What Makes a Community?

Main Street, Rockland, Maine

 

 

 

What makes a community? If you look this word up in the dictionary (yes a real dictionary in book form), you’ll get the description: A group of people residing in the same region under the same government. A class or group with common interests. Society in general.

Do you think this simple explanation explains your community? I think it takes much more to make a community than simply living together in the same region

 

 

 

There is one non-profit organization in Rockland which strives to make their community so much more. It is called Rockland Main Street, Inc. and I for one am glad they exist and are working to make our downtown area a true community.

For doesn’t the center of activity in a community make it a community? Do you remember your youth in Rockland and how we centered our everyday lives on Main Street?

My mother would put Sister Sally in a carriage; I would hold onto the carriage; and up we’d go to Main Street. Here my mother, with a pocketbook full of real cash would come to pay the monthly bills. Here we went to the bank, insurance company, grocery store, to clothing stores and shoe stores.

And while we were up on Main Street we’d meet people we knew in the community we lived in. We’d stop to chat and catch up on each other’s lives. It gave us all a sense of belonging to each other; of caring about each other.

We lost that closeness as the years went by and the economy of Main Street changed to one catering to summer visitors.

Somewhere along the line Rockland re-invented itself once again as seen in the review I did of John Bird’s book Tidal Turn.

Also along the way Rockland Main Street, Inc. came to be. We are very lucky to have this group of dedicated citizens in our midst. Their aim is: “Enhancing and protecting the unique sense of place and economic vitality of our downtown.” In other words, making our community a better place.

How do they accomplish this worthy ideal?

First of all, they involve residents, businesses, and government in a cooperative effort and work toward common goals that continue to enhance our community.

They support projects that make the physical area look better like the recent resurfacing project for Main Street.

They help bring new businesses to Main Street, such as the renovation of the Hewitt Block at 444 Main Street, which now includes a restaurant called 3 Crow, and apartments on the top floors. The renovation included historic preservation, another goal of RMS Inc. made possible in some cases through the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

They sponsor events to raise money for the organization like the “So You Think You Know Rockland” competition at the Strand which I have reported on this month.

Our business model has been studied by other communities. They try to figure out why our downtown is 100% involved in commerce of one kind or another. John-Manuel Andriote or the Norwich, Connecticut Bulletin came up to Rockland one day about the time of the Lobster Festival. He sat down on a bench at the Farnsworth and took notes on why Rockland’s system seemed to work for them. He wanted to know why the National Trust for Historic Preservation initiative worked here and didn’t work in his own home town. He suddenly found himself on the business end of an interview by a local citizen about what he thought of Rockland.

Andriote concluded his article which I found on the RMS site, (see the site on their Facebook page to view the whole story) this way: “Instead of living off the vanishing vapors of what used to be, how about we try something new and different: learning from and applying what others have already proved will work?”

Good advice? While we are bemoaning the past and the disappearance of our favorite stores on Main Street, perhaps we could become more involved in organizations like RMS Inc. It’s possible we as an individual in this group can really make some changes for the good. Who knows what the future holds for our historical Main Street.

Volunteer for one of our festivals. You will meet many of your neighbors there. Working with your community members to introduce our summer visitors to what is good about the midcoast area can give you a sense of pride in your community. Yes, even a sense of “community.”

According to a recent Bangor Daily News story by Stephen Betts, Mayor William Clayton, of Rockland, is asking for residents to contribute their talents to the community by filling one of the 48 vacancies on city boards. You can make a difference by joining the boards of: the planning board; board of assessment review; personnel board; zoning board of appeals; comprehensive plan commission; parks commission; library advisory committee; parking advisory committee; energy advisory committee; recreation advisory committee; breakwater lighthouse advisory committee; Coast Guard city advisory committee; and the Community Development Block Grant committee. Some of these committees have a majority of seats vacant.

If you want a better understanding of what these boards involve as far as what input you will be asked to give, please call city hall and ask to speak to the Mayor or to City Clerk, Stuart Sylvester.

How much do you care about your community? You should be proud of the city you live in. We now have a national and international reputation as a community who cares about its residents and that has a welcoming nature to visitors. Keep that reputation going. Get involved.

Thanks for listening.

So You Think You Know Rockland

 

May 1, 6 pm, Strand Theatre

Sponsored by Rockland Main Street Inc.

 

 

 

Rockland Main Street, Inc. is hosting 6 teams that are willing to take on the challenge to answer questions about Rockland's history and current events, during Rockland Main Street, Inc.’s own quiz show, “So You Think You Know Rockland”.

Audience members are needed to cheer them on!

“So You Think You Know Rockland” will be held on Wednesday May 1st at 6PM at The Strand, in Rockland. The game begins with two teams competing to answer twenty questions on Rockland history and current events. There will be two rounds of three teams each before the Championship Round, which will pit the three winners of previous rounds against each other to see who thinks they know Rockland and who really knows Rockland.

Tickets are $10; students under 18, $5. Proceeds benefit the non-profit Rockland Main Street Inc. whose aim is “Working to Keep Downtown the Heart of the Community.”

Come have an evening of family fun and learn a lot about your community at the same time. Can you answer questions like: What is the name of the boat that brought President Taft to Rockland? I’m betting it was of government issue from either the USCG or USN. What do you think?

I’m rooting for whatever team my friend, Tim Sullivan is on. Go team!

 

 

more rounds of three teams each, before the Championship Round, which will pit the three winners of previous rounds against each other to see who thinks they know Rockland and who really knows Rockland! Come prepared to learn a lot, laugh a lot and cheer a lot…
but no calling out the answers!
A family fun event, admission is $10, students under 18 $5.
Proceeds benefit Rockland Main Street, Inc. a 501c3 nonprofit.
"Working to Keep Downtown the Heart of the Community"!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the Face of Tragedy…

Why?

 

Not too far “Beyond the South End” we’ve had to face yet another tragedy. Still mourning the babies who were killed in Newtown, Connecticut, we have to face yet another senseless tragedy at the Boston Marathon.

A warning about this blog. It may be depressing and not what you want you want to hear or to be thinking about, but I have reluctantly approached the subject of violence in what is most likely a vain attempt to understand how these events come about.

Why? Always we ask why? Maybe we’ll never know or understand what makes one human being decide to kill as many other humans as they can in one fell swoop.

What makes the boy next door, who grew up in this country and became an American citizen; suddenly turn on his fellow Bostonians in such a violent and devastating way?

The Chechen brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are the latest in a long list of terrorists who went down the wrong path and became vicious sociopaths loosed on society.

April is a bad month for terroristic events. Waco, Oklahoma City, Columbine to name a few such devastating events, happened in April. The challenge is to figure out what chain of events turns human beings into one-man wrecking balls who one day are out to kill as many of his fellow human beings as he can.

Maybe we should turn to history for the answer. There are people in this world today who idolize the man and the name of Hitler, a psychopath responsible for over 8,000,000 deaths in WWII. Or if we look at modern society, we need only look to places like Darfur, Rwanda, Uganda, the Congo, and Bosnia for mass killings of its citizens because of an ideal based on hate or because a ruling despot decides to kill just for the heck of it.

Look at these staggering facts:

Darfur, 400,000 killed since 2003

Rwanda, 1994, 800,000 minority Tutsis killed

Uganda, 1980s, civil fighting which abducts children, tortures them and then turns them into soldiers to continue the civil unrest in a vicious circle.

The Congo in 1990, 4 million killed

Bosnia, 1995, the genocide and deportation of Muslims by the Serbians, thousands murdered. Sound familiar?

Or maybe we should look at religious cults as the source…what some people come to believe is a true faith…always led by a psychopath. How many people have been taken in by these so-called religious leaders; and how many have lost their lives as a result?

Look at the so-called “doomsday” cults.

Heaven’s Gate, a doomsday cult in San Diego in 1997, was led by two psychos: Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles. Thirty-nine of its members killed themselves one day because they believed it was the only way to reach an alien space craft which was following the comet Hale-Bopp. Was Earth such a bad place that they thought their only redemption was in outer space?

The Branch Davidians of Waco, Texas, led by psycho David Koresh. Eighty-two of their members were killed in a battle with the ATF, FBI, and the Texas National Guard in 1993 at their compound in Waco. It’s a sore spot of national security and the welfare of our citizens to this day. There is a similar compound now in existence which is currently under scrutiny for child abuse and the like. Will we have yet another Waco?

The People’s Temple, led by psychopath Jim Jones. In 1978 over 900 men, women and children killed themselves in their jungle compound in Guyana. Along with those members, Congressman Leo Ryan, who came to investigate allegations of abuse, was killed as he was trying to board a plane to leave.  He’s the only Congressman to be killed in the line of duty to his country. Jim told members they all had to kill themselves because others would come and they had to make the “ultimate” sacrifice by drinking a Kool-Aid type drink laced with cyanide, sedatives and tranquilizers. It took each member approximately five minutes to die.

That modern-day tragedy reminds us of the ancient society of Jews of Masada who killed themselves rather than become slaves to the Egyptians.

If you look on Wikipedia, they list ten groups who they deem to be of cult potential. I am surely stepping on some toes here, but I beg of you to investigate my research for yourself. They list: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormonism); The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (Jehovah’s Witnesses); The Church of Scientology; The Twelve Tribes; The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (Unification Church); The International Churches of Christ (Boston Movement); The Family; Christian Identity Movement; The Nation of Islam; and United Pentecostal Church.

There is even a warning for one of these groups that you should not believe what you see on that cult’s site because they are fascist, racist, sexist, and narcissistic. The message was fearful enough to me that I didn’t even go to that cult’s site for fear they would attach my name to their email list somehow.

I have come upon people from similar religious groups in my lifetime and their insistence, as they spout their scriptures at me, that they are better than me and that I will surely go to hell if I don’t believe as they do, never sits well with me. Today as I come upon the same thing on the internet, I still recoil.  Although at times I would like to “slap them upside the head” as they say here in the South, I step back and remember my history lessons and walk away. It’s pointless to try to convince them otherwise. I can only hope that their religious zeal doesn’t end up in the death of other people. You have the right to believe what you wish, but I beg of you to give me that same right.

Remember that there are people in the world who face an event like the Boston Marathon killings every day of their lives. Even though we had to witness such a tragedy, we must remember that we are Americans and Americans will always take care of each other.

The story of Why for the Boston tragedy is still being investigated. As I was glued to my T.V. and sitting on the edge of my seat like everyone in the Boston area was, I was reminded of that terrible Thanksgiving weekend in 1963 when we did the same thing during the Kennedy assassination events.

I remain thankful that my great-niece Danielle and her fiancé, Haydn are safe and sound up in Boston.  I look forward to their marriage up in Maine this summer. They gave the Sylvester clan a real scare that day. However, dear friends of Danielle, a young couple, were seriously injured.

I must add one more thought to all of this. I congratulate my dear State of Maine for legalizing same-sex marriages. Why there is even a reason that we have to legalize such a right is beyond me. Gay people are at least lovers, not haters, unlike the Westboro Baptist Church who blames all the ills of the world on homosexuals.

Perhaps we should listen to the words of Martin Richard, our littlest victim, as seen in this picture.

 

 

Out of the mouths of babes. Here he is, missing two of his front teeth, holding a sign we should all heed. He made this poster in class after a lesson about Trayvon Martin. Right there we should be concerned that we now have to teach kids how not to hate in our classrooms.

If you remember, Trayvon Martin was the black kid who was visiting a closed community and who was picked out by a “neighborhood watch coordinator” in a gated community as a possible threat to the community. The “watch coordinator,” George Zimmerman ended up killing the young man. Zimmerman was even let go at first, claiming self-defense, but is now under indictment for 2^nd degree murder in the case.

The family of Trayvon Martin recently sent a letter to the family of Martin Richard:

Statement to the Family of Martin Richard from the Parents of Trayvon Martin

Our hearts are broken over the tragedy in Boston yesterday. Our family sends our sincerest condolences to all of those who have been affected by this terrible situation. We especially would like to send a message to the family of eight-year-old Martin Richard. We have come to understand that the peace sign that Martin is holding in a photo being circulated throughout the media was created in response to a lesson by his teacher about the death of our son. From our family to yours, we are praying for you, thinking about you and will remember your son for the rest of our lives.

--Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, parents of Trayvon Martin

I would say the same about the other victims of the Boston tragedy: Krystle Campbell, 29; Boston University student, Lu Lingzi and the last person killed, the M.I.T. guard, Sean Collier. Rest in Peace. To the others who now face long recuperation and rehabilitation periods, God Bless you.

Thanks for listening.

Happy Birthday, Stu

Photo by Daniel Dunkle, Courier Gazette

This is a picture of my nephew, Stuart Sylvester which ran in The Courier Gazette on February 14. The caption says: “Rockland Mayor Will Clayton, left, gives City Clerk Stuart Sylvester a plaque commemorating his 25 years of service at the Feb. 11 City Council meeting at city hall. It was 25 years to the day.” The family is all very proud of him.

April 30 is Stu’s birthday. If you see him up at City Hall  in Rockland or out and about that day, shake his hand, wish him a Happy Birthday, and tell him that his Aunt Sandra is very proud of him.

Happy Birthday, Stu!

 

 

Paddy O’Brien at the Museum

This event has been postponed due to illness.

 

 

 

 

 

Barn Raising at the Museum

Come join us at the museum.

 Help build a boat building shop.

April 17, 9am.

Coffee--pizza lunch

 

 

 

 

 

Do You Think

 You Could Buy an

Ad for our Yearbook?

 

 

This is the question many seniors on yearbook staffs are asking local businesses about now. Rockland, Maine has a long history of supporting educational programs and local schools. They often buy ads year after year, making it possible to print the yearbook for that year’s graduating class.

I don’t have my yearbook, The Cauldron, for 1959, however, I somehow managed to hang on to my mother’s. She graduated from Rockland High School in 1927. I will bring you more of the history of that issue of The Cauldron later on; but today I bring you some interesting facts as displayed by the advertising in that year’s issue of The Cauldron.

The ads in this yearbook for 1927 are indeed a microcosm of that era in Rockland’s history. I counted 104 ads in the book. Of those, I only recognize 18 that survived until 1959 when I graduated. Of those 18, only four still exist: The Courier Gazette, E.C.Moran, Huston-Tuttle, and the Thorndike.

You get a sense of how busy Main Street was at that time and how many different businesses co-existed in the business district. Of the 104, I counted 9 service stations or car dealerships; eight department/clothing stores; 3 druggists; 4 cleaners, clothes dyers and repairers; 5 financial institutions; 2 furniture stores; 2 book stores; 3 hardware stores; 3 stores selling sundries and newspapers; 9 food stores; 4 coal/fuel businesses; 1 dime store, 3 plumbing and heating contractors; 3 shoe stores; 3 jewelers; 3 restaurants/soda fountain; 2 grain companies. How did they all stay in business? The competition must have been fierce.

You don’t think of the late 20s as the horse and buggy days; however, there was one ad in the book that demonstrates the transition from one era to another. George M. Simmons at that time was a dealer in horses, tires, auto supplies, carriages, sleighs, robes, and even real estate. He was a busy man and obviously his business is morphing from one era of transportation to another. I expect the robes were carriage robes for those cold days.

I also saw a lot of ads for batteries. Exide batteries was one brand on sale. I’m guessing they are talking about car batteries. Was it that batteries didn’t last as long then? Maybe they didn’t have three and five year guarantees then.

The car dealers were interesting too. I saw cars that are no longer made and cars I never heard of. Snow-Hudson Co. sold used Packards, Hudsons, and Essexes. My brother had a Packard convertible at one time. I’ve heard of Hudsons but not the Essex. Jones Motor Co., on the Bicknell Block, sold 6 and 8 cylinder “motor cars.” E.O. Philbrook & Son, sold “fine motor cars” (Willys-Knight and Whippet). Did you ever hear of those cars?

I scanned some of the more interesting ads to share with you:

 

 

This page shows an ad from E.C. Moran & Co., an insurance company on Main Street. My mother was executive secretary to Mr. Moran and typed up his dictated autobiography (has anyone ever seen it?) Her two best friends, Audrey Teel and Dorothy Baxter, worked with her there. I believe my mother, Evangeline, went to work there right out of high school. Audrey and Dot worked there many years after my mother left to raise her family. I used to stop by and chat with them at the office often when I was home.

 

 

The top ad here for Chisholms’s advertises sodas and ices. Do you think that is an “ice” in the picture? I think the only place you can get an ice these days is in some neighborhoods of New York City. I guess they didn’t sell ice cream floats or the like then. Chisholm’s would have been my Humptey’s, where the gang always hung out in high school.

The middle ad shows The Courier-Gazette which boasted a circulation of 6,500; “85% of it in the district of which Rockland is the trading center.” The paper sold for $3.00/year at that time. You also see here the Boston Shoe Store, which I remember.

The bottom ad shows a logo for Rockland Coal Company. It points out to us an industry that has been morphed into oil companies these days. No one these days buys much coal, wood, ice, baled hay or straw. Along with the coal companies we can count the grain companies as mostly a thing of the past.

 

 

On this ad we see Senter Crane Company and Gregory’s, two stores I remember well. I like the Gregory ad which claims “You won’t find better suits in Serge or Unfinished Worsteds in single or double breasted than we show right here and now. Designed by the world’s Greatest Tailors. You’ll like the style, the fabric and the make. Everything necessary for a successful graduation.” Who words an ad like this anymore?

 

 

The name Perry is recognizable as being prominent in local business. Here are two of their businesses, Perry’s Foodland on Main Street; and M.B. & C.O. Perry, selling coal, wood, and coke also of Main Street. The class of 1927 graduated Evelyn Perry, who was vice-president of the class.

 

 

 

This ad for fuller-cobb-davis, a well known department store at that time, gave me a couple of chuckles. They appeal to the “summer colony” in Rockland and surrounding cities and towns. “Do you realize that we carry in stock the finest quality furs obtainable? July and August is the time to make your selections when we have our fur sale and the largest stock.” I assume they were after the more affluent clientele who visited in the summer. However, how many of them would read this ad in a student publication? They also offered some advice: “We suggest a night school for the boys and girls, men and women, who cannot and did not have a chance to graduate, of which there are many.”

 

 

 

This ad for The North National Bank is a full page ad for the back cover of the yearbook. Note they say: “A complete banking service conducted under the direct supervision of the….UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT.” They also claim to be a member of the Federal Reserve System. The Federal Reserve had only been in existence since 1913, 14 years before. People sometimes still didn’t trust banks so much.

 

 

 

This is another bank ad for Security Trust Company of Rockland, Camden, Vinalhaven, Union, and Warren. Do you like their story? “The staunch oak grows from the tiny acorn. From small beginnings great fortunes have grown. If we spend for the things we need and save money reasonably, we display the right sort of faith. We put value into our efforts when we manage to restrain our spending. A nation that saves reasonably gets the most for its money. So does an individual. Think it over. Long experience has given us some valuable information on proper saving. We are at all times ready to share our knowledge with you.” Condescending or what? Thank you Big Daddy Bank.

Of course 1927 was but two years away from the world’s Great Depression. Think they were trying to tell us something?

The bottom ad on this page also gave me a chuckle. Have you ever seen “Three Crow” brand spice ever in your life? It must have been a winner for the Atlantic Spice Co. and it was packed in “sanitary” moisture proof packages to boot. Well I sure hope so.

I know that The Cauldron no longer exists; but I assume the new high school does have a yearbook, whatever it’s called. I urge you, if you are a local business person or professional person such as a doctor or dentist, to help the kids get their yearbook printed. You never know. After reading this blog you might wonder that if your business survives until 2099, 86 years hence, you might still find a copy of a yearbook lying around, like I did, with your ad in it. People don’t throw their yearbooks out. Your ad in a newspaper will disappear the day after that issue hits the streets. If you buy an ad in a school yearbook, you become a part of the history of that era. Think about that.

Thanks for listening.

A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes

  

When Annette Funicello died on Monday, April 8 in California, Facebook immediately lit up with her picture and tributes and remembrances of that special light called Annette that had gone out in our lives. The tributes soon followed:

From Frankie Avalon via the TMZ announcement online: “She was a very courageous gal that fought and fought and fought…I’m devastated. I loved this gal.”

From Variety: Disney Chariman-CEO Robert Iger: “Annette was and always will be a cherished member of the Disney family, synonymous with the word Mousketeer, and a true Disney Legend.” He went on to say, “She will forever hold a place in our hearts as one of Walt Disney’s brightest stars, delighting an entire generation of baby boomers with her jubilant personality and endless talent. Annette was well known for being as beautiful inside as she was on the outside, and she faced her physical challenges with dignity, bravery and grace.”

Diane Disney Miller, daughter of Walt praised Annette as a “consummate professional who demonstrated great loyalty to Disney.”

A new Facebook friend of mine, Susan Groder, said she remembers going to the Mickey Mouse show in LA several times while visiting her grandparents. “Oh what wonderful memories I have of Annette. She was quite a performer even as a youngster. I was so envious of her long curly hair.”

My family didn’t have a TV till the late 50s and I remember watching the “Mickey Mouse” show over at the farm with my twin cousin, Diane Hilton. It was one of the first shows I ever watched on TV. We would sit in front of that old black and white TV and wish we were there to have fun with all those kids on the show. Now Diane is gone and so is Annette.

We all knew that Annette was very ill and had been for a long time, but we still liked to remember her as the star of the Mickey Mouse show where she was full of life and energy. Jimmy Dodd, host of the Mickey Mouse Club, composer of the show’s theme, wrote a special song for Annette: “Who’s the little lady who’s as dainty as a dream? Who’s the one you can’t forget? I’ll give you just three guesses. Annette, Annette, Annette!” Those of you familiar with the Mickey Mouse Club song, can hear the music to this song. Here’s the video of her dancing to the song:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annette took dancing and music lessons as a child to overcome her shyness. In 1955, at age 12, Walt Disney discovered her as she was performing as the Swan Queen in Swan Lake at a dance recital at the Starlight Bowl in Burbank. He cast her as a “Mouseketeer” in the new Mickey Mouse Club. She was the last to be chosen and one of the few cast by Walter himself. She became very popular after the first season, receiving 6,000 letters a month.

Annette was not only a star on the Disney show. She went on to record 19 albums including the first Annette, 1959; Annette at Bikini Beach, 1964; and A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes, 1995.

She also recorded singles including: Tall Paul, First Name Initial, O Dio Mio, Train of Love, Pineapple Princess, and My Little Grass Shack. I can remember singing along to these songs on the radio.

She was in 19 films, 6 of which were the “Beach” Movies with Frankie Avalon. They were Beach Party, 1963; Music Beach Party, 1964; Bikini Beach, 1964; Pajama Party, 1964; Beach Blanket Bingo, 1965; and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, 1965.

Walt always wanted to dress her in modest swim suits in these movies, not showing her belly button. It worked for the most part except that her belly button did show most of the time.

As teenagers we flocked to these movies. Mostly we wanted to see our singing idol, the hunk, Frankie Avalon; but he and Annette were the perfect onscreen couple. Here’s a video of one of the films:

 

 

Besides the Mickey Mouse Club, Annette had many TV credits. Including: Zorro, 1959, 1961; The Danny Thomas Show, cast member in 1959; a Love American Style segment along with Frankie Avalon, 1973; and many more television appearances.

In her personal life, Annette was best friends with Shelley Fabares, singer/actress, and niece to Nanette Fabray. Annette and Shelley met as teenagers in catechism class. Shelley was a bridesmaid at Annette’s first marriage. Annette was also close to her fellow Mousketeers Lonnie Burr, who she claimed was her first boyfriend during the first season; Sharon Baird, Doreen Tracey, Cheryl Holdridge, and Tommk Kirk, as well as her many time co-star Frankie Avalon.

Shelley, ironically, suffered her own illness and received a life-saving liver transplant in 2000 because of hepatitis.

Annette was married twice. First to Jack Gilardi, from 1965-1981. They had three children, Gina, Jack, Jr., and Jason. In 1986, she married horse breeder, Glen Holt.

In 1987, Annette and Frankie reunited to promote their film, Back to the Beach. She began to have dizzy spells and failing health problems. She kept her diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis a secret until 1992. She dispelled rumors that she had become an alcoholic by revealing her illness. Hoping to help others with the disease she founded the Annette Funicello Fund for Neurological Disorders at the California Community Foundation.

Throughout her long battle with MS she never complained and always gave others with the disease hope for their future. She was a shining light until the very end when she lost the ability to walk or even to speak.

Annette wrote a series of books called The Annette Mysteries. However, the story of her life was finally told in an autobiography which was dictated to Patricia Romanowski and published in 1994, called A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes: My Story. It was made into a TV movie in 1995. If you want to view a video of that movie as well as other stories under that name about Annette go to You Tube. The one which tells about her illness and features Shelley Fabares is: "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes--the Annette Funicello Story 6/7. I cannot download it here due to copyright issues.

The title of the book and TV movie came from the Cinderella song in the Disney animated feature which is probably my all time favorite Disney movie.  You can view a video of Cinderalla singing that song on You Tube also. You could probably say that the words of that song were the philosophy of Annette’s life:

“A dream is a wish your heart makes

When you’re fast asleep

In dreams you lose your heartaches

Whatever you wish for, you keep

Have faith in your dreams and someday

Your rainbow will come smiling thru

No matter how your heart is grieving

If you keep on believing

The dream that you wish will come true”

If you were trying to explain why Annette is no longer with us to a child I would highly recommend telling them about that song and that she is no doubt in a special magical kingdom up in heaven, probably living in Cinderella’s castle, and that her Uncle Walter is taking good care of her.

As I try to deal with the pollen here in Georgia and limp around my apartment waiting for my knee operation in May, I count my blessings when I remember our dear Annette Funicello and the special light she emitted till the very end even as she had to deal with her illness. My problems don’t seem so bad after all.

Rest in Peace at last our dear Cinderella, our Annette. “Now we have to say goodbye.

M-I-C-K-E-Y  M-O-U-S-E.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Cleaning the Office

Since I’m in the Spring Cleaning mode and have already begun a new chapter of this blog, I thought I’d continue with my office and start throwing things again.

Unlike the hoarders on one of my favorite TV reality shows, I tend to be just the opposite. I throw. I have to be careful though, because in that pile of stuff may just be the one thing I’ll be looking for later on. Sometimes I look for stuff and can’t remember if I lost it in the flood or it went the way of one of my cleaning binges.

I’m organized in some ways and not so much in others. I maintain a filing cabinet of two drawers with file folders that don’t follow any logical order. I’m the only one who knows where to find what file. In my file cabinet I have all my medical information, statements etc. If you are on Medicare you will amass enough paper to wallpaper this office in no time. Once a year, usually in January, I go through the overflowing medical files for Medicare and AARP and throw out the previous year’s statements, so I can start all over again. If I saved all that stuff I’d have no room for anything else.

I do love my shredder…I do…I do. I could very easily burn out the motor in the shredder if I’m not careful. It does help with the identify theft problem though, especially if you live in an apartment complex like this one with central mail kiosks throughout. I never throw junk mail with my name and address on it in the convenient barrel they supply for the disposal of unwanted mail. Instead I take it home and shred the parts with my personal information on it. I never mail bills with a check in them in the convenient slot at the kiosk. I always find a real mail box to put them in. I still mail some bills because I really don’t like my personal financial information floating around on the internet.

I do the right thing environmentally and opt for paperless statements when I can—from the bank, financial stuff, and the like. The only grudge I have with that system is that when I try to print out my bank statement to keep for a while, I can’t get the whole page, but have to pencil in the last two numbers on the end, even if I reduce the size to 50%. What’s up with that?

Increasingly my doctors' offices send my prescriptions over the internet to my pharmacy so that I don’t have a paper prescription to carry home with me. That system is fine except for the fact that the pharmacy will immediately fill all the scrips sent to them in that manner and expect me to buy them all at once. Not happening. I have to call them and tell them not to fill them until I call them and tell them to do so. So not all systems are convenient at all times. At least the number of scrips I fill each month has decreased quite a bit.

I have “redone” this office at least three times in the three plus years we’ve lived here. The first time was when the cheap desk I bought just fell apart. I kept some of the boards and did the “bricks and boards” thing from college using old plastic coolers instead. I have my printer on one and a couple boxes I keep supplies in.

There is another smaller “table” behind it which I keep my paper cutter on, extra paper, etc. That table used to be on the left side of this art table I’m now using as a desk. On it I had my radio and some of the notebooks.

But wonder of wonders, dumpster diving one day produced a small table I could put beside my “desk” to hold my notebooks, notes, and other stuff I use to put together this blog every month. Therefore, a whole new arrangement was necessary. I moved the TV into the corner and put this new table next to me. The file cabinet that was also in that corner is now across the room next to an overflowing bookcase.  The radio sits atop it. No room for another bookcase, so that will have to do. The only glitch with this setup is that I have a dead zone between the small table and the TV in which everything I need falls and then becomes a pain to retrieve, like the pen I’m using at the moment. Will have to figure that one out later.

My important papers I keep in a metal box, titles to vehicles, passport, insurance policies, SS card, and copyrights. Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that. If someone now comes and steals away with my metal box and then asks ransom for it I’d be in a big pickle. When we left the flood, that box was in my hand. It’s served its purpose over the years and will continue to do so.

I have to remember to clean it out from time to time though. One time, after I had been away from Maine for over 20 years or so, I found the first car payment papers for my very first vehicle I bought on my own in that box. It was a big old Chevy I bought from my Uncle Exavier Winchenbaugh, who used to sell cars out of his house and garage over on Laurel Street. You may remember seeing his cars lined up along the street and part of South Main Street. He’d always be out there washing one of them.

At the same time, I also found my first teaching contract in Kittery, Maine for 1964. I think the total for the year (12 months) was something like $4,500. I probably should have kept that.

I do print out my blogs to keep in a blog notebook because I don’t trust that this computer will not devour all my hard work never to be seen again. As I revise a chapter of my new book, I print it out again. I do keep the book on a flash drive also. My first book, The South End, is stored on this computer as well as on a flash drive. I don’t need it in paper form, because…duh…I have the actual book.

The only thing I do hoard is notebooks of old blogs; email correspondence; research stuff; works in progress; etc. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to part with them.

The last project of Spring Cleaning in my office involved getting rid of all the extra paper on top of my new small desk so that I can find what I want when I’m writing. I keep yellow legal pads next to the keyboard to take notes on while I’m writing. When the information has been used and is no longer of use, I tear off that page and toss it. By the way, I recycle my printer paper by using both sides of the paper if it is going nowhere but into one of my notebooks.

So my office Spring Cleaning is done for this year. I guarantee you that I won’t be able to wait till next Spring to get rid of accumulated paper on my desk and, consequently, I'll start throwing again. Good luck with your own Spring Cleaning.

Thanks for listening.