Ted, Dean, Tom, Jim, Russ (right), and others for Ribs at dinner. Steve (not pictured) behind camera. 

Restored Carousel at Ontairo Beach Park in Rochester 

RTOS Theatre Pipe Organ 

Hope-Jones Unit Orchestra at Carousel 

Old Friends

One of the best parts of our road trip is the gathering of old friends. While in Rochester, we were able to renew old friendships with Steve, Dean, Russ, Ted and others. While Rochester has changed quite a bit in the last 20 years, it did not take long for old memories to come back. The sight of Ridge Lumber and their old trademark of “Lanky Planky” brought forth a rush of old memories of the years I spent in this town. Steve, Dean and Ted are old coworkers from my years at WROC-TV. Russ was introduced by an old friend: Eric from Toronto. Sadly, our friend Eric has passed on – an early victim of AIDS. As it turns out, Russ has long been involved with the Rochester Theatre Organ Society – a group that I had a great interest in from my days as a student at RIT, and from my first experience at the RKO Palace Theatre. I was stunned to find (at the start of my Sophomore year) that the Palace was to be torn down, but the Theatre Pipe Organ was to be saved and moved to the Autorium Theatre on Main Street. I went to the last concert at the Palace, and also the first concert at the new location. Strange, I don’t remember every bumping into Russ in those years, but I must have. Several years later, we were formally introduced in Detroit. Russ has been the source of many wonderful recordings of the RTOS organ, as well as others.

The Carousal located at Rochester’s Ontario Beach Park was installed in 1907, and is all-original although it went through an extensive restoration in the late 1980s. The Hope Jones Unit Orchestra that provides the music has been fully updated, and adds a touch that many Carousals no longer realize. I have included some pictures from these experiences with old friends – enjoy.

View of Ocean (through the trees) 

House at Lebanon Farm 

The Eastern Shore of Virginia

Well, we finally reached Lebanon Farm in Virginia. Located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, Lebanon has been in my family for more than 11 generations; consisting mainly of prime farm land, but features a modest farm house more than 250 years old. The property located in Cheriton, Virginia features ocean frontage – but no beach. Instead there are 15 miles of barrier islands off the coast before you reach Open Ocean. These islands protect the main land, which is only 12 miles wide at this point, and is the peninsula that forms the Chesapeake Bay on the ocean side. There is a lot of history here, and Jim and I will be in residence for several weeks.

Asta loves the farm as she can run free and play with her toys. It is hard to get her back in the house since she is having so much fun. She played this weekend with my Great Nephew and Niece. They have gone back to South Carolina, so now she must be content with the bugs and squirrels. I am sure she will get by.

Asta In Rochester 

Michigan and on to Rochester

Our next stop was Lansing, Michigan. We had a nice visit with Jim’s Brothers Roger and Bill, along with their wives Cecile and Cherie. We had a nice visit for a couple of days, and then it was on to Port Huron for a week. Jim’s Mom along with her companion John came to tour our motor home. We had a nice visit with everyone.

The next day, we drove up to Frankenmuth for some of that legendary chicken. It is served family style by the Zender family, and has been a Michigan tradition for many years.

Jim’s Mother hosted a get together at her home, and I got to taste some more of that legendary potato salad for which she is so famous. Jim’s brother Bruce and his wife Paula plus his sister Penny dropped by, and we got to chat with them all. We got caught up with all the dirt, but we were sad that we missed Jim’s brother Bobbie. He was on his way from Michigan’s UP to a meeting with DMV officials in Lansing.

All and all we had a wonderful time in Michigan between Thunder Storms. On our final day, Bruce and Paula stopped by the RV while on their way to their trailer north of Port Huron. It was nice to see Little Bruce once again after many years, along with his younger sister Shannon. Little Bruce and Shannon wandered off to rent some bicycles and also to the park’s attractions while the rest of us got caught up on the local gossip.

We headed out across Southern Ontario to spend the night in London. We were concerned about crossing into Canada, but other than just squeezing through the tollbooth at the Blue Water Bridge, we managed to enter Canada with out incident. The treck across Southern Ontario saved us more than 250 miles by having to go around lake Erie and up through Pennsylvania, and the Southern tier of New York.

We arrived back in the US at the bridge at Lewiston, New York. The wait for customs was about 30 minutes (on a Sunday Morning), but otherwise without incident. The drive to Rochester took about an hour, and soon we were at our campground in LeRoy. A former ski area, it had been converted to a campground for the summer months. It took us a while to choose a site that was good for our Pace Arrow because of the overhead wires and our height of 13+ feet. The campground was very quiet, and we enjoyed our stay.

The weather in the Northeast has been very wet. Since Omaha, it seems every other day was wet. Asta does not enjoy thunderboomies, and tires to hide in the bathroom. I can't say that I blame her since the thunder was quite loud, and the rain pounded on our roof. I am pleased to say that we remained dry – The RV has passed the wet test.

Soon we were in contact with our long time friends Dean Close and Steve Fisher. I worked with these guys many years ago at Channel 8 WROC-TV. This was my first job out of college in 1968, and I worked there until 1974. We had not seen Steve and Dean since the late 80’s, so it was time to get caught up on all the gossip. We had a wonderful visit with everyone. Our last night in Rochester, we had dinner with everyone including Ted and Russ. A feisty waiter and a pile of ribs in front of us, we had a wonderful time renewing old friendships. Jim and I have vowed not to let so much time pass before our next visit. I will post some pictures of this portion of the trip as soon as we get them. Steve and Dean snapped many pictures, so I will post a few.