New England, and Christine took this photo from the window of her apartment in Norwood, Mass., the next day. At least a foot of snow fell there, but the apartment complex staff did a good job of plowing and shoveling!

   

A post-Christmas pre-New Year's celebration

Kevin and Kathy hosted this year's Christmas-time family gathering in Yonkers on Saturday. The food was fabulous food and the time flew by as everyone enjoyed one another's company and conversation.

As the party-goers posed for a group portrait, above, their doubles in an alternate universe did the same, as seen below.


Along with the host and hostess, this year's gathering included Shanna and Rick, Kevin, Kathy and Robert, Genevieve and John with Bea, Patrick, Brien, Dan and Julie with Andy and Shannon, Aunt Pat, Mary and Roger and, on leave from the Air Force, Shannon. We missed seeing Vivien and CJ (off on a skiing trip) and Christine and James (settling into their new home) as well as other far-flung members of the family.

Here's a batch of other photos from the gathering. Click each image for a larger view.

Please share your holiday scenes and stories. And may all our family have a wonderful New Year!

More Christmas scenes from around the family

We see that Genevieve, John and Bea; Vivien and CJ; and Patrick all gathered at Kathy's house in Yonkers on Christmas Day. (Kathy must be behind the camera.)


In Florida, we see Courtney and Chad posing in front of their tree. Was Nanette the photographer here?

And back in New Jersey, while Andy and Shannon spent the later part of the day with Shannon's family, Christine and James enjoyed Christmas dinner with Dan and Julie.

Please share your Christmas scenes with the family here on Birch Street Web!

Seasonal music featuring Stephanie

You've probably heard plenty of Christmas tunes lately, but you'll want to listen to some quality holiday music featuring Stephanie in the Hilliard Darby High School orchestra.

The school's band, choir and orchestra all performed in the annual Celebration Concert in mid-December. Stephanie performed with both the Wind Ensemble and the Orchestra Winds section as first-chair clarinetist.

Cathy has sent along four videos. Stephanie is front-and-center in the third and fourth videos.
Nutcracker Ballet, part one (Tchaikovsky)
Nutcracker Ballet, part two (Tchaikovsky)
The Eighth Candle (Steve Reisteter)
Waves (Brian Balmages)

And here's a link to an album containing all four videos.

As Cathy says, it was another "last" event in Stephanie's senior year.

Celebrating a Merry Christmas 2017

Please share your Christmas celebrations with the family on Birch Street Web!

To start - Here's the scene at Birch Street Headquarters, where Dan, Julie, Christine and Andy were joined by James and Shannon.

Christine and James are visiting for a few days before heading back to their new apartment in Norwood, Mass., where James starts a new job on Jan. 2 (see previous article). After the morning present-opening and big breakfast, Andy and Shannon headed to Shannon's sister's house on Long Island for her family's celebration and dinner.

Merry Christmas to all our extended family!

Best wishes to all for a wonderful Christmas weekend! Here are just a couple of holiday photos that we've collected so far. Please share photos and stories of your festivities!

Courtney posted this photo of her Christmas tree with the comment, "This year we went with a 12-foot tree!" Nanette is currently visiting Courtney in Florida.

Kathy posted this shot of Bea enjoying the Holiday Express exhibit at the New-York Historical Society in Manhattan. And Genevieve shares this classic pose with Santa.

New adventures for James & Christine

Christine and James are settling into new digs as James prepares to start a new job in the new year.

Having completed work on a bachelors degree in video game design at Rochester Institute of Technology in December, James starts Jan. 2 as a developer at Boston Productions in Norwood, Mass.

C & J were able to find an apartment just a few miles from the company's headquarters, and have spent the past week moving and starting to settle in. Their new home has a spacious two-level layout in a garden-style complex surrounded by a nice residential neighborhood, about a mile from the shops and restaurants in Norwood's village-like downtown.

Norwood Center

James is very much looking forward to working at Boston Productions (BPI), which combines game design and software development with audio-visual production to create interactive displays and "visitor experiences" for museums and other public facilities. Here are just a couple of examples of the company's installations.

At the Smithsonian Institution Castle in Washington, BPI created an interactive map for visitors navigating through the National Mall.

At the Georgia Aquarium, BPI created multiple game-like interactive educational displays.

Vivien and CJ become homeowners

After a couple of years of high-rise living in Jersey City, Vivien and CJ have made the move to the suburbs.

In a whirlwind couple of days at the start of December, they closed on and moved into this lovely house in Verona, New Jersey. We hope to get more details/photos soon.

A taste of winter: First snow of the season

The first snow of the not-quite-yet winter fell gently - and, conveniently, on a Saturday - at Birch Street Media headquarters in New Jersey. It put a pretty coating of white on the bushes and trees ... and on the big honkin' piece of construction equipment sitting across the street.

"New gas lines are being put in around the neighborhood," Dan explains. "Our street is probably next to get torn up. Yay."

Stephanie performs with Honors Wind Ensemble

Stephanie participated in the annual Honor Band Showcase held Nov. 18 at the Capital University Conservatory of Music in Columbus. She placed as 3rd chair clarinet in the Honors Wind Ensemble.

Cathy reports: The student musicians "spent time on Friday and Saturday rehearsing music that was performed on Saturday afternoon. They performed two pieces by guest composer Frank Ticheli. Steph was very excited to meet him and work with him, as she has performed some of his works over the years" in her high school concert band.

We have two video clips in which Stephanie is featured:

• Honors Wind Ensemble performs "Sun Dance" by Frank Ticheli 
• Honors Wind Ensemble performs "Earth Song" by Frank Ticheli 

Back at Hilliard Darby High School the following Monday, an awards ceremony marked the completion of the 2017 Marching Band season. "Not only is this the end of Steph's career in Darby Marching Band, but the end of my seven-year involvement as well," Cathy writes.

"Steph was recognized for being a Squad and Section Leader, for being Band President and for her Outstanding Musicianship.

"Also all the Seniors were presented with their plumes. This is the same plume that they wore on their hats for Senior Night (their last home football game) and for the OMEA State Marching Band Finals."

Another musical highlight of Stephanie's senior year is coming up in February, when she takes part in the 2018 Ohio Music Education Association All State Band.