Aloha to Savage Fest (part 2) - Saluting those who serve

The Savage Volunteer Fire Company joined the celebration at Savage Fest.  From their website (link),

The approximately 85 Savage Volunteers continue to operate out of the station located at 8925 Lincoln St. Currently we respond to emergencies with a Pierce Engine (county owned), Pierce Rescue-Engine (Savage VFC owned), Pierce 105 ft. Ladder Truck (Savage VFC owned), a Paramedic Unit (county owned), an Ambulance (county owned) and a brush truck (Savage VFC owned). Six career staff are assigned to work at the Savage Fire Station on a rotating 24 hour shift and routinely staff the Paramedic Unit and Engine. Savage VFC responds to some 4,000 calls a year for emergency assistance.

 

The firewoman demonstrates the sky's the limit to this young American.

The fireman showed the budding demo man how to aim.

Every year, I enjoy a grilled sausage from the Marine Corps League.

They sang the Marine Corps Hymn for me!

They raise funds for scholarships in honor of their namesake, SSgt Karl G. Taylor, who posthumously received the Medal of Honor.  From the Marine Corps League website (link),

President Richard M. Nixon awarded posthumously the Medal of Honor to the family of Staff Sergeant Karl G. Taylor during a joint-service ceremony at the White House on February 16, 1971.

His Medal of Honor citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving at night (on December 8, 1968) as a company gunnery sergeant during Operation MEADE RIVER. Informed that the commander of the lead platoon had been mortally wounded when his unit was pinned down by a heavy volume of enemy fire, SSgt Taylor along with another marine, crawled forward to the beleaguered unit through a hail of hostile fire, shouted encouragement and instructions to the men, and deployed them to covered positions. With his companion, he then repeatedly maneuvered across an open area to rescue those marines who were too seriously wounded to move by themselves. Upon learning that there were still other seriously wounded men lying in another open area, in proximity to an enemy machinegun position, SSgt Taylor, accompanied by four comrades, led his men forward across the fire-swept terrain in an attempt to rescue the marines. When his group was halted by devastating fire, he directed his companions to return to the company command post; whereupon he took his grenade launcher and in full view of the enemy, charged across the open rice paddy toward the machinegun position, firing his weapon as he ran. Although wounded several times, he succeeded in reaching the machinegun bunker and silencing the fire from that sector, moments before he was mortally wounded. Directly instrumental in saving the lives of several of his fellow marines, SSgt Taylor, by his indomitable courage, inspiring leadership, and selfless dedication, upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the U.S. Naval Service.

Thank you, SSgt Taylor, for your selfless service.

Do you have a local festival in your home town? One randomly selected commenter from this week's posts wins a book choice from my convention stash. Comments are open through Saturday, June 18, 10 pm in Baltimore. I'll post the winner on Sunday, June 19, at SOS Aloha.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

The town is build around Savage Mill.

The current manager dressed in 1850s costume.

Aloha to Savage Fest (part 1) - Strawberries, Chocolate, and Dogs Galore!

Last week, my family volunteered at the annual Savage Fest hosted by the town's community association.  Our church simultaneously hosts the Strawberry Festival. 

So many treats ... the chocolate cupcakes are infused with strawberry cream.  Yum, yum. 

I contributed several recipes to the church cookbook. 

Over on the town common, children enjoyed pony rides ...

... and dogs performing Frisbee tricks!

I did not see Scooby ... 

... but I found the Mystery Machine!

I bet the DMZ enjoyed making this license plate.

Have you contributed any recipes to community cook books? One randomly selected commenter from this week's blog posts wins a book choice from my convention stash. Comments are open through Saturday, June 18, 10 pm in Baltimore. I'll post the winner on Sunday, June 19.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

The Boy Scouts served snow cones.

Aloha to Miami Beach - Art Deco Style (Part 2)

Continuing my stroll down Ocean Drive, I spotted two bachelors cruising South Beach ... 

... and tourists aboard the Pirate Duck Tours.

I discovered an exclusive club ...

... and diversity in the sun.

The Art Deco hotels revitalized themselves with trendy sidewalk cafes.

My coworker is named Leslie!

What's a beach without palm trees ... 

... seahorses ... 

... Tiki statues ... 

... and sidewalk musicians? 

Have you taken a beach tour is a duck boat, trolley, or other fun vehicle? One randomly selected commenter from this week's blogs wins a book choice from my convention stash. Comments are open through Saturday, June 11, 10 pm in Baltimore. I'll post the winner on Sunday, June 12, at SOS Aloha.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

My office bag relaxes on the 

trademark chairs in South Beach.

Aloha to Miami Beach - Art Deco Style (Part 1)

 

While my son and his friend enjoyed the white sand of South Beach, I walked around to absorb the Art Deco style.  From the Miami Design Preservation League (link),

The Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL) was formed through the efforts of Barbara Baer Capitman and her son John Capitman. The initial impetus was to find a project to honor the United States’ bicentennial; the Capitmans worked with designers Leonard Horowitz and Lillian Barber to identify a concentration of 1930s buildings in South Miami Beach that the group felt could be a historic district of 20th century architecture.

I popped into the Art Deco Welcome Center.

across from Barbara Capitman Way.

Love the name of this restaurant, Ocean's Ten, at the corner of Ocean Drive and 10th Street.  Love the vintage car, too.

I walked out to the beach to find this colorful lifeguard station

and a seagull looking for a snack!

Even the Beach Patrol embraces the Art Deco style.

I didn't have time to take an official Art Deco tour, but I did see a few of the landmarks.  From Visit Florida (link),

Essex House, a hotel built in 1938, still has an overstuffed couch and chair in the lobby, just like it did in the 1930s. It also has an original Earl LePan mural from that period showing the Everglades. The mural sits over the fireplace.

A story goes that the hotel owner's wife asked LePan why there were no alligators in the mural. The next morning, he knocked on her door and asked if she would come downstairs. She put on a kimono and descended the stairs to see that overnight he had painted a small alligator in the upper left-hand side of the mural. She screamed when she saw it. If bookies were sitting in the overstuffed chairs, did they take bets on this scene – would he or would he not paint the alligator? Another version of the story is that LePan added the alligator when he refreshed the painting in the 80s, as he had always regretted not painting one. It is all part of a history, long gone but not forgotten.

Walking down Ocean Drive was a step back into Art Deco history.

Have you visited Miami Beach?  Or seen Art Deco in other cities?  One randomly selected commenter from this week's blog posts wins a book choice from my convention stash. Comments are open through Saturday, June 11, 10 pm in Baltimore. I'll post the winner on Sunday, June 12, at SOS Aloha.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

My office bag thanks Barbara 

for her preservation.

Aloha to Miami - Vizcaya Museum and Gardens (part 2)

Continuing my tour of the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens (link),

Vizcaya’s European-inspired gardens are among the most elaborate in the United States. Reminiscent of gardens created in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Italy and France, the overall landscape design is conceived as a series of rooms.

Vizcaya’s exuberant gardens are characterized by an abundance of architectural structures and details, elaborate fountains, and antique and commissioned sculptures. The use of sculptures that were already old and of soft and porous coral stone resulted, quite intentionally, in the gardens having a weathered appearance soon after their completion. 

 I felt as though I stepped back in time to Europe ...

... where everything is grand!

The "back" of the house is actually the front, offering a view of Biscayne Bay. 

Deering enjoyed the view from his private balcony ... 

... of his barge! From the Vizcaya website (link),

To enter by watercraft, one passed the majestic Barge, a massive, 158-foot-long aquatic sculpture that functions as a breakwater, calming the waters immediately offshore. The Barge was likely inspired by English follies of the eighteenth century, romantic and generally nonfunctional structures. Carved from a mix of local stone, the Barge has become an iconic image of Vizcaya.

Chalfin conceived the Barge as a “confused mass,” as he described in a 1915 letter. The eclectic abundance was in keeping with the typical Vizcayan approach of evoking symbolism from disparate elements. He wanted “baskets of sea fruits and trophies of sea treasures,” along with mermaids and tritons and Egyptian obelisks, with an overlay of sixteenth-century Venetian style.

Since 1917 the Barge has been a fixture in Biscayne Bay, adorned with obelisks and caryatids, with a gazebo (lost in the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926) and a bevy of trees; it was a refuge away from the Main House, a short boat ride to a mini-paradise.

Venetian architecture surrounds the barge ...

 ... including the canal bridges.

 Ah!  The fashion shoot moved to the Barge! 

I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash to one randomly selected commenter from this week's blog posts. To enter the giveaway,

1. What would you wear to a fashion shoot?  I'd wear an Aloha shirt.

2. Comments are open through Saturday, June 4, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3. I'll post the winner on Sunday, June 5.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Image by Ebyabe

Creative Commons (link)