Sarah Porter Law , Clare, Laurence and Darren O’Toole hit the beaches at Dingle, as Sarah Porter visits her cousins in Ireland.

Here is our report from Clare O’Toole

“We had a lovely time with Sarah. It’s was short, but very sweet and we enjoyed having her very much. She’s off sailing and the wind is mighty this week so the sailing course will be anything but dull.

Sarah was able to meet Laurence at the airport on his return from a business trip in Turkey and catch a ride down to the country. Darren and I met them half way and we toured Glendalough in Wicklow before heading back to the farm for dinner. We had a quiet rainy day at the farm shelling peas (they’ve all just come in at once!), baking and playing inside on Thursday (Darren showed Sarah all of his toys – she got the full toy tour) and then took off for our house in Kerry on the Dingle Peninsula Thursday night.

We were blessed with a gorgeous day on Friday, Laurence windsurfed and we played a bit at the beach before heading off to see some of the Peninsula and have dinner in Dingle. Darren was very taken with two little French girls at the restaurant and kept trying to walk/crawl over to their table – eating out with toddlers is always exciting, but the food was gorgeous and Irish restaurants are very laid back, thankfully, about kids.

Sarah was off then to Cork for her course. Before she left Sarah gave Darren a lovely cosy kitten puppet and story book, both of which he has really taken to. He has several stuffed animals, but the kitten is his favorite by far. He snuggles up with it before bed and nap times and swaps lots of kisses.

Pictures below.. Note the warning signs on the beach one of which clearly indicates “no swimming” neatly demonstrating an Irish disregard for any rules or regs!”

And here are the snapshots of this adventure:

 

Sarah Porter in Western Ireland

Sarah Porter with Cousin Clare

Men on the Beach – Laurence and Darren

 

Our thanks to Clare for providing this glimpse of the Emerald Isle and our cousins there. What a wonderful time – from shelling peas to windsurfing on the Atlantic – quite a wonderful spectrum, eh?

Be sure to send in any summer vacation or travel updates that you think the family would enjoy seeing, and also videos. As time permits we’ll paste them up – we’re woefully behind but will try to get them out as soon as we can…

LC

There is much to report but, alas, little time in which to do so. However, I did want to report a recent award that will give all clan members great pride. The following letter from Hannah M. Pennington, Director, Bronx Legal Project, NYC Family Justice Center, Sanctuary for Families, gives the details.

“Dear All:

We are thrilled to announce that your colleague Suzanne Skinner has been chosen as a recipient of this year’s Sanctuary for Families Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Advocacy for her outstanding legal work on behalf of Sanctuary clients. We are so pleased to be able to honor your colleague in this way, and are so grateful for Paul Weiss’s commitment to providing such high caliber pro bono legal services to victims of domestic violence.

Suzanne will be honored at the eighth annual “Above & Beyond” Benefit on November 15, 2010 at Crimson, 915 Broadway at 21st Street, New York City. If you have not attended before, we hope you will join us at this wonderful event, hosted by Sanctuary’s Associates Committee, to celebrate the contributions of your colleague and other lawyers to Sanctuary for Families’ Center For Battered Women’s Legal Services (the Legal Center).

As you know, Sanctuary for Families is one of the leading nonprofit agencies in the nation dedicated exclusively to serving domestic violence victims and their children. Sanctuary offers sophisticated, holistic services to meet the complex needs of our clients, including shelter, counseling, legal representation, and assistance in making the transition to independent living. Sanctuary serves over 10,000 victims every year, and all services are provided completely free of charge. The Legal Center was established in 1989 and is now the largest legal center in the country exclusively dedicated to meeting the legal needs of domestic violence survivors.

The Sanctuary Associates Committee is a group of young professionals who support the work of Sanctuary and specifically the Legal Center. The Committee’s goals are to create a broad network of lawyers representing domestic violence victims, raise awareness of the critical legal and social services provided by Sanctuary, and raise funds for the Legal Center. The Committee hosts the annual “Above & Beyond” Benefit to recognize the work of pro bono attorneys who go “above & beyond” in assisting survivors of domestic violence, while raising funds to support the critical work of the Legal Center. To see pictures of and information on last year’s benefit, please visit the Sanctuary for Families website.

On behalf of the Sanctuary for Families staff and the entire Associates Committee we would like to thank you for your firm’s commitment to our work. Without pro bono partnerships like the one we have with your firm, we would not be able to do what we do.

Thank you.

Hannah Pennington, Esq.
Staff Liaison to Sanctuary Associates Committee

Abigail Zucker Schlaff, Esq.
Associates Committee Co-Chair

Jennifer Smith, Esq.
Associates Committee Co-Chair”

Truly impressive Suzanne! What an achievement. Needless to say, we are very proud of you. We hope you will share any photos taken at the November Benefit with us.

LC

More Hat Tips to Clansmen!

Here’s the latest from George Judy on his promotion to lead the Commercial Truck Division for Enterprise Rent-a-Car in Milwaukee WI.

“We sold our house in Neenah after living there for almost 7 years and expect to close on our new house in Whitefish Bay by the end of July. We have had a longing to be back in the city for sometime now (culture, things to do, diversity, etc.) so we are very excited to be here. Whitefish Bay is just a few miles north of downtown Milwaukee and is just a few blocks from Lake Michigan, It’s got great parks on the lake, a small downtown area within walking distance and a great public school system.

I’ve been working in Milwaukee for the past couple of months and I’m heading up our Commercial Truck division (Group Truck Manager). Enterprise opened Commercial Truck about 10 years ago. We have only been opened in Wisconsin for about 4 years and so we are a small operation in a very established and competitive market. My job is to change that and expand our operations throughout Wisconsin. July 15th will mark my 15 year anniversary with Enterprise. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long.

We are heading up to our place on Washington Island today and are very excited to have a whole week of vacation up there. It’s been a hectic few months so we are more than ready for the trip…

Love,
George III, Lucy, Magnolia (3 1/2), and George IV (15 months)”

Featured on the cover of the 24th of May issue of America Magazine (shown above) is an article by our Peter J Smith MD. Pete is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Chicago, specializing in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities, and is Director of the Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics Fellowship Program there. He is actively involved in both lay and physician education regarding developmental disabilities. His article is part of this effort, focusing on the need for Catholic Parishes to have a better understanding of and more inclusive attitude towards their disabled parishioners

“Much progress has been made in the area of language. Today, parishioners typically understand that many formerly acceptable terms (crippled, Mongoloid, handicapped, even “the disabled”) are no longer acceptable. It is better to use precise and accurate terms like a “child with cerebral palsy” or to speak of a “person with a disability,” which communicates that one sees the person first and the disability second…”

It’s impressive to see careers such as these underway… LC

An exuberant 4th of July Greetings and family update to the Chamberfolk from the Kalish-Withers contingent.

Thanks to Aunt Eleanor for including us in her update, and congratulations to all the K-W family – especially Great Aunt Alicia. More updates/kudos in the works !

LC

For the past few weeks I’ve been struggling with a technique that supports the display of very high resolution images on the web. There are so many beautiful photos to view, but till now they have been frustratingly slow to load. Here are some results for you to play with. Click on the images, zoom in, and drag around inside the images to explore them at higher magnification. Give it a try…

Charlie Pentland

Ancient Pear Tree

Peter Smith’s Wonderful Discovery

Bood Root

“Arrrrgh!”

After the Rain

Very Black Snake

Another Reptile at Thurtene Carnival

Not to worry – I will eventually get to part 2 of the Skinner Reunion – lots of fun stuff to see – so little time!!!

If you have a special photo for the blog which you would like to feature, upload it to Flickr or a Google Web album so I can grab it. Or of course email it. Unfortunately Shutterfly and similar photo print sites don’t facilitate downloads, so we can’t grab your images from them.

Anyhow, hope you enjoy these pictures!

LC

Here’s part one of a very successful Skinner Reunion at Moone Athy on Memorial Day. It was wonderful for so many family members, Skinner and non-Skinner alike, to take time out to join up. Part two should be coming up soon, D.V.

Technical Tip – these HD videos can ‘stutter’ on slower connections. If this is a problem, do the following: Hit the play button, then immediately hit pause. Your download will still continue. Watch the light red bar progress from left to right below the player screen, indicating the extent of your video download. Go have a snack. When you get back, your replay should run smoothly…

LC