A Visit To Santa

from archive.org

Three Thrilling Days

Woman's Home Companion - December, 1913

Ads from December 1913

Woman's Home Companion - December, 1913

Santa

Woman's Home Companion - December, 1913

The Fashion Department

Woman's Home Companion - December, 1913

Yes, I Will

Mini Interview With Author Jonathan Allen

I first came to know Jonathan Allen about two years ago.  I sent him some Montreal Expos baseball cards. We became casual acquaintances.  Facebook friends.  Tossing witticisms and encouragement at each other.  Well, now he's a published author.  Several weeks ago I read his novella / short story / I don't know what to call it.  Well, the title is The Kayson Cycle.  A very good read.  You can pick it up at amazon.com or at Barnes & Noble.

His latest work is The Corridors of the Dead.  I haven't actually started to read it, but I look forward to cracking it open on my Kindle.

I was able to pry a few minutes of Jonathan's time from a very busy and hectic publishing day to coerce him into a mini interview.  The parameters were I could only ask three questions and his answers could be no longer than 10 words long.  I was trying to be sensitive to his time.  So, here we go.

Q: What inspires your writing?
A: Displays of raw creativity in all forms of media.

Q: Do you set aside time each day to write or have a routine?
A: Yes, I have a daily goal of 2,000 words.

Q: What is your favorite childhood book memory? Either from your childhood or an actual book for children.
A: The Talisman by Peter Straub and Stephen King. It changed my life.

If you're good with math you'll notice that he used 12 words in that last answer.  His reasoning? "it's tough when you have two authors for a book."

I think that Jonathan has a future as a writer.  A writer needs to deal with editors, so I'll step in and help him with his answer to the third question.

A: The Talisman by Peter Straub and Stephen King. It changed my life.

We're down to 10 words.  See, it wasn't that hard.

Jonathan and I have set up a real interview in the coming weeks.  Until then you can learn more about him at his website, JonathanDAllen.com.  Or just go out and buy the The Corridors of the Dead at amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.

Five Times the Thanksgiving Fun

Let's turn the calendar back to 1935...

Plattsburgh Daily Press - November 26, 1935

And then ahead to 1936...

Plattsburgh Daily Press - November 25, 1936

Let's see what area restaurants and merchants were offering up for Thanksgiving in 1935.

Plattsburgh Daily Press - November 27, 1935

Happy Thanksgiving.

Things I Miss - Peru football

My first high school beat my first school.  Photo from and story at the PressRepublican.com.

Things I Miss

San Francisco Peaks, Arizona

Another grand idea - Sand Skiing

From the March, 1932 edition of Popular Science Monthly.

image from Google Books

Author Interview - Joseph Wallace

Ruby Thomas had never seen anything as beautiful as Ebbets Field, with its brick exterior and half-moon windows that reminded her of slices of jelly candy.

This is the first line of Joesph Wallace's Diamond Ruby.

Earlier this year I was introduced to this book by way of Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf.  I picked up the sample chapters for my Kindle, devoured them quickly and then ordered a copy of the book from amazon.  I contacted the author, Joseph Wallace, and he gladly sent a Diamond Ruby baseball card my way.  I read the book, had more interaction with Joe (he lets me call him Joe).  I asked for an interview, which he agreed to.

First, my review.

Prohibition is enforced.  The Spanish Influenza epidemic is rampant.  Babe Ruth is king.  Ruby Thomas can throw a baseball.  In the pages of Diamond Ruby Joseph Wallace transported me to Brooklyn in the late 1910s and early 1920s.  His writing style is engaging and colorful.  I got sucked in early and didn't know how the title character would overcome the hardships that were placed before her.  If you're looking for a book about sugar and spice and everything nice, this isn't for you.  If you want a book that can speak to you on several levels, let me suggest this one.

I have seen reviews that say that Diamond Ruby is an essential take-to-the-beach-on-summer-vacation book.  One to laze around with.  I'm going to one up that.  Diamond Ruby is an essential book for fans of baseball, period pieces, good literature, and books in general.  Read it.  Buy a copy.  Give it to your friends.  Then buy another copy for yourself.

Joseph Wallace

Q: Diamond Ruby is set in Brooklyn. You obviously did a lot of research to be able to paint such wonderful word pictures. What sources did you use? How long did your research take before writing? Did you start writing the story line and then flesh out the details?

A: I couldn't write Diamond Ruby until I felt like I was living inside the 1920s Brooklyn world where it was set. To do this, I haunted the New York Public Library's Microfilm Room and read through at least half a dozen newspapers, day by day, one after another. By the time I was done, I'd learned so much about how people lived, what they worried about, what they did for fun. Their world did feel real to me, sometimes even more vivid than the one I was actually living in.


Q: Is your writing style more like "lock myself in a room every morning until I produce 1,000 words" or "writing at the dining room table with kids and pets running amok"? Maybe somewhere in the middle?

A: I need quiet to be able to write well. When I was writing Ruby, I'd go away for three days at a time every few weeks and stay in a motel. It was a kind of sensory deprivation, just me in that room with no distractions, and the words would come pouring out. Sometimes I'd write for fourteen hours a day. My reward would be one good meal in a local hotel.


Q: One of the characters, Helen, is blind. Were you consciously more descriptive in your writing because of that?

A: Helen, like Ruby, was modeled on a real person: a stunt diver who went blind after a tragic accident. I thought of my Helen as the kind of person--strong-willed, brave, plain-spoken--who could get past Ruby's reserve, her solitary nature. She was the kind of friend Ruby would need, so it was easy to write vividly, visually, around her.


Q: Since you weave real people (Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, Judge Landis) into the book, did you have to overcome any fears of putting the right words into their mouths?

A: I was definitely nervous about making Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey into important characters! I'm usually suspicious of writers who put words into the mouths of real historical figures. My solution was to have readers see them only through Ruby's eyes. You're never inside their heads, listening to their thoughts. You see them as Ruby does, smart and funny, but never being too wild in front of this tough young girl.


Q: As a writer, does it bring you pain or grief when one of the characters you create dies?

A: Yes, sometimes it's difficult to kill off a character, especially ones who don't deserve it. In Diamond Ruby, Ruby faces some significant tragedies; those were very hard to write because they hurt Ruby (a character I was very fond of).


Q: You've mentioned that you are working on a follow-up book with Diamond Ruby. How's that going? Do you have a publication date?

A: I hope to be done with my sequel to Diamond Ruby, to be set in Hollywood in 1927, sometime next year. Before I get back to it, though, I'm finishing a big thriller, featuring dozens of characters and locations as far-flung as Australia, Panama, Senegal...and Brooklyn!


Q: What's your favorite flavor of frozen custard?

A: I love vanilla frozen custard, but I definitely won't say no to other flavors.


I'd like to thank the author for his time and permission to use his photograph.  Yes, I asked.  For more information about Joseph Wallace, visit his official website.  To purchase a copy of Diamond Ruby go here.

Musician Interview - The Yellow Kites

Time for another of drive-by interview.  These are intended to be an introduction to an artist, not their whole life story.

Today we get to talk with The Yellow Kites, a husband and wife team composed of Kendall and Erina Ludwig.

Erina was gracious enough to answer my questions for the both of them.

Because some music fans are gearheads...
Q: What guitar/dulcimer/harmonium/harmonica/instruments are you playing the most these days? Maker and model preferred.

Our instruments are:
We play a Larrivee L03R. Good ol' Canadian piece that didn't like the heat down in Florida. Seriously so.

We play a traditional hour glass mountain dulcimer with maple top mahogany sides. It's handmade so there aren't any model numbers. It's made by Bill Berg with Mountain Made Music in Nashville, IN.

I play Hohner harmonicas. My G key is the Silver Star (I'm still at the beginning side of things) model no: M50403. My C key is the Golden Melody one (ditto) model no. has faded but I think it's M542016.

The harmonium I play is from Calcutta, India (much more affordable to order it and have it shipped to the States) made by a company called Pakrashi. The model I have is: Pakrashi 3.5 octave portable harmonium and it stunk horribly when we first got it. And it still does sometimes. Something about the wood.

Because inquiring minds want to know...
Q: What are you actively listening to? What music is inspiring you? Yes, this is your typical, what's in the CD player, ipod, etc question. But, it isn't a "If you could be a tree, what tree would you be?" question.

Hard one this as we're on the road so are literally making our way through everything on our iPods. Let's start with Kendall:

Bon Iver, Jonsi (from Sigur Ros- Iceland's major music exporter)- who he's currently listening to.

Jakob Dylan, Shawn Mullins, David Gray, Dispatch, The Swell Season, The Decembrists and Damien Rice give inspiration.

As for me:

Brooke Fraser, Lisa Hannigan, Marketa Irglova, The Frames, Damien Rice, Cat Power, The Swell Season, Jakob Dylan are some of whom I'm listening to.

Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Fleet Foxes, The Swell Season, Lisa Hannigan and Brooke Fraser inspire me.

Trust me there are tons more but we'll never stop otherwise.

Future Plans...
Q: What are you currently working on? Recording/shows/tour/writing/etc.

Ahhh future plans. We're on tour until near the end of Sept when we'll be back in Indianapolis. Got a huge gig in Indy on the 10th Sept at the Irving Theater so getting ready for that :) feel free to invite everyone you know.

We just finished recording what I'm calling a mini- EP (title to be decided) of a few tunes of sacred music. Being on tour and playing in churches has been such a privilege and we tried to capture some of it in Jamestown, NY just this Labor Day. It's like a taster of more things to come so keep a keen ear out!

We're also crafting some new songs with quite a different feel to our debut album. Some more jazzy, others more bluesy. Very electric and exciting. Early days yet so can't report much about it.

What's my connection to The Yellow Kites?  A few weeks ago they did a small show at our church.  It was Saturday night, a back to school kick off event for our youth group.  Kendall and Nick, our youth pastor, are very good friends.  Nick had invited them for the concert and to be part of our worship services the next morning.  They had a gig at the Preservation Pub in Knoxville on Monday.

I took Angie and Caroline to the Saturday night show.  Edison was already there.  It was a casual setting and for an hour and a half they played, sang, talked, and shared themselves with the small audience.  I was taken by their joy.  Their music is simple on the surface, but has a depth to it.  On Saturday I purchased their self titled album.  I was going to say "CD", but it is a "high-quality, wild-flower embedded download card".  Sunday morning I purchased Erina's book, Unnoticed Neighbors: A Pilgrimage into the Social Justice Story.  Musicians, author, beautiful people.

Want to know more about The Yellow Kites?  You can find them on Facebook, MySpace, their official site, and Twitter.

Want to know more about Erina's book?  You can view the Unnoticed Neighbors' video trailer, read a sample chapter, or purchase it.

I suggest you do all of them.

Johnson Bible College Students At Sanitarium

images from Google Books

Guitars

My Bass

A few weeks ago at praise band practice I decided to pull out my phone and snap a few photos of my bass.  I present them here, mostly for documentation.  One of these days I really should take the good camera and take some decent photos.

1997 Fender California Series P-bass

My Oldest Bookmark

In the mid to late 1980s I visited my good friend Paul Thompson.  He was living near the Twin Cities.  We did the hanging out things and some touristy things.  One of them was a visit to the Science Museum of Minnesota.  I picked up this bookmark as a souvenir.  I've got other things that serve as bookmarks that are older than this (baseball cards), but this is my oldest bookmark that is actually a bookmark.

Defenders Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club bike show video

Last year the Knoxville Defenders LE MC sponsored a bike show to raise awareness and funds for the Down Syndrome Awareness Group of East Tennessee. I wanted to share some of the bikes that I saw.

Musician Interview - Darrell Webb

It is time for another interview. Another in a series of drive-by interviews. Intended to be an introduction to an artist, not their whole life story.

Spring is in the air, summer is just around the corner. What better way than to share some bluegrass?  And what better bluegrass than some by Darrell Webb?

Darrell Webb

Because some music fans are gearheads...
Q: What mandolins/guitars/instruments are you playing the most these days? Maker and model preferred.

I currently play a Collings Winfield model guitar and Parsons mandolin built by Will Parsons from Elizabethton, TN.

Because inquiring minds want to know...
Q: What are you actively listening to? What music is inspiring you? Yes, this is your typical, what's in the CD player, ipod, etc question. But, it isn't a "If you could be a tree, what tree would you be?" question.

I listen to all different genres of music from classic rock, classic country, blues, and bluegrass so it really varies to what's in my cd player from day to day I get inspired by all different kinds of music.

Future Plans...
Q: What are you currently working on? Recording/shows/tour/writing/etc.

I am currently working on new Darrell Webb band project which should be released sometime next fall for Rural Rhythm Records. I'm always working on new marketing ideas and getting more tour dates for the band. I love to work.

My connection to Darrell Webb?  A few years ago I met him at church.  Between services we have a time for coffee and snacks.  I'm generally content to say hi to my friends, ask them about their week, talk about the ballgame.  But every so often I'll introduce myself to someone I don't know.  That Sunday it was Darrell.  We chatted for a bit and he shared with me what he did and some of his projects.  I was intrigued.

Last summer he and his band played at Johnson Bible College's Senior Saints in the Smokies event.  I got to hear him live and was taken by his professionalism, his musical ability and his good naturedness.

This year he and his wife, Amanda, joined our church and have become active in a small group that my wife and I host.  They have two beautiful daughters.  Darrell's shared five of the new tracks that he hopes will be on the new CD.  Smoking.  Wonderfully written.  The Darrell Webb Band will be at Seymour Heights Christian Church on Sunday, May 29th at 6:30pm.  Ice cream social to follow.

More info on Darrell's band can be found at their website: DarrellWebbBand.com.

You can also follow the Darrell Webb Band on facebook and see zillions of YouTube videos.  Okay, maybe just 41 videos.  You might not want to watch all of them, but you will want to see these two:

Just a few more days ...

Prescott Evening Courier - July 22, 1925

On Sunday, May 1st, Detective Goren will return to the small screen. This makes my wife very happy.

An Easter Carol

An Easter Carol

by Phillips Brooks - published 1891

Tomb, thou shalt not hold Him longer;
Death is stong, but Life is stronger;
Stronger than the dark, the light;
Stronger than the wrong, the right.
Faith and Hope triumphant say
Christ will rise on Easter Day.

While the patient earth lies waking,
Till the morning shall be breaking,
Suddering 'neath the burden dread
Of her Master, cold and dead.
Hark! she hears the angels say
Christ will rise on Easter Day.

And when sunrise smile the mountains,
Pouring light from heavenly fountains,
Then the earth blooms out to greet
Once again the blessed feet;
And her countless voices say,
Christ has risen on Easter Day.

Up and down our lives obedient
Walk, dear Christ with footsteps radiant,
Till those garden lives shall be
Fair with duties done for Thee;
And our thankful spirits say,
Christ arose on Easter Day.

Your Easter Haberdashery

Prescott Evening Courier - April 9, 1925

Albert Pujols on 60 Minutes

Every so often I like to watch the CBS show 60 Minutes. Tonight I had the opportunity and I'm glad that I did. After a story about an unsolved murder in the south and a look into the Vatican library they featured Albert Pujols. Enjoy the story and then two short bits, one with John Smoltz and the other with Peter Gammons.

Tim Shriver on the Colbert Report

Tim Shriver, Chairman and CEO of Special Olympics, asking Stephen Colbert to help spread the word about the R-word.

You might not like everything, or anything, that Stephen Colbert says.  But many people watched this last night.  Hopefully they picked up on something.

Race Issues at HCBA

I was looking through some old newspapers and found two articles that dealt with race at Harrison Chilhowee Baptist Academy.  The first one describes a basketball games between "teams of a negro and white high school".  That was in 1949.  Almost seven years later Trustees at "four Baptist-supported schools were authorized today to admit students to "all races" from now on."

I'm glad to say that HCBA, or The King's Academy (as it is now referred to) welcomes students of all races from around the world.  Actually, in 1935 HCBA enrolled two brothers from Cuba, Primitivo and Marcelo Delgado.

The Florence Times - January 12, 1949

St. Joseph Gazette - November 11, 1955

images from Google

Those Pesky Peskys

Chuck Whiting runs the bibliophemera blog. Yesterday he focused on the author, Rose Wilder Lane and her correspondence with Schulte's bookstore in New York.  Very interesting stuff.  I was drawn not to Mrs. Lane, but the bookseller, Mr. Philip Pesky and later, his son, Mr. Wilfred Pesky.  A quick search on ancestry.com offered up some info.

I was first able to find Philip Pesky in the 1910 US Census.  His parents were Russian and he was born in New York.  He had been married to his wife Minnie for four years.  He was a salesman in the wholesale book business.  (click on the census images to view them in a larger format)

Source Citation: Year: 1910; Census Place: Manhattan Ward 12, New York, New York; Roll: T624_1017; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 0411; Image: 1058; FHL Number: 1375030.

Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.

In 1918 Philip Pesky registered for the draft.  At this point he's moved out of New York and into New Jersy.  He's a manager and his employer is Theo. E. Schulte.  I presume that this is the Schulte's Book Store.

Source Citation: Registration Location: Hudson County, New Jersey; Roll: 1711906; Draft Board: 2.

Source Information: Ancestry.com. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

The 1920 US Census shows the family living in New Jersey and managing a bookstore.

Source Citation: Year: 1920;Census Place: Bayonna Ward 3, Hudson, New Jersey; Roll: T625_1040; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 22; Image: 709.

Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

The 1930 Census shows that the family had moved from Hudson county, New Jersey to Essex county, New Jersey.  Philip is still the manager of a book store.

Source Citation: Year: 1930; Census Place: Irvington, Essex, New Jersey; Roll: 1330; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 443; Image: 655.0.

Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.

Twelve years later Philip once again registers for the draft.  And we can see that he hasn't moved in the last decade and that he's still working for Schulte's Book Store.

Source Citation: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA);Washington, D.C.; State Headquarters: New Jersey.

Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

On September 17, 1957, The New York Times reported that Philip Pesky, proprietor of Shulte Book Store, died at his home on Momm Court.

On September 26, 1966, The New York Times reported that Wilfred Pesky, president of Shulte's Book Store, died of a stroke on the 24th of September at Columbus Hospital in New York City.

The New York Times had a story about Book Stores of the New York are which included the following description of Shulte's Book  Store:

SCHULTE’S BOOKSTORE
1917-late 1960’s
One of the last of the great bookshops on Booksellers’ Row — the stretch of secondhand stores on Fourth Avenue just south of Union Square — Schulte’s survived labor strife, including a strike right before World War II, and prospered. “It was a huge barn of a store,” said Marvin Mondlin, co-author of “Book Row,” a history of Manhattan’s secondhand bookstores.

The store had four owners in its lifetime, among them the professedly unbookish Wilfred Pesky, who, according to Mr. Mondlin, once announced: “You don’t have to read a book to sell books. I never read a book in my life.”

I was not able to find out anything more of the Pesky family, but I'm sure that there's more out there.

Amazed

I was asked to share a communion mediation at church.  This is what I said...

In the preaching series, “Amazed” Randy will be sharing some of the miracles that Jesus performed. I’m sure that we could all rattle off a few of them. Raising the dead. Healing the lame and blind. Turning water into wine. Wow!

I’ve always been fascinated by Harry Houdini and sleight of hand magic tricks. But that’s all they are. Tricks. Houdini had a spare key that was passed to him by his wife’s kiss. A trap door to move from one side of the wall to the other. A distraction and then the slight of hand would take place. I don’t know exactly how he did all of the tricks, but they were purely mechanical or a diverting of our focus. There was no higher power involved. They can all be explained.

Jesus’s miracles can also be explained.

Here’s what Peter said to the Jews in Acts 2:22-24 (NIV):

“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.”

Did you hear that? God did the miracles through Jesus. God can do all things. Jesus showed God’s power through the miracles. He also showed love, acceptance, forgiveness, also from God. And he showed his disciples how to remember him through the meal of which we are about to partake.

The juice and bread will be distributed. Take a moment to remember Jesus and God raising him from the dead. Why? “Because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him.”

Discovery

Live video by Ustream

My First Rock Concert

February 8, 1978. It was a Wednesday. I went with C.Y. Biggs, a classmate.

And the following day in the Plattsburgh State student newspaper, Cardinal Points:

Happy Valentine's Day

For a holiday that is awash in flowers, chocolate and cards, I'll go a bit more simple this year.




Angie, I love you.


....

Musician Interview - Art Paul Schlosser

Time for another of drive-by interview. These are intended to be an introduction to an artist, not their whole life story.

Today we get to peek into the mind of Art Paul Schlosser, Madison street musician, poet, and artist. Hold on to your hat.

Art Paul Schlosser

Because some music fans are gearheads...
Q: What guitar/instrument are you playing the most these days? Maker and model preferred

I have a Walden which was bought at Spruce Tree Music on Johnson.  It has a pretty good sound so I like it but I'm sure there are better.

My current financial situation doesn't really let me afford to play a more expensive guitar and I wouldn't want to take expensive guitar down on State and get it stolen from me.

Because inquiring minds want to know...
Q: What are you actively listening to? What music is inspiring you? Yes, this is your typical, what's in the CD player, ipod, etc question. But, it isn't a "If you could be a tree, what tree would you be?" question.

I'm more of a words person. So I listen to songs that speak to me especially if they are funny. I just listen to Mason Dixon doing a song called The Man Without A Name. It is quite funny. Also I was checking out Weird Al Yankovic's Children's Book.

Sometimes I listen to old radio broadcasts. But I did enjoy The Black Eyed Peas at the Super Bowl. But what I listen to doesn't really inspire me as much as standing alone on State street and just playing around with the guitar or making up lyrics from what I've been reading or doing.

Future Plans...
Q: What are you currently working on? Recording/shows/tour/writing/etc.

I am currently working on many things. I have a variety show in Milwaukee at the Bremen Café with Chris Kammer the singing Dentist and Lady Cannon on March 18 at 901 East Clarke street. We are doing the same variety show in the summer at the Showboat Saloon but we will be adding Chris Skinner who plays the Chapman stick as part of the show.

I'm writing poems and sending them out

And I'm working on a bunch of different songs and some are new children songs which I may be performing live on WORT 89.9 fm.

Or I might put out a Gangster Folk rap CD.

I also have leftover stuff that I'm not sure what to do with.

I'll perhaps do the project that turns out the best.

I don't really want say all the projects I'm working on because I'm really not sure I'm going to do any of them.

I'm getting old and then there's the money factor and besides these 2 problems I really am happy with the projects I already did.

It would be nice at this point to have someone with money who knew the business pay me to record an album he/she knew would sell.

While all this is going on I'm also writing for Madison Street Pulse newspaper and I just finish a bunch of paintings which you can see on my facebook page called Peace & Love

Hey maybe people should friend me at http://www.facebook.com/artpaul

Or check out all 32 of my CDs at http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/ArtPaulSchlosser most of which are also on Apple iTunes.

Okay those are your answers thanks for the interview and keep smiling

My connection to Art Paul Schlosser?  In the early 1990s I took a management course at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.  I'd attend class by day, hit up the library, then head downtown to grab a sandwich and read the local papers.  Then I'd walk up and down State street, enjoying the early evening.  Art Paul, being a street musician, would often be playing.  At first, I'd listen from a distance.  As the week progressed, I moved a bit closer.  His musical style was, well, different.  But it was original and sincere.  I purchased one of his CDs and he signed it for me.

Over the years, as the Internet became more prevalent, we'd run into each other online.  I'd toss up a few links promoting his ventures, then he'd move the targets.  Almost like a cat and mouse game.  Then along came facebook.  We've become facebook friends.  The occasional message back and forth and daily exchanges of Wheel of Fortune bonuses.

You can also find out more about APS at his YouTube channel... http://www.youtube.com/user/artpaul .  Here's the link to one of his most viewed videos, when he was on WGN.

Art Paul, thanks for being my friend.

Family "Trees" While You Wait

The Troy Northern Budget - February 9, 1913