Spud spree, Siobhan Canty, sympathy for Terry

Posted

The Memorial Day weekend was really special this year, with outstanding weather and almost 300 American flags displayed in East Jefferson County by locals who subscribe to the Rotary program.

There is a big garage sale in Port Ludlow every Memorial Day weekend, an event, I am told, that draws many folks who live outside of the area. They had to be impressed by the displays.

The annual LMC Potato Potluck at The Beach Club held all the usual elements, except for the bad jokes.

Moderator Steven Gross finally found a place where he could get some better material. Congratulations, Steven. The potatoes were big, the side dishes were tasty, and the desserts defied any reasonable caloric calculations. As usual, the Port Ludlow tradition of having newer folks, as well as those who have never attended the event, introduce themselves yielded several new members of the community. The good news for the value of your abode is that there seem to be more and more of the newer variety.

I am a member of the Jefferson Community Foundation board of directors. Until recently, the foundation had been without a permanent replacement for Carla Caldwell, longtime executive director.

In April, we hired the talented Siobhan Canty to fill that position. She has been on a mission to meet as many people in the area who had, have or might have an interest in the programs of the foundation, most notable being United Good Neighbors and the Fund for Women and Girls.

To assist her in that mission, I was asked to introduce her to David and Teresa Goldsmith. Siobhan and I were at Better Living Through Coffee waiting for them when Teresa walked up. She and Siobhan immediately recognized each other from Siobhan’s recent and successful effort to get into a home of her own. I thus ended my role as the facilitator. Then David showed up, and I found out more interesting tidbits from his life than I ever realized. For instance, did you know his military draft number was 8? Not real lucky, were you, David?

Regular readers know that I went to Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, while both my wife, BJ, and fellow Port Ludlow Rotarian Terry Umbreit went to rival school, DePauw University. Nothing frustrates Terry more than to have me win something, like the “scam” at Rotary, which I did a couple of weeks ago. The only thing that could frustrate him even more would be if I won again a mere two weeks later. Yep, that is what happened! Please express your sympathy to poor Terry.

The other side of the coin is that I generally have a poker game that same evening and promptly surrender my “scam” winnings to Terry and others.

Finally, I have a little advice for you from an unknown author: “Swim against the current. Even a dead fish can go with the flow.” Unfortunately, this advice does not help you in a poker game.

Love a curmudgeon and have a good week.