June 11 Gathering Ground Report; New Hampshire Reunion

  GATHERING GROUND REPORT - JUNE 11, 2026

No GG picture provided, but scroll down for other pics....

What, no cars in the parking lot at the Gathering Ground Restaurant....  OK, the Open sign is lit, so I'll go try the door.   Soon, the table of four were having strong conversations from Bill, Jo, Pete and Jerry.

We have a new and very attentive wait staff. Coffee was served and the Decaf fresh on for one of the orders at the table.

Jerry reported that my one and a half year old mechanical outage on my TDI Golf seems to be fixed by replacing a crankshaft sensor.  It was on the 2015 VW Golf TDI he has owned for 8 years.   It was an instant loss of power that was only felt for a few milliseconds and then went away.  Not long enough for the engine to stall unless I was idling at a stop sign.

Granby and East Granby are seeing a new owner taking over the old Imperial Nursery land.   It is being converted to a Very large Photovoltaic system that will produce 100 megawatts once fully set up.  Town reviews are just beginning and the documentation clearly shows the business's interest in wetlands, endangered species and soils.  Once completed, great for taxes and no extra traffic or noice to the towns. 

Jo-Ann has a video of trout mating (spawning).   The lake is in Massachusetts right on the Appalachian Trail.  Husband Jim is hosting at the Upper Goose Pond Cabin  on the trail where  AT travelers can overnight when passing through this section of the trail.  Click on the picture to see Jo-Ann's video (I hope it works!)

Some banter about Ice Cream now that the weather is turning toward the warmer time of the year.   It was decided that most have one or a few gums that are mixed in to help stabilize the ice cream.  You will notice that when you leave the ice cream out and when opened it does not turn into a puddle but remains pretty much the same structure as it warms.  Looks like ice cream but it is no longer cold!!

YourScribe

Jerry

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REUNION IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

 Some of the GG crew paid a visit to Tim O'Connor's home in New Hampshire.  Left to right: Jerry Kimble, Pete Gottschalk, Tim O'Connor, Bill Wills, & Ed Yeagle.

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May 13 Gathering Ground Report; Memory Lane

  GATHERING GROUND REPORT - MAY 13, 2026

A full table today at the Gathering Ground.  The  Guest  of Honor was Chet Biernat brought in by his son Father Wayne.   Bill, Pete, Jo-Ann and Jerry made a really full table but also a full conversation streaming from all corners of the table.

TW (Tom Woodruff) memories were shared by all at the table, his humor, creativity and wit were brought up time and time again at any MSD social event by several around the table.  Mt Washington over\nights, Ski teams, canoe or raft river runs, softball teams.  And who can forget the ability to mail a letter to Tom, Dick and Harry Suffied Ct and the letter would arrive with only that address.

Jo has found direction to turn off AI on phones and tables but the link to do that does not seem valid at this time.  Stand by for next month.

Bill's very good friend in Long Island has recently passed from surmounting Health issues.  Tom McCarthy will be remembered by a few who have met him and especially Bill.

Bill has found 3Blue1Brown on YouTube and has been enjoying it educational topics for a bit.  Very similar to Khan Academy as an easily understood educational platform that anyone can enjoy.

Snakes, Chipmunks and Voles in the garden and yard.  All part of the outdoors and landscaping around our New England yards.  Pete is battling a family of Chips and is looking to relocate to Jo-Ann's backyard.  Oops....

Jerry's solar project is performing as hoped with the latest monthly bill putting $150 in the bank for the leaner months.   Happy!

We all agreed the HP printer with the constant feeding of ink carts was not the way to go.  Most around the table have purchased other brands and found relief  from the cost of the ink Carts.

Your Scribe
--
Jerry

 

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MEMORY LANE

The news about the passing of Tom Woodruff generated several emails and tributes to the true gentle person that he was.  Among the emails were a few photographs from Bob Rosenfeld, vintage 1970's - which in turn sent me to the Way Back to resurrect some of the photos I had from that era.   Tom appears in all of the pictures attached below.

Enjoy this trip down Memory Lane, and see how many of the individuals you recognize and can identify.   (Disclaimer: some pictures may contain boyfriends/girlfriends/partners no longer applicable).

Derrybrook, Vermont:

White Mountain Hiking:

Tuckerman's Ravine:

Shad Derby Parade:

So many happy memories of Tom - his humility, intelligence and sense of humor made all of our lives better!  May he rest in peace.

April 8 Gathering Ground Report; Kimble's Southwestern Sojourn Continued

  GATHERING GROUND REPORT - APRIL 8, 2026

No picture provided, so once again we've found a reasonable facsimile. 
Meanwhile, Jerry has compiled a collage of pictures from GG breakfasts in the past: LINK HERE

Dave Ewbank, Bill and I enjoyed breakfast and light conversations.   

We talked about Dave ‘living solo’ while Kathy stayed at son’s house during the son’s major house renovations. 

Previous meeting with Father Biernat we discussed my discovery of a Canadian duet called “Choir, Choir, Choir”,  where the audience does the singing.  Turn the volume up -  Here's a LINK to one of their performances of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah".

After breakfast, I was heading off to a funeral celebration  for a 100 yr old veteran, Stanley Kokofski.   A few years ago the town of Enfield held a local parade in his neighborhood honoring his service in the Pacific theatre during World War II, he was wounded twice in action and received the Gold and Silver stars for his heroic service. One of the first vehicles in the procession contained retired U.S. Marine Corps MSG Daniel Ward, who presented him with the Connecticut Veterans Wartime Service Medal, thanking him for his service to his community and country. 

[NOTE: the parade mentioned was in honor of Mr. Kokofski's 95th birthday in 2020: LINK]

Your Temporary Scribe,

Jo-Ann   

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KIMBLE'S SOUTHWESTERN SOJOURN - CONTINUED

Jerry & Laura are back from their camping travels, but you can see their complete journey at this BLOG link: 

https://kimblescaliforniasuperbloom2026.blogspot.com/

March 11 Gathering Ground Report; Kimble's Southwestern Sojourn

 GATHERING GROUND REPORT - MARCH 11, 2026

No picture provided, so we found a reasonable facsimile

Guest attendee today was Chet's son, Father Wayne.  He was unaccompanied as Chet who originally wanted to attend with Father Wayne but woke up on the wrong side of the bed and just wanted to pass on the trip.

Father Wayne did stay and we all had a great time with various stories remembering some of the old days and some ol his current experiences.

Father Wayne, JoAnn, Bill, Dave and Jerry shared many stories and also ordered almost the same breakfast as the last few times in attendance.  Dave has continued to order the YUMMY.  It's the homemade Corned Beef that everyone at the table has ordered at least once(except Jo) and realized you need to be really hungry to come close to emptying the plate.

Jo brought up the song " Everything I own"..   It's a story about losing a parent and we all thought it was worth listening to and this could bring on a tear if any of us have lost one or all of our parents.   HERE is a link  for you, close your eyes and let the words sink in.

Chet would love a visit if anyone is in the Longmeadow area.  Here is his address:   Chet,  East Village   East Longmeadow, Mass.

A little survey around the table to see who might be listening to either AM or FM radio.  about a 50% audience raised a hand.   Spotify and Apple Music were also popular.  A little AM for some news was announced by a few.

Father Wayne loves music and has from this date, 24 Concerts booked for the rest of the year.  He ranges the New England area in search of the genre of his liking.  Chet has gone to many in the past and there is a chance that a local venue could see Chet again.
Many bands that Father Wayne is still seeing are fully or mostly replaced as the original start on many are in the 60's, 70's, and 80's.

Jerry has shown the first week of solar gain with his newly operational solar array.   We have more clouds than son so far in March, the forecast looks a little bleak at this point.

I had to excuse myself and get back to the house to begin a 400 mile first day on the road.   RVing to the South West to visit some of our great favourite National Parks that are last on the list in the lower 48*.   See you all in two months.

Your Scribe

Jerry   

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* KIMBLE'S SOUTHWESTERN SOJOURN

If you'd like to follow along with Jerry & Laura's travels through the Southwestern U.S., see their BLOG at this link: 

https://kimblescaliforniasuperbloom2026.blogspot.com/

February 11 Gathering Ground Report

 GATHERING GROUND REPORT - FEBRUARY 11, 2026

Bill, Pete, Dave, Jerry

The high for today is 40 degrees warmer (and the predicted high is only 34F) than some of the lows for the past two weeks here in Connecticut.  Looks like from the 10 day forecast we are going to leave the Big Chill behind us for the 2026 winter season.  

Pete, Bill, Dave and Jerry surrounded the table today.  Pete provided a ride for me as I'm now four weeks away from my femur break and have only driven on the street in front of the house and was not too sure about traversing from Granby to Windsor Locks in commuter traffic.   All went well with Pete at the helm.

Of course with how I am doing with my medical setback, lots of health related conversations followed with visits to the VA to find out why the Calcium test is off, to comparing dental issues in two of the four mounts.  Pete was absent  from the Health Care conversation.....Lucky Pete.

Bill recalled some of his flight highlights when he was behind the helm (nautical term? ) of his plane.  One memorable one was the time he was landing at one of the airports and found his landing path was just behind a B-17 !    WOW, that was a memory....

Snow on the solar panels as we have had a substantial amount of snow here in Connecticut.  

Of course that shading reduces the generation gain from the panel.  Sometimes the snow leaves some of the panels, and depending on the inverter configuration, that could generate some juice or sometimes very little.   String inverter or micro inverter.   I'm string and Pete is micro.   Since I have not been hooked up to the grid we are not able to compare our monthly generation totals.  NEXT year.

Repotting plants was on the table and it was decided that this is a great time to perform that task with the dormant season ending and (with the sun's help) the growing season is just around the corner.  My seeds are on order and some starting  planters to help get the season started 

Your Scribe
Jerry

January 14 Gathering Ground Report; Perils of Winter

 GATHERING GROUND REPORT - JANUARY 14, 2026

Jo-Ann and I were sitting at the table for a while when I noticed that the clock was 10 minutes after the hour, so I called Bill.   The response on the other side of my phone was "I was just about to leave for my 8:30 breakfast scheduled for every Friday morning"  I reminded him that today is Wednesday and his response was, I'll see you in a few.

Last month, Jo described a need for a small tray with five open slots with a very detailed dimension.  Bill sent her a prototype the very next day and after a few adjustments, the finished version was in JoAnn's hands.   The Picture of it looked like a master carpenter had created this piece!

Bill's carpentry: from design to finished product.

Dave showed up a little late but was anxious to order and catch up.   Both he and Jo-Ann have gotten their Eversource rebate notice for excess generation from the Solar panel configuration on their houses.   I'm still waiting for Eversource to install the new meter to set me into the generation cycle.  Panels have been sitting ready for over one and a half months.  
Three Around the table ordered the Corned Beef Hash, definitely homemade and definitely a very popular item at the table since its discovery by Pete.  Thanks Pete....

Bill was shown the magic of editing a picture to add or remove content that degrades some of our pictures.   Some of the AI magic that seems to add value to our lives.

Bill is recovering from a "yard sale" at Okemo Mt after running into some rough terrain on the side of the slope and hitting the deck with some good force.   Nothing serious but his movements have some limitations in his current daily life.

Your Scribe

Jerry 

THE VERY NEXT DAY....PERILS OF WINTER

PS to the monthly news for January 

Skiing for 65 years has finally caught up with me with a hard fall on one of Vermont's southern slopes, Okemo Mt.    About the 5th run down the mountain with my youngest son and a friend (Bill was absent this day) and some snow snake flipped me around and I slammed down on my right hip.   

That next day after a stay in Springfield Vt Hospital, I entered the surgical room and arrived an hour later with a Titanium nail fix for my femur.   Something called Intramedullary nailing (see picture below).

No prediction on the time frame for repair but it has now been 2.5 weeks and I'm getting ready to get the hell out of my house!

See you next month in the next newsletter.

Jerry