Bits and pieces from Christmas greetings.

The Reece family was all together at home, at least on the 23rd when Susan wrote the card. Duncan will finish up at the Tuck School of Dartmouth this spring, and we await hearing where he and Valerie will end up. Evan's business Liftopia is keeping him very busy, which is what you want with a start-up operation. Cam and Hugh continue to live and work in San Francisco and agree that skiing in Tahoe is a major draw. Susan bragged about her sister Joanne putting on a fabulous dinner for 18 of the family Christmas Day. And Joanne and Richard's letter had equal praise for the Reeces' holiday gathering. News from that quarter reveals that Richard has been discovered to have adult diabetes. In order to avoid insulin he has cut way back on sugar and starches, and has lost 33 pounds since we saw him last. "Good on ya," as the Aussies would say, Richard. Their son Stephen ahs changed apartments in the Big Apple. Daughter Amanda is hard at work in Turkey researching for her thesis on a particular aspect of Ottoman couch cushion covers which were made of velvet; silk versions of woolen oriental rugs.

An e-mail from Will Mackenzie revealed a letter he had received from Ian Ridlon concerning his son Conor. It seems several months ago Conor decided he'd like to get into Community Theater. He went and tried out for a couple of one-act plays that were being done in Barrington, R.I. On December 8 th they had their festival in which they performed the plays, and Conor was by far the youngest participant, others being mostly high school age. The judges brought in were two connected with Trinity Repertory Theater, and one was a casting director doing commercials and movies being made in R.I. After each of the plays the judges provided a critique. In the two plays he was in, Conor was singled out as a powerful performer in such a small body and noted that was why W. C. Fields said he would never work with animals or small children because they always steal the show. The judges also agreed that they found it hard to believe that it was Conor's state debut! At the end of the festival one of Conor's plays won the award for Best Ensemble and Conor got an award for Outstanding Stage debut. Wow, what super encouragement for one of the island's most delightful youngsters. On top of it all, the casting director judge called and asked Conor to audition for a movie being filmed in R.I. We don't know yet whether he got the part, but I hope all islanders will keep their fingers crossed for Conor's success.

In Christmas letters you learn things about islanders that you didn't know. For instance, I did not know that Susan Hutchinson is a D.A.R. and attended their state convention in Orlando, and also the national convention in Washington, D.C. (My mom attended the national bash about 1940 over Easter, and it was strange without her at home.) Alan has a Corvette and they did trips with the Jacksonville Corvette Club that took them to Pine Mountain and Warm Springs, Georgia for the spring cruise and to the vineyards of North Carolina as well as a foliage drive along the Blue Ridge Park in the fall. Alan and the car also participated in the Gator Bowl parade because he loves having one of the southern beauty queens riding with him. Way to go V.P. Further info on the Chinese trip tells of starting in Beijing, visiting Shanghai, Xi'an, Guilin, Tiananmen Square, Chongquing, Suzhou and a trip up the Yangtze. Their flight home from Hong Kong was a very long jaunt to Chicago and finally Jacksonville. I wonder if Susan garnered any unique hors d'oeuvres recipes to spring on us at wharf parties in 2008?

I don't know how many of you islanders remember the Hamilton family. They are the ones who sold the farmhouse to the Morrells, and their daughter Jean married a wonderful guy named Stan Auslander. Jean and Stan had two kids, Gail and Dean, who spent their young summers on the island. In my recent mail, I got a note, and a copy of the obituary, for Gail, that her dad had died last April. Those elders, like me, would join me in our sympathy for Gail and Dean.

I've saved the best for last. Also in my recent mail was an announcement of the marriage of Lars Rydell and that delightful mystery lady, Jackie, on November 17. As Lars put it in a note, we decided to put a formal stamp on our relationship. Three of her children were at the ceremony along with a son-in-law and three of her 10 grandchildren. Dave, Karen, Kate and Carl represented Lars family. They planned to spend Christmas week in Laconia with five to seven of her grands, and then a trip south in January to see two more of her children and friends. This is such a happy outcome for Lars, and we wish them a long happy life together.