Michael L Schwartz
7629 W Kristal Way
Glendale AZ 85308
email: schwartz@acm.org
Home: (623) 561-1223
Oct. 21, 2002
slight revised, later
Dear Barbara and Gerry, and Eric and Randy,
I saw lots of folks on my recent trip. I just got back in town
today. I plan to send copies of this letter to most of those who
are mentioned in it -- plus some others. In case they want to know
why they are referred to in the 3rd person, let's just say, that it
is just a copy of a letter to you. OK?
Some of them may find this letter too long or too short.
If this is too long, I would recommend for them to just read the
summary. If this is too short, then perhaps they can ask me for
more details about a particular part. Or, if they just need more
stuff to read, then I would recommend that they read a nice book
or magazine or newspaper -- perhaps from the library.
Summary
-------
1. Went to Texas for Brain Hertz's Bar Mitzvah Celebration;
as long as we were in Texas, we also went to Austin (saw
Richard & Jackie's house, and some of us went swimming
in the Lake (Travis).
We also went to San Antonio. Met Irma, and Jack's girl
friend Jessica, and attended an unveiling of a memorial
stone at Bonni's Grandma's grave.
2. Visitors' day at Camp Ramah -- in July we went to Calif.
We saw Paula Sonkin. While I was at the Camp, I saw
Gilbert Scherer, and he asked me whether I planned to go
to Shreveport in Oct. I told him my parents were a
definite YES. As for myself, I was undecided,
3. Trip during Oct. 2002 -- went to 6 cities -- including
Shreveport, for the 100-year anniversary of the shul there.
Actually, if I had written this letter about 1 and 2, instead
of 3, I could have called it "How I spent my summer vacation".
Ha ha.
details of my trip
Oct. 3, 2002, Jeremy took me to the airport. I had tickets (the
e-ticket kind) to go to Washington DC (Reagan National airport) with
a change of planes in Houston. I don't think I had heard yet,
about the "sniper" shootings that had started just the day before,
(Oct 2) in the suburbs of that city. But, once I got there, it
mentioned a lot in the media, both on TV and in newspapers. I
spent 3 days in Washington with a friend, Brandon Schneider,
before going on to Richmond, Va.
Richmond, Va.
-------------
This was the "condensation nucleus" for my Oct. 2002 trip.
How plans formed, for this trip
-------------------------------
I found out what that phrase, "condensation nucleus", means
from my copy (from 1992) of Compton's Encyclopedia, in the
article about "rainfall", where it says:
For raindrops to form there must be particulate matter
in the air, such as dust or salt, at temperatures above
freezing. These particles are called condensation nuclei.
So, back around the end of 2001, I found out that the annual
Honeywell / Habitat for Humanity "Blitz Build" event, for 2002,
would be in Richmond, Va in October.
I had originally attended one of these in Nov. 1999, in
Glendale AZ. Partly because I didn't have to do any traveling
to participate in that one. Also, it may have been partly
because I had some vacation time to use up, under the "use it
or lose it" rules at Honeywell. Then, in 2000 it was in
Albuquerque NM, so I was able to get a ride with someone.
Then in 2001 it was in Snoqualmie Ridge, WA -- so I did fly,
but not too far.
This year [2002] it was in Richmond, Va. So, when my
friend Brandon Schneider heard that it was to be in Richmond,
he suggested that I could come to visit him in Washington DC
also. He was already making plans to move to Washington DC,
after attending Thunderbird, (http://www.t-bird.edu), the
American Graduate School of International Management here
in Glendale AZ.
So that was probably part of the reason, why I did
go this year, to the Blitz Build. Richmond is a long way to
travel, so as long as I was going to be one the East Coast,
I added some other visits / activities. Also, another thing
that helped make my decision to go to the blitz build this
year, besides
--> the fact that it would also be a visit to Brandon
was
--> the fact that Paul Hlavinka had tickets to the
Rice/Navy game in Annapolis, Oct. 12 2002.
Then, once I decided to go, I started thinking about maybe
going to Houston, and Shreveport, too. "On the way back"
from the East Coast.
I had gotten some info in the mail, about Oct. 2002 being
Shreveport / Bossier [City] Jewish History Month, and about
the weekend of Oct. 18-20 being Agudath Achim Reunion Weekend,
the 100-year anniversary of the shul there. I knew that my
parents were planning to attend that, and when we went to
visitors' day at Camp Ramah in CA (July 14, 2002) to visit
Melody, Gilbert Scherer asked me whether
I was planning to go to Shreveport in Oct. At that time I
was not sure, but I told him that my parents would be there
for sure. So that was another little factor. Or maybe a
catalyst, or something.
But the Blitz Build in Richmond only lasted until Oct.
12. That left some time in between, before the trip to
Shreveport. So, that time eventually got filled in, with
some of the other stuff described below -- namely, a side
trip to attend the Rice-Navy game with Paul Hlavinka, of
the web site http://www.ricefootball.net/, and a side trip
to New York City, to visit Scott Hertz.
Maybe I cold have done a better job of planning this
trip. Perhaps I could have stopped in Philadelphia, to
visit Edith Newman. I also did not contact any of the guys
I worked with, 30 years ago as a summer intern, with the
Marine Corps HQ, in HQMC1.AP8 in the Navy Annex building,
near the Pentagon, in Arlington VA in the summer of 1972.
Or, Dan Forelli,
a former Navy flyer, whom I met in Phoenix shortly before
this trip, who said he would be on the E. coast some time
in Oct. to do some work at the State Dept. or something.
He lives somewhere near Seattle -- I think he said
Gig Harbor, WA. -- and has a Harley Davidson [motorcycle].
He has a daughter who is a nationally ranked swimmer.
Hey, that's a lot in common with Kenny Baum, who also
bought a Harley (I am not sure whether he still has it)
and their daughter Lauren Baum is a competitive swimmer
(and cheerleader, and Mit Mom in BBG, and lot of other
stuff -- busy!
Also, I could have sent some e-mail to Zhongyan Lin, who
used to work in my dept. at Honeywell, and now lives in
Potomac, MD (I think), right near Washington DC. I think
he teaches now at a U of Delaware (or is it D. State U?)
But it was already a hectic trip. Six cities
(not counting my own) in about 18 days.
Some details
------------
In Washington DC, I went on the Metro (subway). The
friend I was staying with, Brandon Schneider, lives at
2800 Quebec Street, which is right near the "Cleveland
Park" Metro stop. It is also right near the shul called
Adas Israel. It turns out that he lives in the same
building, and attends the same shul, as Bruce Karpati
lived in / attended, when he was in Washington DC.
Small world.
Brandon Schneider works for CACI now. He introduced
me to some of his friends, mostly at the shul.
The reason I didn't have a car in DC, was due to
parking. I had considered, flying in Richmond, and renting
a car, and then driving to Washington DC and back. That
way, I would have had a car, [only] during when I was in
Washington DC. But B. Schneider said, that it would be
better not to have a car in Washington! He said the parking
was prohibitive, [-ly expensive] and since one can get
around well, on the Metro, he recommended, no car. So,
I decided to just fly in to Washington, and get a round
trip bus or train to/from Richmond. (I ended up going
to/from Richmond on Amtrak.)
When I was ready to leave Washington DC, I took the
Metro to Union Station [the train station]. Then, I got
on the Amtrak train to Richmond. Someone from Honeywell /
Habitat for Humanity, picked me up from the train station.
It was Christine Volinsky's father, Neal Turnberg.
During the blitz build, they had certain house leaders
and crew leaders, who really knew what they were doing.
Some of the rest of us, did some of the work, but relied on
the others for most of the decision making. Sometimes there
was some heavy lifting involved, or other strenuous work.
It was fun, and good exercise. Fresh air. (even when we
were painting, the windows were usually open).
I got to help glue and nail some dray wall, and put up
some [vinyl] siding, and did a lot of painting. I also filled
in mail holes, after the door frames had been put up, and
put on many of the door handles, in one of the 4 houses,
after the doors had been painted and put onto the hinges.
We always had a good appetite, and the food tasted great
in Richmond. Most of it was catered by a BBQ co. called
"Brock's". On 2 of the evenings, a country music singer
performed free for us. I think her name was April Paige
or Page. She is from Chester, which is a suburb of Richmond.
In the hotel, I shared a room with Gale Turner. He is
from Orangeville IL. Near Freeport, where Honeywell has a
MicroSwitch plant. He has a daughter and son in law, whom
I met, that live in Fredericksburg, VA.
One night, while my laundry was in the machine at the
laundry-mat, I was talking to Nadine Smith, who used to work
in my division, (Aerospace Electronic Systems) of Honeywell.
She works in the Automation and Control division or SBU,
(now called ACS I think, but it used to be called IAC).
I told her that I know Frank Otsuka. I thought he still
worked there, but she said he was cut in the last round of
layoffs. That was news to me. Gale Turner also was laid
off, about a month before I met him. After I got back in
town, I called Frank Otsuka, and forwarded (e-mail) his
resume to Rochelle Balch (http://www.rbbalch.com).
When I was ready to leave Richmond, Sheila McBride took
me to the Amtrak train station. She will take over for
Christine Volinsky, handling the planning and coordinating
if the Honeywell/Habitat for Humanity blitz builds. In the
future. Christine recently had a baby. We met her baby,
(and her parents) in Richmond.
Rice-Navy Game
--------------
Paul Hlavinka had gotten some free tickets to the Rice
Navy game. Actually, he had a nephew or cousin or something,
named Byron Hlavinka, who is interested in attending the
Naval Academy. However, Byron was not able to attend the ball
game, as he
had some very important event involving the school band that
he is part of. Also, Ramsay Elder and David Speed Elder were
supposed to attend, but David had already backed out, due to
some reason I am not familiar with, and Ramsay canceled just
the day before, because his father fell and broke his hip, so
Ramsay needed to stay and help take care of him. I think
his father also has Alzheimer's.
The hotel at BWI was very nice. ("Embassy Suites").
It turns out, had I known, the Amtrak (or, the DC Metro) does
have a stop at the BWI "airport" station, and the hotel has a
free shuttle to/from there (anywhere within 2.5 miles of
the hotel). But Paul had already agreed to pick me up, at the
[Union] Station in Washington DC, so that's what we did.
During the day, he had done some business at the USDA, and
after that, he went to the Holocaust Museum. He also saw a
bunch of hockey players, including the famous one Jagr, so he
went to the Washington Hockey game before meeting me. See
Paul's wife, Kim, for an interesting story about how she met
Jagr (the highest paid Czech-born hockey player) at a White
House dinner.
The weather was nice for the Rice-Navy game. Overcast, not
too hot. Paul snapped digital photos, so he could post some
of them on the world wide web. After the game we went to a
restaurant, where Paul saw some friends and fans, including
some of the relatives of the Rice football players. For example,
he talked to the father of the Quarterback, who had played the
first half of the game. He had gotten an injury (described as
a "slight" concussion) (is there such a thing?) so he did not
play the second half. But we [Rice] still won. And I think
Paul said, that he [the QB] would probably be back in time for
the next game. In the mean time, the other quarterback, got
to play during the second half of the game in Annapolis. I
guess that is good. experience.
At the end of the game, I saw the players do one of those
things where they high-five or slap hands, with each player on
the other team. I think I had seen that before after a little
league baseball game, but I was surprised to see it after a
college football game. Paul did tell me later, that the Rice
fans usually root for Navy, when Navy is playing any other team.
Later, we went on a walking tour of some parts of Annapolis,
including the Naval Academy campus. Some of the midshipmen
or cadets or whatever they are, were very nice and helpful.
Paul flew back to Houston from the BWI airport, and I took
the Amtrak train to New York City. I went "business class",
which meant that they included a newspaper (Sunday NY Times)
and a free non-alcoholic beverage.
When I got to NYC, I saved money by taking the subway
instead of a cab to Scott Hertz's place. I took a 1 or 9
train from Penn Station up to 42nd Street, and then an "S"
train (Shuttle) over to Lexington Ave., and then a number
6 up to 96th Street. Scott actually lives closer to 92nd
Street (the 92nd Street Y) but that was close enough, to walk.
Both of my big suitcases have wheels. That really helped.
Especially since some of the elevators were broken and I
had to use the stairs, both up and down, at some points,
to get where I was going. I know I could have spent a little
more and taken a cab. Maybe I was just trying to set a good
example for my son and daughter. Ha.
Scott was working on some of the "outside" web sites, that
he also works on, to get extra money on the side. He showed
me his laptop PC, and his cell phone (complete with color
pictures) and his TV (with a lot of cable channels). He is
considering moving, partly since his friend, David Chernak,
who used to live in the NY area (NJ I think) is planning to
move back to NY, to work in the TV [show] industry. I think
once David gets a job there, they can start looking for an
apt. Scott works on the E. Side. I was the first family
member to get a chance to see Scott's office. By the time
I got to Houston, Brian also was showing off, that he now
has some (one?) of his brother Scott's business cards.
Brian was very impressed.
Tuesday, Scott went with me, to have lunch with Arthur
{Karpati). Bruce joined us also. When we got to Arthur's
building, we brought some baby gifts for Arthur's son, who
is about a month old. Four pairs of "feetie" PJ's. Melody
used to love to wear those, all the way up to when she wore
the biggest size they come in. Plus, they are wash-and-wear.
No ironing needed.
We went to a deli nearby for lunch. I took some photos
using one of those "one time use" cameras that Bonni suggested
I should use. Actually, I had bought 2 of them, but I didn't
start the second one, since I didn't use up the first one.
Tues. night, I was invited over to Larry Bootin's place.
He is an old friend of mine from Houston. His sister Susan
is still friends with my sister Susan in Houston. She also
knows Donna. Larry lives on Bennett Ave., near 187th Street
(between Broadway and Ft Washington Ave.) I took the cross
town bus to Columbus circle, then the "A" train up to 181st
Street (really 184th) and walked the rest of the way.
Larry also used to work with me at TX Instruments, back in
the early 70's in Houston. Also, when we were about 2 years
old, I knew him from the old JCC there, where his parents
used to run the snack bar.
Larry has 5 children, all but one were there. I met his
wife too. One of their sons was in Brooklyn so I did not get
to meet him. We took some more pictures.
Wed. am. Continental Airlines said my flight had been
cancelled. I was free to take an earlier or later flight.
The Super Shuttle could not guarantee to pick me up until
noon, as it was pouring rain. So, I just took a cab to the
[LGA] airport, and they said, not only were there plenty of
seats on the 11:59 flight, (I thought you had to get to the
airport 1.5 or 2 hours early!) but, as of about 10:00 when
I got to the airport, they could still get me on the 10:29
flight to Houston! That was the first time I ever got on a
plane, literally without having time to sit down, at all,
in the airport before leaving. I barely had time to call
Donna, who was picking me up at the Houston airport, and
call 1-800-Blue-Van to cancel my reservation for the Super
Shuttle (to get to the NY airport). There were plenty of
seats on the plane. And, since it was still raining, I was
glad to be up in the air, and on my way. If they had put me
on a later flight (which is probably what would have happened,
if I had not called up to re-confirm), then I would have
gotten in late, and I would have missed
most of the dinner, that Donna and Susan threw Wed. night.
And Susan and Barry were leaving Thurs. for a wedding in
Florida. so busy!
Thurs. we went to the AAA and got a TripTik. They did not
have a map of Shreveport. We were staying at a new hotel,
the Comfort Inn, at exit 199 of Interstate 49.
Thurs. Pinhas Bendayan showed me a million dollar house
on Memorial, between Voss and Fondren, that he is trying to
sell. That night, we met Paul Hlavinka and his wife Kim
for dinner. Pinhas has a friend who is from Slovakia, the
other half of the former Czechoslovakia. Pinhas wanted him
to meet Paul, and chat in Czech. I think they did at least
talk on the phone. Pinhas said that, if the 100-year
anniversary celebration had a book, to get a copy of the
book for him, and he would pay for it. I did and he did.
Also, my Mother decided to buy a copy of the book too.
My parents and I left Friday am. and drove from Houston
to Shreveport. We arrived mid afternoon. We saw lots of
Shreveport folks, including some who still live there now,
such as David Ginsburg and Sandy, and their children, and
his mother Carol Ginsburg. We also saw many who now live
out of town, such as Martin Ginsburg, Abie Charski and Alex
("Ellick") Wolchansky, and Dr and Mrs. Rubein, all of Houston,
and Sharon Ritman (Albuquerque), and her mother Janet Ritman,
and Linda Kesilman (Colorado), and Susan Gardsbane (Everett
WA, near Seattle). Some of these women, I do not remember
their current last names, even though maybe I should. We did
meet Susan's husband. During the afternoon we were invited
to Lolly Gardsbane's house (Susan's mother). We saw Max
and Cecily Renov (Ft Worth Texas), and his brother Manny
(Atlanta? - I think) and Manny's wife Claire. I also saw
Alan Organick, whose father Elliott taught at the U of Houston,
and whom I met 9 years ago when I was in Shreveport for a
C.E. Byrd HS reunion. We also saw Susan Gross, chairperson
of the Agudath Achim sisterhood, and author of the book
(bought by my mother, and by Pinhas Bendayan) about the
"first 100 years" of the congregation Agudath Achim. We also
saw tons of other folks, whom my parents know but I don't.
I really only lived in Shreveport for about a year and a half
- about one 1/12th as long as they did.
The book about the "first 100 years" of the congregation
Agudath Achim proved to be a great joy to look through. It
provided, and jogged, a lot of memories about times past.
Many of the "reminiscences" listed there, were from people
we know, such as Janet Ritman, and Max and Manny Renov. I was
sitting right next to Max and Manny, when I first saw that
book, and started flipping through it.
When I got back in town, Jeremy and Melody came to the
airport to pick me up. My plane was a little late getting in,
and the luggage took a long time to arrive. It is good to be
back home.
sincerely,
Michael L (Mike) Schwartz