It's hard to believe that nearly 40 years have elapsed since Jay and I first started coming back home for the summer, bringing our kids since they were babies, so they could grow up knowing all their cousins and having a blast together. My parents' kids have lived in California, North Dakota, Texas, Florida, Montana, Colorado, New Jersey and Ohio but we always made a point to come back every summer for a family reunion that used to last months. None of us wanted our kids to be the out of town dorks nobody knew. It worked like a charm! The cousins always look forward to seeing each other and they always have a blast.
We knew, from the beginning, that the time would come when all the kids would grow up, get jobs and have lives that wouldn't allow them to drop everything and come play with us. We just didn't know it would happen so fast.
Seems like yesterday that Katie and Katelyn would dress up their younger cousins in costumes, teach them songs and dances and put on a show in the living room of the huge house on Queen. Now they're the mom's of four little kids, with homes and husbands and careers.
Seems like yesterday that Mike and Tyler were the tiny kids sitting on the fence watching all the big guys play basketball in the back yard. Now Mike and Ty complain about being too old for basketball and they give all those 'big guys' a run for their money on the golf course.
Mom and Dad sold the house on Queen nearly 20 years ago. They moved out of their downsized house 4 years ago and Dad has been gone for 2 years.
The Hubbell Open has been The John G. Hubbell Memorial Invitational since Dad died.
A new trophy has been made to accommodate the new title. Joe built it, and he decorated it with bits and pieces off of Dad's old trophies. I'm surprised that he found so many that he could use! It's not that Dad didn't win a ton of trophies from a long and glorious athletic career that began with a State Football Championship at STA back during WWII and continued through countless golf and bowling tournaments, it's that one day, well over 50 years ago, Joe and I snuck into Dad's office and broke every one of his countless trophies. I have no idea why we committed such a mindless act of destruction; I think the first one was probably an accident and then, because we're morons, we needed to find out of all the little men snapped off so easily. They did.
By cannibalizing a few of Mom's old trophies (she was also a champion golfer, once upon a time) as well as what was left of Dads, Joe managed to scrounge up enough bling to adorn this:
Joe made the new base hollow, with a door on the other side, so that the score cards from each year can be kept inside. The old trophy, which is a tall tin bucket, will be bolted to the top. He brought it to my house so that I could print "The John G. Hubbell Memorial Invitational" around the top edge in calligraphy. Then he varnished it. It's enormous. It's a piece of furniture. There's enough room on those sides to print the names of the winners for the next 70 years.
After I got the title inscribed, Jay nodded and said "Woody will like it." (It's a traveling trophy and Woody wins damn near every year.)
Hubbellpalooza was only five days long this year. JP, Margy, Jeff and their son Andy got into town midweek. We were missing more people than we ever have before. Ty missed the tournament because he was in South Dakota, cheering on his wife and daughter as they competed in a rodeo, Zach and Sara were in WI to see Jimmy Buffett and life kept other cousins in NYC, Nashville, Chicago and LA. They were all missed but those of us who gathered had a non stop blast!
Thursday we had tacos at Katie and Mike's. There were about 2 dozen of us, between the ages of 2 mos and 87 yrs. Everyone had fun and the food was delicious.
So far, not one of John G.'s grand kids has won the tourney. The money right now is split between the Mike H. (the Great One), Finbar, Gus (who was in the hunt this year) and Martha, who is the best athlete in the bunch but only took up golf last year. I warned them that the window on their generation was closing, as Ty had introduced Babalouie to golf this year and if Babalouie is half as good at golf as he is at everything else he does, he'll be winning it before he graduates from high school.
Friday we had a screening of a play that JP was in back in the spring. He brought a digital copy of it so those of us who were unable to make it to the coast to see the show could enjoy it. About 2 dozen of us watched it in the movie theater at Moms place. It was really good and JP was FANTASTIC. He played a reluctant hit man.
After the movie, 8 of us crashed Margy, Heidi and Joe's 40th high school reunion. It was actually the pre-party and it was at Bunny's, a SWAC* hangout, so we didn't feel awkward about crashing it. The highlight of the night was some of Margy's former classmates saying "Wow, Margy looks GREAT!" and pointing at Mary Jeanne. (MJ does look a lot like Margy but is 15 years younger.)
The Tournament started on Saturday.
It was kind of drizzly but not wet enough to interfere. Jay, who has been having some foot issues this summer, didn't decide until Saturday morning that he was IN. He's only played one round all summer and he didn't play well but he said it was the most fun he's ever had on the course.
While the golf was happening, Mom, Margy and I went to our favorite fabric warehouse to help Margy find some fabric to reupholster some chairs she'd recently rescued from a dumpster.
We've been reusing, repurposing and recycling since long before it was a political statement. Old furniture is better than new furniture and free furniture is the best of all! Margy had found some gorgeous fabric online but when she did the math it would have cost her over a grand to do each chair. That kind of negates the whole "free" thing. We found some really pretty, fun, funky, bright stuff for the chairs and she also bought some beautiful emroidered linen to make curtains for her bedroom. She bought 17 yds of fabric for just under $300.00.
We LOVE S.R. Harris!!
Jay picked up some prime rib for the two of us on the way home from the course so he and I didn't party on Saturday but apparently there were layers of parties going on. A whole crowd of players ended up back at Mom's where they ordered pizza and when she went to bed, the whole party moved on to Josie's place where it continued into the wee hours.
Sunday the sun was back out and the golfers were back on course. Mom, Margy, Katie, MJ and I walked around the lake. I actually walked twice but that was my own fault. A cake was involved. Naturally.
At about 5, those of us who didn't golf headed out to the course, where the plan was to have the party right there on the premises. Mom had this idea last year and it's just another example of her genius. It was spectacular!
Heidi and Kathy were the first to arrive and Mom, Margy and I joined them at a table on the veranda overlooking 18. We had G&Ts and heavens, were they good! We were joined by sisters, sisters in law, nieces and nephews over the next half hour and decided to start ordering, so as to avoid swamping the grill when the players began coming off the course.
We split several orders of onion rings and when the G&Ts were done, bottles of wine began to appear.
By the time the wine was poured, foursomes had begun to finish up on 18 and the party just grew and grew.
Mike McCollow, who just won a State Title as head coach of Edina high school's Golf Team, won the tourney. He blew away the field, including Woody II (who had already won the Indian Open this summer). It wasn't even close. So Mike's name will be the first written on the new trophy.
The party was an absolute blast; the food was delicious (I had the turkey sandwich, made on cranberry bread: genius!!) the cocktails were strong and the wine was smooth. No one worked, no one cleaned and the course made a lot of money! I wish Mom had thought of having the party at the course years ago.
The only downside to the entire weekend was that Buffett cancelled his concert two hours before showtime due to the weather. Zach and Sara had driven five hours to see him. As Sara said "It was a parking lot filled with sad drunk people."
I'm sure the Parrotheads all had fun, just not nearly as much fun as they would have had if Jimmy had come out to sing.
Monday was Josie's 27th birthday.
Her cake is what make me late for the walk on Sunday. I had to bake it a day ahead because Jay was doing chicken wings for the birthday dinner, which meant the oven would be in use. So, I baked a huge chocolate cherry cake on Sunday. The plan was to walk the lake at 2. I texted my sisters that I'd be there as soon as the cake came out of the oven but I neglected to say that meant about 10 minutes later. They started without me. It happens. They waited for me at the bandstand but I'd chosen the wrong way to walk. So, I walked 3/4 around the lake, met them at the bandstand, turned around and walked all the way back around. It's fine; what else was I gonna do all afternoon?
After the walk, I made the fudgy frosting, put the cake in the back fridge and it was perfect when it was time to serve it Monday night.
We actually planned Josie's birthday before I knew that Hubbellpalooza was happening the same weekend, so to make it all work, we invited everyone over for cake after dinner. Ty and his family were back from the rodeo, where Megan didn't do as well as she liked but Xena kicked donkey kong! She was one of the youngest participants in a large field but scored very well in all her events. They couldn't stay for dinner, as Megan had to get back to town to decorate her rooms for vacation Bible Camp, which started this morning. Xena went with her mom to help, although she was very tempted to stay for Josie's birthday dinner when she saw that we were making cheesy noodles. I sent a large bag of them home with Ty for her.
We had about 12 for dinner and another six or seven for cake and ice cream. The party was out on the deck and the evening was gorgeous and everyone had a lovely time.
Hubbellpalooza may be only a quarter as long as it used to be but we still fun the hell out of it. That part never changes.