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Father Jim thought it would be interesting if I wrote about what the parish family did during the Summer….so this month:

Spotlight
On
Summer Fun

The last time I talked about "What I did in the Summer" I was a wriggling little fidget standing in front of the fire-guard in our primary school classroom. Fifty years later, thousands of miles to the west & considerably larger, I'm still wriggling and fidgeting, but this time at the keyboard. Mercifully, I have much better material to work with.

It has to be said that family and friends 'back east' think we must be nuts to want to leave Charleston at all, as there is EVERYTHING here. They simply don't understand the July and August factor which often makes us want to head for the nearest cool breeze and some relief from the horrendous humidity.

Not all the members of our parish family were able to take vacations, some had to work; some took care of ailing or frail family; some were just grateful that they didn't have to go to work & simply stayed at home enjoying some freedom from the clock.

**Please note that comments in squared parentheses […..] are mine**

Beginning with our fearless leader…..a.k.a. 'he who thought of the idea in the first place'…here are the 'Summer Fun' stories from our parish family: Father Jim: "In early June, Mom and I went to Brevard, N.C. to see family and friends. The weather was great. It was not as hot as Charleston and offered a nice relief from the humidity. While in the mountains I rested and relaxed. We went to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for the day and visited the theme park 'Dollywood'. I rode several rides with friends, we laughed and had a good time. We were very fortunate, while visiting 'Dollywood', to see Dolly Parton sing. Her niece is performing for the Summer and she sang two songs with her. The second week of my vacation I went to Wilmington, N.C. I worked on Mom's house, played racquetball, and visited old friends. Beyond that I have enjoyed boating during the summer in Charleston."

Deacon John and Sidnea: "We began our summer by traveling via motor home (with car attached) to Pennsylvania by way of North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland. We spent several days celebrating Sidnea's sister's 90th birthday, then drove to New Hampshire by way of New York State, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. After spending a week and a half visiting sons, grandsons and greatgrandsons, we left for Washington D.C. President Reagan's funeral was taking place at the time so dodging traffic around the beltway was exciting. The travel time was about four weeks, and the distance traveled was 2500 miles. Everything worked fine and it was a delightful, comfortable trip. South Carolina looked good on return."

Jim and Rosalie Lawrence: "Went to the 17th-in-a-row reunion of USS WHITEHURST (DE 634) in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Toured BMW plant in Greer, S.C. Saw "Beauty and the Beast" at Flat Rock, N.C. Playhouse. Jim is in his 21st year as a SC State Constable, volunteering weekly with Berkeley County Sheriff's Dept. on night shift. Also works weekly at Retired Affairs Office at the Weapons Station. Rosalie volunteers weekly at Trident Hospital."

Grace Driggers: Ms. Grace called to say that she had spent time at the beach with family; had read two very good books by Jan Karon: "Common Ground" & "Shepherds Abiding"; and is currently writing the history of her grandmother's house.

Brenda & Jeanne Albinger: Both worked at SPACE, the Charleston County Schools special summer school programme for children who are gifted and talented in the Arts. They both went to Davidson, N.C. (by this time Jeanne was on crutches, her foot in a cast, thanks to a less than successful jump from a swing in the park) where they were Proctors for a Royal School of Church Music camp. The director, Paul Trepte, was from Ely Cathedral in England. After that incredible experience, they returned to SC and Brenda went to work as an assessor for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Jeanne then went to Camp St. Christopher where she was a counselor for summer camp. She says she had a life-changing experience there. (Her mum adds that she must have had a pretty good clothes-changing experience, too, because she brought back lots of dirty clothes!) Brenda's brother, his wife, their daughter, and B's mum came from Atlanta to visit and let Anna attend VBS.
[There was a lot more interesting stuff in Brenda's e-mail, so please talk to her about her Summer experiences.]

Ruth Coyle: "I went to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi to spend a week with my youngest sister's family: Sister, her husband, 3 sons, 1 daughter, 2 daughters-in-law, 1 son-in-law, 6 grandsons and 2 granddaughters…..18 of us altogether!! The local supermarket manager was very happy to see us as we had to shop there each day. Eating went on all day and well into the night. It is an eclectic mix of people: the children range in age from 2 - 18 years; 3 grandsons are from Malibu, California; 2 grandsons and 1 granddaughter are from Valladolid, Spain; 1 grandson and 1 granddaughter live in Mobile. Andy, my brother-in-law and grandfather to all the children, taught all of the children over the age of 12 to play, what he calls, "Granddaddy Harper's Rummy". It is also known as 'Frustration' It is a progressive Rummy game. The family is very competitive and there was at least one game every night. We spent lots of time at the beach, flying kites and building sandcastles. Most of the swimming was done in the swimming pool because the Gulf waters are teeming with stinging jelly fish. Three of the children were stung. A grand time was had by all!!!

It was a most pleasant diversion for me to be away from the sadness I experienced earlier in July."

Barbara and Riddick Craven: The whole family, including Chris and Sarah, went to Disney World and had a wonderful & exhausting time. We visited: Animal Kingdom, MGM Studio & Epcot. It was fun to be together.

Diane Cothran: [Please note that, sadly, Diane's brother has died since her account was written.]

" As most of you know, my brother has a liver disease and has been very sick. For the last two months he has been at MUSC so I have spent most of my free time there; therefore I have been homebound for most of the summer. I am very grateful to the Youth of St. Thomas for extending and invitation to any adults who were interested in joining them for their 'Santee Fun Day' & 'Carowinds Final Fling' before school started. I also had the opportunity to take part in this year's VBS. We are so very blessed at St. Thomas to have such wonderful and loving children amongst us. So, all in all, even though my life has been stressful for the last several months, my St. T. family has seen to it that I step out of the stress and rest. So, a BIG THANKYOU to everyone at St. Thomas for allowing me to be part of the family.

Rose Marie Fancy: Family and friends gathered in Boston for Rose's sister's wedding. Toni was a bridesmaid, Rose Marie read the lesson, Romone was an usher, Jordon and Adam were ring bearers. Rose's father was there; her aunt and cousins from Jamaica; and her sister, with her family, from Canada.

The Gray Family: [It was great to hear from Angelina …the Grays are still part of the St. T. family even though they are in D.C.] "The Gray family had a very exciting summer family vacation. We flew to Colorado, first stop: Matthew's parents. Joshua was excited to see his Nana and PopPop who took him to a water park. After a week there, we drove over the beautifully majestic Rocky Mountains, through historic Leadville, stopping for a picnic in the mountain town of Buena Vista. Then it was on to the mountain slope to see Angelina's parents who live in the valley of the Grand Mesa. The children had great fun as her parents live in the country. While Angelina was shucking corn and Matthew was fishing, the children had 'chores' with their grandfather: feeding hay to the calves and harvesting the garden. They played to their hearts content in God's great outdoors with their cousins and many other visitors."

Mary and John Hamilton: "In '92 & '93, we had a Russian exchange student living with us who became a member of our family and we still keep in touch. She graduated from Vanderbilt Univ. on May 14th, 2004 with her Masters in Business Admin. We arrived in Nashville, Tennessee on Thursday p.m. and went to Natasha & William's home. Williams parents came from Georgia, so we all went to her graduation reception and then out to eat. Natasha works for Gaylord Entertainment so she got us a wonderful room at the Opryland Hotel. We had met William's parents at his wedding to Natasha 7 years ago, so it was great to see them again. William and Natasha took us to the hotel and helped us find our rooms. We went to the Graduation on Friday, then back to their home until early p.m. We went back to the hotel for a rest, then to the Grand Ole Opry with William's parents. Natasha had arranged seats for us on the center aisle in the 5th row from the stage. We had a great time there. After breakfast next morning, we left to go to N.C. to visit our precious Moms. Natasha's parents now live in Romania and her younger brother, Alex, goes to school in Austria. They visited the states in June. We went to Edisto Island to spend Sunday p.m. with them and out to late lunch. They are wonderful folk and we treasure this special relationship we have very much."

Paul and Sylvia Huskey: "Paul and I took a wonderful cruise to Alaska. I have been practicing every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 a.m., and Saturdays at 8 a.m. for the trip to Victoria next week to compete in the Canadian Dragonboat Festival. [Since this was written Sylvia has returned from an exhilarating experience in Canada. The people who compete in the Dragonboat events (rowing, by the way!) are all cancer survivors….what an inspiring group!]

Stan and Jean McGraw: " Stan and I went on our first cruise - to Alaska. Our trip was and anniversary gift from our kids. We chose Alaska because we are interested in ecology, conservation, etc.. and we wanted to see the wildlife. It was absolutely beautiful! We saw whales, seals, sea lions, and glaciers. We took a semi-submersible boat to see the wildlife under the water. While in Ketchican, I visited St. John's Episcopal Church and said a prayer for St. Thomas. It was a beautiful church on the waterfront."

Richard and Anne Stanley:"Richard went to 2 family reunions - something he has not been able to do for more than 35 years! Plus he helped teach a grandchild how to drive - a first! Anne Stanley has had her husband home ALL summer - something she has not had for more than 10 years!"

The Steen Family: "Blake and Maddie Steen went to New Hampshire and went hiking and swimming and to every theme park imaginable. They went to Boston and Blake got his first stitches…..16 of them. They've been in the boat and in the pool and at sleepovers every chance they've had."

The Potters:
1. Attended the National Faith Alive Conference at Kanuga with the St. Thomas Music Group.
2. Took the grandchildren to Short Stay on Lake Moultrie for a few days.
3. Participated in the Craft Section of VBS.
4. Spent 2 weeks in Bethany Beach, Delaware with two of Mick's sisters and their families.
5. Attended the Couples Conference at Camp St. Christopher. (Highly recommended to anyone.)
6. Attended Nan's high school class reunion in Pennsylvania. Followed by one week with Nan's sister at her cabin in the Pocono Mountains.

Nancy Lovelace: This summer was very restful and enjoyable with time spent in 'gardening' and 'with family'. Two of the best ways to enjoy God's blessing! Family time included a trip to my sister's and visits here from a son and daughter and their families. A highlight was a trip to Fort Sumpter with three of my children and six of my grandchildren, followed by a picnic and a visit to the aquarium (planned a beach outing but the weather did not cooperate)."

Ken Kauffman: "Ken and Carol Kauffman spent two weeks in what Ken calls 'God's Country', otherwise known as Luray, Virginia (home of the Luray Cavers) in the Shenandoah Valley. They visited Ken's brother, Steve, and Steve's wife, Veronica. They worked in side trips to visit their son, Tim, in Alexandria, and Ken's niece and her family in Richmond. Ken and Steve spent as much time as possible in the Shenandoah River fishing for Bass and Perch. "After all," says Ken, "it was our duty to provide the fish for our families for our fish fries. Someone had to do it!" J

Cookie Emery: Those of you who know Cookie well will know that she is a devotee of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings"…I am happy to report that this year she was able to indulge her fantasies with two trips to Atlanta (Symphony, then a Film Festival…ahem, featuring LOTR) and a trip to Boston to the Museum of Science, which was featuring an exhibition of ….what else….."Lord of the Rings".

Kim Horton: A week at Folly Beach with sister and their families. A trip to Philiadelphia and the Poconos. A trip to St. Louis to visit family. A trip to Colorado to attend a wedding.

Vera Carson: Took several short trips to the mountains with various component parts of the Band of Brothers …a.k.a. her grandchildren. She highly recommends this kind of trip for young children.

Edith Reeves: Edith and Darrell upgraded their camper and went for a relaxing few days at nearby Rock Pond, S.C. They also explored the joys of jet skiing.

The Hiotts: Hazel and Laurie Hiott recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a cruise to the Bahamas.

Betty LaRoche and Frances Bennage: A very busy time for the Mother/Daughter duo: first their son/grandson, Troy, was married to Suzanne Joy in June. After the excitement of all that it was off to the beach for a relaxing time with various family members.

Lennis and Eddie Driggers: A wonderful few days in Florida.

The Dawsons: Parniece and Toppy spend as much time as possible relaxing at their lake house.

The Traynhams: Will be going upstate for the Traynham family reunion.

The Peraltas: Spent time at the beach with their family.

Sue Wunder: Attended conferences.

As you can see, our parish family spent a very interesting summer. My thanks to all who gave me their holiday stories, thanks to Fr. Jim for helping me with additional material. I hope I included all the information I was given, if I didn't then please accept my apologies and I will be sure to submit those holiday stories next month.