LABOR DAY TRIP TO MERCER COUNTY

During Labor Day Rita and I took two families with us to Mercer County to visit some of the sites where I grew up. Our first family was Michelle Smith and her daughter Taylor and son Colton and Sherrie Jackson and her daughter Lauren and son Preston. Michelle's husband is a Major in Iraq and they are members of our church family. Sherrie and her children are also members of our church fellowship. We all left around 9am in the morning on Saturday and went to the Victorian town of Volant, near New Wilmington and the kids had fun playing in the creek and visiting the shops. After that outing we traveled to Sharon and had lunch at a great Chinese buffet we had been to before(worked out great with the kids). We spent another hour at Daffin's candies where the kids could spend their candy money. Later we went to Clark,PA where we last lived before moving to California. In Clark we visited the bed and breakfast that was replicated after Tara from the movie "Gone With the Wind" I had played in that home when I lived there and it is always fun to see how they have transformed the house. From Tara we drove to Pymatuning Lake and the Spillway area(just redone this last year). It is mentioned in "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" books because there are so many carp fish in the dam area and the ducks walk on their backs to get all the bread that folks throw to the fish. This was the highlight of the day for the kids and we finished off our time there and drove back to Pittsburgh getting home around 8pm or so. What a day, but we enjoyed it a lot and I know the families had fun. In fact we are talking about our next outing already for the Fall time. Below are some pictures from that trip.

FISHER REUNION/JULY 2007

Rita and I attended the Fisher reunion in late July in Hadley,Pennsylvania, at the same location for last year's reunion. It is good each year that we continue to attend and being with Mom's extended family and see Aunt Eva again. So many cousins and extended relatives that I am slowly getting reacquainted and acquainted with. Rita also enjoys meeting many that we have got to know together. Some of those are Cousins Ed and Rowena Slater(Aunt Hilda's son) and his sisters Alice, Grace, Mary and Joanne(who's first name I found out was Gladys, never mentioned). Aunt Eva of course and her daughters Peggy, Janet and sons, Gene and Jerry Free. There was much food for everyone as always and I did my fair share in putting it away for the trip home to Pittsburgh. I was told we are high on the list for organizing the next reunion after next year, haven't done that for awhile!! My brother Ron has told me that he hoped that he could come next year and perhaps bring some of his children to Pa since some like Patty have not been back to our area before. Anyway below is a picture of Aunt Eva who will be 93 this October. She is pictured with her latest grandchild, great great I believe, the oldest and the youngest at the reunion. A picture of Rita and some of the guests follows below. In all it was fun and a good feeling to be among those that Mom loved and remember her with her family here in PA.