Tag Archive | New York City

A Love Story

Nov2
WWII newspaper

photo courtesy of legendofpineridge.blogspot.com

By February, 1943 World War II had been raging for nearly four years. The U.S. had been involved in Europe and then the South Pacific, since the attack on Pearl Harbor. Casualties created by the Japanese were devastating in Hawaii, not to mention Australia and New Guinea. When the Japanese made an amphibious landing on Guadalcanal to take over the landing strip, the U.S. Naval forces pushed them back, claiming victory. The Japanese were not finished. Plans to control the South Pacific seas were nearly ready to go.

Halfway around the globe, in a central New York city, Frank and Loretta Sardino were readying their nightclub, Club Candee, for another week of visiting stage acts. Loretta went to the icebox where Frank was stacking chickens. He stood to let her in, she stroked his face. He winked and patted her bum. Her smiling Irish blue eyes met his Italian bedroom eyes and held for just a moment. For 25 years, they had worked hard, hand in hand, to build a life for their 5 children, and still were deeply in love.

Out in the lounge, their three eldest sons, Frank, Dick and Tom, cleaned floors, stocked the bar, checked the lights and brought in more tables and chairs to accommodate the full house they anticipated. 

Frank, Sr. had a knack for signing the best acts available and that week’s acts were no different. The Will Mastin Trio featuring 18-year old Sammy Davis, Jr. was the main act since Sammy had become popular for his melodic voice and his flash tap dancing. Frank hired a magician, opera singers, a comedian and a chorus line to round out the show. Loretta’s boys, of course, were most excited about the chorus girls.

By 8 pm, the house went dark and the noisy room, packed with local dignitaries and ’fat cats’ from New York City filling up on Loretta’s corned beef and cabbage, went silent except for the sound of a single horn. Frank and Dick had been busy glad-handing and serving drinks but, when the band began to play the first notes of Boogie Woogie, the boys took notice.

Rockettes

Courtesy of dmacc5022.wordpress.com

At the second stanza, the stage came alive with eight pairs of long legs, dressed in sparkling red, white and blue sequined tap shorts. The girls kicked and tapped across the stage as the men in the audience whistled their approval and threw roses onto the stage. The redhead and the blonde in the center of the line

caught everyone’s attention, including Dick and Frank, Jr.

During their break, Frank tried to keep Dick busy refilling the ice bucket and washing bar glasses so he’d have time to talk to the girls alone. Dick didn’t fall for it and followed Frank backstage. The boys vied for the girls’ attention with compliments and drinks. Opal showed the boys the diamond on her finger and, with a flip of her blonde hair, went to change for the next dance. Becky just smiled politely, turned and followed Opal, leaving the two Romeos with their mouths agape.

Back at the bar, Frank challenged Dick to the flip of  a coin to determine who would ask Becky out after the show. Dick won the toss, but Frank wasn’t a good loser and Dick suffered the consequences. Frank flipped a full tray of drinks out of Dick’s hands as he was about to serve them. Later he tripped his younger brother as he raced back and forth to keep up with his bar customers’ orders.

When the show resumed and the bar quieted, the boys’ Irish-Italian tempers flared. They met behind the club and had it out…with their fists. Dick had height on Frank, but Frank was more muscular. Dick out-maneuvered him and won out. He stood victoriously over his big brother. Frank jumped up, swung and missed as Dick ducked and ran inside to make a date with his redhead.

After he closed up the Club, Dick escorted Becky to an all-night diner where they feasted on eggs and piles of fried potatoes and bacon. Becky’s hands shook with every forkful. Dick didn’t notice her hands but stared into her soft hazel eyes. Her mid-western accent tickled him and he couldn’t get enough of it. She spoke of art classes and books she’d read. He told her of his ambition to join the Marine Corps.

At dawn, Dick tried to memorize the look in Becky’s eyes after he kissed her.  He helped her climb up into the van and she crawled over the other girls to squeeze into the last empty seat. She blew him a kiss and promised to write. Then, he was alone in the parking lot watching the band and the dancers drive off to their next venue. He hoped they would get back this way again.

Will Mastin Trio with Sammy Davis, Jr

courtesy of en.wikipedia.com

Frank, Sr. booked another show with the same chorus line and variety acts again the following month. When Becky got the schedule, she dashed off a letter to Dick, ”I’m happy to be seeing you and your family so soon. Might we have breakfast together again?”

Dick knew what he had to do. He knew he couldn’t ever say good-bye to Becky again. They grabbed a bite to eat before Becky’s rehearsal. Dick’s hand had been in his pocket fingering the ring. He wasn’t sure just how to ask her. His hand shook as he reached across the table; the ring slipped through his fingers and bounced into her lap. Becky sat back to see what it was. When she saw the simple band, she lifted her moist eyes to him and nodded her answer.

After lunch and a few moments of necking with Dick, Becky found Opal to share her news. Opal warned her about moving too fast with someone she barely knew, but Becky assured her it was what she wanted and begged Opal to make her case with their manager.

Since Becky had no family of her own to go back to in Missouri, Dick’s parents asked her move in with them until the wedding. She shared a room with Dick’s little sister. A family…something Becky had never known. This would be an adventure.

kiss

courtesy of victorykisses.tumblr.com

A few days later Dick enlisted in the Marine Corps and left for training at Camp Lejeune. While he was away, Loretta and Becky made plans for the wedding. Dick returned for a week after boot camp. The lovebirds were married two days before Dick was shipped out to the South Pacific to fight the Japanese with his troop.

The love story didn’t end there…they were married for many years, had three daughters and nine grandchildren. Dick is gone now, but Becky, at nearly 88 years old, remains the dancing queen of the family.

Do you have a lovely love story in your family history you’d like to share?

You know I love hearing from you! Don’t forget to join us on Life List Club Friday this week!

Vigilantes

Oct19

It’s 1943. The late night air is cool and damp. Under the yellow glow of the streetlamp, 17 year-old Tom steps into the phone booth and yanks the door shut. The light extinguishes and he’s shrouded by the darkness. Sweat beads on his brow despite the chill air. He grips the dime in his clammy hand, ready to drop it when signaled.

He watches his brother, Dick, tug open the door of the saloon across the deserted street and step inside. The seconds tick by. Frank, the eldest, peers through the pub’s grimy window for a sign from Dick. 

Tom’s stomach turns over as he blesses himself hoping the plan works. Hephone booth waits. There. Frank waved to him. Tom drops the dime into phone slot and dials. Frank is on tiptoe eyeing the scene inside the barroom. Tom hears, “Police department.”

Tom’s shaky voice croaks out, “People are being served drinks after hours at Ryan’s Pub on Salina St. Hurry, if you want to catch them!” He releases the receiver into its cradle as though it were burning in his hand. He races out of the booth, careful to shut the door behind him, and hot foots it across the street to catch the next move.

Dick has placed himself at the noisy bar, right next to the phone. Before the phone finishes its first ring, he grabs it off the hook and answers, “Ryan’s.”

He smiles with satisfaction when he hears the voice on the other end, “Hey, Mick, got a call about after hours drinking. Get rid of it quick. Chief says we have to raid your place.” Click.

Mick hollers, “Hey, kid. Who was that?”

Dick answers, “Aw, just Reggie’s wife checking up on him again. I told her he wasn’t here.”

Mick laughs, “Good for you, Dickie!”

Dick finishes his drink and Salina St, Syracuse, NYsaunters out the door. His brothers are glued to the  window. He lights a cigarette, leans against a streetlamp and waits for the sirens’ wail.

Inside, ladies sip their whiskeys and men down their beers. Mick entertains the crowd with his raunchy jokes. The piano player pounds out a favorite Irish tune. A tipsy woman hangs on his neck crooning as he plays.

As the black and whites race to the curb in front of the saloon, Dick grabs his brothers by their shirt collars and tugs at them to come away from the window, “Time to go, boys.”

 The officers barge into the barroom and yell to Mick, “I gotta shut you down, Mick, for servin’ after hours. Everybody, out! And put down those drinks!”

1941 BuickThe brothers hightail it down the street to their dad’s ’41 Buick, hop in and drive away, laughing. In the driver’s seat, Frank echoes aloud what’s on all their minds, “Sweet revenge.”

I hope you enjoyed this true story. My dad was Dick Sardino, a young man at the time. He, his elder brother, Frank and his youngest brother Tom became know in our hometown as The Crusading Sardino Brothers.

Though Prohibition had long before been repealed, some regulations on alcohol consumption remained in effect. The law against serving alcohol ‘after hours’ was one of them, and it remains in effect today. My grandfather was a powerful local businessman in the 1930s and 40s. He owned the majority of the theaters in town as well as a popular nightclub where nationally known entertainers performed.

He  was a  target for the corrupt police department and for a New York City crime syndicate that wormed its way in our city. He refused to pay for the ‘services’ they offered. The police had trumped up a bogus charge to shut his nightclub, Club Candee, down.

The Sardino brothers got angry…and then they got even. They set up sting operations on most of the truly illegal operations in town. The press, a friend to the police department, couldn’t ignore it for long. Stories ran daily in the newspaper chastising the police for allowing the ignorance of laws to continue and heralding the Sardino Boys for bringing justice where it was needed.

World War II came. My Dad enlisted in the Marines, my uncle Tom in the Army, my uncle Frank stayed on the homefront running the new business, a string of pizza shops. After the war ended, my dad went to college on the G.I. bill and became a lawyer, graduating near the top of his class. My uncle Tom joined the police force hoping to bring honor back to that profession. By 1970, Uncle Tom was Chief of Police and the President of the International Chief’s of Police Organization. My Dad had become a Judge in our City Court system. Uncle Frank was head of their very successful pizza business.

They’re all gone now, but they remain a part of local history as leaders and men who made a difference.

Do you have relatives  who had a positive effect on their community, were honored as leaders or set an example of community service? Maybe you have a quirky relative who makes for good storytelling.

I’d love to hear your stories. You’re welcome to post them here, or share them in the comments.

You know I love hearing from you and anxiously await your comments!

Don’t forget that this Friday is another installment of The Life List Club. Are you having any trouble with your goals? We can be your ‘sounding board’. Share with us!

Is there any topic you’d like to read about on this blog? I welcome all of your ideas and suggestions. Come on, I know you have at least one. :)

Been Rich All My Life

Sep21

“I may be old, but I’m not cold!” Bertye Lou Wood exclaims in the film Been Rich All My Life, Directed by Sundance Audience Award winning filmmaker Heather Lyn MacDonald. The film follows five women, now in their 80s and 90s, known as The Silver Belles, who made their way through life as tap dancers in the heyday of Vaudeville  and beyond.

These women started their lives in poverty, but it didn’t take them long to escape that life and take up a new, exciting life in the community of Harlem in New York City. They all have different stories and different styles, but all have the same talent for dance.

The 1930′s Apollo and Cotton Clubs, among others were the hottest ticket in New York. The clientele at the Cotton Club was all white; the dancers were allApollo Theater, Harlem black. These young women met while they were chorus line dancers in these clubs. They performed with the legendary Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington and Jimmie Lunceford. Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Pearl Bailey, and Ella Fitzgerald were among those they considered friends.

Please watch this short movie trailer and be inspired!


I saw this movie recently and was so enamored of these women by the closing credits! They’re sassy and talented. My own mother, in her late 80s now as well, was also a chorus line dancer in the 1940s traveling with the USO, which endeared their story to me even more.

Here’s a snippet of the life of each of these women and a link to read a little more about them. Unfortunately, two of them have passed away since the making of the film:

Bertye Lou Wood, 96

“Bertye Lou started dancing, as a young woman, in New York in the late 1920′s while raising three sons. She danced on Broadway with Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, and at such venues as the Lafayette Theatre, Connie’s Inn and Small’s Paradise in Harlem’s famed theatrical district. Bertye wasn’t afraid of anything in those days. She was working 14 hour days…read more. 

Cleo Hayes, 89

“In New York, Cleo started at the newly opened Apollo Theater, as one of the Apollo “Rockets.” When the Cotton Club moved to its elegant new home downtown in Times Square, Cleo joined that company.  She then traveled with Bertye Lou dancing throughout South America, and later with the first black USO unit during WWII.  Cleo recounts that USO tour…read more.  

Elaine Ellis, 88

“They lovingly call Elaine “Calamity Jane” — if a train stalls, she’ll be on it. With buoyant good cheer, she spreads her love, and anything else she has to give.  (She’s the kind of woman for whom bus drivers, unbidden, will go off-route to drop at her very doorstep.) Elaine dances with a smooth grace, despite an almost debilitating …read more.

 Fay Ray, 85

“When Fay was 12 years old, she hopped a freight train (dressed like a boy) and left her home and a hard life in Louisiana. She joined a show on the vaudeville circuit and never looked back.  There she learned how to tap dance with some of the best dancers of the day. When she was 16, she set out on her own, performing as a solo act at theaters throughout the country.  In the 1940′s, she made her way to New York and joined the chorus lines, where she found steady work at such venues as the Café Zanzibar, Club Ebony and the 845. During WWII she detoured briefly to become …read more.

Marion Coles, 89

“Marion Coles is the dance director of the Silver Belles, and has seemingly boundless energy.  During the filming, Marion had to get a pacemaker, and the first question she asked her doctor was, “When can I dance again?”  She hardly skipped a week before she was back on the floor.  “I   don’t like to sit around.”   “She always used to hang out with guys between shows, eating up any tap moves they could teach her.  “Dance, dance, dance, she’d dance all day if she could,” say the ladies. She is the widow of …read more.

The Silver Belles

'Kick it ladies!'

Bertye Lou, Cleo, Elaine, Fay and Marion all faced tremendously difficult times in their lives. They raised their children alone, looked racial bias in the face, steered clear of the pitfalls surrounding a life in the entertainment business, suffered through illness and hardship to become the definition of ‘Strong women’. 

The story of The Silver Belles proves true, the admonitions to stay active, take care of your health, enjoy all the moments of life, find what you love and do it with a passion, and persevere no matter what happens.

What do you think you’ll be doing when you’re 85+? Did they inspire you?

You know I love hearing from you and anxiously await your comments!

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!!!ATTENTION!!!

Don’t forget to come back on Friday, September 23rd, that’s this coming Friday! The Life List Club is throwing a Milestone Party! We’re serving cyber food, sweets and drinks! We’re playing loud music and decorating for your pleasure. We’re giving away awesome prizes! AND we’re humbling ourselves by showing you what progress we’ve made on our goals! All you have to do to be eligible to win a prize is subscribe to one or more writers’ blogs and comment on Friday’s post.

 

Sexy, Sweet Obsessions

Sep19

Can travel be sexy? You can make anything sexy! Locations like beaches, mountain cabins, opulent hotel suites, exotic stilted house on Fugi, as well as tent camping in the woods, a simple motel room at the edge of a historical settlement, or a bed in an RV plugged in at an amusement park.

Sexy is a state of mind. Anywhere you go can be turned into a sensual experience. Feel sexy and you’ll heighten your enjoyment wherever you are.

Now don’t expect this entire post to be about sex! It’s about travel…a cool video and some of my travel pics. So, where does the ‘sexy’ come in?  In your imagination when you’re daydreaming about being away from the daily grind, in a warm sunny locale with scrumptious foods you can’t get at home, sleeping in a room that doesn’t resemble your bedroom, seeing sights that don’t exist in your hometown, relishing the freedom of your days with your special someone.

The Video: STA TRavel Australia sent 3 young men, Rick Mereki, Andrew Lees and Tim White, on an amazing trip around the world…a six-week journey of a lifetime crammed into one epic minute.

 To get you in the mood for traveling:


Okay, how many of you played it more than once? 

My husband and I love road trips. Last year for our honeymoon, we decided to drive from our home state of New York south along the coast until we reached a destination I’d always wanted to visit, Charleston, South Carolina.

 We stopped in many places along the way, but I’m going to show you Charleston today. I wish the pictures did it justice.
 
 
 
Historic homes near to the Battery Park in Cha...

Historic Homes across from Battery Park

These formidable homes have withstood two centuries of natural disasters and battles.

Broad st

Historic home on Broad St.

 
We took a horse-drawn carriage ride around town. This is Broad Street, made famous by author, Pat Conroy‘s book, South of Broad.
We learned that this house had recently sold for $2 million.
 
 
 
 
 
The Citadel

The Citadel Military Academy

 
 This is just one of the beautiful buildings on the campus of the Citadel. I was lucky enough to ogle a group of academy boys in uniform. My husband just laughed.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Charleston, SC
Municipal Building, Downtown Charleston

Just one example of the incredible architecture seen all over Charleston.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Folly Beach, SC
Folly Beach
We stayed in a hotel on Folly Beach just outside the city. It was April, 2010 so we had the beach pretty much to ourselves. I’d love to be back there right now.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The food is Southern, of course, Lowstyle using mostly local, fresh ingredients. Try She-Crab soup, authentic southern Crab Cakes, the fresh clams, mussels and oysters. We never had a mediocre meal and there are so many restaurants from which to choose.
The Charleston City Market is a tourist’s delight with a  mix of cultural offerings from food to hand-made old-time crafts. 
Visit the Naval & Maritime Museum and walk through the U.S.S. Yorktown that sailed in WWII, reliving history. Fort Sumter represents the Civil War and the time when slavery came to an end.
Don’t miss the French Quarter with its numerous art galleries, or the antique district.
Take a boat tour, see dolphins at play, go snorkeling, or kayaking. You can walk seemingly forever on the beaches, shell collecting, swimming and sunning.
We plan to go back one day. I hope you find the opportunity to visit.
 
Next Monday, I’ll be sharing some tips and thoughts from airline pilots…things thay may change the way you fly.
 
In the video, were you able to recognize any of those locations? Do you think you might travel to Charleston, South Carolina one day? I’d love to hear about a great vacation you experienced.
 
You know I love hearing from you and anxiously await your comments!
 
!!ATTENTION!!
We have a winner in the giveaway for Kim Wright’s new book, Your Path to Publication! Congratulations – Elizabeth Anne Mitchell!! Please email me at marichards320 AT yahoo DOT com, Elizabeth, with your mailing address. (No P.O. boxes please.)
Tell your friends about The Life List Club Milestone Party on September 23rd! Blog hop to find out how we’ve all progressed and comment to be entered in a drawing for prizes! Woohoo! Prizes!
 
 

The Little Flower’s Iron Fist and Soft Heart

Sep14

New York City has long been seen as a paradoxical mecca…a dirty, gritty and overpopulated city rife with decadence and crime…an artistic, cultured community where stars are born and where there is money to be made…the financial hub of the country. Managing this city was more than challenging in the 1930′s, but one man accomplished it with aplomb. Fiorello LaGuardia.

LaGuardia (often referred to as ‘Little Flower’) was born in lower Manhattan, December 22, 1882 and raised in Arizona where his father was stationed as a bandmaster in the Air Force. At 5’2″ tall, with a high-pitched voice,  this son of an Austrian Jewish mother and Italian agnostic father learned to fend for himself and accept no other identity than that of an American. Fiorello formed his personal credo while living in the West…do not complain about pain, do not give in to fear, carry on like a man. That philosophy served him well throughout his career.

In his early twenties, he returned to New York to study law at New York University and set up a practice. Before long, politics called to him. He ran and was elected to a seat in United States House of Representatives in 1916, which launched his political career.

 Fiorello had voted in favor of entering WWI. A few months after taking hisFiorello LaGuardia seat in the House, we absented himself to enlist in the Signal Corps of the Air Force. He had promised his constituents that if he voted for the war, he would serve in the war.

The House kept his seat vacant out of respect. He returned with a valiant war record and was re-elected to his seat in Congress. In 1919, he left Congress to serve as president of the NewYork Board of Alderman, the lawmaking body of the City of New York. 

He was once again elected to Congress in 1923 and served until 1933. DuringFiorello LaGuardia, Congress those years, LaGuardia was an outspoken, independent and influential politician which gained him national acclaim. He authored the Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932, which outlawed contracts denying workers the right to become members of labor unions. It allowed workers to peacefully picket and strike, except in industries which were essential for public safety.

The 1930′s saw a dramatic swing toward the Democratic party. Fiorello was defeated in his vie for Congress in the 1932 elections in  a landslide win for the Democrats. He turned to municipal politics.

LaGuardia loved his City of New York, but was heartbroken at the state it was in…corruption, crime, slums, graft. Divided into political fiefdoms, it was haphazardly administered, with miniscule social and health services, decaying parks, and rusting bridges.

In 1934 he became a candidate for Mayor, standing on behalf of a coalitionFiorello LaGuardia, President Franklin Roosevelt of reformist groups and parties, and won. “He served until 1945, being elected three times in all. This was remarkable in a Democratic state and at a time of Democratic electoral ascendency. He was a vigorous supporter of President F. D. Roosevelt and the New Deal. In turn, Roosevelt intervened to help him by splitting the Democratic vote in the 1934 elections. La Guardia saw many of the policies which he favoured come to fruition in the New Deal.”

La Guardia was known as the father of modern New York and had been dubbed a fiery and effective leader, establishing his independence from the major parties. This allowed him to improve all the services of the City. Before him, the city was in the thrall of graft. Having garnered massive funding from a friendly administration in Washington, La Guardia constructed bridges over the waters and dug tunnels under them, and built reservoirs, sewer systems, parks, highways, schools, hospitals, health centers, swimming pools, and airports. “For the first time, New York offered its poor public housing, its working class a unified transit system, and its artists and musicians training and subsidies.”

Previous mayors had dealt with aldermen and state politicians; La Guardia took up local needs with the White House. He understood that the modern city could no longer be self-sufficient, and as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors for close to a decade, he led a national coalition that fought for a generous federal urban policy.

La Guardia felt New Yorkers should enjoy a sense of ease and security, to live in a decent home and raise healthy children. A good and colorful man,Fiorello LaGuardia La Guardia, one Sunday during a newspaper strike, asked radio listeners to bring the kiddies around and then proceeded to give a dramatic reading of the Dick Tracy comic strip that would have run that day. It was one of his most remembered mayoral acts.

LaGuardia wasn’t without his shortcomings and failures. He undermined his reputation as a civil libertarian with his campaigns against smut and gambling. He instructed his police to “muss up” racketeers and “chiselers” with chilling abandon. He failed to consider the long-term effects of his progressive policies. 

“By the time he left office, the colossal metropolis he helped build wasMayor Fiorello LaGuardia saddled with debt, an infrastructure too expensive to maintain, dangerously expanding citizen expectations, and a snowballing bureaucracy.” And yet, LaGuardia was a dynamic politician, a visionary with a gift for practical application, and is known as one of the country’s great non-partisan reforming mayors.

Mayor LaGuardia retired in 1945, but he didn’t stop working. He became the Director General of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, fighting world famine.

On September 20, 1947, he died after suffering with pancreatic cancer.

New York is the great metropolis it is today largely due to the foresight, courage and love of the city and its people bestowed upon it by Fiorello “Little Flower” LaGuardia. He has been memorialized in many and varied ways:

Per Wikipedia:

  • LaGuardia Airport, the smallest of New York’s three major currently operating airports, bears his name; the airport was voted the “greatest airport in the world” by the worldwide aviation community in 1960.
  • The United States Postal Service honored him with a 14¢ postage stamp.
  • LaGuardia Place, a street in Greenwich Village which runs from Houston Street to Washington Square, is named for La Guardia; there is also a statue of the mayor on that street.
  • La Guardia loved music, and was famous for spontaneously conducting professional and student orchestras. He once said that the “most hopeful accomplishment” of his administration as mayor was the creation of the High School of Music & Art in 1936, now the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.[35]
  • In addition to LaGuardia High School, a number of other institutions are also named for him, including LaGuardia Community College.
  • He was the subject of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical Fiorello!. Actor Tom Bosley portrayed Fiorello LaGuardia.
  • La Guardia Bridge in Prescott, Arizona on North Montezuma Avenue.
  • In 1940, La Guardia received The Hundred Year Association of New York‘s Gold Medal Award “in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York”.
  • Rehov LaGuardia (LaGuardia Street) is a major road and the name of a highway interchange on the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, Israel.
  • “Ulica Fiorella La Guardije” (Fiorello La Guardia Street) is the name of a street in Rijeka, Croatia. La Guardia served in the U.S. consulate in Rijeka during the period before World War I when the city was under Austro-Hungarian rule and was known under its Italian name Fiume.

Considering the era, do you think LaGuardia was justified in using harsh means to clean up the criminal element in his City?

Do you think he used his power well?

You know I love hearing from you and anxiously await your comments!

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Don’t forget to stop in at The Life List Club and see what we’re all doing. Next Friday, the 23rd, is Milestone Friday. We’ll all be reporting on our goal progress, enjoying yummy food and drink and giving away prizes to our September commenters. If you haven’t become a member yet, there’s still time! Hop over to my Life List page and find out how to join the Club. The more the merrier!

!!ATTENTION!! Tomorrow’s the big day! Author, Kim Wright, will be here to answer questions about publication, based on her experience and the experiences of 40 other authors. This is a candid, down-to-earth look at how to handle getting published in her book, Your Path to Publication: A Guide to Navigating the World of Publishing.