First Friday July 2013

First Friday July we met at the Meadows, the restaurant at Meadowview Marriott.   I apologize because I thought I had sent out a reminder, but checking
further, I realize that I must have started the email, but it was never sent!

We had a good turnout anyway:  Nancy Ellis Baldree, Vivian Eversole Brown, Marlene Snyder McConnell, Judy Neff Stapleton, Carolyn Rice Cameron, Carolyn (Bunny) Devault Tichenor,
Sharon Deatherage Fults, Sondra Dotson Bridwell, me and our special guest from Nashville area, Georgia Duncan Koogler who was in town with her sister Wanda, for Wanda's class of 1958 reunion.

I also had several guests from Fredericksburg VA, my daughter Chris, her husband John, her children Adam, Hannah, Jacob and Grace, and Adam's girl friend Sarah.
We really enjoyed the lunch buffet, and oh my goodness, I rediscovered their bread pudding!  Oh My!!  The buffet is $12.99 but that includes the drink.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the
luncheon bar.  You can choose to order from the menu as well.

Because I didn't get the word out for July's lunch, I want to start early and remind you of First Friday August lunch, which will be Friday, August 2nd. 
Sondra received a call from the manager at O'Charley's wondering why we were not there Friday.  Sondra explained that we had been told that the room where we were meeting
each month was being totally renovated, and that there would be high top tables there after the renovation.  NEWS BULLETIN:  The room is exactly the same with some new
wallpaper...  SO WE ARE THINKING THAT WE WILL MEET AT O'CHARLEY'S ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 2ND FOR OUR FIRST FRIDAY LUNCH.

We may decide to go back to Meadowview for First Friday September, but we'll talk about it.   It is a bit farther to walk to get to the restaurant, even though there is now a parking
garage on the back side of the resort, and an elevator which takes you up to the restaurant. 

I will send another email concerning this as we get closer to the time.

God bless us everyone!

BC

Really great turnout today for First Friday!!

Life never ceases to amaze me... Today, I was thinking that perhaps we would not have many folks show up because of the weird weather and the predictions of bad weather! 

Boy, was I wrong!  

We had a big turnout!   Jack Sitgreaves came by since he was in Kingsport on business; Anne Morrison Garber and David Plott was there after being absent for a long time... David said that he has had a really bad case of the flu, and now his wife Becky has it too.  We'll pray for you,  Becky!!
We also had a visit from JanRose's youngest sister, Wanda. 

Here are our attendees around the table:  Jan Rose Dotson Hall and husband Harry, sister Wanda Adams, Judy Neff Stapleton, Wallace Grills, Jack Sitgreaves, Sondra Dotson Bridwell, Janice Jordan Duncan,  Anne Morrison Garber, Linda Lamberth Robinson,  Diana Woodard Agett, Dick Odum and wife Norma Odum, Sharon Tittsworth Johnson, Kathy Morse Parham, David Plott, Vivian Eversole Brown, Marlene Snyder McConnell, Doris Cox, Patty Bray Faris, Cris Moorehouse and wife Theona, Jane Beck Harris...   Honestly I felt like there were more than that, but I think I got everybody!! 

And today, we had a new waitress, Belle.  Our special girl has moved on to O'Charley's in Bristol at exit 7...  someday we will go up to see her!  Belle did a great job, a bit slower than Laura, but look at all the people she had to serve...  and as I was leaving, she introduced herself to me as a former neighbor of ours out in Holiday Hills outside the city limits!  "Do you remember me?  I lived on the hill next to the Jones'? Belinda... "   After she said her name and where she lived, I saw her face
anew... connecting to those earlier days.

Very very nice day. 

God bless us everyone. 

BC

Jan Haney Visit

Had such a good time today visiting my friend, Jan Haney this morning.  She coached cross country at Morristown West High School before her stroke.  She once told me that she wanted to be a coach like Tommy. She told me she picked his brain about coaching ... something must have clicked. Her teams won FOUR state championships!! Two of those were back to back which is really difficult. Jan is tough, and she is working hard to recuperate.

We had such a good visit, remembering some good times.  She remarked that several of her Morristown West cross country runners are running (or have run) at King College in Bristol.   
Kendra Sokol from Dobyns-Bennett Cross Country is running there now. 

Jan, you look great!  Keep on keeping on!!

Barbara 

The First First Friday of the New Year!

Let's start it off with a bang!  Let's have a record crowd there Friday at O'Charley's at 12:30 p.m.

We have so much fun, and the food is good and reasonable!

We really appreciated Kathy having us over for Christmas, and Harry supplying music on his wonderful equipment (Thanks to Jan, who is his helper!)... 

See ya Friday!

God bless us everyone!

BC

Josephine Davidson Pendergrass

   KINGSPORT — Josephine Davidson Pendergrass, 101, of Kingsport, passed away on Saturday (Dec. 22, 2012), after a brief illness.    She was born in Glen Mary, Tenn. on Dec. 13, 1911 to Joseph T. Davidson and Selina Molyneux Davidson, whose families were immigrants from England. The family moved to Chattanooga, Tenn. where in 1936 Josephine married Harry F. Pendergrass, also of Chattanooga. The young couple moved to Knoxville, Tenn., and later to Kingsport in 1948.    A graduate of East Tennessee State Teachers’ College, now ETSU, Mrs. Pendergrass taught first grade in Chattanooga Public Schools and kindergarten at Colonial Heights Presbyterian Church.    She was artistic and as a young woman produced many oil paintings and played the piano and violin. She loved plants and flowers, which thrived under her care. At one time she was a member of the Kingsport Garden Club. She has been a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church since 1948, serving in many capacities. She was an avid reader and enjoyed many kinds of needlework, knitting, crocheting, and latch-hooking. She knitted blankets for the Veterans Hospital in Bedford, Mass. She loved animals of all kinds and was very supportive of the Humane Society.    She was preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Harry F. Pendergrass.    Mrs. Pendergrass is survived by two daughters, Selina J. Woods and husband, Dr. William A. Woods of Winchester, Mass. and Jean Ellen Pendergrass of Arlington, Mass.; two grandsons, Matthew F. Woods and wife, Tricia L. Woods of Otter River Mass. and Dr. Alexander D. Woods and wife, Dr. Tamara Woods of Columbia, Mo.    The family will receive friends at Oak Hill Funeral Home on Thursday from 4 until 6 p.m. and also at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 161 East Ravine Road, Kingsport, Tenn. on Friday from 1 until 2 p.m. prior to the services.    Services will be conducted at 2 p.m. on Friday at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church with The Rev. Edward J. Mills III and The Rev. Chris Harpster, officiating.    Entombment will follow in Oak Hill Mausoleum No. III at Oak Hill Memorial Park.    The family wishes to thank the staff of Wellington Place Assisted Living of Colonial Heights for their love and support over several years. 

Selina and Jean, our hearts and prayers are with you as you navigate these difficult times.

God bless us everyone!

BC

Christmas Party...

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Kathy Morse Parham for once again having our group at her house for Christmas!  She has one of the most beautiful trees, fully decorated. 

We started arriving around 6 p.m., and the table began filling up.  There is always a great variety of goodies, and it doesn't take long for all of us to fill our plate and enjoy!  Martha Ward Duane enjoyed Ben Hunter's Blackberry Cake and Grape Pie so much, she went to visit Ben and his wife Cotton, and she has brought us the recipes. 

BLACKBERRY CAKE

A recipe from Hilda King of Church Hill, TN

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil and flour a rectangular cake pan if you intend to turn the
cake out after baking. You might also line the pan with parchment paper. Ben served the cake iced, in
the pan, which was wonderfully convenient for carrying to a party.

Mix together:

1 box yellow cake mix

4 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

2 boxes of blackberry Jell-O (Ingles grocery in Colonial Heights carries Royal brand blackberry Jell-O.
Ben has never found it anywhere else in Kingsport.)

Stir into the batter:

1 quart blackberries, fresh or frozen (If frozen, let the berries thaw, drain any liquid, reduce it to syrup
and add it to the cake. In either case, mash the berries lightly with a fork.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and dry.

Caramel Icing

Melt together, and then bring to a boil for one minute:

1 stick butter

1 cup brown sugar

¼ cup regular milk

Allow the caramel to cool a bit, and then add:

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla (or Jack Daniels whiskey!)

Pour the icing over the cake.







GRAPE PIE

This is a recipe by Alton Brown, the entertaining and highly scientific Food Network star. Ben Hunter wowed the Christmas party
with this rich, sweet dessert.

I. Split 1 pound of seedless grapes.

Marinate them overnight in

4 oz. honey

1 oz. brandy

1 oz. lime juice

II. Make the crust.

Grind together:

4 oz. walnuts (optional)

80 vanilla wafers (This is almost one full box, but count them out.)

Blend 4 tablespoons of melted butter into the mix and smooth it into the bottom of a
rectangular cake pan.

III. Drain the grapes.

Add:

4 oz. brown sugar

16 oz. sour cream

1 tablespoon vanilla (or 1 T. Jack Daniels whiskey)

Mix, and then assemble the pie.

IV. Make the icing.

12 T. butter

1 ½ cups brown sugar

4 oz. regular milk

Boil this mixture for one minute, and then pour it over the cake. Refrigerate for at least one hour
before serving.


Now see if you can impress people at your party as much as Ben Hunter impressed the DBHS alums of
1960 at the annual Christmas party at Kathy Parham’s house this year!

December 8, 2012

Good afternoon, DBers around the world!     (It is 1:45 p.m., Saturday, December 8th here in East Tennessee.)

 I've had something this week, although I'm loathe to call it the flu, apparently that is what it was.  I haven't had the flu in years and years!!!   Anyway, I am feeling better (i.e. I got up today, got dressed, took dog for SHORT walk, drove to nearest Dollar General to get toilet paper, paper towels, kleenex! You know, the important stuff!).  But I didn't make the First Friday lunch yesterday.  And I was bummed about that.

Linda Robinson called me from O'Charley's and said there were 14 or so there, and they were having lots of fun visiting.  Sometimes it is nice to have fewer, so you can visit individually a bit.  Anyway, she was saying that Jim Gee had come, so that was a happy surprise!

Hopefully I will find out who the others were that attended! 

CHRISTMAS GATHERING AT Kathy Morse Parham's is set for Friday, December 14th at 6 p.m.
Please bring a dish to share, come visit with everyone, and enjoy the beautiful Christmas decorations. Kathy has an enormous tree decorated beautifully.




At Thanksgiving, I had so much to be thankful for, but I have to say that my left leg (broken tibial plateau) healed up beautifully making me most grateful!!  I was having a bit of a problem, scooting up the steps to the computer room! 

I was happy recently to see that one of our own, Jane Beck Harris, was presented FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, the Sertoma Club's Service to Mankind Award.   Way to go, Jane!  I am extremely proud of everything she has done and continues to do for our community and through Red Cross, around the nation!

Many of you have been telling me that you have not been getting the google group emails.  I will try from now on to post everything I write in the google email to this blog.  That way, you can check in and see what's happening without waiting for a google email! 

God bless us everyone!

BC