Historical February–March 2010 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Is it really February already? That is hard to believe. We’ll start off this Valentine month then with news of a wedding! Robert Rice married Anne Faber at St. Roch Church on October 24th. Monsignor Sal Polizzi performed the ceremony which was followed by a reception at the Probstein Clubhouse in Forest Park. Bob’s best man was his son Brian. Bob Rice is the son of Richard and Nancy Rice of the 6100 block of Westminster. Bob and Anne reside in St. Louis.
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, if you are looking for a fun way to celebrate with your sweetie, Dan Elze of the 6000 block of McPherson has a great suggestion. Why not head out on Saturday, February 13th for dinner in The Loop followed by a concert at Blueberry Hill? Dan’s band, the very popular “That 80’s Band” will be playing all your favorite 80’s music. Or, just grab your friends and neighbors and see the show for a fun night out! You won’t be disappointed. Welcoming new neighbors is something we like to do in this column as well. So a belated welcome to the neighborhood goes out to Todd and Alise Schwartzlow of the 5700 block of DeGiverville. Todd is from the Milwaukee area and Alise is from New Orleans.
They moved here after living in England for three years. Todd is in the Air Force and is currently working at Scott Air Force Base.
In the last issue of the Times, we shared news of some of the exciting trips neighbors had taken over the summer. Well, we’ve got one more that may top all the other stories. Janice Wang accompanied her husband Herman Pontzer on the trip of a lifetime to Tanzania. Herman spent a total of two months there, while Janice met up with him and enjoyed a two and a half week visit, beginning with a 30 hour flight from St. Louis to the capital of Dar Es Salaam. Highlights of the trip included the exotic island of Zansibar (known as the Spice Island for its historic plantations) and a safari on the mainland through the Selous Game Reserve where they saw lions, elephants, zebras, giraffes, impala, wildebeests, and more! Janice and Herman live on the 6100 block of Washington and highly recommend a trip like this to all of us!
As always – I am pleased to share some baby news.
It seems the male population is growing in Skinker DeBaliviere!
The month of November brought two new playmates to the 6100 block of McPherson, a street that is quickly becoming the place for little boys.
The family of Zellie and John McLelland welcomed their third child, Christopher on November 2nd. Proud siblings are Jack and Claire. And Heather Corcoran and Greg Thompson had another boy, Oscar James. Oscar was born on November 30th and is proud to be the little brother of Sam and big sister Margaret! Over on the 5700 block of DeGiverville, Morgan Cole and Ryan Moore welcomed their second child, Simon Thomas. Simon was born on November 23rd.
There is no doubt that big sister Maggie is thrilled!
A couple of our neighbors are on the mend after some health issues. Joe Schoemehl had a tonsillectomy on December 29th and Dave Schmidt spent two months recovering in Chicago from heart surgery that he had in November. Dave is back home now on the 6100 block of McPherson.
We send best wishes for speedy recoveries to everyone! Sadly, we lost a couple of neighbors this winter as well. Bruce Smith, shown here with longtime friend Dave Schmidt, lived on the 5800 block of Pershing for over 40 years passed on after a long illness on December 1. Bruce was very involved for many decades with the 28th Ward Democrats, helped with St. Louis Police Community Relations for the 7th District, the 100 Neediest Cases, Scouting for Food, and taught hunter education for the Missouri Department of Conservation. Bruce also spent a lot of his time repairing and rebuilding bikes for neighborhood kids, and supplying bike helmets to them.
He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Dee and Tom LeRoy.
A memorial service for Bruce will be held at the SDCC office on February 20.
Call SDCC at 862-5122 for more information. Sara Newton, a long time Parkview resident on the 6200 block of Waterman passed away on December 8th. Sara was the wife of Talmage and mother of Talmage and Rohan. Sara served for seven years as a Parkview agent and was also heavily involved in Girl Scouts and Boys Scouts, even receiving several awards from the Greater St. Louis area Boy Scout Council. Sara was also an accomplished poet. Time for a new chapter …
As many of you are probably already aware, our neighbor Barry Leibman of the 6000 block of Westminster, retired recently after over 30 years of owning Left Bank Books.
His departure from the store was well documented in both the West End Word and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. For those who have had the pleasure of knowing Barry, and for everyone who has enjoyed shopping at Left Bank Books, it’s not a surprise that local news took such an interest. Barry’s partnership and presence in the business is a big part of what makes the Left Bank Book experience so wonderful. Barry’s last day at the store was December 31st.
He and his wife Caroline are looking forward to beginning a new chapter of their lives this year.
They are planning to move to Whidby Island in Puget Sound near Seattle.
We will miss both Barry and Caroline here in the neighborhood.
They are often seen out on their many walks and both always have a big smile and a kind word for their neighbors. For book lovers, Left Bank Books is still available for your shopping pleasure (with two locations, one in the CWE and one in downtown St. Louis). Do you have some news to share?
Please send your items to Rachel Boxdorfer at rboxdorfer@prudentialalliance.com with the subject line “News of Neighbors”. Thank you!
Original photograph caption
Robert Rice and Anne Faber. Descriptive caption supplied; photographer not credited.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, February–March 2010.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Archival transcription note: Source pronoun Oscar proud to be little brother of Sam and big sister Margaret retained as printed; no gender relation silently repaired.
Original source: SD_Times2010_02.pdf, printed page(s) 3; PDF page(s) 3.
