Tag: holiday

Thanksgiving

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I’m blessed beyond measure to be able to spend this day, for the twentieth consecutive time, at the home of Grandpa Harry…my wife’s grandfather. I’ll be having dinner with him, his six children and their spouses, most of their children (my wife included), and THEIR children (among them, my sons). It takes four rooms to seat everyone, but nobody leaves hungry.

Speaking of being blessed, it’s not the only – or even the first – Thanksgiving dinner for me this year. Last Sunday, the boys and I had dinner with my best friend Andrew and his son – the ones we’ve spent the last eight Father’s Day weekends camping with – at his mother’s home, which we’ve also been doing for years now. After dinner, the five of us always take a hike down the railroad tracks that run through Pleasant Plain, Ohio. Sometimes we head east, sometimes west…this time, we went west. As Andrew and I watched the boys run ahead of us, we decided to turn and head back when we reached a certain pond. As we walked on, we both marveled that the boys, who surely hadn’t heard us, took a sudden turn towards that very pond. It could have been coincidence, but we chose to believe that the five of us are all just like-minded. Which is true, regardless of the reason they might have actually headed for the pond.

Also on the subject of being blessed…and turkey dinners…my wife brought home a modest-sized bird from the grocery store the other day, to cook up on Friday. Plans are to spend the day at home, decking the halls and putting up the Christmas tree, and playing board games.

EXAIR, like a lot of American businesses, will be closed until Monday. Whatever your plans are for the holiday weekend, I wish, for you and yours, the richest of blessings. If you’re spending this time treasuring each others’ company, then that’s a wish well wished.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
(513)671-3322 local
(800)923-9247 toll free
(513)671-3363 fax
Web: www.exair.com
Blog: http://blog.exair.com/
Twitter: twitter.com/exair_rb
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair

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Remember Memorial Day

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Memorial Day for a lot of people is the start of summer, a day of barbecues, and outdoor recreation. Traditionally, Memorial Day is a day we take the time to pay tribute to the men and women of the armed forces who lost their lives serving our country.

Memorial Day - ArlingtonCemetery

Most of us will not attend any of the memorial services over the weekend.  I just hope we do not get wrapped up in the gala of a four day holiday weekend and forget those who made the supreme sacrifice.

Many of our cities and towns will have some Memorial Day ceremony. Some of the activities EXAIR employees will participate in include walking in a parade, distributing flowers on veteran gravesites with their 4H club and enjoying family and friends. We encourage you to find out what your community (or one near by) is doing and participate. At the very least, take a minute to think about those who fought for your opportunity to choose whatever you will do over this weekend.

My hats off to all of our lost defenders – Thank You!

Joe Panfalone

Application Engineer
Phone (513) 671-3322
Fax (513) 671-3363
Web: http://www.exair.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/exair_jp
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair

Home For the Holidays

Published on by Russ Bowman1 Comment

My friend and neighbor Alan is in the Army. His unit’s deployment to Iraq ended early, so he’s home with his family for the holidays, and I don’t think I could be happier unless I was one of them. I started thinking about how nice it would be if everyone got to be home for Christmas, and that got me thinking about a Christmas that I spent 500 miles away and 400 feet below home, during alert patrol on a Trident submarine.

Any Supply Officer worth his salt will make sure there’s prime rib and all the fixings for Christmas dinner underway. Someone always brought a few tapes or CD’s full of Christmas music. And despite being where we were (which was classified information, you landlubber), there wasn’t a finer group of people to be around than Blue Crew on the USS Pennsylvania (SSBN 735) from 1987-1991.

Christmas morning came, and the Captain called all hands to the Crew’s Mess. The Chief of the Boat was waiting for us, wearing a Santa hat and a set of canary yellow radiological anti-contamination coveralls. Beside him were several large gunnysacks. He wished us all a Merry Christmas, and announced that, before we got underway, the Wives’ Club had given him presents to distribute. As he finished up his list of all the married guys who had gotten a nice surprise from home, he revealed a little surprise for the bachelors among us too…turns out, that wonderful group of ladies had taken turns picking our names, and had sent us presents too. When I opened mine (a key chain with a ridiculously oversized alligator head bottle opener from Ron Jon Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach, FL), I saw that it was from my friend Joni. I thought it was a remarkable stroke of kismet that she would have gotten my name…she was one of the few crew members’ wives’ that I knew, and I always thought the world of her. I guess the feeling was mutual, because the card she enclosed said that she had sought out who had pulled my name, and convinced them to trade with her.  As the father of two boys, I’m qualified to judge what makes a magical Christmas, and that one still makes the grade.

It would sure be nice if everyone got to be home for Christmas. But if you can’t, my wish for you this season is that you can participate in the hope that this holiday is all about – wherever you may be. Oh, and Joni, my wish for you is always the same: that ALL your Christmases be as merry as you made mine in 1990.

Happy Holidays,
Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
russbowman@exair.com
@EXAIR_RB

Thank you! To all Veterans.

Published on by Brian Farno1 Comment

Today we celebrate Veterans Day.  This is the day when we should all give thanks to the more than 24 million men and women who have served and are currently serving in the United States Military. It is because of these men and women that we live our lives the way we do in America, FREE!

I have several family members and close friends that were and still are in the military.  My Papaw, Grandfather on my mother’s side, was an ambulance driver in World War II with the Army Air Corps.  He would drive an ambulance back and forth from the front lines to the LZs to help rescue wounded soldiers.  He never spoke much about the war other than the fact that my Mamaw would ride the trains that would transport all the soldiers while they were in the states.

My Uncle Jimmy, one of my mom’s brothers, was in the Air Force during Vietnam.  He would always share stories with me whenever I would ask about his time in the Air Force.  While in Vietnam he was assigned to a plane which brought back the bodies of the fallen.  He would always say this was the hardest because there were bags that you could tell barely had more than a set of dog tags in them.

Two of my cousins, James Dunn III, and David Dunn, are both active military, one is in the Air Force and is currently on deployment.  David is in the Army and is 10% through his current deployment.  All I can say is that I hope they come home safe.

So throughout the day make sure you give thanks to those that have served and are still serving.  Without them our way of life would not be possible.

Brian Farno

Application Engineer

BrianFarno@EXAIR.com

@EXAIR_BF