Bluegrass Brunch!

[Left to Right: Tom Clifton, Marilynn Mullen, Hannah Davies, Rory Macqueen, Scarlet Shore, Eli Davies]

Eli Davies and Rory Macqueen came to New York City for a week to visit Hannah (while she's still a New Yorker) and to take in the sights. Since Rory has recently taken up the banjo, Eli sent me an email and suggested that Marilynn and I meet them on Sunday for "Bluegrass Brunch" at the Nolita House Restaurant on Houston Street. Also joining us for brunch were Tom Clifton (Rory's friend from King's College of Music in London), and Tom's girlfriend, Scarlet Shore.

It was a damn good thing we had reservations, because the Nolita House was fairly small. But that was actually a good thing: even though the band was at one end of the bar and we were at the other, we could still here the music. Rory probably didn't get a chance to learn any new finger-picking though.

The food was pretty good but the conversation was even better. As expected when dealing with the anyone from the Davies family (and, apparently, any of their friends as well), the conversation was all over the map. In about 3 hours we covered the political landscape (English and US), music (The Smiths, karaoke), geography ("You don't know the capitol of Sudan?"), religion ("What's up with the Pope?", lapsed Catholicism vs. lapsed Lutheranism) and books ("You wouldn't believe the crazy stack of books next to Hannah's bed!") Tons of fun that went by in a flash.

After brunch, we all went our separate ways. The Davies Sisters, incongruously, went for a pedicure. I'm not sure where Rory, Tom and Scarlet ended up, but Marilynn and I took the opportunity to stroll around NYU, Washington Square, and Greenwich Village for an hour or two. Washington Square was jammed with people enjoying the afternoon sun and listening to the buskers. Below is a photo of a group called "The Baby Soda Jazz Band" that had a large number of people crowded around them:

It turns out that these guys aren't just buskers ... they're appearing every Sunday in April at a place called Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn. If you're ever in the area, these guys would be well worth your entertainment dollar. Oh yes, accompanying the music were three swing-dancing couples, at least two of whom were professional dance teachers as well. They were as much fun to watch as the Jazz Band!

In the southwest corner of the park, a number of chess boards had been set up and virtually all of them were in use. Marilynn and I stopped for a while to watch a little girl compete against a guy who we think was a member of the NY Chess Club:

I'm guessing he was taking it easy on her, but who knows? She was holding her own against him when we left.

All in all a beautiful day --- New York City at its best!!

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig!

And to all of you who don't speak Irish, "Happy St. Patrick's Day!"

To commemorate the day, here's a brief and undoubtedly incomplete summary of some of the more noteworthy events in the extended Mullen Family since last St. Patty's day.

First and foremost (at least from my vantage point), Marilynn and I were extremely fortunate to be able to spend over a week in England last August, allowing us to become better acquainted with the following UK-based relatives:

- Brian Fowler
- Dympna [Messenger] LeRasle
- Peter LeRasle
- Máire Davies
- John Davies
- Huw Davies
- Hannah Davies
- Tom Davies
- Elinore Davies
- Patrick Mills
- Kathleen Duffy
- Susan [Fowler] Harrison
- John Harrison
- Betty Cahalin
- Avril [Gilmartin] Leary
- Tony Leary
- Madge Messenger
- Sheila [Messenger] Dore
- Martin Dore
- Rosalind Dore
- Joseph Dore,
- Imelda Messenger
- Anne [Naughton]Lillis
- Ashling Lillis
- Cliona [Lillis] Beadle

It was a whirlwind vacation, to be sure, but one of our first thoughts upon returning to the U.S. was, "When can we go back??"

Births:

• Herbie Hucklebury Timothy Peter Frankel was born on September 7, 2009 to Madeleine LeRasle and Tim Frankel.
• Edward (Ted) Beadle was born to Cliona [Lillis] Beadle and Mike Beadle.
• Matthew Beeney was born to Grainne [Lillis] Beeney and Rob Beeney.

Deaths:

• Harry Sears (husband of Patricia [Mullen] Sears passed away on February 20, 2010.
• Mary Josephine (Josie) Mullen, mother of Noel Mullen, passed away on January 25, 2010.

Marriages / Engagements:

• Mike McGarvey married Sarah Rector on August 28, 2009
• Avril Gilmartin married Tony Leary on September 26, 2009
  
• Janet Mullen announced the engagement of her daughter, Cara, to Christopher Kirkwood

Miscellaneous:

• John and Máire Davies' celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary on October 4, 2009.
• Avril [Gilmartin] Leary and Tony Leary are expecting their first child.
• Katie [McGarvey] Ferguson and Ryan Ferguson are expecting their second child.
• Eli Davies and Rory MacQueen visited the U.S. in late October.
• The Sears family took Harry Sears, a longtime fan of the Fighting Irish, to his first Notre Dame football game on October 31, 2009.
• John and Máire Davies came to the U.S. in December to visit their daughter, Hannah, during the Christmas holidays.
• Sheila and Martin Dore came visited New York City for 5 days to celebrate Sheila's 60th birthday.
  

It's been a busy year .. and the Family Tree continues to grow! I'll be raising a glass of Mullen's Irish Cream to the entire extended family this evening. Best of luck to all of you in the year ahead.

Sláinte!
Paul

Harry Sears: September 14, 1928 - February 20, 2010

Annie Mullen Patrick, Harry Sears, Mary Mullen Kinslow

Harry Sears, my uncle, and the husband of Patricia Mullen Sears, died last weekend as a result of complications caused by cancer. His viewing was held last evening and, to no one's surprise, the line of mourners who came to pay their respects stretched outside the funeral home for hours. A wonderful obituary, crafted with love and care by his family, is attached below. About the only thing that I can add to it is my own recollection of his sense of humor and devotion to family. Uncle Harry rarely missed a Mullen Christmas party, from the time that these gatherings were held at my Uncle Nick's house up to the parties that are held each year at my house. Uncle Harry and Aunt Pat were fixtures at these parties. As to his sense of humor, well, let's just say that I was never quite sure when he was pulling my leg. On two occasions, Uncle Harry became the star of my "Mullen Christmas Recaps". Click here and here and make your own decision.

Uncle Harry lived a good, long life and was loved by everyone he touched. He will be missed and remembered by all of us and, at the end of the day, what more can you ask from life?

-----------------------------------------------------


By: Doylestown Intelligencer

The Intelligencer

Harry C. Sears, father of six, passed away Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010, after several months of battling cancer. He persevered for more than a decade with Parkinson's disease as well. He was 81.

He was the beloved husband of Patricia Mullen Sears. He was the best father to Timothy Sears (Lisa), Colleen Kada (Steve), Sharon Slusarski (Mark), Patrick Sears, Shawn Peikin (Doug), and Daniel Sears (Donna). He was the awesome Pop Pop of Taralyn, Kerriann, Shaun, Brendan, Dennis, Riley, Cassidy, Jade, Madelyn, Zachary, Christopher and Jake. He is also survived by his sister, Frances Lorraine Cerritelli. He was preceded in death by his grandson, Dennis, and his sister, Anne Curry.

Harry C. Sears was born on Sept. 14, 1928, to Francis J. and Florence Sears of Philadelphia. Because of Harry's Christening, his father switched work days with a co-worker. Francis was employed by the federal government as a U.S. Treasury agent during the prohibition years. On October 28, the day that Francis worked for his co-worker, he was killed in one of Philadelphia's most publicized fires at Publicker's Alcohol Plant.

Harry attended LaSalle College High School on scholarship and graduated in 1946. He was a lettered member of their legendary crew team which rowed out of Vesper Club on Boathouse Row.

Harry was a devoted son to Florence Sears who died in 1983. He lived with Florence until he met and married Patricia Mullen, "the most beautiful woman he ever saw," in 1956. They moved to Willow Grove in 1961 and immediately registered at St. John of the Cross Parish, where they and their six children were active members.

After college he began his construction career with a small survey company. On his first day, his co-workers had a good laugh when he showed up at the muddy job site meticulously dressed in a suit and tie. In less than two years he progressed to the position of lead surveyor. During the post-war construction boom he worked in the development and expansion of the Philadelphia and surrounding suburbs infrastructure.

Harry's intellect and affinity for mathematics made him an ideal construction estimator. On July 3, 1961, he began his career at James D. Morrisey, Inc. Harry secured for JDM some of the largest private contracts in the Delaware and Lehigh Valleys. Some of his clients were PECO, United Parcel Service (at the Philadelphia airport), Bethlehem Steel, and Mack Truck. His work also at times included public road contracts including major highways throughout the Philadelphia area. While in his 50's Harry taught himself computer programming to automate much of the estimating process. He led and trained many newly minted engineers from local universities while at JDM.

During the mid 1960s, he became a member of Willow Manor Players, a local theater group. He began as a member of the chorus and progressed to lead comedy roles. His all time favorite was the part of "Moonface Martin" in Anything Goes. All who remember seeing him recall his rendition of "Be Like the Bluebird" which he would perform on command for years to come for the delight of his family and friends. He also served as business manager and president for the theater group.

Harry was involved in the cultural phase of CYO at St. John of the Cross Parish in the 1960s, working with high school students while his own children were still in grade school. Using his expertise with the theater group he directed One Act Plays with the teenagers, winning first place in the Philadelphia area in his second year of directing. He also directed several variety shows so all interested teenagers could participate. In the 90s he and Pat filled in as bit players in shows on Ocean City's Music Pier where their granddaughter, Kerriann Kada, had leading roles.

In the 70s, Harry and his wife, Pat, were in leadership in Marriage Encounter in the Eastern Montgomery County area. They were Team Members on many Marriage Encounter Weekends, sharing their relationship with other couples.

Harry and Pat also became involved with the Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church. They led the "Life in the Spirit Seminars" for several years and Harry taught many times. Many remember his teaching on True Humility which Harry's life exemplified.

Harry had numerous talents and interests. He loved to dance and especially loved the Mummer's Strut, line dances, and the jitterbug. Whether it was sketching, cooking, concrete work, playing the guitar and piano, acting, photography, carpentry (he built most of the family home), upholstery or comedy, Harry pursued his interests with a patient, persistent, and relaxed style.

Whether performing his Mummer's Strut or sitting at Sunny Willow Swim Club or the beach in Ocean City, N.J., or at a restaurant, Harry was always very close to his immediate family as well as his and Pat's extended families. Harry was much more concerned with others than himself. His family never wanted for anything and lived a very comfortable existence.

Despite his very busy life, Saturday afternoons in autumn belonged to Notre Dame. He usually sat on the floor watching TV, mesmerized by the game, oblivious to the confusion that surrounded him especially while the children were little. In October of 2009 his children took him to Notre Dame to watch the "Fighting Irish." Harry could never put into words his appreciation for this trip especially since he was on the field with the players as a guest of the coach.

Harry's family and friends will remember him by his countless stories which embody his warmth, kindness, intellect, love, caring and probably most of all his sense of humor. Many will never forget his "Martha, the Wide Mouthed Frog" story. To know Harry was to love and admire him. He commanded the respect of all who knew him. In the words of his wife, Pat, "He is truly the finest person I have ever known. I am truly blessed to have been loved by him for 56 years."

His funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, at St. John of the Cross Church, 2741 Woodland Road (at Thomson Road), Roslyn, PA 19001. Interment will be in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. Relatives and friends are invited to his viewing at William R. May Funeral Home, 354 N. Easton Road (at Keswick Ave.), Glenside, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday and to his viewing at the church at 10 a.m. Thursday.

Donations to LaSalle College High School Fatherless Son Fund, 9605 Cheltenham Ave., Wyndmoor, PA 19038, or St. John of the Cross Church would be appreciated.

Happy 60th Birthday Sheila!

Marilynn and I had the pleasure of getting together with Sheila Dore (my fourth cousin!) and her husband, Martin, for dinner in New York City this past Tuesday. To properly celebrate her 60th birthday, Martin gave Sheila a 5-day trip to NYC. Nice present, Martin! Much better than giving her a new vacuum like some insensitive, unromantic husband might have done. The Dores arrived from the UK on Sunday, February 14, just in time to experience our latest (last?) snowstorm of the season. Sheila's niece, Hannah Davies, (who lives and works in NYC) made an "executive decision" and reserved a table for us at a great Mediterranean restaurant called The Barbounia on Park Avenue. The food was fantastic and the conversation even better. Below is an unfortunately grainy iPhone photograph of the group (minus Marilynn, who took the photo):

Happy Birthday, Sheila, with many more to come!

The Curious Case of the Salamander Safe

Pull up a chair. Crack open a beer or pour yourself a glass of wine. This particular blog entry will be a tad longer than usual. Stick with it, though ... it has an interesting finish.

The story starts almost 24 years ago, in April of 1986, when Marilynn and I purchased our house in Cranbury, NJ. Included with the purchase (by default) was a huge, virtually immovable, cast iron safe in the basement. This safe (shown below) is enormous, measuring 37"x35"x24" (HxWxD) and weighing somewhere around 800 pounds: 

 

Here's the shot of the interior of the safe:

 

While the safe itself was open, the door was in the locked position. Iron bolts protruding from the bottom and sides of the door (which fit into corresponding holes on the inside frame of the safe) prevented the safe door from being closed. The knob attached to the front of the safe (presumably for manipulating the bolts) would not budge. Here's a close-up of the inside of the door with an arrow pointing to one of the troublesome bolts.

The safe had a funky lock on the center of the door with a thin slit in it to insert a key. Miraculously, we actually had that key! It was with a pile of other old keys that the previous owner had left us.

 

Inserting the key into the lock caused a small metal button on the lock itself to pop out, but it didn't unlock the door. The knob on the safe still refused to turn and the rounded bolts protruding from the door could not be retracted for love nor money. That left us with a safe that could not be closed, i.e., a worthless safe.

In truth, it wasn't an entirely worthless safe. It had a purpose, albeit one that its 19th century makers could not have envisioned. For about 15 years, it functioned as an incredibly sturdy TV stand for a black and white television hooked up to a Nintendo console. It also doubled as a storage chest for all of our kids' Warhammer armies. Sadly, it had lost most of it's glamour over the years, but don't we all?

A few years ago, in order to make room for some additional exercise equipment in the basement, Dave and I managed to roll it under the basement stairs. It wasn't easy to maneuver that beast, let me tell you, but we did it. And I had no intention of ever moving it again. But fate intervened.

Last month, following Mullen Christmas in Cranbury, my daughter, Sara, and her husband, Pete, returned to Rhode Island and discovered that their house had been burglarized. The thieves ransacked the place and managed to find all of their most expensive possessions wherever they were hidden. The very next day, Marilynn and I rolled the safe out from under the basement stairs and gave it one more look. My plan was to learn as much as I could about it and enlist the aid of a locksmith to fix it.

I started by examining the identifying plate affixed to the front of the safe. Below is an image of a plate on eBay which is identical to the one on my safe:

This told me that it was an "Improved Defiance Salamander Safe" manufactured by a company in New York called "R.M. Patrick". Painstaking examination of the lock (see the close up image earlier in this post) yielded the following bits of text: "Goffin", "Patent", "MAR. 54", and "1251". Armed with this information, I spent the better part of a Saturday exploring the web. Here's what I discovered:

• The lock on the safe was patented by a man name F.C. Goffin in March of 1854. Unfortunately, the patent number was not 1251 and the U.S. Patent Office search engine was abysmal. I literally had to inspect every single patent issued in the United States in March of 1854. It was as painstaking as it sounded, but, just before I was about to give up, I hit pay dirt. Patent number 10660 provided me with a perfect description of the lock on my safe and how it worked. [Update: as of 2021, the U.S. Patent Search has been vastly improved.]
• A "Salamander Safe" refers to a fireproof safe, so named because the salamander, according to myth, is supposed to be able to endure fire without harm.
• R.M. Patrick was a manufacturer of Defiance Salamander Safes at 192 Pearl Street in New York City.

While all of this was great information, I was amazed and frustrated by my inability to find any information at all about my particular safe. Having details about the lock was fantastic, but it would have been nice to know how that lock had been integrated into the safe. This lack of information would come back to haunt me later.

My next order of business was to contact a competent locksmith who specialized in antique safes. After a few searches on the web I found a site called AllExperts that looked promising. I entered my problem on the website and, within a few hours, received a response from a safe expert in California. After exchanging a number of emails, the California expert -- after expressing his regret at not being able to work on my safe personally -- gave me the name of an individual in New Jersey that might be able to help me, a guy by the name of Jeff Sitar.

I searched the web and found Jeff's email address and phone number. I sent him detailed information about my safe but received no reply. So I gave him a call and left a message on his answering machine. Still nothing. I was just about ready to give up on Jeff when he returned my call at 8pm one night. (It turns out that Jeff is a pretty busy guy!) I described the Salamander safe problem to him and he was immediately interested. He then pointed me to his website which described him as a championship safecracker, and I was immediately interested! 

 

 

After a number of abortive attempts to meet, I finally got Jeff and my safe together last Saturday. The results were truly astounding.

Jeff showed up and got to work immediately. He began by taking off the inner plate of the safe door and exposing the interior of the door. As he expected, it was completely encased in concrete:

 

 

Jeff then carefully chipped away about 50 pounds of concrete to expose the locking mechanisms.

 

 

In the photo above, the Goffin lock is in the center. To the right of that lock is a horizontal bar which controls the movement of all of the iron bolts. That horizontal bar is free to move only after two things happen: the Goffin lock must be opened and the second metal bar fitting into the horizontal bar must be raised. See the close-up below:

 

I went upstairs at this point to do some work in the kitchen while Jeff tried to figure out how to raise that second metal bar. I was upstairs for no more than 2 minutes when I heard him yell, "Paul, come down here and look at this. You will not believe it!!!"

I ran downstairs thinking that Jeff had discovered a second lock requiring a second key, but it was much, much better than that. When he pulled up on the metal bar that was restraining the horizontal bar, a small piece of metal on the front of the safe moved. Go to the top of this blog and click on the very first safe picture. Notice a tiny bit of gold-colored molding on the upper left portion of the safe? A close up of that bit of molding is shown below:

 

As it turns out, that's a tiny bit of brass that is attached to a lever that raises the restraining bar. When the Goffin lock is open, pressing down on this brass switch raises the restraining bar and allows the doorknob to turn and extend or retract all of the iron bolts. The locking mechanism of the safe was in perfect working order all these years ... we just didn't know its secret! 

Jeff was both exhilarated and humbled: exhilarated because, after 30 years in the trade, he had just learned something brand new, but humbled because he had to take the door of the safe apart to figure it out. Me, I was just happy to have a fully working, almost impenetrable, antique fireproof safe in absolutely perfect working order!

As long as this story was, it may actually have a postscript. Stay tuned ...

---

 

 

Postscript: September 5, 2021

A few days ago I was notified by a reader that a lot of the original links in this post were broken. Thinking that the website had gone awry, I quickly investigated. As it turns out, the website was fine but, sadly, my safecracker was not. Jeff Sitar died on February 22, 2019. Per this obituary, he was extremely well-known within his trade and was an eight-time champion of the Lockmasters Safe Manipulation contest. The FBI, DEA, Homeland Security and the Secret Service were among his clients. The Los Angeles Times called him "the Michael Jordon of safe-cracking". He was a consultant on a number of "heist films" and was featured in this article by the New York Times a year before he died. Why the article didn't include his amazing work at my house in 2010 is a mystery to me. 

The Blizzard of 2010!!

I'm no stranger to snow. I've lived in the northeast my entire life. I was a kid when winters really were winters, when it snowed before Thanksgiving and snow covered the ground all winter long. I was in Syracuse, NY, in March of 1993 when the Storm of the Century dropped 43 inches of snow on that city in 48 hours. So why did today's "Nor'easter in NJ" shock me as much as it did?

When I woke up, there were only a few inches of snow on the ground. By noon, it actually stopped snowing and it looked as though the sky was beginning to clear. Then -- Boom! -- it started coming down fast and thick. And it didn't stop. It's about 9pm as I type this blog and it's still snowing!

Here's a shot of what it looked like at around 3pm when Marilynn and I went outside to do a preliminary shovel:




There were absolutely no cars (or plows) on the road and the snow showed no sign of letting up. Here's a shot of Marilynn, all wired up by the snow and ready to shovel:




After about 40 minutes of shoveling, we managed to clear the entire driveway. At this point, I volunteered to shovel the front walks and the porch while Marilynn did a little cross-country skiing at Village Park.





By the time Marilynn returned, I had just finished clearing the porch and all of the front walks. Then I looked at the driveway ... it was covered with a brand new 4-inch layer of snow! I had to shovel it again!

Before we called it a day, though, there was one more crucial job that had to be done. For the first time in about two years, this snow was perfect snowman-making snow. The air temperature was just right and the snow was soft and easily clumped (if that's a word). It didn't take us long to throw together a snowman (complete with pith helmet and pipe) and his snowkid. We probably should have decorated them a little better, but Marilynn and I were pretty frozen at this point.



So that's about it. Marilynn is stoking the fire downstairs. We're going to pop in a DVD and ride out the remainder of this storm inside. And I'm not going to even look at that driveway again until the morning!

Mary Poppins!

Waiting for the curtain to rise! Sure, I'm missing the second half
of the Jets-Chargers game, but what are the chances that the Jets will
stage a miracle comeback???

Watching the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets! In an Irish bar in NYC

Then we're heading to see "Mary Poppins" at the New Amsterdam
Theater. The yin and the yang of NYC culture!!!

Happy Mullen Christmas!!

Raising a glass to the Extended Mullen Family!
[Left to right: Paul Mullen, Mike McGarvey (top of head just visible), Sarah McGarvey, Sean Mullen, Lacee Mullen, Karen McGarvey (in green in the way back), Jonathan Mullen, Brendan Kinslow, Julie Mullen, Chris Kirkwood, Cara Mullen, and the raised arms of Annie Mullen Patrick and Mary Mullen Kinslow]

The 2009 Mullen Christmas Festivities officially kicked off on Friday, January 8th at approximately 5pm and didn’t end until 48 hours later on Sunday afternoon, January 10th. In-between that time, well, let’s just say that we generated a lot of recyclables!!

As always, Mullen Christmas consists of two … two … two parties in one! The Friday evening party consisted of my brothers and sisters and their children, or – as we have become collectively known – the "New York Mullens". While we’re still very close mentally and emotionally, we’re no longer quite so close geographically. This year, family members came from such far-flung locations as Providence RI, Syracuse NY, Washington DC, Waltham MA, and Woodstock NY. The weather cooperated … sort of. We only got a dusting of snow but it was brutally cold. Temperatures of 20°F were in stark contrast to the legendary 2006 Mullen Christmas where we basked outside in sunny 72°F weather.

To combat this year's cold, there was a constant fire in the fireplace and attendees had to resort to the temporary but comforting warming effects provided by alcohol. In particular, this year’s Christmas party introduced the group to Mullen’s Irish Cream, a drink that owes its creation to a suggestion made by Betty Cahalin (first cousin once removed) from the UK. The photo above shows a portion of the Friday evening crowd saluting the extended Mullen Family with a glass of the homemade concoction.

Besides the surprising amount and variety of beer consumed, Friday’s party was also notable for the opportunity to see one of our own, Brendan Kinslow, on national TV. Brendan is a cheerleader at Villanova University and, a few weeks earlier, I managed to DVR a football game between Villanova and William & Mary. As is the usual case, the ESPN camera lingered on the cheerleaders during one of the commercial breaks. Brendan seized that opportunity to follow his Dad’s advice and insert himself into the tableau. As a result, a national television audience was treated to the following sight:

Not exactly what the ESPN camera crew had in mind, I'm sure, but we certainly had a lot of fun replaying Brendan's 5 seconds of fame over and over and over again in slow motion.

All told, 31 New York Mullens attended the Friday party. For some, what started as a Friday Evening party morphed into a Saturday Morning party. When I went to bed slightly before 4am, Mike McGarvey, Sarah McGarvey, Kevin Mullen, and Pete Sankowich were still going strong. I understand that they finally crashed a little after 5am.

Saturday morning arrived way to soon for most party-goers. But after a fortifying breakfast of eggs, English muffins, strong coffee and Karen's ham, the exercise portion of the day was launched. Some Mullen Members ran or walked outside, others lifted weights in the basement, and still others jumped on the Spinning bikes. The photo below captured Dave and Marilynn in what appears to be a seated climb. Their anguish-free faces indicate that perhaps they should have turned the tension knob a notch or two in the clockwise direction. Other spinners that morning included Sara Sankowich, Rebecca Slovak, Ryan Mullen and myself.

At around 2pm, the "Philadelphia Mullens" began to arrive. Fittingly, the first to arrive was Aunt Mary, accompanied by Peter and Marie. With the aid of a small brace on one leg, Aunt Mary was able to easily navigate to wherever the focus of the party was. She started out in the living room but quickly moved to the kitchen when the snacks came out. When dinner was served, she was perfectly situated at the center of the dining room table. At mid-party, I discovered her sitting in the back of the kitchen in front of the Family Tree talking to her son, Tony, and providing me with a photo opportunity that couldn't be beat.

With the addition of 29 Philadelphia Mullens, the total attendance at the Mullen Christmas Weekend Extravaganza reached a grand total of 60, just a tad less than the record attendance of 2005 when the "Connecticut Mullens" showed up. Attendance would have been even higher if the party hadn’t been competing with the Eagles-Cowboys playoff game that evening at 8pm. Apparently, rabid Eagle fans like Doug Peikin and Mark Slusarski were petrified at the thought of stepping foot into a NY Giants stronghold (i.e., my house) on game-day and causing bad karma to descend upon their team. Kudos to relatives like Linda McKain, Steve Kada and Tony Notarfrancesco who ignored these silly superstitions, boldly entered my house, and caused their team to be totally demolished and dismembered by the Cowboys. I tell you, though, I’ve never seen a fan as rabid as Tony! He could barely sit still hours before the start of the game! And once the game started, he was all over the house! Fortunately, his Blackberry Support Group was able to talk him off the ledge when the wheels fell off the Eagles playoff bus. In all seriousness, though, Tony and Cathey jointly share the Star of the Party award for hanging out and watching the entire game with us and then staying the night at the local Cranbury Marriott.

Here are a few candid shots of party-goers starting off 2010 the right way. Additional photos will eventually be added to the Mullenium website. If you have any web-worthy photos, email them to me and I'll put them up.

Emily McKain and Bridget Mullen: Caught snacking!


L. to R.: Marilynn Mullen, Kristin Mullen, Annie Mullen Patrick, Kerry Mullen


L. to R.: Dave Mullen, Yuengling, Stacey


Joe Benco and Mike Mullen: Reliving past parties ...


Danny and Donna Sears: One last Rice Krispie Treat for the road

Tom Kinslow: All set to watch the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets!!!!


L. to R.: Sara Mullen Sankowich and Pete Sankowich vainly attempting to explain the Droid to Chris Mullen Kreamer and Ross G. Kreamer


Kevin Mullen and Karen Mullen McGarvey: Twins forever ...


Mike Mullen and Mary Mullen Kinslow: Another set of twins that just happened to be strolling by


Four sisters: Chris Mullen Kreamer, Mary Mullen Kinslow, Karen Mullen McGarvey, and Annie Mullen Patrick


Happy Mullen Christmas to all and to all a good night!
Mark your calendar for next year: January 8, 2011

New Year's in Vermont

[Clockwise from left: Andy Mullen, Rebecca Slovak, Dave Mullen, Carl Goedecke,Marilynn Mullen, Irene Goedecke, Pete Sankowich, Sara Mullen Sankowich]

The Cranbury Mullens rang in the New Year at Marilynn's brother's (Carl Goedecke) house in Fayston, Vermont, in the shadow of the Mad River Glen ski resort. The photo above (click on it for a larger version) shows the group in mid-New Year's Eve festivities. Everyone arrived at Carl and Irene's beautiful house at various times on Wednesday evening, December 30th. After a drink or two and some snacks, everyone went to bed to prepare for the next day.

Irene Goedecke and Sara Sankowich, relaxing and conversating

On Thursday, the downhill skiers (Andy, Rebecca, Dave, Sara, Pete and Marilynn) got out the door fairly early and were sliding up and down Mad River Glen on slats of carbon fiber by 10:30am. The rest of us (Carl, Irene, Paul) got a more civilized start (noon) and snowshoed for about 2 hours. The high point of the day, for me, was getting through Day #1 without a repeat of last year's brutal snowshoeing blisters on both heels. The skiers thoroughly enjoyed their day, staying until last run and returning to the house at around 4:30pm. By all reports, everyone did amazingly well. Rebecca and Andy -- the most experienced skiers -- spent most of their time on the black diamonds. Marilynn -- who used to ski all the time until she married me -- shook off the rust and was able to ski Quacky, a blue but almost black diamond trail. Dave and Sara -- who hadn't skied since the Super Mullenium of 1999 -- skied almost the entire day without falling. Pete, who had never skied downhill before in his life, took a lesson with Sara, strapped on the skies, and attacked the mountain with his usual gusto. That evening, we rang in the New Year with a roaring fire in the fireplace, a fantastic dinner, some Mullen's Irish Cream, and excellent champagne provided by our hosts, Carl & Irene.

Andy & Rebecca enjoying "a roaring fire and red meat off the bone"


On Friday morning, Rebecca and Andy bolted out for the slopes of Mad River Glen once again while the rest of us went on a typical Carl & Irene snowshoeing trek.

Everyone smiling despite the "steep grade" warning sign!

The trek started off pleasant enough, but by the time we staggered back to the house it felt like we had just completed the Bataan Death March! Sara and I, in particular, were toast. Sara's calves (sore from the prior day of skiing) were locking up on her and my knees (aching from basketball on Wednesday and snowshoeing on Thursday) were in dire need of an injection of WD40. In stark contrast, Carl, who would turn 68 the next day, could have gone on for 2 more hours!


Dave doing the "Brush Limbo"

On Saturday morning, Sara and Pete headed for home in a vain attempt to arrive in time to see the NHL Legends hockey game at Fenway Park at 2pm. Andy, Rebecca, Dave and Marilynn headed back to the ski slopes. Carl (Happy Birthday, Carl!!) and Irene went for yet another snowshoeing excursion. I rested my knees, composed this blog, and nervously eyed weather.com and its prediction of 10 inches of snow in the next 24 hours. The Prius is tremendous for a lot of reasons, but not for driving on the snowy, mountainous roads of Vermont!!

Happy 2010 to all!!

Gracie saying "Hello!"