Good Morning All!
Happy Birthday to friends Mike in Spokane and Joanna in Chicago, who celebrate their birthdays tomorrow, September 22nd…here’s to you! Also, Happy Birthday wishes go to comedian/actor (and Chicago Cub fan extraordinaire) Bill Murray of “Ghostbusters”, “Caddyshack” & “Groundhog’s Day” movie fame, who turns 69 today; to author Stephen King, who is 72 today; to singer Faith Hill, who turns 52 today; and to director/producer Ethan Coen of “Fargo” & “Brother, Where Art Thou?” movie fame, who is 62 today…here’s to all of you too!
Prayers are lifted up for our dear friends, Earline in Spokane (her husband, Jess, was one of my mentors and a survivor from the USS Johnston in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in World War II), who is fighting cancer; and for Elizabeth in Texas, who is fighting a mersa infection (not fun!). Get well soon you two! You make our world a better place, for sure!
For those of you who are interested in family history, I’ve found it to be a complex treasure hunt, taking me down different paths that sometimes lead to dead ends and/or conflicting information…a case in point is information about my great, great grandfather George O. Newbold, who immigrated to the United States from England. His wife was Mary Ann Morris from Swansea, Wales, who I believe he met when he worked on the railroads in England & Wales. Well, the 1900 U.S. Census reports that he immigrated in 1869. However, he appears on the England (UK) census in 1871 with his wife Mary and two children, Eliza & John (my great grandfather)! I was able to find information that George and Mary actually immigrated to the U.S. in 1872 and this information was confirmed by the fact that their third child, William, was born in March of 1873 in Farmington, Utah. The 1880 U.S. census shows George living in Draper, Utah where he lived until his death. He’s buried there. My friend (and my Dad’s stepsister, Sheryl) has been a huge help in determining accurate information about our family’s history. She introduced me to “Family Search” and it is a great place to do family history research on-line. For those of you who get some of their kicks out of finding out more about your family’s past, you’ll want to check out “Family Search.” Let me know what you find out, won’t you?
For all you bird lovers out there…here’s another excerpt from one of my favorite books, “Birds”, about Icelandic birds we encountered in our July, 2019 visit to Iceland. It’s about the birds you’ll encounter in Iceland during the Spring & Summer months:
“Migratory birds have a lot in common with your average tourist. They flock to Iceland in the spring like visitors to a new theme park, excited to try everything on offer. Their first weeks in Iceland are one continuous party, with singing, dancing, brawling, and a whole lot of sex on warm summer nights (we’re talking about the birds here). Back in Europe and America over the winter, they (again, the birds) don’t draw attention to themselves. Like escaped convicts on the run, these guys keep — as they say in old gangster flicks — a low profile… Many of them just head out to sea, where no one can keep an eye on them. They are greyish, taciturn, and what you might call “common.” But then summer returns and they can finally let loose again. Chock-full of hormones like teens on the way to an outdoor festival, they start pining for that cold rock in the north. Which is what makes Iceland just as much a dream destination for bird watchers in the summer as it is the winter…”
Here’s some trivia for the day:
Did you know that a bolt of lightening is six times hotter than the sun?
Did you know that on this day in 1971 “NFL Monday Night Football” debuted on ABC? Who can forget “Dandy Don” Meredith, Howard Cosell & Frank Gifford???
Speaking of football, I came across the 1969 Topps Football Card for former Green Bay Packer linebacker great, Dave Robinson. Dave was born in 1941 in Mount Holly, New Jersey and played high school football at Moorestown High School in New Jersey. He played on three unbeaten championship teams in football & basketball while in high school. He played college football at Penn State University and was the 14th overall pick in the 1963 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers and played most of his NFL career for them and then ended his career with the Washington Redskins under coach George Allen. Dave was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013. While at Penn State, Dave earned his degree in Civil Engineering, with a minor in Economics. During his rookie season, Dave became the starting left side linebacker for the Packers and remained in that role with the Packers through the 1972 season. Alongside the immortal MLB Ray Nitschke and Pro Bowler Lee Roy Caffey, the three formed one of the best starting units of linebackers in NFL history. His 1969 Football Card records that he had “sparkling defensive play…He is very fast and extremely versatile, having seen action at all of the linebacking positions.” It has been said that Dave was not only adept at defending the run but also against the pass. One NFL quarterback he played against, Jack Christiansen, once said that “Trying to pass over Robinson, with his arms and reaction, is like trying to pass over the Empire State Building.” Dave played on two Super Bowl Championship teams and won a total of three NFL Titles with the Packers (1965, 1966, 1967). After his football career, Dave has pursued many endeavors. He had worked during the off-seasons as an engineer at Campbell’s Soup Company in Camden, New Jersey through 1967 and then for Schlitz Brewery in Milwaukee. After retiring from football, he worked full-time with Schlitz. In April, 1984, he started his own beer distributorship in Akron, Ohio until semi-retiring in 2001. He then worked in sales for an artificial turf company before officially retiring in 2006. Dave has also been a member of the Board of Directors of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He and Royce Boyles co-authored “The Lombardi Legacy: Thirty People Who Were Touched By Greatness.” In 2011, Dave was faced with a different struggle in his life. He was told that he may have pancreatic cancer. He said at the time that “I had a brother die of pancreatic cancer. I know the odds of pancreatic cancer. I went home and started making plans for my demise.” After his doctor’s appointment, Dave received the news that he did not have pancreatic cancer; however he did have colon cancer and an 80% blockage of one of his major arteries. But, after two months spending a lot of time in the hospital, the doctors gave Robinson news that he was cancer free and did not have to receive chemotherapy. After going through this life altering experience, Dave told reporters, “I am here for a purpose.” In September, 2015, Moorestown High School retired Dave’s old jersey, number 89, the first Moorestown player ever to receive such an honor. Here’s to Dave Robinson and all the great Packers teams of the 1960s! GO PACKERS!!!
Here are some thoughts for the day:
“I believe we have found a generation which is willing to stand up and be counted, a generation which believes in something, a generation which is not afraid to be our critic, nor afraid of of the consequences. And that is something not to fear, but to be coveted. But the question which confronts us now is not whether the past is justified; the question is whether the future can be secured. And I am convinced the key to that future rests with you—and with thousands of others like you. Young people who may come to the tasks of America appalled by what they see, but who come committed to rebuild—and not destroy—what they find…This generation should be the conscience of the nation. It should serve to remind us constantly that man is mortal and that institutions are permanent only so long as they serve the people. It should continue to probe, to question—to cry out against injustice and corruption and decay. And most of all it should dare to say what others only dreamed.”
—The Hon. Daniel J. Evans, former Governor of the State of Washington (1964-1976), Whitman College Commencement Address (1969)
Governor Evans is one of my all-time favorite public servants. It would be wonderful for our state and nation to have more public servants like him…a dedication to “service above self” for the betterment of fellow citizens of a democratic republic and someone who can inspire fellow citizens to live a life of service to others and to our nation. Here’s to you Governor Evans!
“Bells of the evening, O sing to my love…tell her I miss her, my own turtledove
The streets of the old town are covered with rain…I think I might never know true love again
I’m lost with no road signs to guide me…a slave to my whiskey and dreams
Bells of the evening, O bells that I love…I’ve got some feelings I long to be rid of
I’n not one to ramble; I’m not one to boast…though I had one lover more lovely than most
She was a country girl born to be free…who took to the city by chance there to find me
Bells of the evening go pealin’…I’m down here listenin’ to you
Bells of the evening, O bells of the sea…tell her that I love her, I’m lost and so lonely…
Bells of the evening, your sweet Sunday sound…reminds me of the redwoods and moss covered ground
So If I should wander on back to the coast…Tell her to remember it’s her I need the most…”
—Gordon Lightfoot, “Bells Of The Evening”
“Be thankful we’re not getting all the government we’re paying for.”
—Will Rogers, American humorist from Claremore, Oklahoma
Here’s to a great Saturday and here’s to my grandson, Josh, and his baseball team “The Rockets” who are playing a doubleheader today at Frankling Park in Spoakane! GO JOSH!!! GO ROCKETS!!! And don’t forget, college football today….GO COUGARS!!! GO HUSKIES!!! GO EAGLES!!! GO VANDALS!!!
Press on,
Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, etc.)