Sunday

Monday July 4th, 1977, Mercersburg Academy


More details emerge from Mr. Brennan’s amazing weekend at Camp David. He said they had dinner in the Main Lodge at 7:30, it was just the Carters, Caron and Amy. He said they joined hands and Mrs. Carter said grace. Mr. B said he sat between the President and Chip's wife Caron. After dining on barbequed ribs it was movie time. They watched the Mel Book’s film Silent Movie, which isn’t in the local theaters yet. Mr. B adore the movie and then turned in---he stayed in the lodge across the way, a nice set up he said with two bedrooms. He said that he couldn’t believe where he was and that he had an overwhelming urge to call everyone he knew…but he only called Mrs. B. He is very respectful of the First Families privacy. FXB got a wake up call from a White House Operator at 6-am, he and the President were out on the courts by 6:30 and under the watchful eye of the Secret Service Presidential detail. Mr. B’s says the President is an early riser just like him, so the early morning was perfect. They played for a little more than a hour and then had breakfast in the Main Lodge with Mrs. Carter and Amy,Mr. B then drove home.


Even though it’s the 4th of July we all had to work today and it was a long, hot day. We video taped all 102 campers. Kunz ran the camera, and I fed balls, this was a major honor because usually Eric Riley feeds or so I thought…feeding is very hard and tiring. It occurs to me now that I had been had, that feeding the ball to the hitter on tape is grunt work. But I enjoyed it because FXB was there and he's in great spirits and was full of stories and details from the weekend.


I had asked Mr. B a question about Connors and he went off on a 45 minute story about Bill Rioridan and Gloria Connors and the rise of Jimmy from the juniors, what an amazing story. Connors was a blue collar kid blessed with the big four as FXB calls it: Ability,Hostility, Mobility and Agility, these are the keys to success. He stressed to me that nice people seldom make it to the top because they lack the fire and desire, the fear of losing is the coal that turns a player into a diamond; he said BJK was a diamond and Connors. That was just one of many stories. I should write them all down, they’re priceless.


After balls in at 4:00 Mark and I played Andy Greenspan and John Day, we were on fire and everyone held serve at 5-5 we ran out of time and had to run to the Dining Hall, afterwards we walked to Laundry Mat and washed out our whites. We're both dangerously low on clean clothes. In fact we were down to the sniff test in the morning, sniffing to see which clothes stunk the least. Its disgusting.


We have another 100 kids and they’re a handful. There's a lot of high school girls and boys and I can tell its going to be trouble, we will have to keep a close eye on them all. There is one kid here that no mater what comes out of his mouth, its hilarious. Robert London, Oh my god. His timing and sense of satire are razor sharp.


Mr. B ordered us all to go out and have a good time tonight. He and a few counselors stayed behind and got the kids in bed, the rest of us drove to St. Thomas which is just east of here. They not only had a great fireworkds display but a fair with lots of funnel cake to boot! I wondered why so many people were missing teeth...its the powder sugar on the cake! It was an amazing good time. Bevin joined Sandy, Tom and I in his car and we sat in the back. We talked all the way there and all the way back, did I mention that she looked absolutely stunning! Rivaling that is an amazing sweetness behind blue eyes. I was not very suave, I didn't hide my interest, I must have looked like a puppy, but at the end of the night I got a kiss on the cheek. Mark Sanderson thinks I’m a total spaz.


As I write, the window is open and Im looking out across the campus toward the Highway. Under the moon it's so light, it smells like grass and the crickets are loud. Mark is in the bunk across the room and is already snoring. Its 1:30 and I have to teach on what could be the hottest day of the year…

1 comment:

Jake Putnam said...

This is a classic photo of Jake, Bevin and Sandy. It was taken at Rock Creek Park in Washington D.C.

Mark is a famous Photog in CT, Bevin an Artist...