A couple of grandsons can cause a lot of activity in just a short holiday weekend.

The schools were closed to celebrate the birthday and accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr., so our daughter and her family came over to spend time with the “rents” and the grand “rents.”

The two grandsons went with BJ and me to the annual Chili Cookoff and Bingo Night at the monthly Beach Club potluck dinner. The boys’ parents went to a movie and the Mezzaluna Lounge in Port Townsend for dinner. Nice deal, huh?

Moderator Steve Gross won the Chili Cookoff by a large margin having obviously spent large sums of money buying the votes needed to win. Actually, he just bullied us into voting for him.

There was no evidence of humility as he wore his “winner” medallion throughout the evening. It appeared to be made of the finest cheap plastic and probably was stolen from the “free” table at Archie McPhee’s emporium of junky gifts in Seattle.

The grandsons had great fun playing bingo in the several games called by Vic Draper. They even got me to buy them a “blackout” card for the last game of the evening. Their excitement provided great entertainment as they got close to filling the card.

While the grandsons were here, we also spent time in the Beach Club pool, watching football, having lunch at Spruce Goose and getting water samples from Teal Lake for a science project. We ran into Pete Tallerico and Steve Gross at the “goose,” also enjoying the fine lunch cuisine.

I recently met Kathy Bates, not the actress. Bates is the local group leader for Quilts of Valor, an ongoing national service organization which connects civilians with service members and veterans.

The group began by awarding healing quilts to returning service men and women touched by war. It has expanded to include veterans from all the military services. Bates tells me they make and award about 100 quilts per year locally and are always looking for people who would like to have them make a quilt to award a deserving veteran or service man or woman.

Typically a person contacts Quilts of Valor and requests a quilt for someone, and that makes it a tax-deductible donation. If you are interested in making a donation, you can contact Bates at 360-316-9798 or 1kathybates@gmail.com.

The season of preparing and submitting your tax return is almost upon us. Once again the AARP Tax Aide army is here to help. Assistance in preparing your return will be available starting the first week in February in the community centers in Quilcene, Chimacum and Port Townsend.

In Quilcene, folks will be there Feb. 23, March 9, March 23 and April 6. The phone number is 360-765-3321. At the Tri-Area Community Center in Chimacum, help is available on Mondays from noon to 3:30 p.m., and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The phone number is 360-390-4014, option 4. In Port Townsend, you can make an appointment for Tuesday or Friday from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The phone number is 360-385-9007.

This Saturday night at 7:30 p.m., the beautiful soprano trio Viva will perform in the next Port Ludlow Performing Arts concert. By all written accounts, Anna, Erin and Katya are not to be missed!

Last week, I observed that sometimes the thoughts in my head get bored and go for a stroll out through my mouth or computer. This is never a good thing.

Love a curmudgeon and have a great week!

Ned Luce can be reached by email at NedLuce@sbcglobal.net.