Like many sidetracked baby-boomers, we're trying something a little different this year for our holiday letter. Each year they have gotten later and later, and last year's never made it to the mailbox. Neither did the cards! This year, we've managed to get some cards out, partly because the letter is here. Also on this blog you'll find last year's letter and the one from 2012.
2014 has found us scurrying around to some interesting places, often to Gatlinburg, Tenn., 2014 came in for us at The Gatlinburg Inn where we were able to see the ball drop from the Space Needle without leaving the Inn property (which Al, brother David, their Aunt Naomi Barker and some cousins inherited half of from their Aunt Wilma Maples). We attended a big Gatlinburg fundraiser for the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts with David and Jennifer. A few weeks later, they joined us for KET's Summer Celebration, a big annual fundraiser.
Our biggest trip of the year was to the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors' annual conference in Durango, Colo. Al's uncle and aunt, Glen and Charlotte Miller, greeted us at the Grand Junction airport, where we rented a pickup truck and headed for Durango, stopping at cousin Melanie and husband Dave's Domino's Pizza on the way, then taking US 550, "the Highway to Hell," which Al enjoyed but made Patti nervous (Al was driving). We had a fine time on the Durango-Silverton Railroad (photo), and in Silverton, and at lunch with Mel, Dave and the rest of Glen and Charlotte's extended family on the way back. We always enjoy seeing our Colorado cousins!
We had three other journalism trips, to the Society of Professional Journalists convention at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, the SPJ regional conference in Chicago and the National Newspaper Association convention in San Antonio, where we checked off an item on Patti's bucket list, seeing the River Walk and taking a boat ride on it. Part of the convention was a barbecue at a ranch, where Patti was pictured with a desperado.
Al, nephew Martin and David saw three Cardinals-Braves games in St. Louis. Al attended the journalism educators' convention in Montreal, lectured on election coverage at the Missouri School of Journalism, made three appearances for the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and put together a successful fundraising dinner for the rural-journalism institute he directs at the University of Kentucky. He was elected a faculty senator and taught an extra class, Covering the U.S. Senate Race, spending a lot of time talking with national reporters, sometimes on TV. His regular Community Journalism classes continue to cover the small town of Midway, where the outgoing mayor (with whom he had tangled some) made him an honorary Midwegian.
Patti remains a member of the Frankfort's planning and zoning commission, and its Architectural Review Board. She attended a three-day Preservation Workshop with PBS's Bob Yapp which included a hands on repair and weatherization for old windows. He made a believer out of her -- old windows can be more energy efficient than the new vinyl windows. But with 60 windows, we just need to find someone else to do it!
We hope you've had a wonderful year and wish you the best for the next one. Keep up with us on Facebook, email or phone; Al's Twitter handle is @ruralj. Or come to see us (with fair warning)!
2014 has found us scurrying around to some interesting places, often to Gatlinburg, Tenn., 2014 came in for us at The Gatlinburg Inn where we were able to see the ball drop from the Space Needle without leaving the Inn property (which Al, brother David, their Aunt Naomi Barker and some cousins inherited half of from their Aunt Wilma Maples). We attended a big Gatlinburg fundraiser for the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts with David and Jennifer. A few weeks later, they joined us for KET's Summer Celebration, a big annual fundraiser.
Al, nephew Martin and David saw three Cardinals-Braves games in St. Louis. Al attended the journalism educators' convention in Montreal, lectured on election coverage at the Missouri School of Journalism, made three appearances for the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and put together a successful fundraising dinner for the rural-journalism institute he directs at the University of Kentucky. He was elected a faculty senator and taught an extra class, Covering the U.S. Senate Race, spending a lot of time talking with national reporters, sometimes on TV. His regular Community Journalism classes continue to cover the small town of Midway, where the outgoing mayor (with whom he had tangled some) made him an honorary Midwegian.
Patti remains a member of the Frankfort's planning and zoning commission, and its Architectural Review Board. She attended a three-day Preservation Workshop with PBS's Bob Yapp which included a hands on repair and weatherization for old windows. He made a believer out of her -- old windows can be more energy efficient than the new vinyl windows. But with 60 windows, we just need to find someone else to do it!
We hope you've had a wonderful year and wish you the best for the next one. Keep up with us on Facebook, email or phone; Al's Twitter handle is @ruralj. Or come to see us (with fair warning)!
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