Caitlin's Beachy Birthday Wish

Wild and Kreienkamp Families, July 13, 2012

Cole contemplates the surf

On Friday, July 13th, we trekked to the beach behind our local professional phtographers' home and captured the images you see presented here.  Our daughter, Caitlin, had wanted a family photo with her husband, baby Cole, her brother and of course mom and dad.  The weather was bright and sunny, with a bit of wind,  Not sure how many shots were taken by Mary Lou, but four days later and before Caitlin returned north, she and her mother (I tagged along, but mostly just observed and ate cookies) picked about six or seven shots and decided on sizes of prints.

After we had been out on the beach, we went inside to see her studio, and Cole decided to be a bit more cooperative (see solo picture below).  He had completely zonked out and had fallen asleep in Matt's arms by the time we got around to the beach shot in front of the sea oats.  He had shown a lot of interest in the wave action however, and now that he's home, he's taking "swimming lessons" twice a week.  While they were visiting for a week, I took a number of pictures of him, but this blog entry only displays those professional shots.   He gets comments all the time, generally incorporating the key phrase "he's so damn cute".   Well, you can't argue with that now, can you?

Sarasota's "Beachy Amish" community

This is one of the best places to shop in Sarasota - at Yoder's, where they have the best pies in town.  We stopped by there the other day, and bought some great tomatoes, plus other fresh veggies.  But before we shopped, we worked up an appetite next door at the restaurant.

Sarasota has a significant Amish and Mennonite population,  with the vast majority clustered around Yoder's or up the street at Troyer's Dutch Heritage (also known locally as "der Dutchman".   There is also a significant Amish furniture store next door to Troyers, where the quality is very high, and the prices even higher.

I had the sugar free blueberry pie, and it was good.  The picture above is self explanatory (of the tomatoes), but the farmer and the four boys painting the fence are just cutouts and therefore somewhat one dimensional.   I'm told they were too busy working to stand around all day at be gawked as by "the English".  If you're ever in Sarasota, drive down Bahia Vista, east of US 41, and you'll find this area, but watch out for the Amish on their bicycles and adult tricycles - they're everywhere.

Oh, about that title - this is the significant "southern" group of Amish and Mennonite families, and many of the northern Amish come here for vacations - hence the common thought that the name is a reference to beaches.  Actually, it's a reference to Moses Beachy, an Amish Bishop from Somerset County, Pennsylvania, who established congregations south of the normal spread of Anabaptist Amish as most think of in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana.  The Beachy Amish combine the influence of Old Order Amish and Conservative Mennonite.  There are 108 Beachy congregations in America, per a directory published in 2005.   In fact, this group while observing most traditions, also in the mid 1950's allowed doctrine to find some accommodation to modernity - electric fans, even air conditioning units are allowed.

Every year, buses roll through Amish country up north, loaded with Florida bound vacationers.  Once here, the younger ones flock to the beaches of Siesta Key.   There is a lot of "what happens in Sarasota, stays in Sarasota, then the kids head back home to a much more sedate pace of life.

I looked for Harrison Ford, or the barn with his VW, but alas - his Amish were in Pennsylvania still.

A Longboat Fourth of July

Awaiting the Butterfly Release

Hula Hoop Contestants

The Fourth of July holiday on Longboat features one of the very shortest parades in the nation, where the children of our island decorate their bicycles, strollers and wagons and march perhaps one city block down Bay Isles, from the Town Hall to the Post Office and back (it's a divided parkway type road).  Of course there are the usual luminaries, including a Grand Marshall, the Mayor, Vice Mayor and several council members.   And yes, even a few convertibles were there, one of them mine with local Councilman Phil Younger in the passenger seat, and Ripley Wild sitting on the console.  Thankfully, Phil and Ripley are good friends, and shared taking the waves of citizens along the street.  The event, sponsored by the Longboat Observer, featured games for the kids, and food for the adults.  More pictures of this event can be found on the web at www.yourobserver.com, in their photo essay section.   There have been rumors we had young children living here, and these pictures clearly show them out for a fun day.  

The day began with the parade, followed by a dedication and renaming the event in the name of our recently deceased and much loved Chief of Police.  His widow was the Grand Marshal, and accepted a lovely framed compendium of stories that followed his untimely death, including comments from residents that were published in the weeks following.  Then one of the paper's reporters sang our National Anthem, followed by the traditional butterfly release, and then the kids games began.  Ripley had lots of young children petting him, and he enjoyed meeting many new dogs as well.  It was a great way to celebrate our nation's great day.

                                   

The local paper and its budget 'dunk tank'

Walkin' to New Orleans

OK, I didn't exactly walk, but Fats Domino was a native of New Orleans, among other luminaries, so he gets first mention in this blog entry about the Kiwanis International (K.I.) convention this past week.  Of course, New Orleans brings out the festive, and I was able to capture some of this with my camera.  Many individuals dressed in costume captured my attention as I walked through the cavernous exhibition hall, which over the period would fill with people in all sorts of attire. All seemed involved in advocating candidates for future office.  We Floridians often dress in orange, including a sports jacket with Kiwanis lining that my wife considers garish.   As the saying goes "every party has a pooper".  I found it easier to capture some pictures off the monitors, I was so far back in the hall.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu

Kiwanis members from as far away as Australia and the orient were there, along with Europeans.  In fact, the newly elected President of K.I. is a German fellow.   Last year's convention was in Geneva, next years will be in Vancouver, so we're truly an international philanthropic organization "serving the children of the world"  Close to two thousand people attended this most recent annual meeting, and I was privileged to represent my Longboat Key Kiwanis chapter.