Surprahz, Surprahz, Surprahz!

Here is an email received from Sue Williams:

Hi Judy,

 

Yesterday (1/9/15) Greg was coming thru the Chicago area and surprised us with another visit.  Here's my report.  Please use, change or do as you see fit w/the FFN:

On 9 Jan. 2015 Ed and Sue Williams had just finished dining out after a movie and the cell phone rings.  Surprise!  It's Greg Fieg calling Sue to take them out to dinner at one of his favorite Chicago restaurants, Portillo's.

 

Ed and Sue drove to the truck stop to pick him up and headed to Portillo's where Greg enjoyed a Chicago hotdog with all the trimmings. Ed and Sue just visited and wished they had had room for a hotdog themselves.

Greg was headed for Michigan but, due to a bad accident, the expressway was closed for several hours.  Now all he could do was sit and wait.  It gave Greg the perfect excuse to stop in Orland Park again.

 

 

Belated Las Vegas Mini-Reunion Re-cap

On November 2, 2014 several members of the far-flung Fieg family met in Las Vegas, Nev. for a small family get-together.

Cousin Sue Williams booked the Red Rock Resort on the western edge of the city and all the twigs on the family tree were invited to attend.  Those who made it were Sue and her husband Ed, Richard and Cindy Fieg, Russell Fieg, Steven and Eleanor Fieg, Douglas Fieg (all of them the children and children-in-law of Uncle Bud - a.k.a. Lothar Fieg Jr.); Diana Doyle, middle daughter of Bud's brother - and FFN founder - V. Philip Fieg, and her friend Tish; Doris Holm, who is Bud's first cousin, the daughter of Max Fieg; Greg Fieg, son of Bud's brother Frank; and, daughter of Bud's baby sister Dorothy Roman, Samantha Theobald and her husband Chuck.

Here is Sue's travelogue of the trip, lightly edited:

The Bud Fieg family decided it was time to get together again.  Too many months and years had passed them by since they were all under one roof together. 

 

Susan decided to get her brothers to pick a date that would work for everyone to be in Vegas at the same time and Nov. 2 was picked by default.  Once the date was confirmed, the balance of the Fiegs were invited to join them.  Diana Doyle, Samantha Theobald, Doris Holm and Greg Fieg all RSVP'd to attend, which was three more cousins than Susan thought would confirm.

The reunion was held in Las Vegas, NV at the Red Rock Resort.  The festivities of the weekend started with Doug's 60th birthday on Oct. 31, which was celebrated at Lucille's BBQ with a great meal, cake, laughs and fun down memory lane.  At this point in time the only "out of towers" in attendance in addition to Doug were Susan, Doris and Richard along with spouses Ed and Cindy.

On Saturday Nov. 1, Steven and Diana flew into town and Greg drove in.  The group was getting bigger!  Doris hosted a great luncheon at Lucille's BBQ and afterwards she had luck on the machines. We think she was the only winner for the whole time we were in Vegas.

The reunion began "formally" on Nov. 2 in the lobby bar of Red Rock Resort with cocktails at 4:00 p.m.  This was the first time that Doris, Diana, Greg and Steven had meet Samantha and Chuck and all were so surprised at how much Samantha looks like her mother.  Samantha was also excited to meet more family.  Greg surprised Samantha and Doris with a beautiful bouquet of pink roses.

The cousins passed around pictures and copies of letters written to the family by Uncle Bud during WWII.  Diana brought the book about William Tell that she had purchased from Europe (written in German), illustrated by Uncle Hermann.

 

Time went by too fast!!  Dinner was at the Grand Café (Red Rock Resort) where the conversation and laughs continued.  No one was ready to interrupt the happy memory-making so they all headed back to the lobby bar.  This is the quietest bar in all of Las Vegas where there are plenty of seats for all to visit.

(Descending from top step) Cindy Fieg and Ed Williams; Russell Fieg, Richard, Doug
and Steven Fieg; Eleanor Fieg, Diana Doyle and Sue Williams; Doris Holm, Greg Fieg,
Samantha Theobald and Chuck Theobald

Monday Nov. 3 we had to bid farewell to some.  Ed and Susan helped get Doris off on the shuttle to the airport and Susan yelled out to Doris, "Don't take any wooden nickels!" which was a popular saying from years gone by (and a reminder of her luck at the gaming tables).  Lo and behold, when Doris got home she found a 5-cent voucher in the bottom of her purse that she forgot to cash in!  I'm sure it showed up because Philip was with her on that shuttle.

Ed and I went to Disney only one week after Vegas and the time got away from me…  That's my story and I'm sticking to it! (Ed. note - Sue was apologizing for not sending me the details sooner.  Your editor is doubling down on that apology.)

All agreed that this should be a yearly event and that Vegas was the perfect spot.  It's that great destination where after two nights you have had enough!  Good prices, great resorts, lots of restaurants and an easy location to get to make it a great choice.

Surprise Visitor at Thanksgiving in Orland Park

Susan Williams sent this to your editor who has been lax in posting it.  Sounds as if a wonderful time was had by all!

Thanksgiving at the Susan (Fieg) and Ed Williams home in Orland Park, Il. had a nice unexpected surprise: Greg Fieg arrived in time to help eat up the turkey dinner!

After dinner, Susan shared with Greg all the family memorabilia in their home.  One antique of particular interest was a wood tool box from (Uncle) Bud's home in Missouri that must have been used by one of the carpenters at Grandpa Fieg's shop in Oneonta, N.Y. at least six decades ago.   (Ed. note:  a video of Ed's expansive workshop in the home was also forwarded and can be shared upon request.)

Great Uncle Hermann's paintings were discussed, though no decision was made as to what to do with the two paintings that Doug brought to the Las Vegas reunion. The family also reviewed pictures from the Las Vegas reunion and talked about the fantastic memories.

 

 After dinner picture: (left to right) Greg Fieg, Ed and Susan Williams, Cindy and Richard Fieg, Douglas Fieg, Brenna Ferguson (Richard's youngest step-daughter)