The Convery Press

Convery Press Bracket Contest Ends — A Week Ahead of the Championship Game

Our participants have demonstrated incredible efficiency in completing the Convery Press 2011 March Madness Bracket Competition.  Though there are still two more rounds of play and the Championship game is more than a week away, we already have our winners.  It is rather sad that not a single member of group could foresee the upsets and have even one of their bracket hopes left intact as we enter the Final Four.  Maureen  will be receiving her $25.00 Applebee’s gift card for her (comparatively) outstanding prognostication.  I am upgrading 2nd place to a $20.00 Applebee’s Gift Card since mom will be in Florida until after the end of the St. William Lenten Fish Frys.  For his third place finish, Brian L. will recieve a family-style pasta dinner.

Final  Group Standings  are as follows:

Rank      Name                           Score

1    Maureen Convery            212

2   Audrey Convery               190

3   Brian Little                           188

4   Judy Theiss                          187

5   Diane Ziroll (2)                   185

6   Scott Convery                     183

7   Tom Convery (2)               177

8   Tom Convery (1)                176

9   Elizabeth Convery             175

10   Brian Convery                    173

11   Gary Theiss                          172

11   Todd Todd                            172

13   Diane Ziroll (1)                   168

13   Patrick Convery                 168

15   Ron Bretz                              157

16  Leslie Bretz                           153

17   Zac Spencer                         149

18   Christine Convery             148

18   Peg Convery                         148

A Merry Murder

   We had a group of neighbors over last night for a murder mystery party: “Murder at Sea”.  Patrick and “our other son”, Tommy helped decorate mounting their paper portholes throughout the house, naming the various “deck” and putting directional signs up (including one for the “poop deck” down the hall), and donning paper sailor  hats then whistling the guests aboard as they made their way up the gang plank through the front door.   The neighbors arrived in character and dressed for their part from the  very capable Captain Stubling (Colby Ballert) and the beauty pageant contestants (Chris Schaeffer, Kim McClory, and Deb Reside) to the thoroughly nautical Cruise Director (Kevin Reside), the talented towel boy (Todd Diffenderfer), and the ship’s featured singer/call girl played to perfection by Kathy McClean.  It was a great deal of fun, though in the end none of us (except the murderer themself) could solve the mystery of who-done-it.

Spring Has Sprung??

All the snow in our yard is finally gone and the brave crocuses (which emerged from the ground 3 weeks ago at our first meltdown) have begun to bloom.  I know it is not the 21st yet, and I acknowledge that these two crocuses are right at the back door next to the warm house and in full sun, but with the tulips also pushing through the recently frozen ground can the rest of spring be far behind??

Brian Little Shows that He Can Pick-Em

B Little is off to an early lead in the Convery Press March Madness bracket contest as he picked 14 out of Thursday’s 16 games correctly.  I am impressed that he foresaw both the Gonzaga & Richmond upsets.  None of us foresaw the Morehead State victory which Brian missed  and all of us showed enough “North of the Mason-Dixon Line” loyalty  and confidence in Tom Izzo to choose Michigan State to prevail over UCLA…everyone except for Scott and Maureen who correctly (if not unscrupulously) chose UCLA to win.   Maureen’s ‘lack of faith’ has paid off as she sits alone in 2nd place while Gary T,  Judy, and Ron Bretz are all tied for third with70 points.

Jessica Convery & Honeybaked Hockey Take State Championship

14U Honeybaked Wins Double OT Thriller

Lea Boreland scored an unassisted face-off goal at 6:21 of the second overtime period to give Honeybaked 14U a 1-0 victory over Little Caesars in the MAHA Tier 1 14U State Playoff championship game. Jessica Convery was outstanding in stopping all 26 shots thrown her way to claim the shutout as the teams battled hard through almost 65 minutes of non-stop action.

Honeybaked got to the the finals with hard-fought victories over Compuware (2-1) and Victory Honda (2-0) in the round-robin portion of the tournament following a 2-1 opening night loss to Little Caesars. Emmy Cooper was stellar in net yielding only one goal on 37 shots in the two round-robin wins.

 

The Honeybaked 14U team is comprised of forwards Rylie Murray, Rose Krasofsky, Kaleigh Beauregard, Taylor Babcock, Lea Boreland, Kortney Diaz, Hannah Laho, Alyssa Genette and Madison Phair with Sami Wais, Addison Andonoff, Morgan Stacey, Rylee Bates, Caroline Campbell and Jenna Marotta on defense and Emmy Cooper and Jessica Convery in goal. The team manager is Brian Wais and the coaches are Lyle Phair, Kevin Diaz and Rick Murray.

 

Geek Convention in Grand Rapids is Surprisingly Fun

The 58th Annual Conference of the Michigan Science Teachers Association took place at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel & DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, Michigan, February 25-26, 2011. With over 2,500 science teachers and administrators in attendance to listen to speakers and presenters even brainier than themselves, I wasn’t sure what to expect of the weekend.  I knew Peg would be all of Friday afternoon and most of Saturday and that, short of sitting through seminars, I would have to find my own entertainment.  Fortunately for Patrick, my surrogate son Tommy, and I, the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum and the Grand Rapids Museum were just across the river from our hotel.  Both were great!  The Gerald Ford Presidential Museum is worth the trip to Grand Rapids for its own sake.

The boys were immediately impressed upon seeing the statue of Gerald Ford as a Boy Scout. Whether because that somehow seals him with irreproachable character or whether their status as Boy Scouts now improves their bid at the presidency in 2040 was unclear to me.  They were also impressed with the piece of the Berlin Wall on display, though not as impressed and emotionally charged by it as I.

Anyone who lived through Watergate and the energy crisis of the 1070′s or remembers the run-way budget deficits that were nearly put to right once upon a time will be filled with nostalgia as they walk through the exhibits. The people, places, and events of those incredible years come alive with an additional on-line Watergate exhibit.The Watergate exhibit immerses the visitor in one of the most critical constitutional crises in the nation’s history. It is the story of the bungled burglary at the Watergate apartments in Washington, D.C., in June 1972, that eventually forced Richard Nixon to resign as President of the United States, and elevated Gerald R. Ford to the nation’s highest office on August 9, 1974. The unfolding trauma and tragedy of those two years, and the final triumph of American democracy is dramatically told in this exhibit gallery.

The boys enjoyed the Oval Office replica with dramatic overhead lighting synchronized to a narration detailing activities in America’s most famous room. Recorded voices of actors portraying Ford, Rockefeller, Kissinger, and others describe a typical day in the most atypical of work spaces.

 

Probably the best part of the museum was an interactive replica of the Cabinet Room. The room, decorated as it was during the Ford Administration, introduces visitors to the issues faced by President Ford and his Cabinet members. Visitors are invited to sit at the cabinet table while videos highlight three major events discussed by the President and his Cabinet: the pardon of Richard Nixon, the seizure of the USS Mayaguez, and the New York City financial crisis.  I sat in President Ford’s Chair while Patrick and Tommy scrambled to see who could lay claim to the Secretary of Defense’s chair.

 

Besides the museums, we were happy to find a great great coney shop – The One-Stop Coney Shop - an easy walk from our hotel.  We enjoyed a nice dinner with a bunch of the ‘science geeks’ who are actually not at all geeky, and left the boys with a sitter afterward while we checked out the bar across the street which boasted dueling grand pianos,  It is apparently popular with college kids and draws them in from across the state, as we ran into Elizabeth and her boyfriend, Zachary, together with some of their Michigan State friends.

I wish that I hadn’t waited nearly half a century to spend some time in downtown Grand Rapids.

Patrick Earns Arrow of Life and Crosses into Boy Scouts

Last Saturday evening, Patrick was awarded the “Arrow of Light” for his accomplishments as a Webelo scout and has ‘crossed over’ into Boy Scout Troop 104 at a ceremony held at the cub scouts annual Blue & Gold Banquet at St. William.   Patrick is extremely excited about moving on to the Boy Scouts where the meetings and activities are boy-directed and the overnight and summer camp opportunities abound.

Endless Hot Water…Now That the Girls Are Gone

For many years,  I have longed to switch over to a tankless, on-demand hot water heater.  The advantages are all very appealing to me:

• It would create a lot of space in our small laundry/mechanical room.
• It would improve the aesthetics of the room by getting that monstrous tank out from in front of the window.
• It would potentially save $100 or more per year on heating and reduce our carbon footprint. And
• We would never have to relight that standing pilot which goes out every time there is a power outage.

Only a few things stood in the way:

• The old hot water tank from 1988 just wouldn’t stop, and I certainly couldn’t see replacing an appliance that was in good working order.
• The pricing for a tankless heater that would allow at least 2 simultaneous showers was more than I could justify.
• But most importantly, I had three girls living at home.  While Maureen and Christine are moderate to frugal in their showering habits, Elizabeth would have seen a tankless hot water heater with a limitless supply of piping hot water as an ideal situation and would have extended her showers to 30 minutes or longer — Not much energy savings in that.

The stars fell into alignment last week as the old tank required replacement of the power vent motor and controls, Lowes had a sale (with 18 months same as cash), the government is offering a 30% tax incentive, and Elizabeth is living away from home.  It took most of last Monday to install, but the finished product is everything we hoped it would be.  We are anxious to see how much less gas we consume.

Back to Ann Arbor

Mom and Daughter head to Maine for a bit of camping

As is Convery custom, the college graduate went on a mini vacation with mom.  Elizabeth chose a camping trip to Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island in Maine.  In spite of a bit of drizzle on day 1, the weather held out for the remaining 3 days of camping, hiking, and lobster eating!  What a beautiful place.  It is awe inspiring to witness the remnants of the glaciers that receded from this part of the world so many years ago.