Veterans Day, flags and a bell

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Monday, Nov. 11 was Veterans Day, known until 1954 as Armistice Day to celebrate the end of World War I. Since May of 1954 this public holiday has been known as Veterans Day to honor and recognize the service of all persons who have served in the United States Armed Forces and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. On Monday the North Bay Lot Owners Association hosted a nice reception at the Beach Club for all veterans and their guests. We went on by since, well, there was cake! Congratulations and thanks to all who have given their time and treasure to our country!

In recognition of Veterans Day and several other holidays throughout the year, you saw again almost 300 U.S. flags on display all over Chimacum, Port Hadlock and Port Ludlow. The flags are erected five holidays each year by the members of the East Jefferson Rotary Club. Each flag is sponsored by a local resident or business. The club uses this project as a community outreach to celebrate holidays and the subscriptions support a wide variety of projects from local scholarships to the elimination of polio worldwide. The flags are testimony to your generosity.

Our friend Vic Draper recently pulled together five couples for a journey to the Crab Pot restaurant in Seattle. The trip involved travel by car, bus, boat and walking to enjoy a delightful evening. Their signature dish, the Seafeast, was a challenge met by four of the group as they were served with large bowls of shrimp, crab, mussels, clams, potatoes, corn etc. The food was dumped on the table so they could pick and choose the items for their particular meal. Large bibs were appropriately included. Laughing and giggling dominated the occasion, particularly when BJ “photo bombed” the adjacent table holding about 10 folks whose average age appeared to be half of ours. Even they laughed at that.

Halloween provided an opportunity for locals to enjoy “trick or treating” at the annual “Trunk and Treat” in the parking lot at the village center. I counted eleven cars tended by about 30 adults in all sorts of costumes anxiously awaiting the hordes of children coming to get the year’s supply of sugar at one traffic-free zone. The hordes turned out to be around 25 youngsters but I can confirm the adults had a great time, particularly the eleven of us who wandered into El Molcajete Mexican Grill for a refreshing margarita and dinner.

Eight of us who are members of the Yacht Club gathered at Anne and Ramsey Smith’s place to taste and select the wines to be served at the upcoming annual Change of Watch dinner on December 7. This is not a process in which I excel. Not only do I have trouble identifying the various aromas and bouquets supposedly emanating from the glass but it also turns out what little taste I may have is inconsistent with the preferences of more talented tasters. Frankly, if you told the truth you probably have the same weakness in your life! I am reminded of a quote from Leon Adams in “The Commonsense Book of Wine.” “Anyone who tries to make you believe that he knows all about wines is obviously a fake.”

You probably already knew it but this weekend is the 126th edition of the annual rivalry football game between the DePauw University Tigers and the Wabash College Little Giants. Lots of luck to Terry Umbreit and BJ Luce because I don’t think you will emerge victorious this year. Wabash holds the series led with a 62-54-9 record.

Love a curmudgeon and have a great week!

(Ned Luce is an ex-IBM executive whose idea of retirement is to write a newspaper column for and about his adopted hometown of Port Ludlow.)