The Lakeside Pavilion—Giving Tuesday

Tomorrow is "Giving Tuesday," and my in-box is swamped. We'll be donating to Lakeside Foundation to help restore the pavilion built in 1988. It's special to us. We attend church there on Sundays during the summer, and I understand the east deck will be dedicated to Rev. Irwin Jennings, our summer time pastor. We had our 50th wedding anniversary there in 2010. Bob is a member of the sailing club which is tucked inside. It was a very hot summer in 1988 and we were strolling on Oak Street and saw a cottage for sale. The lakefront looked good -- better than anytime in our memory. The 1909 pavilion had been replaced by something really ugly in the early 1960s, and it was replaced by a fairly authentic replica. So we took the plunge and although loans were over 10% then, we became cottage owners. Here's the story of the Lakeside Pavilion.

https://blog.lakesideohio.com/2019/11/15/pavilion-east-deck-to-be-named-in-honor-of-the-rev-irwin-janet-jennings/

https://blog.lakesideohio.com/2019/11/26/history-of-the-lakeside-pavilion/

https://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2010/08/antiques-roadshow-bruce-version.html

Hot and steamy, but a good sail

 

With Tony Gardner

Bob’s lunch date with the guys

Monday Memories--sailing

Saturday, August 26, Bob went sailing with Tom, our neighbor, Jim another neighbor and Tom's brother Steve.  He often goes out with Jack, Tom's 12 year old son on the sunfish, but Tom also has a 32' sailboat with a cabin with bathroom and shower, small kitchen.  They were out about 2.5 hours.  I went to the end of the dock to see them (Bob called), but they didn't get very close.

Victura; the Kennedys, a sailboat and the sea, by James W. Graham, guest blogger Lynne Wilburn

 

“Another Kennedy book,” was my first thought when seeing this title, but after the first ten pages I came to realize it wasn’t just another Kennedy book. It was a crash course in sailing for a land locked mid-westerner  like  myself and I found myself sailing right along with the family.  The Kennedys sailed when grief was everywhere, during  wedding weekends, in times of joy and  unthinkable sadness,  At times they sailed alone.  One account of Teddy sailing alone at night with just his skill and the stars following his brother Bobby’s death was especially touching . And the competing among family member is long standing going back to Joe, Jr. and Jack in their youth.

Old Joe Kennedy purchased the first sailing vessel for his two older sons and the race was on, entering  races  together and against each other.  Interestingly, the Kennedy women competed  against all comers, too, and Eunice and Ethel are among the finest sailors in the family. Ethel still holds her annual sailing picnics for her expanding family and she is well into her 80’s.

Christopher Kennedy , son of  Robert and Ethel, was author James Graham’s right hand  during the research for this book and they became friends. Chris often took the author sailing, although he was not much of a sailor at the time. Many sailing days later while Chris and Graham were returning to shore for lunch, they came upon a number of children of varying ages with a instructor.  The children were taking lessons in sailing and water safety and when they saw Chris they all smiled their toothy smiles and waved eagerly. Chris turned to the Graham and said,  “They are mostly Kennedys”.

As one generation of Kennedys sails into the sunset, so to speak, another generation comes over the horizon and the reader now understands why the family loves the sea. “We are tied to the ocean, and when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch--we are going back  from whence we came.” John F. Kennedy

University Press of New England
272 pages, 6 x 9", 28 images
Cloth, $29.95, Ebook $22.99
ISBN: 978-1-61168-4117
To order: 800-421-1561
www.upne.com

Erie Spirit Sailing

If you like to sail, and didn't bring your sailboat, you can rent the experience with Captain Jim. captainjim at lakeeriesail dot com. My husband, his friends Jim and Eric, and Eric's brother David did just that earlier in the summer. Captain Jim was my husband's sailing instructor some years ago. I'd won sailing lessons in a pie contest, but wasn't interested, so my husband used them. He loved it!

I'd rather be sailing

This is from the musical, “The New Brain,” written by William Finn, and the musical is autobiographical. It is sung here by Kevin Smith Kirkwood, but there are other versions on the internet. A few years ago my apple pie won a prize--sailing lessons, which I didn't use, but my husband did. Now our Lakeside time revolves around sailing, the wind, the sun, is the flag up, and biking down to the lake every 15 minutes to check. He absolutely loves it.



Synopsis from Wikipedia: "Gordon Schwinn, a talented young songwriter, works at his piano to meet a deadline. Gordon is irritated because he must write a song about Spring for a children's television entertainer who dresses as a frog. He takes a break from his writing and meets his agent Rhoda at a restaurant for pasta. During lunch, Gordon clutches his head and falls face first into his meal. Rhoda calls an ambulance, and Gordon is taken to the hospital. He learns that he has an arteriovenous malformation. Gordon needs an operation, and if he doesn't have it, he could die or never regain the use of his faculties.

While in the hospital, Gordon contemplates his situation. His greatest fear is dying with his greatest songs still inside of him; and so from his hospital bed, and while in a coma, and all throughout his ordeal, he begins writing the songs. He also has several hallucinations that involve various people whom he has encountered. In particular, a homeless lady that he met on his way to get pasta with Rhoda continually pops up.

Gordon eventually has the surgery and recovers completely. The creative block he was experiencing before his ordeal lifts, and he gains new insights. His near death experience encourages him to re-evaluate and better appreciate the people and relationships in his life."

4064

A perfect score

My husband took advanced sailing this week. Their final day was a sail to East Harbor (about 2 miles) where they had lunch and sailed back. As I've noted here before, Lake Erie is the most treacherous of the Great Lakes because it is very shallow, and a wind can really whip up the waves. By noon, the wind had picked up and the next class to sail got stranded at East Harbor, because it wasn't safe to sail back. The staff had to motor over and pick them up. By 1 p.m. when I went down to the dock, the waves were crashing over it.

He just walked in carrying his score for the week--he got of perfect score. Only he and a high school girl he was paired with who took her first lessons this summer, got a perfect score for all the summer classes (taught each week). So, all you old guys, take heart--you can teach an old dog new tricks.


I'd asked him earlier in the morning if he was going out today, but he said NO, he was going to work in the yard. But he's so thrilled with the scores, he's heading out. Who knew that the skinny, athletic kid I married 47 years ago would grow up to be a skinny, athletic old sailor?

2755 The 29th Annual Lakeside Regatta

Last night we attended the S.O.S. (Society of Old Salts) Sailing Appreciation Picnic. I think that may be the only hot dog I've had all summer--also coleslaw, potato salad and brownies. The other old salts urged my husband to enter the regatta today--so they wouldn't be last. But he declined. The day was spectacular and there were many people down at the dock to cheer on the guys. There were junior and senior sunfish, doubles, and laser class races.







Lakeside, Ohio