A wonderful Mac/Eddy weekend at Otteridge Farm
We had an informative and fun weekend in Bedford, VA, at the home of one of our younger club members, Katie Gardner. The weekend was September 27-29, 2013. Two films and some interview videos were screened; we had a lengthy Q&A session with questions asked by Kitty Job, a club member visiting us all the way from China!
Above, Katie presents our cooked-from-scratch Mac/Eddy luncheon which included: Virginia ham served in saucers (ala Maytime), Jeanette’s recipe for baked beans (with the India Relish included – delicious, in the end, but why were we surprised?), Jeanette’s recipe for brown bread (which she insisted should be served with the baked beans) and homemade lemonade (with maraschino cherries added to make the lemonade pink, per Jeanette), Nelson’s shortnin’ bread recipe, angel food cake and more! (For those interested in making these dishes, the recipes can be found at this link.)
More scenes from Otteridge Farm…Below, prize-winning show horses Rita and Frank who are real-life sweethearts and are inseparable…they go everywhere together even if only one is in a show…
Special souvenir mugs made for the occasion…
Our group at a restaurant together…including Evelyn Snow (purple sweater), celebrating her 78th birthday with us.
Once again the gorgeous scenery…
Fried green tomatoes, which were new to the non-Southerners among us…and delicious!
Maria Escano (left) and Bernadette Schwartz, who runs our Yahoo group:
The rural beauty of the weekend at Otteridge Farm…
During the discussions of the weekend, Katie reminded me that she had some interested eyewitness accounts to share. (It’s a 2-way street, I can spend hours answering questions but inevitably someone attending has information of their own to share!) I asked Katie to write it all up for me, and it’s such a lengthy report that I am posting it separately. You can read it at this link.
We had an amazing weekend and as we were tramp, tramp, tramping around the picturesque area on foot, we had to laugh that the Mac/Eddy group members make so many new friends, travel to places we’ve never been before, and in general have amazing adventures – all in the name of, memory of, appreciation of – Jeanette and Nelson!
October 4, 2013 @ 2:05 pm
oh yes sharon the meeting was wonderful ,the farm was beautiful and the scenic beauty..breathtaking we had a jeanette and nelson lunch for sure ham n beans and brown bread and jeanette’s lemonade all recipe’s from jeanette..katie did a marvelous job of producing a great meeting we met old friends and made a few new ones too! it is a real pleasure to see the younger fans so excited and enthralled by our darling duo as they must go on with keeping thier talent and true story alive.. we chatted and sharon answered question listed by kitty j from china.. and maytime and new moon were shown in the evening.. we watched 2 interviews by sandy reiss a friend to j and n and by another early partner and friend of sharon’s ..as someone on facebook said ..”oh nelson would have loved this place” and i thought that too as would jeanette..so it was quite another great meeting..wish all could have been there\
bern
October 4, 2013 @ 4:10 pm
The MacEddy meeting at Otterridge Farm in Bedford, VA was for me, a never to be forgotten event. Our wonderful hostess Katie Gardner is so full of fun and life and enthusiasm for everything Nelson and Jeanette, she herself is a shining star. The weekend was a delight from beginning to end. We met Frank and Rita, two stunning horses who let us pet and generally adore them. Katie gave us the grand tour of the farm and it was grand indeed. In this beautiful setting, kind hearted Katie is currently fostering a pony named Captain who was neglected and under her loving care, he is now returning to the healthy, happy pony he was meant to be.
I met new friends like Kitty J. who came all the way from China and Maria S from Detroit and Catherine B. from Lexington Ky who drove most of the night to get to the meeting. I was delighted to spend time with old friends like Sharon, Bern, Maria E. and Juliette. I was also privileged to meet longtime club member and mother of eight, Evelyn Snow and her lovely daughter Denise. It was Evelyn’s 78th birthday and she came all the way from Gardiner, Mass via train to Richmond, VA where her son met and her and drove her to the meeting in Bedford. Her daughter who also lives in northern VA met them in Bedford. The trip was her birthday gift to Mom. You just meet the nicest folks at these meetings. True to its roots, this is what makes the MacEddy group so special; it really is a friendship club.
Yes, it was a great meeting and I was so lucky to be able to attend it with my daughter and introduce her to some of my wonderful MacEddy buddies. It was her first ever MacEddy meeting and she loved it, loved the people and definitely wants to see everyone again so hopefully she’ll be able to attend future meetings. Best of all I got to share my love of all things MacEddy with her and with my buddies and eat some wonderful food, listen to fantastic music and talk and talk and talk some more about Jeanette and Nelson. I was in heaven! Wish I could have twitched my nose and magically transported you all to this marvelous place.
Angela