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Adam Jerger- Hall of Famer

What an exciting time in Boca Ciega swimming history... After the conference meet in October, some of the headlines read..."BOCA CIEGA SWIMMERS SET THREE CONFERENCE RECORDS" AND "BOYS' SWIM TEAM LOOKS BETTER THAN EVER" " WARHAWKS WIN, BOGIE BOYS STAR" These were the first signs that Bogie was going to have a special year. With Adam, Dustin Bengston, Erik Farr and Jarrett Sanchez posting PCAC records in the 100 yard Breaststroke(Adam), 100 yard Butterfly(Dustin), and 200 yard Medley Relay, and then adding three more wins in the 200 yd. Medley(Adam), 200 yd. Freestyle (Dustin) and 200 yd Free relay in which they were both a part, Boca Ciega coach Tom Scott noted that "This has been a really special meet. The boys set their goals from the start and took one race at a time."

This was just the beginning for future Hall of Famer, Adam Jerger in his quest for helping his team achieve greatness in his Senior year at Boca Ciega.

Here are the three Seniors at their first dual meet of the season...one month before their emergence as a contending force in the Class 4A State Swimming world...calm and collected, they set their sights on two things...swim hard and have fun!!

Adam began to gain attention as an up and coming force in the state. A couple of days later, at the Rotary Invitational, he delivered a strong message to some of the best swimmers around the state. By winning two individual titles and helping the Pirates finish third in two relays, Adam showed why he would now be a favorite at this year's Class 4A state meet. His performance was most impressive, because it came against swimmers from other classifications. Adam was the only Pinellas County swimmer to win an event, and he won two!

Adam and teammates surpassed more expectations...After so much success at the Conference meet, the "Bogie Boys" came into the District with targets on their backs. No longer a surprise, Adam was now EXPECTED to win...and win he did. the 200 yd. Individual Medley, and the 100 yd. Breaststroke, he also helped in the Medley Relay win, to lead the team to a District win.

In November, friends and family gathered in Orlando to watch the State meet.
Adam did not disappoint. Winning the State Title in the 100 Breast, second in the 200 IM and helping in the Title swim for the 200 Medley Relay...we cheered as Boca Ciega High took fourth place at State. Keep in mind, they took a grand total of 5 swimmers and finished only 8 points out of first place!!

This high school experience catapulted Adam into a whirlwind of college offers and visits......his choice? most of you know...but will save for another blog.

For now, Dean and I are remembering how all of this led up to our son being selected as a Hall of Fame inductee at Boca Ciega High School. We will always have the memories of those times when he first began swimming, as his confidence grew, as he realized dream after dream in the pool. We were so proud of him then and continue to be proud of the man he has become.

Congratulations, Adam for your well deserved place in Bogie's Hall of Fame.
We Love You, Son!!!

Alaska, Mom and Dr. Charles Stanley

In July, Dean and I picked Mom up from the lake and headed to Seattle. After a few days in that beautiful COOL city, we joined about 1400 others and cruised with Dr. Charles Stanley and friends to Alaska. While in Seattle, we toured, ferried and of course, ate the most delicious seafood!!

Then it was onto the Amsterdam to begin our voyage to Sitka, Alaska. We cruised for a day, enjoying a Bible Study with Dr. Stanley, and music, music, music with a variety of Christian groups...Karen Peck and New River, Mark Trammel Quartet, Greater Vision, The Specks, and others. I think we all fell for the Acappella group, Voices of Lee, from Lee College in Tennessee. This group had been on the accappella TV competition last season...

Sitka is a very old town with much Russian influence. Mom and I spent the few hours we had on an excursion to hunt for wildlife. YES!!! we left the boat to get in a smaller boat and hunt down the elusive wildlife of Sitka!
We did see this humpback whale, early on in the trip...and try as I might, though the fluke was exposed several times, I only got this shot of its dorsal fin!

Undaunted, we continued on and saw sea otters, bald eagles, and sea lions. All in all, it was a good day...Mom never once slowed down....and SHE was the one who wanted to climb the staircase to the TOP of the boat!!

Dean spent the day fishing for salmon. Since he did not have the camera, the only evidence is the silver salmon packaged in our freezer!!

We said goodbye to Sitka, and headed for Juneau.

Mom's 90th Birthday

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Dean and his brothers planned a wonderful cruise for their mother on her 90th birthday! We began in Boston and loaded onto a ship, The Jewel of the Seas, to head north. With stops in Portland Maine, Rockland Maine, St. John and Halifax Canada, we cruised, ate lobster, shopped, ate lobster, saw Reversing Tides, ate lobster... You get the picture.. I will attach a scrapbook to give you a clearer picture. What a wonderful time with the most precious of memories.

After the cruise, many of her grandchildren and great - grandchildren surprised her in Georgia. She had a great time!

We are so blessed to have her in our lives and have the chance to spoil her...

One Halluva Weekend

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The games began early Saturday with golf and basketball events. I must admit, Bill and Johanna attacked the competition with a vengeance, or at least, great outfits and attitudes!! They picked up so many spirit points they were hard to catch!!

Golfing events started the morning off.... The closest to the fountain event produced an unexpected winner with a most unusual technique...Greg, who had never played golf, copied Sonia's (Johanna's sister), who had also never played, ball skipping technique. In the long drive, David's golfing expertise showed through, even with his pirate eye patch handicap!(Note the judge hiding behind a tree!!) Another surprising winner came in the chipping (tossing) event..Aliah, Sonia and Aladeen's daughter, used excellent form to take the medal!

The group moved to the basketball court for the next session, along with their cheering section. One of the most amazing things to me was how many competitors there were in all events..from golf to scrapbooking. The basketball event was shooting to 29 (92 reversed, for Daddy's birthday). It was a close competition with Greg winning, and David and Bill placing and showing!

Then, it was up to the house for lunch and cooling off, plus the start of the indoor events. These included scrapbooking pages, orange slice sculpting, and WII target shooting. Greg came in strong for WII shooting, Diana won the scrapbook page, and Sonia, Aladeen and Ameer won the Diana Miller honorary orange slice medal!!    

Daddy also had a book "signing" while we were up at the house. For those of you who have spent time around our Daddy, you know that he is a virtual king of limericks and jokes..for instance, Daddy once promised Mama that he would make her famous...she wasn't exactly thinking of her caricature on a sack of fertilizer!! The book is full of all the stories and limericks that made his grandchildren laugh until they cried!!

Then, it was off to the pool, where we had an underwater swim, diving for smurfs...a cousin favorite, treading water, and a dress and pose competition ( inspired by Adam's famous gymnastics dismount pose). Though we had to postpone the last couple due to lightning...Bill, Johanna, and David finished up the events strong!!

Finally, the cooks went to work. There was so much food, I haven't had to eat again, yet!! From a Peruvian potato dish, by Sonia...to an okra dish cooked by our resident "Yankee", Ted...to Mim's Banana Pudding (a real Hall Reunion favorite)...to Susan's bean casserole (her mother's recipe)... to Bill's special ribs..to Margaret's grape salad...to my Potato sald..to Karen's veggie platter..to Johanna's carrot cake( her friend's)..to...well, I could go on and on, but it is making me full again..

After a wonderful dinner, we presented the grand prizes for the events. As you can tell from the pictures, we had a great opportunity to recycle some trophies, and one toilet seat for this occasion! Though rain had taken away the other outside events, we went back to our first family gathering at Bill and Johanna's...Karen definitely had the participation, wins, and attitudes for that trophy. Though the competition for the overall was fierce, David Miller walked away with the "trophy"!

So, our celebration and reunion ended with exhaustion from so much FUN!!! We hope we will be able to meet again, soon....Thank you Bill and Johanna for putting into action, a plan to get this family together  more often!! We do have so much fun. AND Happy Birthday, Daddy...a magnificent 92!!

One Halluva Weekend

Mim, Margaret, Susan, Andie, and Dianna

Day 1 of the Hall reunion/Daddy's birthday celebration (92)...we voted froma wonderful list of names on the title of the event. We chose from : 1. Sweet Willie Palooza 2. Willie Wanna Games 3. Wild Willie's Weekend or W3 4. One Halluva Weekend 5. The Hall olympics 6. Sweet Willie's Teaberry Shuffle 7. Willie Nillie Weekend 8. Willie's 92nd Bash.

Da da Da!!.. The winner, with 11 out of 13 votes is (drumroll) .... One Halluva Weekend. This was submitted by grandson, David Miller, (Mim's son). Soo.... David has one the first event of many games...Let us hope that he does not boast nor brag...as that will cost him dearly in Spirit Points!!!

Dean, Jack, Ted and David

We will almost all of us together tomorrow...Bill and Johanna, Johanna's sister, Sonia, husband and two children  (from Tampa) will be here tonight, and Greg and Karen will be here tomorrow (from Tallahassee). Let us not forget the dogs of the family....ours: Baxter....David and Dianna's , Lloyd...Bill and Johanna's, Lola, and Greg and Karen's two..Jake and Kora!!!

Tomorrow....Let the games begin for One Halluva Weekend!!

Holy Land Day 7

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This day started earlier, as we were headed to the lowest area on Earth..The Dead Sea, which is 1200 feet below sea level. On the way, we passed by the city of Jericho. Jericho's distinction, other than the stories we know about from the Bible, is that it is the oldest inhabited city in the world. It has been inhabited by someone from over 7,000 years ago through present day. Next visit, I hope we will be able to stop in Jericho.

Then, we proceeded to the farthest point, the historical site called Masada. This place is a disconnected mountain with only two ways up..the winding snake path, and a cable car. We took the cable car!! At the top, you will find ruins of another fabulous palace built by Herod. This would have been a home used in the winter to protect his family from his many enemies.

Masada, however has a much more interesting story. Seems that over 900 Zealots from Jerusalem and surrounding areas made their last stand against Rome in 73 AD. They escaped Jerusalem and made their way to this isolated and protected fortress, which had been a well designed palace, complete with an intricate water system, large cisterns, storerooms, and supplies.
With only one way up the mountain, they were able to spend months, if not years, keeping the large Roman Legion who followed them there at bay. The story is told that when the Romans finally completed a "ramp" which breached the fortress, the group decided to draw lots; fathers would kill their own families, and 11 men would take care of the rest. They did not want to become slaves and decided that dying would be a better answer.
The Isareli Army, today, still gives their oath of service on the top of Masada. The oath basically says that they will fight to the death, so that they will never become slaves to anyone again. Patrick Henry must have even heard about Masada...

We left Masada and headed for Qumeran. This is the location of the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Imagine a Bedouin shepherd, tossing a stone into a cave, hearing a breaking sound, and discovering the scrolls. Thankfully he took them to the shoemaker I described earlier, who knew what to do. The Isaiah scroll was found almost completely intact. Note to self...on our day off tomorrow, we will go to the museum which houses the scrolls.

Finally, many of our Pilgrims got to float in the Dead Sea. Andie was not one of them, but Dean just had to get his swimmer self in that salt water. The Dead Sea has no life, because it is around 33% salt. It was the first time I have seen Dean float, and his feet were not under water. There are 28 other minerals in the sea, and even Cleoptra noticed the skin secrets in these minerals. There are still products produced today that are in great demand from the Dead Sea...yes, I did get a lovely Lavender Scrub. Dean says I have to carry and pack that 8 pound jar of salt!!

Though this day was hot, and we were in the lowest of lows, once more, the learning continued. I loved the story of Masada, and completely understood why a young man was having his Bar Mitzvah at the top of this intiguing mountain.

We passed  many Bedouin villages on our way back to Jerusalem.

They live such an austere existence...