Author Archives: jimholleran29

Credit two individuals with a fleeting connection in Morristown, three chirping nieces, a baker from South Carolina, a post-wedding visit and my buddy’s cordless drill for starting the PIE Network.   The Network is a loose association of friends and family who make and distribute apple pies to recognize people who could use a lift.Continue reading “Grandma’s style, S.C. recipe become main ingredients for PIE Network”

        The week was going to be a refresher course on parenthood. It turned out to be basic training.           I was a little skittish last Friday when I picked up my granddaughter Vivian for the first time in two months, she locked her eyes on this aging face and burst into a howl.Continue reading “Diapers, crying and lullabies reflect grandparent boot camp”

City historian Julie Madlin might have retired from teaching in June, but you’ll still find her in her classroom — the streets of Ogdensburg.     Perhaps on a weekday afternoon, she’ll be leading a walking tour among the historic homes on Washington Street where some of the city’s leading citizens have lived and worked. OrContinue reading “History teacher moves her classroom to city streets”

Before I delivered a reading for our goddaughter’s wedding, my wife kidded me how I resembled the passage.   The epistle from Saint Paul to the Corinthians is a standard at Catholic weddings: “If I speak in human and angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.’’Continue reading “Let’s go to the hop? Wedding dancing redefined by mosh pit”

    When an old friend proposed we write a book on the Irish in St. Lawrence County, I jumped. Fantastic idea, I thought.    She earned a doctorate in English; I spent 30 years as a newspaper reporter and editor and authored a corporate history for my daughter’s human services agency.    The prospect ofContinue reading “Lasting Irish legacy rooted in failed plan to seize Canada”

    My baseball buddy Lauren and I gathered for our monthly breakfast to whine about injuries on our fantasy teams, talk sports and politics, and plan our next road trip to Cleveland for the Guardians vs. the Phillies.    Each month, the conversation turns to refereeing. I relay stories from high school lacrosse fields andContinue reading “Think twice before berating those blind, arrogant umpires”

    Al Blackmer’s banner hangs unpretentiously from a utility pole along Main Street in Morristown, one of 69 Hometown Heroes memorials erected in the village, Brier Hill and Edwardsville ahead of Independence Day. The banner’s all-caps message is simple: ALBERT BLACKMERWWI ARMY1916-1918     But behind the banner is the untold story of Blackmer’s service toContinue reading “Stories of vets, first responders loom behind Hometown Heroes”

         When Morristown Gateway Museum officials decided to assemble an exhibit about neighboring Black Lake, they didn’t have to search far to find a prized artifact. It was just steps away. “I have to smile when I think of the ice sailing equipment that we found in the basement of the museum,’’ said curator HallieContinue reading “Gateway Museum opens exhibit on life, leisure along Black Lake”

      There was no dramatic scene in which the officer had his medals and epaulets ripped from his uniform before his troops. There was no palace coup or breaking news alert from the networks.    You’d think for all the volume and bluster that goes with this unofficial title that the transition would be loudContinue reading “Chief wisecracker at hoops often shoots from the lip”

    The ordeal began somewhere on the outskirts of Buffalo, about an hour into a 5-hour drive, when my full-time spouse and part-time editor remembered that SiriusXM was promoting a free week.    So I scrolled through the menu options on the car radio and found the satellite radio service. I skipped past Outlaw Country, past SiriuslyContinue reading “Uncanny sing-along proves how women, not men, know lyrics”