reunion host
in July Gallery photo
Photo by sister Lori |
Nancy Murdock Maybe I should just call it The Family Reunion, since there were several families represented, although mostly connected to Howletts in one way or another. It’s a lot of fun to see everyone at least once a year. I noticed this year that all of the children had grown up so much that I had to ask who they were! Bald babies that I remember dozing in portable cribs what seems a year ago, were now running around with long curly hair and able to swing by themselves. One thing that never changes is the interest they pay to fireworks by Sean. Actually, it wasn’t just the little ones who had changed beyond recognition. There was a table of good-looking young women that we thought were new to the group. We asked Kevin Leary, who was standing with a group of men, where his family was - were they unable to come. He pointed to the table of the beauties and said, “They’re right there. That’s my family!” But where was Melissa, who I think was only about six years old last time we saw her? When I ran out of possibilities, I asked a lovely young woman what her name was, and she turned out to be that little girl I recalled. What are these people feeding their children? Whatever it is, I would like some, if it can also take one back to an earlier age!! As usual, John had outdone himself. I think he must set the bar several notches higher each year! He had roasted a wide variety of vegetables, including eggplant, zucchini, at least two types of mushrooms, and some other items I forgot to write down. The barbecue was very busy, even after the meats were all on the table. We vegetarians were very grateful for his extensive menu. He even encouraged us to take home some items. We were lucky the Days Inn had a good refrigerator and microwave! Polly added something new this year: a sort of little auction. I never was quite sure of the rules, but there were a lot of happy people who bagged up their purchases at the end. Polly gave me three books, which I promptly began reading at the motel. The theme this year was “Christmas in July,” so there are Christmas decor items in some of the photos we took. We didn’t have a Santa, though. Once again, we miss Ralph Meagher, who was always a great Santa. |
Concord, NH
Common Man Gallery photo |
Nancy Murdock On Sunday we had a fine time at the “Common Man” restaurant’s Sunday Brunch, with Polly, Stan, John, and Cathy. In addition to some great food, we had a nice chance to chat with people who had been too active to catch earlier. I don’t know any place with a better brunch! On Monday evening we returned to the Common Man. We had invited Derek and Rosalind Revilock-Frost, but Roz had a commitment to some training to be a healer in the Christian Science Church. So Derek drove down alone from York, ME. We felt really blessed that Derek would make that trip alone, to visit with friends that were his parents’ ages. He updated us on his family, all of whom seem to lead very interesting lives. Derek is Director of Sales for Bar Code Direct, and mostly works at home. Rosalind does work for the Mother Church (Christian Science) and spends a lot of time quilting. Jeremy Ruth teaches dance, but still performs and works at Chestnut Hill. Alexis has had his second cartoon book published. His wife got her PhD from Dartmouth, and now works at the University of New Hampshire. That was our last evening at Days Inn, where we spent four nights. We were comfortable there, but we didn’t get out as much as we could have. If we go again, we’ll take advantage of some museums in the Concord area. The thing we missed most after leaving was the do-it-yourself breakfasts, with LOTS of choices. They even had make-it-yourself waffles, which I practically never find elsewhere! We could sit as long as we wanted in the breakfast room, comfortably reading the newspapers, which were also free. Bob especially appreciated the chance to use the computer in the office as long as he wanted to, at no charge. |
Heritage Park
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Nancy Murdock The next day we moved to Super 8 in Gardner, which is next to Friendly’s and across the street from Dunkin Donuts. We did fairly well at avoiding too much temptation, though, because Super 8 had put in a simple breakfast room setup. We found we could manage on the corn flakes with milk, orange-flavored “juice” or apple juice, and sometimes a small packaged donut. It was nice to get out of our room to eat. The Gardner public library was closed when we tried to get in. Apparently they had to cut their monetary support for the library, the same problem that Hubbardston had to work their way through. It is now closed on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. However, Priscilla Candy Shoppe, the chocolate place now owned by some of my classmates, was open, so we were able to get a souvenir to bring home to Colleen, who recalled the chocolates from exploring the city during our 50th wedding anniversary in 2000. We spent some time at the park in Gardner, eating lunch one day. There were only a few people there, so it was quite comfortable, except that they had some problem that caused them to call everyone in from the water. We took a few photos of us and the trees. We were fortunate to find some relatives and friends at home that week. So we set up dates and times that worked for them. Bob recalls the sequence of visits. First we visited my brother Steve, who was recovering from a bout with pneumonia. Fortunately, Steve was greatly improved from his status a week prior to our visit. Steve and Terry were still talking of the serious ice storm a few months ago. Their youngest daughter, Stephanie, had so much damage to her house that she had to replace a significant portion of her roof. Steve looked good, but he had to take it a little easy. We were glad to see him up and around. From there, we went to Hubbardston. On the way to my brother Tom’s house, we stopped to pick up a pizza at the Hubbardston pizza place that used to be down the lane a few years ago. I always loved their eggplant pizza, so I asked for cheese pizza with eggplant, sliced tomatoes, and some mushrooms (but not all over the pizza, in case some of the family didn’t particularly like mushrooms). It was yummy pizza! Tom had managed to find the lady in town who makes really great fruit pies at her home, for sale. The blueberry pie spoke well for Tom’s choice. I thought it was too early for blueberries in Hubbardston, but she appeared to have used some of those great big blue ones we had been getting here in MD - from New Jersey. We had a fine visit with Tom and Marcia and marveled at how their dog’s behavior toward unexpected company had improved. Whereas he used to bark continuously from the time we arrived, there was only one hello, and then he clearly was not just comfortable with our presence, but even pleased! Over the phone, Tom had talked me into buying a GPS from Wal-Mart. So far we haven’t set it up to use, but it is on my list for today or the next few days. I don’t want to continue to feel guilty about it - sitting there waiting to show its stuff! The next day we had a very enjoyable visit with Jane and Ken McCauley. Jane is one of our providers of news for The Murdock Muse. She had a batch of quilts displayed around the balcony railing, chosen based on the patterns and colors of quilts she had previously noticed I particularly liked. She also had several gifts for us, including prints of school photos that included my mother. They also gave me two purse-sized calendars, very handy to keep track of all that goes on here. And Jane had made me a special pin-cushion gift, with a glass vase as the base, topped with a large soft ball of quilt batting wrapped in fabric, to stick pins in during the quilting. She had made one for herself and several for family and friends. We also enjoyed seeing their garden, where some of the flowers were already advanced to what appeared to be full size. And Ken told us several stories of wild animals they have met on their property. They also served us a light repast that included homemade baked goods, very tasty. I decided that I need to offer more than a quilt show from now on, when friends stop by! No visit to Hubbardston would be complete without a rousing Scrabble game with Dotty. She had recently acquired another Scrabble game, so we helped her give it a good run. Also, a friend had brought her three bags of what he called “girlie books”, which I am still reading. Two of my favorites involved a fictional enormous earthquake in California, the worst ever, with all its upheaval of the area, including the spread of serious illnesses, starvation, people trapped underground, dangerous gangs, etc. Marine doctors, nurses, and others were called to do heroic deeds. It was fascinating! We went to the Barre Mill for dinner on the last evening, with Dot, Teddie, and Viki. Penny was unable to join us, but we were able to greet her at work the following morning, before we got on the road for our return trip. For the return trip, Bob did a great job of navigating, including going over the Tappan Zee Bridge. We are happy to recall that the trip was uneventful. We’re both glad we took this vacation, and we’re already wondering how we will arrange these trips after we move to the Upper Peninsula in Michigan. |
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Nancy Murdock Now that we have safely returned from our trip, we are looking ahead to many changes. Today, August 12, I filed for my retirement from the Social Security Administation. I have worked for them for more than 35 years, and both Bob and Darrel thought it was time for me to retire. So September 30 will be my final day at a real job. I can say that I have learned a lot and enjoyed my job, but I'm not sorry to be leaving it. There is a certain amount of frustration when writing policy. Sometimes it seems that every U.S. government organization is just waiting to keep my writing from reaching its audience. This isn't quite true, but when I feel I've dotted every i and crossed every t, I am on the verge of feeling sorry for myself when I can't get it published. Sigh! Today I was suddenly told that my latest bit of perfect policy has to wait until Treasury has published a document that makes it possible to bring mine out from the stack of "sections waiting patiently." Tomorrow, however, I will call Treasury's Kansas City Financial Center to finish updates to our instructions for reclamations of international payments that went out after the deaths of some beneficiaries residing abroad. International payments have been my favorite subject to work with, partly because I love communicating with the employees in all those exciting places, most of which I haven't seen. But also, I enjoyed being in on expanding the number of countries for which we offer International Direct Deposit, from the three that had been set up before I came to that unit, to the 44 that we now have. It's much less expensive for me than actually traveling to those places. Yesterday I received a message with all the current amounts of the dollar against the other currencies. I found some currencies I don't even recall finding in the Scrabble dictionary! Okay, I will admit I may be missing my job after retirement, but I plan to just make a nice scrapbook about my job and then go on to more quilting and painting. I almost forgot to say that for August into mid-September, I am the featured quilter of the month at the Seminole Sampler quilt shop in Catonsville, MD. We went there a couple of days ago after work, to see the display of my quilts they have set up. Not all got hung, but there is a good sampling of several types of quilts. To get an idea of what is showing, you can click here for Seminole Sampler and then click on "Quilter of the Month" at the top. |
(Aug-Sept 2009) |
Nancy Murdock In the 22 years we have lived here, I have made many friends. I am still figuring out how to stay in touch with them, including continuing with Sew & Tell and my Jewish ladies' book club. At the moment, there are so many things going on for me that I am feeling guilty already. Last Saturday, we went to a party with my book club friends. We watched an episode of "The #1 Ladies' Detective Agency," set in Botswana, Africa. It was wonderful!! Then in addition to an enjoyable supper together (including fruit, fruit pizza, chips, Bob's famous deviled eggs, my brownies, and several other interesting dishes), Kathy Fain, our hostess, gave me some wonderful Godiva chocolate bars. I felt a bit guilty, since we don't know when we will actually leave for the frozen north. In addition to the display at Seminole Sampler, my Sew & Tell friends are working diligently on what we call a "slice quilt." Genie Corbin divided a Baltimore scene into something like 16 pieces. Each member will work on her piece, and then Genie will stitch them into one gorgeous wall quilt, about 6 feet across. Today we received an invitation to a buffet luncheon with my co-workers, and friends who are interested. I know that some people whose names escape me want to be included, and I am hoping they hear of this party. Deborah is sending the invitation to all of our Sew & Tell friends. I'm a little afraid that by the time we actually move away, everyone who knows us will breathe a big sigh of relief! With most of my quilts on display at the quilt store, we were looking at mostly bare walls for a couple of weeks. Finally I looked through a pile of unfinished quilts that are waiting hopefully on a folding chair in the living room, and LO and BEHOLD, I found some finished ones! We quickly pinned them up in the dining room, which is the heart of our home. Now our home has more heart! And that's the news from Lake Woebegone, where all the quilts are beautiful, and all the old people are above average in energy! |
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Bob Murdock As Nancy suggested, the drive to NH via the GW Bridge was forgettable. That's my last word on it. Good bye, farewell, begone, amen. There are plenty of good memories to write about. Our first visit was near Nashua, NH for lunch with Roy and my cousin Priscilla Januskiewicz on July 10. They met us at a big shopping mall, and we followed them to a rather new Olive Garden. They both looked great, even though Roy was recovering from open heart surgery done a few weeks earlier, and Priscilla had a bout with pneumonia in April! 58 people attended the Howlett Family Reunion, if I counted right. Click here to see the list. If you see any mistakes, let me know before anybody else notices! Brad Howlett, Clyde's brother, and his family were not there this year. Clyde's sister, Eunice Bradley, departed this life on Sept. 11, 2008. Her daughter, Marion Clews, and granddaughter, Madene Harrell, were there, as you can see here. Honors for the visitors farthest from home go to Regina Howlett's sister, Karin Mariacher, and her daughter Salome and son Jan. They were visiting from Switzerland! You can see part of the family in this photo. A surprise visitor this year was Mary (Prentiss) Alger, who brought Paulette Howlett, a former schoolmate. Polly Joubert was in the same class, and you can see a picture of all three here. When we went to Hubbardston, we had a nice visit at the home of Ken and Jane McCauley, as Nancy said. We found out that Ken has been instrumental in the restoration of the Williamsville Chapel. Not only did he advocate it vigorously at town meetings, but has put in a lot of hours, along with helpers, doing the actual repairs. We also learned that for a while Ken had a pet raccoon! At Dotty's home we played Scrabble, no surprise. Although we all played skillfully, we weren't lucky in picking up the tiles, and ended up with a total score of less than 600. A pity! But it didn't matter because we had a nice time chatting and enjoying her food. Tedddie Doane arranged our visit to the Barre Mill. It was nice to see Viki there. We not only enjoyed the food, but the proprietor and head chef, Nick Coppolino, came out and talked with us. I told him we enjoyed the newspaper article Cindy had provided about their daughter Katie's awards. We reported the story in the May-June 2009 Muse. |
Photo by Sarah
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Lori Howlett August 26 - Dear Aunt Nancy and Uncle Bob, Here are some pictures I took from this year's reunion. I thought you might like to use some for the Muse. I had hoped to send them to you sooner than this, but time just got away from me. I hope all is well and you have been able to stay cool these nasty, hot days. Love, Lori [Ed. note - Lori mailed her photos to us on a CD. Our computer wasn't able to read the CD for some reason, but no problem - Lori has her reunion photos online, so we just copied several of those. Three of them ended up in our photo gallery, and the links are below. Others ended up as thumbnails beside articles, including this one.] Our 50th Anniversary Quilt Warren and John Amanda and friend |
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