Young at Heart Day Trip–Carillon Park & Patterson Homestead

We had a small, but fun, group of people going with us on this day trip. It will be interesting to see if this is a trend. Maybe we should consider every other month day trips for 2013!

First, we went to the Carillon Park. This is what I consider one of the finest historical parks in the world and certainly the best in the Dayton area. We are fortunate to have places like this in our area, and so much more. We spent most of our time in the main building because of the new exhibits that have been added when they brought the Deed Barn inside from Moraine.

REMEMBER: CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO SEE THE FULL SIZE VERSION!

We also gave everyone a ride on the carousel. This was made specifically for the park and features a number of items from our history.

We also spent some time in the outside buildings with emphasis on a couple of the newest additions. One that I really enjoyed was the Newcom Tavern. The were roasting a turkey at the fireplace. Fortunately, this was not a hot day or it would have been really bad around that fireplace.

Next, we went into the Culp’s Café for lunch. We were doing the Pick 2 with an option for the Daily Special which was Cabbage Roll. All but two of us chose to do the Cabbage! We followed this up with Ice Cream.

After eating we spent a few more minutes in the main building to allow for shopping or further browsing the exhibits. Fortunately, I found a back hall with more exhibits that I had entirely missed before. This included an exhibit from NCR that included what the guide said was the first NCR ATM. That wasn’t true. It was a second generation NCR 1780 which I helped design. It was preceded by the NCR 770 and also the NCR 1770. This were the first Through the Wall and Lobby ATMs but were not shown here. The 770 was much larger than the one shown.

The photo on the left is the NCR 1780. I had a dual role with this product and provided Technical Support for a couple of years and then was a product manager for further development. This was the first ATM to gain significant sales and was purchased by bankers. Later we designed a version of this one that could be easily used from your car.  The photo on the right is one of the first NCR Electronic Cash Registers. I also provided support for this but was only involved in the development when it concerned the servicing of the terminal. A lot of department stores ordered these.

Finally, we finished our day at the Patterson Homestead. This home was the residence of Col.William Patterson, the father of John H Patterson, the founder of NCR. The home is almost 200 years old. It featured furnishings and also letters from the sons who served in the Civil War.

I recommend either of these sites for a  great family visit. Great places to take visitors!

Young at Heart Mystery Luncheon- July 10, 2012

Well, everyone finally discovered what the mystery was all about. We had our own “Snakes Alive” Show. This month we had a program by Rick Teepen who is a Herpetologist with a ministry that uses live non-venomous snakes and other reptiles to demonstrate God’s love for us, His existence, and presence in our world. Rick has combined his experience with reptiles, and his passion for spreading the good news about Jesus, into a unique, fascinating program that connects his audience with the wonders of God, through live reptiles, and biblical facts.

Before we brought Rick up with his friends, our grand-daughter, Elizabeth Koerber, played the piano for our prelude Early Bird entertainment as we had time to fellowship with each other and check on old friends. Elizabeth is 16 years old and is taught by her parents in a Home School environment along with her siblings. She is also an accomplished artist and is active in 4H with Art, Chickens and Rabbits.

Rick takes his program all over Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and West Virginia. He regularly does his programs at the Creation Museum and can be found there most weekends. That is where I discovered him.

Initially, we figured people would be reluctant to come to a “Snake Program”. So, that is the reason that I used it as a Mystery Luncheon. I will be planning other Mystery Luncheons as well as Trips but I promise not to do it quite like this one or for the same reason. Anyway, my idea worked pretty well because we had a very good turnout and most of the people admitted they would not  have come if they knew it was going to be something like this. However, they then readily admitted that they enjoyed the program. I knew it would be kind of like children who don’t like something only because they’ve never tried it before! But, even I was surprised by some of the people who asked to hold the snakes and get their photo taken with one. One of our ladies even stated that she will use the photo for her Christmas Cards! One of the gals from the retirement homes also plans to suggest this program for use at their location!

Rick and his wife were happy to share their knowledge of reptiles with us. We also had one of our own ladies’ husband (Stan Vandiver) assist Rick. Stan works at the Creation Museum and regularly assists Rick down there.

Yup, that is me with the “Snake-lace” around my neck. The next photo is proof that even Esther Tan enjoyed wearing one. And on the right Rick has a Gecko on his shoulder. I guess he wasn’t selling insurance at that moment!

This is a friendly Python but I was watching him look at my girth. I think he had something like a big “bear-hug” on his mind. This guy was big and HEAVY. But, it wasn’t just the guys who were anxious to hold this snake. Look below!

Remember: You can double click any image to see a larger version!

Many of our people were anxious to get photos taken with the Python but even Irene was excited about the whole thing.

Lou Caldwell (many of you know him as one of our Luncheon Drivers) is on the left. The other three are our grandchildren from Blanchester, Ohio. Abegael is 9, Nathanael is 13 and you’ve already met Elizabeth who is 16. They all have plenty of experience with animals and were anxious to join us for this event. Several of you asked me about bringing your grandchildren for something like this. I have been thinking about doing this and will announce an opportunity to do so in the future.

I want to give a very special thank you to Rick Teepen for an excellent program.

Next month, we will have another old friend of YAH with us. Gary Lare will join us to present his Ventriloquist friends! This is a change from our original plans to have Dave Darkow speak with us. He traded positions on our schedule with Gary and will do his program and hopefully tell us what to expect from ObamaCare at our October meeting!

We have some other very exciting plans for Young at Heart in the future. Be sure to watch for our upcoming plans in the Young at Heart Newsletter.