Skaets Steak Shop, Hutchinson, Kansas and Tom devouring the Moon Burger!

No trip back east is ever complete without a stop at Skaet's Steak Shop.  It is a family tradition for many people and especially for me!  When I was 17 years old, I decided to strike out on my own since I was almost an adult.  This entailed a job and I lucked into a very good job.  Now I look back and think perhaps it was not the brilliant future I first thought it to be, but at that time, washing dishes at Skaet's Steak Shop was my pinnacle to success!  I will not go into all the history of this place at this time only tell you that at that time it was owned by Norman Duschene and his wife.

Skaet's Steak Shop is located on the front entrance to the Kansas State Fair grounds in Hutchinson, Kansas at 23rd and Main.  This is not the original store front.  When I worked there the windows were from ceiling to floor and you could literally freeze to death waiting for your food.  That is a lie!  But you could really feel the cold.  Over the years it has been remodeled by various owners until it stands as you see it today.  It is currently owned by Karen Leshure and Donna Bartholomew, and therein lies my story.  You see, Donna is my sister!  Yes, I was originally Louella Bartholomew.  Ah, now there is also another story.  But I digress.  This is about Skaet's Steak Shop and the conception of The Moon Burger!

Enter in the front door of Skaet's Steak Shop and you are greeted by the sight of the counter and the grill.  All the food is cooked right in front of the customers, which has always been a draw.  No wondering what goes on here that you don't see because you see it all.  Karen is a stickler for cleanliness and the crew does their best to please her.

Now see that guy right there in the shirt that says "Tan Naked"?  In all fairness I did not notice him until just this moment.  He does have a very good idea there, although I am a pansy little white girl and was taught early in life to keep my clothes on unless in the act of procreating, which I have done very prolifically and there I digress again!  What I am trying to tell you is to look at the back splash on that grill!  Man could shave in that!

Now here is what we came to see!  Many years ago, when man first walked on the moon, it was decided that it should be commemorated some how by Skaet's.  Thus was born the mighty Moon Burger!  The Moon Burger is now a tradition in Hutchinson, Kansas at the Steak Shop.  They are known for good lean meat in their hamburgers and this is no exception.  First comes the lightly toasted bun, then the lean hamburger patty, a slice of premium cheese, then not one, but 2 slices of crisp bacon, followed by lettuce, onion, tomato and pickles, and the final generous dollop of mayonnaise.  Perfection in a bun!  The plate is then garnished with an overly generous serving of french fries or hash browns, your choice.

The Moon Burger is such a tradition that when my brother in law, Tommy Shea passed  (God only remembers how many years ago.) the entourage to the cemetery had to stop in front of Skaet's Steak Shop for a moment of silence.  And you know what?  I think I actually heard Tommy sigh!

Now, see that guy eating that Moon Burger or rather, wanting to eat that Moon Burger?  Notice the strong jaw line as he poses with the burger right there, ready to be devoured.  Notice the glint in his eye as he is determined not to bite until Aunt Lou says it is alright.  What a fine picture or restraint! 

That is my nephew, Tom Bartholomew.  He is Donna Bartholomew's only son.  His wife, Alina, is over on my left holding the new 3 day old baby who is Donna's only grand daughter.  Again, I digress.  What I want to tell you is I took many pictures of this Moon Burger on it's way to Tommy's mouth so I could show it to my son, who was heart broken that I did not bring him back a Moon Burger!  See, you can get Bacon Cheeseburgers all over the country, but only at Skaet's Steak Shop can you partake of the Moon Burger.

If you ever get down in the vicinity of Hutchinson, Kansas, be sure to stop in and see Karen and Donna. Tell them Lou sent you and I am sure someone will actually acknowledge that they know me or at least heard of me at some time or another.  I make it down a couple times a year.  Maybe I could meet up with you there!!

Southern Colorado AIDS Project at Publo Pride Day!

Here I am on August 22, 2010 down on the HARP River  Walk at Pueblo Gay Pride Day.  These are a few of my friends from Southern Colorado AIDS Project.  On the left is the Reverend John Mark Hild of the Metropolitan Community Church here in Pueblo.  Directly behind me is Eric, a volunteer. The tall good looking guy there is Bill Sharpton.  He works for SCAP in the Colorado Springs office. If you recall the white panel on the AIDS Quilt with all the AA coins is his sister, Marty.

Gay Pride was quite a little event this year.  Makes me remember back to the beginning of my venture into the Gay Community in Pueblo.  I think it must have been about 1990 or 91 when I found PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). There were 3 of us mothers and we met in the basement of the Red Cross Building on Pueblo Boulevard and prayed no one would know we were there.  We've come a long way, baby!

We now have a presence all over Pueblo in the form of youth groups, activist groups, clinics, support groups, World AIDS Day services, Southern Colordao Equality Alliance, and a scholarship program at the Community College.  I am sure there is much more, but this is good for now.  I am very proud to say the torch has been passed to a new generation and us old ladies that were there in the beginning can now set back and let the young'uns handle the load.  They have boundless energy and are all gung ho' on this and I am very glad.  This is one time we can truly enjoy the fruits of our labors.  Was not sure I would see this day 20 years ago.

Hey, have a good one today and every day, bearing in mind that Neil Armstrong made is own statement years ago when he said, "That is one step for man, and one giant step for mankind!"  Keep putting one foot in front of the other whether you are on the moon or in Pueblo, Colorado, or Podunk, Georgia.  Any step forward is something to be proud of and 2 other mothers and myself are proud of Pueblo, Colorado!!

Pueblo AIDS Memorial Quilt #6; Final entry.

It is a shame that my camera has decided to give me only blurry pictures.  When I get my new camera I will replace this blurry little thing!  But for now, I just want to get this finished and be done with it, and move on to other things.

This panel will start in the upper right hand corner with

Mike Darrell

7/22/57-6/26/2006

Mike was a very good friend to both myself and my husband.  He came here from Houston, Texas with a friend.  He was a handyman of sorts and a mechanic extraordinare.  He loved his motorcycle and rode it wherever he went if there was not a hurricane gale blowing.  He could fix the car or the diesel truck.  What ever needed done.  He was also an artist and a musician.  I do not know how many flutes ( and I call them that for want of a better word ) he had.  I think they were Irish pipes and that boy loved Irish music.  His head was full of  music!  He and his friend started going to my church, but soon found it was not the proper match and went across town to the Christ Chapel.  He was very active over there and fit like a glove. 

I miss Mike very much.

The blue on on the bottom left belongs to
James Smith
1957-3/29/2005
James was a good friend to my friend, Robert.  Robert helped make this panel and he knew James loved Christmas.

The one on the right belongs to
Gilbert Finn
4/18/59-1/6/07
This was Robert's very best friend.  They were together constantly and Robert is pretty much lost without Gilbert.  He also loved Christmas. Robert put a lot of thought and love into both of these panels.
Now last, but definitely not least, we come to my friend
Mark Belarde
3/28/67-12/29/06
This picture shows Mark and me on Santa Claus's lap at the AIDS Christmas party in 2002.  I am not sure that this was the real Santa. I first met Mark in 1992 (I think). He was riding a bike, walking and very active.  He was the proud possessor of 75 T Cells.  Shortly there after his mother passed from a massive heart attack.  I told Mark that I would do what I could to take her place in his life.  I made that my mission.
I registered as his Personal Care Provider through Argus Home Health. Thus began my career in the AIDS Health care Services, but that is a whole 'nuther story!

I started out working with him 6 hours a week, just doing laundry and household chores that he needed help with.  Mark had a very strong constitution, but unfortunately the meds never worked for him.  As years passed slowly by his immune system weakened and his T cells fell. the last 3 years of his life they hovered around the 2 mark.  At one time they were zilch.  I graduated to more hours and was finally doing 48 hours a week and a family member spent nights with him.

I will not bore you with details of our 15 year's together, suffice it to say, I became very attached to Mark and his family.  I became the mother he had lost and he became the son who needed me.  Through trips to the emergency room and  picnics in the mountains, long walks and dirty laundry, physical therapy and shopping trips, eating out and eating in, we formed a bond that can never be broken. 

I finally came to the realization that I could no longer take care of Mark.  I knew I could not do it and he could not do it.  It was time to let go.  The hardest part of life always seems to be the letting go part.  We can do until we are at the point where no more can be done and we realize it must be done.

So it is fitting that
Mark Belarde
be my final entry in this journey to completion of the Pueblo AIDS Memorial Quilt.

With a heavy heart I bid a fond farewell to all my friends who have gone before and will keep the flicker of hope alive that some where, some how I can live long enough to see a cure and a vaccine for this dreadful disease.  Until that day, I will continue to work with AIDS clients. I will add panels to my quilt and display it when called upon to do so.  I will pray ceaselessly and support the cause in whatever way I can.  Will you join me?


 

Pueblo AIDS Memorial Quilt #5

Well, this picture is pretty blurry, but it will just have to do until I can get another camera.  We only have this installment and then one more and we will be done with the Pueblo AIDS Memorial Quilt. 

In the upper left corner we have

Robert Coghill

8/21/1954-7/19/2003

As I recall Robert served in the USMC.

Martha "Marty"Rayble

8/22/1953-4/9/2005

Marty was a very good friend of mine and spent a lot of time at my house.  The coins you see on the panel are AA tokens representing 13 years of sobriety.  Each one says "To thine own self be true."  Marty was good at that! She came one day to my house and we were in the front yard.  The neighbors had an old red turkey that ranged free.  This old tom turkey decided he wanted to set on Marty's lap!  We laughed so hard that day!  But that was Marty! Rather then being afraid or offended she could find humor in most situations!  

 Her biggest mistake in her life was being a good wife.  Like so many women I meet, and men too for that matter, love is a killer.   

At the bottom on the red panel we have

 Dennis Klovstad.

3/10/1956-7/17/2003

I do not know how tall Dennis was but I am sure it was about 6'5".  When I would turn around and find myself eye level with a belt buckle I knew Dennis had arrived!  He was a pretty solitary soul and kept to himself, but if I worked it just right, I could get a smile out of him.  This part is very sad; one year he came in and handed me a small envelope right before Christmas.  I opened it and inside found a note card with a teddy bear.  Dennis had written; "Thank you for being my friend" and enclosed a $1.00 bill!  He did not have much, but he would share what he had.  That card made my Christmas that year!  I still have that card and someday when  I am no longer alive, someone will find that card and I sincerely hope it brings a tear to their eye also.

                                            

Here, among the dancing Indians, we find my friend  Shirley .

Shirley Rezendes

7/9/1983-3/?/2002

Shirley loved Indians and may actually have been part Indian.  Another case of a woman loving a man.

Brent Hanna

7/31/1968-8/7/2003

Brent was a southern gentleman in the truest sense of the words.  Very genteel and very easy to talk to.  Miss that boy a lot!

John

2004

Sometimes this is all I allowed to put on a pane, but when I see it, I remember and so does his mother.

P M

2004

Another one.  This belongs to a teacher and the first thing he had to teach me was how to pronounce his first name.  First we had to spell it so I could visualize how to pronounce it.  Whole process took almost 15 minutes and I will say this, I remember to this day and will probably never forget!  A wonderful man who loved a wonderful woman.

There you have this one!  This has stirred up a lot of memories, but they are mostly good.  Of course part of all memories is sad, but the good is there also.  So I bid this batch of my friends a good night and a fond farewell.  It was a very trying year.

John Clay's Proud Indian Chief who lives at the Beulah Inn.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      . 
This majestic wooden Indian stands proud and tall in the Beulah Inn, which is located in the quaint little town of Beulah, Colorado. Now, this Indian is the work of the local Artisan, John Clay. You will remember he is the man who carved the Dragon Tree on Pine Drive for Catherine Halcomb. I had been meaning to get back up to Beulah and meet with him again, but procrastination reigns supreme in my life and I had not gotten around to it.  I did make it up there to take this picture and have a little supper while I was
there, sort of the killing of two birds with one stone sort of thing.

                                                                                  I do not remember exactly what I ate, but I do seem to remember that it was pretty good fare and there was a really lot of it.  Course Bret and Amanda were with me and Bret especially liked the "lot of it" part.  He is 18 and eating is a very big part of his life.  I would say eating is to him what breathing is to you and I.  So back to the Indian fellow here.  We measured him and he stands  5'5" tall.  I'm a thinking that the black mask he wears tends to make him look a little mean, but course if he is only 5'5" tall he needs to look mean!           

John Clay goes to a lot of work to make his creations look real and this Indian is no exception.  I do not remember what the hours are at the Beulah Inn, but I  will look them up and post them on her.  Hey ! I  could like call the place.

See when I took this picture I was in hopes that I could read the hours and days and would not have to actually take note.  To make a long story short, in these hot old days, a little spin up to Beulah is just the ticket for getting in a power vacation and killing a couple hour.  We need to kind of support our neighbors West of here so they will remain there so we can go see the.  i know some singer bought a house up them .  Michael Martin Murphy or John Michael Murphy.  Something like that.  Hey, I just report the parts I remember and you are probably figuring out that there is not a whole lot of facts in any of my reporting.  If I wanted to actually work at this and do it right, I would be working for the New York Time or somebody like that for a big wage and not setting up nights for nothing but the glory!

Ah, Once more I have digressed, but I have got something to hit the publish button for, and after all, that is the name of the game!

Final update for the Cuban Caravan

 Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2010 02:02:03 +0000
 To: friends@ifconews.org
 Subject: 21st Pastors for Peace Friendshipment Successfully Returns from Cuba

From: info@ifconews.org

IFCO / Pastors for Peace

 MEDIA ADVISORY

 August 3, 2010 -- for immediate release

 CONTACT: IFCO/Pastors for Peace:

On the road: Ellen Bernstein 646/319-5902, Alison Bodine 303/638-9799

in New York: Lucia Bruno 212/926-5757; 347/423-4330

21st PASTORS FOR PEACE FRIENDSHIPMENT

SUCCESSFULLY RETURNS FROM CUBA
 REV. LUCIUS WALKER CHALLENGING BLOCKADE ON HIS 80TH BIRTHDAY

This afternoon the 21st US/Cuba Friendshipment Caravan organized by
IFCO/Pastors for Peace successfully crossed back into the US, after a nine-day
educational visit to Cuba. "This was a perfect way to celebrate the birthday of
our founder and leader, Rev. Lucius Walker, Jr.," said Rev. Luis Barrios, member
of the board of directors of IFCO/Pastors for Peace. "Really he is not just a
leader; he is also a prophet in this struggle for peace with justice."

The caravan, made up of 85 caravanistas from the US, Canada, Europe and Mexico,
traveled to Cuba without a US Treasury Department license, in a direct challenge
of the US trade and travel blockade against Cuba.

In visits to 120 communities across the US and Canada, the caravan collected
more than 100 tons of humanitarian aid for delivery to Cuba, including 9 school
buses that will be used by Cuban churches, hospitals, and schools.

"With this caravan, we broke the blockade one more time. But the blockade still
 persists in full force -- and as long as it exists, we must continue to
challenge it," stated Rev. Lucius Walker, Jr., executive director of
IFCO/Pastors for Peace. “This cruel and immoral blockade still prevents
lifesaving medicines from reaching Cuban children. It blocks US citizens from
being able to be good neighbors to our Cuban brothers and sisters. We call on
President Obama and the Congress to do everything possible to end this cruelty
against our neighbors."

Members of the caravan celebrate today's news that Gerardo Hernandez, one of
the Cuban Five who have been unjustly imprisoned in the US for more than 12
years, has been released from solitary confinement as of this morning.

Caravanistas are returning to their home communities committed to share what
they learned in their time in Cuba, and to continue building support for an end
to the blockade. The caravanistas leave this year's caravan with the resolve to
continue organizing and committing civil disobedience until:

 ◍ the blockade is lifted
 ◍ the Cuban Five are freed
 ◍ the ban on travel to Cuba is lifted
 ◍ Cuba is taken off the US State Department's ‘terrorist list'
 ◍ US/Cuba relations are normalized.
 Pastors for Peace is a project of the Interreligious Foundation for Community
 Organization (IFCO), a national ecumenical agency which has been working for
 racial, social, and economic justice since 1967. Photos, video, blog, and more
 information are available at www.pastorsforpeace.org [1].
 #30#

 If this message has been forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe to

 the IFCO / Pastors for Peace mailing list, please visit www.ifconews.org and

 follow the instructions provided, or send a blank message to

friends-subscribe@ifconews.org



 http://www.pastorsforpeace.org/

Elymay, Table Rock Lake,Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and a really good time.

Well, hopefully I have got these pictures where they go  and they will stay there, or not. Seems to have a mind of it's own, but that shall not change my story.  This is day 5 of our vacation and we have arrived in a little town just up out of Arkansas.  "Up out" sounds so very cool.  This is yours truly with a very wonderful lady I had the good fortune of meeting through the Internet.  I shall call her Elymay.  She lives about 7 inches from Table Rock Lake, and that is getting close to Arkansas as you can get and not fall in the place.  My hair was doing it's usual thing which is poke out in 40 directions, hence the camera bag over the head.

And here we have Lyn and Ely!  Ely has more critters hanging around her house then you can shake a stick at. There are a couple dogs, I forget how many cats, birds flitting by, a fox that pops in on occasion and I am willing to bet other creatures come out at night.

Lyn and Ely

 
 Ok, I guess these pictures are just going to stay where ever they want to and be what ever size they would like to be, so I am just going to tell you what they are.  These were taken out of the front window of Ely's car and as you can see her windshield is a whole lot cleaner than mine!

They are all just street shots except the big hotel there, but you will learn more about that later.  This town is reminiscent of Manitou Springs, Colorado, just up the road from here.  The front door of the house may be on one street and the back door is around the corner and down about 40 feet. I could see a lot of walking in one of these places.  If you ever think you would like to just get away and kill some time, hop in the car and head that way. If you check with me first, I will alert Ely and she can give you the grand tour.  Great lady!

Now, see that Cresent Hotel there?  I am going to do a blog on that because it is fascinating, but I got to do that darn research part before I write.  So give me some time. I am pretty busy right now.  That and it is canning season! I love canning season.  Well, of course I do, I love to eat!!   And I forgot to tell you I am now a vegetarian, but I am the kind that can eat fish, so I guess I am a like semi-vegetarian.  We shall see how that plays out!