Do the Right Thing

There are times in your life when you have to stand up for what you think is right. We were trying to sell our first home while buying a new home in Townsend. The buyer of our home ended up delaying the purchase while we had to go through with the Townsend sale. This left us in a difficult position of owning two homes. We had to get a temporary bridge loan to cover the cost. It took two weeks to settle the sale of our first home and payback the bridge loan. We paid back the loan and the bank said we owed more on the interest because we were late. We had paid the loan back at 3 pm on a Friday. The bank claimed that because we paid after 2pm the loan was paid back on the next day and therefore we owed interest on that day of about $120.00. I went to the bank with our agreement. which had no stipulation about a 2pm payment. The agreement stated that the loan had to be paid back by Friday. After about 20 minutes the bank manager agreed with my viewpoint and he eliminated the extra charge. The manager was not happy with us but what is right is right.

Life in the 50's

I was thinking about how life has changed since I was a youngster. I remember walking with my mother on Main Street in Fitchburg and going into Woolworth's Five and Ten. This store was always fun because it had a counter with stools where you could get a sandwich or a frappe. I remember seeing Freddy Place deliver ice to the stores on Main Street. Freddy the Iceman was about 5' tall and he would carry large chunks of ice to the store for that was how they keep things cold. My mother would walk us down to Trap Falls and we would pick up a bus to drive to Fitchburg. There was less need for a car because many products were delivered to the home. We had bread men, milkmen as well as a man from Barney Rosen who would bring clothes to your house. On Saturdays we would sometimes go to the movies in Fitchburg. There were several movie houses but the Fitchburg Theatre and the Saxon were generally the places we would use. The movies cost about 50 cents and you could watch the movie again for free because they didn't ask you to leave at the end of the movie. When I was about 12 I remember that the Saturday movie was generally a science fiction with titles like The Brain Eaters or The Creature From the Black Lagoon. I had many nightmares over this last movie.
Television was black and white with screens about 20 inches. Color TV didn't begin until about 1960 and in the beginning there were very few color shows other than Bonanza or Walt Disney. TV only had three channels and it wasn't on 24 hours a day. I remember the first TV I ever saw was in Townsend while visiting one of my mother's friends. The screen was about 5 inches and it was round. The images on the screen was very fuzzy with shadows. The wonder of it all!

My favorite Christmas was waking up and seeing a Silver 3 speed Schwinn bicycle in our living room. There were two of them for my brother Bobby also received one.

A Son's Hero

My father was a very difficult man to understand. He cared but had a hard time showing it. As a youngster he coached me in Little League as well as organizing winter basketball. He attended all of my sporting events as a youngster as well as my high school basketball games. He didn't attend my high school or college graduation. He didn't attend my wedding. I could never understand why but I accepted him for who he was. I had many conversations with him about many different topics. I always enjoyed our conversations and it is one of my greatest losses in not being able to talk to him. My father's life was shaped by growing up in the Great Depression as well as being a soldier in World War II. He didn't tell us any war stories even when we asked him about his Purple Heart. We knew that he had shrapnel in his face and body. We knew that he was blind for a while but he always said he received the medal because he cut his hand on a beer can. When the book The Greatest Generation came out I read it and I had a conversation with him. My father was in his late 70's and it was the first time he talked to me about the war. He stated that his group was trapped in a forest near Germany and they were running out of ammunition. My father's body and voice changed as he told the story and it was obvious that he was reliving the experience. Imagine a 23 year old knowing that he would soon be dead. The enemy was closing in and they had no chance. My father was physically shaking in telling that a P51 Mustang arrived and opened up a path for the soldiers to escape.
My father received the Purple Heart, a Bronze Star and he told a story that his Lieutenant recommended him for the Silver Star but my father refused for he felt that another soldier was more worthy of that medal. In reading about his 5th Division it was one of the most decorated divisions because of all of the action they saw. They were the first division to arrive at the border of Germany. My father told me that the were not allowed to proceed into Germany because the higher ups wanted General Montgomery's men to be first so my father's group waited for the British to arrive.
My father was my hero for I always knew that he would be there for me if I needed him. He didn't express his love by verbalizing it but it was always known by me that he did love his family.
When my father's valve near his heart started to fail he was rushed to the hospital. I was called and arrived at the hospital around noon. The valve was leaking fluid into his abdomen and he was being given morphine to help with the pain. I knew that his time was short and I decided to stay with him overnight. All of my siblings and family came during the day and then my father and me were alone. He had requested that the morphine be stopped around 5 pm. We talked a little and then he was tired and he fell asleep. I too fell asleep but I was awakened by a noise at 3 am. It was the last breath of my father as he died very peacefully. I whispered to him how much I loved him. I notified the nurse and then went to his room for my good bye. I called my brothers and sister to tell them about his passing. I had made a decision to drive to my family's home to tell my mother. As I arrived and entered the living room my mother knew what had happened. Then the family dog looked up to the ceiling area near the door to the bedroom and started to bark. A very strange feeling came over me and I felt as if dad was checking up on the love of his life.

212 The Extra Degree

Why did I title this blog as 212 The Extra Degree. I believe that each and everyone of us can always give a little more or do a little better. The analogy comes from the difference between 211 degrees or 212 degrees. Heating water to 211 degrees gives you hot water. Simply heating that water one more extra degree changes the water to steam. Capturing that steam in an engine powers railroad cars or powers a steam shovel that can move mountains. If each and everyone of us gives a little more will we be able to move our mountain? I think so!

So You Are Not Catholic!

I attended Notre Dame High School for grades 9 thru 11. There were four classes at each grade level. The classes were ability grouped and I was in the second group. Smart but not brilliant!! I was one of about six non Catholics to attend this school. All Catholic students had to take religion and the six students stayed in the class but used it as a study each day. Brother Oliver was the principal and at report card time he would go into each class and pass out the report cards to each student. When I was handed my report card I simply said "Thank you, Brother Oliver." After Brother Oliver left the teacher Brother John Charles was extremely upset. He stated how disappointed he was in what took place in the classroom. It seems that I was the only student to say Thank You and the Brother could not understand why the non Catholic seemed to have manners. I guess I should thank my mother for bringing me up right!

Sites I Like

speedcine.com Many free movies can be found on this site. Some of the sites you have to register.
Larry Ferlazzo Websites- google it- it has many excellent educational sites.
sling.com - movie site
veoh.com   - no commercials
wimp.com  - short videos
The Teacher List
more to follow....

"Basketball doesn't build character it reveals it"

"Basketball doesn't build character it reveals it" Author Unknown

There were 27 seniors at Ashby High. Twenty  girls and 7 boys. Many towns in the region had regionalized but Ashby held out. I went out for the basketball team which had not won a game in at least 2 years. It was fairly understandable when you have a small school going against much larger schools. One of my life lessons was learned in a game where Narragansett Regional High School defeated us in our gym by 103 to 27. NRHS had an outstanding team (league champions) that year and put in their first team to get to 100 points. As a 18 year old I recognized that their victory was hollow in that one doesn't have to embarrass your opponent. As a coach later in life I always tried to win but never embarrass an opponent.
We nearly won a game against Bromfield Academy in Harvard. We loss by a few points but we had a home game against them later in the year. We continued to lose big to nearly every team. Dick Mulligan, Lunenburg HS coach, brought his B Team to play us and it was a close game but we lost. I was impressed with Mr. Mulligan and his view that sports involves good sportsmanship towards your opponent.
Finally, we had Bromfield Academy at home. We finally won a game after over 2 years of losing. I personally had my best game of the year in scoring 20 points. A wonderful feeling for a small high school. Also there was a pretty little cheerleader that I started to notice who always did my cheer.

Sigmoidoscopy

When I turned forty my doctor recommended that I get a sigmoidoscopy. I scheduled an appointment and arrived at the doctor's office. With a sigmoidoscopy the patient is awake unlike the colonoscopy where you are knocked out for the procedure. I learned as I walked into the office that the nurse for my procedure would be my cousin Nancy. To make it easier to put the scope up your colon the nurse adds air to your colon. The doctor tells you that it is very uncomfortable and if you need to release gas - go for it. Well, it is bad enough that your cousin is the onlooker but to add the release of gas in front of others was difficult. On top of this was the doctor had a young doctor observing and learning and therefore the procedure lasted twice as long. Well, I held my gas and the procedure went well and at the end the doctor directed me to the bathroom which was right off of the area where he did the procedure. Inside the bathroom I was soon trumpeting loud explosions which shook the walls. Opening the door I looked up and there was the doctor and my cousin smiling at me. A perfect ending to my day.

Five years later I had to do the procedure again but with a different doctor. I had a preopt meeting with my new doctor but I met his partner instead. This procedure was to take place in the hospital and after signing in I had to go and get prepped. The nurse this time turned out to be one of the parents of a child in my school. My luck is still there. In my johnny I was put on my side and there was going to be a TV showing the procedure right above me. The doctor came in but I could not see him because I was positioned with my backside exposed and he quickly got busy. The video was a little strange but interesting. I expected some dark creature to show up at any moment. I mentioned to the doctor that I had never met him. He replied that if he saw me walking down the street and if I dropped my pants he could recognize me.

I have had two more procedures over the past 18 years but each of those were a colonoscopy and I was knocked out. Probably a good idea with my history.

York, Maine

I have never been a fan of the beach and the ocean. I do not like sitting in the hot sun and getting a burn. The location at the ocean that I did enjoy was York, Maine. We spent a few years doing a one week vacation in York. The reason I liked York was the beach sand was always wet because the tide would come in to the the top of the beach. The area is also very beautiful with the Nubble Lighthouse area having outstanding views. Linda has always expressed that this is the area she would like to have her ashes spread. I agreed and I plan on my ashes being spread at Nubble Lighthouse area. Strange that a person who states not being a fan of the ocean will end at an ocean.

Baseball

My favorite sport has always been baseball. As an eight year old I made the Ashby Little League team that was part of the Bordertown League. Ashby had the Red Sox and Townsend had two teams (Yankees and Indians) and New Ipswich ,NH (Dodgers) with Greenville having another team(forgot their team name). Harry Helander and my father were the manager and coach of the Red Sox. My number was 9 which was Ted Williams number (my baseball hero). I played LL for 5 years and I played several positions. As one of the youngest players one didn't get many chances to play and you had to wait for your time when you were a 11 or 12 years old. In my last year of Little League I played first base and did some pitching. I was selected as a Little League All Star. As an All Star the manager switched me to play second base because they wanted Rollie Place to play first base. Rollie would figure into my life 3 years later. That story is part of this blog's section "That's The Breaks!". Our team had some success and we won our first three games. One of the games was against a very good Fitchburg team which had Donald Starr as their starting pitcher. I met Don eight year's later in college and we have remained great friends for the past 45 years. In the game which we won I had two hits. I like to remind Don about this game. I had a very good All Star year in batting over .400 and also getting mentioned in the local paper about my fielding in one of the games. My highlight was a game in Baldwinville where the field did not have any grass. With two runners on the coach gave me the signal to bunt. I laid down the bunt towards second base. The first baseman headed towards first but the second baseman saw the runner and went to cover second. Without grass the ball continued to roll towards the outfield. I ran hard and rounded first and headed to second. The outfielder picked up the ball and threw it in but it was wide of second base. I continued on to third and as I approached third the coach was waving me towards home plate. I slid into home safe with a bunt that went for a double with the error allowing me and two teammates to score.
As a 13 to 15 year old I played Babe Ruth Baseball. I was selected as a 15 year old All Star but could not play because of a broken ankle (see post That's the Breaks). I didn't play baseball again until my senior year in high school. As a senior I hit .390 and played third base and a little pitching. My high light was against Billy Martino who pitched for Lunenburg High School. One of my teammates Rodney Fors was on first and I hit a single. With Kari Rantala up the coach gave us the steal signal. I stole second and Rod stole third. The coach gave the steal sign again and Rodney stole home and I stole third. To my amazement the coach gave me the steal sign on the next pitch. I was not a fast runner (Rodney was) and I thought about Kari swinging the bat as I was approaching the plate. I didn't go. The coach then gave me the sign again. Well, Billy Martino was lefthanded and for some reason he did a double windup and I easily slide across home plate with the go ahead run and eventually a 4 to 2 win.

In college I played four years as a pitcher and enjoyed many funny times as well as making a life time friend. I did win two games but my highlight was a loss to Westfield State. We played 7 inning (doubleheaders) and the score was tied 0 to 0 after seven innings. I did give up a run in the eighth and we loss 1 to 0 and I had thrown a five hitter. Another highlight was I hit a triple in a game in North Adams in a game I  was pitching and I drove in 2 runs. However it was a pitching loss for me as we loss 7 to 2. After college I was asked to help coach the Fitchburg State College baseball team. Head coach Norm Carson didn't know if he would be available because he was going for his Ph.D. Dick Johnson was the asst coach and I would be his asst working with the pitchers. As it turned out Norm reworked his schedule and I was an second asst that year with little to do.

                                          In background is Don Starr and my brother Bob.

How's Your Napa?

As a youngster my family was visiting my Uncle Addie's house and our two families had sat down to eat some pancakes. The Finnish word for navel or bellybutton is napa. My cousin's younger daughter Pam was sitting across from by father. My father looked at Pam and asked her how is your napa? Pam replied delicious and I will have another one.

Scott

My middle name is Scott. Both of my brothers' middle names are Scott. Several cousins have Scott as a first or middle name. The name was my father's mother's maiden name (Jane Scott). I once asked my mother how she decided to name me David. I had an Uncle David and there was I believe a David (Navy) in my grandfather's (father) family who died at an age of 21. My mother simply said that she had no reason.

First Principalship

I tried to become a principal in the Leominster Public School system for about three years and I was hitting a roadblock. I decided to pursue a principalship in another district. I applied in Baldwinville which is part of the Narragansett Regional School system. Baldwinville Elementary School was a kindergarten to six grade school with generally two classes at each grade level. The previous principal had been let go because of the climate and culture of the school was failing. I was chosen as the next principal. I negotiated my pay in Superentendent Bill Turner's car. I ended up getting the same pay $53,000 as I had received as an Asst. Principal in Leominster but I felt good about receiving my first principalship. I still was under contract for Leominster Public Schools and I could not start in my new position until September 28th. The first day of school I was allowed to go to Baldwinville to meet my new staff and to talk to them for about 30 minutes. My talk was about my three basic rules of behavior for everyone in the school. I believe in "doing your best", "you need to smile", and "to need to be willing to take a risk". After talking to my new staff I had to get back to Fallbrook School in Leominster. Around 9 pm that night I received a telephone call from a John Waters. John was a P.E. teacher at Baldwinville. He expressed how excited the teachers were and how they were looking forward to my leadership. He said that the teachers' heard what I said to them and they wanted to do something special the week I was to start at Baldwinville. John stated that the staff thought that the entire school should climb Mount Monadnock which was located a few miles from the school in Jaffery, NH. As I listened I thought of my statement to the staff about willing to take a risk. However, my mind was also thinking about 320 students ages 5 to 12 climbing this small mountain. John voice indicated a great deal of excitement about the idea. I told John that I would support the idea if he could convince me that all students would be safe at all times. I also stated that I wasn't interested in racing up the mountain but would like to see students observing the different levels in the climb by doing activities. It was also important to point out that not everyone had to reach the top. I would be checking in with John to see if everything was going as planned. Finally, I arrived at Baldwinville and the trip was planned for Thursday, three days after my start. Bill Turner and 80 other adults were scheduled to climb the mountain with our students. We had 11 adults who were EMTs in the town. I climbed the mountain with Bill Turner and the Assistant Superintendent. The day was a huge success and it was a key component in changing the climate in the building. The staff felt good about arranging a successful trip up a mountain with 320 kids. Pete Gallant, a third grade teacher, took multiple pictures and I had them enlarged and framed and hung them in the hallways as a reminder of this great day on the mountain. There was a picture of Bill, Susan and myself at the top of the mountain which I had framed and I gave a copy to Susan and Bill. About six years later Bill Turner passed away. I was back working in Leominster and I was not aware that Bill had died. The person telling me about Bill said that he saw me at the wake. I told him that I was not there and I did not know that Bill had died. He then told me that there was a framed picture of Bill and me on the top of a mountain on top of the casket. I just smiled!

Last Letter From Father to Son

The following was written by me following the death of our son Aaron. I would say to everyone, take the time to express your feelings before it is too late. I regret that I did not tell Aaron enough how much I loved him.

Some people are always grumbling that roses have thorns. I am thankful that thorns have roses.
Alphonse Karr
I miss you and will miss you the rest of my life. My memories will always keep you alive in my heart. I know I did not express to you enough how proud I was of you as a child, a young man and then as an adult. You were a wonderful son who gave me great joy. I bragged about you to many people but I should have told you how proud I was of who you became. A caring and loving person who was always fun to be around. Your one thorn sometimes kept people from seeing the roses. Each person you touched in life has a wonderful story about you. The bouquet of your life will always be treasured by those you have left behind.
I know that you were aware of how much your sisters cared about you. I thank them for loving you with an open heart. Sometimes it was very hard to understand your life but their love was deeper than you could ever imagine.
The hardest thing that I have ever had to do was tell your mother of your passing. She worried about you each day of your life. I cannot express your mother's love for her son but you knew how much she loved you.
My greatest day in my life was marrying your mother and getting a true bargain, the love of my life and two wonderful children that became my son and my daughter. My second great day was the birth of your sister Ashley. As a parent you always want the best for your children. I thank you for being my son and caring about your family. I thank you for being a kind and gentle soul. I thank you for working so hard to overcome your thorns. I thank you for being part of my life.

I love you Aaron,

Dad

Making a Career Decision

My senior year in high school and it was time to make a decision about my future. I enjoyed history so I decided to apply to several state colleges to become a history teacher. I knew that I was not interest in moving far from home. My father was talking to Dr. John Nash who was a history professor at Fitchburg State College. Dr. Nash advised my father that there was more potential for jobs for someone with an elementary teaching degree than a history degree. So I started to put down elementary education on some of my new applications to colleges. I was accepted to some of the colleges and rejected by one or two colleges. I decided that Fitchburg State College would be my choice because it was close to home. My first day all freshman were asked to meet in the auditorium. There was a person at a microphone who stated if you had applied for the history department you should go to an assigned room. I got my material and trotted off to start my college career as a history major. At the room the professor read off all the names and mine was not one of them. He stated that if your name was not read that you should return to the auditorium. Back at the auditorium I found out that I was accepted as an elementary major. A lifetime later I am so thankful for Dr. Nash's advice.

Happy Valentine's Day to my Wife

I am so thankful each day that I met you or should I say you found me. For 52 years I have had you in my heart! I am very proud to be your husband and I am so luckly to have you as a wife. I truly feel as one with you. I admire your love for your family and your devouted dedication to your favorite causes. You should be very proud of the children and grandchildren because all of the good in them comes from you. I know that we tease you when you express yourself (we call them Lindaisms) about a topic or subject with such surety. The family has a great laugh at your expense and I hope you will continue to keep the family informed about the world around them. I have never met anyone who has your work ethic. I marvel and sometimes grumble

when you plan on starting a project or clean a part of the house. You literally move mountains! It has and continues to be difficult for me to almost keep up with you. Some people think I spoil you but the opposite is really the truth in that you spoil me.
A true test of an individual is how he or she treats friends and animals. You are a great friend to me and all your friends. Your love for animals knows no bounds. Some people express that they love animals but you also care enough to help out in all of your causes.
I have been blessed with three wonderful children, soon to be 7 beautiful grandchildren and a loving wife. The simplest way to express what is in my heart and soul is I LOVE YOU!

davidhay212@yahoo.com