Drove to Somers Point in drizzling rain, but was glad to meet Betty at the Anchorage. I just duplicated the meal I had with Tim and Tori the other day: rare burger and Blue Moon. After lots of talk and laughs, I went down to Betty's and sat on her porch for a time. We said goodbye with hugs and "love yous"--she's leaving for California on Monday and will be gone for a month.
I had been told of an players/playwrights gathering scheduled in September at the Ventnor Library, but I had lost the information about it. On impulse, decided to stop there to ask about it. Did so, and may attend.
The same building houses the Ventnor Historical Society and I saw that it was open. I've been there several times and hadn't intended to go in, but I was in no hurry, so stopped in.
Now some background: Five or six years ago, I had been at St. James, my grammar school Alma mater, and noticed a box with old pictures just carelessly thrown in. I volunteered to act as amateur archivist and went back several times to examine, categorize, and file a wide range of historic pictures. I bought a file box and dividers for some of the pictures, framed others (including the 1938 graduation picture of both my sister, Gene, and Pat's brother), devised a borrowing sheet, and generally got it all in order. The principal, Sister Joan, and the secretary, Anne C., seemed appreciative and I was hoping they might hang some of the framed items in the halls for present students to see.
That never happened and what's worse, every time I stopped in--several times over the years--to ask about the pictures, I was told they had been misplaced. There was a lot of turmoil at the time, as the school was in his final days, and employees were harried; Sister Joan died and St. James is now closed for good. I finally gave up trying to rescue the pictures, resigned to the idea that all my effort was in vain and those priceless, irreplaceable items were lost to the world.
Now here I was in the Ventnor Society, facing one of the volunteers, Ruth Somebody (Norwegian name). I'm not sure what made me do it, but I asked Ruth, if the Society had any memorabilia from St. James School. "We sure do," answered Ruth, and went in the back room to bring out the very file box I had bought and set up so long ago!
What a thrill! I was so pleased they were safe and in order, just as I had left them, and what's more, the framed items were also there. I guess I stayed an hour, examining again the wonderful pictures and talking with Ruth about our mutual background and acquaintances. We have many, as she was born and brought up in Ventnor, also attended St. James (a few years after I did), and still lives in Ventnor.
When I finally left, I was so excited I drove back to Betty's to tell her the good news. What a terrific day!