Today has been a lovely, cooler, mostly sunny summer day. We have been a little quiet today - we don't party as well as we used to a few decades ago, and needed to take it a little slow today. We went to the steak dinner at the JPA pavilion last night. It was a wonderful feed, and we had a really nice time. We had 3/4 of our family there, Bill, Monika, Tangeni and Jo-Anne, and Jamie and Marie. Bob was playing with the "Hitmen" at Eastside Restaurant in Newport - but perhaps he and Theresa will join us another time. It was like a reunion of the 1970s gang of young boat people. They were hoping Tony would show up, but he didn't. Bill said he hadn't seen some of those people - Karen, Darleen, Lynn, Patty - that he grew up with on the pond in forty years. It was kind of a "perfect storm" that so many were present last night when I had managed to get two of the three Dimick boys to join us for dinner.
     We loved having our grands there, and it was nice that so many people came up to meet them, saying they felt they knew both Tangeni and Jo-Ann from reading about them on the blog. I think the girls were a little surprised that so many people "knew" them. That's what you get for having a gabby grandmother, girls.
     It was a great dinner and I marveled at how hard all those "helpers" worked to keep things running smoothly. The tables looked lovely with flowers and decorations, and the food was delicious. I had in mind to "go easy" on the food intake - those extra calories do not ride well on my "mature" frame; but it turned out I ate heartily, enjoyed some Merlot and even allowed myself a scrumptious piece of cake.
      About that cake - I didn't see it before it was cut, but Nancy Buttura very thoughtfully sent a picture. Isn't that a work of art? The picture of the island was taken by Andrea Carbonneau who has a camp on West Shore Road. I'll have to ask Nancy who actually made the cake - possibly Bentley's. It was GOOD!
     Nancy also sent a photo of some of the people who kept things running so smoothly -  from left to right, Suzy Cassani, Heather Buttura Taylor, Michelle Parker, Jenna Buttura Pereira, and Bo Keach. Left out of the picture was Nancy herself, who was like the Energizer Bunny all evening long, and of course Chief Chef Larry Rossi. I know there were lots of other "helpers" - the next generation of youngsters who saw to it everyone had a chance to buy some 50-50 lottery tickets, and were general "go-fers" for the adults, plus all the folks who pitched in to put away tables and chairs and wash dishes after the meal. Good job, everyone.
     The next JPA meal is the Italian Dinner in two weeks. That will no doubt be a good one, too.