Uncle Jack wrote one of those letters to put in with his Christmas cards this year and here
it is:
We are very happy to report that 2010 has confirmed the rightness of our move to Baltimore
two years ago. The longer we live in this delightful city the more we love it. Our condo across
the street from Johns Hopkins University is happily located close to most of the cultural
institutions we frequent such as Symphony Hall, Peabody Conservatory, Shriver Concert Hall
and the Charles Theater, the best art movie house in the city.
We have been exploring Charm City’s many fascinating neighborhoods, mostly on foot,
and have joined Baltimore Heritage, a group dedicated to preservation of landmark homes and
buildings in the city. Recently we both became docents at Evergreen House, one of the fabled
residences of Baltimore’s incredibly wealthy (B and O Railroad stock, primarily) Garrett family.
Evergreen is a 44 room mansion housing a spectacular collection of rare books, maps and
paintings which was left to Johns Hopkins University by Ambassador John Work Garrett upon
his death in 1942. Naturally we both feel right at home there.
Persistent robust health on both our parts facilitated a fair amount of travel including
New Orleans in April for the French Quarter Festival; Indian River, Florida in May to visit
friends; Minnesota and Wisconsin in June to celebrate Jack’s 80th birthday in the bosom of
his remaining family; Camden, Maine in August with visits en route with friends in Seaside
Park, N.J., (no, not Snookie) ; Portland, Maine and Old Bennington, Vt. This trip also included a
stopover in Fitchburg, Mass. to visit Jack’s adorable great-granddaughter, Sweet Adeline Van
Hazinga, age 2, and her parents, Andy and Liz (who are expecting great-grandchild number two
early in 2011).
Washington, D.C. is only a short train ride away ($7.00 round-trip for seniors) so we took in
several excellent plays at the Kennedy Center and also visited the new Newseum (fabulous)
in the company of Jack’s daughter Emily who came out from California in August. A visit from
Jack’s son Eric and family from Los Angeles in June prompted two more trips to D.C. during
which most of the usual tourist meccas (The Mall, National Museum, Air and Space Center,
etc.) received a dash-through.
We managed to squeeze in several trips to Nags Head during the year. In February we
escaped to the beach just ahead of the second big blizzard in a week which left Baltimore
buried under nearly six feet of snow for weeks. It was nostalgia time for Jack who grew up in
northern Wisconsin where such weather extremes are commonplace.
Sue’s three grandchildren (Isabella, 6; Sophia 5; and Michael, 2) are a constant source of
delight. They live just ten minutes away with their mom and dad, Colleen and Ed Sabatino.
Sue’s Baltimore family grew by one earlier this year with the arrival of her artist daughter, Katie,
who is home after several years in South Africa and now lives just a few blocks from us in
Charles Village. She is recuperating nicely from brain surgery in August.
We both joined the Mencken Society last year and Jack has volunteered to set up and
maintain a Mencken Society page on Facebook. F.B. members can check it out by typing
Mencken Society into the F.B. search bar. Jack is also doing a very occasional blog called
Uncle Jack’s Baltimore Blog which is mostly about their adventures in Charm City. .
Our address is 1 East University Parkway, #705, Baltimore, MD 21218
email jsandberg3143@gmail.com
Happy Holidays to All.
