Guess Who Answers Revealed

Our "Guess Who" survey has closed.  Here are the answers:

1.  Who is the Fieg in-law who captains a 43-foot sailing yacht in the waters of the Caribbean, the Bahamas and the U.S. east coast every summer?

53.8% correctly answered Bob Ramagosa.

2. This family member participated in an exhaustive but futile search for a downed flyer hidden under the dense canopy of the Central American jungle.
61.5% correctly answered Philip Fieg.

3. During a 7,000 mile cross-country motorcyle trip to Central America, this family member was halted along a jungle highway by Spanish-speaking Army regulars and warned to remove his camouflage hat or else run the risk of being shot and killed as a revolutionary.
Don Roman was correctly identified by 38.5% of respondents.

4. While traveling by automobile across the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, this family member was advised that, to avoid trouble in the event of being stopped by authorities, she should claim to be an employee of Gulf & Western oil company (which she was not).
Yes, it was Diana Monaco, as guessed by 46.2% of you.

5. This family member is a familiar face in the locker room of the Buffalo Bills and is a personal acquaintance, on a first-name basis, with Terrell "T.O." Owens, among other NFL players.

Hard to get this wrong:  Kyle McGonigal is the correct answer, with 61.5% getting the gold star.

6. This sailor is often seen boating the labrynthine waterways of the Florida Everglades.
Though 23.1% thought it was my baby sister, Phyllis, the rest of you correctly selected Mary Wolcott.

7. In her youth, she was a skilled and capable water skier, and doesn't look bad in a bathing suit, either.
Of course Aunt Maxine, Marsha and Anne all look great in a bathing suit!  How 30.8% of you could choose one and not all is a puzzle.  Maybe it is time for them to appear at a reunion so we can see for ourselves......!

8. This family member placed third in a gruelling, three sport annual triathlon at Cooperstown, N,Y, running, biking and swimming.
OK, wise guys.  Neither Steven, Greg nor Joe is a good candidate for a triathlon competition.  Very funny.....

9. He has played piano professionally in major Las Vegas nightclubs.
Our family is very musical, but 84.6% were correct in selecting Russell Fieg.

10. This Fieg family member is a high-ranking police official in Florida.
Once again, easy:  92.3% selected Andrew Shedlock correctly.

Thanks to all who participated!

Joke Corner

Badda-bing!

The golfer yelled, "You must be the worst caddie in the world!"
The caddie replied, "Oh no, sir, that would be too much of a coincidence...."

The old geezer asked the gym attendant, "Which of these machines should I use to attract that lovely young thing working out over there?"
The attendant looked him up and down and said, "Try the ATM machine in the lobby...."

After hearing he had six months to live the patient asked, "What can I do to prolong my life?"
His doctor said, "Marry a woman with lots of kids, move to Oklahoma and buy a 1992 Dodge pick-up truck."
"How will that prolong my life??"
"It won't, but those six months will seem like an eternity."

Oops! I Did It Again...

A few corrections to recent posts:

"She Did WHAT??"
Florence Fieg's bed was empty on the morning of April 13, 1934.  As Steven Fieg pointed out, she would have been only 7 years old in 1924, the original date in the post.  Thanks, Steve!

"The Nickname Game"
Doris Fieg Holm points out that she grew up in Montclair, NJ; her four half-siblings were the ones who grew up in Milford, PA. 

Also, Aunt Maxine was named in HONOR of her Uncle Max (Doris' dad), not in his memory.  As Doris says, "(he) was very much alive when she was born...."

Thanks for keeping me honest, y'all!

- Judy

She Did WHAT??

You think you know the women of the Fieg family, do you?  We'll just see about that...

1.  THOUGH ONLY A LITTLE GIRL, she and her brothers spotted a forest fire from the top of a high bluff, alerted the fire department before it could spread and in so doing helped save a large stand of timber and several homes and public buildings.

a) Marsha Whiteside Adams
b) Liz Bookhout Boggs
c) Jean Davie Fieg
d) Maxine Fieg Whiteside

I have some water -- where's the fire??

ANSWER:  Unlike the Fiegs who were pillars of the East End, Jean, Raymon and Norman Davie grew up in the West End where Chestnut Steet passes under the commanding view of the Table Rock.  A fire there, if left to develop, would not only have led to the loss of thousands of dollars of timber but also would have threatened the adjoining Hartwick College campus.  Jean and her brothers were on hand to save the day.
 
 
2.  ON THE MORNING OF April 13, 1924, Mrs. Lothar Fieg Sr. went to the bedroom of her daughter, Flo, and found the bed empty because

a) thrilled with the prospect of the end of prohibition, Flo had imbibed too freely the night before and had spent the night in the home of a friend.
b) Flo had eloped with young Richard J. Bookhout the night before.
c) Flo had had a bout of sleep-walking and was found outside snoring in a hammock.
d) victim of an April Fool's day joke, Flo was prowling the woods with a burlap bag hunting snipe.

Cooking food for the reception???

 

ANSWER:  During the height of the Great Depression, Flo's father was so strapped for materials at times that one wall of a house he built had a mis-matched assortment of window frames because that was all that was available.  Can it be that Flo wanted to save her father the expense of a wedding, or did they simply run off in the heat of passion?  Whatever the answer, they did elope on that night.
 
 
3.  THIS FAMILY MEMBER HAS a first cousin once removed whose father was a participant and ring leader in an unsuccessful plot to assassinate notorious dictator Rafael Trujillo and was shot to death by a military goon squad on a distant Carribbean island.

a) Phyllis Fieg
b) Sarah Fieg Corkery
c) Carol Ramagosa
d) Anne Roman
 
ANSWER:  Even after he stepped down from the presidency, Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo continued his ruthless reign until he was assassinated on a street corner in 1961 in Santo Domingo (then called Ciudad Trujillo).  Sarah Fieg Corkery, great-granddaughter of freedom-fighter Eduardo Pizano, speaks barely a word of Spanish (though she studied it in school) and has yet to meet her Dominican cousins.
 
 
4.  THIS FAMILY MEMBER'S STRIKING, natural beauty prompted a television cameraman and director to single her out from the crowd of thousands in an isolated camera closeup during a live broadcast of a major league baseball game.

a) Diane Jester Bookhout
b) Lisa Puglisi
c) Lisa Fieg
d) Maxine Fieg Whiteside
 
ANSWER:  Though they are both no longer in use, old Yankee Stadium and old Shea Stadium were convenient venues of entertainment for all New Yorkers and Lisa Fieg and her neighbor, Louis DiIulio, always managed to find time to attend a few games each year.  When Lisa found out she was on TV, she wondered why.  Why, look in the mirror, girlfriend!

 
5. JEAN FIEG WAS A COMPLIANT and acquiescent spouse during her 39- year marriage to Philip Fieg, but found herself objecting when he

a) decided to get his pilot's license renewed and take to the skies over Ithaca, NY
b) decided to buy a sailboat and cast off far out in the Finger Lakes.
c) drifted away from her and mingled with other people at a party
d) decided to open his own photography shop and give up his newspaper career
 
ANSWER:  Interestingly enough, Philip Fieg did, indeed, open a photography studio, did, in fact, fly a plane over Ithaca, NY and did, most assuredly, sail the waters of Lake Skaneateles, one of the Finger Lakes of Upstate New York.  Jean, who enjoyed flying, sailing and photography along with her husband, also enjoyed having him right by her side during an evening out with others.
 
 
6.  THIS FAMILY MEMBER'S cabin cruiser plies the waters of the Great Lakes

a) Carol Ramagosa
b) Kathi Whiteside
c) Mary Wolcott
d) Sue Williams
 
ANSWER:  Even though Jeff and Kathi Whiteside live in Appleton, WI on the shores of beautiful Lake Winnebago (about 300 square miles in area) which dwarfs Otsego Lake (about 4 square miles in area), they moor their boat on the much bigger and more challenging waters of Lake Michigan (22,400 square miles of surface area).

Kyle McGonigal Recognized by Hall of Fame QB

Kyle McGonigal and his mother, Mary, recently participated in a fundraising effort on behalf of Hunter's Hope, the charitable foundation begun by Hall of Fame NFL quarterback Jim Kelly in remembrance of his late son.

Hunter Kelly, who was born with Krabbe leukodystrophy, died at age 8 in 2005.  His father, who took the Buffalo Bills to the Super Bowl four times, began the fundraising effort in the hope of finding a cure for his son's affliction and to raise awareness of the disease.

At the fundraiser, Kelly recognized Kyle, as Kyle formerly has worked as locker room assistant for the Bills.  Kelly asked for Kyle's address and sent him an autographed jersey.

Kyle is in Cooperstown for the National Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony working security with his mom.  His dad, Bob, is also along for the trip.

The Nickname Game

There is no mind-numbing tune to go with this game but you may find that your brain is otherwise enriched by the answers to these questions.  Good luck!

1.  BEFORE DR. ROBERT WHITESIDE BECAME an oral surgeon in Sioux City, Iowa, he served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps where he earned the nickname:

A.  Smiley
B.  Toothy
C.  Whitey
D.  Pearly

ANSWER: Bob Whiteside served at a number of stateside locations during World War II, including Indianapolis and perhaps most importantly Roswell, N.M., where he was on hand for the debriefing and medical clearance of the air crews that returned stateside after dropping the atomic bomb on Japan. They called him Whitey.
 

2. LOTHAR 'BUD' FIEG JR. was known to his friends, associates and subordinates who worked with him in the mine at Mississippi Lime in Ste. Genevieve, MO, as:

A.  Digger
B.  Red
C.  Mole
D.  Freckles

ANSWER: Though Bud rose to superintendent during his more than three-decade career and was in charge of more than 300 men, none was too intimidated by his rank to address him by the nickname by which he was affectionately known, Red, a moniker he earned not only because of his approachability but his hair color.



3.  IN THE AMERICAN CULTURE, NICKNAMES are common,  as evidenced, for example, when Richard Bookhout Jr. becomes Richie, James McGonigal becomes J.J., Joseph Kestner becomes Joe and so on.  Mary Bookhout Wolcott's husband is known as Jack, but how does his first name appear on his driver's license and birth certificate?

A.  Jacques
B.  Jackson
C.  John
D.  Jack

ANSWER: Jack Wolcott, who works as a plasma bank executive, would not change his name for blood nor money. That's because his mother, Cecil Day, now in her 90s, and her late husband, Howard Wolcott, at their son's birth made sure he would never be called anything different from the way everyone addresses him to this day. His name is Jack, and that's that.



4.  DORIS FIEG HOLM, last surviving daughter of the late Max Fieg was given a special nickname by her mother Louise, when Doris was a little girl growing up in Milford, PA.  Doris Fieg Holm was known to her mother as:


A. Duckie
B. Duchess
C. Dutchie
D. Lucky

ANSWER: In the 1920s, '30s and '40s a number of pet names and words were in vogue for people and things that were thought to be lovely and delightful, such as Peachy, Deary and so forth. and though this particular word has all but vanished from the popular vernacular, Doris to this day is still Duckie, absolutely Duckie.



5.  ALL THE CHILDREN RAISED AT the Fieg family homestead at 10 North Sixth St. in Oneonta were given diminutive, often staccato nicknames, such as Em for Emilie,  Phid for Philip, Bud for Lothar etc.  What were the nicknames of the two babies of the family, Maxine and Dorothy?

A.  Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee
B.  Zee and Dot
C.  Mac and Doc
D.  Morey and Dorey

ANSWER: Nearly all of the children were named with uncles and aunts in mind (Victor Philip, for instance, carries the names of an uncle on his mother's side, an uncle on his father's side, his paternal grandfather and ad infinitum). Maxine has never much liked her name, as it was chosen for her in memory of her Uncle Max. Perhaps she was more comfortable being called Mac, which her siblings called her for much of her adult life. Dorothy, however, seems just as happy to have outgrown the name Doc.



6.  THE LATE EMILIE FIEG McGONIGAL'S SON ROBERT today is known to friends and family as Bob, but when younger he was called Bobby.  Still, he had another name when he was a toddler, a name many of the children in the neighborhood called him.  It was:

A. Sweetie
B. Teedee
C. Tweetie
D. Butch

ANSWER: Bob's mother began by calling him Sweetie, but the word morphed into Teedee as she talked to him in baby talk. The neighborhood kids, and Bob's cousins, picked up on it, and soon Bobby was Teedee where ever he went. It's not advisable to call him Teedee anymore, however, and no, you can't follow him on Twitter.



8.  LIKE HER SIBLINGS, FLORENCE FIEG BOOKHOUT was given a nickname, Flo, when growing up.  After she married, however, her husband Dick gave her another pet name.   The name was:

A. Lambie
B. Fleecie
C. Flossie
D. Flipper

ANSWER: Florence Fieg Bookhout's grandson, John Boggs, owns the brass nameplate from Florence and Dick's boat, which they kept on Otsego Lake near Cooperstown and which was christened the "Flossie B." for the pet name he gave his wife.



9.  ANNIE BOOKHOUT'S HUSBAND, BOB MORGAN, has built a beautiful ranch house for his father and mother next door to Annie and Bob's in Brooktondale,  N.Y.   His father, Jim Morgan, 95, roomed at St. Lawrence Univ. in Canton, NY with another student who has also celebrated a 95th birthday.  Many Fieg family members will recognize this person as:

A.  Jack Wolcott's mother Cecil Day
B.  Lothar "Bud" Fieg's bicycle shop partner Clifford "Roger" Silliman
C.  Dorothy Fieg Roman's brother-in-law Don Roman
D.  Kirk Douglas


ANSWER: Cecil Day, Roger Silliman and Don Roman are still going strong into their 90s, but though all hail from upstate New York, it is a native of Amsterdam in New York's Mohawk Valley whom Jim Morgan knew at St. Lawrence.  His name then was Issur Danielovich Demsky but today most of us know him as Kirk Douglas, the dean of Hollywood actors.  Though Kirk has suffered a stroke which has affected his speech somewhat, his mind is still good and he occassionally appears in public.

Brian and Emily Fieg Create Training Courses

After a visit from Greg Fieg a little while ago (I'll not tell you how little a while) Brian Fieg, son of Doug and Cindy Fieg, sent an e-mail to your editor.  It is copied (lightly edited) below:

(Greg and I) had a great time getting to know each other that day. I'm only getting back to you today because we just got home from our cruise to Cozumel, Mexico!

It was actually a business retreat with the company we work for: The Training Factor. Both (my wife) Emily and I do all kinds of stuff for them, but we mainly put together training courses (text/photos/videos, etc) for the apartment industry. So our company sells our online course catalog to management companies for their employees (leasing agents, maintenance people, management, etc.) to take online training courses. We've been working together with them for about 3 years now.

Occasionally I do freelance photography and videos (like weddings).


Emily and I moved into our house at the end of October, 2010. We really love it and there is plenty of room to grow, so we plan on staying here as long as God has us here. It has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and is in a small neighborhood close to I-75. It's about 4 miles from where we work, so that's a plus too! The only pets we have right now is a black cat named Addy, who entertains us a lot!

Hope that's the kind of info you wanted! Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to learn about us. Thanks!

Brian Fieg

404-405-7272 - cell

404-939-2569 -

brianfieg@gmail.com

Can You Feature That? Word Paintings from June 2011

Keenan Murphy and a fish singing "Take Me To the River".... Brian Fieg picking his sister, Laura, up at the Atlanta airport upon her return from teaching in Africa.... Eleanor Fieg scratching the poison ivy on her right arm (with a smile on her face of course!) and doing pilates in her living room.... Phyllis Fieg on a ladder staining the house in Greensboro, NC she shares with her mom, Jean Davie Fieg.... Andrew Shedlock Skyping from Florida with his mom, Anne Bookhout, so she can see her grandbabies, Madeline and Ryan....

Whitesides Visit East Coast

Here is an e-mail I received from Kathy Jo Whiteside, wife of Bob Whiteside II.  Their family recently took a tour of the "old country" of Bob's Fieg relatives (Oneonta, that is) as well as other locales on the East Coast.  Read on!

Bob and I and Molly and Annie attended Andrea Whiteside's wedding in Appleton in June...from there we traveled to Michigan, Niagara Falls, Oneonta, Boston and Maine. Our favorite stop was in Oneonta!

With the wonderful help of Greg Fieg, we were able to spend the day visiting several significant locations! We began at Mr. Foti's Bread for lunch, then toured several homes that Grampa Fieg had built. We then went to the childhood home of Grandma Hawkeye (Maxine)....and Grampa's "shop" and to the cemetery where we were able to find the stones of Frank and Philip and Grandma and Grampa.
 
The girls absolutely LOVED going to the SUNY bookstore! The BEST part was when we realized we could go to the library on campus and see Maxine's yearbook! This was so special to all of us! It is interesting because our daughter, Annie resembles Grandma very much at that age!
 
We then stayed on Otsego Lake at the Hickory Grove Inn. We were disappointed that the actual inn across the street is no longer a functioning place to stay because Bob and I have such fun memories of 24 years ago when several Whiteside family members stayed there.
 
We all agreed that our time in Oneonta was the highlight of our trip!

Molly and Annie Whiteside holding the 1948 edition of Oneonta High School's yearbook, wherein they found a photo of their grandmother, Maxine Fieg!

Bob Whiteside II with his girls on Glimmerglass, 2011

Secrets of the Hon. Richard J. Bookhout Revealed!

1. THE HON. RICHARD J. BOOKHOUT'S CAREER in American jurisprudence spanned more than three decades, but arguably his crowning moment was when:

A. He presided over the probate and breakup of the Clark Fortune in Cooperstown after the death of Steve Clark Sr., philanthropist and heir to the multimillion Singer Sewing Machine fortune.

B. He won a handsome settlement in a malicious defamation suit against his Democratic opponent, who had falsely accused him of okaying a plea bargain for a suspected bootlegger in exchange for three unmarked cases of Old Overholt.

C. He made good on his vow not to rest until the capricious, cold-blooded killers Sacco and Vanzetti were either exectuted, imprisoned or placed under lifetime house arrest in the Pratt Hotel on Pioneer St., where they would be forced to order no other food except from the hotel menu.

D. He brought to justice Judge Fred Loomis and his notorious gang of cutthroats and highwaymen who, despite numerous breaches of justice, had always managed to elude the sheriff by disappearing into Nine-Mile Swamp.

2. IN ONE OF FIRST ACTIONS AFTER BEING ELECTED to the bench for his first term, outgoing District Attorney Richard J. Bookhout:

A. Placed his late grandfather's edition of the King James Bible on the bench in his courtroom in Cooperstown.

B. Bought an Army surplus jeep so that he would have reliable transportation between Oneonta and Cooperstown.

C. Took the .32 caliber automatic pistol he had always kept to protect himself against violent criminals while he served as district attorney, filled it full of cement and turned it into a paperweight to place on his bedroom bureau.

D. Drove past the Grove Street home of County Democratic Chairman Dr. Alexander F. Carson at midnight, blowing his horn repeatedly.

3.  THE LATE MULTIMILLIONAIRE PHILANTHROPIST Steve Clark was only too familiar to Judge Richard J. Bookhout's brother-in-law, Frank Fieg, because Frank on at least one occasion had been asked by Steve to:

A. Hold a golf umbrella over the head of his little girl Jane so that she would not be sunburned while watching the outdoor induction ceremonies in front of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

B. Operate a manual clay pigeon catapault so Steve could shoot skeet with his friends Averill Harriman, Malcolm Forbes, Henry J. Kaiser and Thurston Howell III.

C. Help start Steve's 1925 Model T Ford pickup as Steve pulled down the hand throttle and called out repeatedly; "Frank! Frank! Turn the crank!"

D. Cut a hole in the ice so that Steve could burst out of his 135-degree sauna and jump through the hole into the frigid water completely naked.

4. DOROTHY FIEG ROMAN'S SON JOHN has been a familiar visitor in Cooperstown over the past 50 years and it is impossible to remember how many trips he made while growing up (and later with wife Anne)  or how many places he has stayed. The Phoenix Inn bed and breakfast, where John and Anne stayed during the 2009 Fieg Family reunion, had once been a well-known location to District Attorney Richard J. Bookhout because

A. This was the house where Richard and his wife Flossie honeymooned after they eloped.

B. The sleeping quarters are located above the boat house where the Bookhouts' boat, The Flossie B., was drydocked in the offseason.

C. The Bookhouts had been trying to close a deal to buy the building to use as a summer camp when they were outbid by relatives of summer resident Augustus Busch, heir to the Anheuser Beer fortune.

D. The Phoenix Inn had been something like a speakeasy, where not only under-age drinking was suspected but where girls were thought to have sold themselves into prostitution.

Click on the link below to find out the answers!

Lt. Fieg Downs German ME109

(Put down the blunderbuss -- this did not happen recently.)

Following is a December 1944 newspaper article emailed from Steven Fieg about his dad, Lothar "Bud" Fieg Jr.

On a recent bomber escort mission to Germany, 1st Lt. Lothar Fieg, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lothar Fieg of 10 North Sixth, shot down an ME109 while helping to disperse a large formation of enemy fighters that was attempting to attack the Flying Fortresses and Liberators.  His victory was one of the 23 that the 352nd fighter group, based in England, scored that day to raise its total bag of enemy aircraft destroyed, in the air and on the ground, to more than 540.

"I was leading a flight of four P-51 Mustangs, escorting the heavies to their target at Merseburg, an important synthetic oil-producing center," said Lt. Fieg.  "The heavies had bombed their objectives and had started the withdrawal when we saw about 25 ME109s below.  We were at about 18,000 feet when the enemy fighters were observed heading for the bomber formations and we dropped down to head them off.  I picked out an ME109, fired a short burst, but missed.  My second burst was effective, and the nazi fighter went down, out of control and smoking."

Three weeks previously the 352nd established a new record for the number of enemy aircraft destroyed by a single group by bagging 38 nazi aircraft while escorting heavy bombers to the same target.

Lt. Fieg, who pilots the Mustang 'Denali,' is a veteran of 78 combat missions over enemy territory.  During his long combat career he has been decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross with an Oak Leaf cluster and an Air Medal with four Oak Leaf clusters for outstanding achievement.  A cluster indicates an additional award of the same decoration.

A 1937 graduate of OHS, Lt. Fieg attended the University of Alaska prior to entering service.

Score one more for the Fiegs!

Water Woes Continue for Iowa Family Members

As the Missouri River continued to rise, creeping into the ground floors of the multi-million dollar mansions closest to the banks, Bill and Marsha Whiteside Adams spent the day tearing out their carpet and carrying it upstairs, as well as ripping out the gypsum board in their basement.

As long as the water stays out of the second floor the carpet can be salvaged but the gypsum board is being sacrificed to avoid issues with mold after the material becomes wet.

Bill and Marsha had to get a permit to return home to perform this work but so far no water has seeped into their dwelling.  Ground water, however, has risen into the homes of their next-door neighbors and after watching them struggle with their water-logged carpeting, the Adamses decided to act immediately.

Authorities predict that it may be until the end of July or later before the water recedes, meaning that, by the time the couple get their home in order again, it may be almost Thanksgiving.

Meanwhile, Interstate 29 is closed from Omaha to the Missouri Valley just south of Sioux City.  Steven Fieg reports that the two rest areas just south of the city were closed as well.

Keep them in your thoughts.

What Does a Fieg Say to a Prince?

When meeting Prince Harry, conversation between him and Col. Ed Fieg will probably be minimal, although more expansiveness may be required if:
a.  Ed feels the need to explain about limitations in visiting critically injured troops in intensive care
b.  Ed becomes curious as to whether Prince Harry bears any grudges over the shellacking the Americans gave the British in 1776
c.  Ed decides to ease the tension with the old fashioned "pull my finger" joke
d.  none of the above
Go to the blog and click on "comment" to see the surprising answer.

What Does a Fieg Do When Introduced to Royalty?

Because Col. Ed Fieg is stationed at a British Apache helicpter base in Afghanistan, his path will soon cross that of Prince Harry, an Apache pilot who will spend some time in the combat zone.  When Ed is introduced to the prince he will be required to:
a.  address him as "your highness"
b.  wait to return his salute and address him as captain, because Ed, as a full colonel, outranks the prince
c.  nod and bow from the waist
d.  curtsy
Go to the blog and click on "comment" to find out the correct protocol!

Whiteside/Cataldo Wedding Photos

Thanks to Bob and Kathy Whiteside for these photos from the recent wedding of Andrea Whiteside and Jeno Cataldo:


The happy couple -- Andrea and Jeno Cataldo



Maxine and Dr. Bob Whiteside -- they clean up good...

Proud dad, Jeff, toasting the newlyweds

Survey Monkey Reveals All, Take 2

Here are the answers to the second Fieg Family survey.  Again, the correct answers are in bold italics -- surprise!!!

1. Diana Monaco's favorite movie, from which she quotes ad infinitum, is:
a.  Dr. Zhivago - 28.6%
b.  Tootsie - 14.3%
c.  Ordinary People - 28.6%
d.  Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion - 28.6%

2. Pasta with wine is the favorite food of:
a.  Ed Fieg Sr. - 57.1%
b.  Bobby McGonigal - 0%
c.  Jeff Whiteside - 14.3%
d.  Don Roman - 28.6%

3. Which version of the movie "A Christmas Carol" is the favorite of Anna Dangca:
a.  the black and white 1951 version - 42.9%
b.  the George C. Scott version - 28.6%
c.  the Jim Carrey version - 14.3%
d.  the 1938 version, introducing June Lockhart - 14.3%

4. Apple pie is the favorite food of which young lady:
a.  Nancy Fieg - 14.3%
b.  Kathy Clancy - 14.3%
c.  Maren Corkery - 42.9%
d.  Jennifer Boggs Murphy - 28.6%

5. When Emilie Kestner goes on vacation, she prefers to go:
a.  on a road trip - 28.6%
b.  to the beach - 28.6%
c.  to the mountains - 0%
d.  up north - 42.9%

6. One respondent's favorite food is "anything serving for function or use, i.e. food for thought." Who is this person?
a.  John Roman - 28.6%
b.  Jean Fieg - 42.9%
c.  Bill Doyle - 0%
d.  Steven Fieg - 28.6%

7. Greg Fieg's favorite food is Skyline Cincinnati-style chili. Who else shares this passion?
a.  Sarah Corkery - 71.4%
b.  Cade Dangca - 14.3%
c.  Heny Fieg - 0%
d.  Ed Williams - 14.3%

8. Annie Bookhout's favorite book is, appropriately enough:
a.  Seabiscuit - 42.9%
b.  Misty of Chincoteague - 0%
c.  The Horse Whisperer - 14.3%
d.  Black Beauty - 57.1%

9. Two respondents both selected Yosemite National Park as their favorite vacation spot. Who are they?
a.  Ed Fieg Sr. and Lisa Fieg - 71.4%
b.  Richard Fieg and Mary McGonigal - 0%
c.  Doris Holm and Greg Fieg - 14.3%
d.  Mark Roman and Ed Williams - 14.3%

10. Maxine Whiteside now prefers to stay close to home for vacations. What location was her favorite during her salad days?
a.  Chicago - 42.9%
b.  Florida - 0%
c.  Milford, PA - 0%
d.  New York City - 57.1%

My apologies to those who could not participate.  I think I did not manage the surveys in the correct way, but shall try, try again.

Andrea Whiteside Weds Jeno Cataldo

On Saturday June 4, 2011 Andrea Faye Whiteside and Jeno Joseph Cataldo were married at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Appleton, WI with the Reverend Jane Anderson officiating. 

The bride wore a strapless ivory gown with a ruched bodice overlay and six-foot train.  The knee-length veil, fastened to her elaborate chignon, was edged with silk flowers and her bouquet was comprised of white and peach-colored roses in full bloom.

The bride's sister, Julianna Corderman, was matron of honor and the groom's brother, Lorenzo Cataldo, acted as best man.  There were eight bridesmaids and eight groomsmen, including Andrea's brother Matthew.

A string quintet played the processional, "To a Wild Rose" by MacDowell and "Air on a G String" by Bach.  Then the strains of Wagner's "Bridal Chorus" signaled Andrea's entrance into the nave.  At the end of the ceremony the couple lit a unity candle while the musicians played "Panis Angelicus" by Franck.

Vivaldi's "Spring" served as the recessional and, as the newly-wed couple turned to exit the church, Andrea paused and bent to give a kiss to her loving grandpa.

A sit-down dinner reception after the ceremony was attended by 250 guests.

Andrea is a Milwaukee attorney at Meissner Tierney Fisher & Nichols S.C. with a focus on corportate law and an emphasis on real estate, tax law, estate planning and probate, among others.  She is the daughter of Kathi and Jeff Whiteside and granddaughter of Maxine and Dr. Bob Whiteside Sr.

Her husband, who holds a journalism and mass communications degree from UW-Milwaukee as well as a Real Estate Appraisal certification from Waukesha County Technical College, was recenly hired as a real estate broker with NAI MLG Commercial in Milwaukee.

Prior to joining NAI MLG, Jeno operated his own appraisal company and has extensive experience in the appraisal and restaurant industry, having owned/operated his own business for the past six years.

The couple will honeymoon in Italy.

Give Me A Sign!

Sign spotted in Napavine, WA: "Please no sitting on the cows...."  Billboard spotted in Austin, MN (home of Hormel Meats): "Not Your Typical Meat Museum...."  Sign spotted at the Cooperstown airport in Otsego Co., NY:  "Celebrating 50 years of relatively safe flying."

Bob Morgan Returns From Visiting Ailing New Grandson in Canada

By Greg Fieg


Bob Morgan, Annie Bookhout's all-time favorite husband, recently returned home where he visited his new grandson, Kyle, two months old.

During grampa's visit Kyle contracted spinal meningitis, an illnesss of which some 70 percent of the victims are age five or under. The good news is that he will be home from the hospital soon.

Kyle's mother, Janice, and his father, Nick Soleros, live in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.

While Bob was away, Annie remained at home in New York, taking care of her commercial equestrian stable, their farm and Bob's truck fleet. Annie is the daughter of the late Florence Fieg Bookhout and Hon. Richard J. Bookhout of Oneonta.

Can You Feature That? Word Paintings from May 2011

Lisa Fieg saying goodbye to her watch that she accidentally dropped in the toilet at her gym after an automatic flush....  Bobby McGonigal turkey hunting with his five-shot, 12-gauge automatic....  From nine rows behind the third base bag at Safeco Field in Seattle,  Greg Fieg watching the lowly Mariners beating the reigning American League Champion Texas Rangers....  Steve Fieg counting 714 items relating to Oneonta, N.Y. being auctioned on eBay....  Finishing her freshman year, Molly Whiteside returning home from her dorm at the University of Iowa where she academically follows in her grandmother's footsteps as an English major....  Annie Bookhout bringing horses into the paddock....  Will Bookhout conducting bidness by car phone between Oneonta and Cazenovia.... Joe Kestner on the cellphone with Jose, his mechanic, taking well readings:  "Cuanto barrels?  Mas o menos...."

Marsha, Bill Adams Flee From Raging Flood

May 31, 2011

Details were sketchy but word had been received that Marsha and Bill Adams are safe as raging flood waters bear down on their home along the Missouri River at Dakota Dunes, South Dakota.

Following weeks of pounding rains that promise to make 2011 among the wettest years in the historical record, some 2500 people are under evacuation orders in the expectation that up to 1100 homes will be flooded as the longest river in North America reaches 1000 feet over its banks, according to news data gathered in NY by cousin Diana Monaco.

Marsha's mother, Maxine Fieg Whiteside, who lives with husband Dr. Robert Whiteside across the river in Sioux City, IA, was in the process of gathering supplies to sustain the embattled couple, whom we presume will stay at the family homestead in the immediate future and perhaps indefinitely. 

The Whitesides' home is on higher ground and, we hope, out of danger but there is no guarantee.  Residents on the Iowa side of the river are expecting the confluences of the Big Sioux River, the Little Sioux River, the Floyd River, Perry Creek and other tributaries to back up into those secondary channels as the water rises.

Hamilton Blvd., a four-lane arterial accessing the Whitesides' home, is expected to be inundated.  The only questions are how deep and how far?

With even more rain in the forecast US Army Corps of Engineers and other government officials have warned residents to expect the worst.

To ease overflowing capacity and pressure on upstream reservoirs and dams, regulators are releasing an additional 10,000 cubic feet of water per second per day into the already choked channel.  By comparison, that is the equivalent of the minimum daily flow of the Susquehanna River at its headwaters near Council Rock at the base of Otsego Lake in Cooperstown, NY.

The releases will be increased an additional 10,000 cu. ft. per second per day each day through the month of June until an additional 140,000 cubic feet per second will be sent downstream.

Omaha, 90 miles to the south, where Max Fieg and his mother Therese reside, is expected to see the river crest in about three weeks.  We await further details from Sioux City and Omaha.

Flooding is nothing new in Sioux City but this is a first for Dakota Dunes, a bedroom community of premium homes overlooking the normally broad, languid-looking but deceptively powerful river.  Homes farther from the river are valued at a minimum of a quarter of a million dollars, while homes on the river banks sell for well over a million dollars.  None has ever been flooded.

At last report water was nearly waist-deep on the 18th green at the plush Dakota Dunes Country Club golf course.

Ed Fieg Sr. Slogs Through Afghanistan

Here, belatedly, is an e-mail from Eddie Fieg Sr., forwarded to me by his little sister, Lisa.  The e-mail was sent to me March 2 -- what happened between then and now that I couldn't post it??????

I am now at Camp Leatherneck -- packed with 20K Marines (hence the name). I am OK, trying to get squared away. Cold, lots of mud, gave up my indoor showers/latrines at Kandahar, now have to walk outside...in the mud. Lots of very tenacious mud.

I got here at 3 am, can't find my sponsor, just stumbling around now and found the MWR tent with computer access. Have errands to run, my quarters are nice but only have a mattress. A bunk bed I have to figure out how to build. Did I mention the mud?


Don't worry about me. More later. Hope all is well, everybody is safe and healthy. Miss you. Love you.



EDWARD L. FIEG, Colonel, USAF, MC

Deputy Chief, Medical Staff

60th Medical Group/SGH

David Grant USAF Medical Center

Travis AFB CA 94535

(707) 423-7622/3369

edward.fieg-02@travis.af.mil


2896 Calle de Cordoba
Fairfield CA 94534

Mobile: (937) 207-9706
Home: (707) 422-2953

efieg@prodigy.net

Survey Monkey Reveals All

Many thanks to those who responded to the first installment of the Fieg family survey.  Here are the results, with the correct answer italicized in bold type:

1.  Marsha Adams' favorite food:
a.  spaghetti and meatballs                                 44.4%
b.  Cheerios                                                        0.0%
c.  shrimp lo mein                                              11.1%
d.  sharp cheddar cheese w/wheat crackers  44.4%

2.  Maxine Whiteside's favorite movie:
a.  The Great Escape                                        33.3%
b.  Billy Eliot                                                  55.6%
c.  Notorious                                                   11.1%
d.  Horton Hears a Who                                    0.0%

3.  Judy Kestner's favorite vacation spot:
a.  Cancun                                                       44.4%
b.  Maine                                                       33.3%
c.  New Orleans                                              22.2%
d.  Nashville                                                      0.0%

4.  Sue Williams' favorite book:
a.  any dictionary                                            11.1%
b.  any Danielle Steele book                       66.7%
c.  any "how-to" book                                    22.2%
d.  any Mad magazine                                      0.0%

5.  Whose favorite vacation spot is Oahu?
a.  the Will Bookhout family                            33.3%
b.  the Corkery family                                  33.3%
c.  Anne and Kevin Still                                  33.3%
d.  Bob and Carol Ramagosa                           0.0%

6.  "Jane Eyre" is whose favorite book?
a.  Dorothy Roman                                        22.2%
b.  Lisa Fieg                                                55.6%
c.  Doris Holm                                               22.2%
d.  Cindy Williams                                           0.0%

7.  Greg Fieg's favorite movie is:
a.  Ben Hur                                                   11.1%
b.  Butterfield 8                                             22.2%
c.  The General                                             11.1%
d.  Citizen Kane                                         55.6%

8.  Sushi is the favorite food of:
a.  John Boggs                                           77.8%         
b.  Richard Fieg                                             0.0%
c.  Max Fieg                                                  0.0%
d.  Robert Whiteside Sr.                               22.2%

9.  Cod au gratin is the favorite food of:
a.  Anne Roman                                           22.2%
b.  Annie Bookhout                                   33.3%
c.  Phyllis Ann Fieg                                       33.3%
d.  Anna Dangca                                          11.1%

10. Jean Fieg's favorite vacation spot is:
a.  Germany                                                 11.1%
b.  The Bahamas                                          11.1%
c.  Lake Eaton, NY                                    11.1%
d.  her own backyard                                   66.7%

How did you do???  Anyone get 100% (besides me of course!)?  Let me know, and keep an eye out for the next installment on SurveyMonkey.com.

Can You Feature That? Word Paintings from April, 2011

Phyllis Fieg behind the wheel of her 1983 Buick Skylark tootling along IH-40 on her way to work in Raleigh.... Sarah and Kevin Corkery grinning from ear to ear upon hearing the news that baby number six is expected in December .... Diana Monaco and Bill Doyle making the acquaintance of Bill's newest grandson, Andrew William Doyle in Burke, VA.... Brian and Emily Fieg lying in the sun on their recent cruise to Cozumel, Mexico (in between business meetings).... Judy Kestner gritting her teeth while trying to write a comment on Facebook and wondering why it did not take, and how to make it stick and why even to bother....  Jennifer Boggs Murphy celebrating her birthday on April 23, the same birthday as FFN founder V.P. Fieg ....  Bill and Marsha Adams, Greg Fieg, Dr. Bob and Maxine Whiteside having a tete-a-tete in Sioux City over Jimmy John's sandwiches....  Steven Fieg patiently waiting for feedback on the historic Fieg family videos he recently sent out (hint, hint)....  Anne Still taking a photo of her mom, Maxine, in front of the main fireplace (large enough to accomodate at least three Smart Cars) in Anne and Kevin's new mansion.... 

In Remembrance of an Excursion to Yankee Stadium

By Greg Fieg

It was eight years ago or so, so far back now that certain details do not immediately come to memory.  Still a very special day:  it remains emblazoned in the mind.

It was in Old Yankee Stadium, the "House That Ruth Built."  Ed Fieg Sr. and his sister Lisa Fieg and Lisa's neighbor and longtime friend Louis DiIulio were watching the game from high above the field behind home plate. An interleague contest between the Yankees and the Braves, the game raced toward its conclusion.

To recall the exact score is not so important, but one thing is certain:  the home team was winning but the visitors were threatening. The game was definitely on the line.

Ed remembers that at the top of the ninth inning, the din of the crowd suddenly intensified to a deafening roar and everyone rose to his feet.  Ed looked around, trying to figure out why all the commotion.  Had Bruce Springsteen suddenly appeared to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame?"  Was Yankees owner George Steinbrenner passing out $100 bills?

Ed turned to Louis, a long-time New Yorker and veteran of many Yankee Stadium games and, yelling at the top of his voice, asked him why everybody was so excited.  Louis, screaming back but knowing he probably couldn't be heard, spoke slowly,  enunciating carefully so that Ed might be able to read his lips.

Pointing to a solitary figure trotting toward the mound from the bullpen, Louis said:  "Mariano Rivera!"

The young Panamanian pitcher, then at the very pinnacle of his prowess and well on the way to enshrinement in Cooperstown, toed the rubber and began to throw:  one, two, three; one, two, three; one, two, three.  The ninth inning and, of course, the game had just come to an abrupt conclusion.  Rivera, notching the save, struck out the side on nine pitches.

Fast forward to the present.

Last Sunday night as the Yankees hosted the first place Texas Rangers, with Rivera once again readying to come in to put the game away, ESPN, which was broadcasting the game nationally, took time during a station break to show a 30-second historical vignette in honor of the Yankees' storied past and hallowed environs.

With documentary footage of the late Marilyn Monroe -- an immortal icon of a different sort -- it was recalled that it was in 1954 that the greatest motion picture actress of the day travelled to Japan on her honeymoon, then took time to fly to South Korea for an afternoon to entertain American troops there.

When she took the stage she wore hoop earrings the size of silver dollars, four-inch high heels and a glittering, relatively voluminous size 16, sequin-studded, royal blue evening dress in which her considerable bosom, hips and derriere were not all that easily contained.  The soldiers, who perhaps had not seen a woman in weeks and certainly had never seen a woman such as this, went wild, absolutely wild.

Later that day, when she returned to Japan to rejoin her new husband on their honeymoon, Marilyn, recounting the day, said to him:  "You have never heard such cheering."

Joe DiMaggio looked back at her and replied:  "Yes, I have."

Diana Fieg Monaco Unmasks Hudson Valley Cat Burglar

Something was wrong.  Very wrong.

Diana Fieg Monaco checked the cat food and checked it again.  This had been going on for days.  Or was it weeks?  Either the food was disappearing or her cat, Puppy Kitty Doyle, was eating her out of house and home.

Puppy Kitty Doyle Up a Tree

Now wait a minute.  How much food could Doyle eat anyhow?  For that matter, how much food could any one cat eat?  He wasn't any fatter and, of course, it was pointless to check his pockets.  And yet, Diana's purse was plainly thinner.  What's going on?  The food is vanishing! Well, isn't it?

Unexpectedly, the answer was suddently upon her.

She was in her home office as usual, running her travel business.  Doyle, faithfully employed as guard cat for a number of years, was at her side, lying on his side with his head upright, lightly dozing, arms neatly folded before him and totally oblivious, as was she, to the fact that -- an intruder was in the house!

Some guard cat.

Suddenly there was a movement in the corner of Diana's eye.  She turned.!  She looked.  She gasped!  A stranger had just poked her head into the room! A cat!  A cat!  A cat she had never seen before!

Shamelessly,  Doyle couldn't care less.  He didn't even bother to hide it.  Obviously, he knows her.  Of course,  Doyle comes and goes as he pleases, through his own little cat door to the cellar, and out another cat door at the cellar window, which leads outside.

That two-timing little sneak.  Doyle evidently had been plying his new -- uh, friend -- with Diana's food,  or at least showing the way to get inside and find the goodies.  The newcomer had made herself right at home.

Now what can Diana do?  Seal off Puppy Kitty Doyle's cat doors?  Lock him out?  Fire him as guard cat?  Would excommunication be too much?

No, no, it looks from here,  if it isn't plain to Diana already, that Doyle now has a cat of his own.  Oh,  the shame!  The scandal!  The duplicity and betrayal! Why do so many women put up with this sort of thing?  Fear? The need for security?

It's a sad commentary,  but as anyone who knows feline types can tell you:  Nobody, but nobody, owns a cat.  Totally self-absorbed,  they're loyal to no one.  What you've heard about dogs simply does not apply.  A cat is his own best friend.

Ed. note:  Diana tells me the new cat's name is The Moocher, called Mooch for short.

A Message Received At the Century Mark

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena;  whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;  who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again;  who knows great enthusiasms,  the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause,  who at best, knows the triumphs of high achievement; and who at worst,  if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place will never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat."


                                                                                                                      Theodore  Roosevelt

                                                                                                                       April, 1911

Oops

Dave and Liz were married in 1962.  Sorry.

Real Snapshot from Fifty Years Ago

Kathy Boggs Clancy sent this charming photo of her parents, Dave and Liz Bookhout Boggs, on their wedding day in March 1961.  I just had to share it.

Math Whiz Provides Four-letter Formula

By Judy Kestner

In reply to a recent post, Doug Fieg has provided the formula to determine the number of four-letter combinations there are in the English language.

Commenting on the post titled "World Wide Web Deems 'Fieg' a Four-letter Word," Doug wrote, "Not only can a Fieg (this Fieg) compute the number of four-letter web sites, the original author practically had the answer already worked out! The number of four-letter websites is easily computed as:

26 x 26 x 26 x 26 = 456,976

In other words, "26 possibilities at every turn." The only thing is, it doesn't really turn out to be millions and millions. In fact, it isn't really even one million.

There ya go. Let your breath no longer be bated."

Thanks, Mr. Wizard!

Eddie Fieg Jr. Seeks Advanced Degree

By Greg Fieg

Lisa Fieg reports that her nephew, Eddie Fieg Jr., this fall will enroll as a full-time student at Columbia University in Chicago where he will seed a baccalaureate degree in computer graphics design.

Eddie, 26, the son of Col. Edward Lothar Fieg Sr. of Fairfield, CA, has worked for several years as a free-lance graphic designer in the Chicago area.  He resides in the Wicker Park section of the city and is a graduate of Des Moines Area Community College where he earned an associate degree in graphic design.

Among Eddie's projects since he began working comercially more than five years ago is the design, layout and publishing of "Letters From War," a book about the WWII experiences of his maternal grandfather, the late Robert White, long-time superintendent of schools in Oneonta, NY.  He collaborated on this personal project with his mother, Karen White Fieg of Des Moines. 

Among his clients are Financial Managers Society, Iowa Telecommunications Association, Graphic Authority and his alma mater DMACC.

You can see what else Eddie has been up to at

http://www.creativehotlist.com/index.asp?linktarget=fullprofile.asp&indID=118713.