The Murdock Muse - September, 2013
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MUSE INDEX Dropdown menus LINKS Previous issues What's New Birthdays and Anniversaries Muse readers' own websites Muse History Sept. 2013 Photo Gallery Murdock 2013 Photo Gallery Nancy's Quilts |
CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE: R.I.P. STEVE HOWLETT (Nancy Murdock) Click R.I.P. PENNY SALMINEN (Bob Murdock) Click HOWLETT FAMILY REUNION (Polly Joubert) Click MURDOCK FAMILY GATHERING (Dotty and Teddie) Click OUR BACK YARD (Bob & Nancy Murdock) Click BUSY WEEKS (Gene Murdock) Click |
"Thank you, Matisse" Gallery photo Quilt index |
Memorial Pages Obituary Randy's Eulogy |
Bob Murdock On June 30, 2013 my sister Dotty lost a daughter and I lost a niece, Penny Salminen. She died after an illness at age 49. Penny was born in Hubbardston, Mass., the daughter of Sulo and Dorothy (Murdock) Salminen. She was predeceased by her father and a sister, Wanda Schindo. She is fondly remembered by her mother; a brother, Randy Salminen; and three sisters: Sally Bacon, Teddie Doane, and Viki Blakley. Many people remember Penny as the smiling face at Dunkin Donuts, at several locations in Gardner, Mass. Nancy and I saw her one time at the store across from Super 8. "You seem to enjoy servicing everybody," I said. "I sure do," Penny replied. "I'm a people person!" At one time, Penny worked at a chicken farm in Hubbardston. It was unique in having "free-walking" hens. I was impressed that Penny worked for a company that produced nationally famous eggs. |
and Cathy |
Polly Joubert The reunion day at John and Cathy’s house in Chichester, NH was a beautiful sunny day similar to last year’s weather. When I arrived things were beginning to pick up with conversation and food. Stan and I sat at the table with Scott and Paulette, Matthew, Kendra and little Carter. All of John’s family was milling about still helping with the food setup. I thought it best to wait a little before trying to get everyone at once to start my information gathering. Stan and I are retired, live in Tilton, NH and have wintered in Florida. Recently we sold our home there so will have to put up with winter cold and snow…brrrrr. Scott and Paulette came together and Regina didn’t make it this year. Paulette is retired now but does a lot of volunteer work which keeps her busy. Scott works for Hart Engineering as an Electrical Engineer and Regina who is absent works in a bank. Matthew Leary, my grandson, works for Diversified Construction as a labor foreman and is currently doing work at University of New Hampshire. His fiancé Kendra works at Capitol Vision as an Optician, and little Carter who will be one year old very soon, spends days with his grandma Dianna Leary and little cousin Ashlyn while the parents work. Dianna has a lot of patience and loves caring for these sweethearts. My granddaughter Shannon and her boyfriend Nick Jewell attended this year and have both had a busy year working. Shannon works as a programmer and analyst for MediTech and commutes every day from Nashua, NH to Westwood, MA. That in itself is a day’s work. Shannon and Nick share an apartment in Nashua. Nick works for Cryo Industries of America and is currently a lab technician. At some point he would like to further his education. My other grandson (Warren) from NH and his girlfriend Robin did not make it this year as they were mountain climbing in northern NH. Their little daughter Ashlyn who is 9 months old, did attend though as she arrived with her grandpa Rennie after doing the Farmer’s Market that morning. Ashlyn usually goes to the market while Rennie sells local beef, chicken and veggies. He stated she attracts many customers to his location. Rennie is still working days for Jobin Real Estate Rentals, a realtor with many properties to attend to. Many evenings he goes to Mountain farm in Bradford, NH to attend to the veggies. He also has a nice garden at his home that supplies them with fresh veggies every day. Yummmmm. Dianna babysits the two sweethearts daily and works part time for the State of NH at the liquor store in Concord where she is in charge of inventory. Considering all of this it is unusual to find anyone home on weekends and evenings. Also attending was Brittney Quimby, Dianna’s daughter who is a sales person for Granite Ledge Coffee. This is the best coffee in NH as it is locally roasted. Brit sells at several Farmer’s Markets. Kevin did not make the reunion this year due to illness in Lori’s family. He is still working for the State of MA in Travel and Tourism and Lori is still working for Boston Financial. They have a busy schedule also. My brother Doug and his wife Carol came up from Massachusetts with their son Rob and his little son Thor. Doug and Carol have been dealing with some medical issues and we all pray they will have a healthier year. They are both retired and live in Hudson, MA. I’m sorry I did not get information on regarding Rob’s employment. Sorry for this omission and will do a better job next time. Anyway Rob is a great person and drives Doug and Carol the long distance from Hudson to Chichester. Thor is a handsome little boy and if I were to guess I would say 8 years old. Doug the younger, also dropped in from Lowell, MA where he works in construction. His wife couldn’t make it as she was working as the manager of a McDonald’s restaurant. Doug had a fantastic tan and looked the part of a movie star... My cousin Claudia came from California for a visit again this year and I was pleased to have her stay at my home for the week of the reunion. She then went to her cousin Doug and Barb Fleming's in Lunenburg for another week. So sorry to say the weather in NH was less than inviting. One of the days we nearly drowned from downpours and when we went to the craft fair in Wolfeboro, NH it was so hot Claudia was on the verge of heat stroke so we called it a day and returned home. We did get a chance to go to a great Thrift/Consignment store in Meredith, NH where she was able to find some nice gifts including a Salmon Falls pitcher for a gift to her second hosts, the Flemings and a sugar bowl with a rooster on it (my favorite). Claudia remembers the great collection of roosters I had in my home in Webster but now have no room for big collections. Claudia also got to enjoy some great fried clams which are not available in California and we had lobsters cooked at home before going to a fireworks display put on by Rennie in Penacook, NH on the 4th of July. We hope Claudia enjoyed her visit here in NH. Claudia and her husband Dennis do a lot of traveling on cruise ships and sounds like they have a very good life there in California. Our host and hostess John and Cathy are both enjoying their retirement and are busy with gardening of flowers and veggies and raising some hens for fresh eggs. As usual they put on a marvelous spread with enough food for an army. By the looks of it, I think the army may have arrived as the leftovers were little. The ribs now cooked by Sean were out of this world and the hamburgers and hot dogs disappeared as quickly as they hit the table.. Many thanks for all the work put into this reunion. Their daughter Sarah has taken to mothering the chickens from their tiny selves to now. I’m sure they know her voice and obey her commands...Sarah is attending school now for legal nurse consulting and is currently interning at Upton and Hatfield’s in Concord, NH., and enjoying it. Sarah is living in Chichester while she finishes school. Lori (Lorraine) Howlett has a new position working for Hospice Care as manager all over the Boston area. She is also studying for her Masters degree at University of NH. Lori’s children, Nick, who is in the 8th grade and a great cello player, Jessica, who is in the 2nd grade and Patrick who is 21 years old now attended along with their sister Amanda who is a cook at Pizza Palace. Amanda's good friend Caleigh Smith was there too. They have a nice home in Norwood, MA. It sounds like a very busy family. Sean and Kris came down from Center Barnstead, NH with their three children, Tommy who is in the 6th grade, Joey who is in the 2nd grade now and little Maddy who is 4 years old. It’s just hard to believe how fast the years go by. Sean is a youth counselor at the Sununu Youth Center. I’m sure that is a challenging job. Kris is a probation and parole office for the State of NH and works out of Dover, NH. As a family they recently took a vacation trip to Michigan and enjoyed a lot of camping and outdoors adventures. Sean did a great job cooking for the whole crew and found time to put on a great fireworks display. Thank you for all your work Sean. Also attending were our longtime friends Warren and Nancy Leary. Until recently they were both employed but now join the rest of the ranks as retired. Warren had been a political appointee working for the state of NH but was not appointed by the most recently elected governor. Nancy had worked for Huggins Hospital in Wolfeboro for 20 some years and was recently laid off. Welcome to retirement!!!! Cathy's two sisters, Fran Gill and Marge Mackesey drove up from MA again this year. Always glad to see them and hope they come every year. Tom Mackesey, Cathy's nephew drove over from Rindge, NH. John and Lisa Mackesey drove up from Maynard, MA with their two children. It's always nice to see all of Cathy's family joining the affair. Hope to see them all again next year. It was nice seeing everyone again this year and hope to see some of my brother Steve’s family next year. Unfortunately I had not seen his family for some years, and recently met them again at Steve’s funeral. He will be missed by all. May God watch over his large family. |
Matriarch
photographer BFD 2013 Photo Gallery |
Dotty Salminen and Teddie Doane By Dotty: This is about the August 4, 2013 Family Gathering at Barre Falls Dam in Hubbardston, MA. Ernie, Eric, Tricia, and Sarah Bacon were not there because they had understood the date of the Gathering wrong so purchased tickets to a Red Sox game and of course, HAD to go there! Sally was with us. Margie and Jack had to miss it this year and so Patryk and Darcy did not come either. We missed them all. Kevin, Gail, and Kyle were the only ones from Bob Schlicke's family this year. We hope they will all be there next year. Rebecca, Keith, Samantha, and Meghan Whalen were not there due to a death in Keith's family. There were 24 relatives and friends present from Dotty's family. Two siblings (Barb and Dick and Art and Lorraine) and cousins Keith and Ron and Diana were a wonderful addition, and surprise guests, Polly (Howlett) Joubert and her husband Stan. Uncle Ken's son Ron had come last year and we all enjoyed visiting with him. This year Keith came and everyone just loved him. Ron and Diana came later and it was fun watching the interaction between them. I wanted to know about some "bird" houses high up in a tree. Four in all. There were no holes for the birds to go in! I pointed them out to Keith and he walked down to the tree with me and said that they were bat houses and that the bats went into them through a small opening in the bottom of each house! We then crossed over to the other side of the road and saw several that looked like flat boards as if a sign was supposed to be on them. But they were put together on a frame with another piece on the other side of the frame. Lots of bats could fit in each one of them! And that is why there are very few mosquitoes at Barre Falls Dam! Thanks to Keith for the lesson! In all there were 36 attendees this year as compared to 42 last year. By Teddie: We all had a great time as usual! So nice to catch up with everyone! The food was super! We had all of the usual picnic fare. Casey (who works at a produce stand) brought corn on the cob and fresh peaches! We roasted the corn on the coals and it was wonderful! Thanks, Casey! Most of the younger generation spent a lot of the day playing volleyball. A storm had been predicted but held off until the very last minute! And then what a storm it was!! Rain, wind, hail, lightning, and thunder accompanied us all the way home! [Ed. note - Here are some comments from Polly Joubert - - RDM] August 7 - I had a great time at the Murdock reunion just reconnecting with Teddie and Sally who I remember as children. Also Bill Doane who I knew as a kid who lived on Main St in Hubbardston. I did forward all the pictures to Teddie as I figured she could attach all the names for you. I imagine she has been busy as Barb and Dick were in Hubb. for a week, ending today. Dick looked pretty good for someone going through cancer treatments. Barb was her same bouncy self, telling of her travels prior to the reunion. She went to NY to her granddaughter's wedding then on to visit some people where she used to live. She and Dick will be going to Nashua NH today for a conference of that "philosophy" group they belong to. Dotty looked really good and greeted us when we arrived. I had told Teddie, who told Dotty that we would be coming but not to tell Barb. She was genuinely surprised. I truly enjoyed the dam area itself as I remember it prior to the dam being built and it was just a little grove with a little fishing stream. Sept. 9 - I've been thinking about the reunions I visited this year and still just can't believe the BIG change in the Barre Falls Dam. So many many years ago it was so different when we used to go down there while my dad fished in the stream and we sat on a blanket eating sandwiches with my mother. Now the changes are wonderfully different but didn't spoil anything. There is still plenty of land to roam around on and a nice pavilion to eat at. |
Gallery photo
Gallery photo |
Bob & Nancy Murdock Our back yard in Michigan's Upper Peninsula gets more interesting all the time. In winter, snow covers everything but there is a lot of activity at the bird feeder. Chickadees, juncos, chipmunks and squirrels love the birdseed supplied by Darrel and Mary. Darrel had to grease the pole with Vaseline to prevent the acrobatic rodents from doing their mischief. In early spring, the big yellow forsythia bush is an eye catcher. It's in the neighbor's yard, but we have the best view of it. Nancy has a smaller forsythia in the garden beside our driveway. Seven tulips bloomed early, much to the delight of a female deer, who hopped over the fence and ate most of the blossoms! A neighbor's tulips were untouched, thanks to a repellent she used. Ours will now be treated the same way. In front of the fence on the west side of the back yard are several Peony plants. In early summer the white blossoms are large and gorgeous, and we like to keep a few of them in our living room, for their beauty and fragrance. Alas, the Peony season is very short, just two or three weeks. Along the fence on the south side are several varieties of flowering plants: hostas, impatiens, iris, tulips, and sweet william. Closer to the house, Darrel and Mary planted some of these at the base of our bird bath, making it a beautiful sight from our bedroom window. The bird bath itself is very popular, especially on hot summer days. Mostly it provides a beverage for birds and squirrels, but the robins, especially, like to splash around in the water. One time recently a flock of robins took turns in the bath, but there was room for only one at a time. If a robin tried to land in an occupied area, the occupant would flap and peck and say "Get out of here! This is MY bathtub!" The bird bath has also been popular with crows, but for a different reason. Wednesday is trash pick-up day, and one crow knows where to go to find slices of bread, or hot-dog rolls. But apparently these are more edible when soaked in water, hence the bird bath. Mary says that she has found some of these morsels in the water when she went to fill the bird bath. |
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Gene Murdock On Saturday, May 25, Scott and Debbie arrived from Denver to spend an early Father’s Day with me. I planned a day with activities for all. We started out by going to Southwest of Glenwood so they could see the new highway under construction that will take US 34 straight across the Missouri River to Nebraska. We then headed south on a county road that I like to use because it is such peaceful and pleasant driving compared to the Interstate that it parallels. A few miles down we turned east to go through the town of Tabor that was devastated by a tornado not too long ago. The devastation was fairly well cleaned up, but many buildings were boarded up and deserted. Then south to the small city of Hamburg for Scott to see and photograph the Carnegie Library there. He “collects” them like I do. We crossed the river so I could see how the very busy tourist region there had recovered from the great floods. They were just about back to normal. Up the hill into Nebraska City I took them to the outlet mall to accommodate Debbie’s desire to do some shopping. I plunked myself down at a table in the wide walkway, got a Coke and settled in to enjoy the scenery. Scott came back after a little while and joined me. Debbie took a little longer, but when she appeared she had two bags full of stuff. From the mall we drove into the city to find lunch, and ended up at an Arby’s. Then it was off to the west. A few miles out was an old military site that Scott wanted to visit, but we spotted it too late to make a turn in to the adjacent county road, and there was no access to it after that. On we went up north to visit Weeping Water which claims the title of the greatest limestone plant in Nebraska. I wanted to see the place up close. After that we were all pooped so we headed home. On Friday, June 14, we celebrated Flag Day and Father's Day at Linnwood. All fathers (four of us) were told to invite our families. I did, and was delighted to have Tim, Lindsey and Ashley all come in for a picnic style lunch. It was wonderful to see tham all, and even more so when they brought me up to date on their current activities. Tim had just signed up with the National Guard to go back in (with a promotion) and get training in the intelligence field! He is headed for Fort Huachuca in Arizona. Ashley continues her studies at Iowa Western school in food service, and does Internship in catering at a local Hy-Vee Grocery store. (My favorite place to grocery shop, and just look around.) Then I turned to Lindsey who had a small photo in her hand to show me. It was a print of the pregnancy sonogram showing her child that is due about mid January. I learned that I was going to become a great-grandfather! What a day!! That afternoon, Lee Ann called me from the Aviation Museum to tell me that she had just submitted her resignation effective at the end of the month. Wow! I am now planning a quick trip out there to see her before she moves out - probably on Tuesday, so I’ll be singing Happy Birthday to Barbara all the way out. Whew, this has been a delightful, exciting few weeks for this kid! |
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