Senior Citizen Appreciation Day [Archive] - Sawmill Creek Woodworking Community

Rod Sheridan

10-07-2008, 7:21 AM

Well, one of my cow-orkers put a "Cranky Old Fart" sticker on my office nameplate after I called myself that in an e-mail.

I have to admit, I thought the sticker was pretty funny.

I like Senior, it denotes a respected position in the heirarcy.

However, others may not, so perhaps we should be reffered to as "experienced".

Regards, Rod.

Glenn Clabo

10-07-2008, 7:25 AM

An 86 year old fisherman was sitting in his boat one day when he heard a voice say, 'Pick me up.' He looked around and couldn't see any one. He thought he was dreaming when he heard the voice say again, 'Pick me up.' He looked in the water and there, floating on the top, was a frog. The man said, 'Are you talking to me?' The frog said, 'Yes, I'm talking to you. Pick me up. Then, kiss me and I'll turn into the most beautiful woman you have ever seen. I'll make sure that all your friends are envious and jealous because you will have me as your bride.' The old fisherman looked at the frog for a short time, reached over, picked it up carefully, and placed it in his front breast pocket. Then the frog said, 'What are you nuts? Didn't you hear what I said? I said kiss me and I will be your beautiful bride.'He opened his pocket, looked at the frog and said,'Nah, at my age I'd rather have a talking frog.

Bobby McCarley

10-07-2008, 3:10 PM

Thanks for the comments, as always, any and all comments are appreciated.
Wow David, not sure where that came from or where to go with it. As someone who is closing in on being considered a "Senior Citizen", I find the term neither condescending or disrespectifull. My parents tried to teach me to be respectfull of my elders and like most kids growing up I failed to fully understand the wealth of knowledge they possessed, which was my loss. I did make up for it in the raising of my children and I believe they are better people as a result. I think "Senior Citizen" is far better than old man, old lady, old fart, old biddy or any other derogatory term that a lot of people with no respect what so ever for anyone, much less our "Senior Citizens".

Again thanks for all comments.

Looking forward to becoming a Senior Citizen.
Bobby

Vic Castello

10-07-2008, 3:41 PM

Beautiful work....Bobby!

I wonder if the piece all the way on the right will remind some older folks about similar devices which were once used by teachers to punish bad students! I'm not that old, but my Dad used to tell me about it. I'd like to use this "senior" thread if I may to honor my Dad's memory. He was an award winner model ship builder. He used to make tall ships in which fully equiped lower decks pulled out like drawers, and when he pushed them back in, they blended into the side of the ship, and you couldn't even tell they were there! At the time (late 1970's)....nobody had ever seen that before. His largest one, the USS Constitution is collecting dust in my basement. I really ought to donate it to some museum or something.

Chris Barnett

10-07-2008, 4:29 PM

Do not mind at all being called a senior citizen. Might help to explain our bizarre actions; we have to be insistent because there is less time remaining to make mistakes. Besides, that is about all they cannot take away from me. Of course, senior ladies' opinions might differ :D:D.
Oh, yeah, nice to do the gift thing. A little kindness does go a long way, regardless of what people say.

Bob Fraser

10-07-2008, 8:01 PM

I for one would love to see pix of that ship model.
Anyone else?
bob

Bobby McCarley

10-07-2008, 8:07 PM

Again, thanks for the comments.
Elmo, the greatest honor you could show your father is to bring the model that you have out of the basement, make a display case for it along with any documentation that you may have about it and any awards that he may have recieved. If it needs to be restored, pay whatever it takes to get it back in the condition it was in after your father finished building it. Your father sounds like a very talented craftsman and I would really like to see some pictures of some of his work if you have any. The models sound like something that should be passed on from generation to generation and displayed proudly.

Bobby
Louisiana

David DeCristoforo

10-07-2008, 8:28 PM

How about "elder". Sorry. This is just a "pet peeve" for me and is just my opinion. I don't have any problem with "elderly". "Senior Citizen" just sounds stupid. At least it does to me. I'd much rather be called an "old fart"!

Ken Fitzgerald

10-07-2008, 8:37 PM

David,

I'll just call you David...not your preferred label.

Right now I'm in a class for 2 weeks. Of the 4 other students in the class and the instructor.....None are older than my oldest son.:o

I don't care what they call me.....just don't call me late for a meal, my retirement checks or social security checks.:D

And don't call me late for that plane on Dec. 20th! If they do, the LOML will hold me responsible!:rolleyes:

Clifford Mescher

10-07-2008, 8:50 PM

I don't mind the term senior citizen. My wife calls me the geezer. Sometime she calls me old geezer. I don't like to be called elderly. Clifford

Vic Castello

10-07-2008, 11:36 PM

Bob M....

You are SO correct in every way! I brought the ship to my current home 15 years ago, and it has been in my basement ever since. I've been avoiding even looking at it down there because I know that I've been sitting on this far too long. I have all of the plans, books he used, awards, newspaper articles, unused materials, everything! He was a draftsman by trade, so he decided to DOUBLE the size of the plans he acquired which he did by hand on a drawing board. The hull of this thing is about 4 and a half feet long, and is almost 7 feet long including booms and sails! That's why it ended up in my basement. Nobody in the family had the room to display it anywhere in their homes. I know I should have looked into donating it to a worthy museum or something, but I just never did. The two pictures below show the ship with the underdeck rolled out, so you could see it.

I went down and snapped a couple of quick pictures of it which I am almost ashamed to show you all...because the ship is dirty, and has fallen into some disrepair. A third picture is a quick one I just took of an article on the ship from 1981. It is part of a picture board we made up to show at my Dad's wake in 1997. Sorry about the flash reflecting on it. If you look at that one closely...in the lower right hand corner, you can see another picture of my Dad building one of his first ships in 1957! He built much of that one on a WASHING machine in the kitchen of our small apartment because he had no other place to work! My 88 year old Mom still has that ship, "The Flying Cloud" in her living room!

Below are the pictures. I guess you all know that if you click on them, they will come full screen. I hope you all don't yell at me all at once for sitting on this for so long!

Bobby McCarley

10-08-2008, 10:04 AM

WOW Elmo, your father was a very talented man and a very fine craftsman. His work is most definately museum quality and needs to be displayed. Are there any maritime museums near you? I would also consider contacting the U.S.S. Constitution Museum and see if they would be interested in displaying it. In my opinion it is worthy of being in the Smithsonian and would also consider contacting them. If you do deside to donate it to a musuem just be sure to protect your ownership of the material and the ability to have the items returned to you at some point in time if so desired.
Take care and again your father was a remarkable craftsman.

Bobby
Louisiana

Vic Castello

10-08-2008, 11:21 AM

Bobby....it's all a matter of doing the leg work. I live on the East coast, so there are many such places. Although my Dad passed his interest in woodworking on to me in the form of carving, I don't have the skills to restore the ship to "museum grade" quality. If I were looking to get an important Museum or other institution to take the ship, I would put an entire "package" together first. I'd have the ship restored, and I'd pull out all of the "artifacts" we talked about, take quality photos, put it all into a binder of some kind, and then start making the rounds.

Another quick story about the ship. When my Dad was doing his research, he wanted a book that was out of print. So, he wrote to the author telling him what he wanted to do, and the man sent him a signed copy of the book, which I still have. He also said that he wanted to see the ship when it was done, so my father wrote him when he finished the ship. Sure enough...this man came all the way down to New Jersey from Boston to see the ship, and he shows up in a freaking chauffeur driven limosine! It turns out that he was a wealthy "investment" type, and when he saw the ship, he commissioned my father on the spot to build one for him, but considerably smaller, which my father did. The man wanted to display it in the lobby of his office building, and use it to promote a new line of mutual funds he was involved with calling them the "Constitution" funds! For all I know, that ship model may or may not still be up in Boston somewhere.

Bobby McCarley

10-08-2008, 12:34 PM

I know what you mean about doing the leg work to prepare the ship for a museum display.

Maybe the gentleman who commissioned your father to build a model for him would be interested in being a benefactor and help in the restoration of the original and getting it back up to museum quality.

Just a thought.

If you decide to follow up on this, please consider keeping me posted. I really believe this is a worthwhile project and a good way to honor your father.

Bobby
Louisiana

Mike McCann

10-08-2008, 12:53 PM

Since the USS Constitution is still a working ship in the USN you can look into donating it to them for display as it is docked in NY with a small museum. I am sure if you doante the NAVY will pick up the tab for the restoration.

Vic Castello

10-08-2008, 1:32 PM

Well Mike....donating it certainly is better than having it rotting away down there, as it is now! My father served in the Navy during WWII. In fact, I'm suprised that he never did a model of the original Bon Homme Richard as he served on the Essex class aircraft carrier bearing that name. It was very similar to the Constitution. This is the original "Bonny Dick" as the carrier was nicknamed:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/USS_Bonhomme_Richard_%281765%29.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:USS_Bonhomme_Richard_(1765).jpg)

Too bad I can't ask him now, why he never did that. He would want it to be in a Navy museum more than anyplace else! Good suggestion!

You guys aren't trying to give me a project to keep me busy during the winter now....are yez???

:eek:

Glenn Clabo

10-08-2008, 1:43 PM

Elmo contact Don Abele...he was the Master Chief of the Command on her for the last 3 years. He would be able to tell you what can be done.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/member.php?u=1093

BTW...Old Ironsides is in Boston. I just spent an afternoon with Doc... http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=90451

Vic Castello

10-08-2008, 2:45 PM

I knew that. I just didn't want to be the one to correct our good friend, Mike! :rolleyes:

What New York does have is the newly refurbished USS Intrepid Aircraft Carrier and museum. She just returned last week from a multi-million dollar renovation. What an honor it would be to have my Dad's ship displayed on that great ship which is visited by thousands each year!

Mike McCann

10-08-2008, 3:24 PM

Thanks for the correction, it used to be in NYC but putting it on the Intrepid would definately be very cool.

Don Abele

10-08-2008, 3:26 PM

Elmo, Glenn passed this link on to me otherwise I don't think I would have ever seen it. Glenn Thank You!

Even from the few pics you posted that appears to be an amazing model. I love the way the Gun Deck slides out to reveal what's below. There does appear to be some "inaccuracies" but we'll chalk that up to a modelers artistic prerogative. To be honest, most models have at least something wrong with them.

Both the Navy (specifically the USS CONSTITUTION) and the USS Constitution Museum are possible venues for it.

If donated to the ship it would be displayed somewhere within the administrative building. When I left the command last week we had nine different models on display (including a really nice one in my office).

If donated to the museum it would probably wind up in archives for a while and be rotated out for display from time to time while others are rotated back into archives. They just don't have enough space to display all the artifacts and items they have.

If you are interested in either of these, please PM and let me know and I'll pass on the points of contact you would need to speak to in order to move something like this on. I must say this, just so there is no misunderstanding...either or both the Navy or the museum may come back and say no. I can't imagine why, but they can. Had I known about this while I was at the command I could have assured you we would have taken it (and I know where it would have wound up too :D).

Be well,

Doc

Bobby McCarley

10-08-2008, 4:11 PM

Well Elmo, looks like you might be on the road to getting your fathers work displayed. And I want to thank Don, Mike and Glenn for jumping in on this also. I'm sure Elmo appreciates your advice on this.

Take care
Bobby
Louisiana

Vic Castello

10-08-2008, 5:07 PM

Now, let me get his straight! I'm new around here. Did I just hear from a former freaking commander of the REAL Constitution in Boston!?!?!!! Did I just read that, or am I hallucinating here!

:eek:

I'm in like total shock over this! Anyway....I definitely would like to talk to you Don, but I am on the run right now. I will contact you shortly. Thank you SO much for posting your very valuable message here.

Who are you guys going to put me in touch with next....the Joint Chiefs of Staff!

:D

Don Abele

10-08-2008, 5:20 PM

Glenn Clabo

10-08-2008, 5:45 PM

Who are you guys going to put me in touch with next....the Joint Chiefs of Staff!
:D

It just so happens Elmo...;)

Vic Castello

10-08-2008, 9:30 PM

Elmo, I'm enlisted - so I was not the Commanding Officer, I was the Command Master Chief. That's the senior most enlisted person onboard.

How I explain it is this: the CO owns the ship, I own the people, the CO owns me. Simple explanation, but it works.

Please shoot me a PM when you get a chance and we'll see what we can do for your dad's piece. I'm honored to help get something of that quality on display.

By the way, here I am at the helm earlier this year:

98284

Be well,

Doc

Thank you again....Don. That is a fine looking picture! I visited the ship in 1978 as part of my first visit to historic Boston, and it was very impressive. I have sent you a PM, and I hope that your gennerous offer to help will lead to finding a more respectable place for my father's ship than simply collecting dust in my dingy basement. I would also like to thank Glenn again for calling this to your attention, and to all of the others for appreciating my father's ship, and for encouraging me to finally do something about it.

I'll keep you all informed as to what may happen from here on out!

:)

Bobby McCarley

10-08-2008, 9:54 PM

Good luck on your journey Elmo.

Nice photo there Don.

Bobby
Louisiana

Glenn Clabo

10-09-2008, 6:16 AM

Elmo, Glenn passed this link on to me otherwise I don't think I would have ever seen it. Glenn Thank You!
Doc

Doc...
I knew you wouldn't be looking at this thread...why would a young whippersnapper like you be interested in a Senior Citizen discussion?

Vic Castello

10-11-2008, 1:54 PM

I have a little confession to make, especially with regard to this thread which is where I've done most of my posting since joining the board. My name really isn't "Elmo Calkins". I didn't fully realize that nicknames, or "handles" are strictly prohibited here punishable by BANNING, until another member was kind enough to point that out to me after I told him that I had done so.. So, you might say that I "Outtened" myslef! I wrote to Keith fessing up to him that I didn't use my real name when registering, and he was kind enough to forgive me. He changed all of my posts over to my real name which is Vic Castello.

Why.....Elmo???

Well, it was my way of honoring the original owner of my antique workbench...Earnest Elmo Calkins (1868-1964) from Elmsford, NY, who was a prominent historical figure in the advertising business in the early 1900's, the first person to ever incorporate artwork into advertising. He was also an avid model ship builder as was my father. After purchasing the workbench in an antique store, I researched him after finding his name on the bench in two places. What also makes him unique is that he was stone deaf, but he never let that slow him down.

Anyway...that's the story.

:o

Ken Fitzgerald

10-11-2008, 1:59 PM

Welcome to the Creek Vic...........You aren't the first person to do this. You won't be the last.

Vic Castello

10-11-2008, 2:49 PM

Thank you....Ken.

I think it is just the natural inclination of a lot of people to want to remain annoymous on the internet because of security reasons, or whatever, just because we always have. But, as I do not expect anybody here to be hitting me over the head with an expensive piece of 1000 year old exotic African bubinga wood while carving in a park, I'm happy to be just....Vic!

:D <<<< see!

Ted Shrader

10-11-2008, 3:08 PM

Why.....Elmo???

Well, it was my way of honoring the original owner of my antique workbench...Earnest Elmo Calkins (1868-1964) from Elmsford, NY, who was a prominent historical figure in the advertising business in the early 1900's, the first person to ever incorporate artwork into advertising. He was also an avid model ship builder as was my father. After purchasing the workbench in an antique store, I researched him after finding his name on the bench in two places. What also makes him unique is that he was stone deaf, but he never let that slow him down.Vic -

That is a cool back story for the workbench. I'm sure Elmo would be honored.

You will come to fully appreciate the "real name" policy when you are able to meet some Creekers at a gathering in the future.

Ted

Vic Castello

10-11-2008, 5:27 PM

I'll be looking foward to that! Meantime, below are some pics of the bench originally owned by E.E. Calkins. I actually found a copy of his autobiography which he wrote in 1924. All I wanted was a small bench that I could place near a big window, so I could finally do much of my hand carving in natural light. I still do my power work in the basement. Research indicates that it was a bench made specifically for trade schools which would account for its compact size. It's probably all that Elmo needed to build his models on. This is E.E. building a model. It doesn't particularly look like he is using the bench that I bought in this photo, but maybe I'm missing something. Maybe some of you guys can compare them to my photos below to point something out that I may be missing. Could all of that stuff be on top of this bench???

Wait a minute! Did I just notice the handle of the bench vice sticking up near the rear end of the ship???!!!

http://www.ciadvertising.org/studies/student/99_fall/theory/lazarski/hobbyjoy.jpg