March 31, 2008 First Post

Hello and good morning. First post to my new blog. Hopefully, if you want to know what Don and I have been up to, you can check in here and read all about it. May be exciting... may be not. Got the idea from Allen Haines, a Cumberland native on top of all things, including the Web. My grand-nephew "Johnny 5" uses a blogger as well and I like to check in to his BlogSpot to see what he's been up to (John is a wonderful young honors student at WVU with a fabulous attitude)... John's a computer genius though, there probably won't be as many frills here as on his, but maybe, you never know.

Over the weekend Don and I participated in the SCCF (Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation)'s tennis tournament. Don was in two events, men's doubles and mixed doubles. Guess who his mixed partner was? Yep, me. Don's men's doubles partner was his good friend Bill Terry. Don and Bill won their first match, lost the 2nd. Don and I did the same; we ended up as finalists with beautiful champagne glasses etched by the famous Luke Century. Our opponents were our team tennis friends Mary Jane Vinson and Tom Settani, a formidable twosome who ran over us in the 1st set 6-1, then we made a better effort in the 2nd set and nearly pulled ahead on my serve to 5-4 with many opportunities at "add in" but it wasn't to be and our opponents went on to win the next 2 games and the title of "SCCF 2008 4.0- Mixed Doubles Champions". Good fun though, and for a terrific Island cause, to conserve and protect island land and the Sanibel river. Pictured, Don, Chere, Erick (SCCF Foundation Director), Mary Jane, Tom.

Cousins Linda Bailey and Carolyn McFarlane and I continue our planning for our trip to Scotland May 18 to June 2nd, 2008. We are so excited about it. After a year's genealogy research into the McFarlane family of Kilwinning, Scotland, we are eager to see and explore the places where they lived. We have also found what we believe to be distant cousins; relatives of Jean Souter whose letters Linda found in her treasure trove of old memorabilia that was kept by our grandfather Samuel B. "Pop" McFarlane and Linda's mother Edna and found among Edna's things after she passed. We also hope to meet Connie Beachy (LaVale resident)'s cousin John Willison of East Whitburn, Scotland (about halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh). John has been a tremendous help to us in our family research.

Coming up this summer for Don and me is to participate with daughter Angie Blair, her husband Mark and our good friend and neighbor (and fellow recumbent rider) Susan Scarpelli in the American Diabetes Association's Ride For A Cure. We have been soliciting sponsorship and the outpouring from family and friends has been outstanding; quickly sending our team over the top for it's goal. Support for our team continues to mount. Thank you everyone! Our ride is June 8, less than a week after I get back from Scotland so I hope to keep the ole legs in condition with lots of walking. Our team plans to ride 32 miles.

Meanwhile, son Matthew is doing a real good job of holding down the fort in Cumberland and his dad will join him soon, driving up sometime the 1st week in April with an overnight in Orlando to visit kids Diane and Dion. I'm looking forward to a Sanibel visit from friend Susan and her sweet sister Mary Jane April 8-15, then I'll join Don and Matt in Maryland on the 20th.

Below is my all time favorite video of Chris Bliss' opening act for Michael Jackson - awesome and mesmerizing... and in time to some great music great too!