New Year’s Eve

There is a 24-year-old tradition in Brattleboro of the Amidon family, and friends, giving a New Year's Eve concert. The earlier ones were held in the Baptist Church, then it moved to Centre Church, across the street, and now it is in the Brattleboro Music Center concert hall. When I met Ellen, it had been going for 3 years. If 2000 was the first year, I was in Chicago. But I think Ellen and I have been to almost every single one since we met. The early ones featured Peter, Mary Alice, and their two boys, Sam and Stefan - snd they were young boys. At some point they were joined by Keith Murphy and Becky Tracy, and members of their band which was called Nightengale. When the boys became men and got married, Stefan's wife, Zara Bode, joined the group. Now Sam's son, Arthur, and Stefan's son, Desmond, have been added. Keith and Becky's son, Aiden, has appeared occasionally - he was there tonight. It is always a great concert. Some are on YouTube - take a look if you can. Tonight, the BMC was very solicitous of me - they reserved a parking spot for us and seats in the front row!. Very thoughtful of them. Peter has cancer; no one knows how many more concerts he will have. But I suspect it will just evolve with time, as it has for the past 24 years. Just as Nowell Sing We Clear has evolved after Tony Barrand's death, with the addition of a new generation. I got in and out with no difficulty, and am glad I could.

The Amidon Family, plus Zara Bode.

Becky Tracy and Keith Murphy.

Aiden Murphy on far left, then Becky, Sam, Stefan, Mary Alice, Zara, Desmond and Arthur (partially obscured), Keith and Peter. Happy New Year, everyone!

Christmas Day

I think Christmas Day we fulfilled all the Tolles family Christmas traditions, of which there are many. Ellen always makes stollen (a German fruit and nut loaf of bread - very yummy). We were running late leaving home to go to Shutesbury and stollen is supposed to be there when people arrive, and since Jim and Mary were ready to leave before we were, Ellen sent it along with them. We were hoping to get there by noon, but it was closer to 1 p.m. Getting into the house proved challenging for me - the back steps into the kitchen have a railing only on one side - but I made it with some help. I took a chair near the wood stove and had some stollen. There were thirteen of us - Katie and Brendon, Tye and B, the Feinlands: Jerry, Julie, Ben and Tamar (Max is in California); Jim and Mary, Ellen and me, and Nancy, a friend of Katie's from church who lives alone. We did the basket tradition as I mentioned earlier, Brendon did a MadLibs with the group out of a book of MadLibs for Gays he had gotten. A group went for a walk, and while they were out I worked on setting up an Amazon gift card for Ellen, which proved challenging because it kept forcing me to "switch accounts," the process for which I was unfamiliar with. I think it would have been easier if I had been using Ellen's phone - somehow it didn't recognize me even thoughn I order stuff all the time on my phone. When it came time to eat, we had all the usual - tourtière, a meat and veggie pie - a tradition among French Canadians which Savanna brought from her background and which we still honor; squash and cranberry chutney. Julie brings salad, but I passed on that - it is hard for me to chew it up and get it down. We always wait until later for dessert - which is figgy pudding, another tradition Ellen makes. We sang carols from the Tolles family carol book, and we played a game. In the past it has been "Fictionary Dictonary" or "Salad Bowl," but this year it was "Neanderthal Poetry." It is a game Brendon had gotten, with cards in a box, though you could do without that. It was fun. There were two teams. A team-member draws a card. On the card there are four words or phrases - two worth one point, two worth three points. For example, on one side it might read "pancake" (1 point) and "blueberry pancakes" (3 points) and on the other "movie" and "Award-winning movie." (3 points). The person who drew the card chooses one of those four and announces how many points it is worth. Someone on the opposing team is holding a Neanderthal club (made of plastic and blown up like a balloon). Now the game begins in earnest. The card-holding person has to get his or her team to say the word or phrase he or she has chosen. In that respect, the game is like "Salad Bowl." But in this game, the person not only cannot say any part of the word or phrase itself, they can speak only in one-syllable words. If they use a word with two or more syllables, or say "win" or "cake" (cf. the examples above) they lose 1 or 3 points and get bopped with the club. To elicit "blueberry pancakes," for example, they might say "eat," "dough," "round," "fry," "fruit," "bits," etc. If the team member said "pancake," (i.e., singular), they could say, "not just one - two or more." You can use as many words as you want as long as they are just one syllable. I used "orange" in my turn, which was a no-no (or/ange). So it's easy in one way and hard in another. It's good for a lot of laughs and groans. We stayed late, got home a bit before midnight. I was tired! Good day though. I need to get to bed now. Photos later!

Tamar, at left; Katie, Jerry (standing), Mary and Jim - from where I was sitting.

Tye, sitting on floor, opening things in their basket; B behind her; Brendon looking on and Katie over by the window.

Our tree back at our house.

Holiday Times!

Date clarification. I am writing this on Christmas Day, but started it earlier, expanded it on the 21st, and now am adding things. Well, here we are at December 21st - the Winter Solstice! Only four days until Christmas! Today, we will take Jerome to Keene to do some shopping for his daughter, Margaret. I personally have done no shopping. Last Tuesday, I went to the opthomologist for a checkup. Everything looks good! No macular degeneration, no glaucoma, reading 20-20 without glasses. Pretty good for a 91-year-old! Yesterday evening we went to Emma Davis' 30th birthday party at the Guilford Church. There must have been 50 people there. Family, friends, members of the disability community (of which I am now one!). Emma has Down's Syndrome, and is a skier and swimmer, a gold medalist in Special Olympics! She is lovely, feisty, leading a rich life. Kudos to her and her parents, Andy and Robin. The party had a grand pot-luck supper, two birthday cakes, a wonderful slide show about Emma, music and many testimonies. A great event! In many ways a testimony to what makes the Guilford Church a special place, fully integrating persons with disabilities into its life.

Our table at Emma's party: r. to l.: Chip, Judy and Pastor Allyson.

The pot-luck spread: Guillaume, Arthur, Iona and Emily.

Emma blowing candles on regular cake.

Emma blowing candle on gluten-free cake. Monday, we went to King Arthur Flour center up in Norwich, where we had a treat in the cafe, and Ellen bought gifts - mostly mixes, which are very good. I had a latté and an oatmeal/cream cheese cookie sandwich. It's a great place to visit, and I read from Barak Obama's book aloud in the car. It's about a 70-minute drive one-way. Monday evening, at home, we watched a lecture about an upcoming Piffaro Christmas Concert, collaborating with New York Polyphony, a four-member, male vocal group. Priscilla Herreid gave the lecture and we saw a lot of the old MSS being used in the concert. This will be a concert of VERY early Christmas music. We look forward to that! Sunday afternoon, I sang in the River Singers concert. It went very well, even for me. I had opted not to sing the previous day, just too much to deal with, the way I was feeling. A LOT of people came by to tell me how much they had missed me. That was very sweet. But by the time I got home, I was exhausted. Eliza took us there and back in a Honda pick-up truck, which worked very well - the seat was very high and easy to get in and out of. Overall, it was a lot to do. But I did it. What else? Ah... Saturday, firemen came and installed smoke alarms, and Carbon Monoxide Monitors - all free, part of a state program. And last Tuesday-Thursday, Ruthie, Ellen's god-daughter, visited us from Michigan. Ruthie is in her late 30's, very attactive and easy to be with. It was a lovely visit, low-key, relaxed. I can't believe I took not a single photo! Sometimes I get engaged and forget to be a photographer. Otherwise, the TarHeels have played two games on the radio. They defeaated LaSalle and lost to Florida. They are strugling this year with ranked teams. I wonder if they will make it into March Madness this year. TODAY It is Christmas Day. At the moment, I am in Katie and Brendon's livingroom, and I'm taking advantage of a moment while many are taking a walk. We just opened our baskets - each household makes up a basket of gifts and puts a number on it, and each household draws a number to determine what basket they receive (not their own). Yesterday evening, we had a Christmas Eve service at Dummerston and I led the choir. We sang Once In Royal David's City and We Come, O Lord, This Christmas Eve which is a funeral hymn composed by Edvard Grieg for which I wrote new lyrics making it a Christmas Eve hymn. More later!

Roger Brown remembered.

I don't remember exactly when I first met Roger, but I was Assistant Minister at the church he and his parents attended, back in 1957-1960, and that is probably when we met. His father, Maynard Brown, was a local pharmacist, and was the brother of Stuart Brown, who built our house, back in 1973. So I knew the family. Back then, Roger might have been in school, or at least not living at home. Roger was unusual in the breadth of his interests. He had a particular interest in science, and the interface of science and religion. He also had an interest in China, and studied Mandarin. His ministry was mostly as an intentional interim, and he served 12 churches in that capacity. I have never been close to Roger, but this retired clergy group has given me a chance to know him better. He is a thoughtful person, and we are very much diminished by his death. Roger has a brother David, who is a UCC minister in Oregon. He will probably be here for Roger's funeral, which will be next spring.

Roger Brown (from his Facebook page).

Oliver!

New England Youth Theater produced the musical Oliver! this past weekend, and Ellen and I went to a 7p.m. performance on Sunday. We had a special reason to go - Peter and Mary Alice Amidon's grandson, Desmond (son of Stefan Amidon and Zara Bode), was cast in the lead role of Oliver Twist. He may have been the youngest actor in the whole show, but he did well. We have heard him sing many times at church. I like Oliver as a musical - John was in it in a community production in Appleton, WI back in 1972 or so (he was ten or eleven years old) and think there was a high school production when John was at BUHS. We've also seen a previous NEYT production. The choreography was especially good in this one. The soloists were all capable, but none stood out - if anyone did, it was Nancy. Fagin was played by a girl, and she did well with a very demanding role. Desmond did himself proud and it was most enjoyable throughout. I was in the front row and practically in the play itself. I snuck a few photos - didn't want to be a distraction.

"Food, Glorious Food"

Work House Gang

"Will You Buy?"

Oliver with Artful Dodger

The weekend.

Friday noon, we went to Greenfield Community College for a Holiday concert of the GCC Community Chorus, of which Brendon is a member. The program was a mix of anthems and carols, from the Gaudete of the 16c. Piae Cantiones to Deck the Halls to Winter Wonderland. The choir was singing in the lobby, and there were no panels to focus the sound, but they made a sweet sound. Of course Katie, Dusty and Dorothy, and Karen and Brian were also there. Nice little fan club for Brendon.

The GCC Community Choir in the lobby Friday.

Brendon in his place in the choir. *********************** Friday evening, Ellen had to spend about 3 hours at the church dealing with cookies for the Bazaar. While Ellen was away, Andy Davis came and spent that time with me and helped me with supper and hydration, and other personal needs. I skipped the Friday eve news programs on PBS and spent the time talking with Andy. We spent some time listening to music too - like Kitka, which he had not heard before, and Maddy Prior, whom he knew of and had heard in the past, but had not heard the specific CD we have. We had a good time together. Saturday, I was pretty tired after a full Friday and not much sleep Friday night. So I didn't go anywhere. I could have gone to the Bazaar, but didn't. Actually, both Ellen and I stayed in bed late and listened to Friday news programs on the phone, and then I spent time either in my comfy chair by the fireplace, or in bed, dozing, or doing exercises. Ellen was mostly in the kitchen, and we listened to more music from the "Christmas Box." A quiet, restful day. Ellen did go out shopping, and I had a little time alone. I managed fine. Today, Sunday, we considered going to church and set an early alarm, but I felt sort of "woozy" when I got up and decided to stay home and attend church via live Zoom. So we had church in our living room. Later, early evening, we will go to the New England Youth Theater to see the musical Oliver, starring Desmond Amidon, Peter and Mary Alice's grandson, Stefan's son. Very musically precocious. More on that later!

More snow.

Today there was to have been a gathering of our retired clergy group to discuss Wilkie and Noreen Au's Aging with Wisdom and Grace, chapter 1. But last night it snowed quite a bit - 3-4 inches anyway, and I had questions about going out at all. Lee Moore, another member of the group, also expressed concerns about the forecast. So I shared my concerns via email and eventually there was a consensus to scratch today. We will meet next Monday. So today is an unexpectedly open day. Ellen is baking cookies for the Guilford Church Christmas Bazaar, and I am the D.J. - i.e., I select CD's from the Christmas Season Box of CD's to play while Ellen works. So far, we have heard Kitka, Maddy Prior, the Boston Camerata, a CD Ellen and I made in 2004, and Peggy Seeger. A nice variety, if I say so myself. I just bought tickets for John and Cynthia, and Ellen and myself, to attend an Irish Christmas concert by John Doyle at Next Stage on Dec. 19th. That should be fun! Tomorrow we will go to a Greenfield Community College Chorus concert that Brendon is in. I suspect every day this month will have something. I will need to monitor my energy carefully.

Noreen and Wilkie Au, authors of Aging with Wisdom and Grace.

John Doyle, Irish Musician

Maddy Prior, British folk singer.

Thanksgiving weekend - plus.

Heavy snow cancelled our plans to have Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday in Shutesbury with Katie and Brendon. Ellen and I had a quiet day at home; no stress. Friday, John and Cynthia came here for a Thanksgiving meal, but Katie and Brendon couldn't come, so no turkey, dressing and gravy leftovers! John is vegetarian and gluten-free, so we had Ellen's wonderful walnut and cheese balls in a non-meat gravy, squash, mashed potato and mushroom gravy (J&C brought that) Cranberry sauce (Ellen's home-made version), pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and cranberry crisp (J&C). A delicious meal! Much to be thankful for.

Thursday snow scenes from our deck.

My Thanksgiving dinner: Two walnut-cheese balls, cranberry sauce, squash, bell peppers, mashed potato with mushroom gravy.

Thanksgiving dinner with John and Cynthia. **************************** Saturday, Ellen went to Doris Feinland's 90th birthday celebration down in Stamford, CT. I stayed home and John spent the day with me. A lovely day reading and visiting and eating leftovers! I'm a lucky guy! Sunday, we went to GCC for church, but did not sing in the choir. In the afternoon, we had a River Singers rehearsal. By the time I got home, I was exhausted! Monday was a quiet day of reading Toni Morrison. Tuesday, last night, was Sing Nowell, the new version of Nowell Sing We Clear. Eight members of a new generation have joined with Andy Davis and Fred Breunig. They are fantastic! Everyone misses Tony Barrand, but this group is a worthy successor to NSWC.

Andy Davis, Arthur Davis, Guillaume Sparrow-Pepin, Fred Breunig, part of Sing Nowell. Andy and Fred are original members; Arthur is Andy's son; Guillaume is son of Lise Sparrow, former pastor of GCC from 2003 to 2021.

The group Windbourne which is now part of Sing Nowell: Jeremy Carter-Gordan, Lynn Mahoney Rowan, Lauren Breunig, and Will Rowan. Lauren is daughter of Fred Breunig. Lynn grew up in the Guilford Church. Andy, Fred, Arthur, Lauren, Lynn and Guillaume all have strong ties to the Guilford Church.

The full group, with Emma Schneider and Laurel Swift added: Andy, Jeremey, Guillaume, Arthur, Lynn, Lauren, Emma, Laurel, Will, Fred.****************** Katie and Brendon joined us for the Sing Nowell concert, as did Nan Tierra. I managed pretty well in getting from the car to my seat in the Latchis Theater and back out to the car again, despite icy conditions under foot outside the theater. Today (Wednesday) we will have our Swarthmore class on Toni Morrison - specifically, tonight, on her novel, Beloved, part 1. It's an amazing book, but also bewildering at times, so I'm looking forward to learning from Phil Weinstein's lecture. Tomorrow, our retired clergy group meets, and we are now discussing Wilkie and Noreen Au's Aging With Wisdom and Grace. This is also the week leading up to the Guilford Church Christmas Bazaar - cookie-making time! Maybe not quite so many this year. The other thing that is happening is that the University of North Carolina "Tarheels" men's basketball season has started. I haven't seen them on TV yet, but I've heard a couple of games on the iphone radio app. They play Alabama tonight. That will be after Toni Morrison. At some point we'll go to Cliff and Eliza Bergh's house and watch a game on ESPN.