Date: Fri 15-May-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

rain-Bart-Rauner

Full Text:

TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN

I sure am glad the sun finally came out this week. The water was rising, and I

was beginning to grow webs between my toes. I was afraid I was going to have

to humiliate myself and my species by dog -paddling into June.

Town Clerk Cindy Curtis Simon is already thinking about June, and she is

reminding all her quadrupedal friends about the town's annual rabies clinic

for dogs and cats in the Edmond Town Hall gym on Saturday, June 20, between 1

and 3 pm. There are no residency requirements and the cost is low, only $10

per animal. Dogs must be licensed, so if you are not already licensed, have

your owner stop by the clerk's office in town hall soon to take care of it --

before the day of the rabies clinic.

While she wasn't exactly rabid, The Bee's elder office dog, Bart, was very

cranky about the bit I included in this column last week about her 12th

birthday. I got a snippy and intemperate memo from her referring rather

impertinently to a "flea-bitten feline" (who could that be?) and going on at

length about my "snide" comments about her sloth, which is, apparently,

evident to everyone but her. She also was in a huff because I referred to her

as "Bart," which is what everybody calls her. She insists that her name is

"Barth," which is short for Barthelmy, her real name, which was derived from

the Caribbean Island St Barthelmy, a place she's never been. "Barth" was so

mad at me that she put my picture on her darth board.

If you wander through the upstairs hallway at Edmond Town Hall any weekday

you'll likely find solitary David Merrill working on the murals that he

started almost 20 years ago. He's finishing the last section of open wall

space across from the Alexandria Room with the names of notables who have

lived in town over the years, people like artists, actors, writers, plus

Borough officials, and the names of organizations in town. David welcomes

anyone who wants to stop by and chat -- and maybe suggest a name or two.

I stopped at the Sandy Hook Diner for breakfast on Mother's Day and Barbara

Nelson told me that Rich Rauner is in Temple University Hospital in

Philadelphia, where he is being tested from "head to toe" to see if he is a

good candidate for a heart transplant. Rich has had a lot of major heart

surgery including a quadruple bypass in 1993. After he had that surgery he was

ordered to take it easy, but on his way home from work at the post office, he

stopped to save four accident victims whose car had crashed into a brook near

his house in Shady Rest. He wasn't feeling well then, but still made it out to

sing and dance at a variety show. The next day, he was diagnosed with

congestive heart failure and pneumonia, problems which have plagued him ever

since and forced his recent retirement. Barbara is planning to organize a

fundraiser because "Richie has done so much for the town and now it's our turn

to do something for him." His address, if you want to send a card, is Temple

University, Parkenson Building -- Room 706A, Broad Ontario Street,

Philadelphia, PA 19140.

I ran into John Rohmer who told me that Mike Meffert celebrated his 60th

birthday on Tuesday, a milestone that brought with it mandatory retirement

from his career as a pilot for Delta airlines. Mike flew his final retirement

flight from Denver to New York on Sunday, joined by Sallie, and their son,

David, and David's wife, Sherrie, who live in Texas. Now Mike has time to do

all the chores that Sallie has lined up for him to do at home. John says

Sallie will be 57 in December, so she is not ready to retire yet and head

south to warmer climes. Maybe that is why Sallie alludes to the "problems of

older houses" whenever the real estate agents bring prospects to look at the

Meffert's historic house on Gelding Hill Road.

Don't forget to stop by the Ice Cream Shop on Sunday between 11 am and 5 pm

and buy an ice cream sundae. It is the annual Sundae Sunday to benefit the

Newtown Junior Women's Club's state project, "Special Wishes," which helps

children with life-threatening diseases. The Ice Cream Shop is donating a

portion of the sales of sundaes to this worthy cause.

Dig out all those dusty attic items that you have always wondered about and

bring them to the Matthew Curtiss house on Sunday between 1 and 4 pm to find

out what they are worth. The Newtown Historical Society will have professional

appraisers there to appraise your treasures. There is a limit of three per

person and the charge is $5 each.

A sign on the desk of Geraldine Hughes at the senior center says: "I can

please only one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow doesn't look

good either."

Well, next week looks pretty good for me, so if you want to hear all about it,

be sure to come on back and...

Read me again.