Well Tuesday, the 24th. was day I celebrate as the second of my anniversaries. It was on that day 20 years ago that among many things I stopped smoking cold turkey. Hadn't planned it or focused on doing that it just snuck up on me. When you have what they told my wife was a massive stroke life changes. They told her NEVER to let me climb a ladder again; but someone has to clean the gutters and trim the trees, etc. I guess I was lucky to have my wife drive me to the emergency room so that the stroke fully took place where I was under medical help.
All I can say is everyone should have a thorough check up to be sure there are no hidden problems.
Sorry, I just posted above a photo of the email message I sent out to those not registered yet. Here is a clickable link to register Watterson1966@aol.com
Some info for you Mike, regarding the Valley Dale.
If I remember correctly the Valley Dale was, for a while, owned by Bob (Robert) Marvin, a Big Band Leader, a famous (Central Ohio) TV star, kid beloved Flippo the Clown and the driver of a BMW Isetta (the car with a single door as the front of the vehicle.
I am just now fully retired from writing for newspapers and magazines and teaching writing and lit classes at ucf (university of central florida), also rollins college in winter park, and a couple of junior colleges. And retirement has brought something into my life that has taken me by surprise: depression. I don't want to overstate the case. I loved what I did and it brought purpose and a sense of worth to me -- and having recently decided to quit writing and teaching part time I found myself dealing with a sense of, well, worthlessness. Just a scared and lonely feeling, so vivid it shocked the hell out of me I'm fine, don't want to overstate, have a son living near me here in orlando and a daughter in ohio and a lovely woman, a retired elementary school teacher, in my life But the feelings hit me hard, took me down fast and by surprise, so I got help from a therapist and he gave me a few things to read and I discovered that many have gone through the same emotions upon retirement.
This is probably the most personal thing I have ever shared here but I thought it was a good, safe place to do so, particularly given that some of you may relate. You might have some observations you want to share. Or not. I blabbed for a living so it's easy to me. Easier, anyway.
You are a creative person as you have shown us through the writings that you done throughout your career. That trait can be applied to another media that allows you to create stories without words and find some joy in doing something that is close to your home and stimulates your brain.
I assume you have a cellphone and that phone has a camera and that camera allows some degree of photo editing. You also live in a photogenic area. Start making use of your talents of observation of your surroundings and share them through a visual media with others - like us. Practice using the camera's editing which is quite easy and create the image you saw so that others can see what your mind saw.
I worked with Landa on different projects. great lady.
Landa Masdea Brunetto remembers a time when seemingly everyone’s parents had their first date at the Valley Dale Ballroom on Columbus’ northeast side, including her own. Her father, Bruno Masdea, went on to play with the house band in the 1970s, and her husband, drummer Rick Brunetto, took up residence there in the 1990s.
Masdea Brunetto leaned on her family history and archival footage for her book “The Valley Dale Ballroom,” which came out in December. “I wanted a beautiful story to be told about the city of Columbus and one of the very last living ballrooms in the country,” she says.
Originally opened as a stagecoach stop in the 1880s, a dance hall was added to “the Dale” in the early 1920s. In Masdea Brunetto’s telling, the ballroom has had two heydays: in the 1940s, when seemingly every big name of the swing era played there (Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Dean Martin), and another in the 1980s as a rock venue.
Throughout most of its illustrious run, the Peppe family has owned or been involved with the Dale. Mike Peppe bought it from his father, Lou, in 1980 and continues to own it with his wife, Kathy. After an abrupt closure in early 2015 and more than $1 million in renovations, Valley Dale reopened with a focus on weddings under the new management of catering company Made From Scratch Inc.
If Masdea Brunetto has her way, the past will be a prologue for Valley Dale. She hopes to work closely with the Peppes to bring popular local and national acts to “Columbus’ jewel” once again.
Ask me what I learned in high school and I will direct you to this, the last stanza in a Robert Frost poem I ran across back then.
But yield who will to their separation, My object in living is to unite My avocation and my vocation As my two eyes make one in sight. Only where love and need are one, And the work is play for mortal stakes, Is the deed ever really done For heaven and the future’s sake.
I got my share of grunt work in the army and vowed never again.
I loved literature and writers and vowed to become one myself. Uncle Sam helped me get a masters degree in journalism when I finished my two years in uniform. I landed a series of jobs at newspapers in ohio and florida, worked my way up into magazine writing and columns. Robert frost laid it out for me. I dug in and took his advice. Apart from being a great poet he was the best guidance counsellor I ever had.
I always hate getting new phones. They say that all your data, contacts, messages etc. have been transferred over but it seems I can't find them all.
We recently got new android Nord phones - the kind we have been using for several years, and, if all the data is there, I can't find much of it. I found photos and some texts and emails but not my list of contacts and some other things.
I haven't a lot of time to figure this out since the movers will be coming some time next week and we have been busy downsizing, packing, getting ready to close on our home sale and so many other things that we must do in the next few days.
This old dog is having difficulty learning the new tricks of this phone so if I don't get back to respond to anyone on this Forum it's not that I'm ignoring you.
Tom thank you for the Valley Dale info. I knew the Peppe family was long involved with the Dale but information that was passed to me led me to my mistake. Mea Culpa.
While I am making mistakes, was the Coach of The Ohio State swimming team (while we were in High School) a member of the Peppe family?
I AM EMBARRASSED TO LIVE DOWN HERE IN THIS CHEAP-ASS STATE! HOW HUMILIATING FOR THESE KIDS. WE'RE TREATING THEM LIKE - WELL, LIKE TRASH.
FROM TODAY'S NEWS WIRE:
Florida's Fostering with Dignity Act (Senate Bill 306) failed to pass the legislature, ultimately dying in committee. Introduced by Senator Lori Berman and Representative Robin Bartleman, the bill would have required the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to provide reusable luggage to all foster children so they do not have to carry their belongings in trash bags.
The bill would have mandated that "Every child in the state placed in out-of-home care be provided with suitable luggage (suitcases, duffel bags, or backpacks)."
Not sure how we got on this Mike Peppe subject but anyway,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Although there is scant info about this on the web, but my mother used to tell me that Mike Peppe was the swim and diving coach at Crestview Junior High before Ohio State - I beleive while she was a student there in the late '20's or early '30s.
I did have a really nice camera many years ago and hmmm it might be fun to shop around for another and capture the florida that I've come to take for granted.
Always loved it when, as a features writer, I'd often be teamed up with photographers who took the pictures to illustrate the stories I wrote. And I just loved watching how they operated and found the great shots and knew how to use a camera but mostly I liked the sense ofd teamwork. It made it a lot more fun to have a partner who told the story in images, while I was stitching it together with words. They'd often see and noticed things that I missed and take me aside to clue me in. Writing is a lonely pursuit so that made it all the more engaging when I had a storytelling partner.
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