Where's the rake! The last leaves of summer are falling.

Congratulations to our new town commissioners Tim Dreffer and Connie Wessner, as well as to Laurie Venzon, Brian Jenest and Margo Williams who will continue as members of our Town Board.   Thanks also to candidates Drew Crawford, Mickey Pettus and Nick Gibietis who threw their hats into the commissioners’ ring for last Tuesday’s election and participated in the forums.  Competition is always healthy.

Today Around Davidson takes a trip with Sondra Rudy to Norway and an anniversary cruise with Myron and Jan Chartier to the northeastern US and Canada.  We also enjoy catching up with Karen and Bill Johnson’s family.

TRAVELS WITH GRANDMA

If you don’t know Davidson’s Sondra Rudy, you should.  This lady is full of vim and vigor, community action, volunteerism, good humor and creative writing skills.  Just have to include her opening paragraph describing trips with grandchildren:

It wasn’t my idea.  Not that I want to disown it – I just want to make it clear that I wasn’t the one who thought it up, I’m not that smart; I simply recognized a great idea when I heard it, tweaked it to suit and followed through.  The idea?  Take each grandchild on a trip, one-on-one, grandchild and grandmother.  My tweak?  Go when the grandchild is twelve – old enough to get something out of the experience but young enough that he or she will still go with you without sulking, pouting or engaging in ugly behavior – especially since you are old enough to be his grandparent!  The destination must be agreeable to both, although since I’m something of a nature freak I do try to exert some influence in that direction!  Six kids down, one to go, and so far it has worked really well.  Not every trip has been a superstar, but each has certainly been fun for both grandmother and grandchild and they do remember the trips, where we went and what we did – and that we did it together.  Perfect!

With tour book and map close by, Sondra Rudy and her granddaughter, Ellie Frith, enjoyed lunch in Oslo.

This past summer, Sondra and her granddaughter, Ellie Frith, traveled to Norway.  Ellie is a dedicated dancer with the North Carolina Dance Theatre (she dances the leading role of “Clara” in the Nutcracker Ballet) and studied this past summer with the American Ballet Theatre in New York.  She is also a student at Alexander Graham Middle School in Charlotte.  Ellie’s choice for a trip?  Not the Bolshoi, not Russia, but rather hiking, polar bears, walruses, dolphins and whales.  Joining a tour group in Oslo, Ellie and Grandma Sondra flew to Longyearbyen for a week cruising the Svalbard archipelago.  Despite shifting weather conditions, considerable fog and adjusting to 24-hour daylight, they enjoyed every minute of the tour, seeing an extraordinary array of wildlife and meeting people from all over the world.

At the end of the tour, Sondra and Ellie spent an additional day in Oslo touring sites including the Munch and Ra Museums.  Then it was back to Charlotte, family, the beach, school and fall routines but with wonderful memories of a fabulous trip for both Ellie and Grandma.  What a marvelous tradition for Sondra and her grandchildren!

50TH ANNIVERSARY CRUISE

Jan and Myron Chartier made the most of a "wicked" fun trip to New York.

Congratulations to Myron and Jan Chartier who will celebrate 50 years of marriage next month.  To mark this occasion they took a trip to New York City and a cruise to the northeast United States and Canada.

The Chartiers spent their first week in New York City and the second aboard the Caribbean Princess Cruise Liner on a New England and Canada Color Tour.  While in New York they visited their daughter, Melody, and her partner,  Mary Jo Johnson. There they enjoyed three Broadway musicals: “Wicked,” “The Lion King,” and “The Phantom of the Opera.”

Leaving from the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, the couple sailed to Newport, Boston, Bar Harbor, St. John, New Brunswick, and Halifax, Nova Scotia, before returning to New York. They both remarked that it was a wonderful trip but they are glad to be back home at The Pines in Davidson.  (Bet they missed their Davidson family as well – Tim and Tanya Chartier and their two children.)

CATCHING UP WITH BILL AND KAREN JOHNSON

Thinking about Bill Johnson, who retires from the Davidson Town Board later this winter, was good reason to check on his plans and those of his wife, Karen. Future plans aside, there was plenty to catch up on from a wedding last month when their older son, Scott Davis Johnson married Alisa Blanter.

Alisa Blanter and Scott Johnson exchange vows in Boston.

The October 11 ceremony was held in the late afternoon at the Boston Navy Yard with a reception following in the Commandant’s house there.  The couple will make their home in Brooklyn, NY, where Scott does IT work for Revlon Cosmetics and Alisa is a graphic artist for Nickelodeon – the place the newlyweds met when Scott was employed there previously.

As always, weddings are a special time for families to gather.  The Johnson’s younger son, Greg, his wife, Jodi, and daughter, Viala, came from White Plains, NY.  (Greg is an Executive Chef in Manhattan at “Sala 19″ and “Rye House,” both restaurants specializinfg in tapas.)  Also attending the wedding were Karen’s sister and brother-in-law, Gail and Larry Rollin, and their daughter, Karen, from Georgia.  Bill’s older brother, Bob Johnson, came with his wife, Cheryl, from Ohio, and his son, Ben, and family from Bangor, Maine.  In addition, Grandma Evelyn Johnson came from Sarasota, FL.  They all had a wonderful weekend together in Boston to honor the bride and groom.

Bill and Karen's granddaughter, Viala Johnson, was on hand for the wedding festivities.

Karen and Bill moved to Davidson in 2001 from Florida.  Retiring from directing the Ada Jenkins Center two years ago, Bill is now working part-time for Y-USA as a relationship facilitator.  No doubt they will have many trips to New York to visit their sons, daughters-in-law and especially a very busy 18-month old granddaughter, Viala, who loves attention from her Davidson grandparents.

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