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Volume XIV
Number 10
October 12,
2009
The Kids are Ready
Are You?
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PAUL'S BLOG
Send Us
A Note
FROM EARLIER EDITIONS
The NickPic
Catalog
The AnnaGram
Collection
Smithereens*
*n.
pl. "small fragments"
Bob Dean's 
1952-1953
© MMIX by Bob Dean
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Circulation Last
Issue: 130
Year 2009: 980
LLOYD'S CELEBRATION OF LIFE
Well, it's over!
Lloyd
completed his Celebration of Life and Art
in Seattle On September 27, and The
Poland Place News was there.
The Poland Place Proofreader and the Poland Place
Pianist interviews Terry (l.) and Lloyd (r.) Trafton
during preparations for the Great Event.
In a small pre-Celebration event, we enjoyed a fish fry at
Terry's cottage on
Tempo Lake, south of Tumwater. Here are Bruce Dean,
Josie Dean, Liz's Back, Terry Trafton and Tom
Trafton, greeting our photographer from the dock.
Then, on Sunday morning, we traveled the 70 or so miles
from Lloyd's Tumwater
home, through Seattle
(photo below), to the Everett Senior Center
just north of the city.
Bruce and Josie handled the identification of guests and
the distribution of official badges very efficiently to the approximately
150 celebrants.
While guests came from as far away as
Australia, Honolulu,
California,
Florida,
Raleigh and Colorado,
the majority of them were from Seattle
neighborhoods-- including a large delegation from Lloyd's class of 1945 at
Ballard High School.
The entire hall was decorated with 29 pieces of Lloyd's
art, hanging from every wall. In addition to these beautiful works,
a biographical slide show was running and, in an opposite corner, Hal
Pelton projected slides of their mutual ascent of Mount Everest in 1996.
And, displayed near Hal's show, these carved Indian masks
from Lloyd's collection.
After the guests assembled and discussed their
relationships with Lloyd (as indicated on each of their badges), the
program began:
Acting as the Master of Ceremonies, Our Editor (l.) sat
Lloyd (r.) in a comfortable chair and began the formalities by introducing
Dennis Smart, who read Lloyd's prematurely prepared obituary.
The MC also read
Out-Of-Town
Congratulations, which we
later posted on YouTube.
Interspersed within the program, the group sang two
"hymns,": Lloyd's Favorite Things and Amazing Lloyd.
The congregation was led by Flo Bousman (background) and
accompanied by Liz Dean (foreground). Here they are, with
Lloyd's Favorite
Things.
Then the accolades, tributes and eulogies followed.
Here (above) is Terry Trafton, representing the Trafton family.
Other close family members who spoke were: Tom Trafton and Lloyd's
nephew, Larry Whitney.
After about ten moving eulogies by friends and relatives,
the final tribute came from Lois Raymond, representing the Raymond
family--the second largest family group in attendance. She was
followed by a Re-incarnated host and Guest of Honor, who spoke
briefly, thanking the people who came and the people who spoke and the
people who laughed at his jokes.
We use the above photo to demonstrate two
things: our beautiful and talented song leader, Flo Bousman,
and a representative badge from the 160 we prepared for the event. The
badges were intended to spark conversation about Lloyd among the
attendees. And they succeeded!
Lloyd followed his own words of
reminiscence by presenting these sweat shirts to people who took active
parts in presenting the program.
And by awarding these "Honorary
Pallbearer" medals to several of those who contributed
with brief eulogies and remarks.
After about two and a half hours, it was all over.
The art was repacked in Terry's truck, the Senior
Center was restored to its previously pristine condition and
the guests began their trips home. Lloyd has verified, through
many phone calls and E-Mail notes, that
Everyone had a very nice time!
And Lloyd had a very nice life!
(So far)
INVADING WASHINGTON
We enjoyed another
Encore adventure last
week--a sightseeing trip to Washington DC to visit sites both old and new.
Here are some of the things we saw during our three-day excursion.:
Seventeen of us traveled on what we kindly
refer to as a Big White Southern Bus (BWSB)
in the five-hour journey to our national Capital. One of our first
sights: The Supreme Court, on the First Monday of October. Inside,
we later learned, new Justice Sotomayor was asking more questions
than Clarence Thomas has offered in his entire 18 years on the
court.
We spent several hours around and inside the Capital
Building, understanding the dome both outside (l.) and inside (r.)
Then, in the evening of the first day, we checked out the
relatively new World War II Memorial,
journeyed around the mall a bit, and saw the dramatic statue of
Abraham Lincoln
Perhaps our favorite, the new
Newseum.
Accompanied by the best guides in town, we reviewed the history of
journalism, beginning with the Guttenberg Press and dwelling on
our First Amendment Rights, under
instruction from Bart Simpson.
Another new one (at least for us) was the
Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, located 'way out
near Dulles Airport. We saw more airplanes, helicopters and space
ships than we ever thought imaginable, including the Enola Gay, which
began the atomic bomb age...
I
The Boeing Stratocruiser--identical
to the one that took us from California to Korea in 1952
And the Korean War Memorial,
where Forward Observer Bob Dean renacted his duties on patrol, 57
years ago.
We also visited the residence of Marjorie Merriweather
Post who, after four very profitable marriages, chose to call
herself Mrs. Post, acknowledging none of them. When she
died, she left lots and lots of very valuable stuff, which we were not
allowed to photograph..
It was a fine trip, thanks in large part to our
Encore hostess, Joan
Hardman-Cobb, our BWSB
driver, Jim Knight, and our Washington guide
Sonny Odom.
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A PIECE OF
THE PAST
November 8,
1999
Ten
Years Ago
MIATA
ACHIEVES MILAGE,
TENURE GOALS
 Driving
home from the library last week, we glanced at the odometer
(that's the thing with digits, inside the speedometer) of our
faithful Miata and
saw this:
Surprised and impressed, we immediately pulled to
the side of the road and took the picture--a literal milesone in
the life of our favorite vehicle.
Then we continued slowly homeward and, in the
midst of Colony Shopping Center
traffic, took this shot when the next mile was complete.
 Reaching
this mileage goal isn't the only recent and remarkable achievement
of the little red car. In November, it turns
ten years old. And most of those happy years were spent
under its own carport substitute at
#4704 Poland Place.
Above: its current parking position.
And, on
the right, a previous docking station--destroyed by
Hurricane Fran
three years ago. The car itself was nearly destroyed in April of
1998, when it was attacked in the rear by a big bully of an
18-wheeler. In that incident, Betty Reed,
Barrington septuagenarian, barely escaped injury.
 We've
often ascribed our Miata's
endurance to an "owner-only" chauffer policy. But last summer it
went off to the beach for a couple days with Bruce
and Josie--dragging
its little red
trailer behind.
That's a lot of pictures of one red car, but
readers may take heart. We'll let it coast on into the future
with a minimum of attention from the press.
But please be assured: it's
not for sale!
As long as it
just keeps going and going and going....
2009 Update:
The docking station was replaced in 2000 though
the design and efforts of next-door neighbor Bruce McCallum.
The Miata still survives for
occasional joyrides, spending part of its time on
Poland Place
and the rest in the driveway on
Jarman Drive with Jim and grandson Nick Dean.
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A
POLAND PLACE NEWS BOOK REVIEW
Fiction
  UNTIL
IT'S OVER by Nicci French (Minotaur Books, New York, 2007,
377
pp.)
Seven people live in a house in London. As their
relationships fall apart, one of the girls is frequently accused of 3
murders and one of the guys is eventually accused. But all is not as
it seems and the resolution is truly interesting.
The first half of the book is told by the accused young
woman; the second is told by the real culprit. A
fine mystery.
THE POLAND PLACE CHALLENGE
Last Month's Challenges
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Language Exam:
Make your way from HEAT to COLD in only four steps,
changing one letter at a time to make a good English word at each step.
HEAT
______
______
______
COLD
Answer: HEAD HELD HOLD COLD
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Math Exam:
What number best completes the sequence?
1 1 2 4 3
? 4
16
5 25
Answer: 9
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And our winners are:
Rick Fox
Ted
Woestendiek, Al Friedrich,
Geoff Armstrong,
Larry Katzin
Tom Galgano,
Madge Edwards,
Phyllis Rideout
CHALLENGE NUMBER 427
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Language Exam:
The
names of at least two aquatic creatures are hidden in the sentence below.
Can you find them? (The letters are in consecutive order.)
The movie reel was so legally
problematic that
it was banned.
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Math Exam:
Two girls were collecting dolls. Pat collected four
dolls at one house, twice as many at another, and then one-third of that
total. Ellen collected twice as many dolls as Pat. How many dolls did
they collect?
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Send us your answers by
Clicking Here
LICENSE PLATE OF THE MONTH
A White Van on
Six Forks Road
Apparently, his wife bought it for
him
SOCIAL
NOTES
We and about 35 others celebrated the
annual neighborhood barbecue with fellow residents of the 45-year-old
Briarclift sub-division last month.
Briarclift is the block and
associated cul-de-sacs bounded by Poland Place,
Ellwood Drive,
Stiller Street and
Foxhall Street.
Alumni Pearson
and Elaine Wood
joined us at the event.
The neighborhood party was initiated by
Henry Warren 17 years ago and is now organized by Becca
Schultz. Our thanks to both of them.
The Poland Place Monthly
Much of John Kane's construction on
the east side of Six Forks Road has
been completed, including the tall CapTrust Building,
below, and the long lower building which includes apartments and the
two-story Harris Teeter grocery store,
opening early next year.
We also heard an encouraging rumor a couple weeks ago:
The Cardinal Senior Living complex
has now enlisted 101residents
and is awaiting financial approval on the most recent ones. When
that's complete, they'll be able to begin construction on the vacant site.
The Poland Place News will be
following the project very closely, of course.
The Poland Place Monthly
 '
Our Editor has returned to
Duke Medical School to perform as a
patient for second year students. Last week, we faked a heart
attack for 13 aspiring physicians. They're not easy to fool.
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MAIL FROM READERS
From: Jane Kadohiro
Subject: Lloyd's Party
Congratulations on a wonderful party.
Only Trafton and Bob Dean could pull off something like this.
{Jane Keller was our neighbor and baby sitter for the little Dean boys
in
Endicott 45 years ago. She came all the way from Hawaii for
Lloyd's Big Celebration. Her note is representative of several received by
Lloyd following the event.}
The Poland Place Monthly
From: Madge Edwards
Subject: This Month's Challenge
It's good to have some easier questions again. Never seem to find time to
try to figure the others out.
{We don't attempt to rate the questions; the
Proofreader does that. If she can do them, we figure we're all
right. Then we count on High School classmate Madge (Class of 1947)
for verification.}
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THE COMIC SECTION
Lloyd Rehearses his Reposal
Pre-Published by The Seattle Times
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