A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

research

Digging up family history

The DeCarlo side of the family — from the 1920 census report.

When I first started Snapshot Saturday a year or two back, my goal was to find some older funny photos and post them on a weekly basis. I figured that would give the family and, occasionally, friends, something to chuckle at.

Over the span of that feature, I’ve posted some fun photos. In turn, I’ve received a bunch of photos from other family members, which are going to a project I’ve been working on at the same time. That being a massive book with all these family photos.

But, I want to make sure the photos line up with other family members. I’m hoping, too, that more photos come from the family — past and present. My goal with this book is to have a several-hundred page book that encompasses so much of the family history in photos.

See, when I do this, I’m working on both sides of the family. So that means my father’s line (Harmer, Keoghs), as well as my mother’s (DeCarlo, Lattanzio). Not to mention my mother also had a step-grandfather (Amindo) that branches out a little as well.

Older family photos have gotten me interested in learning more about the history of my family.

A cousin has already worked on the family tree on the Keogh side. So from my grandmother back and forward, things have been or are being worked on. I’ve reached out to another family member about my mother’s side, though I’ve done a little research on my own as well. And there’s not much on my father’s father — beyond him. For now, anyway.

So I’ve been peeking around.

Even when speaking to my mother, she didn’t know much about her grandparents (full names etc.) because they were old Italian people and some of the dates/names etc., always seemed to be different. And, her maternal grandfather died when her mother was just 14, so that’s even harder.

But I’m sure you’ve all seen the commercials for online places, such as Ancestry.com. People have found links to royalty and all sorts of other things.

I’m not worried about royalty, I just want to see where it leads.

One beauty about family history is it takes time to dig. I hope to find some interesting things along the way. But most of all, I just hope to be able to connect things. It’s pretty neat to do so and it’s even better when you get on a path that shows a bigger picture of your family.

The photos help connect, for sure. As do stories and everything else. As generations pass and technology becomes better and better, it will become easier to do this. But, for those who already passed, in generations where things like the radio and car were modern technology, the records, headstones and everything else fade away slowly. So it’s up to us to help prepare future generations to know about their past family.

And it also helps connect us to the past and, likely, to the future.

My grandmother’s side of the family in the 1930 census. My grandmother — Annie — was 12 at the time.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Cemeteries are places where people can unlock the past

Checking out cemeteries can make you want to tell the story of so many people lost long ago.

Did you know, back many years, that cemeteries were often places of celebration?

People would picnic in cemeteries, or there would be small gatherings and such.

Way back when, cemeteries weren’t just places to mourn. They were places to celebrate. And that makes sense, when you consider that one can celebrate the lives lived by so many.

Alas, over time it seems like that’s become a bad thing.

Cemeteries used to be a place where people gathered, or walked … now it’s almost looked down upon if you do so.

If you do anything in cemeteries now, it’s almost looked down upon. Walking through a cemetery gets you looks. People often place geocaches in or near older cemeteries. It almost feels odd, though it shouldn’t. It gives people the chance to visit these old places.

As some of you know, I’m a member of a site called Find A Grave. It’s a massive database of cemeteries, headstones and listings from around the world. Many people request photos of long-lost family members or others for research. When that happens, people can be notified and have the chance to fill some of these requests.

But the other thing about this site is it gets me out and searching around cemeteries. There is so much history in these places. However, how many people are remembered.

With faded headstones or damaged ones, sometimes you have no idea who is buried there.

One plot I found the other day had one headstone. Several other people were buried there, without stones.

So many years pass by and these people are just part of the landscape. It’s something to stop and look at these headstones and wonder about the people below them. Who were they? What did they do? What was life like for them?

And sometimes, it’s sad.

I saw the headstone of Alexander. The reason this tiny headstone caught my eye was because it had some sort of an animal carved on top. Alexander, you see, was just over a year old when he died more than 100 years ago.

I don’t know if this grave was designed like this or if this is a headstone that was broke and deteriorated over time.

He never even had the chance in this world.

What happened? Was he sick? An accident? The reality is, we likely will never know.

His plot overlooks a bustling road now. It’s on the edge of a hill, so it sits there watching over things.

It’s part of the mystery many cemeteries have. And if you can get away from vandalism (which I’ve never understood where the thrill is in tipping or breaking a headstone), cemeteries really hold many mysteries. From the people buried there to so much more. Headstones can be remarkable to look at. And, sometimes, headstones can be faded or cracked away so much that one may never know who is in that spot.

The mysteries are there to be uncovered. It’s one of the great things about sites like Find A Grave. It brings to life so many people who have been gone for so long.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

HooHaa 9: John McGuinness

The original docket showing the burial of John McGuinness at Patrick’s Cemetery in Johnson City, N.Y.

I’m calling this the curious case of John McGuinness.

He who appeared to be a cigar packer in his later years, following a short professional baseball career. He, who born in Ireland sometime in 1957, came to the United States at some point, played baseball and later lived in Binghamton, New York.

John J. McGuinness

He died in 1916, pending where you look. Finding information on him, outside of his baseball statistics, has proven to be quite difficult.

McGuinness is the next draftee on the HooHaa 9, a team made up of obscure baseball players from the 1800s and the early 1900s.

I came across him when searching for players to sponsor on Baseball-Reference.com. I did a search for Irish-born players and came across him. To make it better, he had the name McGuinness. I couldn’t go wrong with someone who had “Guinness” as part of their name, could I?

Further, he was buried in St. Patrick Cemetery in Johnson City, which isn’t too far from me.

But McGuinness became more than a quick research topic for me. He’s become a bit of an obsession. There’s no telling when he was born in 1857. Heck, he might have been born in 1856. Or 1858. When did he come across the big pond to the states? It’s a tough thing to pin down as the name “John McGuinness” was a more-than-common name in that time period (as I’ve discovered with my research).

Here are some of the things I do know:

He died in Binghamton on Dec. 19, 1916. He was interred at St. Patrick’s on Dec. 23, which happened to be 10 days after his daughter, Elizabeth, was buried.

Family interment records.

The family plot also contains a Mrs. J.J. McGuinness, who was buried on Dec. 22, 1902. Also buried there is Robert E. McGuinness, who was buried on Aug. 1, 1935. He’s the lone member of the family with a headstone, though there appears to be remnants of others at the plot. According to the obituary for John J. McGuinness, Robert is his son.

Some notes have put Elizabeth as his wife, but according to an obituary, it is, indeed, his daughter. This does seem to have a bit of confusion, however, as the owner/director (Robert L. McDevitt) of the funeral home that handled the McGuinness bodies sent this as part of a letter to baseball historian Bill Haber on Jan. 21, 1980:

Our records indicated that subject individual was born (1857) in Ireland — died December 19, 1916 (9:45 p.m.) at his residence, 5 River Terrace, Binghamton, New York. The record of his baseball career was not required and not requested y us. Additionally, Mr. McGuinness was pre-deceased by his wife (Elizabeth P. McGuinness) on Dec. 10., 1916.

Further, the letter goes on to state that the funeral arrangements were made by “their” daughter, Mrs. Frank J. (Mary H.) Mangan. Mrs. Mangan died March 23, 1953, in Syracuse.

McDevitt, however, was going based on records at the funeral home. Though he states that the records are extremely well kept, there might not have been a full connection between Elizabeth and John in the records.

Haber also contacted the Binghamton Public Library and received a letter back on October 31, 1979, which gave him the obituary of McGuinness.

JOHN J. MC GUINNESS died last night at 10 o’clock at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Frank Mangan, 5 River Terrace, after a week’s illness. His daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth McGuinness, died one week ago. He is survived by his daughter, Mrs. Frank J. Mangan; one son, R. Emmitt McGuinness, and a sister, Miss Anna McGuinness of Brooklyn. Mr. McGuinness was formerly a well known athlete and played first base on the old Cricket baseball team. He was a member of the Kingston Council of the Knights of Columbus, the Elks of Kingston and of Branch 74 of the C.K. of A. The funeral will be held Friday morning at the home at 9:30 o’clock at 10 o’clock at St. Patrick’s Church. Burial will be at St. Patrick’s Cemetery.

This would somewhat go a little more on par with city guides from that time period. The 1899 Williams’ Binghamton City Guide shows John, Emma M. Mrs. (possibly his wife) and Mary all living at 134 Front St.

His name has been misspelled quite a bit, most commonly as “McGinnis.” There are misspellings on his interment record for the cemetery as well.

The Anthony Publishing Co.’s Standard City Directory of Binghamton 1893-1894.

This fact comes into an interesting play in the The Anthony Publishing Co.’s Standard City Directory of Binghamton 1893-1894. John J. McGinnis – a cigar packer — is listed at 99 Clinton. On the opposite page, a Mrs. J J McGuinness — a sales lady — is also listed at 99 Clinton.

The reality is that when dealing with records from the 1800s and early 1900s, a lot of items can be hard to figure out.

So let’s take a closer peek at John J. McGuinness. …

Born in 1857 (maybe), McGuinness, obviously, came across the ocean at some point. He eventually landed in the Binghamton, NY area. Though it’s not fully known when. I have uncovered some Binghamton city directories from the early 1880s and he’s listed there as a cigar packer. I’m quite sure these are him considering his occupation, on his death certificate, show him being a cigar packer.

Before delving into his baseball career, however, it’s interesting to figure this out — when was he born.

1900 Census

Thanks to items on ancestry.com, I came across the 1900 Federal Census for Broome County and came across John McGuinness. I am thinking, with all the other things that I found, that this is the right John McGuinness as “Emma” is listed as his wife, his daughters include Bissi (Elizabeth?) and Mary and a son Robert E.

The interesting part?

He’s listed as being born in March of 1856. AND he’s listed as a cigar packer!

The confusing part continues, however, as his name is noted as “Mcginness.” The handwriting on the census list is hard to read, so it can easily be construed as something else. It’s quite an interesting peek, though, and might be the first true piece of info that shows when Mr. McGuinness may have really been born.

Don’t think it gets easier, however.

In the 1910 census, John is now listed as an estimated birth year of 1860. But he’s in the same household with Robert and Elizabeth, who are listed as brother and sister. Also in the house are Frank and Mary Mangan and their kids. This would seem to show their family tree as it seems to be pretty much on par with the obituary.

Going back a bit more, the US Census in 1880 shows a McGuinness family in Norwich, with John (about 1859 birth year) as the son. In 1880, John is listed as 21 on the census report. That could be the same person as it’s near Binghamton and the age differential could be about right, considering it seems like John might have been born anywhere from 1856-1860.

IF this is the same one, then his father would have been James. The only major issue here is that John and his sister on this report are both listed as being born in the United States. And, his sister is Jennie. There is a blank spot, as if room for another, but nothing is seen.

Finally, looking at the 1870 census, this same household is in Norwich. There is James and Mary (the parents) and then Jane, Ann and John. With the writing in the 1880 census, Jane/Jennie/Janie could definitely be confused. The age gap here goes on the 1859 birth year sort of thing for John, however. Ann is listed as age 16.

Again, however, the kids are listed as being born in New York.

There are some dots that connect that make me believe that this is a possible match. On John’s death certificate, his mother is listed as Mary, with the maiden name of Cassidy.

Life in baseball

He played three years in the “Major Leagues,” — 1875, 1879 and 1884. It also appears he played some minor league ball in the missing years, but just one — Utica in 1879 — shows any statistics.

Mainly a first baseman throughout his career, it isn’t known if McGuinness threw or bat left- or right-handed. He’s listed as being 5-foot-10, 150 pounds.

He made his debut in the big leagues in 1876, playing one game for the New York Mutuals of the National League. He went 0-for-4 in the game. The team finished in sixth place in the league that year with a 21-35 record.

He returned to the majors in 1879, playing for the Syracuse Stars, also of the National League. The team finished 22-48 that season and McGuinness played in 12 games, finishing 15-for-51 (.294) with seven runs scored, a double, triple and four RBIs. He struck out six times

His fielding was so-so as he had a .928 fielding percentage. He had 125 chances and had 113 putouts, three assists, nine errors and was part of eight double-plays.

McGuinness played his final major league season in 1884 with the Philadelphia Keystones of the Union Association. The team went 21-46 and placed eighth in the league. McGuinness saw a lot more playing time, appearing in 53 games.

The long season appeared to have taken a toll on McGuinness as his batting average was a paltry .236 (52-for-220). He eight doubles, a triple and five walks. No strikeouts were apparently recorded, however.

He played 48 games at first base that season and had a fielding percentage of .959. In 586 chances, he had 550 putouts, 12 assists, 24 errors and took part in 19 double plays. The games played at first, putouts and assists were each  ranked fifth in the league.

His minor league playing days included stints with Binghamton Cricket of the League Alliance (1877), Utica of the International Association (1878), the Utica Pent Ups of the National Association (1879) and the Binghamton Bingoes of the New York State League (1885). He also served as manager of the 1879 Utica team.

For that Utica team, which is the only year in the minors where his statistics were kept, he hit 28-for-91 (.308) with 17 runs. Those numbers might have been what got him to Syracuse that same season.

Beyond baseball

After baseball, it appears that McGuinness settled into his life as a cigar packer in Binghamton. According to the various city guides, he seemed to move around from year to year.

Death certificate for John J. McGuinness

He was at the home of his daughter when he died, if I am reading his death certificate right. The writing is hard to read, but it appears he died of pneumonia, though there is a secondary thing mentioned. It’s something with his heart, though I can’t read the first word (it starts with P).

It’s likely that many of the connections with John McGuinness will never be confirmed. The Hall of Fame has a letter on file from John Mangan, dated January 30, 1980. In it, Mangan said that he would have been 5 when McGuinness died and that Mary Mangan would have been an aunt by marriage.

He notes that he spoke  with Frank J. Mangan, who would have been a grandson to McGuinness, and neither of them had any strong recollection of McGuinness. At this point (so more than 30 years ago), he said he believed there were several children of McGuinness’ son, Emmett. However, they did not know where they were located.

Robert E. McGuinness was buried in the family plot on August 1, 1935 according to the cemetery records. His headstone shows he was born in 1890. In the 1900 census, he’s shown as being born in October of 1887, but being 11 years old. As we’ve seen, these dates can be very hard to pin down in some cases.

Grave of Robert E. McGuinness

But, either way, Robert E. (Emmett) would have had to had children before 1935. That would put them in their 80s or 90s now, if they are still alive. There is a chance that maybe a great-grandchild of John McGuinness is still alive and maybe they would be able to fill in a few details. Who can tell as they likely would have been born after Robert had already died, as his death came at a young age.

This case is definitely curious. If anyone out there has more info, drop me a comment or e-mail me. I’d be interested to hear more. More than likely, however, a lot of these lines will never be completed, though that’s what makes research like this fun and interesting.

To see the closeups of the documents in this blog post, you can click on them. You can see everything I have by checking out the baseball research set I have on my blog’s Flickr account.

Sources used:

Files from the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, including letters and death certificate.

Ancestry.com

Baseball-Reference.com

Baseball-Reference.com John McGuinness page

Baseball-Reference Bullpen page on John McGuinness

Baseball-Reference.com minor league page on John McGuinness

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

Notes from my noodle: August 22 edition

I like disc golf.

Seriously, it’s a good time and good exercise. Case in point? By my pedometer’s count, I walked 5.1 miles playing 36 holes in a tournament Sunday afternoon. Anyone who thinks that’s not exercise needs to really define the word. It’s said that 30 minutes of walking per day helps your health. I did that and then some.

But this isn’t about the argument of whether or not disc golf constitutes exercise. This is about how a fun game can turn sour in a hurry.

See, when you are in tournaments, you don’t have control over a lot of things — weather, playing partners etc. You have to go with the flow. Still, the hope is to keep the game fun and entertaining. Without those last two pieces, a tournament — and the game — become dragging and not something I want to do.

So this tournament I played in Sunday…

It’s on a course I really like. I’ve shot well here and though I knew I stood no chance of winning my division, I set a goal of not finishing dead last in the division and the tournament. Anything else would be gravy.

The first round I got paired with three people in a different division. That’s fine, but it was tough because they were playing from the blue (longer) tees and I was playing from the white (shorter) tees. That basically meant that no matter how well I shot, I wasn’t going to get to be first on the tee if I got the lowest score because I was on a different tee.

I didn’t have an issue playing with the guys I was paired with. They were all cool to deal with and good players. But, for someone like me, that’s a little intimidating. They know a lot more. They do a lot more. The score a lot better. It’s tough when paired with people like this because newer players (such as myself) can watch and get lost in it all.

And it can’t be any better for those guys as they shoot 15-20 strokes better than me.

The hardest part was when we walked up to the white tees and sometimes they’d continue on before I’d say something. I don’t blame them either — they are playing from those tees, watching their shots, knowing what they have to do etc.

But for me, it made it harder because I didn’t want to slow them down or “hurt” their game. So I rushed at times, got stupid at others. All because I was worried about other things. The reality was that I wasn’t going to place in my division. Those guys could win theirs. It stunk, to be honest. I felt bad and I played worse. (To be fair, the thunderstorm that rolled through and soaked us didn’t help my misery, either).

I shot an 83 on a course that I hadn’t been out of the 70s on in quite a while.

The second round was a different story. I played with people from my division. People playing from the white tees. We played as quick as we could, had fun and all scored near the same. It was enjoyable. We joked, we chatted and didn’t worry. I wasn’t worried about screwing somebody’s game up. I was loose and enjoyed the round.

End result? A 72.

I truly understand that tournaments are hard to organize, run and do. I’ve done them in many sports. I’ve run leagues and tournaments and all sorts of things. So I can empathize. People who didn’t pre-register can also put a wrench in the spokes. And many tournaments I’ve played in do the same thing in the opening round — mix up players in different divisions. But it seems unfair to put a recreational/novice player with those who are really good. At least put two people playing from the whites in with a couple from the blues. That would make it a little less nerve-racking — for both sets of people.

I don’t know if my play had any effect on the three better players. But I know it did on me because of several factors. It wasn’t the company — I enjoyed the three others. In fact, I think a casual round with the three of them would be fun and educational, in regard to disc golfing. But in a tournament? It was tough.

In the end, it was OK. My 11-stroke differential between rounds earned me a $25 gift card to a sports store for best improvement. So add that to the disc I got for playing and two rounds of competition for my $20 fee, and I can’t complain. But, it’s food for thought.

For those of you who might read the blog and are disc golfers — give me your thoughts and experiences in the comments below. I’d love to hear what you think about these things.

***

As you may know, I’m in the midst of a small personal project on the blog with my research of obscure baseball players.

I’ve picked out a half-dozen or so that I am going to start digging into and getting information on. I’m going to head up to Cooperstown and the National Baseball Hall of Fame to visit its library and find what I can on these players.

I’m hoping I can connect some dots as for some of these players, all I have is what I can find on baseball-reference.com. Hopefully, there will be a few things I can add to the numbers from this trip to the Hall.

***

It’s time for me to come up with a better way of storing memory cards after switching them out of my camera.

I went to the county fair Saturday and took a small memory card full of photos, many of which were really cute photos of a friend’s daughter. When I got home and was ready to move them from the card to my external hard drive, I couldn’t find the card.

Panic set in.

I looked through all of my pockets and everything else. The camera bag, my memory card pouch — everything. And nothing found.

I had put the card in my pocket when switching out and I had no idea what happened. My only thought was that I dropped it at the fair (in one of two places) or in the street at my friend’s house when getting in my car.

He went out and checked at his house. Nothing.

I went searching again and found a bag I had in my pocket. The card somehow ended up in there. My panic ended. That made me realize that I need to come up with a memory card holder to be able to switch out when needed. I don’t ever want to go through that again!

Any of you photographers have any suggestions for a good pocket-sized memory card holder?

***

Speaking of disc golf, as I did earlier in this post, I received an interesting package in the mail.

It was my renewal for my PDGA (Professional Disc Golf Association) membership. What’s odd about that is that I didn’t renew because my membership doesn’t end until Dec. 31, 2011. And if I was going to renew, I would do it after Oct. 1, when it would give credit for next year. Even with that, it wouldn’t make sense. I hadn’t planned on renewing until the end of the year, when it needed to be done.

Last year, when I signed up, I did it after Oct. 1, so it was for the end of 2010 and all of 2011. When I did that, I got all of the perks and membership stuff. It also included the 2010 member card, which showed my membership expiring on Dec. 31, 2011.

Then the package came today.

I didn’t know what had happened. So, I called them.

Turns out that when I signed up in October, I got all of the 2010 items and then would eventually get the 2011 items. Apparently today is that eventually. At least it all makes sense now!

***

I have some things in the works for future blog posts. I have e-mailed Bill Walker — Skywalker in hiking circles — and will be talking to him soon for a post or two on the blog about his adventures in thru-hiking. I have already previewed one of his books on the site and will be reading his second one, soon.

That also gave me an idea.

I have followed several people through their trail journals this year in regard to hiking the Appalachian Trail. Some finished, some didn’t. I am going to reach out to several of them in the hopes of interviewing them for a post on the blog. I’d like to get both sides, too, so it shows why some people need to leave the trail, how hard it is to finish it or not etc.

I’m going to try and correlate them so I can do all of them over a two-week period (including the Walker stories), maybe going every other day or so — that way not going too overboard with the hiking stories! But I think in the end, it will show a compelling picture of what people have to go through on the hikes. It’s my hopes that I’ll be able to get a few photos from each, too, to be able to help all of you paint a picture of what they go through when they do hikes like this.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com.

Notes from my noodle: August 3 edition

Ahhh the world of social networking.

Facebook. Twitter. LinkedIn. StumbledUpon. Tumblr.

Hash tags. Trending topics.

There is so much out there to digest. And it’s crazy to try and figure it all out. Alas, I’ve taken a jump with the social media for the HooHaa Blog and created a “fan” page. It’s not so much a page for fans, rather a spot where I will post updates for this blog and my photo blog. It’s a nice little spot to keep track of things and all that. I don’t expect anything major out of it, but it’s nice to have.

If you want to like the blog on there, hit up the HooHaa Blog Facebook page.

And now, there’s Google +.

I have accounts at other spots and got an invite for the Google +, so I’m all signed up. I’ve messed around a little with it and am trying to figure it out. Not sure if it’s the next Facebook or what, but it’s interesting.

I’m pretty sure I covered this all in a post not too long ago, but I guess I’ve taken the latest plunges into the social networking world. Well, at least for the blog!

***

Softball season is winding down.

Though it’s always disappointing when softball ends, that means there won’t be the worry of playing every Tuesday and Thursday.

Still, we have at least two games in our Oneonta City League remaining, with the possibility of three.

The championship begins Thursday as we play Miller, the lone team to earn a victory over us this season. It should be a fun series and, of course, I am hoping that we win this series and earn our second straight championship.

We ousted the Fuzzy Dogs in the semifinals, dispatching of them Tuesday for a sweep. Third-seeded Miller swept the Copper Fox (who we beat in last year’s final) to reach the championship.

Currently, we’re 17-1 and hopefully we can win two more and finish with one heck of a wild season.

***

The job hunt is going slow.

I’ve sent out things for jobs, took a workshop on some other things and have been keeping my head up as much as possible. It’s a bit frustrating, however. I have a couple of irons in the fire, so to speak, and hope that one of them catch fire a bit as they are spots I’d really dig. I keep looking and keep applying, though at times it becomes tedious.

Funny story though and it makes me wonder about some other jobs I’ve employed to.

A couple of people pointed me to an interesting job. I saw it on the company website, looked a bit more and it seemed like something I could deal with. Another friend had looked into applying for it at one time and knew the pay scale and all seemed pretty solid.

I looked at what I needed to do and one part included a digital portfolio of sorts to send along to them.

I started looking for things to include and got a few things together. But before I went any further, I figured I should call the company to see to whom I should address a cover letter and if there was anything else I needed to send.

Turns out the job has been filled, but had not been taken off the website.

I’m glad I called ahead as that would have been quite annoying to work on all of that stuff and find out the job wasn’t available any longer.

The job listing is off the website now, though, so that’s a good thing at least.

***

Researching obscure baseball players has been fun.

The thing about some of these baseball players is that they are so obscure that there isn’t much on them. There’s statistics, but not much more.

One of the ball players who I’ve sponsored on Baseball-Reference is buried in nearby Johnson City.

After touching base with the cemetery and finding out where he is buried, we went on a search. Alas, we got to the spot and there’s one headstone for someone else in this family plot, but not the person we were looking for. There were two things that seemed like they could have been bases for former headstones, but there was nothing to show that this person was buried there, other than knowing where he was supposed to be. The one headstone is for someone listed on the cemetery card for this plot, alas wasn’t the person I was hoping to find info on. It’s a shame, too, because some of the dates of his birth and death differ in certain spots.

I’ll keep up the research and will eventually have a post on him.

***

As those of you who read this blog will know, I’m quite interested in reading about, learning and hearing stories about long-distance hiking. It’s fascinating to see people who go through all of this and then see how they react at the end.

I got an e-mail the other day from hiker Skywalker (I’ve read one of his two books and will be reading the second soon), who arrived back in the states after hiking in Spain. It seems he had quite the experience. I’m working on doing an interview with him soon about his experiences, hiking and other things along those lines. If you have any questions you’d like to ask a long-distance hiker, let me know and I’ll put them in that interview.

That made me realize I hadn’t checked the hikers I started reading about at Trail Journals several months ago. Though I knew several people had dropped out of their hike of the Appalachian Trail, I knew several were still at it. Those that I was reading included both genders and ages ranging from recent high-school graduates to senior citizens.

It was sad to see that several of them had dropped out. There were various reasons, but all were valid. Many of them got several hundred miles in, too. A few of them are close to finishing or have already finished. It’s really quite impressive to think that these people will have hiked more than 2,000 miles over varying terrain to finish the AT.

I’m still intrigued by the AT. I’m not saying I will do the hike one day and I’m not saying I won’t. The odds are against it, but it does still intrigue me. It’s a shame I wasn’t better off financially or in better shape as being laid off for all this time would have been the perfect time to try it. We’ll see though. Only time can tell.

To those of you who have done it or finished this year, awesome job and congrats. For those who try it in the future, good luck.

And if you want to ask someone who has done the AT and the Pacific Crest Trail, let me know and I’ll add it to my question sheet!

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Every year, Binghamton hosts the Spiedie Fest and Balloon Rally. I’ve never gone and have always wanted to as it seems like it would be great photography.

Years ago, when working a summer job as a painter at a local college, a few of us used to listen to a Binghamt0n-area radio station. That year, Eddie Money was a headliner at the Spiedie Fest. Quite often during that summer, you’d hear Money’s song “Take Me Home Tonight” on the radio and them advertising for Spiedie Fest.

And every time the chorus part of the song came on, the announcer would — in a booming voice — say “EDDIE MONEY!”

Ever since then, it’s been a running joke between a few of us.

Eddie Money is back at Spiedie Fest this year. Two of us are going Friday to check out the festival, hopefully see some balloons launch and watch Eddie Money (hopefully) rock the stage. It should be quite fun.

And there better be some good spiedies as they are tasty as can be and will be something I am looking to snack on while down there!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com.