October 13 was an especially important date this year. As usual, it is Happy Birthday to Elizabeth

WE HOPE IT WAS YOUR VERY BEST BIRTHDAY SO FAR AND THAT THERE ARE MANY MORE TO COME

and this October 13, we add a brand new name to our list of family members SKYLER THOMAS WITHROW was born very early in the morning to Heather and Thomas, with the expectant grandparents, Hildy and Dan also at the hospital for support. Grandaddy Dan's new camera was ready to take a picture of this new little person and it came on my e-mail within a few hours of his birth. Isn't he a cutie?

Newborn Skyler

Four Days Old

     The Mom and baby came home from the hospital on the 17th, where Sky was introduced to the canine members of the family, one of whom, Luna the chihuahua, is smaller than he.
     After a few more days of being helpful, Dan and Hildy are off to New York City for a visit, hoping to see something on a Broadway stage while there. They also want to see the autumn leaves of the New England area. Meanwhile, they are seeing lots of Washington, D. C.

     Nan's great-great grandfather was born in Wales where there are towns named Llwwn or Pyllwwn or something like that..... all double letters and practically no vowels. She and her Mom, Carolyn, are hoping to take a trip to the homeplace sometime in the next couple of years, so they got a kit with a video and audio tape from the library, which they are sharing, and are learning to speak and read Welsh. Just for practice, Nan wrote me an e-mail, addressed to some weird combination of letters for my name and signed it "eich".
     I wrote John to ask if she has a Welsh name for him and he came right back with this..... "Id Jit". "She calls me that all the time."

     I called Crown Hill Cemetery to find out if Vern's Uncle Walfried and Aunt Augusta Fogelstrom were buried there. They are, and also their three daughters, so now we have surnames for the daughters and might be able to find if there are any of Walfried's descendants still around here.
     Walfried was one of Ida's older brothers and is the source of Vern's middle name, Walter.

     Vern is now a published author. His story about the Saicom Club, which can be found in another section of this newsletter, was given a great spot, picture and all, in the Ballard News Tribune. Now I hope he will be inspired to record more of his stories. He has many that will make very good reading.
     When he was in his teens, he did a lot of hiking in the Olympic Mountains. This was before sleeping bags and he used a blanket held down around him with big rocks to keep him warm... or as warm as possible. It was also before dehydrated food, so he ate lots of macaroni and cheese.
     He worked for forty years for the Boeing Company. He went through their apprentice program and got his certificate from Eleanor Roosevelt. He was in on the planning of the Everett Plant and was Superintendent of Tooling at the time of his retirement in 1979.

     I hear Ryan and his Mom flew down to see Russ in Gunnison, Colorado, where he is going to college and took Lucy, the big, black Lab, down to live with him. He has been asking for her. I hope she and "The Dude", the stray cat that has moved in with Russ, accept each other at first glance. If not, he will have to play referee until they do.

     Dave and Anne are very "into" their rowing. Anne is already part of an eight man shell crew and has been in several competitions. Dave just started recently with a single man shell and is out there most mornings, enjoying the early morning mist and the feel of being on the water. He is now taking lessons from one of the coaches.

     Paul, John, and Nan are very busy getting History House set up for the Northeast Seattle Neighborhoods displays. The deadline is coming up fast and the Opening Ceremony for this new bunch of exhibits will be November 6. Nancy is building a special exhibit for some of my work that will fit into that category... Thornton Creek, Northeast Improvement Club, and Roosevelt High School. I write 'em, find pictures to go with the stories and she takes it from there. She did me proud with the one we did for Green Lake last year, and I know this one will be just as good. It's nice to have someone do most of the work and I get the credit.

     Dixie/Dorothea, Senior Editor

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