About Me

My photo
My wife Toni and I live in the beautiful Catskill mountains, where we love to spend time with family & friends. I enjoy working in the gardens,reading, hanging out at the lake and enjoying the bounty of our lives. In 2007 I started my own business and named it after our dog Spencer. "Life's been good to me so far"

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Aiden's 2nd Birthday

My little buddy Aiden turned two last week
He had a birthday party with lots of people and great food.


Aiden & his Mom Debbie

Debbie, our neighbor & Grandma Glo with the birthday boy


Tuesday, July 13, 2010

WOR TV Tower Plane Crash of 1956

One of my first memories was of the WOR TV Tower crash in 1956. The tower was built in 1949 and was built right next door to our apartment building, 7111 Palisade Ave in North Bergen, NJ. My apt. is the black building in the photo below, bottom right. The tower was 740 ft tall and stood 1040 feet above sea level. At night, red neon lights on the tower blinked WOR.


At the time it was built, the tower was 10th largest man made structure in the world. It always scared me.
Here I am with my godmother Carole in front of our apartment building with the tower behind us. This was taken May 1953.

On November 8th 1955, a small plane fit the tower in a heavy fog,the plane coasted 10 blocks and crashed into the top floor of an apartment building. The pilot and two passengers died as well as three ladies in the building. One lady jumped to her death because of the flames. The plane's engine landed in my future grammar school's play yard. Seven years later we would play on the cracked concrete where the engine landed.


I clearly remember our neighbors knocking on our door and telling us we had to evacuate the building. Everyone in a five block radius had to evacuate, because there was a real threat that tower would come crashing down.
We packed up and stayed at my Aunt Bertie's house in Wurtsboro for about a week until it was deemed safe. I remember it was so strange to see our neighborhood in the newspapers and on TV

Here's a picture of the tower from the west side of NYC the day after the crash. It's amazing how tall the tower was and that the town would have let it be constructed in a residential area. By 1957 the tower was torn down completely.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Back to Blogging



Hello, loyal Wurtsboro Boy readers, I am back on the world wide web after five months.



As most of you know I've been dealing with the passing of my beloved Dad on February 11th.

Dad passed very quickly at his home with my Mom next to him. Eventually I will write about Dad, but it's going to take time. Mom is a nursing home in Liberty NY. We tried to keep her with us, but it didn't work out with her Alzheimer's. She is safe & healthy, though scared, which just breaks my heart. I try to visit her every day.





In April we received an invitation for my cousin Patti's wedding. Toni & I decided we needed some healing and to see some family, so we flew to Bradenton, FL. for the a long weekend



Patti & Elliott hosted a wonderful barbecue at the beautiful home so that their families could meet before the wedding. It was so good to see my family and catch up with all the family news. It had been nearly 40 years since I had seen my cousins Carol & Richard. We had met up with Patti & Elliott when they were in NYC last fall.





The next day Patti & Elliott were married overlooking Bradenton Bay at Mattison's
Riverside Restaurant. After the ceremony we enjoyed a lovely champagne brunch in the restaurant>


><At the wedding brunch, cousins Richard, Patti, Jack & Carol



The same evening Patti & Elliott had their wedding reception at the Bradenton Country Club.
Over 100 people enjoyed the delicious food and danced to a wonderful band.
We had such a wonderful time and it meant so much to me to see my family after all these years. We will definitely stay in touch now.









The next day Toni & I dragged our pale bodies to beautiful Anna Maria Island for a day of sun & relaxation. Cocktails on the beach


This guy caught a small shark while fishing

I am always the happiest when I have my toes in the sand!










In May we had a comfort weekend at Maur & Eric's in Lake George with the Kilgores & Durdovics. It was one of our usual weekends, lots of delicious food and a lot of laughter with good friends






The one sad part of the weekend was when we found out that Maur & Eric's dog Wilson passed away from old age. "Willie" was a therapy dog , Eric would bring him to his medical office. He was such a good dog and we all loved him. Spencer, our dog, spent the weekend looking around the house for his buddy Willie.


Here's a picture of Willie resting his head on my leg on his boat on Lake George.



When we got home it was time to work in the garden. I'll post some flower pictures late, but here is the small waterfall I built. As soon as it was done a small toad jumped into the water.
Incredible! Even more incredible the little toad was instantly fried.
I have since learned not to use three indoor extension cords to hook up the waterfall pump.
That little guy took one for the team

Also I've been spending time with my grandson of the heart, two year old Aiden. He is so good for my soul.

And finally the summer party season has started

We had dinner at Brian & Fran Limjoon Gager's lovely home with the Marchants and the Wolfes. The girls all went through school together starting with kindergarten.

That's a nice buck growing out of my head.





On memorial day weekend we went to Mary Kilgore's 90th birthday party. Here she is with her "kids" Jim, Theresa, Barbara & Bill. When we were kids the Kilgores rented a house by the Wurtsboro Hills lake. A tiny cottage for five kids and two adults, but I don't think they minded. Jimmy used to sneak me in at lunch time for peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. Mrs. Kilgore never cared, what was one more!




Mrs Kilgore and her extended Wurtsboro Hills Family



My gang at the party: Bill & Donna Kilgore, Mike & Cheryl Durdovic, Maur & Eric Gross, Toni & I and Karen & Jim Kilgore. Jimmy is holding their first grandchild, Conor Freaney Kilgore

Next up was a birthday party for our friend Cathie Brewer. Cathie and her husband Terry have one of the loveliest house I've ever been in. They live in Cuddebackville NY.



They had three bands at the party and some great food. The birthday cake was excellent!
Toni & the Birthday girl.


Next on the Haley's social calender was Toni's Dad, Buddy's ,surprise 90th birthday party given by his granddaughter Kate at LeNeve's in Haledon, NJ Here's the whole party. I'm probably the lone Irish boy
Fourth of July weekend we went to my friends Bill & MaryAnn Fahey's house in Washington Township, NJ. Bill & I went to high school & college together. The Fahey's have a beautiful garden and a great swimming pool that Toni lusts for. I went to St Joe's H.S. with all these Irish faces: me, John Gale, Mike Michaeu, Bill, Mike Elwood & Tom Mohl. The guys and their wives were great friends of John Burke. Everyone tells great, funny stories about John when we get together. We all miss & love him so much.





Fourth of July is always at Aunt Liz and cousin Denise's house in Hawthorne NJ. Again always great food. Can you understand why I am this size? All I do is eat at parties.



And dear reader here is my father-in law at the party. You too might feel a need for a nap after this long blog. Thank you for your patience, I promise to be briefer in future stories of my life.