2025 Year in Review

 2025 Year in Review

 Highlights:

• January 9 we watched the funeral of President Jimmy Carter who passed away on December 29, 2024 at the age of  100.  I had the opportunity to meet President Carter when I volunteered at the Democratic Convention in San Francisco in August 1984.  He was very warm and engaging and shared his thinking that his presence was not important to the party.  He will be most remembered for his post-presidential work with Habitat for Humnaity, his travels around the world promoting democracy and as the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize.

• On January 9 Gary Snyder the leader of our Breakfast group invited us over to his house for Pizza and to watch the Notre Dame vs. Penn State college football Orange Bowl game and college football Semi Finals.  Notre Dame ended up winning 27-24 in an exciting game and went on to meet Ohio State in the final championship game losing 34-23.

• January 10 attended the "Symphonie Fantastique" at the Gaillard.  Conductor Hans Graf directed a Maurice Ravel number "Mother Goose" , which was a little slow.  The highight was a performace by violinist Rachel Barton Pine of "Violin Concerto, Op 14" by Samuel Barber.  Ms. Pine was actually substituting for Anne Akiko Meyers from California who had to cancel her appearance due to the tragic fires in the Los Angeles area.  Ms. Pine was confined to a wheel chair since 1995 when she was invloved in a serious train accident.  The last performace was the lively Hector Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique Op 14" in five movements.  

• January 20 - February 8 Oceania Cruise from Bridgetown, Barbados to Miami.  (See Doris and Bill Travel Adventures blog).   Oceania Cruise Barbados to Miami 

• March 12 I got a call from Mary Massar a volunteer with St. Vincent de Paul asking me to accompany her on a couple of calls to visit needy people in the Charleston pennisula's low-income housing areas.  The individuals were mainly single mothers with children in need of funds to pay their rent or electric bills.  We also brought a couple of bags of groceries from the St. Vicent de Paul pamtry for each.  One of the two was working but fell on hard times due to medical reasons.  We referred the other lady to SC Trident Center for assistance in looking for employment and creating a resume. It had been a while since I had gone out on a call as #2 to assist another Vincentian.  Since I wasn't going to do much with the Holy Name Society I figured I could be available to assist St. Vincent de Paul. 

• We celebrated my 82nd birthday again at Maison, March 19.  After 18 years paying full price for dental care with avid cyclist Dr. Mike Bannister, I switched to River Landing Dentistry and Dr. Kramer.  I discovered after speaking with Blue Cross that there was a "preferred provider" on Daniel Island that covers two cleanings a year with a co-pay of $35, annual x-rays free and routine dental care at very nominal cost.   

• March 29 - April 6 Credit One Charlestonn Open volunteering again with court maintenance working ten shifts.  I was able to see a lot more tennis up close as court maintence volunteers were able to sit in a lower box area (where this picture was taken) on folding chairs. There were two American finalists with Jessica Pegula defeating Sofia Kenin 6-3, 7-5.  A projected 90,000 fans attended the tournament.  The Prize Money totaled $1,064,510 with the winner receiving $164,000 and the runner up $105,000.

Renovation of the Credit One Stadium was completed in 2022 with a 10,200-seat capacityApril 16

• April 16 we celebrated Doris' birthday at Long Island Cafe on Isle of Palms

• 26 we attended the Charleston Jazz performance of "Havana Night" featuring Paquito D'Rivera a Cuban-American virtuoso known fo his mastery of the alto saxaphone and clarinet.  He has won five Grammy Awards and 11 Latin Grammy Awards.  He performed "A Night in Tunisia" honoring Dizzy Gillespie and "Walkin" composed by Miles Davis among other compositions.   The American Music Hall was a near sellout. 

• May 5-9 we went to New York to participate in the Road Scholar Program "Best of New York Theater". (See Doris and Bill Travel Adventures blog).  Road Scholar Best of New York Theaterhttps://dorisandbilltraveladventures.blogspot.com/2025/05/road-scholar-best-of-theater-in-new-york.html

• May 16 we attended a spaghetti dinner and silent auction fund raiser at St. Mary of the Annunciation church.         

• May 17 we attended the Charleston Jazz performance of "Swingin' the Blues" featuring Elise Testone a local jazz vocalist who also starred on American Idol.  Among the tunes performed were "Blue Rondo a la Turk" composed by Dave Brubeck;  Charlie Parker's " Billie's Bounce" Elise Testone performed a couple of her hits: "Help Me" and the Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer tune "Blues in the Night". 

• May 22 we attended the High School graduation of my Grandson Jayden up in Gainesville, Virginia.  It was held at the Jiffy Lube Live concert site.  

The Graduate

  Kettlerun High School Graduation
 Jiffy Lube Live

                     

               Jayden with Jeffrey                                                    With April                                                                      

• We went to a family dinner at the Black Sheep Restaurant in Mananass, VA .

• The next day we visited the Rappahannock Cellars Winery in Huntley, Virginia very rural roads in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Besides lunch we purchased a few bottles of their excellent 2022 Viognier dry white wine.

     

                                       

• We attended two Spoleto festival events June 2nd and 4th at the Dock Street theater.  On the 2nd we saw Gramy-Nominated surrealist blues poet and civil rights activist Aja Monet who performed some of her poetry accompanied by piano, sax, bass and drums.  

• On the 4th of June the Spoleto Chamber Music ensemble performed Vivaldi's Four Seasons interspersed with music and lyrics performed by Iranian Singer and Women's Rights advocate Mahsa Vahdat.  The audience was each given a copy of the program and texts of each of the texts.  

• On June 7 at the French Open Coco Goff defeated number one seed Aryna Sabalenka 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 in a thrilling upset. The Men's final was even more spectacular with Carlos Alcaraz beating Janik Sinner in an epic five sets that lasted over five hours. 

• June 15, Father's Day we went to the Commonhouse Ale Works for lunch and to listen to the Blue Plantation Bluegrass Band with Sam Cleaves on Banjo and guitar.  Doris had a giant Pretzel and I had a Smoked Brisket Burger and a Red Fox Irish Style Red Ale. 

Blue Plantation Band

• June 25th we attended the Gibbes Museum of Art "Art of Jazz" performance by local Charleston pianist Jonathan Lovett.  He was accompanied by Brett Beringer on bass and Ron Wiltrop on drums.   

• July 3rd we went to an Edwin McCain concert at the Windjammer on Aisle of Palms.  McCain is from Greenville, South Carolina.  Needless to say the concert was sold out.  Doris and I were early and able to sit on a table but most foIks were left standing in the sand in front of the stage or upstairs.  I remember attending one of his concerts in early 2004 or 05 after first arriving in Charleston. I remebered a few of his early songs that he played such as "I Could Ask for More", "Holy City" and "I'll Be".  He had played a few songs with Hootie and the Blowfish inlcuding "Solitude" which was performed here at the Family Circle stadium in August 2014.   .  The mandolin player in the pink shirt in fact played with Hootie and the Blowfish.

• July 23rd we attended another Art of Jazz Series featuring the vibrant and versatile pianist and vocalist Iliana Rose, whose music is deeply rooted in her Cuban heritage. A classically and jazz-trained artist with degrees from the University of Miami and the National Piano Guild, Iliana now calls Greenville, SC home. Beyond performance, she is also a respected educator and clinician, inspiring young musicians nationwide.  Accompanying her was Jonathan Lovett on Bass and Gino Castillo on Percussion, including conga drums and far eastern congo.

• On August 4-6 we took a quick trip to Pittsburg to not only see the Giants play at PNC (Pittsburg National Corporation) park but also do a quick tour of the city.   (See our other blog Doris and Bill Travel Adventures).   Pittsburg Visit

• August 14 we attended a wine tasting at Sauer Grapes wine shop with our friends Stan and Krystina.  Among the five wines we tasted we ended up purchasing a couple.  We especially liked:
• A Rose from Cote de Provence:  Tibouren Clos Cibonne Rose 2018, and
• Sebastien David "Hurluberlu" St. Nicolas de Bourgueil 2023, Loire Valley.

• On Saturday, August 16 we went to the Forte Jazz Lounge to attend the "Legacy: Greatest R&B and Motown Hits of the 60's, 70's & 80's" featuring Charles Grant, Jerome Griffin, and Jon Phillips on saxophone and vocals, with Larry Ford on keyboards, Gerald Griffin on guitar, Jeff Holt on bass, and Gerald "Cameo" Williams on drums.  The show will feature music from artists like The Temptations, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, and The Stylistics.  The show was packed as was the dance floor.

• From September 9-15 we visited Ireland first to Dublin for three days and then to County Sligo for four days to attned the Meehan family reunion.  (See our other blog Doris and Bill Travel Adventures)  Ireland 2025

• From Ireland we went to Paris for 14 days.  (See our other blog Doris and Bill Travel Adventures) Paris 2025  

• October 7 we attended a rally at the Citadel in support of Mac Deford, Democrat who is running for Congress reprenting the 1st district.  

• October 18 we attended a Charleston Jazz concert at the American Music Hall entitled "Autumn Leaves" featuring Chad LB (Lefkowitz-Brown).  Chad is a virtuoso saxaphonist known for his skill, speed and intracate arrangements as a jazz improviser.  He is also an educator and on the faculty of the San Franciso Conservatory.  During his visit to Charleston he visited 15 local schools conducting lectures on improvization to local music classes.  He made a point to not only recognize his wife, a divorce attorney, but also his parents who were in the audience.  The song list for the concert consisted of some traditioinal jazz standards like "East to Love", "Autumn Leaves", Brazilian "Corcovada" and his own arrangement of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition".

• Sunday November 2 we went to a service at the First (Scots) Presbyterian Church with our neighbors Joyce and Paul.  The service was for the Lord's Day and Scotish Heritage Sunday with Scotish Bagpipes and Drums and a procession of members in Kilts with flags representing different clans.  It was entitled the "Kirkin' O' the Tartan" which was of American origin but based on Scotish history and legend.   After Bonnie Prince Charlie's Scotish forces were defeated by the English at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, Scotland came under British rule.   The British enacted a law which forbade the Scots from carrying arms and the wearing of kilts or tartans.  This prohibition lasted nearly 50 years until it was repealed.  The Saint Andrew's Society of Washington, D.C. held the first Kirkin service in 1943.  

•  Though the church was maybe 3/4 full we were impressed with the members and their         families.  All were very friendly and wore name tags and early on the children were              called upon to sit in the aisle while the pastor spoke and asked questions about the                  service.  After, about 15 children exited to attend religious education class.  The church          Bulletin showed a number of Calendar of Events and many organizations and clubs to join for adults and youth.  

 

• November 8 we went to St. Mary's for the annual Holy Name Society Spaghetti dinner and silent auction fund raiser,

• November 14 we went to the Forte Jazz club for an evening of contemporary and smooth jazz with our neighbors, Paul and Joyce who had not been there before.  The group played music of David Sanborn, Grover Washington, Jr., Jeff Lorber, Pat Metheny and Soiro Gyra among others.  The group consisted of Abdiel Iriarte, Electric Piano; Kevin Patton Sax; Thomas Norris; Electric Guitar; John F. Kennedy, Bass; and Josh Hoover, Drums.

• The Thursday morning breakfast group at the Daniel Island Club continues to get together each week.  I enjoy my regular breakfast of a shortstack of Blueberry Pancakes with a side of bacon.

Jafar, Al, Bill Price, Bill Lark, Gary, Stan Jablonski. Me

                                Missing: Paul Perocchi, Ron Magnuson, Joe Gunter, Chris Cychek

• On Friday December 12 we flew up to Washington, D.C. to attend a Serra High alumni function for folks living in the East Coast.  Besides alumni, spouses and folks from Serra a total of 51 people attended.  In additon to a reception an excellent buffet dinner was served.  We stayed at the Archer Hotel which was close to the Mclain Metro and Tysons Corner near where I lived when working with the State Department in D.C. and Northern Virginia.    It was fun meeting other retirees, exchanging stories and was amazed how many were still working and volunteering.  Among the participants was Dennis Lucey (pictured far right) a '59 graduate who I crossed paths wirh when he was on loan to Peace Corps from Zerox corporation to serve as Country Director in Liberia and I was the Administrative Officer.  Small World.

Besides old timers, a few student athlete alumni attended 

• On Saturday we hooked up with Patrick, Jayden and April for lunch at Tysons at Coastal Flats.  It was great being able to get together not only to give them there Christmas gifts but for Doris to do some shopping.  We were also able to catch an earlier flight back to Charleston as well. 

• For David's birthday this year we went to Magnolia's but before going there we stopped in at Thoroughbred Club at Charleston Place for drinks and delicious Charcuterie.  I had a very tasty French 75 (Gin with Prosecco and lemon juice) for the first time.

• On Christmas day the family gathered at our house for dinner and exchange gifts as well as birthday presents for Brielle and David.  Doris prepared Pork Tenderloin with the usual mashed potatoes, gravy, squash, corn, peas, stuffed eggs and rolls.  And, of course two birthday cakes, brownies and ice cream.

David, Bayley, Joshua, Brielle, Me,
Doris, Heather and Harlie
Robert took the photo

• After mass on Saturday November 8 we attended a spaghetti dinner and silent auction at church.