Olde Home Daze

Get out your extra change, buy a duck and bring a chair; it’s Olde Home Days again! Caught in the throes of the high pressure system baking all of the eastern seaboard, Marcellus was a toasty 92° for their annual Olde Home Days Parade. Outside the sun blazed down, but inside, big band music and lovely cool breezes lulled Marcellus residents into parting with some of the green stuff. Mistress Colleen sold ice cold water under a multicolored umbrella out in front of the Masonic Temple, and directed the foot traffic to the Eastern Star Trash and Treasure Sale. Mrs. H. was the chair for the sale again this year, and with the help of several generous donations of goods and clothing, was able to report with glee that the ladies were on the happy side of the ledger to the tune of over $562.00. Not an easy task in these days of soaring gas prices and mounting inflation. Kudos to all the Eastern Star Ladies, who sorted, priced and dickered their way into profitability!
The parade was truly spectacular this year- several new additions were cheerfully applauded; like the Big Island Band from Phoenix, NY (with their Hawaiian print shirts and steel drums) and the Syracuse Go Kart Racing Association. The Midstate Miata Club is a perennial favorite of Mrs. H. (who longs to be a member herself someday…) and, of course, the Shriner’s Motor Patrol were there. Mr. Hall noted warmly that Marcellus had finally made it on to the maps; nothing catches the eyes of Rand McNally like being the target of a gay pride activist group like the one they had in the parade; and it did his heart good to see Marcellus finally recognized for the (however backward thinking) metropolis that it was.
The annual Duck Race was Sunday, and despite the town’s best hopes for controlling the event by limiting the field to just 2000 ducks, it is the belief of the residents of Penguin Hall that their duck pulled a Big Brown on them; in any case, when it finally comes in this year, it will be counted as last.
Master Chris, however, is on a winning streak, of sorts. The Post Standard has a regular feature known as ‘The Daily Dose’ and they were looking for readers with interesting collections. Chris’ entry about his space gun collection was selected and he was promptly awarded (in the mail) one envelope of freeze-dried Astronaut Ice Cream. Later on, that same week, while listening to Oldies 92.1 WSEN Radio, Chris was the 9th caller to call in, thereby snagging the coveted Dinner for Two at one of the Hall’s favorite haunts: Doc’s Little Gem! (The prize will undoubtedly cover the plating charge for bringing his own ice cream dessert.)

Dress for Success

Ever since it made its debut at the bottom of the hill four years ago, Daniel’s Grill has been a source for liquid solace to varied and harried Marcellus and Skaneateles residents alike. Many a Friday evening’s found the Halls sighing contentedly, as they eased out of the big black car and into smart cocktails once again. Daniel himself would often come out, attired in his chef’s shirt and the loudest, flashiest printed chef’s pants imaginable, to say hello and catch up on the locals. So happy were the Halls that, despite the nasty construction surrounding the rebuilding of the bridge into town ,(impeding Daniel’s quest to continue to provide a cozy retreat just staggering distance away,) they donned their own goofy pants and shirts and marched in, Wednesday last, to show their support. Surprizing him after the dinner rush, Mr. and Mrs. H. and Master Chris declared it "Dress Like Daniel Day", presented Dan with a short speech, a poster of the restaurant and a personalized coffee mug, as a token of their high esteem. Daniel flushed, accepted his gifts most graciously and compted the Halls their evening’s drinks.

Memorial Daze

The sun shone down brightly Monday morning, so the Halls decided to leave the big black car in the garage and take their morning constitutional into town. Though he has always denied that he was running for political office, Mr. H. seems always to be surrounded by acquaintances and well-wishers, and today was no exception. (Mrs. Hall has remarked on several occasions that he knows more people than a head waiter...) Mistress Colleen had taken the family dog down ahead of them, and Master Chris, coming from work, met them in front of the ceremonial mighty Marcellus Memorial Rock, right in the heart of town.
Seven minutes later, after two ambulances, 15 veterans, two boys scout groups and the Marcellus High School marching band, the whole of the town's turnout returned to the Memorial Rock for speeches, a couple of hymns, Taps, a six-gun salute and the flag raising. It was a moving experience. Connections in the National Air Guard provide Marcellus with a yearly fly-by by four F-18s, which, in conjuction with the reading of the names of the honored heros, always reduces Mrs. H. to tears.
After the festivities, the little band strolled about town, shaking hands, telling jokes and checking out the new library. Colleen took an exhausted Wookie back home to rest, and Mr. and Mrs. H. stopped in to visit Mr. Hugh Norris, former Marcellus funeral director and current bon vivant, puttering about in his office lair. After a half an hour of tall tales on both gentlemen's part, the Hall's resumed their jaunt back home. All in all, a lovely and satisfying morning in the old burg; and a welcome official kick-off to summer!

The Halls at the Ball!

The 2008 Marcellus Senior Ball was last Saturday, and what a brilliant and glittering affair it was! Unable to contain her charms to just one escort, Mistress Colleen was accompanied by two charming gentlemen that evening. Mother Nature sat poised to deal a wet and sloppy blow to the revelers, but the fates kindly held off the deluge until all had been transported to the dance.
Mr. and Mrs. H., ever anxious to help in any way, were tapped again this year to be a part of the parade, and Mr. H. spent quite some time Saturday shining and priming the big black car for it's happy party charges. Mrs. H. was convinced it was all his doing that the drops held off as long as they did; not even the Rain Gods would want to crush all Mr. H's hard work like that!

Young Master Chris was helping out at the Syracuse Chief's game at Alliance Stadium for Armed Forces Day; and when he was done, joined the Halls at the driver's party, held at the Lakeside Volunteer Fire Department. He regaled Mr. and Mrs. H. and the other guests at their table with his magic card trick prowess! After the dance, the cars again lined up in front of the Empire Room at the State Fairgrounds to convey their charges one last time to the Ultimate Goal Sports Arena, for the post-prom activities. Miles of food tables and games of chance galore awaited the seniors, who changed out of their formals and into their play togs for another 6 or 7 hours (!!- oh, to be young again!) of noisy, happy fun.

While there is nothing Mrs. Hall likes to do more than kick up her heels and dance the "Cotton-eyed Joe", the "Macarena" and the "Soldier Boy"- in between winning Dart Poker and Putting for Dollars, Mr. H. decided that they had had all the fun he could stand and it was time to leave the evening (or more accurately, early morning) to the youngsters and go home. They slumped into the big black car, set the dials to autopilot and cruised back to the hall.

Feats of Clay Update!

The Marcellus "Mudstangs", as they called themselves, came out charging last Friday, at the OCC Feats of Clay competition! Twelve schools came messily together to compete in several fields of talent, and the clay was flying fast and furious on the terrace outside the gallery pavillion. Thursday evening, the college hosted a showing of local talent at Ferguson Galleries and Mistress Colleen was among the highlighted artists that day. She is shown at left with her work entitled "Edgy Box". She had been recommended by her art teacher to submit this piece because of it's large size and fragility. Mr. and Mrs. H. attended the opening and placed some bids in the silent auction for the work of some of the more established contributors, as well. The next day, the weather was spectacular; crisp, clear and perfect for the strenuous athletics involved in ceramic competition. The whole crew really put their hearts (and hands and various other body parts!) into the contest. In fact, one of the favorite contests is the "No Hands" competition (picture below) where contestants are free to show some vigorous body english in the bowl making! One of the last contests of the day is a take-off of the clean-up procedures from the past; the teams take turns throwing balls of clay into large plastic drums from various distances- the further the distance, the greater the point value. It was clearly one of the hotter competitions, and for a while, Marcellus had the lead in points, but Jamesville-Dewitt came up and squashed all comers by nailing three long distance throws right off the bat. Marcellus came in fifth that day; not as high up as they would have liked, but a step up in the standings for them, according to Tim Smarzo, the art teacher in charge of the "Mudstangs". Shown below are just a few of the scenes from the day. (The Halls were victorious in the auction also, and came home with a beautiful bowl for the dining room, sporting some lovely blue and green glazes.) All in all, a great day for all the artists at Penguin Hall!