Best wishes for a mosy joyios holiday season to
all my former fellow Finance Directors
HAHN
1999 CHRISTMAS NEWSLETTER
HEALDSBURG,
CA
Kurt and Joandell began 1999 clearly in the retirement
mode. While Kurt continues to serve on the Board of Directors of the Redwood
Empire Council of the Boy Scouts, Healdsburg Hospital, and Healdsburg Shared
Ministries, he has thrown away his alarm clock! He does do a little consulting
work and has a regular schedule of committee meetings but he has slowed down
his pace measurably as has Joandell.
In February, Kurt and Joandell went to Monterey to the
annual conference of the California Society of Municipal Finance Officers
(CSMFO). They attended the Past
Presidents’ Dinner (Kurt was State President of CSMFO in 1994) and enjoyed
renewing many friendships with local government officials, and Kurt for the
first time actually had the opportunity to act more like tourist in Monterey
visiting Mission Ranch, driving 17 Mile Drive, and enjoying other
sites.
March saw the two travelers heading to the
“South”. First it was Nashville
and the Grand Ole Opry, then a tour of the Hermitage and other sites. Then on to Chattanooga, Stone Mountain
and other Tennessee sites. Next stop was outside Atlanta, Georgia visiting
with Bill and Karen Taylor (Bill was Kurt’s best friend at Monterey High
School). The Taylors treated them
royally by touring them to The Carter Center, CNN Headquarters, Olympic Plaza,
and other Atlanta sites with the enjoyment of; great food, a beautiful guest
room, and wonderful reminiscing.
Then it was off to Huntsville, Alabama.
Kurt’s sister Sharon and husband Cliff Ibsen live in
Huntsville. Highlights of the Huntsville visit included staying in their
beautiful southern home, catching up on family stories, and delicious southern
meals. They also had lunch at
Miss Mary Bobo’s in Lynchburg, Tennessee and enjoyed the Redstone Arsenal and
Museum tour. Kurt experienced deja vu seeing the many components of the Apollo
program, a proud part of his life’s accomplishments when he worked at Aerojet
in the 1960’s. They also enjoyed spending time with niece Katie who was
finishing high school and living in great anticipation of her enrollment into
Covenant College that fall.
After Huntsville, the two headed north through
Tennessee to Paducah, Kentucky, the birthplace of Joandell’s mother and home
of Aunts Florence and Emma Louise Petter, and nieces Elizabeth, Mary and
Sandra; and, nephew Michael and family.
Cliff and Sharon drove up to Paducah to join in the Civil War
celebrations. They enjoyed the
Battle of Paducah celebration and all attended a reenacted Civil War Ball.
Cliff and Sharon’s picture in authentic costume appeared the next morning in
the Paducah newspaper. Kurt and Joandell visited the Marketplace in downtown
where Joandell’s ancestors for many years had their meat market stall. They also visited the Market Place
Museum as well as the library in search of genealogical
history.
On the way back to Nashville the merry travelers
visited dozens of antique shops, the National Scouting Museum in Murray,
Kentucky, as well as some very good catfish eateries. The three weeks in the
South was taken at a much more leisurely pace than that of the European trip
of the prior year and both enjoyed it immensely.
Spring saw the planting of the family vegetable and
flower gardens which received more tender loving care than in past years and
the bounty produced showed the results. Trips were taken to Reno, Livermore,
and Grass Valley to check up on the grandchildren and sons. Summer activities included; the
Swenson Fishing Derby attended by Kurt, Dan and Chuck, Grandma Camp with
Braden and Michael each spending a week in Healdsburg, and a gala Dinner at
the Villa Chanticleer celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the
Healdsburg Kiwanis Club. Kurt served as MC and Joandell coordinated the
decorations.
In late September and early October, Bent and Else
Jorgensen from Korsor, Denmark visited for two weeks providing the opportunity
for all to travel and have fun. Else was an AFS exchange student when Kurt was
in High School and the two have corresponded for over 40 years and shared
similar professional careers. Naturally the four spent a few days in Monterey,
but they also had side trips to Yosemite (including Coarse Gold where they
visited a dear friend Ronnie Bonnett Brown), Sequoia Big Trees their own local
Armstrong Grove and North coast. On the way home from Yosemite they also
visited Linden to see Chuck and Jessica’s new baby, Coleman Alexander
Hahn -- grandson number 7! Bent,
Kurt and son Dan took a fishing trip out of Bodega Bay and came back with
their limits – fifteen fish each!
Thus resulting in a wonderful fish fry that evening. A fresh fish dinner fixed the Danish
way is delicious.
The Fall focus was genealogy. Joandell made contact
with various new-found cousins, and nieces and nephews on her father Charles
Kelley’s side, thus fulfilling a longtime objective which started in earnest
two years ago with a trip to Michigan in which she located her Kelley
grandparents’ home and discovered some of her Maples, Chivers and Kelley
roots. David Crowder in South Carolina has been a great help in filling in all
of Dad Kelley’s only sister’s family information. Kurt with the help of his Aunt Jane
Barnett is expanding and updating his Hahn, Steuer, and Gminder
genealogy. His cousin, Max
Eckhert helped fill in the blanks on his Jantzen roots. Joandell, with the help of cousins;
one in particular, the very special Ed Mammen in North Carolina; and, Aunts
Florence and Emma Louise Petter in Kentucky, is completing her Petter,
Stephon, and Mammen ancestry. Other researching relatives are helping with the
Maples and Chivers lines. Kurt hopes to publish a genealogy book including
maps, pictures, and personal profiles and the ultimate goal is to share all
information with their immediate and extended families.
In all, the genealogy research has been made more fun
with the help of the new Dell Pentium III, 500 megahertz computer that Kurt
bought when the old 486 crashed. Kurt says he has spent more time on the
computer in the last six months than the proceeding six years. The Hahn’s now
have web sites for those of you
who are on line – they are as follows:
My Family at: http://www.myfamily.com/security/new.asp?ID=281663AEB42A162
, and Family Tree Maker at: http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/h/a/h/Kurt-I-Hahn/
.
More recently, Joandell; not totally confident in the
Y2K fixes, has made every effort to be prepared! This comes as a result of all those
years in scouting activities – “Be prepared”. If you need a cup of hot coffee, just
drop by the Hahn House. We will
have the percolator brewing on the bar-b-que!
Quite proud of their sons, they cannot write an annual
letter without bringing you up-to-date on what they are doing: Dan is Numi’s HR Manager in Fremont,
David is the Managing General Partner of Robertson Woodford and Francis,
(regional CPA firm in Grass Valley), Walt is the Executive Chef at the Reno
Hilton overseeing three of it’s restaurants. Chuck remains in politics working
for the State Senate Republican Caucus.
From the Hahn home to your home, here is wishing all
of you a most joyous holiday season.
Please remember that the light is always on at the Hahn House and the
quest room is always ready for you!
Make your reservations early and please plan to stay awhile. Your visit will allow us the
opportunity to get out and have retirement fun!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS, and MAY THE MILLENNIUM BE GOOD TO YOU
AND YOURS!
