“When you are in a bad contract, be an optimist. When you are in a good contract, be a pessimist.” Robert S. Todd
above, bridge at Chesterton YMCA 2015; below, Marcy and Chuck Tomes
The word “duplicate” can mean a copy or an
identical twin, plus a version of bridge where several couples play the exact
same hand. Naomi Goodman, Charlie
Halberstadt’s duplicate bridge partner at Chesterton YMCA, is off to Tucson,
Arizona, for a couple months, so I was pressed into service. Most women were proudly wearing Christmas
sweaters; several had brought homemade cookies. My best hand was making three
Clubs despite holding just four points and only four Clubs, King, Jack, spot,
spot. When Chuck Tomes on my left opened
a Diamond, Charlie doubled, which I took for a demand bid if the person on my
right passed, which Marcy Tomes did.
Charlie only had three Clubs, but they included the Ace, Queen. In another hand our opponents were bidding
Hearts and Spades and Charlie Diamonds and Clubs. I only had one Diamond and two Clubs plus
five Hearts (Jack, ten, nine, spot, spot) and five Spades to the Ace, ten. When the bidding stopped at three Hearts, I
should have doubled but chickened out.
We set the contract but my caution meant the difference between high
board and settling for the middle of the pack.
Above: Post-Tribune photo by Kyle Telethon
Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson appeared on the
eighth season premiere of “Undercover Boss.”
In the course of the filming she worked at the Gary sanitary district,
fire department, police department, and park department. NWI
Times reporter Ed Bierschenk wrote:
Employees were told
that the disguised Freeman-Wilson, going by the name Sheila, was a contestant
on a game show called Tough Jobs. She
said employees were surprised to later find out during the "reveal"
segment that it was actually the mayor who had been working alongside them.
In some "Undercover
Boss" episodes, the employer will discover employees who are not doing a
good job, but Freeman-Wilson said her experiences with the employees were all
positive and left her "with a real
sense of pride and a sense of gratitude."
Freeman-Wilson said the employees she worked with are underpaid and
overworked, "but they are some of
the most dedicated people I ever worked with."
After viewing the show on a big screen at Gary Genesis
Center, Freeman-Wilson thought that the scenes made her out to be a bigger
klutz than she was, telling Post-Tribune reporter
Gregory Tejeda: “I
would not be any good in the Fire Department, but there were things they didn't
show (in sewage) where I wasn't bad.” One
sewage plant employee told “Sheila” that, in Tejeda words, “everything was messed up in Gary because the department supervisor was
the mayor's best friend.”
At Quick Cut in Portage it’s usually a wait to
get Anna, but a cute blond barber named Ariel has following of her own. Anna always asks about Toni and the
grandkids, even though they go to a place near our condo. I get a haircut about once every 6 or 8 week,
when my sideburns are out of control and usually before some family event. I don’t even have to give instructions to
Anna, just answer yes when she says, “the usual?”
Pearl Jam and Tupac Shakur will be inducted
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility, along
with folkie Joan Baez, and old-time bands Yes, Electric Light Orchestra, and
Journey. Still no Moody Blues, ten times
more worthy than the stadium rock group.
Old Dominion professor Joe Jackson’s biography “Black Elk: The Life on
an American Visionary,” benefits from a 1931 decision by American poet laureate
John Gneisenau Neihardt to visit the Oglala Lakota shaman who fought at Little
Big Horn and survived the Wounded Knee massacre. Black Elk and Gneisenau bonded, and their
intimate conversations resulted in the publication of Black Elk Speaks (1932).
The Holiday bowling pot luck was bountiful. Continuing my streak of being first in line,
I almost missed the deviled eggs, donated by a late-comer. Delia’s Uncle Phil brought tamales, and I was
especially impressed with somebody’s corn pudding. The Engineers won a game and series from
second-place Just Do It Again. I rolled
a 454 series, and Frank, after suffering through five splits in game one,
finished with two games well over 200.
We lost the finale by ten pins when their anchor, Frank Braun, tripled
in the tenth. Gene Clifford saw us
passing money back and forth (dimes for doubles and made splits, quarters for
every tenth strike), and noted that he once was on a team where bowlers lost
quarters for games under 150, missing all pins on splits, and for blowing
spares. Leaving a 6-10 on two consecutive frames, Clifford first hit the 6-pin
straight on and chopped, then was a fraction too far to the left, again leaving
the 10-pin standing.
Toni and I attended Burns Funeral Home to honor
Clark Metz, who subbed a few times when we needed a bowler until he practiced
so often (“to beat your ass,” he
admitted) that he screwed up his thumb. I
wore an old shirt that Clark had outgrown. Many family photos were on display dating back
to Clark’s childhood. A campaign poster
indicated that Clark had run for township assessor – news to me. Daughter Sloan, who lived near him in Miller,
said that they were assembling material for the Archives. They discovered almost a complete run of Steel Shavings magazines. I told them that Clark was in many, including
a photo of him with Mayor Tom Barnes in “Gary’s First Hundred Years.” The service featured granddaughter Meg Viola
and grand-niece Jaime Broulette sang Leonard Cohen’s “Halleljiah” and concluded
with everyone singing “Amazing Grace (how sweet the sound).” Clark valued friends who were real
characters, and I was proud to be one of them.
Trish and Ramon Arredondo with matriarch Maria
A 4-hour bicentennial DVD entitled “Hoosiers” is
now available, and Trish Arredondo wrote producer Kim Jacobs:
What a wonderful gift
and what a fascinating story of the entire State. Of course the highlight
for me was to see my sweet husband, the guy who always wanted to remain out of
the spotlight, and his family being featured in such an important
work. Everyone, Jimbo, Lorenzo [Arredondo], and, of course,
Ramon, spoke so truthfully and from the heart that I cried through
that and much of the rest of the production.
I wondered how you would ever be able to tell the stories so
seamlessly and in such a short time - the editing must have been a tremendous
undertaking, but you and your team sure did a terrific job. Aside from
the Arredondo Family, which was perfect, I was totally unaware of all the many
sides of Indiana. Most just good caring real people; others, like the
story of the 3rd phase of KKK a complete revelation.
Trish went on to say that the interview with
Mayor Richard Hatcher was eye-opening, as was the early history of pioneers
from North Carolina, indentured servants, the Underground Railroad, “and the women!” Historian James Madison made sure the
documentary highlighted diversity.
Dave Serynek, back from Florida for the
holidays with bottles of Yuengling for me, passed on the sad news that our old
softball teammate Mike Kubiak died. Mike
loved to fish and often cooked delicious Coho salmon on a grill at Porter Acres
picnics. The only time I took LSD was at
such an event, and I thought the salmon on the grill might still be alive. Mike’s
sister was Fred Chary’s wife Diane, and at Freddy’s seventy-fifth birthday
party Mike was bragging on the baseball prowess of grandson Graham, whom he coached. One wonders if Graham was named for Indy
driver Graham Rahal. Or Graham
Parker? Here is part of the obituary:
Born in Gary, IN on September 11,
1953 to the late Harry and Myrtle (nee King) Kubiak. He was a resident of
Valparaiso since 1980, formerly of Portage IN, manager of a trucking company,
1971 graduate of Portage High School, member of Ducks Unlimited, Deep River
Bowmen, Northwest Indiana Archers, involved with the Union Twp. Little League,
avid outdoorsman, and supporter of the Wheeler High School Athletic Department.
“Manchester by the Sea” is riveting but
terribly depressing, as the negligence of the main character (Casey Affleck) results
in the death of his three kids, scarring him for life. His wife, played by Michelle Williams, was
terrific. It being the end of the year,
previews included other Oscar-worthy films, including the musical “La La Land”
and “Fences” with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis.
