The Marcottes

Because Leon has been being such a pain in the butt about getting photos of my family, we have tried to oblige him. But giving him just any old photo of Stella or Anya has not worked out. He needs it to be vertical, and he needs to complain that Stella’s head is chopped off in this photo:

From Stella Grace

This evidently ruins the entire picture. A fact that had somehow escaped the notice of everyone else who saw it.

So we went to Picture People in Arden Fair Mall and spent a bunch of money to get “professional” portraits taken by people who probably also turned in applications at Orange Julius and Hot Dog on a Stick.

We had a pretty good time and hammed it up a little. Our photographer was either a current or former “Miss Sacramento,” which was nice, I guess. Anya found friends to run around shrieking with while we waited. And, according to Patti, I told inappropriate jokes to the other families in the lobby.

So here are the results of the shoot, complete with watermark to prevent me from printing my own copies.

We got an 8″ x 10″ vertical for Leon of the whole family, and a few more for ourselves. If anybody else wants any of these, let me know and we’ll try to get some more prints made.

Artist’s rendition of conference to be attended by Joanna Dornfeld

Joanna Dornfeld, daughter of noted Bureau of Labor and Statistics maven Mary Marcotte has announced her intention to visit Sacramento in early August. Dornfeld will be attending a conference put on by the National Council of State Legislatures and California State University Sacramento from August 2 through August 9, 2008.

Dornfeld will arrive in Sacramento on August 1, and sources have confirmed that she “would love to see as many of the Marcottes as possible.” Family insiders have hinted that a barbecue dinner at John and Patti Marcotte’s  South Sacramento home may be possible, but as of yet there has been no official statement from Dornfeld or her representatives.

Dornfeld’s trip would be the most recent in a string of vists to Sacramento by Marcotte relatives, including renown global traveler Nancy Heidenreich, family historian Mary Marcotte and repeated visits from Marcotte patriarch and hospitality industries magnate Ulysses “Leon” Marcotte.

Patti, Anya Stella and I went to Monterey this past weekend. It wasn’t our original plan, but since the entire northern part of the state was on fire, we decided to go south.

We saw the aquarium, an IMAX movie and WALL-E, all in one action-packed weekend.

Here’s some photos from the trip.

It’s been a long time since I stood on a rug that used to be a Wonder Bread wrapper. Perhaps too long.

Hi everyone!

I’m trying to determine if there is interest in a cousins’ reunion! I have long wanted to get us all together, and the importance of this potential event takes on new significance since the passing of Mike F.

I have attached two documents - one is a survey to gauge interest and a second is a map of where we are all located currently.

I would be thrilled to hear back from all of you, even if it is just to say that ‘No, I’ll pass’. Due to the complexity of the travel and arrangements we are looking probably 2009.

Wouldn’t it be great to reconnect? And it wouldn’t be the same without you and your family.

Please note: I am only sending this to the immediate cousins and Aunt Sue and Uncle Leon. If you have grown children and would like me to contact them directly, please send me their contact info on your survey (name, address, email).

Also - I am missing an email for Pat Farrell !! and my email for John Marcotte, Dawn Heidebrink and Gary Nelson keep bouncing back. Does anyone have more up to date info? We can’t leave anyone out!!

Also, Renee can you coordinate info gathering for your dad? I’m assuming he does not have an email….like my mom.

Please, take a moment to fill out the survey and send it back to me. I would really appreciate it.
Thanks!

Julie Delgado (Schwab) Continue Reading »

Maureen meets Mr. T.

John oozes jealousy.

Maureen organized a trip to Fairfield to see the Kingston Trio with Dad — and by “organize,” I mean she bought tickets for everyone an then told us we were going and that we owed her money. I got a lot of crap for telling Dad that we were going to see the show because at some point I was unaware that this was a big secret. I know I ruined everything, but somehow I am living with the pain.

The Trio no longer has any of the original members. I’m guessing that, like Menudo, they cycle the guys out when they get to be a certain age to keep the teenage girls interested. By the looks of them, I’d say that age is 85. At least one of the replacements has been with the band since the ’60s. By my math, he’s now been in the band longer than any of the original guys. At any rate, all of them have been in other folk bands and were accomplished performers.

When they did their encore 90 minutes in, they finally hit a song I knew the words to: Where Have All the Flowers Gone? Great song, and a song about the sadness and futility of war. I thought it was interesting that the politics of the song have recently become relevant again, although there was no acknowledgment of that fact from either crowd or performers.

We ended up sitting really close to the stage (although far to one side.) I took some pictures. Here you go.

Leon let his hair down — or rather up — while visiting this week. Stella liked the look so much that she tried it out herself.

The slideshow doesn’t display vertical images that well. If you want to check out all the photos, look in at the Mohawk Days album in my Picasa Web albums.