Jack Cromie has always wanted to build a wooden boat. This August, after completing a course in Classics (Greek) and before resuming his mechanical engineering courses, Jack grabbed his chance. He and his brother Bill discovered a two week, hands-on course in wooden boat building at the Great Lakes Boat Building School in Cedarville Michigan. This happens to be five miles down highway 134 from Hessel MI, the old summer stomping grounds of the Skinner/Adams tribe in the Les Cheneaux Islands. These protected waters on the north shore of Lake Huron are a perfect place for wooden boats – indeed, early in the 20th century, the very first mohogany-hulled Chris-Crafts were sold in Hessel at the Mertaugh Boat Works. So it is understandable why one of the premiere wooden boat building schools in the country would locate here. The stars seemed aligned for Jack to fulfill his boat building ambition. The goal? – to make a wooden canoe for the lakes of upstate New York.

Here are a few photos showing Jack and Bill at work, and the end result: The Shashoo – an elegant hand-crafted wooden canoe.

 

Cromie Boys at GLBBS 2009

Cedar strips used to fashion hull

Bulkhead compartment epoxied…

Japanese saw used to cut decking…

Hull gets sanded smooth…

Decking nears completion…

Bow Closeup before brass plating

She’s coaxed to water’s edge…

And Baptised

Test Pilot Bill

Then Jack…No leaks!

Professor Nichols with his Students

Off to New York with Shashoo

 

BTW, Lest you think the two weeks were all work, a couple of shots of the Cromies at play:

Jack prepares for Half Moon Bay

Malibu Bill…

Lookout O’Toole, kitesurfing is next for the Cromie boys!

What did you do this summer?

LC

Gentlemen, introducing Manly Maps – a new service for the spatially challenged ♂. Each year about this time as we set out for vacation destinations, the predictable “Don’t you think we’d better stop and ask…?” issue arises. Oi veh! It can become so tedious. To supplement our arsenal of dyes, workout wardrobes/equipment and pharmacologic enhancers, OurRumpus proudly introduces Manly Maps. No need to be a Girly Man who asks for directions. Use this Free Tool to flex your spatial orientation muscle. Manly Maps can be printed and kept in an unmarked box or in a pouch labeled Red Bull Chew.

Ladies, stay calm. For those less spatially challenged (i.e. the ♀) we offer Girly Guides which you can rely upon to reduce your spouse’s U-Turns. The guides are easily mounted in direct view on his steering wheel, and GPS coordinates can be fed into your Tom-Tom (if he will allow that…).

How do we get these? The OurRumpian Map utility is located in the column on the right (our sidebar) under The Library. But for this to work we need your participation- please send your home or vacation destinations and we’ll add these to our Manly Maps/Girly Guide section of our Library.

Don’t put this off – those of us coming to visit don’t want more No Vacancies before we finally ask directions!

LC

Round Pond, recently cleared of thick, surrounding cedar overgrowth, was the site of a delightful winter outing last Saturday. Family participants introduced the next generation to the exhilaration of outdoor skating. We had had several days of single digit temperatures producing ideal ice for the event. A hot chili lunch was then served at the Dunns to complete the afternoon. Everyone agreed that this should be a yearly mid-winter tradition.

Here is a short video clip of the action on this cold clear day.

News and Notes

Word is in that Lieutenant Manning Kalish has been redeployed stateside following his tour of duty in Iraq. We noted his service to country in a previous posting here. We share the pride and relief of the Kalishes. Thanks Manning for all that you do for us!

You will recall a family alert about the illness of Josie Brown. We are happy to relate that Josie is recovering nicely from recent surgery and hopes to be able to find/resume work in about four weeks. Please be aware that several family members generously sent checks to assist Josie during her illness. Some of these were never received by Josie. If you have outstanding checks made out to her which have not been acknowledged or cashed please give her a call (314-752-1573) to rectify the situation. Your generosity to this wonderful person is appreciated by her and the entire family.

The Chamberlain (in Exile)…

In 1940 began what Churchill called The Battle of Britain, an attempt by the German Luftwaffe to cow the British into surrender by a bombing campaign targeting not only military installations but also major population centers in Great Britain. To escape the bombing, Great Aunt Alicia Chichester and her grandchildren (Charlie and Rocky Petre and Alicia Cooke ) came to stay at 4969 Pershing in St Louis, the home of her mother Delphine Powell Chambers. They made frequent visits to Taille de Noyer where their Great Aunt Sara Chambers Polk lived. Family lore contends that Lemoine Skinner, an ace reporter with the St Louis Post-Dispatch, while interviewing these “War Orphans”, met and fell in love with their cousin Grizelda Polk. Pictures from Lemoine and Grizelda’s wedding (July 5, 1941) are shown here [Above Left: Lemoine kneeling with Charlie Petre, Alicia Cooke, and Rocky Petre. Bridesmaids Nancy Bascom, Betsy Mahaffey. Below Left:Charlie, Alicia and Rocky. Below Right: Bride Grizelda with Frank Harney and Alicia Cooke].

A decade later, in 1951, “Old Granny” Sarah Polk traveled with her husband Julius (BuPaw), her daughter Grizelda, her son Wm Julius (“Polky”) and the Skinner grandchildren to Europe. They first went to Les Issambres on the French Mediterranean, then traveled on to Tunworth Downs, Hampshire England, where Old Granny visited with her sister, Great Aunt Alicia Chichester and her family. The following 16 mm film footage was shot at Tunworth by Grizelda.

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Fast Forward

As noted in Glimpses IV, Molly Wynn Owen provided us a number of current photos of the Petre, Cooke and Salter families. These follow below:

Alicia (Cooke) Salter with Charlie Petre

Emma Louise, Molly, and Alicia in Turkey, Fall 2007

Claudia (nee Petre) and Ambrose Scott-Moncrieff

Jonathan, Simon and Philip Gray, with Hugo Salter

Edward Petre

Hugo Salter, the Gray Boys, Alicia, Edward and Lucy Petre, and Fenella (Petre) Gray

Rocky and Charlie Petre with Anthony Cooke

Caroline Petre and Alicia

Emma Louise Salter with Lucy (fiance to Edward Petre)

Molly and Toby Salter

Molly, Claudia, Ambrose, Gareth and Nick

Nick Salter with Gareth Wynn Owen

Last but not Least: Siena (Sasha Cooke’s oldest daughter)

MIA’s: Ray Salter, Andy Gray, Melanie Petre, Sasha Cooke, Chloe and Oliver. Next Time!

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Notice: There will be a Quiz on this material at the end of term – be forewarned…

The Chamberlain

Our first snapshot of family doings …

Calvin Gatch (III), Platteville WI writes:

“…today I went to the nursing home in town to visit a neighbor of mine who recently had a stroke. It was harder to see him than I thought it was going to be. The stroke turned off so many connections, it was like meeting and talking to a stranger. Only a few weeks before, he had called me and asked if I would help him on his farm to put a few acres of soybeans in.

(MOUSE OVER FOR CLOSE UP)

He lives in town and to get to his farm he has to cross a river that has really been a battle of wills over the years with the river usually winning. I was happy to let him come through our farm and help get his tractors started, hooked up to the various implements, and tenderly hold him as he struggled to get up in the cab and in the seat. We would then follow each other around the fields, plowing, disking and harrowing the ground. Dad and I actually finished up planting his crops as his health really started to deteriorate before the stroke. The incredible part of this story is that he is 94 years old. Helping him to enjoy working the ground on his farm for probably the last time was a wonderful opportunity to learn some life lessons from a farmer and local trucker that lived his life very simply.

I am sending some pictures of him that I took this spring.

When we all gather together at the farm, I don’t think we are ever really able to share or describe what paths we are wandering down each day, and I think it would really be a chance to have understanding and appreciation for where we are in our lives… ”

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…This past April I made the decision to sell my truck and trailer and get out of the business for awhile. I had been running so hard for so many years and with the anticipation of Cal’s arrival, and wanting to be with the cows during calving season for the first year in many, it was an easy decision. I had a new Peterbilt that was a beautiful truck to own and drive, but very inefficent to operate, even considering my good New York freight. I felt very fortunate to have sold it when I did as I think the industry is changing so fast and that the days of the fancy classic truck that I love are over. The break from the grind of the road has been a blessing. It was so relaxing to be home with little Cal without the pressure of having to run a truck, and I feel that it has taken the past four months to really recover from the pace that I was operating on. Not having the commitment to a truck also allowed me to have the opportunity to help Burt, my 94 year old neighbor. Helping him was such an inspiration to me. Instead of sitting in a nursing home here is this old man who can hardly walk struggling to plant another crop. Observing his love of the land, his machinery, the livestock that he once raised and the companionship of a young neighbor that still has so much to learn about the joys and hardship of farming was a once in a lifetime experience.

The break from the weekly grind of trucking has also allowed dad and me to begin the process of restoring both the rock barn at the Dubuque farm and the rock house at the Hazel Green farm. Both buildings are so beautiful and have so much more long term potential and reward than any Peterbilt. For now our goal is just simply to preserve the integrity of the buildings so that further resoration will be possible. This chance to start these projects would not have been possible without selling my last truck and trailer.

As frustrated as I had become with life on the road, I still do unfortunately have a feverish love of semi-trucks. In the past month I have bought another truck and trailer and am getting ready to put it on the road. After being independent for so many years, I have realized how hard it would be to not own my own truck and be able to make the decisions that I enjoy making as a result. The difference this time is that instead of having two hundred thousand dollars tied up in equpiment, I have about thirty thousand dollars in some nice older equipment. Hopefully it will allow a balance in my life that I have not enjoyed the past few years. Although I am looking forward to making some runs to other parts of the country besides New York City, I think there is still a pretty good chance that on any given Sunday night you might see me headed down Second Avenue in Manhattan enroute to the Meat Packing District.

Calvin also sent in these photos …

Papa Calvin at work cutting hay	Little Cal with Abigail and Daisy
Cal Jr and III plan old Hazel Green farm house rehab	Becky checks in on the cattle

Next Glimpse: Clare Cromie O’Toole.
Upcoming issues: Joe Pentland, Molly Wynn-Owen, Qun Sha, Sarah Law
Further updates welcome – forward to: chamberlain@ourrumpus.com

Thanks to Aunt Alicia Withers we have three superb snapshots to accompany Hugh Law’s recent post about George Polk. Here they are:

Ocean View, Virginia

July, 1942

W.J.Polk, George Polk, Eleanor Schafly, Alicia Polk

Kay and George Polk

George and W.J. Polk

Hat tip to Aunt Alicia!

The Chamberlain