Mary Hickle, the birthday girl with her cake, and wearing her special birthday crown.

Surprise!  It’s a special birthday party for a special mom.  We have a report below on how the daughter of Mary Hickle organized a 87th-birthday cruise. In addition we catch up with Dave and Kim Fleming on their late May travel with their daughters to Mexico for a family wedding.

ANOTHER YEAR YOUNG!

How to celebrate when you have a summer birthday? What about when you are turning 87 years young? Linda Hickle of Spinnaker Point in Davidson came up with the perfect solution – to take her mother, Mary Hickle, on a surprise birthday sunset cruise with friends and neighbors from the area. With birthday crown for her mother, Hawaiian leis for the guests and birthday cake for all, Linda Hickle made all the preparations for the cruise which departed last Wednesday evening from the Midtown Sundries dock (which it does the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month).

Birthday Cruisin' on Lake Norman for (l-r) Linda Hickle, Birthday gal Mary Hickle, Pat Kett, Pat Kniess and her daughter, Judy Feigl.

What a wonderful celebration for Mary Hickle whose actual birth date was Tuesday, July 21. The weather was perfect and after much birthday merriment, guests even took to the dance floor. It was a delightful mid-summer birthday thanks to the planning of Linda, who has lived in Davidson since 1997.

As an only child, Linda encouraged her mother to move here from Ohio following her dad’s death. Agreeing to move when she turned 80, Mary built a home in Deer Park (behind Harris Teeter), moved here and jumped right into activities of all kinds. She is an active member of Huntersville Baptist Church as well as a member of the Founders Circle at Davidson United Methodist Church. Mary and Linda share a love for cats and both volunteer for the Humane Society as foster parents.

With three younger brothers in Tennessee, Mary travels there often to visit and enjoys vacations with family several times a year. Her Buckeye friends stop in Davidson frequently and Mary returns to Ohio each fall to attend the Fairfield County Fair where she used to live in Lancaster, Ohio. An avid Ohio State football fan, we bet she takes in a football game or two as well. However, now that she is a Tar Heel, she has found a new passion in NASCAR and has even met her favorite driver, Michael Waltrip, at Raceworld USA in Cornelius. She took part in the Richard Petty driving experience last August and has been to three races at Lowes Motor Speedway. Now that is one active senior!

How delighted we are to have Mary Hickle’s wonderful energy and kind spirit in our midst. Happy 87th birthday to you, Mary, and thanks to your daughter, Linda, for sharing your celebration with Around Davidson.

A FAMILY WEDDING FOR THE FLEMINGS

What a great way to have a delightful vacation and be part of a wonderful family event!  Dave and Kim Fleming flew with their daughters, Ally (7) and Kate (5) to Cancun, Mexico, at the end of May and proceeded about an hour south to Dreams Resort in Puerto Aventuras.  There they were part of the wedding party for Kim’s younger sister, Kristen Sachs, who married Drew Ehlers on May 29.  Family and close friends were on hand for the ceremony which included Kim as Matron of Honor and Kate and Ally as flower girls in white dresses and sandals throwing rose petals down the aisle on the beach.

Flower girls (Ally (7) and Kate (5) pose with dad and mom, Dave and Kim Fleming, before a family wedding in Puerto Aventuras, Mexico.

Kim’s older sister, Karen Friesen, and her family from Chicago were also in Mexico for the festivities as were her parents who hosted a reception for the newlyweds in Mexico as well as another in late June for friends in Chicago where the couple resides.

Destination weddings are great fun for guests who extend their stay and make it a relaxing vacation.  This was the case for the Flemings who spent a week at the resort and came home healthy despite the threat of swine flu.  Kim reported that having plenty of Tamiflu and hand sanitizer in their luggage was a great precaution.  Dave and Kim and their daughters live on Concord Road.  Many know Dave as a talented author and senior writer for ESPN The Magazine.

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Have news for Brenda? Write to her at hbarger@bellsouth.net.