I got a nice note from the Chancellor of the University of
California, Berkeley would write to me and let me know that
Sarah Kurtzman received her degree in
(deep breath) Molecular and Cellular Biology with an emphasis in
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Congratulations Sarah, was there
Ever any doubt? I think not.
Nathan Orbie Pullen (middle name included
so you would know who I was talking about) graduated from San Jose State
University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts with an emphasis in Photography.
Yewie Ferrara graduated from from Mendocino Community High School and will follow his big bro, Emile, back east with a scholarship at Vassar.
Maxx Sullivan was the Forks of Salmon
School's only graduate this year. He's lucky I
couldn't get there or I'da stood up and told about the time when I had first
met him as a five year old up to spend time with his Grandma Karin (Cesaro).
In the middle of an all-school soccer game I kicked a pass to the front of
the goal and by golly the ball hit him square between the eyes, lifting him
off the ground and laying him flat out on his back. The kids all
cheered when he was able to get up and Betty Ann helped him off the field.
This upset him greatly. He thought the Forks kids were the meanest ever!
He thought they were cheering because he got hurt! Betty Ann had to explain that they were applauding the fact that he was
still alive and moving after taking quite a blow. I taught him to roll
a kayak on a field trip the Forks kids took to Otter Bar to play in their
instruction pond.
Junction School, in Somes
Bar, cut loose a whole posse of boys. Phil
Tripp, Cody Conrad, Joey Jackson, and Travis Gayle, are moving on
down the road of life.
The annual Spring concert was held in Somes Bar, at the Junction School. Featuring the The River Bar Band and the Junction School's band and choir. With each new year conductor/organizer/master of ceremonies Tina Marier, leads the audience through a wonderful evening of great music. The River Band improves with age. Tina and Chris and Tera, at the Somes Bar Store, are working on a project to create a performance ampitheater on the flat below the store. Check for more info.
Michael Stearns has retired as Junction School's administrator. He's set a high standard for performance and they'll miss him... Betty Ann Hanauer will miss having a lunch partner at county office meetings.
So
there we were, Betty Ann and I, in downtown San Francisco, having said our goodbyes to
Merlin
Hanauer and Erin Schilz as they flew back to Atlanta... We had been to
the museum of modern art and we were crossing Market St. when noticed an
unusual number of police on the streets, even for these strange days.
Looking up the street we saw a Peace March coming straight at us!
Betty
Ann said that we should wait until we saw someone we knew and join the
throng... and sure enough along came Osha Neumann, so we peeled out into the
current of the march. At the march's culmination in Embarcadero Square we
meet up with Craig Kody and Sally. Small world, big sentiment.
One note about Peace Marches, they are not peaceful. They are loud and
roiling, much like a flash flood. Fascinating to see the myriad of
humanity voicing their belief that...
WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER!
Speaking of Merlin. In the last month he has gone from a "Lobby Ambassador" at the Ritz Carlton, in the Buckhead section of Atlanta, to the Night Manager's position. Heady jump, no doubt. The other day we get a call and lo and behold he's been accepted into the Master's Program in Economics, at the Georgia State! Plenty proud parental units. I told him to buy a lottery ticket right away!... then try to figure out what he's gonna do. Life's many questions just never seem to end.