At the Gathering Ground, six ex-MSD'ers visited. Our table was a table for four and even we had a total of six, some only visited for a short amount of time, we always had no more than four at the table.
Chet Biernat, socially distanced Norm Lapointe, Bill WIlls
Norm was most brief as he stopped by early to let us know that he was Covid positive but was sure he was no longer positive based on time line of getting sick and the normal recovery. He was cautious anyway and fully masked and social distanced from the rest of us they then graciously excused himself. So, besides Norm, Chet, Bill, JoAnn and Dave were in for a visit.
Chet shared a story about how his Son, Father Wayne, achieved Eagle Scout followed by an exposure to a youth group engagement that sparked his interest in Priesthood. Exposing our kids to a broad life experience to see where they can be engaged and interested showed Chet the value of this exposure.
Chet also was the Scout Master of his son's Troop and he still remains connected to some of the Scouts he mentored in the troop. One continuing experience is with one of the scouts that partnered with a few of his college classmates to begin a brewery in New York that is most successful and distributing to the National beverage chain with some very interesting brews. See pic of one of the most famous cans they offer.
Bill showed a picture his latest creation. A table top for his sister. She plays cards with a group of ladies and doesn't have a large enough surface to host the crowd that shows up. She also doesn't have the room to have a larger table on a permanent basis in her home. So Bill has created a table top that goes on top of his sister's current smaller table to allow that card playing crew to play their games. This top is in two pieces so it can be stored easily. Orders for more can be had by giving Bill a call, he would love to hear from you.
Report that Bart is doing very well after knee replacement. PT after is very important and of course his good wife Geri, being a Physical Therapist will make sure that he sticks to the rigor of the recovery exercises.
Some from around the table got back to the sixties when our homes were temporarily in South East Asia. Chet had a topper when his job was quartermaster and monthly he had to fly from Singapore to Vietnam to deliver pay to the various military outfits. One month, there were no seats on the C130 cargo plane. After explaining that he carried the next payroll, the person in charge of seating suggested that Chet just strap himself to some of the cargo and he would be able to get to his destination. This seemed like a good idea and he did so and took off into the sky. About halfway through the flight, he observed the large cargo box he was strapped to and discovered that on the side, it stated "this is a container of HAND GRENADES.....Danger" Chet did make it to the end and accomplished his mission
Jerry
