KATHIE CASE

508-627-5349

(kathleencase@comcast.net)

It won’t be long and Memorial Day will soon be here. The hustle and bustle in town is now showing and the weather is somewhat cooperating. I know we usually measure it in sun, fog or rain but for me, you measure it in geraniums. They will be arriving in a few weeks and summer will be on its way.

Happy birthday to all who celebrated their day this past week. Big balloons go out to Nicole Barry, Nicholas Costello and Matthew Garcia, who all celebrated their day on May 3, Steven Jordan on May 4, Cesar Bueno on May 6, Neemias Carlos on May 7, and Olivia Green-Lingren who celebrates her day today, May 9.

Special wishes go out to Scott Morgan who celebrated his day on May 4, Ruth Meyers on May 5, and Scott Hitchings on May 6.

Happy birthday to Patty Mundt who will be celebrating a milestone birthday on May 11.

On May 7 at 2:30 p.m., Ruby Della Russo made her appearance to parents Matt and Paula. Ruby Molina Della Russo came into the world weighing 9 pounds and 11 ounces and is 22 and 1/2 inches long. We are all excited for the new family and congratulate them. What a great Mother’s Day gift.

I was reading this paper last Friday and saw things that made me feel I had to write about Featherstone Farm in its original day.

First was the passing of the Rev. William Blair. His daughter Hillary took lessons at the farm and I remember this little blonde girl with braids and glasses coming to ride. She was one of those children that stood out in your mind and now she is a grown woman.

As I was reading on, there was the passing of Dr. J. Blair Harff. I couldn’t believe my eyes. He and his sister Pam, who became one of the farm girls helping with chores and cleaning tack, and his brother Todd would arrive in the summer for lessons and loved being around animals. Blair, however, always showed his passion for animals and proved himself by becoming a very well known veterinarian in his Watertown, N.Y., home. Blair, who was killed in an accident on his farm, was a husband and a father of three children.

Now, lightening things up, Jessica Forend, daughter of Lisa BenDavid and Pete Forend, qualified to compete in the Intercollegiate Dressage Association Nationals. Lisa, a Featherstone student and worker, was a natural from the start and it looks like she shared her talent with her children.

Featherstone Farm had many riders and very many happy memories for many children who now are adults, and some adults who decided to take lessons in their later years. Kathy Paiva, Lorraine (Lovey) Clements and a few others decided to take lessons, seeing where their children were. That was one of my favorite classes with which to help.

One of my favorite moments of the many we had there was when Cindy Brown Andrews and her sister Lynn came riding with their cousins Sarah and Nick Chindland. Cindy and Lynn were regular riders and even workers but Sarah and Nick came only a few weeks in the summer.

Nick was a little daredevil, seeing he was the only boy among all the other girls. One day we were coming back from the ring which was through the pastures and in the back part of the property and there were electric fences to separate the horses. Nicky was running and misbehaving and we warned him about the fences and he said he would show us that he was not afraid of the fences and with that bent down and ran his tongue along the wire. We all waited and there was no shock. We are still wondering how he did not get shocked. Nick, who has naturally curly hair which we are sure was caused by the fence, is now an actor in California and if you ever watched the movie Con Air, Nick was one of the prisoners to take over the plane.

Not many people remember Featherstone Farm as a horse farm where many Island children had riding lessons with Ann Bannerman Bowes, who also delivered Nip ’n’ Tuck milk when she first started her farm. The lower pastures always had horses in it and the barn was always active with many young people learning to care for the animals. I was among them and will always cherish my time at the farm and the many friends that I met and grew up with.

I wish all the mothers a very Happy Mother’s Day.

Have a great week and keep the home candles burning.