Upcoming Reunion Success Verified by Unimpeachable Source

On May 18 Diana Fieg Monaco and Bill Doyle ordered Chinese take-out for supper. 

Diana, a travel agent who works from her home, recently has been working on a big tour for a client and trying to iron out the wrinkles in our reunion accomodations had caused her an excess of angst.  Here is an e-mail she sent to me describing the alleviation of her reunion blues:

Bill & I got Chinese food for dinner. I usually throw the fortune cookies out, but decided to eat one. You’re not going to believe what the fortune was ...

A family reunion in the coming

months will be a tremendous

success!

So there you have it -- nothing, but nothing can get in the way of us having a wonderful get-together in August! 

Billy Adams Jr. Photographs Insight Bowl

Those Hawkeyes at the University of Iowa must all be psychology majors or sumpin'. 

Their football team made a postseason appearance against Oklahoma at the Insight Bowl on December 30 last year.  Though the team lost, the fans were more than enthusiastic, as you can see from the photos taken by Billy Adams Jr., son of Marsha and Bill Adams and grandson of Maxine and Dr. Bob Whiteside. 

They are descendants of Lothar Fieg whose parents, Carl and Emilie Boehler Fieg, came to America in 1899 and established their family in Milford, Pennsylvania in 1903. 

Take a look at Billy's handiwork at http://spectator.uiowa.edu/2012/january/bowled_over.html.  You will be bowled over!

77th Annual Shields Reunion Scheduled

Ed. note:  For those with a Shields connection (through Lothar Fieg), here is info about the next reunion:

The 77th annual Shields Reunion will be held on Sunday, July 8, 2012, at 12:30 PM at Nathaniel Cole Park (shelter #2), Harpursville, NY.


Please bring a covered dish to share, and beverage and table service for your own family. Charcoal will be available for those who wish to grill.

More work has been completed on the Genealogy. If your branch of the family is not included or not complete, please bring names and dates with you.

Call Vera (570 - 729 - 8621) or Midge (607 - 441 - 0475) or email midgemcclenon@lycos.com for directions.

Can You Feature That? Word Paintings from March 2012

Kyle McGonigal volunteering at the inaugural tour of the Hunter James Kelly Research Institute in Buffalo (see related story at http://fiegfamily.blogspot.com/2010/07/kyle-mcgonigal-to-address-national.html) ....  Doris Holm donating a painting by her uncle, the long-lost Herman Fieg, to the Fieg Family and noting that, "(O)n the back of the painting, the artist wrote: " Im Australian Busch",  so I assume that he painted it after going to Australia.  It is dated '86.......1886, of course.  It was a thrill to hold it in my hands.  I hope that you all will feel the same...."  Carol and Bob Ramagosa aboard their beautiful boat Sunnylands cruising northward on the Intracoastal Waterway from Savannah to Surf City, N.C. ....  Judy Kestner's mouth hanging open in delighted disbelief as she reads e-mail messages from various members of the family of Millie Fieg Case.... 

Letter from FFN Founder Surfaces

Ed. note:  I should not be away from this blog for such long periods of time.  Here is another story that has been languishing in the archives.  Enjoy!

Steven Fieg, son of Lothar "Bud" Fieg Jr.,  recently re-discovered a letter written to him on New Year's Eve, 1979 by Victor Philip Fieg, the founder of the Fieg Family News, and he forwarded a copy to your editor.

Philip, as he was known, was responding to a letter from his nephew Steven and, simply because he couldn't help himself, not only answered Steven's questions but also included some thoughts on life, jazz and the Fieg family ethos.  He also was looking forward to the publication of his children's book, "Why There Aren't Many Witches and Other Tales" and had sent some of the advance copies to his siblings and other family members, which he mentions in the first paragraph.

Dad occasionally used poor grammar ("You buy them 2 records....") or deliberate misspellings ("yer father")as an emphasis, for humorous effect or, I suspect, sub-consciously as a way to add a bit of self-deprecation to his speech and writing.  It is a trait I find myself using at times.

Anyhoo.... Here is the letter, lightly edited, that so excited Steve and is so quintessentially my dad:

Dear Steve,

How nice to get your letter! 

Wait a few days to go over to your father's, and you can see my book.  I put it in the mail today.

He (yer father) is a workaholic because of his birth and upbringing.  That father of his, born in Pforzheim, Germany, brought up in the Protestant Work Ethic, passed on to us the same viewpoint of life.  "Man was made to work."  And "Man was not put on this earth to enjoy himself."  Or "Life ain't no joke."  And in another way, "Nobody said life was supposed to be easy."

.... It is true that he does seem to be taking more opportunities to do things he enjoys, like the long auto trip in October.  You know.  New wife -- new life.  Happen to any of us....  Hope new outlook is good.  Can not, in any event, cast aside Protestant Work Ethic one has lived with for 60 years.

And anyway, your father is a good guy.  Great guy, right?

I never did own a 'bone.*  Used the school's....  Dorsey never did play jazz.  Played pop.  Go to your record store and buy 2 J.J. Johnson records.  Any 2.  Listen to them.  That's jazz.  That's what I like.  And Phyllis.  Right now while I'm at the typewriter off the kitchen, she's playing jazz records in the family room....

You buy them 2 records, listen to each one of them 12 times.  Then you write back and tell me what you think of jazz.

....  Phyllis is writing short stories, sending them to magazines, getting rejection slips, but still writing.  I tell her she'll be successful in 5 years if she just keeps it up.

Write again.  I enjoy talking to you.

                                   Uncle Philip
*Trombone

Sue Williams Reports on European Cruise

Ed. note:  Don't know why this did not get published before now -- my apologies!

In mid-February, Fieg cousins Ed and Sue Williams, and Steven and Eleanor Fieg went on a cruise to Canary Islands with five other couples from Sue’s travel agency, Good Buy Travel & Cruises. Since this was Steven’s first trip to Europe it was a special one.

The group flew to London on Feb. 10 where they spent two nights at the Renaissance Hotel near Heathrow airport. That gave them the opportunity to do a little sight-seeing on Sunday in London.

Steven and Eleanor met Eleanor’s niece and her daughter and the whole group walked around London looking at the major attractions:  Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Bridge and so on.

Since this was not the first time in London for Ed and Sue they wanted to see something different, so they went to the Churchill War Museum, a great place to learn about one of WWII’s most prominent leaders. As with most museums, there was not enough time to see and read everything in one visit.

By mid-afternoon they had cruised the River Thames to Greenwich to see the official “clock of the world.” Unfortunately they had only about an hour before the last boat departed back to London. It would probably take two days to see everything there - maybe three. Next visit!

On Feb. 13 all 14 happy cruisers were off to  Southampton to board Royal Caribbean’s “Independence of the Seas.”  This ship is huge! Her gross tonnage is 160,000 pounds, she is 1,112 ft. in length, 183.4 ft. maximum beam, draft of 28 ft., cruising speed of 21.6 knots and 1,360 crew members to serve the passengers.

There are many different restaurants, bars and lounges, and activities such as a surf simulator, rock-climbing wall, ice skating rink, mini-golf, full-sized basketball court and boxing ring, spa, fitness room with top-notch equipment, a casino, fantastic shows in the evening and bingo and other games during the day to fill the hours at sea.  A promenade offers all different kinds of specialty shops including a cigar store, barber shop, clothing boutique, snack/gourmet coffee spots and duty-free shopping.  Age-appropriate activities and special lounge areas and a disco occupy the children on the ship.  There is no way to get bored on this floating city!



Steve and Eleanor Fieg, Sue and Ed Williams aboard the
Independence of the Seas

 This was the first time the Fieg cousins have been to Spain, Portugal and the Canary Islands so the ports of call were very interesting.  In Vigo, Spain they chose the shore excursion to a winery to taste some really great wines and fantastic cheeses. At Lisbon, Portugal a trip to the medieval village of Obidos was selected.  The 17th century Parish Church of Santa Maria was the highlight of this trip.

Gran Canaria and Tenerife, Canary Islands were beautiful islands with hills and stunning panoramic views. In Madeira, Portugal they took a scenic tour to Camara de Lobos, a well-known fishing village with more wine tasting at the end of the tour. LaCoruna, Spain was the last port-of-call where the couples had a leisurely tour viewing some of the highlights of the area: Maria Pita Square, San Anton Castle and Maritime Promenade, Hercules Tower, Domus, Orzan and Riazor beaches.

Unfortunately the cruise had to come to an end on Feb. 24.  Ed, Sue, Steven and Eleanor decided to take a tour of Windsor Castle before flying out of Heathrow. Now this is the way to live! The rooms that are open to the public are beautiful and filled with centuries of history. (The Queen was not at home when we were there!)  The town of Windsor also merits more time than we had to roam the streets and enjoy the culture of the area.

The return flight was uneventful, which is always good!

The highlights of the trip depended on the point of view of each traveler.  For Sue it was that all of the plans fell into place without any problems while Ed’s highlight was the Medieval village.  Steven really enjoyed his time touring the foreign countries and seeing the different life-styles of our neighbors across the pond and Eleanor thought touring the historic sights in London with her niece was the best.

Next trip we will have to have more Fiegs on the ship. Maybe the next reunion can be on a ship! We’ll see!