The Observation Deck

I've gotten to know most of you online and through your individual posts, but as the new guy, I thought it would be kind of nice to see if we could meet in person.

I propose a Lakewood Observer Meet and Greet.

Winking Lizard? Bella Duby?

It would be nice to put a face to the names (and political viewpoints).

perhaps we could put a note in the next Observer and make it an open house event to try and recruit some more interested parties.

Just a thought. Any takers?

Wow Bret!

What a great idea! I was just thinking about that this afternoon; when my date for tonight fell through.

Where DOES everybody in the Observer world hang out on a Saturday? Let's face it, it was fun watching "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" tonight, but I've seen it before!

And, although Jim does, to me, seem to superficially resemble Captain Nemo...I do agree that it would be great for us all to meet and greet from time to time.

We have done this in the past, but as far as I know, not lately.

How 'bout it Jim and co..?

Your loyalists have cabin fever! WE WANNA PARTY!!!

Word is there's a bowling party that's being worked out.

if that's the case, you guys are in trouble since I'm the bowling master.

just look for the screen with all the X's!

I can honestly say I don't think I've ever been bowling before...

When the parents got older, I thought it might be good to get them bowling again. In the earlier days, both had been outstanding bowlers. We still have a closet of trophies from those times.

Only trouble was, neither could heft those 16 pound balls like they used to.

So I went out and bought them 5, and 8 pound balls, respectively.

My dear late Mom, who won Cleveland's "I beat the Champ" tournament in the '60's, threw a host of gutter balls with the 5 pounder before disgustedly deciding that enough was enough.

Dad lobbed his 8 pounder like a cannonball through the air, nearly demolishing the backstop.

That was the end of our bowling as a family.

Still, bowling is fun! Chef Geoff may disagree, but as far as I'm concerned, a box of greasy fries, cheeseburger, and a milkshake never taste better than at a bowling alley; along with the daunting challenge of holding onto your ball, after handling all that grease!

Now that we are all more conscious of cholesterol and food issues, next time I go to an alley, maybe I'll bring a little bag of fresh veggies to munch on.

What a thought! I cannot even begin to imagine that scenario!

Ivor, if you're still looking for money for college, then you need to hustle at POOL, not bowling.

Bryan, How can you live in Cleveland and never have gone bowling. I think you can get arrested for that.

Gary, If never having gone bowling is a crime, then bringing fresh ANYTHING to an alley is a felony. Even the beer must be stale for it to be a good bowling experience.

However, seeing as I'm well into the wrong side of the Cholesterol chart... I'll bring the dip.

Brett / All

We are working on a bowling party. Jill Tiemski is in charge of this effort, and we are trying to hammer out the details.

The Observer is also looking at a series of meetings over the next year.

Suneesh has offerd us a LO Night at India Garden as he would like to thank the Observers for making it such a success. Looking at dates.

Open to suggestions:

Open Thursday at Bella Dubby - casual conversation
Writing/Editing meetings at ?
Political Meetings with a selected official each meeting.
Concert/Event meetings - we have a small budget to stage more events this year. 4th of July, Car Show, Rally, picnic
Field Trips - Field trips to other areas and cities to see first hand how they are doing things.
Free Beer night at Brett's house - just kidding.

Any suggestions, post, email or drop in suggestion box. If anyone wants to help, even better.

.

For me and my crew, wed, fridays and saturdays are out, as far as going anywhere.
Hope it could be on a mon, tues or thursday.
Btw, I think the last time we went bowling, our scores didn't make it into double didgets.


Now pool? Another story.

Have Brandtson play!

pool sounds good as well.

I always look forward to the bela dubby meetings. They're very relaxed and every time a good conversation starts. They're also not overwhelming because everything is laid back. good times!

Chef Geoff may disagree, but as far as I'm concerned, a box of greasy fries, cheezeburger, and a milkshake never taste better than at a bowling alley

Gary,

You'll get no disagreement from me. Although, admittedly, I'll forego the milkshake for a cold beer. But, there are just certain times when the event screams for junk food.....What would a baseball game be without a 'dog and peanuts? Bowling is one of those activities. When I was in a league, I looked forward to those burgers and some deep fried accompaniment du jour. While to food isn't healthy, perhaps the exercise makes up for it

Jeff

You folks have me thinking about searching for that my bowling bag. It may take a week for me to air out those old shoes, however.

Hopefully, there won't be any of those crinkle-cut fries from the old days left in that bag! Hopefully, I'll be able to distinguish the shoes from the fries.

Chef Geoff, I'm already salivating for (just a few) foods from those days of yore. I'll have to limit myself to no more than 5 cheeseburgers (laugh)

Seriously, does anyone remember Prange's restaurant at Hilliard and Madison? They made a grilled-cheese with inverted hamburger buns, that was out of this world!

Ah, the good old days!

ARghh. Now I have to see if I can duplicate a Prange's. Wait, I don't eat dairy anymore, and ....oh well, yup I remember it at least.

*now if someone could invent a time machine at least for food, and the ability to eat it, and not get some malady from it*

Mark,

Actually, not too long ago In a fit of nostalgia, I was able to replicate the famous Prange's grilled cheese pretty closely. I took two standard hamburger buns, and some good old American cheese (one slice, with the corners folded in; making a smaller, doubled square)

I then took a liberally buttered hot skillet, and put the sandwich in to cook, with the inverted buns, while squeezing the life out of it all the time, with my spatula.

Voila! A Grilled Cheese Masterpiece! The soggy little thing emanated a purely vintage Lakewood flavor!

Remember going across the street to the garage on the northeast corner of Hilliard and Franklin to see the "number 5" race car that Bill Konzos had over there? I'm not sure of the correct spelling of Bill's name, but wow, that black racer was really neat-o!

I think the meet and greet should be at the library, because that is definitely the most exciting part of Lakewood from what I can see on this message board.

Doug