1930

For much of this month's column I'm indebted to Harrison Condon and his dues payers. If some of the news seems a little long in the tooth, remember that some three months pass between writing and publication. Though the year is almost' one-third gone, I wish you a healthy and prosperous 1986.

Two of Orlando Opera's board members have recently received awards for their contributions to Central Florida's arts community. One of them (you guessed it), John Tiedtke, was chosen as 1985's Outstanding Philanthropist. John, they said, "has had tremendous influence on every Central Florida arts organization through his leadership and financial sup- port." .

From the same area comes a note from the ever indomitable Eric and Helen Birmingham. Last summer they were enjoying a vacation in Hawaii when, on August 1, Eric developed pneumonia and a severe staph infection and had to be flown to a Daytona Beach hospital. It's not the first time he's fooled all the medics who predicted his early demise. In October he was in a nursing home, gaining strength and learning to navigate with a walker. In November he came home to a hospital bed and daily exercises. Helen says, "The doctors shake their heads and wonder." Hang in there, both of you.

Other '30s with a gift for survival include those who defy the hurricanes around Sarasota. Bob Blanchard reports: the Fitzpatricks managed a hotel reservation; the Wiggins visited kinfolk safely inland; the Goulds, as previously reported, refugeed with Berta Truex; and the Schultzes and the Blanchards themselves had no problems, living in relatively "safe" locations inland.

Chuck and Jan Kimball had their annual trip to London, which stretched into 10 weeks when Jan had emergency surgery for a malignancy and joined the semicolon club. Happily it was a successful operation, and Chuck says all systems are "go."

No such problems befell Bill and OliveFenton on their British holiday. They lunched in country pubs, stayed in country inns, visited two castles, two cathedrals, two museums, and two universities, and closed the trout season at Lifton. They drove 1,500 miles on the left and survived some near misses on the roundabouts.

Never-Too-Late Department: Congratualtions to Snub Poehler on his 80th last August 11.

Same department: Another workaholic finally joined the hard-core unemployed last July. Anthony Wayne Van Leer actually retired from Graham, Van Leer, and Elmore Company. Wayne is now engaged in more rewarding pursuits like swimming, boating, fishing, and crabbing with two "lovely" grandchildren, three and six.

Another who has learned to tolerate unemployment is Chuck Simmons. He and Grace summer in Wisconsin, where he fishes and golfs, and are spending February, March, and April in Palm Springs.

With only three responses so far, I'd say there isn't overwhelming enthusiasm for an Ojai gathering this summer. Maybe you'd prefer a trip to 6,875-foot Kitt Peak for the best-ever look at Halley's Comet from the McGraw-Hill Observatory, which, you may remember, is owned by a Dartmouth-Michigan-MIT consortium, orchestrated in large part by Dartmouth associate dean Greg Prince. We leave Tucson at 2:00 a.m. (that's right) on April 5 by comfortable bus with facilities. The date and hour are dictated by (1) Dartmouth's occupancy of the time-shared observatory; (2) the dark of the moon; and (3) the comet's elevation above the horizon. About two hours' viewing will be followed by a sunrise breakfast and a scenic trip back to Tucson. And so to bed.

1931 55 DARTMOUTH

Box 96 Green Valley, AZ 85622