Saturday, October 23, 2010

2010 Week 43: Elderberry Events

The Elderberries, in this case, are not the sweet red or black fruit from the elder bush, but rather the over-fifty group in our church, which is located on Berry St..
Sunday we had dinner at a retreat center not far from here, by Lake Placid. It was a beautiful day.


And today, Saturday, sixteen of us visited the Indiana State Museum's Titanic Artifact Exhibition.


As we entered we were given a boarding pass with passenger information. Mine was for Emily, wife of Arthur Ryerson, from Haverford, PA, 48 years old, traveling with her husband, two daughters (21 and 18) and a younger son. The family had traveled to Europe to find suitable European husbands for the older girls. Shortly after arriving in Europe, they received the horrible news that one of their sons had been killed in an automobile accident. The family was hurrying back on the first ship available in order to attend the funeral on April 19, 1912. The director of the ship line, Bruce Ismay, personally greeted the Ryerson's as they boarded. He also made an extra stateroom available to them as well as an additional servant. Mrs. Ryerson was so devastated that she remained in her cabin for much of the journey.
At the end of the tour we could search the wall with the list of passengers according to their class for the names of the survivors and of those who perished. 
My person, the sorrowing mother, survived, but I did not find her husband. Many such sad stories...a moving experience.
The Imax presentation dealt more with the recovery of the 5,500 artifacts from the depths of the ocean, an amazing scientific feat.

Tuesday evening was Skye's last football game of the season. Finally I got some shots of him exiting the field, always a proud moment.

Wednesday, an unusual and exciting event--the opening of the mile and a half trail that connects the Cardinal Greenway and the Sweetser Switch Trail. Mitch Daniels, our governor, who has strongly promoted the statewide rails to trails network, makes it a priority to attend each ceremony. I have many photos, but my favorite is of the governor talking to the fourth graders present. One hundred and twenty walked the trail from their school a mile or so away.


 Both Thursday and Friday I was privileged to spend time with the two younger grandsons.


Zion is 11 months old today.

Friday afternoon when I was out walking I saw members of the Garden Club cleaning up and decorating the town for the Fall Festival next week.


Amid the fun and exciting moments are many mundane activities and ordinary minutes, hours, days. 

7 comments:

  1. You got some great shots this week! Skye looks so grown up. Love the look on the boys' faces in the picture of you with them. LOL So enjoying everyone's fall photos. I miss that season the most. (I don't miss winter AT ALL though)

    See you in a few weeks!!!

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  2. That's really fascinating about the Titanic tour - it makes it much more personal. I wonder if I'd be able to stand it or I'd just sob the entire time (I'm afraid I'm heading toward menopause & I'm going to be a sloppy mess through the whole thing).

    When I was in college in NC they had an ElderHostel program for older folks to stay on campus. They ate in the cafeteria with us & some of the students got to calling them the HostileElders. Man, some of them were slow AND pushy in the line for food LOL. They'd probably say the same thing about me now.

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  3. elderberries....love it!

    I have been to the titanic exhibit....very thought provoking. I love how they give the passenger boarding pass. Makes you connect much more!!!

    Love the pictures of your grandkids!

    so what goes on at the fall festival?

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  4. I went to that Titanic exhibit a long time ago. It was just the exhibit with no IMAX but it was still impressive. What I remember most was how interactive it was. The different portions we went through were set up to mimic the actual ship. There was even a section that felt like what it would have been like to be standing outside on deck as the ship was sinking. It was very eerie and very cold and very dark...I also remember the huge block of ice they had set out for folks to touch. It was so clod it stung your had when you touched it like begin on fire.

    Great pictures, loved the Elderberries, made me smile!
    Blessings
    r

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  5. Love that you got a thumb's up from your football player! My boys had their last home game yesterday but have one more; hubby's reg season has 2 games left before play offs. Your grand babies are cuties...love the blonde hair. And so many fall photos on blogs this week...living in AZ we don't have that season and I miss it!

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  6. Elderberries sounds great! :)
    Love the shots of all the grandkids.
    The Titanic exhibit sounds great. I think the personal connection makes it much more moving.
    Have a super week!

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  7. Lake Placid looks quite nice. Serene, really.
    That Titanic exhibit sounds really cool. I would love to do something like that. What a tragic story your passenger had! Wow.
    I love what you said at the end of this post about the mundane things we all post. It's so true. Blogging DOES help us each find the beauty, etc. in those things.

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