February 2006

Updated Tuesday, March 14, 2006         

Old months (if you missed seeing what I had on the web page last month – or any month for many years – click here to go back in time!)

We are going to go on a cruise! Beginning March 25 we will be going to Key West, then Guatemala, Belize, and Costa Maya, Mexico.

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February 22, 2006

AMY AND SARAH ARE HERE!! We plan on doing a lot of things in the next few days! Stay tuned.

See what our brother Dan is up to!Hey John,

Thought I’d give you a little “birds eye” view of an Angel Flight I did today.  Check out this web site;

www.flightaware.com

I did three flights today,

The first one from BHB (Bar Harbor) to HVN (New Haven, Connecticut) I flew VFR so it wasn’t tracked.

The Second one I flew IFR was from HVN to PQI (Presque Isle, Maine) you can put in  NGF70N in the block to “Track Any Flight”. This was with two passengers.  NGF  is the code put in to designate it as an ANGEL FLIGHT and 70N is the last three in my tail number.

The third flight was from PQI back to BHB.  This was also IFR and put N8870N in the block to “Track Any Flight”.

Pretty cool.  You can actually track an IFR flight en route, if you know the tail number.

This was my fortieth ANGEL FLIGHT in the two years I’ve been doing this.

I recently got a “Community Service award” at Bangor PD  for Angel flights and other things. Our Union which encompasses about two dozen Police Agencies in the State, gave the award at a Dinner Banquet to honor me.  I was in Cancun Mexico at the time for a Pirate’s Cove “Business Meeting”, so I missed out on the actual presentation.  Here is what the sent me about what they read to the five hundred plus Officers and wives who attended;

COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD

Officer Dan Herrick of the Bangor Police Department received his pilot’s license in 2001. By February of 2002, Dan had earned his instrument rating which made him eligible to volunteer his time and service for an organization called Angel Flight. Angel Flight provides transportation for patients to hospitals across the country for medical treatment that they might not otherwise receive.

In February, 2004, Dan got his first assignment from Angel Flight. Since then, he has continued to fly many patients to many hospitals around the country.  This is all done at his own expense and on his own time.

Why does he do this, to quote the man himself, “Every time I have flown an Angel Flight, I have met a new friend who is more courageous than I can believe.  They are survivors, the people around us who struggle to survive serious illness that most of us cannot fathom.  I am fortunate enough to own an airplane and have an unquenched passion to fly.  After every Angel Flight, I thank the good people of Angel Flight for allowing me the opportunity to play a role in this non-profit and charitable enterprise.  I am proud to say that I am an Angel Flight Pilot.”

In addition to serving as a member of the Bangor Police Depart. Dan also serves as a member of the Civil Air Patrol and manages the Pirate’s Cove miniature golf course in Bar Harbor.  You can always count on Dan to be there with free games of miniature golf for the groups of kids that would love to play but can’t afford it.

In recognition of all that he has done, and continues to do for his community, The Maine Association of Police proudly presents to Officer Daniel Herrick with the Community Service Award.
        Pretty Cool.

February 11, 2006

Still here in Louisiana. I learned that Louisiana was named for  the French king Louis and his mother Ana …Louis i Ana. 

I went to a home Friday that had 5 feet of water in it from Katrina breaking the levees August 30, then, on February 2, a tornado came through and ripped the roof off! Talk about double trouble!

Saturday I went to a home that was damaged by Katrina. The adjuster does not want to pay out, but from what I saw he is going to have to!

Damaged home:

Next door neighbor:

Dave and Jean sent another picture – ice 16 inches thick!!!:

Faithful dog looking for his master who is off skating.

February 7, 2006

Contest:CONTEST!…CONTEST!…CONTEST!… The proprietors of the infamous Stone Mountain Farm are again offering their former and future customers an opportunity to win a free week at the resort. The individual who is fortunate enough to win this prize will receive a full week’s vacation here on Stone Mountain. We still have our usual staff to entertain and pamper you and your guests. To those of you who have been fortunate enough to have already enjoyed swimming in the emerald green waters of our pond that is loaded with foot long brook trout, or who have hiked on our miles of trails that wander through the magnificent forests on the property, and have been privy to viewing some of the magnificent wildlife (other than Susan) which abound; those of you who have experienced all this understand what an opportunity you are being given. Now for the rules of the contest: Sophia is going to give birth on approximately Feb. 15, 2006. She was bred to a Chocolate Lab and is going to be having a litter of puppies that will be either male or female, chocolate, yellow or black. You, as the contestant, have to guess the date that the whelping begins, the number of males and females, and as well, you have to assign the color and sex to each of the puppies. Scoring will be as follows: for each correct guess you will receive one point. The person who garners the greatest number of points will be our contest winner. In case of a tie, I will use my prejudice and a flip of a coin to determine the winner. As always, this contest is null and void where prohibited by law. Only one entry by each person will be allowed, families are allowed one entry per family member up to the number of members in the family. Entries by e-mail only, as I get paper cuts easily. Entries must be received by Feb 14, 2006. There is no entry fee. Any taxes, transportation fees and beer costs will paid for by the contestant. The proprietors will not be responsible for errors and/or omissions. Good luck to all of you, and for our French readers, Bon Chance.  Al and Susan   mostly Al

February1, 2006

Dave and Jean sent a cute picture:

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Jim and I went out sailing last week, it was a wonderful ride after not having seriously sailing for a long while! We went out at 10 and came back about 4PM.  Jim wanted to continue longer, but Dad, Betty, Darrell and Marilyn were waiting for Christmas #2 up in Zephyrhills! We had a great dinner and exchanged gifts.

We went to the Gasparilla Parade Saturday!! We got a lot of beads and had a great deal of fun!

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Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

I am back in Baton Rouge, doing the New Orleans Katrina thing. A lot of paperwork and interesting sights. On my last trip I had gone into New Orleans – downtown. I could not believe the difference from a month ago!! The streets were crowded, parking was at a premium, there were crowds everywhere! The military, the police and fire were all gone, and all was back to normal! — if you did not look two blocks away and see the thousands of empty homes, that is.

Weekend trip weather:

Amy and Darren’s weather:

Dad and Betty’s weather:

Susan and Al’s weather:

David’ and jeans weather:

Donald and jeanne’s weather:

Daniel and candy’s weather:

Heather and michael’s weather:

Rod and jill’s weather:


See you in Florida : 2006!

2006Darrell & Marilyn1998John’s Boat
2007Dan & Candy2002 
2008Sue and Al2005David and Jean’s Housewarming party,
       Pocomoonshine Lake, Princeton, Maine
2009John  
2010Donald