Wilfred Sings

Part of a Wenatchee World tradition is the Chairman of the Board (Wilfred) singing to the employees on their birthday's.

My birthday was a few weeks ago and we celebrate birthdays in the advertising department once a month. So today was a celebration for those of us with birthday's in June and July.

Well, Wilfred got smell of the food, came down to eat and sang to each of us.

It's a fun treat and we love to see Wilf do that for all employees. It is also fun to track Wilf down to do this if he doesn't happen to know of someone's birthday.

40th Birthday Surprise

A week and a half ago, my wife told me not to do anything special for her 40th birthday. I thought "SHOOT" I haven't done anything. So the next day I called Alecia's best friend, Jen, and asked if we could use her house for Alecia's 40th. I wanted to invite those closest to Alecia and knew I couldn't get everyone as I didn't want to take advantage of Jen's hospitality.

As the week flew by I would try to do things while Alecia wasn't around: Making the invite while at work and sending it out by email. Scanning the pictures of her throughout the years and printing them out to putting them in frames. Making the prune bouquet out of the trunk of my car. Buying the balloons, paper plates, crepe paper and finally the buying and making of the food for her favorite cake and hors d'oeuvres for the party at Jen's.

For part of her birthday I decided to invite people to bring an hors d'oeuvre and a gag gift. I almost changed my mind on the gag gifts at the last moment as Alecia was going through a "mid-life" crisis moment the night before her birthday (Sunday, June 22, 2008). Almost in tears she was saying how tired she was of being told she was old (mind you NOT by me) and that she hadn't accomplished anything in her life (never mind the 3 most awesome children and husband she has). The next day the party came and everything went fine. She laughed at the gag gifts and I think felt good about herself.

Those who came were Jen & Scott, Brandon & Tammy, Dale & Kirsten and Sandra.

You would never guess Alecia is 40. She is beautiful and loved by her family. Alecia, I hope you really had a good birthday and that you may realize that you don't look a day over 29. We all love you very much.

Cake and Hors d'oeuvres

The morning and afternoon of Alecia's birthday was time cooking and preparing for her party that night at Jen's house.It started with me cooking more Angle Food cake for her party while she was at swim practice with the kids. Her favorite cake to have on her birthday is Angle Food cake with whipping cream and strawberries. The house smelled sweet with the angle food cooking and with Alecia gone for only 1 hour I had to think of a way to get the sweet smell gone.

I went around the house lighting matches, spraying Febreeze and opening up the windows. This was around 7:30 a.m. The wind was blowing so it helped a lot. Then I put the cooked caked in the trunk of my car with Saran Wrap on top to cool. I think I accomplished my goal as Alecia had no idea that I had made any extra cake.

Next was cooking and preparing Sweet & Sour Pineapple Appetizers and Wingers Chicken. I couldn't hide the fact that I was cooking these to go to Jen's house, but she thought it would only be Jen & Scott and kids and our family. She thought is was a lot of appetizers, but I kept saying I could eat half of them if I didn't have dinner.

Sweet & Sour Pineapple Appetizers

1 (15 1/4 oz.) can pineapple chunks, undrained
1 (8 1/2 oz.) can whole water chestnuts, drained
16 slices bacon, cut in half
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup tomato catsup
1/4 cup water
2 TBS. red wine vinegar
1 TBS. cornstarch
1 TBS. soy sauce

Drain pineapple, reserving 1/2 cup juice. Cut water chestnuts in half. Pre-cook bacon a little to where they are still soft and haven't crisped up. Wrap bacon around water chestnut halves; top with pineapple chuncks and secure with wooden toothpicks. Lay on cooking sheet and set aside.
In small saucepan, over med-high heat, cook and stir reserved pineapple juice, brown sugar, catsup, water, vinegar, cornstarch and soy sauce until mixture thickens and begins to boil.
Brush pineapple appetizers with sauce. Broil 8 inches from heat source for 8 minutes on each side or until bacon is cooked. Brushing sauce occasionally. Serve with remaining sauce.

Winger's Chicken Wings

I got this recipe from my brother Bret (Julie's husband). It is a copy-cat recipe that has been modified (my kind of "simple design")

1 Bottle of Franks Red Hot Sauce
2 Cup Brown Sugar
5 Tablespoon Honey

Mix in pan and heat (on moderate heat).

Cook pre-breaded chicken according to instructions (I used frozen chicken wings, soaked them overnight in salt water and then cooked in the oven for about 40 min. at 350 degrees), then submerge into Winger's sauce. Serve with Blue Cheese Dressing and Celery.

Note: Some internet recipe's call for heating the sauce to a moderate boil for 10 minutes. I found this to really thicken the sauce more than I like, so I just heat/mix it until bubbles begin to form then take it off the stove.

These were a big hit at the party and people commented on how moist they were. The sauce was excellent. It made enough for 2 batches.

1968

Part of Alecia's party was first sending out the invite by email. Below is what it looked like.

Next part was to decorate. I had the day off, but also had a previous lunch meeting that had been scheduled with the United way for me to attend. I told Alecia that the meeting would be 2 hours, knowing full well it would only be 1 hour. So I went to Jen's and set up pictures of Alecia throughout the years in picture frames.Next I researched events from 1968. I initially wanted to try and only find events that actually occurred on June 23, 1968, but that proved to be too hard. You know it was hard when the only thing I could find was the birthday of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark was born on that day. So I ended up going with the events for the whole year. Here is a copy of the list that I put together

Major Events from 1968

Alecia was born June 23, 1968

Other events & statistics that occured in 1968, some not quite so major.

• Elvira (Mistress of the Dark). Born June 23, 1968
• Vietnam War ongoing
• Lyndan B. Johnson is President of the United States
• Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl II
• Martin Luther King, Jr. is shot dead at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
• U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
• The Beatles announce the creation of Apple Records in a New York press conference
• U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is shot.
• The soap opera One Life to Live premieres on ABC.
• Pope Paul VI publishes the encyclical entitled Humanae Vitae, condemning birth control.
• 150 women protest against the Miss America Pageant.
• The 1968 XIX Summer Olympic Games are held in Mexico City, Mexico.
• Aristotle Onassis and Jacqueline Kennedy marry.
• U.S. presidential election, Richard M. Nixon defeats Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
• Yale University announces it is going co-educational.
• The Heidi game: NBC cuts off the final 1:05 of an Oakland Raiders-New York Jets football game to broadcast the pre-scheduled Heidi.
• The White Album is released by The Beatles
• The Gateway Arch in St. Louis is dedicated
• The1968 XIX Winter Olympic Games are held in Grenoble, France
• US Explodes experimental hydrogen Bomb.
• The Emergency 911 Telephone service is started
• The first automated teller machine (ATM) in the U.S.
• The first Big Mac goes on sale in McDonalds
• The unemployment rate, at 3.3 percent
• Average Cost of new house $14,950.00
• Average Income per year $7,850.00
• Average Monthly Rent $130.00
• Gas per Gallon 34 cents
• Average Cost of a new car $2,822.00
• Movie Ticket $1.50
• Top Movies of 1968
1. The Graduate
2. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
3. Gone With the Wind (reissue)
4. The Valley of the Dolls
5. The Odd Couple
6. Planet of the Apes
7. Rosemary’s Baby
8. The Jungle Book
9. Yours, Mine and Ours
10. The Green Berets
• Top Songs of 1968
1.”Judy In Disguise” ... John Fred & His Playboy Band
2.”Green Tambourine” ... Lemon Pipers
3.”Love Is Blue” ... Paul Mauriat
4.”The Dock of the Bay” ... Otis Redding
5.”Honey” ... Bobby Goldsboro
6.”Tighten Up” ... Archie Bell and the Drells
7.”Mrs. Robinson” ... Simon and Garfunkel
8.”This Guy’s in Love With You” ... Herb Alpert
9.”Grazing in the Grass” ... Hugh Masekela
10.”Hello, I Love You” ... The Doors
• Most Popular Television Shows
1. Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (NBC)
2. Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (CBS)
3. Bonanza (NBC)
4. Mayberry R.F.D. (CBS)
5. Family Affairs (CBS)
6. Gunsmoke (CBS)
7. Julia (NBC)
8. The Dean Martin Show (NBC)
9. Here’s Lucy (CBS)
10. The Beverly Hillbillies (CBS)
• Academy Awards
Best Picture: “Oliver!”
Best Actor: Cliff Robertson ... “Charly”
Best Actress: Barbra Streisand ... “Funny Girl”

I put her pictures on the laptop as a screen saver and a few snippets of events from 1968 between the photos. Finally, I decorated with black balloons and crepe paper.