Month: May 2016

July 19, 2009

Note from the Editor:

Many thanks to Dale’s sister Madeline for sharing some of the earliest Dumpsters that were not in the files we uncovered on Juneberry Lane.  As you read in the prior post, Dale’s monthly missives were not titled “The Dumpster” until May 2010.  The posts Madeline found started in July 2009 and were simply entitled July Update, August Update and so forth.  

So, thank you Madeline for sharing these earlier posts.  And happy Memorial Day to all!!

Stephen

And now, here’s this week’s featured attraction, Dale’s post from July 2009

 

July ! July !

Charles Dickens said it best. ” It was the best of
time, It was the worst of time.” NO , not Sarah Palin resigning or M.J.
sudden death nor the Red Soxs. Yes! it’s the weather. RAIN.
Sure , our gardens and farm crops need water to grow, But not this much water. Seriously who needs 12 inches in a month. It sure did make for
a wet 4th week-end at the camp ground. Can you say MUD ?

Cousin Lois said her garden was just a mire of mud and the flowers had curled up and were waiting for the last rites. I had so many
slugs in the yard that Jeff Probst could of feed all his Survivor Contestants
for the whole month. So Mother Nature, I promise to never, ever complain about the heat, if you will fix that broken water pipe.

It as always was good hearing from so many of you.
Thanks to your e-mails I now know that Father’s Day is a big event in June. Good news that Ellie K and Dick B are recovering from their operations. Clem, I would like to hear more about that new grandchild. It was wonderful having son John from Baltimore here for the week-ends.

The Star for July might have been Susan Boyle, the shy Scottish Maid, with the voice of an angel. Who has recovered from depression and is now on her way to a great music career. Or it could of been Mirie
Stivashankar , the 13 yr old girl from Kansas, who won the national spelling bee. She was awe inspiring as she conquered words that only Webster knew.It probably was easier for her after she mastered the spelling of her name.

But the Star for July I am proud to say was my handsome grandson Nick Sinclair. He graduated from Hall Dale Jr.HS and was recognized for the his great work over the last two years. Nick received the American Legion award for courage, integrity, honor, and scholarship. The Presidential Award for Academic Excellence which included a letter from Pres. Obama, also the P.E. award for leadership in the classroom. Nick it must be in the gene pool (mother’s side) . Nick has just returned from the Costa Rica’s rain forest where his Uncle John took him for a special vacation.

What book have I been reading this month ? American Passage, History of Ellis Island. by Vincent Cannato. It is not on Oprah’s book list. But it has lots of great true life stories of the immigrants who went through the island’s gates into NYC. Yes ! it’s a history book and I know you hated your boring history teacher. But that was years ago, so get over it.. You might like it.

If you read my monthly commentary you are probably thinking Dale you are watching too many ” 60 Minutes Reruns with Andy Rooney” I
will admit that I am a dinosaur when it comes to all the new electronic gadgets. I feel no need to conceal that I’m happy with snail mail, hard copy, VCR, my a.m. desk radio,or a Fred+Wilma’s dial telephone. So I’m not keeping up with the Jones, maybe not even with the people in Mayberry. Because for music I don’t need that iPod hanging out of my ear or watch Letterman on the TiVo while I eat my morning Cheerios.It seems I’m living in a world that I no longer know. I am a modern day Rip Van Winkle.

For example, take the growing popularity of the Cell Phone. Yes, it has a place in our society, a real potential for service, “Like I have fallen and I can not get up.” or “the flat tire on a dark rainy night.” Especially since we no longer have any highway phone booths. So I’m not against cell phones, I have one but It drives my family and friends crazy because I never turn it on. They feel that a normal person will carry it and use it daily. This small folding pocket phone loaded with giga bytes, will let you take pictures, play games,watch TV shows, go on the Internet, text messages or tethering to people next to you. All while driving 80 mph down I 95. I really do not need a cell phone hanging on my belt to do this. If I need to make a call, I will borrow yours. Because, like you said, all normal people have one today.

That’s it for this month. In the next e-mail I will give you my recipe for a delicious Zucchini/horse radish dip. Just kidding.  I wish you many sunny days ahead. My life is good here and I hope it is in your neck of the woods. They say friends will leave footprints in your heart, so please walk all over me.

God Bless, Dale

March 16, 2010

Apologies to all for the delay with posting.  Here’s the earliest Dumpster I can find in Dale’s / Papa’s files; it’s from six years ago (March 2010).  I hope you enjoy it as much as I.

Stephen

Greetings All,

I now have settled on a name for this monthly rag. I will call it Dales Dumpster. That seems to describe it well. For a dumpster is where you throw stuff out that no one wants or cares about and it generally is just full of junk.

May is a great month. All the signs of winter are gone. The winter TV shows: American Idol, Jack Bauers 24, Survivor, etc. are coming to and end  and will soon be summer re runs. Don’t waste the short summer days watching TV. Get out and do some traveling, it’s a beautiful state and nation. Have I got a deal for you Senior Citizens. You can get a Senior Citizen life time pass to all the National Parks for $10. This will allow free entry for you and two adults passengers in your car into every national park from Acadia to Yellowstone to Yosemite. As many times as you would like. Enjoy the vacation.

I found a great item for us not so handy fix-it types. For people like me who main tools are duct tape, WD-40, or the butter knife screw driver, you are going to love Gorilla Tape. It’s made by the same company that does Gorilla Glue. This is the toughest tape you will ever meet. It has a strong fabric backing  and is so adhesive that it will stick to impossible surfaces like brick and stucco. Anything you break this will hold it together.

You know me , I like to eat. A special food for May is RHUBARB. It is one of the earliest spring dessert food growing everywhere. The tart red stalk with its big green leaves is readily available everywhere. It may actually be growing in your backyard. Note* don’t eat the leaves for they are toxic. Rhubarb is an easy,versatile, inexpensive fruit to use. It’s only drawback is that it is very sour.So you will need to use a lot more sugar than any other dessert. But nothing is better than that first taste of one of my favorite pies :the strawberry-rhubarb, If you are in a hurry you can make rhubarb sause ,it is quick and easy.Bon appetite

Ever since I was a little boy, I like the month of May. Probably it was that the end of the school year was in sight, as a teacher I loved it even more. May 1st was the day of the “May Day Celebration”. It is not big anymore. No one is dancing around a May Pole or hanging May Baskets full of candy and cookies.

May now has college graduations with a lot of happy seniors and relieved parents. Not that long ago these ceremonies were held in June.The reason I guess for the change is that it took us longer because we were  slow learners.

The best thing about May is that we get to celebrate “Moms”. On Mother Day the whole family can gather around and let her know how much we love her. Kids do love to make her breakfast in bed, but Dad they do need a little help. For no Mom really wants to have milk,OJ, or coffee running through the sheets and night gown.

May will end with the first seasonally parade. On Memorial Day coming down Main Street you see the honored veterans fro the AFW or Am Legion proudly leading the way with Old Glory flying high. Followed by the not in step HS Band,then the girls and boys scout troops, and every vehicle from the town Fire Dept with their horns blasting  The parade end when they do the wreath laying at the local Vet Memorial and fire the 5 gun salute. Then the family is off to put flowers on the family sites in the cemetery.

Now dad is hurrying home to fire up the grill. For in the Sinclair clan Memorial Day is traditionally the first cook out of the season. The barbecue ritual is that you put the meat on and close the cover and then go off to talk, share laughs and drinks with family and friends until someone spots the smoke and fire. Happily we all know that everyone will be sick and tired of these BBQs by Labor Day.

For anyone who does not care about Baseball you can now skip right to the end of this newsletter. For baseball is what May is all about. From every sand lot, school yard, or major league diamond you will hear “PLAY BALL”.On any cool, crisp, windy day as you huddle to stay warm on the bleachers you smell the aroma of popcorn and hotdogs wafting up from the concession stand. You slowly sip from the hot chocolate paper cup using it mostly as a hand warmer.The best thing about local baseball is that you can get up and move around. You leave the grandstand and walk around the park. There you find a better place to stand to get the better angle of the batter at home plate. At best it’s a more unobstructed view than peaking through the hole in the chain-link fence.

So you will probably not find me at home so much this month. For I have donned my “B” cap and will be at a field rooting for the home team. Nothing stirs my blood more than a straining base runner chugging from  2nd to home, hearing the thud of a fastball hitting the catcher’s mitt, the loud crack of the bat as the batter lines one over the fense, or the game ending strike out or being thrown out at home plate.

For anyone who spent an evening in Old Orchard at the BALLPARK in the 1980’s You will remember the Triple A Maine Guides. Anyway you will remember the fog, mosquitoes and traffic jams. It has been closed for years and the years have not been kind to the park. A forest grew up between the bases and the dugouts.

But now the BALLPARK is back. In 2008 a group of volunteers began to work to save the great facility. This year and in 2011 a college national championship will be played there. The BALLPARK renovation project , an overwhelming task was done by a small group of dedicated  volunteers. ” Build it and they will come ”

This last item I feel I must do.  In talking baseball with my grand kids, parents and friends about great ball players from the State of Maine, it is clear the Carlton Willey has been forgotten. That is not right. Carlton Willey came from a small town, Cherryfield, ME. on the coast in Washington County. He was one of the few Maine baseball players that was a well known major league pitcher.

Folks in his home town remembers Carlton as a modest, unassuming man, who never forgot where he came from. Willey was signed by the old Boston Braves in 1952. He signed then for a good rookie contract of $ 800. Willey spent the next 7 years in the minor league. But in 1957 he had a spectular season winning 21 games, and was called up by the new Milwaukee Braves. The Braves were facing the Yankees in the World Series. He got to pitch in the series and had a game won but the Braves lost it in extra innings. In 1958 he was selected as Rookie of the Year in the NL He had a 2.70 ERA, 4 shutouts, and 9 complete games. Of all he did he was most proud of hitting a grand slam home run against the Mets in the Old Polo Grounds.

In 1964, disaster struck in the form of a line drive off his face. The ball broke his jaw. He never recovered after that because he hurt his arm trying to come back to soon. He returned to Cherryfield where with his old pals he hunted, fished, did local politics, and always talked baseball. He died at age 78 on July 12, 2009.

I’ll end on a positive note. For Red Soxs Nation remember it is only May, the Soxs are not dead. They will recover from the SLOW start, they have done it before. They are showing signs of coming off the respirator. Have Faith.

Now Good News , you will be free from hearing anything from me the rest of the month. The Bad News is that unless the Feds hide you again in their Witness Protection Program I will find you in June just like the black flies will.

Until then, get out to a baseball game. It is what Americans do.  Cheers, your buddy, Dale

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