Hey, I LOVE the rain!

Mother Nature is certainly keeping us on our toes!  Ten days ago we were dragging hoses around our yards trying to combat the dry, cracked earth.  Now the hoses are coiled and we await our daily drenching accompanied with  ear-splitting thunder and scary lightning strikes.  At least the livestock on our surrounding farms are happy to see the grass growing again!

Around Davidson today catches up with the Garry Yuen family as well as the Jon Regen “clan.”  Also below: a report on Boy Scout Troop 58’s week at Camp Grimes and news of Susan and Bob Manning checking out the Brits.

Busy days at the Regen home for Granddaddy Jon & Grammie Barbara w/Jocelyn Grzeszczak & Mary Lang Regen (top), Catherine & Claiborne Regen (bottom)

BUSY DAYS FOR THE REGENS

Hard to keep up with Jon and Barbara Regen, their children and grandchildren.  First of all, Happy Birthday to Jon who was born on the Fourth of July!  (Growing up his granddaddy told him that folks hung their American flags on the 4th just for him!)  His birthday celebration was over just in time on July 7 to welcome two granddaughters from Ankara, Turkey.  Jon and Barbara’s son, Kelsey Regen, and his wife, Katie, are with the State Department there.  Their older daughters, Catherine (11) and Claiborne (8), flew solo from Ankara to Charlotte with a stop in Munich, leaving Charlotte (5) and Annie (2) in Turkey with Mom and Dad.

Seasoned travelers, Catherine and Claiborne found the long trip easy and will visit here for three weeks.  They talk on the internet phone service Skype with their parents and sisters daily, from Granddaddy and Grammie’s home.  They also love being in Davidson with their cousins, Jocelyn and Hank Grzeszczak, children of Rob and Suzanne Regen Grzeszczak, as well as Jon and Mary Lang Regen, children of Harriet and Will Regen.

Needless to say the New Neighborhood townhome of Grammie Barbara and Granddaddy Jon is “rocking” with meals, sleepovers, board games and much laughter.  Glad to have these young ladies visiting and teaching us all a few words of Turkish!

Bright sunshine at Lake Norman High School for graduate Ben Yuen surrounded by his father, Garry (l), sister Caroline and mother, Sandra (r)

BEN YUEN HEADED TO COLORADO

Congratulations to Ben Yuen who graduated last month from Lake Norman High School.  Ben is the son of Garry and Sandra Yuen of Mooresville but many in Davidson know the family due to their participation in theater and church here – especially anything musical.

Ben is an accomplished pianist, having played since he was 11 and a student at Masterworks School of the Arts with Dave Uibel for years.  He has been active in musical productions in high school as well as the Youth Choir at the Davidson College Presbyterian Church (DCPC).  This fall he will travel across the country to Colorado to begin his freshman year at Denver University, where he has received a music scholarship to study piano performance.  Ben plans to major in music and business.

If you caught the Davidson Community Players’ production of “Oklahoma” last month, you saw all the Yuens singing on stage.  Ben’s sister, Caroline, is a soprano and rising junior at Lake Norman High School.  Dad Garry, sings in the church choir and is national sales manager for Australian based CHEP-Pallets.  Mom Sandra loves to sing when not at her job as switchboard/receptionist supervisor at Lowe’s Corp. in Mt. Mourne.

Bob and Susan Manning visited the Avebury stone circle in England

DRIVING ON THE LEFT WITH THE MANNINGS

Last month Bob and Susan Manning flew to England for a three week vacation.  Their first five days were spent touring in London before beginning their driving adventure to the city of Bath.  (Actually they had not a bit of problem with their rental car or driving on the left.)  There they attended evensong at Bath Abbey and enjoyed tea at the Royal Crescent Hotel as well as trips to Stonehenge and the Avebury stone circle.

Their days at Stow on the Wold in the Cotswolds were Bob’s favorite as they viewed Blenheim Palace and many villages with their traditional thatched roof cottages and beautiful gardens.  Bob and Susan had tickets to King Lear with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-on-Avon before heading north to the Lake District for their final week.  Driving through the gorgeous scenery of this area of England was a real highlight before driving along Hadrian’s wall (with numerous stops to tour the forts) and arriving in Newcastle on the Tyne.  Switching from car to train, the Mannings visited Durham and York, attending the marvelous evensong at York Minster, before returning to London for the flight home.

Susan summed the trip up perfectly with these words:  “England is the next best place to being at home.  The people are so warm and friendly, we stayed in lovely B&Bs every night, the food was great, and the weather was in the low 70s with no humidity, days were 19 hours long.  All-in-all a perfect trip, but it was good to get home to our own bed and to our family and friends.”

Andrew Nielsen and John Wacker raised the flag

CAMP GRIMES WITH THE BOY SCOUTS

Patrick Griffeth was tops in riflery

The scouts in Davidson’s Boy Scout Troop 58 take a week each June at Camp Grimes.  This year, a record 32 boys attended the week-long camp accompanied by eight adult leaders.  The weather was hot so you quickly learned to find shade, shower every day and make the most of swimming in the lake.  Hats off to Scoutmaster John Bragg and the other adults who volunteered their time to assist with the camp activities.

John Bragg provided a wonderful summary (which follows) of the week in the hills near Morganton.

“The new scouts learned basic scouting skills like first aid, fire and stove safety, map and compass skills and earned swimming merit badges. The older scouts focused their time on merit badges like Sailing, Canoeing, Shotgun Shooting, Metalwork, Motorboating, Riflery, Leatherwork, Indian Lore, Geology, Chemistry, Astronomy, Space Exploration, Emergency Preparedness, Citizenship in the Nation, Woodcarving and more.

Robert Carmichael tried his hand at the metal working forge

“Troop 58 competed in the campwide Scoutmaster/ Senior Patrol Leader Turkey Shoot again this year. Competitors shot bows and arrows, rifles and shotguns. Patrick Griffeth, Senior Patrol Leader, and John Bragg, Scoutmaster, took the prize for 1st Place for the second year in a row. Patrick Griffeth also earned the Top Shooter Award by the camp Rifle Instructor for his willingness to come early, stay late to clean up, help other scouts at riflery and be an expert marksman.

“The troop also enjoyed free time on the zip line, the Iceberg at the waterfront and making candle holders at the hot metal forge. Jack Carmichael won the campwide Cannonball Contest. Collin Griggs and Ben McGonnell won the water volleyball tournament. Tyler Smith and Alex Bockian participated in a Chaplain program and gave the camp blessing at breakfast. Andrew Nielsen, John Wacker and Tyler Smith conducted the flag raising ceremony for the camp as Jack Carmichael called the color guard commands. Robert Carmichael served as our troop bugler awakening the troop every morning with Reveille and sending us off to sleep with Taps.”

Troop 58 is sponsored by the Davidson Lions Club and meets on Tuesday nights in the basement of DCPC. Contact John Bragg, Scoutmaster, at 704-377-0261 for more information about the troop and their fall activity schedule.

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Have news for Around Davidson? Write to Brenda Barger at hbarger@bellsouth.net.