Photo contributed from the Triple Crown Diner Facebook page

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A happy, food-filled Thanksgiving

Hello!

I had a great trip down to Queens with my brother Teddy, no traffic either way. We met up with my older sister and brother and one of my brother’s friends for dinner.

Saturday morning, I got woken up with a phone call to come down and open the front door and let Teddy in. He got locked out.

I took a shower, went into the room I was sleeping in and closed the door behind me. I got dressed and could not open the door. I was locked in. I then had to call Teddy and tell him to come unlock the door to let me out. Thank God I did not have to go to the bathroom.

My sister told me to climb out on the roof and come in the bathroom window. I had a few choice words for her. My nephew came to help; they got the doorknob off and it fell into the bedroom. It took them about 20 minutes to get it open.

Maryanne, Johnny, Eileen, Teddy and Christopher are the five of us; my cousin Kathleen also came with us to the cemetery. We visited four graves in all. We were at my parents’ grave and saying an Our Father and a Hail Mary and Christopher said, “They are with us. It’s snowing.”

I was thinking to myself, “What is that nasty smell?”

Johnny said, “There’s a big fire over there.”

Teddy said, “It’s not snow, it’s the ash.”

We all had a good laugh.

The six of us went out to lunch and we were talking about how we are a rare breed that likes to go visit the graves. We were raised to go to the graves to visit the dead people—that’s what we said as kids—on Sunday afternoon. Then we all got hotdogs. I think they were three for a dollar back then.

I have heartbreaking news: the neighborhood diner where I grew up is going out of business. That was the Bellerose Diner, which then became the Triple Crown Diner. The owners owned the diner but not the land, and the owners of the land sold it.

I have so many memories of it; when I go to Queens, I have at least one or two meals there. As a kid I could go through my neighbor’s yard, cut through the broken fence and be at the diner. I’d have hot chocolate with extra whipped cream. As a teenager and adult, on many drunken nights, I’d have scrambled eggs, link sausage and extra crispy French fries at 5 a.m.

Dr. Paul Salzberg and his wife, Greta, had a great time at the production of “The Gift of the Magi” at the new Delaware Valley Opera in the old Nutshell. He said it was based on a short story by O. Henry. It was about love and sacrifice.

The production was very professional. I enjoyed it; it was in the true holiday spirit of the season. This opera house will be a breath of fresh air for our town of Lake Huntington. Supervisor Gary Maas also attended. and he said he really enjoyed it and the performers were very talented.

The Cochecton Youth Group had to cancel their holiday pizza party with Santa. The board felt it was the right thing to do to keep the kids safe. It was going to be at Lakeview Pizzeria; thank you, George and staff, for offering to host.

Remember, all events are free for Cochecton youth.

There will be an opening on the Youth Commission board if you are interested. It is the first Tuesday of the month. You can give Sue a call at 845/866-0853.

If you have any news to get out there, please email me before Friday night.

Keep smiling and have a great week. You can email me at leeniebeans@citlink.net or call 845/252-3568 if you have any news.