Where It All Began

My brother Steve and his wife do not live very far from my boyhood home on Leonard Street in Walla Walla. We lived here until I finished 1st grade. Then we moved to a two story brick house on Palouse Street.

Barers Of Maple Valley--2009 In Review

Because my Cousin Jan told me to write more in my blog, I'm going to do the year in review differently than in years past. Rather than just show a few highlight pictures, I'm going to write the year in one article, at least try. Hopefully, I won't leave too much out.

January, New Years day began on a high note when my brother, Steve called to announce his engagement to Dawn. We were in the middle of a terrible winter and flooding hit Maple Valley, fortunately none of it hit the high ground where we live. Senator Barack Obama was sworn in as the first African-American president.

February, we made a trip to Seaside, Oregon, unfortunately, snowy weather hit us both on the way over and the way back. We made it safely both ways, but not without some white knuckles.

March, the winter that would not quit dumped more snow on Maple Valley.

April, A great trip to Oceanside, California. No, we did not have any snow. We actually were able to spend sometime poolside.

May, Dog Rusty showed us how good a watchdog he was when he went head to head with a possum in the yard. The month concluded with Steve and Dawn's wedding.

June, The world lost two super celebs in one day, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson.

July, My birthday on the 19th, very hot summer, and we get our new pet bird Goldie.

August, A trip to the Oregon Coast.

September, We celebrate Deb's Grandma's 90th birthday and my Dad's 80th

October, On October 31st, Officers Tim Brenton and Britt Sweeny were shot while sitting in their patrol car. Brenton died and Sweeny recovered, it was the first of three incidents in the Seattle area where police where shot at. All three occurred on or near holidays and on or near, the end of the last three months of the year.

November, An espresso stand with bikini-clad baristas opens in the Crossroads area of Bellevue, about 2 blocks East of The UPS Store. Also, in Lakewood, WA, 5 police officers were gunned down in a coffee shop.

December, It looks like the Mariners are taking steps to finally be a contending team. Free agent Chone Figgins signs with the team and a separate deal brings in Pitcher Cliff Lee.

So there you have it, the year in a nutshell.

World Series And The High Holidays 1967

I'm going to try to tie two things together that may seem unrelated so let me set up the background. In grade school in Walla Walla, every student who had a perfect attendance would get to stand up in front of the school.  As part of the handful of observant Jews in Walla Walla, we would not get the chance to do so.  The reason is that we would go to shul instead of school during the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. The spacing between the two holidays guarantees that in no year, would both holidays  occur over the weekend.   

My Grandmother Esther Barer (bottom picture with my Grandpa) was a very special woman, she was deeply involved with the community.  She organized the local Sunshine Club, The Garden Club, and other clubs in town.  She was tall in stature, loud and extroverted.  A native of Portland Oregon and a devout Jew, she taught Sunday School.  Of course at the time,  the student body consisted of my sister and me .  She was determined that all the Barer children would grow up and be aware of their Jewish heritage in spite of living in a town where Judaism was probably the town's smallest sustaining community.

As a child, I did not like any sports at all, at least until I was assigned by a tutor to write a paper about baseball.  Somehow, overnight, I became a lover of sports.  I began collecting baseball cards and read about sports history, wanting to watch and talk about it as much as I could.  

I watched my first World Series game on TV on October 5th, 1967, the second game of the series at my Grandma's house.   I was out of school because of Rosh Hashana (I thought it was Yom Kippur through the years, but research proved otherwise). I remember it was an exciting series between the St Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox, at the time, the games were played in the day and the Series was as big as the Super Bowl is today.  School students would bring transistor radios to listen to the games. Grandma had brought me home after the services.   My sister went to school that day.  She wanted to get perfect attendance recognition.   

My Grandmother was furious, she said that we need to go to services on the High Holidays.  In her loud voice, she emphasized the importance of going to service on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.  

I think she may have been as angry with my parents as she was with my sister.  In any case, every year, no matter where I have lived, I have always attempted to attend all High Holliday services.

I'm still a big sports fan and have watched many World Series games on TV.  I still have never attended one as yet, although I've been to many MLB games.  I don't remember if my sister was perfect in attendance for that year.

Malibu U Has Comeback on You Tube

Entire episodes of Malibu U are now available on You Tube.  Here is one featuring The Turtles.

  Malibu U was a summer replacement show the played in 1967.  It was a crazy rock show, blending current bands with corny 1960s humor. It was hosted by TV icon Rick Nelson, at the time, a teen heartthrob and accomplished recording artist.  In a nutshell, it was American Bandstand on the beach.  

The show was set up in the most corny way as a college with acts billed as "visiting professors", commercials as "donors". Nelson was the "dean".  As silly as the humor was, it was significant. My observation of the 60s, especially the mid 60s was that Rock And Roll and comedy went hand in hand with bands like the Beatles, Paul Revere and the Raiders, and the Turtles.  As the 70s, approached, that aspect tended to disappear.  Bands began to take themselves very seriously and in fact, with the Viet Nam war raging, started to project anger. 

The show took place at Malibu, at the time, perhaps the country's most famous beach, located on the   Los Angeles coastline.  Many of the bands featured where from the Los Angeles area.  In this clip, the Doors perform. While San Francisco, up north, was experiencing "The Summer Of Love", Malibu U, avoided politics, featuring bikinied beauties (probably today, grandmothers and great grandmothers) and surfers. At the time, I was turning 10 and was anxious to dial in to the teen culture. 

Sponsors of the show were youth-oriented products like Clearasil. Clairol, and Pepsi. It was on Friday nights on ABC, the network that seemed the most dialed into the youth culture at the time.  The network, after all, had American Bandstand, Gidget, That Girl, and the Mod Squad, today all legends. 

To watch episodes, which may disappear eventually if copywrite infringement is found, can be watched by clicking here. 

Israel--Wrapping Up A Fabulous Trip

It's been over 10 days since I've returned from my trip to Israel and well over 20 days since the trip began. I've constantly posted pictures since the trip's beginning and continued posting well after my return and yet, I feel that I have so much more to share.
 My friend Joe and I traveled with our temple in Bellevue, because of the small number of us who were able to make the trip, we were joined by the Temple Beth El from St. Petersburg, Florida.  Within the two groups, there were contrasts.  The Florida group was lead by their charismatic and learned rabbi (bottom picture on right), we were lead by our Cantor David Serkin-Poole.  Each made valuable contributions to our visit.  The Florida group was all couples, along with a daughter and seemed to know each other well, while our group mostly left spouses at home and were getting to know each other.  Joe and I flew over and back on Air Canada's 787 (middle picture). 
It was on this trip that we realized how perilous this country's existence can be.  While we visited the Golan, we could see beyond the borders of Syria and Lebanon, both generally hostile countries toward Israel.  The trip gave us context into the media's coverage of the country. 
The two great cities Tel Aviv and Jerusalem are so close, yet so different.  Tel Aviv, is the stylish, cultural center of the country, it is where the State Of Israel was born and is recognized diplomatically as the "capital"    Jerusalem (top picture), little more than 50 miles away is so different.   It is the spiritual city.  It is the hub of three major religions, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.  The Arabs and Jews often coexist in harmony. You can often hear the Muslim calls for prayer throughout the day.  Arabs are often working alongside Jews.
Our guide Shari (bottom picture left) did an outstanding job teaching and reporting and helping us get to know the country that we love. 
There is a lot to be proud of in the State Of Israel, the country was developed from a desert to a fertile country and seems in many ways so peaceful, but being a young country, with so many security issues (you see soldiers both men and women throughout the country) there are so many questions.

Walla Walla--Do You Remember?

Most Walla Wallans growing up when I did, or I should say, almost all, remember that the High School was located before 1964, between Palouse and Park Streets just off of Birch. But do you remember???

1. Walla Walla Community College  WWCC began in the old high school buildings on Park where it would stay until it moved to the current campus on Tausick Way.
2. A firestation at the corner of Park and Alder
3.  Albertson's located on East Main, near the Whitman College campus, just before Main runs into Isaacs
4. Safeway located on Isaacs, next to the Chevron Station
5. The Public Library located on South Palouse in what would become Carnegie Center

I would like to, once again, thank Joe Drazan for the picture.  More great history at his blog on Bygone Walla Walla.  A few more lists to come before BOMV moves on.  Thank you for the great response!

The Apprentice--The Roof Collapses On Synergy!

Somewhere, Brent Buckman was watching tonight's episode with that cheezy grin on his face, Synergy which had done absolutely nothing wrong since his firing failed on all fronts. Everyone contributed on tonights defeat, where no firing would have been unjust.
The show began with the candidates planning a birthday party for Leslie. The cake and candles are shown but the birthday girl is not. Soon Lee comes through the door and the birthday party sadly is not to be. Charmaine has no love for Lee and is Leslie's main confident. I figure it has got to be good. There have been too many broken friendships already in this game.
The candidates meet in the Trump International Hotel, which Trump says of course is the world's greatest. He is with Brian Woods, an executive from Ameriquest, that company with the catchy SuperBowl ads that is in some kind of trouble with the government. The candidates get their marching orders--they are to design a program brochure for Ellis Island, perhaps New York City's greatest treasure (sorry George Steinbrenner) .
Fittingly Lee and Allie are the project managers, both have family history with the island. Goldrush, loser of 4 consecutive tasks is off to a less than great start. Charmaine is a self proclaimed expert of inside sales and she has to have her "favorite" teammate Lee watching as she makes her call basically getting a cold shoulder. Lee picked Tarek to put together the brochure. Lee's contributions are a little less obvious. He may have contributed the most by doing nothing.
Synergy goes over to stake out the island and on the way back, Tammy (who is rarely seen or heard from) discovers she left her notepad. I don't know if they turn the boat around, but Tammy and Allie are back on the island to retrieve the notebook when they realize they have missed the boat. After that nothing goes well for the team, but they do come together, to blame Andrea. Andrea is driven and tough, but rubs everyone the wrong way. It is obvious that the team would love to use her for a scapegoat.
By the time Synergy gets to Battery Park, Goldrush has saturated the area with it's brochures and team Synergy is playing the blame game. The finger points to Andrea (above) and Trump fires her without even allowing Allie to pick candidates.
I personally felt that Allie and Tammy should have taken some of the blame, they seem to have forgotten that there is no I in team. Or is it teim?

Trip To Spokane--WSU Game

I had a great weekend, WSU Cougars game not withstanding.  We have been invited for years to the WSU Shriner's game where my friend Louie is active in supporting the Shriner's Children's Hospital in Spokane.  
On Friday, I flew with my friends to Spokane  where we got our rooms at the Northern Quest Casino.  We joined friends for dinner that night at Fire Artisan Pizza in downtown Spokane.
On Saturday, we took the one and twenty minute bus ride to Pullman for the game.  We had a stop before we left Spokane at the Shriner's Hospital for a brief presentation.
Upon arriving in Pullman in late afternoon, our group of about 50 began selling T-shirts (above) in the WSU to benefit the Shriner's Hospital.  It has been a 30 year tradition that he has raised money for the hospital.
Last year's Cougar Quarterback, Gardner Minschew (bottom picture), hot off a great game Thursday filling in for Nick Foles of the Jacksonville Jaguars had flown in for the game.  The crowd gave a rousing cheer for the lovable Minschew.
The game was great until our Cougars blew a 49-17 lead over the UCLA Bruins to be defeated 67-63 it was a collapse of epic proportions.
The mood on the bus was rather subdued as we bussed back to Spokane after a game that ended at 11:30 in the evening.
Today, we all flew back to Seattle.

Walla Walla IV--Walking Wine Tour

My cousins checked in to the Whitman Hotel for their last 2 nights in Walla Walla, Kevin and I began a walking tour of the wineries. Our first stop was the Hiney Winery on 2nd Street. It was based on a radio bit by renown DJ Rick Dees 25 years ago. The winemaker, Tom Hodgins, actually has owned radio stations in Walla Walla and had acquired the rights to name his product after Dees's

fictitious winery.

We met up with the girls (my wife and cousin C) at the Hiney and walked to the Spring Valley Winery, which was owned by the Derby family. Before the days of Drew Bledsoe (whom I have read also owns a winery in Walla Walla) Dean Derby was one of the few Walla Wallans who played in the NFL. Derby went to the University Of Washington and played professionally for the Minnesota Vikings and the Pittsburgh Steelers. There is quite a presentation at the tasting room where they give the winerie's entire history.

Still on foot, we turned the corner onto Main Street and went to the Waterbrook, which was one of Walla Walla's older wineries. We looked around, but did not participate in the tasting.

Our final tour stop was the Sapolil cellars. We sat with some other people at a piano bar where the owner was talking about all sorts of area history. We enjoyed the wine there although noone played the piano, we decided that it was a delightful place.

No Foolin'--I Gave Blood!

No, it's not an April Fools joke! Every other Tuesday, my father-in-law goes to volunteer at the Puget Sound Blood Center in Bellevue. It is one of several ways that he volunteers his service to the community. I had not ever given blood, in fact, the word, blood gives my stomach a funny feeling. But the other day, he suggested, out of the blue, that I should stop by and donate. I said that they did not need type ab blood, after all, that makes me a universal recipient, capable of transfusion of any blood type, but he told me that they do need ab blood. I said "why not" sometimes, you can't resist a challenge. The Puget Sound Center needs donations, which is one reason that for posting this. I entered that center Tuesday evening. I began by filling out a long questionnaire. I was then taken by a nurse into an office, where I was asked even more questions. She took my blood pressure and a small sample from my finger. After the screening process, I was lead to a chair, I was given a glass of juice and then was given a rubber ball to squeeze. They put the needle in my arm. There was no pain involved, but a feeling of exhaustion. If you plan to give blood, make sure that you drink plenty of fluids during the day and a good meal. I was feeling run down for most of the next day, but happy that I could contribute to something worthwhile. The best part was the free cookies and orange juice that they gave me when it was over.

Jan Curran Fanclub Hits Facebook

The Jan Curran Fan Club began several years ago. My Cousin Jan was diagnosed with lung cancer . Jan began taking her magazine with her when getting treatments and decided to donate her extras for patients and their families to read. I'm sure a few doctors and administrators enjoyed the visits and donations as well. Jan began a lunch group in Palm Springs and then started writing about it in her blog. In my case where we deal with the mail, we get a real surplus of magazines. I myself started to donate them to hospitals.
With all the calls for national service, I noted that there was no JCFC on Facebook, which I believe is now the most popular networking site in the World. I decided to start a Jan Curran group with Jan's blessing, within 24 hours there were 20 new members.

Celebrity Apprentice Begins

Celebrity Apprentice began Sunday with something new...celebrities! Where in the past, the show attracted D-list personalities whom most of us have not heard of, this season or this year since I think it's only running once a year--the celebrities are C plus or something like that--I have heard of most of them one way or another. The list of participants is here
The teams were split with men on one team and women on the other. The Women took the name Tenacity--The men took the name Rock Solid.
The first task was to run a designated diner in New York City--whoever brought in the most money would win the task. The men, with the benefit of a celebrity chef (Curtis Stone) and a relatively competent project manager (Poison's Brett Michaels) won the task.
Tenacity's project manager, Cyndi Lauper was terrible and garnered little respect. She should have been fired, after all she brought up her friendship with Rosie O'Donnell in the boardroom in front of an angry Trump (Trump has been feuding with Rosie for years), however Trump realized that keeping Cindy around for a couple more weeks would be good for the show. Instead, he fired Carol Leifer.