Sharon & Leslie Take Kentucky

Yesterday Sharon Purdy Gilliam and I had a great brunch in Midway, KY, very close to her home town of Versailles, at Holly Hill Inn, a National Trust recognized home now serving as a great restaurant. You can learn more about them at www.hollyhillinn.com. The food was incredible; Sharon had pork, I had fried green tomatoes Benedict with the poached eggs atop the FGTs and bacon in between with the Hollandaise on the side. For dessert we had chocolate bread pudding with a killer bourbon sauce. After all, we WERE in Bourbon country...what a wonderful part of the country Kentucky is! Sharon looks like a million as you can see and we had a good time chatting. After brunch we drove around the quaint town of Midway, a railroad town with loads of Victorian architecture, cute shops and zillions of yummy looking restaurants. A great reuse of the older buildings in the town. The weather was spectacular, not as much fall color as one could dream of, but I did find a bit more color in western KY and eastern IN on my way home. I'd been in Lexington for a Board Meeting - great food (and to-die-for Bourbon Slushes) there too! The highlight of the weekend was receiving my Commission as a Kentucky Colonel! You may now call me The Honorable Leslie Vander Meulen Canavan - jeez, what a mouthful!!! I think Leslie will do just fine, but it's a great organization and I'm thrilled to be a member of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels, commissioned by Governor Beshear. Thanks for a great day Sharon, I'll be back and we can attack some other towns! I'd been hankering for fried green tomatoes, so this was just what I needed!

BRAND SPANKING NEW, 2011 MODEL, BABY GRAND-DAUGHTER

I love Bill Watt's email title! One can tell he's a proud grandpa, no doubt about it! Thanks for sharing Bill! She is a beautiful Tierney Elizabeth Landgren born 10/5/11 and weighing in at 6 lb 9 oz. I also love it that at the end of his email he closed with GO CARDINALS, we folks really do now how to keep our priorities in order don't we! Bill Watts is a cousin of Kathy Watts, a darling girl who started with us at Robinson then moved. He will always have a special place in my heart for bringing some grade school pix to me, both from his own archives and from Kathy. Because we moved in second grade from Wichita to Kirkwood (altho I was born here, we'd been gone 3 years) I was not in the 2nd grade photo at Robinson and had never seen it! Last summer, 2010, Bill walked into PJs with an envelope for me, which included the elusive 2nd grade photo. Made my week! Be sure to go to the website, www.khs65.com to see a lot of grade school photos.

Thanks again for sharing Bill and CONGRATS on your gorgeous new baby grand-daughter, and congrats to her mommy and daddy too!

GIL SYLVESTER NEEDS US

From Bob Leonard in Texas comes word that Gil Sylvester, a good KHS65 supporter and reunion attendee, needs our prayers. Thank you so much Bob for keeping us posted on Gil's situation, we appreciate all our members who so generously share. And note Gil has taken his KHS spirit all the way to Oregon!

"Our friend, Gil Sylvester, needs our prayers. Gil has cancer of the tongue, an especially aggressive form of throat cancer. He was recently operated on to remove the cancer but it is unclear as to whether they got it all. [see below for update] He had throat cancer a few years ago with radiation. My understanding is that, for some reason, he cannot receive radiation in the same location twice and chemo is not an option. His days are up and down although he remains a "glass half full" kind of guy and, like us, continues to follow the Cards' run for the pennant. His wife, Sylvia, is a strong woman. This bout with cancer is relatively recent, having just been discovered in August.

Gil lives in Bend, Oregon. I think you'll appreciate the attached photo from a recent camping trip."

I hope some of you that know Gil might send him some greetings to help cheer him and let him know we're rooting for him. gilsylvester@hotmail.com is Gil's email and I have his current home address in Bend, OR if anyone wants to send a note. Please email me if so. Today's prognosis is different, it appears the docs feel they got the cancer and will proceed with a month of radiation and chemo, hoping that the more aggressive treatment may serve well to delay or preclude a recurrence. In any case Gil needs our prayers, good vibes, and all other manner of helpful, hopeful thoughts we can send his way.

Condolences

Our condolences to Steve Murphy on the recent passing of his sister Janet, here is her obituary from the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

Janet M. Heyer

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Heyer, Janet M. (nee Murphy), age 56, passed away Wed., Oct. 5, 2011. Beloved wife and best friend of Michael W. (Mike) for 34 years, loving mother of Jenny (Dallas) Medenwald and Megan (Adam Baird) Heyer; dear grandmother of Jackson; dear sister of Sam (Geralyn) and Steve (Pam) Murphy and Linda (Bill) Marshall; dear niece, aunt, cousin and friend. Janet was an active life-long member of Grace Episcopal Church. Services: Visitation Friday, Oct. 7, 5-9 pm and memorial service Sat., Oct. 8, 1:00 pm , both at Grace Episcopal Church, 514 E. Argonne. Memorials preferred to Grace Episcopal Legacy Fund. www.boppchapel.com

KIRKWOOD ESTATE SALE OCTOBER 8 & 9

LEFTOVERS FROM THE SALE CAN BE VIEWED PRIVATELY BY APPOINTMENT. GIVE ME A CALL OR SEND AN EMAIL.

ANTIQUE LIMOGES CHINA SET
ANTIQUE OAK TABLE, LEAVES AND 6 CHAIRS
WOMENS' NECK SCARVES, DECORATIVE SILKS AND YUMMY WARM HATS AND SCARVES FOR WINTER
SEWING MACHINE IN CABINET
OLD FREEZER PROBABLY GREAT FOR VENISON, FISH, ETC., IN BASEMENT, LOOKS OLD AND A BIT CRUMMY BUT IT FREEZES
KITCHEN MISCELLANEOUS
BLANKETS, THROWS
ANTIQUE SOLID WOOD INLAID ROCKING CHAIR, GORGEOUS!!!




ESTATE SALE GOING ON YET TOMORROW, 9 AM TO 4 OR SO, HALF PRICE ON MOST ITEMS. One of this morning's first visitors was from KHS74, a cousin of Rich Rychlewski and Bobbie Jo Leach. We had a nice chat. Very first visitor was khs66...a nice day in Kirkwood! This is the sort of weather for which we natives wait, in January and August we dream of days like today, this whole week is to be fabulous!

IN MY BUSINESS I HAVE AN ELDERLY FRIEND WHOSE SON IS CLEANING OUT HIS MOTHER'S HOME. THE HOUSE IS AT 1049 NORTH TAYLOR, THE FIRST HOUSE ON THE RIGHT going south, JUST SOUTH OF MANCHESTER. THE SALE IS THIS COMING WEEKEND, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY OCTOBER 8 AND 9 FROM 9AM BOTH DAYS. More details are coming, and there should be an ad in the paper this weekend. Parking on the commercial building lot on the south side of the lot, which adjoins the house, will keep the street from being so crowded. Please obey street parking signs, and no blocking of driveways! I know I shouldn't have to say that, but one might be surprised....

It's a small house with a LOT of stuff. The owner was a school teacher and collector. There is a lot of large size women's clothing, most of it very nice, well known labels, think Eddie Bauer, St. John's Bay, Preston & York (Dillards), zillions of warm soft fluffy neck scarves many w/ hats to match, lots of gloves, Eddie Bauer fleece vests for winter, and lots more. There is a nice wood and wood-look tall bookcase, dark wood, nice condition and some office and teacher supply type things. There is so much household stuff it's hard to describe. Much of it is new or very gently used. A crock-pot, pots/pans, blankets, throws, storage cabinets, an old freezer that looks less than great but works. Did I say a lot of clothing for a larger woman? Much of it like new. Vera Bradley purses, gloves, and so much more! A few lamps, a nice antique floor lamp.

There is also a very good wheelchair ($200) and a few other medical items - knee & ankle braces, etc., not much but a few things of this nature for elder care and sports injuries.

There is a huge amount of kitchen miscellaneous! A great way to furnish a new home, a young couple's first house, a country cabin or a camping outfit. Other household things like iron, ironing-board, etc. Also we have lamps, a bit of silver plate hollow-ware, two china cabinets, an electric clothes dryer, and a LOT of great Christmas decorations, ornaments, etc. Very nice quality, plus other holiday items. Lots of bath towels, a Singer sewing machine in cabinet with drawers, sewing notions, storage cabinets and more. There are some crystal glasses, and a few antique ceramic items. There is also a microwave, bought new in 2008, used about 2 months then stored away, works just fine and looks very nice, instruction book included.

The best part is a gorgeous round, 4' diameter, oak table with leaf & six chairs. It's from the family, 100 years old or so. One of the chairs needs repair, but we know of a firm here in town who would be able to fix it I'm sure. There is also a gorgeous set of Limoges Old Paris china, place settings for 12 and in gorgeous condition, 4 veg bowls, 2 platters, gravy boat, gold ceramic salt & pepper 2 sets, and compared to retail, our price is a steal, come see!