A Busy Weekend-- Part 2: Old Friends, Vets and Ed Bearrs

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7

This being Pearl Harbor Day, the 77th anniversary, I wrote about it in all my blogs.  My flags were already up for President Bush's funeral.

I drove to Bristol, Wisconsin, to have breakfast with former teachers from John T. Magee Middle School in Round Lake, Illinois.  We had our first get-together back in November and hope to get it to being a regular monthly thing.  It is always fun to get together with old friends, especially ones you don't often see.  A lot of retired teachers from Round Lake have moved to warmer climes, but enough of us stay here to have them.

Afterwards, I drove to the Fox Lake, Illinois, American Legion Post 703 where we were putting on our annual Christmas dinner for the people at the VA Hospital in North Chicago.  I worked in the kitchen plating yams, mashed potatoes and gravy.  We served around 125.

Later I drove to Arlington Heights, Illinois, and visited the grave of Liz's parents in Memory Gardens and then, with some difficulty found the place where Ed Bearrs was going to speak for the Northern Illinois Civil War Round Table at the Arlington Hts. Museum.  Mr. Bearrs is one of the preeminent Civil War people, having written many books and led many battlefield tours.  It was worth the distance and confusion to hear him.  I will eventually get around to writing about him in my Civil War blog.

A Very Long Day.  --RoadDog