The Top Shop

The Top Shop - Christmas 2001 on the steps...

Ella in her Top Shop year end 2003...

Julie Anne: I Met the Most Wonderful Young Lady Today...

After finding just the right place to watch the band's performance
today...I settled in and took a look around to see if there was anyone
I knew...Saw some people to my left that looked familiar...My neighbors
were directly in front of me...and over across the steps were some folk
I had seen about town...Just about the time I decided to get out the
camera and recorder and all that jazz, I looked down at this short
person sitting next to me...She had long blonde hair pulled into a
ponytail...blue sunglasses and a smile that just lit up her whole
little face, and mine too...!!!...I said hello, how are you?...she
replied, I'm good...and that was all it took...a friendship was
born...during the course of the day, my new little friend and I shared
our thoughts about the individual band performances...decided we needed
some fresh Pepsi and some Starburst candy to go with it...laughed at
ourselves getting wet in the rain...and having to get up and walk away
some of the "bleacher bottom" syndrome that set in after a good 3 or 4
hours...and just plain having fun!!!!...

All too soon though the bands were finished...the awards
distributed...and my new little friend and I had to leave each
other...We did so with hugs and more laughter... as we parted, I looked
back over my shoulder, feeling like a child again myself...thinking...I
wanna' stay and play and laugh some more...

On the ride home I kept thinking to myself, I feel different...I
feel...young...I...feel happy...Then it really hit me...I feel
!!!....yes !...I feel !!!...It's been a long time since I took time to
"stop and smell the roses"...to really enjoy the moment without looking
ahead to where I have to be next...or thinking about what I left undone
where I just came from...

I have so many "moments" to look back on from today...that will make my
tomorrows even more special, because I now have a new little friend to
share them with...

THANK YOU OLIVIA GADDIE...!!!...                           ----Julie Anne

St. Francis Picnic - Tip Your Server?

I guarantee you that NO ONE who has ever earnestly worked a four hour dinner shift at the St. Francis Picnic would need to be reminded to tip their server. I'll bet the biggest tips to the current servers are from those like me who remember the thrill of having a big job helping out at the Picnic---and the excitement of finding "a little something" tucked away beside a plate of one you tried to serve very well.

I just couldn't believe they made placcards to remind people! By gosh! TIP YOUR SERVER! AND TIP THEM WELL! Especially at Church Picnics.

Me & Sammy

This photo is posted for the benefit of one of our newest members of Talk Marion County 24/7. Sammy Willett and I are posing together under the "midway" <wow-there is a big long tent covering the midway now!> at the hot July St. Francis Picnic in 2004.

It was so great seeing Sammy so many years later and to hear how well he is doing. I used to change his diapers! He had wonderful parents - Sam and Mary Catherine Willett of Loretto. Can I at least claim a tiny bit of influence in how well he's turned out since I was his babysitter? lol

Obituary: David L. "Spock" Mattingly

My "youngest favorite uncle" died today, after a long battle with cancer. Here is his obituary information:

David Louis "Spock" Mattingly died at 7:45 a.m. Sunday, May 28, 2006, at his residence on Arthur Mattingly Road in St. Mary's. Formerly of West Point, Kentucky, he was born September 12, 1951, in Marion County, Kentucky. He was a U. S. Army veteran who served in Europe during the Vietnam War. He operated "Shine Windows" cleaning service for many years.

He was preceded in death by his father, Joseph Hubert Mattingly, Sr., his mother, Josephine Johanna Fleig Mattingly, and an infant sister, Rita Carol Mattingly.

Survivors include 11 sisters and brothers:

Betty Jean Ackermann, Carol Mattingly, Nancy Jo Mattingly & Brenda Mattingly - all of Louisville, KY; Mary Ann Thornberry of Brookside, NJ; Patsy (Mrs. Bobby) Clements  of St. Mary's; Rosie (Mrs. Michael) Bickett of  Lebanon, KY, and Lynn (Mrs. David "Jam") Hall of Loretto, KY. His brothers are Joseph H. "Junie" Mattingly, Billy "Hatsy" Mattingly, and Robert K. "Bobby" Mattingly, all of Loretto.

Visitation will be from  3 p.m. till 9 p.m. Monday at Mattingly Funeral Home in Loretto, with Vigil Services at 7 p.m. that evening . 

The funeral mass will take place at 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 30, 2006, at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church  in St. Francis, Kentucky. Rev. Gary Young will be the chief clebrant. Burial will follow at the St. Francis of Assisi Church Cemetery, where military rites will be performed by the Marion County Veterans Honor Guard.

Expressions of Sympathy may be made  to Hospice of Central Kentucky, P.O. Box 2149, Elizabethtown, KY 42702