The Saga of the 2nd Annual ‘Girls Only’ CHS-67
Reunion
On the weekend on
April 22-24, 2005
, Melody Finley Olsen once again hosted a ‘Girls Only’ reunion for the 1967
graduates of
Charleston
High School
at her lovely home at Yuletide Farm in
Milford
DE
. Attending this year were Cathy
Mullen Kelley from
Maryland
, Patty Gladwell Novarese from
Arizona
, and Cherlyn Young Davis from
Pennsylvania
. Jennifer Midkiff Farmer was moving
into her new home in NC, but joined us on the phone for a while.
We arrived Friday afternoon to a lunch reminiscent of our childhood in WV
– HOT DOGS grilled to perfection, with chili, slaw, mustard and onions !
Melody had also prepared her mother’s recipe of macaroni salad (which
was to die for) and she shared her recipe with all of us.
We toasted our good fortune with
Bordeaux
and Sprite. The chill and overcast
sky outside contrasted with the warmth of the crackling fire in the gathering
room and the laughter of dear friends reconnecting.
We sat around that fire and talked about quilting and looked at some of
Cathy’s latest creations. We
poured over photo albums and Cherlyn resolved to start doing some creative stuff
with hers. Melody explained to us
how to make fire starters out of pinecones and old candle stubs and crayons. We’ll
never use kindling again….. We also taught Cherlyn how to use her new digital
camera, even to the use of the timer. She’s
on her way to becoming paparazzi! Melody
showed off her old storage trunk that Jennifer had hand painted to match
Melody’s dinnerware. A true work
of art!
Friday evening we dined by candlelight and chiming clocks on a sumptuous
banquet of glazed ham, broccoli casserole, sweet corn pudding, French bread and
the famous macaroni salad (again !). As
a fitting backdrop, at the head of the table, hung an original Doug Goebel
painting of
Charleston
High School
. Since Melody isn’t a coffee
drinker and has no clue how to use a coffee-maker, Patty came to the rescue and
we drank our decaf with Patty’s peachy-keen cobbler with black walnuts and
dates. Another delicious recipe.
Can you tell we really enjoyed the food this weekend ?????
We wound down the evening trying to put names and faces together in
reunion pictures and spent a lot of time talking about how far from home we were
allowed to go at different ages (to the ball park, just to the railroad, why
didn’t the Grenada Way kids play with the Chappell Rd kids?, etc )
Saturday morning dawned bleak and dreary again but that didn’t dampen
our spirits. We discovered Cathy
needed to join Melody in Coffee-Making 101.
Her coffee was so weak it looked like tea !
Patty again rescued us all. We had macaroni salad with our breakfast (we
had to – Melody made enough for an army.)
We talked about Melody’s dog. Cherlyn
said, “Is her name Virgie or Virginia ?”
Melody said, “ Her name is Ginia, as in
West Virginia
.” She’s a cute little silky who
loves to have company. Soon the sun
came out and we introduced Patty and Cherlyn to Miss Bessie, the pot-bellied
pig. We toured Melody’s new summer
home on wheels (a 19’ camper), and saw the 8’ yacht that may travel with it.
That’s Melody’s slow boat to
Italy
! She’s looking for someone to go
with her…….. Or maybe just to travel down the
Mispillion
River
behind her farm.
We then headed south to Historic Lewes DE where we had a delicious lunch
at the Second Street Grille. We
enjoyed Crab Cakes, Fish and Chips, and Vegetable Powerhouse Sandwich.
We walked to a quilt shop to look for fabric for a quilt for Melody’s
sunroom. Then we shopped, and
shopped and shopped until the stores closed.
A stranger was kind enough to take our picture in front of a “tall
ship” that was in the port. We
ventured down the canal where we met Doris Ingram, a local artist, who told us
all about the
First
Street
Cemetery
where many unmarked stones mark the graves of black soldiers from the Civil
War. Then we shopped at the outlets
until Melody’s Mountaineer would hold no more ! (no kidding )
One of our purchases was a gift of a plaque to hang above a door in
Melody’s gathering room. It says
“Live Well, Love Much, Laugh Often”.
We all agree this is our philosophy on life.
After a scrumptious breakfast of eggs, bacon and French toast, we said our
goodbyes and Cherlyn and Cathy headed home Sunday morning.
Patty stayed to visit a few more days and I’m sure she and Melody had
some more good times. It was a
delightful weekend and those who didn’t make it missed a truly great time.
Thanks, Melody, for your wonderful hospitality and to all who attended,
thanks for the memories.
|