Hi All,

Sandy and I sincerely hope all the Buonos had a joyous holiday season! We had the fullest house we've ever had here in Scotia....12 in all, including Grandmas Louise and Doris, who had the pleasure of each other's company for a week, all told. We had a smorgasbord dinner, followed by an evening gift exchange topped off by a grab-bag and Yankee Swap. OK, so now it's January and we're on to the next item....a thorough rehab of the living room. I'll talk more when we're out of paint. Happy 2010!!

Harry

George Felkel, 1922-2009

We sadly note George's passing on September 24th. George was Louise's loving husband and a dear stepdad and granddad. George loved to golf, fish, garden, tinker around the house, and visit the casino with Louise, where he often came home a winner. A native of southern Illinois, George ardently followed the St. Louis Cardinals. He especially loved to hunt with his son Tom in the Idaho wilderness, where his ashes will be scattered. We will miss George very much. Rest in peace.

Keeping in touch

Hi All,

It's been a busy summer. We went to Lake Winnipesaukee for 2 weeks beginning the 4th of July, and rented a place on Alton Bay. Great sunning, boating, fishing. The boys & gals joined us for a week. Pete & Beth brought their brand new puppy, Porter, a frisky boxer-lab. He wasn't the only animal thereabouts. Next door was Ben, a gentle lab who made easy pals with Porter. Ben had a "sister", a pet parrot who squawked for her dinner. We were also visited by....a black bear, who visited our driveway one evening looking for some loose garbage can lids, before ambling away into the night.

Back home, we dog-sat overnight. It was fun getting back into the dog-walking routine so many years after Pixie left us. You meet so many new friends that way! Not to be outdone, Mark & Sarah (who now share a single apartment) have made things even more crowded by acquiring a pup of their own....Huxtable, a boxer-hound combo. Hey....mutts are the best. We visited last week & helped Mark take Hux for a walk to the local pooch park, where he frisked about with a dozen or so other dogs. What a life!

On that same visit we took in a Red Sox game with Roy & May....their first foray to Fenway! Though Roy's as dyed-in-the-wool a Yankee fan as I am a Sox fan, they still had a good time as the BoSox beat the ChiSox 12-8. For you non-Bah-stoan-ians, that score indicates what's known as a "Fenway Game".

Between New Hampshire and Boston, we made our annual pilgrimage to Haliburton, Ontario to visit our friends the Magnins on Drag Lake. Eight of us went out to dinner at a fine little pondside restaurant, while a thunderstorm raged outside the whole time. Power stayed on throughout, though.

Oh, yes....almost forgot. I quit my part-time position with the State as of August 13th, and am now fully retired. I won't miss the work. I loved it, but I could do it anywhere, including here at home if I were so inclined. But I'll really miss the people I worked with for the past year and a half....they were refreshingly different from the Counsel's Office crew I was part of when I was full-time. I find I also miss the little things that were part of my routine for so long: eating lunch at the downtown restaurants, seeing old friends from other workplaces every so often, jogging along the Albany streets and parks, shopping in the quaint gift shops, getting Chinese takeout, or just strolling through the brownstone neighborhoods.

Anyway, I'll have to go back for lunch every so often, because Sandy doesn't know what the heck else to do with me! (Just kidding.)

How's everyone else's summer been going?

Love to All,
Harry

Jon Sprunk's Website

Check Cousin Jon's author website : www.jonsprunk.com I'll make a link over there on the right side of the page here, shortly.

The Clan at Citifield

Don't know why this didn't upload to the main message, but here it is.

A Great Day at Citfield!

Hi All,

Just reporting that 9 Buono Clanspersons all had a great time at the Mets-Cardinals game at Citifield in New York last Thursday. In attendance were Joni, Rick, their son Peter, Lorraine, Roy, Sandy, Mark, Steve and I. We'd planned to take Mom (Louise) until she had to cancel her trip. George seems to be doing better lately....all our best to him and Louise.

We took in all the sights: the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, the Pepsi Porch, the old & new Home Run Apples, and had a nice get-together after the game in the Caesar's Club Lounge....which is right in the park and where you have a panoramic view of the NY City skyline as well as the World's Fairgrounds.

Oh, yes....the Amazins won, 3-2.

Truly Strange

One of the strangest things I've ever seen happened today. When I graduated from Union in 1967 I bought a class ring--a handsome, military-style job--and wore it for about five years. In the early 1970's I played basketball with a bunch of guys from work. We played at an elementary school near Albany. As the ring was pretty bulky, I always took it off before playing and left it in a locker. One night I finished playing, dressed and went home and....no ring. I went back to the school either that night or the next day and looked everywhere in the locker room, but the ring was nowhere in sight. So I figured it had to have been stolen.

I checked with the school's lost & found, and over the next few weeks I may have looked in a couple of pawn shops, but with no luck. So....careless stupidity, I figured, but the ring was lost forever.

Fast forward to June 17, 2009 (today). I came home from work and Sandy said that a spooky thing had happened and I should look in the front hall. There on the desk was my ring, with a note from a fellow named Frank, who said that he used to play basketball at the same school (though not with my group....he was only about 14 at the time) and that he had found my ring there one evening. He didn't know it was mine, only that it was a Union College ring from 1967 with the initials HJW on it. For years he had kept the ring, despite pleas from his eventual wife to find its owner.

Finally he checked with the folks at Union and discovered that I was the only one in the Class of '67 with those initials. And guess what? My name and address are in the local phone book. So he stopped over while I was at work and surprised the heck out of Sandy with his story (though Sandy vaguely remembered hearing me talk about losing the ring in a locker room--it may have happened before I even met her). The guy left me a note apologizing for his delay in returning my ring!

I don't know whether to laugh or go bowling. He's honest enough to rescue my ring, but then he keeps it for 37 years without making an effort to find me. Then, at his wife's urging, he looks me up and delivers it.

I haven't called him yet....I'll do that tomorrow. Yes--as a true Buono, I'll be very grateful for his (and his wife's) act.

I guess stranger things have happened.

Cheers All,
Harry W

P.S. Now, if only someone would find my high school ring that I lost in Great South Bay.