The dreaded play is over! The Santa Clause was presented, ad lib, on two nights, Friday and Saturday, and the play was entirely different both nights. Personally, I had more fun Saturday nights. That's when I decided that "Will Lie" was really in love with me. So I planted the idea in everyone's head that he secretly loved me, even though he pretended to hate me. And that he was insanely jealous.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The Ripley Library puts on a murder mystery dinner every year, although this year they did two, as fund raisers. The Santa Clause took place at the annual Christmas party of the law firm of Lie, Cheat and Steal. Unfortunately, A. "Big" Scam, who was slated to become senior partner, was found murdered two days before the party and the announcement, in his Santa suit and stuffed up his own chimney.

So Will Lie, founder and senior partner, appointed Ben DeToy as the new partner and Santa for the night. Unfortunately, during dinner the night of the party, Ben slumped over his dinner, dead!

Amidst characters like senior attorney Seymour Steal, his ex-wife Enid A Drink (lush and voodoo princess), partner Constance Cheat (who slept her way to the top), animal rights activist Shamus Steal, pharmaceutical magnate Marsh Mellow, and the vapid ditzy blonde Mary Christmas, among others, Gabby Gossip (c'est moi) wends her way through the characters and crowd, trying to pick up juicy tidbits she can put in her next gossip column.

Friday night, unfortunately for the those attending, was a dress rehearsal of sorts. It turned out all right, even though several key point were left out, but Saturday night was when we let it all loose. Gabby was circulating the tables of guests, vamping all the men, bribing the women with (phoney) $5 bills to seek out gossip for her. I had the brainstorm of taking my picture with various male audience members, compliments of their wives, and then showing them the photo and telling them, "Blackmail for later if you don't come through for me, sweetie." They LOVED it! LOL

In case you're interested, Marsha Mellow murdered both Big Scam and Ben DeToy because they knew of her plot to spread a deadly virus so that her company could get the fast track for FDA approval for the cure. She already HAD the cure, having kidnapped two of the foremost scientists in the world to come up with the cure, now she needed the leverage to get it out to the public and make a killing. (In a manner of speech.)

Sew-Sew

I enjoy sewing, when I’m in the mood to sew. That doesn’t happen a lot, but I find late September/early October seems to bring on an urge to be creative, what with Halloween and Christmas coming. For years I made my own costumes for parties or just answering the door for Tricks and Treaters at Halloween. For the occasional Christmas party I’d make something simple to wear. This year I hit the jackpot; I’m making an outfit to wear in the library murder mystery dinner which takes place near Halloween, but is set at a Christmas Party. Two for the price on one this time around.

I’m what I call a “slap-dash” sewer. I can make clothes with flat-fell seams and all that fancy stuff, but I prefer to just throw something together quick and dirty, taking all the shortcuts I can. After all, who sees the inside seams or knows that I’ve gathered a waistline instead of pinning dozens of pleats? If it looks good on the outside and doesn’t have to last all that long, why take the time is my motto.

My sister is probably flinching in dismay. She-of-the-large-family makes most of the dresses for her girls and some of the shirts for her boys. She probably does more, but I’m not sure so I didn’t want to mislead you. She fashions clothes from by-gone eras where woman’s clothing was not only functional, but also full of detail and grace.

Most of the dress patterns she uses come from the 1820s through the 1860s. Terms like ruching, armscye, and gigot sleeves pepper her blogs about sewing. Personally I don’t know what those terms mean, but someday I’d like to learn. Her husband says she’d get more sewing done if she didn’t make things so intricate, but she claims it may be some sort of mental disorder that she keeps in check by the addition of growth tucks, shirring and embellishments. She’s joking of course, but the cloths she makes are wonderful examples of a more feminine age.

In her family the girls are required to be competent with hand sewing before they are allowed to use the sewing machine. Many of you may remember mothers, grandmothers or perhaps even yourselves doing samplers. During Sewing Hour, the littlest girls, ages four and six, begin by stitching on plastic canvas with yarn and a blunt tip needle. From there they progress to learning running stitches. The older ones work on tea towels, learn to use the knitting loom and then progress to trim work on bonnets or dresses with cording or quilting.

For their birthdays, each girl is given at least one new dress and it’s a matter of great discussion and debate about what will be found on their birthday morning. “That’s generally how we do it. You awake to find your special frock made just for you to spend your special day in,” my sister wrote. One of the recent birthday dresses was a “wrapper” from the Children’s Fashions section of Godey’s Lady’s Book from February 1863. It definitely caught my interest. A wrapper was worn for breakfast or other times when one might not want to be fully attired in the many layers required for the 1860s. Since a wrapper is designed to show off petticoats, it only fastens part way down the front. I LIKE this style of dressing. Wouldn’t it be lovely to wander around the house in a pretty, full skirted wrapper with layers of tucked petticoats made of cotton sateen? Lucille Ball wore a form of wrapper remake in the I Love Lucy series of the 1950s. Hers were worn with trousers underneath, but the idea was the same – casual elegance.

I miss femininity. I miss dresses with full skirts. I miss hats; not that I ever wore a hat outside of Easter morning, and then only as a child. Suffice it to say, I miss fashions that flatter the wearer, left a lot to the imagination, were pretty and made a statement about a woman’s ability to appear soft and delicate.

But then again, I like my jeans and t-shirts. Life’s full of tough choices, i’dnit?

I'm posting my article for the newspaper about the trip to Memphis. But I wanted to add a couple little side notes: Civil War history becomes obvious when travelling through Tennessee. Only Virginia hosted more battle sites during the course of the war. Murfreeboro, Collierville and the granddaddy of all battles, Shiloh, appeared on road signs as we travelled southwest through Tennessee. It was sobering.

On a lighter note, there's always at least one town in every state that wins the prize for its absurdity. In Tennessee it's Bucksnot. I kid you not, Bucksnot, Tennessee is a real place. Love it!

A Thousand Words

They say a picture paints a thousand words, but since I have no pictures you’ll have to do with a thousand words. A writer paints pictures with words, so sit back, relax and close your eyes while I paint you a picture of a spur of the moment trip to Memphis, Tennessee. If you’re actually closing your eyes, you’ve missed the joke.

With a day’s notice, I was asked to help drive to Memphis, where I would then turn around and fly back to Buffalo. My first inclination was to say no, but when I thought about it, what a great opportunity to drive through the hills of Kentucky and Tennessee and see the fall colors. With all expenses paid, how could I say no?

Years ago I lived in Columbus, Ohio, and this presented an opportunity to drive through my old stomping grounds as well. Now, Ohio, for the most part, is a pretty boring state. There are parts of southeastern and southern Ohio that are quite pretty with some good sized rolling hills. But, by and large, the state is flat. Ohioans are great travelers. There’s hardly a state in the United States that you don’t see an Ohio license plate. It’s because their state is boring. They travel.

However, I was on the lookout for interesting sites to see. Somewhere past Columbus and the familiar street named exits, past the briefest glimpse of German Village, a very ethnic neighborhood in the heart of Columbus with brick and cobblestone streets where we used to sing, “In heaven there is no beer…” at the popular Schmidt’s Sausage House, beyond the city suburbs, we passed flat fields of corn, soybeans and what I thought might be flax and my sister thought rye. There’s a beauty in a long expanse of cropland, some harvested, some waiting for the large combines to come gather the bounty. It fed my soul to contemplate the lifestyle and hard work it takes to feed the world.

That being said, I was happy to leave Ohio behind and enter the rolling hills of Kentucky. Never having been to Kentucky, I was surprised at just how long it takes to drive from Covington to Bowling Green and then on into Tennessee. Kentucky is known as the Bluegrass State. I did not see a single blade of blue grass. Nor did I see the fabulous fall colors I thought I would. Unlike New York, Pennsylvania, and even boring Ohio, the leaves in Kentucky seem to have already reached their peak and fallen to the ground. There are a lot of oaks in cloaks of brown, and a fair number of evergreens, but any trees that would normally display yellows, oranges or reds, seem to have faded into an apathy of brown and beige.

In the meantime, we have driven past a number of places I would love to have stopped and explored. Columbus, being my home in the 70s, beckons me back. I no longer recognized the skyline and there are places I’d like to revisit. Cincinnati looked intriguing, that Queen City on the Ohio River. It conjures images of riverboats and gamblers. Kentucky, with Lexington and the Kentucky Derby, promises treats like Mammoth Cave, a town called Horse Cave and Bowling Green.

I’m travelling with my sister and three Yorkshire Terriers. The dogs insist on sleeping either on a lap or across the shoulders. You haven’t lived until you’ve ridden 650 miles with a Yorkie stole around your neck.

After a night of restless sleep just south of Nashville, we set out for a three and a half hour drive to Memphis. We thought we were making good time, and I wanted to stop for a picture of Graceland. I’m not particularly enamored with Elvis, but after all, it IS the closest thing we have to a Mecca in America. Traffic through Memphis was a breeze until we were about two miles from our turn onto I-55. All lanes blocked the sign said. After 25 minutes in gridlock, we decided we no longer had time for a visit to Graceland, so after maneuvering our way to an exit lane, we proceeded directly to Memphis International. Such a shame. Maybe I’ll have the opportunity to come this way again, who knows.

I'm off to Memphis in the morning! I'm pretty excited. I get to drive on a beautiful fall day, through the hills of Kentucky and Tennessee (after a boring eight hours through flat Ohio), with the fall colors at their peak. What more could you ask. My sister and I will arrive in Memphis sometime late Monday morning, where I'll hop out of the car and onto a plane to fly back home. Only in America, huh?

See y'all when I get back. (Practicing my southern drawl.)

Did I mention we've just acquired kitty #4? Last week a beautiful black and white cat came to our patio door and stayed for two days and two nights. Actually two nights and a day; by the time the second day rolled around we let him in. He is obviously someone's house cat that either was let out or sneaked out and then got lost. I called all the neighbors and no one claimed him, so I guess he's ours now.

I know not all of you out there are cat lovers so I won't bore you with the details of how gorgeous he is, or how cute, or what naughtly little pranks he gets up to with the other three cats. Suffice it to say we're keeping him. We named him Pippin, although I'm not sure why. There must be some significance to it.

I have always maintained that cats pick their people, not the other way around. Of the four cats we now have, only one, Reese, did not have the opportunity to pick us, and that is the one who is most stand-offish. Otherwise, Sadie was from the pound and reached out for us to notice her and Jada showed up on our doorstep, much like Pippin. I love them all, but I think any further strays should pick someone else now.

Poor Pippin is at the vet's this morning, being neutered. Funny, I feel worse for him than I did for any of the female cats. I'll get some pictures and post later. Oh! LOL - pictures of the cats, not the neutering! LMAO!

I've been a bit under the weather of late. It's very disappointing actually because this is the first respiratory virus I've gotten since we moved to New York two and a half years ago. I was on a roll. But all good things must come to an end I guess.

The Murder Myster Dinner is coming soon! I'll be in it again, type-cast as the snoopy, pushy newspaper columnist. I'm making the character a cross between a characature of myself and Hedda Hopper, famed Hollywood gossip columnist of bygone years. Should be interesting. There will be no wig flinging in this production, but I'm betting there will be some sort of twist. Just haven't figured out what yet.

Sorry I'm not posting more personal stuff and more often, but I feel pretty worn out still. See y'all later.

Come this November an increase in the local library budget will be on the ballot. While I haven't been given the okay to make this public in the newspaper yet, I wrote a little ground work in support of Ripley Library. On a personal note, Nancy McIntosh, the librarian, is the best thing that's happened to the library in a long, long time. She knocks herself out to make this a social focal point for Ripley. In a town with few resources and fewer "things to do," she adds a much needed ray of sunshine. This is for you Nance.

And a Good Time Was Had by All

The Ripley Library has been a struggling library for many, many years. From the beauty of the Hamilton Estate location, the library has moved several times to other facilities. It is located currently, as most of you know, in what was once the Baptist church. It’s always a challenge to keep up with utilities, maintenance and upkeep, not to mention making sure readers are offered new books and media as they become available. Through grants the library has been able to put on a new roof, repair and replace some of the infrastructure, purchase additional books and provide speakers in recent years. But money is always tight.

We sometimes take for granted the things we have available to us on a regular basis. Let me point out some of the events/services that our local library has made available to us in the past year:

Oftentimes, speakers will come to the library free of charge, such as visits from the Office for the Aging and the Veteran’s Administration. Local garden centers have come to offer tips on preparing or putting your garden to bed. Sometimes grants are written to get speakers like the Eriehonen Indian Nation lecture by Doug Perrelli from SUNY Buffalo. All these informative lectures and information sessions are free to the public.

The library offers continuing programs for the children of the community. Story Time is offered for 2 ½ to 3 year olds from October through May. The Summer Reading Program brings in kids from preschool all the way to the 8th grade, encouraging them to read by offering prizes and incentives. High school students are encouraged to participate as helpers. Literacy counts more than ever in today’s world. The library brings a world of adventure and learning to our young people, making reading fun and cultivating a lifelong love of the written word. Along with the Summer Reading Program comes the annual Dog Show, Salad Night, Talent Show and Pizza Party. This Christmas season will offer a craft making time for children to make gifts for giving. All these fun activities, bringing kids together in their own community, are free.

Classes for adults are scheduled throughout the year. Basic computer classes are being well attended; art classes have been offered; and genealogy presentations have been made. As interest increases, more class selections will be offered.

Community events are a big part of the library’s involvement in Ripley. Events fall into two categories: they are either free, or they are fundraisers for the library. The Ripley Library has provided refreshments for the concerts given by the Ripley Central School Bell Ringers. A Valentine’s Day bake sale was a huge success last year, offering last minute sweets for sweethearts. The Big Read in February brings together adults to read and discuss a common book throughout the nation, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. March brought us the Month of the Arts, which included Picture America, a fine arts exhibition brought to us with a grant from the Arts Council, Poetry Night, and a Music Appreciation Day with recorded as well as live music offered by local musicians. An upcoming Christmas Open House will be held in December to welcome new folks to the library who have never taken advantage of the facilities there and to greet and thank old friends who frequent the library.

Other annual events such as the Block Party held in July; Book Sale in August; the Murder Mystery dinner, held in both April and October this year; Yard Sale; the Chicken Barbeque; the Night at the Winery concert and wine tasting at Noble Winery in September; and the Silent Auction coming up in November are held not only to raise much needed funds for the library, but to provide a fun time for the community.

Our local library also has a number of clubs or groups who are always looking for new members. There are two book clubs, one geared for younger adults, ages 20 through 30, and the other for older adults. Knitters spend Tuesday nights chatting and sharing tips, or teaching newcomers the fun of knitting. Pinochle players can catch a game on Thursday evenings. And the Friends of the Ripley Library meet every first Thursday to discuss ways they can further help the library, either through fund-raisers or by shelving books, cleaning or other chores than need to be done.

Our small town library cannot hope to compete with larger libraries in the area. Many people frequent neighboring libraries because “they have a better selection,” or “it just looks nicer.” Recently state funding was decreased by 25% for libraries across the board. Our little library works hard for the community. Countless hours and thought are put into events and services offered by the Ripley Library. With a staff of two and one permanent part-time volunteer, a volunteer library board, and a volunteer Friends group, they accomplish miracles.

Great things are coming for our local library. Help support it in any way you can. For more information about any of the events, services and clubs at the Ripley Library, call 716-736-3913. Tell ‘em Robyn sent you.