RAMBLIN’ with Helen...
Well folks, life in the Weldon household is back to normal, as my daughter “fired me” when she was given the “go-ahead” to drive on April 14 th ! It does seem good to be back in my own home, (especially my bed) and back to my regular routine. Betty Jane is doing very well, and continues therapy sessions twice a week. We both want to THANK ALL OF YOU for your concern, emails and good wishes for her speedy recovery.
When George Reese sent his renewal, he included a donation towards postage, and said things are going well there. They especially enjoyed the surprise visit from Butch and Sam! He also expressed gratitude for missing all the bad weather in their area so far, and wanted to be remembered to all the folks up here. We miss you folks too George – not the same without seeing you at breakfast and hearing your guitar playing.
THANK YOU to Homer Reynolds for the nice Easter Card and sorry I wasn't home to answer your call on Easter Sunday. You never forget…I was also sorry to have missed Bob White at the All-Star Jamboree. He sent his renewal along with a very generous donation and towards postage, and reported it was an excellent show. Dennis Crawford and Eugene & Evie Pritchard also sent generous donations with their renewals.
When Carl Leege sent his renewal, he included his annual news letter regarding how he and Clara are doing. Sad to say, Clara, who was 89 on April 15 th is failing, and has an inoperatble torn rotator-cuff in her left shoulder, so has very limited use of that arm. Therefore, Carl is “chief cook, housekeeper, etc., but after nearly 2 years he says he is getting used to it ! He expressed their disappointment in not being able to attend festivals, our meetings in Cato, etc. but still renews his membership, as it is one way to continue to support our efforts. HOW NICE IT WOULD BE IF MORE FELT LIKE THEY DO!! Carl, your remarks regarding my “Ramblin” was much too generous, but so glad you look forward to reading it. Clara's daughter likes to come to our festival and is a great help to her Mom, so they are going to try and come this year. Folks, we will keep you both in our thoughts and prayers, that you will be able to make this wish a reality.
After I received an email from Peg Miller, saying they were home, I asked her to send me something about their trip, and here it is- “It's difficult getting back in the groove after such an awesome adventure. It is the first time either one of us has taken a road trip across the country. It was mostly to see family, but managed to get some great side trips in along the way. We drove through 12 states and across the border into LosAlgodones , Mexico . We saw the Imperial Sand Dunes in California , the beautiful Red Rock mountains of Sedona , AZ , and drove 28 miles through the Petrified National Forrest. Did a lot of Antiquing and stayed in a lot of beautiful State Parks. Our wildest adventure was taking a mountain road that didn't have 50 ft. of straight road over the entire mountain. There were some hair-raising switch-backs on that one!! It was gread to see the RedBud trees and forsythia all in bloom. We knew they wouldn't be far behind us when we arrived home. Jerry did a great job of doing all the driving and we are thankful for our health and safety while we were gone. As I told Peg, how wonderful it was that they were able to take this trip, as a few months ago, one would never dream it would be possible, with the way Jerry's health was. Miracles do happen!!
On Fri., April 7 th , I received an email from Brenda Wrench saying they had decided to leave early as Ted's medications were all mixed up. An April 12 th email revealed they made it home safely on Tues., April 11 th around 5 p.m. However they experienced problems with the clutch both grapping and slipping on the bus from N. Florida to their yard – making NO stops from Harrisburg , Pa other than stop lights. As Brenda says – “God is sooooo good – he didn't let us down as we made it to our yard without the clutch going out.” On April 24 th , Ted went to see the heart surgeon, and he completely turned off the left lead, leaving two still working. Three weeks will tell if it has to be turned back on and he will have to live with the zapping. An email on the 25 th reports he had to have it turned back on due to difficulty breathing all nite. When the bus is fixed they are going to sell it, so if you are or know of anyone who might be interested in it, please call 607-639-1141 for particulars. Please keep both of these folks in your thoughts and prayers in the days ahead.
THANKS to the following members who included donations towards postage when they sent in their renewals: Barbara Donahue, Norma Wallace and Lou Steigerwald. As I always say, EVERY BIT HELPS CNYBA.
On Wed., April 12 th , Sharon Foultz sent an email asking for prayers for their grandson Jimmy and his unit who are leaving in two days for Afghanistan . As she says, prayer is the best thing we can give these young people, and Sharon we do pray Jimmy and his whole unit will return to their loved ones.
WELCOME to the following NEW MEMBERS since our last visit – Norman A. Richardson Jr., Les Hathaway, Kathy Kellish and Rick Harding, Edward Celestian and Caroline Warren. I've had a couple of phone conversations with Kathy and be sure and read her EVERY SUNDAY JAM on page 2 and her up-coming JAM in June found elsewhere in this newsletter.
During one of those conversations she told me that Mary Anne Burns had spent a few days in the hospital but was now home. I sent her a card from CNYBA. However, Mary Anne had to return to the hospital, and had open heart surgery on 4/25 resulting in replacing 2 valves on her heart, and removing 1 pint of fluid from one lung and a half pint from the other. I talked to Jack on the 26 th , and he said she was doing pretty good and perhaps she would be coming home on Sunday, but when I called on Sunday, she was still in the hospital as they haven't got everything worked out for care at home. Please keep them both in your thoughts and prayers, and send cards to – 1632 Stump Rd., Marcellus, NY 13108 – and those members who live close enough, think about cooking a bit extra and take come meals into them. I sure wish I lived close enough to help , but am not, so am asking you that can to please do this. JACK wanted me to thank each and everyone who has called, sent cards, and brought food in or asked him for supper.
I had a nice long letter from Dale Webb telling me how much she enjoyed the Bluegrass Jam at the First Baptist Church in Chittenango on April 6 th . It is only about 3 miles from her home, and as with all Bluegrass events she has ever attended, everyone was very friendly. She doesn't sing or play, but just enjoyed sitting and listening to the good music and singing. She said she is doing fine after an emergency gall-bladder removal on Jan. 7 th . She and her son attended our All-Star Jamboree in Baldwinsville and both enjoyed the show. Dale, thanks for your kind words regarding the “rambling”.
Pete and Mary Carr had a good time at the festival in Arcadia , MD. While there, Pete saw our good friend James Reams. I learned about that thru emails from Tina.
Via email, I had a request from a fellow in Europe who was going to be in NY state for 3 days and wanted to know a store where he could buy records, cassettes, cd's for his friends, was interested in buying a Martin guitar and wanted to know if there was any jam sessions or shows he could go to. After emailing back and forth, finally found out it was NYC that he was going to be in, so immediately thought of James Reams and the Barnstormers. Tina said she called the gentleman and he was going to call him back, but hadn't. I asked him to let me know after he got back to Europe how he made out in NYC, so hopefully next month I can tell you all about it.
In a visit with Mary Carr regarding their trip to Arcadia, she told me that she had been blessed with TWO GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN this past week, so now has a total of 11. Congratulations Mary.
With my doing the April newsletter at my daughters, I forgot to mention the answer to the riddle I ended the March “rambling” with, and had a call from Emma Teachout wanting to know the answer, as she and Rex had tried to figure it out, but couldn't. I called and left a message, telling her the answer was an Anchor.
I've talked to our PRESIDENT, and he says he is coming along fine after his hip surgery and no longer has that terrible pain. We are all so glad to hear that Ed. CONGRATULATIONS to the newly elected officers for next year and I ask each of you to give them your support – President: Ed Campbell; Vice-President: Sam Murphy; Secretary: Bill Light; Treasurer: Cathy Campbell and Board Members for 3 years: Donna Light and Pete Carr. After missing two meetings, I am looking forward to seeing you all at our MAY 14 th MEETING, and until our next visit, I'll leave you with this smile from the bible: “Did you know it's a sin for a woman to make coffee? Yup, it's in the bible – it says “He-brews”!
Helen
(Helen Weldon)
CNYBA
PO Box 491
Baldwinsville, NY 13027
www.cnyba.com
Copyright 2002
All Rights Reserved.