Sunday afternoon, October 16th. Housatonic in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. After ten days of rain and unprecedented flooding all over New England, the sky clears. Somewhat.
Berkshire foliage
turning
color;
leaves beginning
to
fall.
"The Church" decorated, inside
and
out.
In the newly renovated Center "boiler room," the human kitchen machine is at full throttle. Tongs are well oiled and perfectly balanced to efficiently fill plates full of our everpresent shrimp cocktail,
As you sit and read this, lift you legs and march in place, loudly. Louder! That's what these five volunteer wait staff from the 21st Culinary Engineering Division sound like as they mass in the hallway before they take the room.
Executive Chef brother John Williams and erstwhile Center Director Lisa Guthrie fend off unrelenting requests to reveal the secret ingredient in the legendary squash.
But the hard work isn't limited to the kitchen. Sarah Miller and Charlotte Carlson do double duty greeting guests and "checking" the wine.
Jim introduces Laura Kokoska of DNA Wellness Studios in Old Lyme, Connecticut who addresses "the congregation" and leads us in an opening Yoga exercise. "Raaa Maaa Daaa Sa..."
Then, "a Thanksgiving Dinner that couldn't be beat"...together.
My tablemates clockwise: Nina, John, Charlotte, Arlo, Jackie, Anne and Hugo. 91-year-young Hugo has walked the 6.6-mile Garbage Trail. Twice!
After dinner we watch "Too Much Too Stop," a film about the friendship of two dancers, Marisa Yudkin and Dawn Lane, and their powerfully touching collaboration set against the challenge of HD. Dawn and Marisa's Mom, Elaine, were with us.
Fellow diners recognize filmmaker John Whalan after Too Much To Stop.
Drs. Jin Wang, Hui Zhu, Marcy MacDonald and Jim Gusella, all from the Molecular Neurogenetics Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital, explain their work and answer a few questions lighthearted questions about their work.
Bell's Seasoning has been made in Massachusetts since 1867. It's widely distributed in the USA east of the Mississippi River. It's used to season the stuffing of a turkey. In some homes it's as much a part of the Thanksgiving tradition as cranberry sauce or...well, listening to Alice's Restaurant!
As an expression of our gratitude for their enduring quest on our behalf to cure Huntington's Disease, we gave each scientist a box of Bell's Seasoning with which to season their Thanksgiving turkey. So that they may season their bird with our gratitude, each box was signed by one member of the 24 families touched by HD at the dinner.
"But wait!
There's pie!!!"
If you want it, there's a piece left for you!
About 100 walkers raised $14,000. for Casa Hogar in Venezuela and the Marjorie Guthrie Fund of The International Huntington Association at this year's Garbage Trail Walk. The on-and-off-again rain all day certainly didn't dampen their spirit.
There are few, if any, restroom facilities along the route of The Walk. For the comfort and convenience of our walkers we've placed a PortaPotty at the water stop at the old Stockbridge dump. Subsequently someone who shall remain unnamed came up with a notion of great impropriety: put a sign on the potty that said, "Dump at the Dump." In a classic struggle between good taste and fun, some found it vulgar while others found it amusing. All in good fun? Adolescent foolishness?
The debate raged on until a local poet found his Muse. Unfortunately, his Muse was born thirty miles up the Mass Pike: Dr. Seuss! Widely recognized in Stockbridge for his other contributions, few neighbors even knew he had a Muse! Rick Wilcox came forward with an inspired reading of his Ode to Jim. It inspired us all as we look ahead to the 2006 Garbage Trail Walk! Highly respected for his integrity, he shocked the audience by trying to blame this reporter for any indiscretion as he completed his poem!
We couldn't sponsor these events without volunteers. This year our waitresses were Maggie , Mary Lou, Lisa and Sue. Ably assisted by Lauren and Carmen. Maggie and Mary Lou may look familiar to Garbage Trail Walkers! For the last three years, known collectively as "The Dump Divers," then "The Dump Divas," they've provided food, music and fun at the old Stockbridge Dump water stop.
Arlo Guthrie filled us in on his trip to New Orleans in December on Amtrak's City of New Orleans to raise money to provide small live music clubs,damaged in Hurricane Katrina, with new sound, lighting and staging gear.
About 100 walkers raised $14,000. for Casa Hogar in Venezuela and the Marjorie Guthrie Fund of The International Huntington Association at this year's Garbage Trail Walk. The on-and-off-again rain all day certainly didn't dampen their spirit.
