My Friend Tom Servello

on Jan 22 in In Memory

Anthony Thomas Servello Jr.

May 27, 1950 – January 21, 2011

There are few people in my life that I consider a true friend, But Tom Servello was one of them.  I met Tom when i was transferred to Pax River, Md.  in the late 70′s.  He was the first to welcome me and show me around.  we became good friends. We spent time together and he often teased me about my tires on my car but that was another story.  Tom’s pride and joy was his family. He had 2 sons and a beautiful wife. Liz was a great person and Tom was proud of his 2 sons, just like any father, Chris and Jeffery. They both Graduated from the Naval Academy and have great careers is the Navy, following the tradition their father started. Tom will be missed, but i know he is not suffering anymore.  My prayers and thoughts are with his family. RIP my friend and brother.

Cheese Straws

on Dec 26 in Recipes

This is a recipe that my mother use to make for us during the holidays:

2 cups of flour

2 level tsp of baking powder

1 level tsp of salt

1/2 cup of milk

1/2 cup of butter

1/4 tsp red pepper or Paprika

1 egg

3/4 cup of Grated cheese ( i Use real sharp cheese)

sift flour, salt, baking powder, pepper together 3 times. put in mixing bowl, add butter and make a hole an egg in center of flour. Mix in cheese and milk and mix together. Turn out on a molding board, roll to 1/8 inch thick and cut 4 inches long and 1/4 inch wide. bake until light brown 350 -400 degree in oven. enjoy them as our family did. Merry Christmas.

Crab Dip, A great christmas Present, I recieved

on Sep 08 in Recipes

This is a great recipe that was given to me as i was leaving for Key West in my motor Home a few years ago.  I had stopped at Jeanne Just Or( Just Jeanne as bill and I  called her). her and always exchanged gifts at Christmas time. She is a very special friend. She handed me a bag with all of the non persiable items and a recipe card.  This is one of the most original gifts I ever received in my life and I love the recipe. You can add to this recipe if you have a special item you Like. This should be cooked in a small crock pot. This is great for Entertaining. After leaving her condo i drove to perry, fl. where i stopped at  a store and bought all the rest of the items and made it that night.

4 ounces Mince Crab ( Imantation )         8 oz of  Philadelphia Cream Cheese

1 stick of Butter                                                1/2 of cup of mushrooms

1 small onion ( diced)                                      1/4 cup of green peppers

1 Tablespoon of chopped Spinach ( I use Frozen)

1/2 pound of shrimp                I also add Garlic to the taste.

Melt the butter in crock pot add onions,green peppers,and chopped spinach. While butter is melting saute shrimp and cut into small pieces and add to melted butter. also add crab Add cream cheese and let all items melt and stir occasionally. It takes about 3 to 4 hours to become totally blended. Let sit over night in refrigerator and plug in next day and serve with crackers.

Oyster Stew By Tom Mixon

on Sep 08 in Recipes

I have made this oyster stew for years and i totally love it!

1 PT of Oysters ( the best oysters are from Apalachicola, Fl.)

1 tbsp of Worcestershire Sauce

1 Cup of Milk

4 Tbsp of real butter

2 12 oz cans of evaporated Milk

Drain oysters (save juice). Saute oysters in butter until edges curl. Using double boiler, heat evaporated milk, add milk and Worcestershire sauce. Add oysters and juice into milk mixture. Heat stew and don’t let it boil. Let it cool and sit overnight in refrigerator. Next day heat and serve.

ENJOY!!!

Riding up the Coast

on Aug 03 in Motorcycle Trips

After the ride yesterday to Deer Isle, i wanted to travel back up the coast to Bucksport and stop a few places along the way, so i called Brenda, (a friend i ride with) and we were on our way by 10 am.  Brenda loves to ride, travel and explore new places.  Our first stop was in Nobleboro at Dunkin Donuts for coffee and bathroom break.  On our way again we passed through Rockland, and then Camden and the home of Peyton Place.  This is one of my favorite towns.  As we continued I pulled into Mt Battie state park. Brenda has never been there so i stopped at guard gate and we went up top of the mountain.  I have been there before and i love the spot.  In the movie Peyton Place, Alyson took Norman to her special place.  It over looked Camden Harbor.  It is a beautiful view. After Mt Battie i headed north again to Bucksport.  It is a great ride along the coast.  When we were entering the Bucksport area, i saw the new Bridge that had been built since last time i had been up here. I was told about and Observatory at the top of the bridge so we had to stop and check it out. It costs $5.00 to go up top and it was worth it.

A day ride with the Goldwingers in Maine

on Jun 30 in Motorcycle Trips

It was 7;15 am and i was heading to Gardner to meet the Goldwing club for a day ride to deer Isle. I was excited because I had never been to deer Isle and in was looking forward to making new friends in the Goldwing Club.  I was first one there but i saw a new red trike at Dunkin Donuts and suspected it was one of the wingers. Soon to arrive was Ed & Barb and then  Carol and ed from Freeport. Also Rita was soon to arrive and then it was 9  o  clock and KSU (kick stands up). We left Gardner and headed across the bridge to RT 27 to Augusta and then down Rt 3  towards Belfast. We were meeting Sandy and Dennis and head for Deer Isle.  Once we hit Rt 1 we were heading north. It had been a long time since i had been up Rt one. As we came into Bucksport and it brought back memories of a legend that I was told many years before. check my next post for the story.  As we crossed the Penobscot River, it was the first time i had crossed the new bridge. If you ever get a chance to stop and go to the top of bridge, take it. it is 420 feet high and you can see forever.  We picked up Rt 175 and headed towards Deer Isle. It was a beautiful ride and we stopped about 25 minutes out at a rest area or scenic overlook.

KSU and we were on our way to restaurant. As we rolled into Stonington, you could see it was a picturesque fishing village.  We pulled into the Fisherman’s Friend Restaurant.  www.fishermansfriendrestaurant.com .  After getting seated for lunch and on the back of the menu was some very interesting info about Deer Isle. I am going to share the info with you:

Deer Isle is a beautiful island community of 24,000 acres and 112 miles of shoreline, and  outlying islands.  It ia a group of small communities with 2,400 residents that make up the year round population. Lobstering is the current mainstay of the island.

The first people to live on Deer Isle 6,100 years ago were Native Americans. Native Americans were living in various locations among the islands when the first European settlers arrived in 1755. The settlers became boat builders, seafarers and fisherman.  Deer Isle was established in 1789, the fourth town in Hancock county. The population grew, and in 1786 Nathaniel Scott started a ferry service to the mainland across the Eggemoggin Reach. This ferry ran until the opening of the present day suspension bridge on June 19, 1939. In 1895, the strong and able reputation of Deer Isle seaman was recognized throughout the world when American yacht ” Defender”, designed by the famed Nathanael Herreshoff and manned entirely by residents of Deer Isle, won the first America’s Cup. Four years later, the yacht “Columbia” and its crew, once again entirely from the Island , defended the Cup and brought home victory.

The late 1800s also was marked by the founding of the first granite quarries. From 1869 to 1969, granite from Deer Isle and Stonington was shipped away to be put into such structures as the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institute, and the Kennedy Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery. Today, The New England Stone Company still harvests granite blocks from Crotch Island located off of Stonington.

Though quarrying was present, it was by the 19th century the harvest of the sea that would, and continues to be, predominant provider. Island fisherman supplied a local canning industry and fish markets around the world. Their yield was manily cod, haddock, and mackerel as well as gathered shell fish. Lobsters were not considered the luxury food item they are in today’s society, and at the time were two cents each, regardless of size.

Stonington,  previously known as Green,s Landing, was incorporated in 1897, and and was named for its granite quarrying. First, a fifteen year boom in the quantity and the price of lobsters has enriched the local fisherman and increased the size of the lobster fleet.  Second, a continuing influx of prosperous newcomers has driven up real estate values and led to a new cultural and artistic attractions.

We ordered our lunch and i had Baked Scallops and they were very good, but the Cole Slaw was lousy. After we ate lunch we were KSU and heading back towards Augusta.  It was a great day for a ride., but we had one more stop to make on RT 3. Yes we needed dessert. Ice cream was on the menu.  I think the name of the place was Arthur’s on rt 3.  After that we all said our good-byes and all went our separate way home. Rode about 250 miles and the weather was great.  What a great day.

Paul G Avery

on Mar 29 in In Memory

Paul G Avery had a major impact on my life.  In 1966 i was stationed in VP-23 at N.A.S. Brunswick, Maine. and in the summer a friend of mine came to me and asked if i would be interested in a blind date.  I of course said yes, and i met Mr Avery’s daughter. after the date we saw each other a few times but I really got to know her father, Mr Avery. That year i wound up at their lake front campsite on Damarisocitta, Maine.  Camping with the family on weekends and learning to fish the lake.  He didn’t have a boat but we use to fish from the dock. by the end of the season i was getting ready to go on deployment until May so i had a chance to get an aluminum boat and I picked it up and gave it to Mr Avery for the lake.  Mr and Mrs Avery Had a big effect on my life and he was a good man. I can still see him laughing at me when one night when i had gotten stopped in Brunswick by the pd and the police said that i hadn’t registered my car and they towed it. i was so mad, because i thought that i had registered it. He was on duty at bath pd and he was laughing so hard as i walked in and he said let me see the registration.  the next day he took me up to get it registered. and he got the guy he knew who had towed my car to give it back to me.

April Issue of Squelch Tales

on Mar 22 in Life Stories, Wa1pjs

Apr10

Robert G. Schippers (Bob)

on Mar 21 in In Memory

In 1975  while being transferred to N.A.S. Willow Grove, our family moved into Mt Laurel, New Jersey and we lived on Masonville Rd.  Three house up the street Lived Bob And Sam Schippers.  They were about the same ge as Kathy and and we became good friends. They had a son and daughter also That would be Kyle and Kegan.  Our families became very close and we did a lot of things together.  Bob was a New Jersey State Trooper. and they had bought this old house on the road and it was an ongoing project, but the one thing bob taught me was the way he did things.  He bought the best so it would last a lifetime.  sometime when i am confronted with buying the cheaper version Bob comes to mine and i usually make the right decision.  It happened yesterday when i was looking at a jacket for sale, i was looking at one that was cheaper but not exactly what i wanted. i could almost hear bob saying “you know that is not the one you want, so why get it”. It is funny, the things you remember about someone.  I was on the Masonville Rescue squad for a while and we would get called out in the middle of the night to the turnpike for a rescue and there would be Bob. He told me one time ” Hi neighbor, couldn’t let you sleep through the night if i was awake”. If you met Bob you wouldn’t think he had a sense of humor , but he did.  Bob and i where Chimney Sweeps together and we would spend a lot of Saturdays cleaning chimneys.  We wore the top hats and tails.  Sam passed earl, but Bob and i always remained in touch. I talked to him just 24 hours before he Passed.

Bob was a good and honest man. What more can you say than that. RIP my friend and i will think of you often.

Merrymeeting Squalch Tales for March

on Feb 22 in Wa1pjs

Mar10 this is the latest newsletter