Fall Trip to Mackinaw and Points North–Day 2

This is day 2 of our trip and was a great day of touring the immediate area of Mackinaw City. We visited the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse and Fort Michilimackinac. We also enjoyed some time shopping and a nice dinner at Nonna Lisa.

Remember: you can double click any photo to see a larger version!

We continue to enjoy the driving capabilities and friendly services of our driver, Marvin Thomas. He has been a lot of fun to tease and we consider him as part of our group.

 

Our first stop was to visit the old lighthouse at Mackinac Point. It isn’t a very high lighthouse but enjoyed service well into the 1950s.

We toured the Keepers Quarters and learned some of the history about this facility. Several of us took the trek up the spiral stairway and ladder to the top.The last five photos above were taken from the top. The next to last photo above is the passenger ferry to Mackinac Island. The last one is looking across to the Mackinac Island and you can see the Grand Hotel in the center of that photo.

Next, we did a little shopping and had lunch. Nancy and I had a famous Michigan Pastie. It is a very good rendition of a pot pie that can be eaten with your fingers without a mess!

After lunch, we went to Fort Michilimackinac. This area saw its first garrison in the late 1600s. Later, a better fort was built and occupied through the Revolutionary war. Then, the fort was burned and the soldiers went to the fort on the island. The current structures are replicas of the original based on archeological findings.

The photo above is inside the chapel.

As the day came to a close, we had dinner at Nonna Lisa. The décor of this place was very rustic with many stuffed animals.

Here are a few examples. Can you tells which is the turkey?

Tomorrow, we visit Mackinac Island and the Grand Hotel.

Fall Trip to Mackinaw and Points North–Day 1

We are finally on our way! We left Dayton this morning a little before 8AM, ahead of schedule! I like it when things get off to a good start. At least we started but we did lose a few people before starting. We have 33 fantastic people on the trip and a driver who is doing a great job.

Today, we spent the entire day on the road except for rest stops and time for meals.

The drive up was very good except for an unusual amount of roadwork. The area is starting to show some fall color. Hopefully, I’ll get some better photos during the week. I’ll be using something better than my phone camera, too.

We stopped in Gaylord, MI, about an hour below Mackinaw City and ate at PJs Restaurant. Actually, it was a Buffet but was a very nice one. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food and the environment was nice, too. It was one of the best buffets that I’ve seen. I would recommend it to anyone in the area! The gentleman to the right in the photo of the buffet line is our driver, Marvin Thomas. He’s a great driver and a very nice guy.

We’re staying in the Court Plaza Inn & Suites in Mackinaw City and we’ll make this our jumping off point for the week. Tomorrow, we’ll spend time close to here.

I plan to make daily updates to this blog, as appropriate. So be sure to follow us here, and be a partner of our adventure!  See you, tomorrow.

September 9, 2014 Luncheon–Spittin’ Image

It’s September so it must be Spittin’ time! Spittin’ Image, I mean. Brian and Blain Swabb (Identical twins) joined us at Young@Heart, once again. That means we will be seeing fall colors, soon, because I think they always seem to come in the early fall.! They’ve been performing for us for eleven years! They started coming here before I was here and our people really enjoy them.

All photos can be enlarged by double clicking!

But before we get to them, we started with other music! Grace Averitt, piano, and Nancy Jensen. organ, did a nice piano and organ duo! Later, Grace did a Piano Solo. You can hear the piano/organ duet HERE and the piano solo HERE! (NOTE: The organ sound didn’t come through on the recording very well)

Of course, we know you all want to see and hear more from the twins. Brian and Blain are loads of fun with their music and comedy. Perhaps the funniest part was when they had 2 men and 2 ladies join us up front as various farm animals. Nancy was one of the ladies, as a roaring lion, which sounded much like what I hear if I wake her a bit too early! The audio for the Spittin’ Image is HERE! Listen and enjoy!

Perhaps it is interesting to note that both of the guys are newcomers. Hopefully, this won’t scare them so they won’t return. Fortunately, they seemed to be good sports about this.

Lisa Poe and the kitchen and dining room staff prepared an excellent meal. I’m prejudiced but this is the best seniors luncheon in the Dayton area! I’ve included a few dining photos below which illustrate the importance of our volunteers who served. Be sure to thank the volunteers. They’re all awesome!

Next month, Chris Thompson with join us to perform more good gospel music and perhaps tell a few stories.

La Comedia–“He Keeps Me Singing”

Our Day Trip for September was to see the musical, “He Keeps Me Singing” at La Comedia. 24 of us made the short trek to Springboro to enjoy this great Gospel Musical.

This musical is a sequel to Smoke on The Mountain with the Singing Hatfield clan from somewhere south of the Ohio River. This one finds the family involved in a Tent Revival. There were a lot of good old hymns and choruses that would have been sung in the early 1950s.

We’re not supposed to take photos during the program, so the best that I could do was a couple of the performers in the greeting lineup after the show. All of the Adults could also play instruments, including, Guitar, Mandolin, Banjo, Fiddle, Accordion, Harmonica, Piano and Organ. There were also a couple of 4th grade girls singing and playing the Tambourines.

I’ll give this performance a very high rating for good music, performance, and story line. Go see it!

Of course, everyone always enjoys the food at La Comedia. Some of the items on the buffet line are unique to them.

Next month we’ll enjoy more good food and gospel music at Scioto Hills Camp while also enjoying a nice Fall Ride and plenty of color. Join us, if you can keep up, for this trip on October 9!

Young@Heart Luncheon Program–August 12, 2014

This month I believe we had another outstanding program. This one included some good music and also a presentation by Ceci Wiselogel.

To start, Amy Anand played our prelude music on the piano. Amy is a piano student of Grace Averitt who also frequently plays for us and our church.

You can hear Amy’s musical performance HERE.

Later, Amy was joined by her brother, Alex, to perform a nice duet. Amy played the piano and sang, while Alex sang. Together, they sang very nicely! You can hear their music, HERE.

Following this period, Ceci Wiselogel came up to our platform to provide a very interactive program called “On the Road Again”. I found that this brought back many very nice memories of travel together as a family during my school years. We traveled by auto extensively covering almost all of the USA. Some camping and some in motels or tourist rooms. These were all times prior to the motel chains and Interstate highways.

Ceci’s program was a sort of show-and-tell with lots of objects to look and and talk about. She started by talking about the early days of auto travel in the USA, including the gas stations and highways. It brought back memories of the Burma Shave signs along the roadways and many other things.

Do you remember the old style gas stations? My twin brother worked in one of those. How about the S&H Green Stamps? I remember collecting the stamps for gas and groceries. There was a redemption center over off Woodman Drive near Dorothy Lane.

It wasn’t until my career with NCR began in 1960 that I was able to stay in a chain motel like the Holiday Inn. I do remember the towels on the left, above. But I don’t recall seeing any of the “Stolen From” variety. Ceci explained that Holiday Inn began using those towels because so many of the other Holiday Inn towels were being taken.

You can listen to the entire program HERE; and watch a short video clip of her presentation about the Burma Shave Signs HERE.

Following the program in the auditorium, we had a nice lunch prepared and served by our volunteers.

Next month, we will be entertained by “Spittin’ Image” the Swabb twins. This is one of our “must have” programs for each year. They never disappoint and often pull off some kind of surprise. You won’t want to miss this one. Be sure to invite some friends to join us.

This week we had a good number (ten) of first time visitors. Thanks for bringing in your friends.

Day Trip–Mary Poppins, August 6

We had a good group of people for our day trip to LaComedia to see the musical play, “Mary Poppins”. Mary even flew with the help of her umbrella (and perhaps some wires)! They played to a full house with what appears to be a very popular play!

The play is based on the movie and had a very large cast. Everyone did a great job. There were also lots of kids in attendance but that shouldn’t have surprised me.

As always, one of the favorite parts of any program at La Comedia includes the delicious Buffet.

They don’t allow photography during the play, so the best I could do was a shot of the buffet line with a few of our people in the foreground. Speaking of “our people” we were happy to have some newcomers with us.

We’re going back to La Comedia again next month tor “He Keeps Me Singing”.  If you liked “Smoke on the Mountain”, you’ll love this one because it is the same Hatfield family. Check it out and plan to join us. LaComedia

July 8, 2014 Luncheon Program

This was one of the most fun programs that I’ve had the privilege of hosting. We started with a nice selection of music to visit and fellowship with our friends. Then, followed this with our normal Welcome, Recognition of Newcomers, Birthdays, Anniversaries, and Trip Announcements. Prior to our featured program, we were treated to a special musical performance by a group of girls and a guitarist.

Initially, Grace Averitt played a very nice selection of piano music. This was great background music as we took the opportunity to meet new people and visit with old friends. You can listen to this music HERE.

Following or normal opening acknowledgements and announcements, we were happy to hear special music by the Teen Chorus from New Covenant Life Church near Goshen, OH (north of Cincinnati). I first heard this group a couple of months ago in their new church building. This group included: Caleb at the guitar, Audrey, Evelyn, Laura, Ruth, Abegael and Claire.

Abegael (third from the left, above) is our granddaughter and James Koerber our son-in-law is the pastor at New Covenant Life Church.

You can listen to their music HERE.

Next, we heard from our featured humorist! Stephen Hollen was with us last year as Mark Twain. As we said, he is a man with many personalities. He can be Mark, Doc Hollen, Buffalo Bill Cody or even himself! Today, he decided to be himself, if you really believe that. He loves to tell stories from “Down Home” and you can find out what that means by listening to his program, HERE.

I also want to acknowledge the special assistance given by Rich Craven at the sound board up in our balcony. Rich is new to the sound system, and all that goes on up there, but he did a very good job. Actually, an exceptional job considering that it is a new sound system, and computer with software. Thank you Rich.

Following the program in the auditorium, we adjourned to the dining area of our gymnasium. It was picnic time in honor of the holiday season. Foot long hotdogs, baked beans, potato salad, and S’mores Dessert. Special thanks to all the cooks and dining room help. We gave a special acknowledgement to Marlene Williams who has been helping in the kitchen and dining room for over a dozen years! She is leaving us to take on a job that interferes with our schedule. She has also sung for our programs a number of times. Marlene, you will be missed!

Our August Luncheon will feature Ceci Wiselogel, another story teller (but different). She will take us “On the Road Again!” Be sure to join us August 12th for another entertaining but informative program.