Bill Pierce spent a good portion of his birthday going up and down a ladder. He was painting the lanai that day (Oct. 24) and, of course, his six kids and many grandkids called him throughout the day and evening with birthday wishes.

He also climbed down the ladder to take my call, and although I did bid him well, I was calling to follow up on chance meetings he and his wife, Lue, had encountered on their summer trip to Michigan this year. More on that later.

Incidentally, when I asked Bill about his "special day" - and a milestone at that - his reply was probably typical for men: He said, "Oh, it's just another day."

Except for the paint job, the only other thing on his agenda was a meeting with the shuffle board folks, supposedly at 6 p.m. ...

Best man, bridesmaid, ring boy, flower girl and photographer. That's the roundup of the usual suspects at a wedding. But at the recent betrothal of Maureen Cesaitis and Craig Mourton, their friend Bob Coffey was all of the above.

Maureen and Craig's plans were to get married on Tybee Island, Ga., with only their good friends Caren and Bob Coffey in attendance. Unfortunately, at the last minute, Caren could not make the trip. However, Bob accompanied the happy couple.
The wedding, by the way, was smokeless. Seems that it was sort of a condition of Maureen's that Craig stop smoking before she would do the deed. As a sign of solidarity, and as a real gesture of friendship, the Coffeys also successfully quit smoking at the same time, which was about three months ago.

But the Coffeys weren ...

At the annual "SLGA invites Nifty Niners" golf outing last month, most of us ended up at the beach. No, I don't mean in the sand traps - nor do I rule them out completely. But that's not what I mean.

The event was billed as the 18-Hole Ladies Beach Party, to which members of the Nifty Niners were invited. Since I'm a "Niner," I was thrilled to participate - especially since my foursome came in seven strokes under par.

(Darn it. I just can't do it! I was really going to go with that - but it's a lie.)
We came in seven over par, which isn't bad - but did not take us to the winner's circle. However, I do call to your attention to the fact that, since this is my column, I don't always have to tell the truth - but the honest truth, ...

Marian Whitehead, Stonecrest's activities director, is organized, very much so at that. So, I wasn't surprised when I attended her organized Organizational Meeting for the fall flu shot clinic to be held for residents here at Stonecrest - not surprised, but very impressed. She even made a scale model of the clinic's physical set-up, including welcoming red carpets. (On anther note, Marian is well known around these parts for her clever and creative talents.)

Attending the meeting were 21 volunteers who will assist in running the clinic, most all of whom are repeats who had done the deed last year. Kudos to them for their willingness to give their time to our community - it involves three days of hard work and concentrated effort.

This will be the fifth year that Marian has run the clinic and, ...