The Weekend Roundup - 'I'

It's time for Tom's fun meme The Weekend Roundup. Today the third vowel is featured and it has its challenges...but persist I did!

Ice skating begins with 'I'. This is Dad and my big sister Michele on a neighborhood Ice Rink in St. Paul Minnesota, January 1959

Irish Dancers also starts with 'I'. This is the fantastic dancers from the Mulkerin School of Irish Dance in West Haven, CT. They dane in Ansonia for the raising of the Irish flag in March and other events during the year. Wearin' O' the green!

This is at New York City's Idlewild Airport (now JFK International). The year was 1962 and here is my Dad (in beret) at customs at the old and long gone International Arrivals building. Dad was a travel writer for UPI in the early '60s and traveled a lot. He liked the travel part but a he was low paid reporter in a very expensive city. The kids would travel to Idlewild to pick him after a trip and you could see the (lack of) action from upstairs...

Back to Icy we go. I'd be happy to keep the warmth of now; however, realizing the beauty of Winter we look at an Icy pond at Witek Park in neighboring Derby. Have a great week all!

The Weekend Roundup - 'G'

A missed week of Tom's meme The Weekend Roundup is not what I prefer. However, I am back for today's prompts, which means the seventh letter of the alphabet.

Graduate starts with 'G', and I have a few memories here. Top, dad graduated from Ohio's Bowling Green State University. As a bonus, he is with Grandma & Grandpa too!

I am a Graduate of Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. Aside me is my Dad, 27 years later...

I like the rainbow that showed up for daughter Allegra's Graduation from Ansonia HS, 2006. I imagine she's had lots of Good Luck since then!

Our son Graduated from the University of Hartford in 2012. Allegra also graduated from the U of H (2010).

The George Washington Bridge is another. Known locally as the GWB, it appears to the right. I love looking at that 1931 beauty (but not necessarily being involved in its traffic :) Photo is from 2000 from the Henry Hudson Parkway.

Green is best represented (IMO) by this immaculate 1960 Plymouth Valiant. It is a lovely teal-green paint. Not pretty to be sure, but my favorite choice on the ballot at that show. It must have been the color...Have a great week all!

The Weekend Roundup - 'E'

It's fun to be back for Tom's great meme, The Weekend Roundup. The second vowel is featured and I'm living in the past to start...

Today we are in the NYC Manhattan for the annual Easter Parade, April 19, 1957. Aunt Terry (at 15), Grandma and Grandpa visited the parade where many a 'stylish' hat was worn. I like my aunt's flying saucer hat. Another 'E' is the WPIX truck emblazoned with Channel Eleven...

Like Tom, I found a 1959 Edsel! I like the way it looks but it has been estimated that ford lost upwards of $250 Million, and that was in 1959! Those losses then would be about $2.6 Billion in today's money. Yikes!! Have a great week all!

The Weekend Roundup - 'D'

It's fun to be back for Tom's great meme, the Weekend Roundup.

My first 'D' is The First State, Delaware. This photo was taken by our 8 year old son along I-95 on a family vacation in 2000. 

Here is my Delicious Dinner at Copper City Restaurant recently. Underneath the crisp fried onions is a braised short rib (fork tender), perfectly sautéed green beans and garlic mashed potatoes. 'Tasty' describes it well!

Dusk. We left Copper City as dusk settles in over Downtown Ansonia.

Dodge. I like old Dodges like my Grandpa's 1955 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer (3 tone: white, plum and black) with my big sister Michele posing. At our home in St. Paul Minnesota,1959.

And finally, one more old Dodge, a 1936. I like this photo as I took the hubcap and whitewall from wheelchair height - look closely and you will see the photographer. Have a great week all!

The Weekend Roundup - 'C'

The heat and humidity of July has made it to Southern New England, but being this day it is time for Tom's fun meme The Weekend Roundup. Here is my eclectic mix for the week.

Given the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing, I offer a look at the last person to walk on the moon in 1972 - astronaut Gene Cernan in 1966. When Dad worked at then United Aircraft, they built rocket engines (note the Pratt & Whitney Eagle logo on the motor). The boy is not me in this publicity photo:) The days of pioneers made of the right stuff seem to be fading 40+ years later...

Another view from 1966 is Grandpa at the impressive Garden of the Gods outside Colorado Springs, Colorado. I visited this park a couple of decades later and the balancing rock there is amazing! 

How about Contrails? Our patio in Ansonia sits under the flight path from JFK Airport in New York City. The large number of originating flights to Europe each evening fly overhead when the winds are favorable. Given its location, this big twin (777, A330 or 787) took off from Runway 4 Left at JFK. Despite the orientation of the pic, it is actually going up, not down (yes, I am being true to my Airhead self :)

The Weekend Roundup - 'B'

The second letter of the alphabet is the prompt this week for Tom's fun meme, The Weekend Roundup. The consonant  'B' offers many eclectic choices of photo to post about...

Here is the famed Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. My brother Chris, a resident of the Beehive State, captured this while on his way to Nevada. The annual Speed Week will be held in August. In 1970, a land speed record run here was 630 mph / 1015 kmH - the wide flat surface is made for speed!

How about a Bevy or Bunch of Buicks? In this oft-used photo in this Steubenville parking structure in 1955, three Buicks are parked in the top row with the toothy chrome grilles, (L-R) a 1954, a 1950 and 1951 Buicks...

Our family often vacationed in Brigantine, New Jersey. Here are all the Villers on the Beach, July 1969.

Finally, and a Favorite is a Blue Jay on our gutter. They may be screechy but so good looking! Have a great week all!

The Weekend Roundup - 'A'

The alphabet begins anew on Tom's fun meme, The Weekend Roundup. This vowel is easy to capture based often on my domicile and heritage, So let's begin...

I live in Ansonia Connecticut, so that's where I am first. Here is Ansonia City Hall. This Main Street beauty was opened in 1904, with two additions in the 1920s and in 1998.

As for Heritage, so many memorable family vacations were on the New Jersey shore were in Atlantic City including the iconic (that is, pre-casino) Boardwalk. This is early morning bicycle ride was in 1965.

Another Ansonia landmark is the Ansonia Public Library. Completed in 1892, its Architecture is Romanesque. The Architect is George Keller, famous for such monuments as the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch in Hartford and the Soldiers' National Monument in Gettysburg, PA.

Week's Favorite. Daughter Allegra vacationed at another town on the fabulous NJ shore, Seaside Heights. She captured this gull who is dutifully keeping off the dunes. Have a great week all!

The Weekend Roundup 'W'

It is (finally) a warm weekend for us in Southern New England - so time for Tom's fun meme The Weekend Roundup. the 23rd letter is features and I have an eclectic group for the week

Begins with 'W' is this historic photo of my Aunt Terry on VJ Day, 16 August 1945 - WAR IS OVER! The paper is the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the place is on Oregon Avenue in Steubenville, Ohio

And since I have a subscription to Newspapeers.com researching my dad's newspaper articles, I thought I'd share the actual head I was able to find:

Here my first Wheelchair van being Washed by daughter Allegra way back in 1997

Here is a Wedding from 2004.

Week's Favorite. This is a quiet pastel laden sunset taken yesterday, the end of a peaceful day. Have a great week all!

The Weekend Roundup 'V'

It is Friday on the last day of May, thus time again for Tom's fun meme, The Weekend Roundup. We're nearing the end of the alphabet and I found a few...

Starting with 'V' is this Plymouth Valiant V-200.  The styling is odd, but this is a perfect specimen of an old Mopar in a stunning teal and white two-tone paint scheme. Taken three years ago,  it was my favorite at a car show (and I wrote about it for our newsletter back then, see it HERE, Page 2)

Here is a Veterans memorial in West Haven Connecticut. This monument notes those who served in Vietnam...

'V' also stands for Volleyball, this faded print taken at the Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984.

A Favorite. In Ansonia's Memorial Day parade, the featured honoree, Jay Murphy. The 99 year old veteran marched in kilt for many years, but now lives with his family in the Twin Cities. Our small city of Ansonia paid to fly him east to march in the parade. A gentleman who fought in WWII, he inspires all of us - at any age. Have a great week all!

The Weekend Roundup 'U'

The long USA weekend begins, so it's the perfect time for Tom's fun meme The Weekend Roundup. the last vowel in our 26 letter alphabet offers clues that don't always starting with the letter...

Today's first 'U' is Submarine, or in German, Unterseeboot. This is from 1999 (when the kids were much younger...) at the impressive USS Nautilus located at the Submarine Force Museum at the US Sub Base in Groton CT (and it's free admission :)

Another 'U' is the SS United States, once the fastest ocean liner. This is from 2000 where we captured a glimpse of the ship, as close as we could get to the behemoth moored at a pier in Philadelphia. I believe the craft is still there...

Then there is the Beehive State of Utah. My brother lives out there and has a banner of the Utah State University 'Utes'

Favorite. Seymour Congregational Church this week continued a Memorial Day tradition of placing flags on the front lawn of the church. The flags as a memoriam to those who died in service to us. Have a great week, all…

The Weekend Roundup 'T'

Finally it is a nice Spring day - but before I go outside to enjoy the day, it's time to participate in Tom's fun photo meme The Weekend Roundup. There are a number of subjects beginning wit today's letter, so let's begin...

Starts with 'T' includes the old Traymore Hotel in Atlantic City, NJ. I don't know why, but Grandpa took lots of photos of the long gone stately resort. The top is 1949 or 1950, the middle from 1956 and with Aunt Terry in 1969.

Here is a Tree at Trinity Cemetery in Seymour CT.

And here is a Tractor at Bomba Farm also in Seymour after a harvest.

Tall. T'is not the season but here is a Tall-ish Christmas tree next to Ansonia's City Hall a few years ago. It looks nice on that cold evening. Have a great week!