Napa, CA Wine Weekend & Conference 2008

Frank likes to describe my annual Napa business conference as a "Boondoggle" ...that is until he came along for the weekend on this years event. Each year we invite about 20 customers to our conference in Napa Valley and each morning is spent in break out meetings discussing how to increase business with each customer and afternoons are spent in "team building events" usually wine tasting tours while at night, spectacular dinners are enjoyed at some of Napa's most beautiful vineyards. OK... it's not all that bad! Preceding the actual conference Frank and I joined a small group of both Brother people and customers for a wonderful weekend filled with special events. Brian and Susan Vincent hosted our group on the first day at the Nappy Valley Food & Wine Festival and Wine Auction where we sampled the finest culinary fare and wines from the very best restaurants and vineyards of Napa. On Saturday we toured the Vineyards of Source One, Fisher and Peju to name just a few and then dined on a long picnic table in the middle of a Vineyard for a delicious BBQ dinner as the sun set over the Napa Valley.

Pictured here are Dave & Frank (Top left), Mark Lewis & Jim Noon (Top Right), Ryan & Tracy Warsaw (Center), Nancy Long & Dave (Left) and a group photo featuring Brian and Susan Vincent.

Cutrone, Michaelson, Gallucci Dinner in Little Italy

I never thought I would actually say "Last night I had dinner with friends that I've know for Twenty Years" That was the case recently in May when John, Ed, Tom and myself met for dinner in Little Italy. John was my very first boss at Brother and while he left the company almost 20 years ago, we still keep in touch. Ed has left Brother for over 10 years and it seems like yesterday we were all working together creating some of the best memories I have of working at Brother over the past 25 years. Tom was the Typewriter Buyer at J.C. Penney when they were still headquartered in New York City. John and I actually sold JCP the first Brother personal fax machine that was then priced at $999.99 and it was considered a break through in price and technology. Today, a personal fax is less than $50. Yes indeed, times change but the night out with John, Ed and Tom reminds me of how great it is to keep in touch with great friends that help shape my life.

Holler, Sullivan, Myers visit South Beach

Leo, Shannon and Chris stopped by to visit for a Sunset Cocktail Hour on Wednesday April 16th 2008 in between customer appointments. (Seriously, they had an afternoon meeting at Tiger Direct and then Dinner with Brandsmart)

We all sat on the terrace and drank a few Corona's. It was a short visit but I hope they all come back again and again. We always have cold Corona's in the fridge and it's always warm on the terrace.

Winter Party Week 2008

Winter Party Week is a week long annual event held in early March in Miami Beach. There are Comedy Shows, Fashion Shows, Coctail Parties, Pool Parties and the main event is a dance party on the beach on Sunday afternoon from noon till after sunset. This years events were fantastic as an estimated crowd of 10,000 people enjoyed a week of hot, sunny Florida weather.

Lammerding Siblings in "The Country"

The photo (top left) was taken in "The Country" on February 6th, 2007. It's not often that all of us Lammerding Siblings can be found in the same place at the same time. Pictured (L to R) are Bill, Dave, Betsy and Paul. The other pictures were taken on a beautiful summers day. Originally "The Country" was bought by Grand Ma and Grand Pa Buysse and later became Mom & Dad's home when Dad retired from "The Shop" in Roselle Park (1983). After Dad passed in 1987, Mom spent close to 20 years living independently in the country. Brother Wynn designed the dream house pictured above and in 2004, Bill officially moved from Warminster, PA to the Country. The last photo was taken of the brook after an all night rain in early spring.

The Kenney's vist Miami Beach March 2008

Bob and Karen (Wayne, PA) Kenney visited us in Miami Beach on March 13th 2008 before setting sail on a Caribbean Cruise adventure. Bob, an Advertising Executive extraordinaire who works with Dave and many others at Brother, is one of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet and makes creating packaging, displays and designing catalogs and Ad's an enjoyable work experience. Karen, his lovely wife and exquisite Holiday Cookie Baker completes this charming couple and we are happy to count them among our special friends. In typical fashion, we dined at "De Leo's" restaurant on Lincoln Rd (with Buddy & Hiro of course) and then enjoyed Brunch in the morning at "The New's Cafe" along Ocean Dr.

Ultralight Flight seeing over Biscayne Bay

To celebrate my "Little Brother" Steve (Berges) 16th Birthday, Steve and I flew on Ultra Light Planes over Biscayne Bay. Each of us flew in our own plane (Steve in the yellow one / Dave in the Blue one) with a pilot. We took off near the Rickenbacker Causeway from the water and climbed high over the skyscrapers in Downtown Miami. We then flew over the Venetian Causeway looking out at the Cruise ships docked at the port, we did a "Fly By" Sunset Harbor to disturb Frank from napping and allow for a photo documentation. Our flight continued down along Miami Beach over the Bay, we buzzed by Gloria's and Rosie's back yard (drats...not home) and then out over the Atlantic Ocean where we swooped down along the beach, close enough to feel the water and then back for a smooth landing on the water. Riding an Ultralight Plane is kind of like sitting on a lawn mower with wings at 5,000 feet high. (Paul, Eric & Mark will LOVE this!) All photo's taken from our Apartment terrace.