A big birthday deserves two celebrations!

Dolores' three children, two children-in-law and three of her grandchildren, along with her husband, gathered in Riderwood Aug. 18 for a celebration of Dolores' recent big-round-number birthday.

Blowing out the candles

It was a rare chance for them all to get together. Cathy and Stephanie came in from Ohio and were joined by Christopher. (Stephanie moved in that weekend to her dorm room at Towson University.) Doug and Lisa came from Denver, where Doug is currently working, and their daughter Lizzie came down from New York, where she's working and studying for her masters degree. Julie and Dan drove down from New Jersey at the start of Dan's annual vacation.

Doug and Lisa presented Dolores with a set of framed photographs Doug had taken of flowers at the Denver Botanic Gardens, including tulips frosted with morning snow.

Julie and Cathy presented a quilt made from T-shirts with images and sayings representing significant places and events for Dolores - a "This Is Your Life" quilt, as Julie called it.

Stephanie arrives at Towson University

College freshman Stephanie moved into her dorm room at Towson State University last week, bringing along just a few items from home.


Stephanie immediately started practicing with the TSU marching band, in which she will, of course, play clarinet. Here she is with her roommate, a member of the color guard. Stephanie plans to study English and music at Towson, her mother's alma mater and part of the University System of Maryland.

Celebrating a big birthday with Dolores

Dolores celebrated a milestone birthday on July 11. Daughter Julie, son-in-law Dan, grandchildren Christine and Andy and Andy's girlfriend, Shannon, visited Dolores and Hugh at the Oakcrest community in Maryland to celebrate the occasion.

And a few days later, daughter Cathy and grandchildren Christopher and Stephanie paid a visit as well.

Dolores and Hugh then took off for Rehoboth, while Cathy and Stephanie attended freshman orientation at Towson State University, where Stephanie starts in mid-August.

Gerrit, Angela have a baby daughter!

Josie Nicole has joined the family of Angela, Gerrit and Nolan. She entered the world July 19 at five pounds, five ounces.

"She’s already great at cuddling and we couldn’t ask for a more beautiful daughter," Gerrit wrote the next day. "Mama and baby are doing GREAT! I’m in LOVE!"

Aunt Lizzie and Grandpa Owen visited Josie at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center the next day.

As it happens, big brother Nolan's birthday is just two days apart from his new baby sister's. Nolan turned three on July 21.

Christine and Jamie are engaged!

Congratulations to Christine and Jamie, who are now engaged to be married!

Jamie set up a romantic moment - a sunset walk along the beach on Cape Cod - to make the official proposal, and Christine happily accepted.

"I feel giddy!" Christine said in an excited call that evening to her parents, Dan and Julie. The happy couple celebrated at the Cape Cod home of Jamie's mother, Bonnie, and her husband, Jay.

The following day, Christine said she was still giddy. "I don't think I've stopped smiling this whole time!"

The couple haven't yet set a date, and other wedding details are pending.

Here's a better look at the elegant ring, which features an amethyst in a diamond-set band.

Catching up on some June events

We haven't posted in a while, and now it's the middle of July and we want to catch up on some events of the past month or so.


For example, Father's Day: Hugh and Dolores visited daughter Julie and her family in New Jersey and, as they've done several times, took in a Somerset Patriots minor-league baseball game.

The weather was very hot for a ballgame, but perfect for the beach! John and Bea spent part of Father's Day weekend on the bay beach in Noyac ... while Gerrit and Nolan were enjoying this wide sandy beach on Cape Cod.

Gerrit, by the way, is back on the bandstand this summer with 28, performing for their fans at clubs around the Cape.

Back in New Jersey, Julie became an officer of the Rotary Club of Fanwood-Scotch Plains. She was installed as Secretary, a position that puts her in line to be President in two years. Here she's pictured with the club's outgoing president at the installation dinner June 21.

Dolores and Hugh in article on not-really-retirement

Dolores and Hugh were featured in an article in the June edition of a newspaper that's distributed in all Erickson Living communities. The story, on the topic of keeping busy with work during retirement, included quotes from Dolores, along with this very nice photo of the couple on the balcony of their apartment.

Here's an excerpt:

A benefit that can’t be easily measured is the sense of purpose often found in work. Dolores Andrew is a self-employed artist, instructor, lecturer, and jurist at art shows across the mid-Atlantic. “Art has been my life’s passion,” says the resident of Oak Crest retirement community in Parkville, MD.

Read the article online
See how it appeared in printed form

Julie turns her car into a parade float

Continuing a long tradition, Julie took part in the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Memorial Day Parade on March 28. But this year, instead of marching with Girl Scouts, she rode in style with the local Rotary Club.


With Julie and Dan's car decked out in patriotic bunting, she and another Rotarian rolled behind the marching members of the club along the 1.3-mile route.

Stephanie celebrates HS graduation

Stephanie graduated from Hilliard Darby High School in an evening ceremony on Thursday, May 24, and spent the following weekend celebrating.

On Saturday, she and a close friend had their own party, where the crowd included her mother, Cathy, her grandparents Hugh and Dolores and her Aunt Julie (see photo). Stephanie then attended a series of other friends' parties through the weekend.

In addition to honors Stephanie received at the school's Academic Awards ceremony, she was recognized at the Senior Awards ceremony as Outstanding Senior in English and the Outstanding Senior in Band.

After a well-earned vacation, Stephanie will start college in the fall at Towson State University.

Eventful season for senior Stephanie

It's been a very busy spring for Stephanie as she wraps up her senior year at Hilliard Darby High School. We've fallen behind on the news, but here are photos from three events in April.


At her school's Academic Awards ceremony, Stephanie received an academic honors award, a certificate for outstanding academic achievement and a presidential award for educational excellence.

Here we see Stephanie and a group of friends about to head to the school's Senior Prom.

See more photos of the group here.

Also in April, Stephanie performed again with the Columbus Youth Symphonic Band at its spring concert.

"Stephanie enjoyed performing with them this year at Capital University," Cathy writes. "It was a great opportunity to work with a new conductor and make new friends from other high schools."

Click the image at right to see videos and more photos from the concert.

Stephanie chooses Towson University

Stephanie has decided to attend Towson University -- her mom's alma mater -- starting in the fall.

After weighing offers from several other schools, and paying a second visit to the campus last weekend, Stephanie decided on Towson, where she intends to study English and music.

Proud mom Cathy shared the "exciting news" and noted that Stephanie "is planning to join the marching band, so I will have another opportunity to be a 'band mom!'

"This will, no doubt, be an exciting year," Cathy wrote. Stephanie, a senior at Hilliard Darby High School in Ohio, is less than two months away from graduation.

Towson University is part of the University System of Maryland. It has some 20,000 undergraduates and a few thousand graduate students enrolled in seven colleges on its 329-acre campus, less than 10 miles north of downtown Baltimore.

The U.S. News & World Report 2018 America’s Best Colleges guide ranked Towson 10th among public regional universities in the North.

Three generations and a clarinet

While her daughter Cathy and granddaughter Stephanie were visiting on Easter weekend, Dolores brought out the clarinet she had played in high school.

Stephanie, who plays clarinet in various high school and regional ensembles at home in Ohio, had just purchased a new instrument for herself. But she was also eager to see the one that both her grandmother and, for a time, her mother had played.

Although it's in need of some refurbishment, Stephanie managed to coax a bit of music out of the clarinet, and Dolores handed it off to her for safekeeping.

Spending Easter weekend with Hugh and Dolores

At Dolores' and Hugh's apartment

Dolores and Hugh played host to daughter Julie, her husband, Dan, and daughter Cathy and her daughter, Stephanie, on Easter weekend in Maryland.

Stephanie and Cathy spent part of Friday touring Towson State University, one of several colleges Stephanie is considering as she nears her high school graduation. Later Friday, the six went to dinner at the Hopkins Club.

It was a productive trip for Stephanie, who also went shopping in Delaware and bought a clarinet -- a significant upgrade from the instrument she has used up to now in all her high school music performances.

The group went to Easter Vigil service Saturday evening at Trinity Church in Towson, the long-time parish of Hugh, Dolores and their children. The weekend concluded with Sunday brunch at the Oakcrest community where Hugh and Dolores reside.

New York finishes 4th in curling Mixed Nationals

After advancing to the playoffs in the USA Curling Mixed Nationals Championship competition, Rebecca's Rochester, N.Y.-based team ran up against stiff competition and finished in fourth place.

"Pretty darn good week at the Mixed Nationals, but unfortunately Team NY finished just out of the medals," Rebecca posted. "So lucky to have amazingly supportive and fun teammates, and thrilled my parents came out for the playoff weekend!"

Lisa and Doug surprised Rebecca by flying in to see the final games at Lakeville, Minn., just outside Minneapolis.

The New York team placed third in the round-robin portion of the tournament, with a 6-3 record. As it happened, it had to face the top two teams in the playoffs. The second-seed team, from North Dakota, prevailed over New York in the semifinal, while top seed Michigan was upset by the fourth-place team, from Seattle, Washington. That pitted New York against Michigan in the game for third place, and Michigan won the bronze medals.

March was a busy curling month for Rebecca, who was also a member of a women's team in the USA Curling 2018 Nationals, held in Fargo, N.D. Her team finished fourth in that tournament -- and Rebecca was chosen the winner of the Ann Brown Sportsmanship Award. The award is "presented annually at the National Championships to one male and one female athlete who are judged to best embody the USCA Spirit of Curling as voted on by their peers," according to USA Curling.