Through social media, I stayed in contact with the guys over the past 15 years. For my 60th birthday, my sons bought me a plane ticket to fly back to Farm Fest II. I had not been able to attend the earlier ones because of work and life keeping me on the West Coast. It was a great time and there were even some wives and kids that attended. I have reignited the old stories and new ones through email and text. We regained close ties. Last winter Joy and I met with Dunner in Florida when we were at Pro Bowl. Our family saw Grousser in New Providence when Johnny was in 7th grade.
This past weekend six of us from Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Massachusettes, New Jersey and I, from the beautiful pacific northwest. We met at our friend Rick's farm in New Jersey.
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| Dunner |
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Flack
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| Grousser |
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| Schneider |
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| Watty |
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| Zeck or Zacky |
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After the game, we visited family in Philly and down the shore. I was looking forward to Joy meeting my friends from high school.
We had several objectives for the weekend. One was to recreate a picture we took after a pickup football game in 1973. Another was enjoying good bar-b-q and music. The last objective was to update each other on our families.
Sunday morning we went for a walk around the farm and enjoyed Bill's knowledge of all things geological, biological and zoological.
We found out what a 'tor' is for.
Joy was a great director and got us all position to take the photo.
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Best security guards ever for the Admiral |
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| Rambunctious Pioneers |
Before Joy and I left we had the guys get together for a Ramily photo in back of the Admiral, with Admiral IRV. There were two more guests in the photo. Jeff brought along his Storm Troopers for added security.
Rick and Bill did most of the planning and it was a great event I will never forget. Rick was the most gracious host. He had things set and ready to go every phase of the cooking, sleeping, playing. Could not have been better. Bill and the boys grilled their hearts out. Great cooperation and conversations.
As they say in the industry... Farm Fest III is a wrap.
"Forty-five years are gone but the lovefest goes on. Pioneers and bros we will always be!"
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| Otto and Grousser looking up. What new gathering is on the horizon? |
Not much to add to this marvelous telling of the tale of FF lll. Otto and Joy sealed the deal by altering their travel game plan (Don't mess with the human GPS: Joy Hekker), and agreed to return to the farm to join in. And i have to mention what Otto (one and the same as Robert Hekker) failed to above: That they did as much as anyone to make sure FF lll was better than even anticipated: Baking banana breads and zucchini breads and date cake, and even housing one of the lads, making some cream cheese date things, etc etc etc
ReplyDeleteI'll only say a few things:
1) Joy is fearless, agreeing to hang with as tight a group of 7 dudes as you can find anywhere on the planet. She could have easily bowed out, as Joy and Otto by then already had been at the farm and had not planned on returning. But as I have come to learn; nothing is too daunting for this beautiful lady. The punchline is that Joy was as much part of us as any of the rest of us, and sort of brought out in us some amazing stuff that would not have appeared otherwise. Amazing.
2) I don't want to be hurting on anyone, and then chatting myself up on top of it, but I'll ask Johnny and the entire NFL, including Goodell, to find it in their hearts to excuse Schneider's form in the pic of him throwing the football. He certainly didn't learn it from Tom Brady, his hero. More likely someone like Marsha Brady from the Brady Bunch
3) I'm pretty sure that the pic of Otto and Grousser looking skyward, is when they were watching my "miracle at Salt Brook" banana kick, learned from my years studying Australian Football. And me watching, 1000 times, McAfee's dissection of Johnny's kick. Just sayin'