My, my, aren't these Fancy Nancies seeing stars?!

Cold, rainy winter days – interspersed with just enough sunshine to make us yearn for spring.  What’s a youngster to do to pass the time inside?  How about a “Fancy Nancy” party?  Around Davidson traveled a few miles north of town to find a bevy of beautiful young ladies celebrating inside with no worries about outside snow or sleet.  How nice to be six!

But enough of Fancy Nancy.  This week we feature a special occasion in Charlotte where Dick James was honored.  There is also news of a program by Pat Mose at The Pines as well as an interesting note about Shelter Boxes.  And of course, we need to congratulate the New Orleans Saints and their Super Bowl win. ”Who Dat” reigns!  Bourbon Street is no doubt still celebrating at the time this column is posted.

DICK JAMES IS HONORED

What a wonderful evening for Dick James of The Pines.  Dick and his wife, Lois, were met at the entrance of the retirement community by a black limo and whisked down I-77 to the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Mecklenburg County Medical Society held Feb. 3 at the Renaissance Suites Hotel.  Joining them for the occasion was Dick’s granddaughter, Jenna Borders, and her husband, Jerry, from Chapel Hill.

Following dinner, Dick was recognized for his “educational contribution to area physicians through the publication of Practical Pointers for Primary Care. He received a handsome plaque and a hearty round of applause from all in attendance.  (The program’s speaker was Alan Sipress who spoke on the economic and political effects of pandemics.)

Dick and Lois James at the Mecklenburg County Medical Society dinner, in a photo taken by Dick's granddaughter.

What the evening’s program failed to mention is that for the past 24 years, Dick has been providing abstracts from six “flagship” medical journals for primary care physicians!  A remarkable accomplishment and one that he has no plans on giving up.

Dick spent his childhood in Pennsylvania and graduated from medical school at the University of Pennsylvania.  Coming to Charlotte in 1954, he worked as a primary care physician until his retirement from the Travis Medical Clinic in Charlotte in 1985.  Presenting numerous oral abstracts for his fellow physicians, Dick decided to make these abstracts available in print to more doctors in the medical community.  In 1986 he began publishing between 12 and 20 each month.  His notes were published in Charlotte and carefully mailed by Dick to more than 300 medical personnel on his list.

Dick moved to The Pines as a widower in 1996 and soon there were wedding bells in the Davidson Room as he married Lois McCallum.  Dick laughs when he states that he needed a good proof reader for his abstracts and Lois “fit the bill!”  Moving into the age of computers, Lois now checks his copy on the Internet before Dick sends his “practical pointers” to hundreds on his e-mail list.  In addition, the postings on his website (created by his grandson, Matthew Ramirez in Charlotte), www.practicalpointers.org, records monthly more that 11,000 hits  worldwide.

Dick also creates indices twice a year as a reference document.  As Dick writes, the index “provides a means of recalling to memory, in an evening or two, what the editors (of the 6 flagship journals) considered new and important for primary care.”

Congratulations, Dick, on a well deserved honor.

A STAR AT RADIO CITY

Pat Mose holds a photo from one of her performances with the Metropolitan Opera (Can you pick her out?)

Welcome to a Command Performance at The Pines!  You had to have a ticket to be admitted to the Marshall Room for a show that began promptly at 2 p.m. on Friday, February 5.  Your seat was reserved for the program:  Magical Moment and Mishaps at Radio City Music Hall.

And please don’t be late or you will miss Pat Mose, a noted soloist for Radio City in the 1950′s.

What a show it was!  Pat spent almost an hour reliving her “magical” days in New York City playing recordings of her beautiful voice, sharing photos of her wonderful costumes and answering questions. Indeed, so many magical moments were presented to the audience.  Every seat was filled and everyone marveled about Pat’s success in the Big Apple.

We continue to preach that the most amazing life stories are concentrated in one place in Davidson – The Pines.  And Pat Mose is living history of that fact. Born in 1928 in Chicago, Pat began voice lessons when a sophomore in high school.  After studies as a classical musician at Stephens College for Women, she traveled to New York and spent 1951 on tour with the Metropolitan Opera.  After that year, she settled down to a routine in the city as a soloist with Radio City Music Hall, a job that she held from 1951 until 1955.

Phyllis Tavel collected tickets for Radio City with Pat Mose

Pat spoke about Radio City as a “city within a city.”  The Hall had 1500 employees, a cafeteria, hospital and dormitory space – in addition to the famous Wurlitzer organ and “elevator” stage.  She also mentioned that as a performer you simply did not make mistakes or there was someone in the wings ready to take your job.  She usually was on stage four times a day, seven days a week.  At that time, the stage shows preceded the movie feature.  Each time the film changed, the show changed.  Thus the only chance to practice the next show was during the running of the film.  Busy, exciting days for Pat.

With three children living in Cornelius, High Point and Charlotte, Pat first moved to River Run.  She then downsized into the New Neighborhood and in 2006 came to The Pines.

Is she still singing?  As Pat commented, “You don’t want to hear an 81-year-old soprano voice!”  Thus her audience last week (and for the three previous programs she has given) had to settle for her beautiful voice on tape.

What a treat!  Thanks, Pat, for an inside peek on the way Radio City Music Hall used to be.

SHELTER BOXES

Ever heard of a Shelter Box?  Thanks to Margot Leydic-Boyd who sent us the information on these boxes.  The Shelter Box organization partners with Rotary International to provide shelter for people where natural disasters have left many homeless.  Margot and her husband, Hayden, are supporters of Marion Medical Mission (www.marionmedicalmission.org), a group that works tirelessly to provide fresh drinking water in Malawi and surrounding countries of East Africa.

When Northern Malawi suffered a sizeable earthquake this past December, the president of Marion Medical Mission contacted Shelter Box and containers were on their way to Malawi the next day.  Picking up the boxes in the Malawi capitol of Lilongwe, Marion Medical personnel drove them to earthquake damaged Karonga and helped distribute them.  Each box contains a tent and enough supplies to shelter ten people (see more on www.shelterbox.org).

From the Shelter Box website, it is evident that many boxes are already in Haiti helping victims of the earthquake there.  What an interesting approach to aid and one that few know about.

Send us your news

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