Happy Birthday Unk..... Happy anniversary Gramps

"Well Folks, I was just given a direct order to write about son Charles Birthday. I don't know if this will go over to well with him, but I guess I better take a stab at it and try to do a smoothie. He is a little famous for being born at DeGraff Hospital on June 29, 1943 at 10:30 pm; during a city wide blackout while WWII was taking place.

We lived with my mother-in-law on good ole Grove Street while his soldier father was overseas in the army. His uncle Fred followed in Gramps footsteps and joined the Navy. He was surrounded by women, who spoiled him rotten. My mother-in- law, sister-in-laws, and aunts were at his beck and call. When little Chuck was two years old, we thought he might have a career as an actor. He was quite accomplished singing and dancing to the tune of "Bell Bottom Trousers", which was a song that was very popular during the war.

His father was stationed overseas from September 1943 to May 1945 when he was injured and sent home with a medical discharge. He traveled through Germany, France, and Belgium protecting our nation.

Chuck was almost three years old before we were reunited as a family once again. So, his dear father never changed any of his stinky diapers (and there were many).

Charles played football, baseball, and basketball at Tonawanda High School. His athletic abilities earned him a scholarship at Ithaca College to play sports for the Ithaca Bombers. (While doing research at www.ithaca.edu, I came across the coaches for the above sports; Bucky Freeman was the headcoach who retired in the early 70's). However his athletic commitment was put on the back burner so he could work to pay for his education; which proved to be the right decision as he received his teaching degree and was not picked for the NFL or the MLB draft. He made quite a name for himself, being popular with his students, an excellent and knowledgeable teacher; who went out of his way to help his students succeed.

His teaching career began at Cardinal Dougherty on Hertle Ave and concluded at East Aurora High School, after 40 plus years of service.

His father and I were so proud of "our little singer" who grew up to be a outstanding gentleman. Tomorrow is his birthday and I am going (page 3) to call him in the morning and sing Happy Birthday for the 63rd time. I am sure my voice will crack, but he will put up with it. He came in to see me yesterday and of course we went to lunch. He tried to con me into paying for his meal, but I reminded him that I bought the last meal. I guess he is getting forgetful. I don't know where the time has gone seems like just yesterday he was my little boy. Today he is a family man with a daughter and a son who are both following in their father's footsteps by being successful, hardworking, intelligent, (yada yada blah blah, Gram did say that).

I guess the saying is true; "Time marches on."

Happy Birthday my dear son, I love you.

Gram

P.S. I am sure your dad is very proud of you, and wherever he may be I hope he makes your special day a happy one.

Bonnaroo Bound and Back

Bonnaroo is a three day music and arts festival in Manchester, Tennesse. Some may call it a modern day Woodstock, and others may see it as a Hippies annual convention. Either way it is definately a sight to be seen!
Dilemma #1: Finding a ride down. This was quickly solved by latching onto 2 Bonnaroo Boundians who were the friends of friends of our friends.
Dilemma#2: Trying to fit everything into a Jeep Cherokee. We didnt really need to see out the back while driving apparently.

But after all dilemmas were solved, we were off on what was supposed to be a 12 hour drive, but turned into 15 after waiting in line to enter the farm for 3 hours!

As you can see space was at a premium that weekend. Let me tell you a little about our neighbors. To the right of us was a group of modern day hippies from Massachusettes, one young man in particular was wearing a skirt and selling granola out of the back of his mom's Lincoln. On the other side was a group of Miami college boys who drove in on their BMW SUV.

75 bands....100,000 people....and enough marijuana to put the DEA out of business. This is what Bonnaroo is all about! It was quickly noted that me and my 3 traveling companions were the minority, where everyone else in the place was high off of some drug. That weekend Summy and I were offered a myriad of drugs, mostly because the person was sorry they just spilled beer all over us or puked on us. It was a nice gesture. John, our driver, was stereotyped as an acid user. Consequently the same hippy came to our tent every morning to see if John needed a replenishment.

This is the 'Shroom fountain, the water smelled like Sulfur, but as you can see people really seemed to enjoy it even though the smell was burning my nose hairs.

Lets not forget that through all this excitement concerts were actually going on from noon until 5am! But Summy and I found it more important to beat the crap out of these giant bobbleheads!!! We weren't too sure whether they were supposed to resemble someone famous.

We did see some pretty amazing bands: Tom Petty, Radiohead, Phil Lesh, Beck, yadda yadda...

This is The Cat Empire from Australia, obviously a lesser known band because I had such a close shot. When the bigger bands came on I was obviously pushed to the back.

Thats Beck to the right..........>

One of the best concerts that weekend was by Matisyahu...a jewish rapper. (im serious) He was amazing and let the crowd know that everyone on this earth was put here to make babies, so make them right now, right here. Im not sure if anyone followed through on his demands, but the crowd seemed to support his declaration.

This is Summy and I in the Silent Disco, the music was streamed only through the headphones...One nice girl who was wearing a bee costume for no reason told me I needed to shake my booty a little more, I have been practicing ever since.

It was evident all weekend, that I wasn't dressed appropriately.

My preppy style did not fit in and I seemed to be the outcast. However this seemed to be the dressed code all weekend.

It was easy to forget that the festival was all about peace, love, and saving the environment. But a few good people remembered the purpose of Bonnaroo and were gracious enough to remind us.

On Sunday (Father's day) one nice gentleman reminded all of us to call our dads...."But not while tripping." I had no idea "Call" was spelled that way!

After Sunday night's concert we drove the 13 hours home. Back at home on monday, while sitting in my new hand woven hammock which smelled of cannibus.....

I examined my severely swollen ankles and I tried to come to grips with the amazing, eye opening, jaw dropping weekend that I just experienced. And then I started planning for next year's voyage to Bonnaroo.

Posted by JilltheThrill

Desert adventures!

Just a quick post to let everyone know that Mom and I are home from our desert adventures! We had a wonderful time. Our favorite activities were eating various food items slathered in green chili, looking at (and sometimes buying!) jewelry, and climbing on rocks. Here's a great picture of Mom at Pecos National Memorial. Indian ruins AND a civil war battlefield. COOL!
Another favorite activity was complaining about not being able to breathe because of the altitude. 7000 feet is pretty darn high, and given that there are still BIG mountains in the distance, you kinda forget about it until you're entirely out of breath from doing something strenous, like trying to talk and walk at the same time.

Let me tell you, the 68% humidity here in Atlanta feels pretty darn good after 2% in Santa Fe. I made mom drink a bottle of water every half hour, so she wouldn't end up looking like this. I'm not sure I'm a desert girl. There's hardly enough sunscreen in the world for me!

Another highlight was going to see the Albuquerque Isotopes play the something something River Rocks. Triple A ball -- and a very nice stadium. Even the hot dogs had green chili on them! Luckily there were some cold beers to wash it all down. PHEW!

All in all, a great weekend. It's hard to be back at work. 'Course, mom had final adventure -- after leaving her in the Atlanta airport for what should have been 15 more minutes of layover, it took her another 3 hours to get home. Stupid Delta and their broken pilot chairs!

Bass Season Opens Today... Rabbit Season

I took off on Monday June 12th and went fishing with my Brother-in--law Bill down on Lake Chautauqua. As you can see it was a lil' chilly. We were fishing for perch and crappie and this bass was caught while just looking for a meal. Nice lil' fight on a light weight Mitchell rod & reel, using 2 lb. test. Who was driving the boat?


Hey "Laughing Boy" no more bullets.

The adventures of Jenna

Well many of you have been wondering where I have been. If you haven't, well here goes anyway. As many of you know, I have accepted a full-time position as a recruitment and retention specialist. But, in my spare time; which happens on a regular basis; I help my best friend run her restaurant. Everyone meet Katie. Katie meet my family.

The Tiki Hut has personal and family ties to Katie. You see, her great grandparents built the business and her house next door in the 1940's. Her great grandparents opened the business and then passed it on to Katie's grandparents, and now it's in Katie's hands. Back in the 1940's when it was called Haines River Walk the hot items were candy, cigarettes, and hot dogs. Now, we have developed a healthier style menu and serve; wraps, pitas, salads, smoothies, etc. (To the right tipping customer we might throw in a Marlboro for old times sake).

It has been a great time in my life helping run a business. Although it can be difficult at times; the positives outweigh the negatives by far. For my loving family who may not have the luxury to try one of our famous wraps or pitas; here are a few pictures for you to enjoy.

The location is almost like a postcard view. The Tiki Hut sits right on Niagara Street overlooking the Niagara River. The view at night when the sun goes down is priceless. In case our customers want to relax, we have placed chairs and a few tables for them to enjoy. We are currently in the process of putting an addition on the place, equipped with two skylights and an overhead for the shade and protection. (You know seagulls can be dangerous during this time).

But Katie and I always discuss ways to generate more revenue and help attract more customers. So, here are a few ideas that we have talked about. Perhaps my family could provide feedback.

1. Cousin Jeff has been added to our payroll this year. Since he has volunteered to wear his coconut bra and hula skirt our sales have increased by 40%. In fact, he even asked his friends to join in on the fun. But, I do suggest he goes tanning. He has scared a few customers away.

2. Every Saturday nights we have Karokee from 4-9pm. It draws a great crowd, especially since we tell our customers its an audition for American Idol. Every Wednesday night, we have sumo wrestling competitions. Here is Chia as reigning champion last Wednesday. He decided to wrestle one of our regulars, so we might have to cancel the Sumo idea.

3. We have just installed a new security system in case of an emergency. Just in case we have thieves that decide to hold up the place.

So, as you can see I have been pretty busy. Now on to planning Holtzapalooza. BY THE WAY, THERE WAS A BIRTHDAY YESTERDAY!!!!!

A Recap of the Holtzapalooza Planning Committee

How I remember It
By JT Pilaf

Auntie P, always the cautious one, suggested that we take precautions with the Asian Bird Flu getting close to our infallable town. Our strong headed family was reluctant but we conceded and all wore these outfits so as to not become infected from lingering viruses.
We all gathered at the Pickford Castle and quickly dove into our cold refreshing beverages.



I had on the agenda a few games before we started our meeting. I thought we could do sack races or anything really to break the ice and get our brain juices flowing. I handed out the sacks for the races, but was surprised that the participants had no idea how to use the sacks. All of them put them on their heads and just started runnning around.





After explaining to them how it worked I teamed my father, Mr. Fixit and my dear uncle up together. My dad thought that a three legged race meant he should put both of his legs in the sack and then try and run. I didn't have the heart to tell him he was wrong. Suprisingly they won.



After a meet-n-greet with the Fire and Ice girls we tried to get the grill started for dinner.






We tried everything to get that grill lit. Explosives, gas soaked wood, everything.

You'd think Mr. Fixit would have had something in his car's trunk to help us out.










Unckie C was willing to use his head and blow on the fire to finally get it going.
We all cheered uproarously and then doused his head in water to put him out. Thank goodness he wasn't wearing mousse that day.











I grilled up our dinner and everyone really seemed to enjoy it. Then I handed each of them a note.















Ahhhhh, good times. I love playing the role of the practical joker. Unfortunately my mother has a pretty weak stomach and couldn't hold dinner down.


After dinner we started our meeting. Unckie C tried to capture sunlight in two coconuts as a offering to the Holtzapallooza gods.


We started talking about what we should bring, food, entertainment, etc... Then Auntie B suggested that maybe Hottie McPhee might be available to perform (she did lose to Taylor). Chewbakka's name was also suggested... maybe they could do a duet?


















So... basically we're all bringing three bags of charcoal..
because that's all I can remember. I tried writing everything down. But the thoughts of Hottie McPhee and Chewie singing together just made my mind wander. Can you blame me? That Chewie can really sing.

Well, everyone left and it was time to clean up the backyard. Hopefully, we don't get cleanup duty at Holtzapaloooza.