Ralph Braun

The years high light so far has been a naval squadron reunion in Tucson. It was a shock to hit there in April , having left Madison at 37 degrees and arriving there at 102 but it was a real treat. The get together was great as always but our numbers grow fewer as the years pass. I reunited with one of my best pals from 42 years ago and we had much to talk about. I had "borrowed" his leather flight jacket in 1971 and surprised him by returning it. Although it looked a bit like road kill after all these years ,it was an emotional moment for us both, we flew a lot of miles together. I asked if he would lend me his lawn mower but he refused LOL.
My wife Carol retired this spring. It was not what we had planned but a new director took over and the short story is that he did such a good job of alienating other agencies that they have worked with for 30 years they lost $750K in grants and the money to pay her dried up. It's actually been a good thing so far.

Ralph

Heart Rescue

Please take a look at this -- it could help you save a life
http://www.heartrescuenow.com/ click on this

Larry Kennedy

Summer Fun

Enjoying the summer on Oneida Lake - been boating and fishing on my new pontoon boat. Went to Sylvan Beach for the 4th and grilled hamburgers, swam while anchored off shore, then went up the canal to lock 22 and turned around. Watched fireworks from boat off shore, before heading home.
Doing various craft shows selling my leather work. Did Ozstravaganze in Chittenango and the CVAC show in Cazenovia. Did real well for me. Have some more scheduled for later on ARC in Wampsville (Aug), and ESM (Nov) that I did last year.
Hope everyone is enjoy the summer.

Larry Kennedy

Debby Larus Doolittle

Celebrating our 22 wedding anniversary this weekend. John and I both forgot the actual day of July 12th so we decided to celebrate on Saturday.

Kirsten Mackey Fleisher

Kirsten Retires

After thirty three years of teaching, I retired at the end of this past school year. Most of my time was spent in the Trenton (NJ) City District in the primary grades. Although education has not yet been the solution to urban problems (as I'd hoped it would) I was fortunate to love my career and the people with whom I worked - large and small! I have no specific plans at the moment, other than spending time at the mission center in Guatemala. Who knows what the future will bring? I am always ready for an adventure!

Kirsten

Marilyn Wheeler

July 6, 2012

Marilyn Merrill Wheeler, of Fayetteville, entered unto rest on Friday, July 6. Marilyn was born in Hinsdale, IL, on July 3, 1923.

She was the daughter of the late Ralph W. and Marguerite S. Merrill.

Marilyn graduated from Rye High School, Rye, NY, and attended St. Lawrence University, where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority and where she met her husband. Marilyn ran a home-based daycare for many years before going into retail sales for over a decade. She was a member of the United Methodist Church of Fayetteville, where she was a longtime Sunday School teacher and served on numerous committees. A lifelong knitter, Marilyn enjoyed knitting, particularly sweaters for her children, grandchildren and friends.

She was predeceased by her son, Richard, in 2002; two brothers, Robert and John Merrill; and a sister, Elizabeth Wilson.

Marilyn is survived by her husband of 67 years, Platt M. Wheeler; daughter, Cynthia (John) Manning of Boxford, MA; daughter-in-law, Gini Wheeler of Rochester; sons, David (Daryll) Wheeler of Fayetteville, Robert (Amy) Wheeler of Raleigh, NC, and Jonathan (Nan) Wheeler of West Hartford, CT; 18 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and beloved nieces and nephews.

Services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the United Methodist Church of Fayetteville. Burial will be in Fayetteville Cemetery.

Family and friends may call from 4 to 7 p.m. on Monday at the Eaton-Tubbs Fayetteville Chapel, 7191 E. Genesee St., Fayetteville.

For directions, florists or a guest book, please visit www.SCHEPPFAMILY.com

Contributions may be made to the United Methodist Church of Fayetteville, 601 E. Genesee St., Fayetteville, NY 13066 or the Fayetteville Free Library, 300 Orchard St., Fayetteville, NY 13066.

EATON-TUBBS

Fayetteville 637-3214

Marilyn (Merrill) Wheeler

Larry Craigie

Saw Larry and Dana Craigie for lunch on their way back to Oklahoma.

Cinda Meachem Sutton

Sadly Cinda's Mom has entered Hospice after heart surgery.

High Temps here in MO

We've had just some impossible thermometer readings the last few days taking us into a full blown drought. We've made up to 108 degrees. That's Arizona like temps.

Iced Coffee

One of the great pleasures for me in the summer is having iced coffee

Dan Sheedy

 I recently had the opportunity to record some TV voiceovers and radio spots for the NY Jets. They'll air in the New York metro soon. I'm also recording voiceovers for a new Outdoor Channel show which hasn't started airing yet. More on that later. My sons (Ben - 25 - and Jon - 21) and wife are all well. Ben just finished his first year of graduate school at The Actors Studio in NY and is working 3 jobs here in the Thousand Islands.

Jon continues in the video game business. Jill paints, creates jewelry and somehow manages to stay reasonably sane while still married to me (I'm not sure how she accomplishes that last bit).

We are down to just two dogs now after losing our beloved Bailey (a sweet Golden Retriever) to cancer and the queen of all Pugs, Rosie, during 2011. Now it's just Louis, an 82 lb. thug of an English Bulldog and Napoleon, a malicious little Chihuahua. Playing with Louis is like climbing into a cement mixer on high speed. Napoleon spends his days plotting against us.

Visited my mom and dad - Edward & Janet Costello

Dear FM Classmates. An update to my last blog post. We did visit with my mom and dad...from Mothers Day to Fathers day. We had a great time. We parked our motorhome at Green Lakes for 2 weeks, then spent a week at Henderson Harbor, then back to Green Lakes for another week While there we visited Alexandria Bay, whereas we visited Boldt Castle. What a difference. NY state is doing a great job preserving the castle.

Obviously we spent a lot of time in my old neighborhood ... Homewood. Note - they changed the spelling of McLennan Drive to McClennan drive. Strange. I stopped by Town of Manlius offices and they could not tell me why. McClennan drive now has a fourth block...with one home being constructed while we were there. The road starts on the right side of Platt Wheelers previous home.

We did a lot of chores for the folks, who continue to live in their "Starter Home." How the 5 of us lived in that home for so long is beyond me. We plan on visiting mom and dad about every 4 months as the time is slipping away. My two brothers are Greg and Doug.

I also saw quite a few friends...one being someone I worked with at Carrier...Dave Hatch. I believe some of you know him as a neighbor on Salt Spring Road. We had breakfast at Hullers. We also saw Rick Schaefer quite a few times...once at the old bar called "The Chalet."

Well, we are back at New Bern, NC, where it is very hot. Our daughter and 2 grandchildren from St. Louis with visit soon. Have a great summer everybody. Please keep posting on the Blogs....great keeping up with my FM friends.

Oh yeah...we did visit the Swan Pond as well. Quite the story. God Bless! My email is budman34@embarqmail.com

Kate Wilbur

Some of you know, I live in Los Angeles, work at USC, my husband is retired and I have two daughters in their mid-20s. I was thinking that I didn’t have anything to write in response to Deb’s email, but on further reflection several strange and somewhat exciting things have happened in the last few months. The first “news” happened in December, when my onesie pajamas made an appearance on the Craig Ferguson show. If you want to see for yourself—here is the clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygxzls05IxQ. Fortunately, I was not in the pajamas at the time. They had been pilfered from my closet the week before and appeared on TV without my knowledge or permission. Because it didn’t feel right, lounging around in celebrity pajamas, I donated them to the young man in the video. A second exciting and equally if not more strange thing happened in February. My youngest daughter, who freelances for LA Weekly (LA’s Village Voice) was asked to write the cover story on “pimpc
ups.” To research this story she got to hang with Snoop Dog and a bunch of rappers and hip hop artists that I had never heard of with lots of Z’s in their names. If you want to learn more about pimpcups (although I can’t imagine why most of you would), you can check her story at: http://www.laweekly.com/2012-03-08/art-books/pimp-cups-bishop-don-magic-juan-snoop-dogg-iced-out-gear/. Also on the list, her boyfriend won a Grammy for best album (Adele’s 21); he was the sound engineer for “Someone Like You.” Her day job is working for an organization that serves low income seniors so both activities were forays into a completely different side of LA. Finally, my older daughter is getting married in July so we are looking forward to hosting my entire family (my 6 siblings and their kids) in Los Angeles for the wedding.

Kate Wilber

Dave Eckerson

All good things have to come to an end. I have left the Pearl of
Africa and moved on to my next assignment in the United States. John Mark Winfield is now Mission Director. I can be reached by cell phone in the USA at 571-216-0590 or by email at davesbirthday@gmail.com

Jim and Marsha Myers

Photos from their trip to Hawaii this past May.

Gordy Webb

Gordy with his daughter Lindsay at her wedding a year ago 6/19/2011

Larry Craigie's son gets married

Proud parents Larry and Dana Craigie at their son's wedding this past April.

Hummingbird Feeders and Bees

How To Keep Bees Away From Hummingbird Feeders—Tips From Duncraft

Each spring when hummingbird feeders go up, Duncraft begins to get calls from customers asking how to keep bees away from the sweet nectar. If bees or wasps are a problem, Duncraft offers these tips:

• 

Aspects HummZinger Ultra

Thank you for these tips, I'm definitely going to try them!...Allison, comment on Duncraft's Wild Bird Blog

Concord, NH (PRWEB) May 15, 2012

Each spring when hummingbird feeders go up, Duncraft begins to get calls from customers asking how to keep bees away from the sweet nectar. If bees or wasps are a problem, Duncraft offers these tips:
Use a hummingbird feeder with bee guards or bee guard tips so the bees can’t get into the nectar.
Try feeders that have no yellow in them. The color yellow could be attractive to bees. Duncraft has a huge selection of hummingbird feeders, many that do not have any yellow color on them.
If the “bees” are actually yellow jackets, a kind of wasp, you may be able to reduce the population with yellow jacket traps.
Move your hummingbird feeder to a very shady location. Bees prefer to eat in sunny areas. Distract bees with a saucer of nectar where the feeder used to be.
Make the nectar less sweet. Try 5 parts of water to 1 part sugar instead of the usual 4 parts water to one part sugar.
Spraying a very light coating of cooking oil on the feeder may stop bees from landing on it. But use caution not to overdo it. Oil on hummingbird feathers can be harmful to them.
A very small amount of petroleum jelly on the feeder flowers might also help stop bees from landing. Be sure to wipe off the excess so hummingbirds don’t get it on their feathers.
After hanging with fresh nectar, be sure to clean off sugary drips or spills on the outside of the feeder so bees won’t be attracted to the sugary scent.
Never use insect-killing chemicals around hummingbird feeders! It’s bad for the hummingbirds and may also kill beneficial honey bees!
Founded in 1952 and located in Concord, New Hampshire, Duncraft’s objective is to bring the joy of backyard birding to wild bird lovers all across the country. Mike Dunn, owner and CEO is constantly inventing and searching for innovative ideas in bird feeding—giving bird lovers years of bird feeding enjoyment, success and satisfaction.
Duncraft
102 Fisherville Road
Concord, NH 03303
603-224-0200

Joyce Powell Donohoe

Hello~ Happy Mothers Day!

As you all know this past week I went on a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France with the Order of Malta .My good friends Mary Pat Northrup (she would be called a Dame of Malta)and Ted Northrup( he would be called "V' on his name tag, which of course both of us being protestant thought he was the "fifth" come to find out he was a "Volunteer!!!!"),and ......my husband Peter better know there as my companion. All were by my side thru out the entire week.

I don't even know where to begin to tell you of this amazing journey !!!!

Right from the beginning at the airport and sitting 3 rows in front of me on the plane was His Eminence Donald "Cardinal" Wuerl.......Archbishop of Washington.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a GREAT start!!!!

While waiting to board the plane for France the Malta's had totally organized us into color groups, (The Northrups and ours was purple......, how did they know that was Mary Pat and my favorite color!!!)The Malta's moved Approx. 300 people around the entire week(and that is only the east coast USA, another whole plane from the western US and another set of approx 300 to organize!!!)......We received a list of where we were going , times where we were eating and who were my "pushers" and "pullers".....while I rode around like a Queen in a rickshaw!!!!!! The best was... we get to the hotel and Peter see's 2 of the priests belly up to the bar and order 2 large beers.....well.........Peter was now very blessed, he is a very happy companion!!!!!!!

I'll just mention a few of the highlights........we did go to mass everyday sometimes twice, every one was beautiful, between the homily's and the choir, the organization of the priests giving communion...the basilica's were all different!! Since there were over 20,000 people, Malta's from every country they divided the basilica's up nightly, since we could not all fit in one building.The opening Mass was in the Rosary Basilica.......the stained glass windows were all the mysteries just beautiful.....I loved the homily he started out with "OMG" .....got my attention!!! My friend Kathy Hixon had made me a beaded bracelet that was a Rosary and she gave me a booklet on how to pray,perfect for me!!!! Outside the Cardinal was "hanging around" so Ted and MaryPat in her sweet way, got our pictures taken with him!!!!

The next morning bright and early it was our day to go to the baths.........You enter a room with 8 other ladies...( I of course got yelled at because I was talking and we were suppose to be praying!!!) they cover you with a sheet so no one can see you and they disrobe you.....then go thru the curtains where they wrap a cold sheet around you, say a prayer and down into the coldest water I have ever been in!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The ladies lower you in as you gasp because the water is so......cold......you are up and out in no time, you are barely wet they have no towels and they dress you right away....YOUR DRY!!!!!!!! AMAZING!!! So....of course Peter was hopping it would cure his arthritis in his knees and if he dunked his head maybe he would get more hair.....It would be just like him, to happen that he gets the miracle.....Then 3/4 of the men of the world would be coming to Lourdes!!!!!

That evening is a beautiful candlelight procession and Mass in the square outside the Basilica......thousands of people, and those Malta's have us so organized, time, ,place to meet how to proceed in the procession..........in all the Basilica's the sick in the rickshaws are parked in the front rows,and you turn around and see all the Malta's in there uniforms is breathtakingly beautiful!!! They come up and check on you thru out the service and bring you cups of Lourdes water to drink, they are truly amazing!!

The best was when you come out the Cardinal is right there to bless you PERSONALLY!!!!! I have pictures I will have to send in another email, a friend is coming to show me how to set it up........I tried but somehow could not get them into the email......

One day we climbed this Mt ....all the way up were these beautiful carvings for the "stations of the cross" ,Walking with me was Dr Patrick Walsh, he discovered the test for Prostate cancer!!!

Sunday we went to an underground Basilica (Saint Pius X) it looked like the SU Dome!!!! It seats 20,000 people!!! I found out later it was on TV.....wish I had known to tell all of you!!! The homily was in every language and so was the choir singing!!! AND you should have seen the priest give communion to all those people!!!!

I think my most moving time of all was going to the Grotto where Mary appeared to Bernadette in February 1858. To think of all the people in the world who have come here, as I have, to express their faith and pray... to drink the healing waters,giving them HOPE for a Miracle.The hardest for me was to see all the sick children.

Everyday at 5 you could hear in the square, beautiful voices singing, they sounded like angels.....we later found out it was the Nuns in the convent and we could go to Vespa every day at 5........so of course we want to do everything!!! So....up the hill we went to pray and hear the Nuns sing ,in the back the nuns made cookies and chocolate to buy...Y U M M M M Y Y Y Y!!! Another god's blessing for Peter!!!!!!!

Mary Pat and Ted had heard if you bring the Nuns eggs they will say a prayer for you......so........off we went looking for a grocery store bought the eggs and were in search of those Nuns to say a prayer for each of us. We found them after walking all over town.....we slept well that night!!!!!

Peter and I prayed and lit candles for our friends and family and prayed for world peace.And thanked Mother Mary for all our blessings.

Peter and I have made wonderful new friends.

We learned to pray as Mary had taught Bernadette to pray. This was one of the most spiritually enriching and emotionally uplifting experiences for both Peter and I

We are grateful to Mary Pat and Ted Northrup for inviting me to go on this pilgrimage and Honored to have been in company with the kindest, giving and unselfish people, The Order of Malta's.

God Bless,

Love, Joyce

Mark Hooper's mother died May 1st

Kathryn "Nicki" Zedick Hooper - 05-01-2012
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Kathryn "Nicki" Zedick Hooper, 91, of Beaufort, died peacefully in her home on Tuesday, May 1, 2012. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m. Friday, May 4, 2012, at St. Egbert Catholic Church with the pastor, the Rev. Douglas Smiley, presiding. Nicki was born in Monticello, Indiana, on September 15, 1920. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Eastern Michigan University in 1942. In 1944, she married Irving Hooper and for many years they lived in Syracuse, New York, before they moved to Beaufort in 1978. Nicki was always active in her local communities. She was a volunteer with the League of Women Voters, Onondaga County Jail Ministry, Carteret County Democratic Women, Carteret General Arts for the Hospital, St. Egbert Women's Guild, and the Beaufort Historical Society Thrift Shop. Her watercolors of local nature scenes show her love for the North Carolina coastal area. She is survived by Irving, her loving husband of 68 years; her children, Tony Hooper and his wife, Norah, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, Mark Hooper and his wife, Penny, of Smyrna, Ann Hooper Hudson and her husband, Jim, of Grapevine, Texas. Nicki and Irv have six grandchildren, Matthew Hooper and his wife, Cynthia, Jonathan Hooper and his wife, Erika, Catalina Markham and her husband, Kristian, Joseph Hooper and his wife, Rachel, Royal Hooper, Hillary Hudson and five great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her brother, Tony Zedick and sister, Mary Zedick. The family will receive friends at the funeral home Thursday, May 3, from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, Nicki requested that donations be made to Habitat for Humanity, P. O. Box 789, Newport, NC 28570; Medical Mission Sisters, 8400 Pine Road, Philadelphia, PA 19111; or Carteret County Crossroads, P. O. Box 155, Beaufort, NC 28516.

Melinda Mussi Lockwood

NRA Meeting in St. Louis

Off to the NRA meeting in St. Louis tomorrow. Always excited when it is close to home. We were going to go Saturday but it looks like Friday is going to have more of what interests us! Life is good in mid-Missouri.

Melinda Mussi Lockwood

Haven't been up to much recently but we did have a terrific Easter at my son's home. Jason & his wife Katie built a home next door to us when they were first married and were committed DINKS. Ah, but time passes and soon there were three children - the house was too small. They moved to Centralia, MO which is about 15 miles away and now have a 5-bedroom home on 20 acres -- much more to their liking! Don't know if I have already shared the moving-day adventure of having the chicken coop moved (Jason said he was NOT building another as it had taken too much of his time to build the first one. However, he did build it with accessibility for both children and adults -- it's a masterpiece for heaven sake).

Anyway - we trekked up to their home for Easter and had all decided to forgo the "formal" Easter dinner. We took snacks, our daughter and her daughter brought a nifty crab dip and we spent time enjoying each others company. One of the best family holiday gatherings ever. We checked out the chicken coop, the berry patch, fruit trees, and garden plots. I am most happy to report that these are, possibly, the happiest folks I have ever known. What more can we ask but that our children are happy, healthy, and successful doing what they love? They are Joseph, Jason, Nicholas, Shaelyn, and Katie.

Linda Badgley D'Agostino

Linda is on the move again. She started a new life in NC and now is headed to FL. Along the way she came across this retro Syracuse T-shirt site. Take a look:  click on the link
http://clothingscott.myshopify.com/collections/retro-syracuse

Jim and Marsha Myers

Marsha and I had our 15^th wedding anniversary in February and gave each other a trip to the Hawaiian island of Kauai, but for work reasons we’re not taking the trip until May 15. In case anyone’s interested, we also had a chaotic week of spring break visitors in mid-March, including Marsha’s son Tom and his wife April, their two active and friendly offspring, our grandchildren Kaitlyn (11) and Cole (8), and April’s father Gary McCurdy, who loves to come out here every spring and play golf with Tom. They took the kids to a Cactus League spring training baseball game (fun), we took them to the annual Renaissance Festival (horrible, crowded, expensive and full of bikers & bimbos), and Tom shot a 72 at Whisper Rock, one of the greatest golf courses in the West. He, at least, had a great week! 

I doubt any of the above is bloggable, but I promise photos and sonnets after we return from Hawaii in late May. Hope all is well!

Jim

Responses

Heard from Dan Sheedy
Jim Myers, Dave Costello and Glenn Prestwich, Pamela Revercomb, Melinda Lockwood,

Two emails have gone bad: Judi Manion and Teri Guhin Ayer.

So please more of you -- Respond.