FIRST MONTH AT WEST BRANCH STATE PARK IN OHIO

"Friends of the Park" got together for a picnic and to get acquainted with those who we do not run into in our daily routine.  The park is not just a place for families to come for a vacation or a weekend get-a-way.  It is also a place where the Volunteers (Friends of the Park) work to make those getaways fun for all.  Example of such are the weekly Ice Cream Socials and also a Movie night with concession stand.  Next on the docket is the July 4th Parade and then Christmas in July.  They are all looking forward to it but I will miss it as I leave for Florida again tomorrow.  I will be spending some weeks with my brother again while my sister returns to Ohio.

An evening of fun and a lot of food!!  Some played corn bag toss and a couple of us played the Five Crowns card game.  And of course, there was no shortage in conversation!!

Following Audrey's 50th Class Reunion at the end of May, we again got together with friends, Gretchen and Jim.  It has been so much fun catching up on old times as well as family events!!  And playing cards!!  Hope that we an do this again when I return from Florida, maybe in Lisbon next time.

We also had a young wheel chair bound lad next door to us who was in the area to race this radio controlled car.  He said that he had been doing this since he was about 4 years old. It was awesome and Gary was impressed!!

Now that the school year is finished, our grandson finally got to come and visit s for a couple days.  It was great to have him and he even put his computer games aside and played cards with Grandma and went out on the Lake in the canoe with Grandpa!!  You can see that he has grown considerably since last fall.

Grandpa will be getting him again later this week while I am gone.  So I imagine that the canoe will get more use.  Gary bought it down the road here and probably will sell it at the end of the season.  He just figured that they needed something to do for the summer.

We no sooner got back in Ohio when we received a graduation party invitation.  It has been a while since we had one of those.  The mom of this young fellow worked with me at the bank.  So we watched her kids grow up!!  He is looking forward to going on to college in the fall. 

 We wish you the best Doug!! And Mom I am sure that you will still find plenty to do to fill in your time!! 

The benefit of a get-together like this is that many old friends meet up again also!!  This is the group from the bank where Doug's mom and I worked, but the only one still working there is Doug's mom!  Four of us have retired, one considers herself retired now, and the youngest is getting married real soon and has moved to Colorado.  I hope that we can meet up with she and her new husband in the near future when we travel west again!!

And last but not least, I just had to show you the picture display of Doug's school dances with all of the cute young gals!!  He must have been quite the young Romeo??

Thanks for inviting us.  Though Gary had to miss out on the great food and visit, I am glad that I made it!!  You all take care and best wishes!!

I am all packed and ready to leave tomorrow.  Since I will not have any computer access unless I go to the library, I will not be doing any Blog while gone.  So check back later and I will be back.  Have a great summer!!

FIRST WEEK BACK IN OHIO



West Branch State Park office and store



Home Sweet Home with sun shades, yes we do have plenty of sun in Ohio now!



Nice deep and wide lot!!  Come on for a visit!!



When we first got to Ohio, we stopped for two nights at Timashamie, our favorite campground closest to home.  The pool was not open yet and our son and grandson were away at for a Scout outing and hike in Pennsylvania so it did not matter to us that it was not open.  Our oldest son and Gary's friend, Rick, came for a visit and picnic.  The rest of the time we visited with friends who summer at Timashamie each year.  We also took time out for dinner at The Stage Coach Inn Restaurant in North Georgetown for fish.  Yummm!!

We also attended our grandson's band concert.  Glad that we got home in time.  It looks like pretty serious business to me!!

We got home in time for Audrey's 50th Class Reunion and spent wonderful time at an evening outside renewing old relationships, a Sunday Brunch, and the Alumni Banquet where the class was recognized for their 50 years and the classes $23,000 in donations in the name of Class of '62.     We were also able to see one of Audrey's dearest friend's first grandson to graduate with scholarship honors.  We are so proud, Jason!!  Mom and Dad look pretty proud also.  Best of luck to you in all you endeavor!!

Audrey got to go for dinner at Imperial Gardens in Boardman with those dear friends , Ruthie and Louise also!!  We've set another date to go again before Audrey goes back to Florida.

The day after Memorial Day our son came with a friend for a surprise visit.  We enjoyed lunch and a great visit. 
 



Bathhouse, restrooms and laundry.  One in each driving lop of the park!!



This double sink outside of the bathhouse is awesome!!  Wonderful for cleaning off grills, washing dishes if we want to keep our homes clean, and for those in tents it is especially nice!!



Oops!!  one of those photo flips, but wanted you to see how nice the vanity is in the restrooms!!



Laundry and entrance area.



Swim and beach area on our loop of the park.

 I wanted to show you more of West Branch State Park and many improvements made in the past eight years or so.  I guess that the state of Ohio did this to all of their parks. We think it is wonderful and we hear so many positive comments from the patrons.  Some of our duties is to keep the sites on our loop clean after each camper leaves, make sure that the grounds including the beach stay free of  hazards, and we monitor the bathhouse.  There are employees who actually clean the bathhouses as they are immunized for that type of work. 
 
This evening we helped man the concession stand for an ice cream social until the rain chased us out.  We were also to show a movie and sell popcorn, pop, and nachos with cheese, but the rain also prevented that.  So you can see what some of our summer entails.
 
Last night seven of us Camper Hosts drove down to Atwater for fish dinners.  It was great food and I will go back when I can get the fish and chips.  Last night I had to eat baked fish, but I'm not sad as it was great also!!  Great camaraderie also!!  It will be a fun summer!!

SALEM CLASS of '62

After our journey back to Ohio, Audrey attended her weekend long celebration of her 50th year Class Reunion.  We made it in good time and thus enjoyed three of the planned events and renewing of many high school relationships.  This picture was taken right after the Alumni Banquet where we had good representation and learned of our $23,000 total bequest by class members to comemmorate our 50 year celebration.  It was very interesting and inspiring to witness the awards given for scholarships as well as to learn of a new scholarship to be formed in memory of Mrs. Hickey of Hickey Metal Fabrication in Salem.  This is the second such scholarship formed by their family and it is wonderful to see such scholarships especially for the vocational students and now for the healthcare students as well.

It sure was a full house, held in the high school cafeteria.

Next are some pictures taken of Class of '62 attendees and their spouses. 





Gary visiting with former co-worker and wife, alumni prior to '62







Frank Zamarelli, 2nd VP of Alumni Assn. and guest speaker, Fred Kaiser, Class '62

The night before the Alumni Banquet we attended the Class get together at Santo and Chris Sicilia's farm.  It was a wonderful time of visiting with wonderful weather and food!!  Thanks to Santo and Chris.  It was wonderful not to have to compete with music and other goings on about us.

 

I was first greeted by long time friend Gretchen Whitman and her husband.  We had fun catching up on times since our last visit which was probably ten years ago.  We'll have to make it happen more often!!



The last event that we attended was the brunch at Salem Hills Restaurant in Salem on Sunday morning. We left there to return to West Branch State Park campground, our home for the next five months, to spend the rest of the day as Camper Hosts, our duties for the next five months. 

We left the friends looking forward to our next time together in five years, although there is talk of more times together in between.   

Have a wonderful summer!!