Thursday, June 17
This day was graduation day for Seniors at Easton Area High School which included my nephew, Bobby Windom Pearson the Third. Upon receiving his diploma at the ceremonies in the evening he would be the first member of the immediate Havens family to graduate from the rival school.
The day started out with a birthday breakfast for my sister, Peggy, at Williams restaurant. Once again all members of the immediate family were there as well as about a 1/2 dozen of her co-workers. Paula was still exhausted from Monday's trek through Washington so I decided to let her sleep in while I went to breakfast.
During the day I took some time to go visit with my friend, Joe, who still lives in the neighborhood I grew up in. In the brief time I had been in the area I still hadn't had the chance to visit that side of town so I was looking forward to not only the visit but the drive there as well.
This was once again a "time warp" situation for me. I actually hadn't lived on Brainard Street since 1986 but the old neighborhood hadn't changed much.
It was great to spend time with Joe and his mom Judy. We sat in their living room and talked for about an hour and a half. I felt bad that I couldn't take more time to be with them or go to a baseball game or do something with Joe and his brother Joshua. But this was a relatively short visit to the area. I promised him we'd do something together the next time I came up.
The graduation ceremony was held at Stabler Arena on the campus of Lehigh University in South Bethlehem, PA. It was about a 30-45 minute drive depending on the way you drove there.
When we left our hotel we had plenty of time to get there so I decided to take the scenic route. We drove through Bethlehem. We passed the Just Born candy factory. It's the place where they make all the marshmallow peeps everyone loves at Easter time.
We then drove past the newest and most unusual thing I've seen in the Lehigh Valley area in a long time. We drove across the Minsi Trail Bridge and saw the old Bethlehem Steel factory that has been converted into a Sands casino. It's still being built up but it was really strange to see the way it's been changed.
Finally we made our way up over South Mountain and got to the arena. The parking lot was already close to being full. Fortunately we were allowed into the front lot because of our handicap sign.
The arena almost filled with spectators by the time we got there. Shari had saved us seats, which was a job in and of itself. Our seats were perfect because they were just up from where Bobby sat in his chair on the floor. The class of 2010 for Easton High School numbered about 650. But the Havens/Pearson family was there for only one of them, Bobby. He was a little more than halfway back in the 26 rows of chairs set up on the floor.
The ceremony went relatively quickly. Because we were so close to Bobby we all got some really good pictures. I took some cool video as well.
By the time the ceremony was over and we got back to our car it was 9PM. My sister Peggy came home in our car. The traffic getting out of the area was unbelievably slow. It took us an hour to reach the highway back to Easton. I got on going the wrong way and then got lost. Eventually I did get back to Shari's house.
Everyone came back to Shari's and we had sandwiches and chips. We gave Bobby his graduation gift and took some pictures with him. Finally it was a little after 11 when we decided to head back to the hotel.
The occasion and main reason we for our visit was over. Bobby was a high school graduate...an Easton Area High School graduate. A first for our family.
While Thursday was an important day for all of us, the next day, Friday, was the one I'd been looking forward to for a while. We were going to Dorney Park.
This day was graduation day for Seniors at Easton Area High School which included my nephew, Bobby Windom Pearson the Third. Upon receiving his diploma at the ceremonies in the evening he would be the first member of the immediate Havens family to graduate from the rival school.
The day started out with a birthday breakfast for my sister, Peggy, at Williams restaurant. Once again all members of the immediate family were there as well as about a 1/2 dozen of her co-workers. Paula was still exhausted from Monday's trek through Washington so I decided to let her sleep in while I went to breakfast.
During the day I took some time to go visit with my friend, Joe, who still lives in the neighborhood I grew up in. In the brief time I had been in the area I still hadn't had the chance to visit that side of town so I was looking forward to not only the visit but the drive there as well.
This was once again a "time warp" situation for me. I actually hadn't lived on Brainard Street since 1986 but the old neighborhood hadn't changed much.
It was great to spend time with Joe and his mom Judy. We sat in their living room and talked for about an hour and a half. I felt bad that I couldn't take more time to be with them or go to a baseball game or do something with Joe and his brother Joshua. But this was a relatively short visit to the area. I promised him we'd do something together the next time I came up.
The graduation ceremony was held at Stabler Arena on the campus of Lehigh University in South Bethlehem, PA. It was about a 30-45 minute drive depending on the way you drove there.
When we left our hotel we had plenty of time to get there so I decided to take the scenic route. We drove through Bethlehem. We passed the Just Born candy factory. It's the place where they make all the marshmallow peeps everyone loves at Easter time.
We then drove past the newest and most unusual thing I've seen in the Lehigh Valley area in a long time. We drove across the Minsi Trail Bridge and saw the old Bethlehem Steel factory that has been converted into a Sands casino. It's still being built up but it was really strange to see the way it's been changed.
Finally we made our way up over South Mountain and got to the arena. The parking lot was already close to being full. Fortunately we were allowed into the front lot because of our handicap sign.
The arena almost filled with spectators by the time we got there. Shari had saved us seats, which was a job in and of itself. Our seats were perfect because they were just up from where Bobby sat in his chair on the floor. The class of 2010 for Easton High School numbered about 650. But the Havens/Pearson family was there for only one of them, Bobby. He was a little more than halfway back in the 26 rows of chairs set up on the floor.
The ceremony went relatively quickly. Because we were so close to Bobby we all got some really good pictures. I took some cool video as well.
By the time the ceremony was over and we got back to our car it was 9PM. My sister Peggy came home in our car. The traffic getting out of the area was unbelievably slow. It took us an hour to reach the highway back to Easton. I got on going the wrong way and then got lost. Eventually I did get back to Shari's house.
Everyone came back to Shari's and we had sandwiches and chips. We gave Bobby his graduation gift and took some pictures with him. Finally it was a little after 11 when we decided to head back to the hotel.
The occasion and main reason we for our visit was over. Bobby was a high school graduate...an Easton Area High School graduate. A first for our family.
While Thursday was an important day for all of us, the next day, Friday, was the one I'd been looking forward to for a while. We were going to Dorney Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment