They say that time flies when you are having fun. I guess I must be having a ball. This is the Dec. 2016 issue of the Aberdeen Times and I do not know where this year has flown. The good news is that we are here to acknowledge so much that has taken place.

Among the good things was the celebration of Saul LeVine’s 80th birthday. He was surrounded by friends and Dorchester neighbors at Benvenuto’s Restaurant for an evening filled with fun, music, good friends and delicious food. Now that’s the way to do it. And then, the Levine’s headed for NYC to attend the Balloon Inflation Party in order to view the giant balloons and floats featured at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. All this, with their grandchildren and relatives.

Harvey and I have not been having a fun time. We had a flood from underground pipes that involved our hot water pipes. Yes, the hot water was turned off, so showers happened at the Club. Thank you Aberdeen CC. Then we had to locate where the broken pipe was and relocate the hot water pipe. At last we could take a shower at home. Then … the contractors had to remove the baseboards and dry out the walls and carpet. OYE! Finally, the contractors had to deal with the insurance company. We are told this should be completed by the end of this year. SUCH FUN! And now I hear there is another family dealing with a similar problem. They have our empathy. Fortunately, we are all good swimmers.

On a happier note, we are happy to report that Sy Goldstein, who had back surgery recently, is on the mend. Looking forward to seeing him walking Chloe again and maybe even taking his wife, Phyllis, dancing.

Dorchester would like to welcome the Crupi family to our community. They have moved into 7653 Dorchester Road. So happy to have them with us. We missed welcoming another resident, Robert Maniello, who lives at 7773 Dorchester Road. We are delighted to have him with us, as well.

Now that we have all celebrated Thanksgiving, we know that this holiday was more than just food. Hopefully, many of us have made up a list of how we can give back to enrich the lives of those who are not as fortunate as we. You can pick the people, the charity or a person or group that has been there for you, and yes … give back this year.

Just around the corner before the end of 2016 we wish all our friends and neighbors, who celebrate Channukah and Christmas, a healthy, happy, loving and fun filled holiday and the same for the next 365 days in 2017.

Henry David Thoreau once said: “Things do not change, we do.”

And that change keeps happening around us. As in Dorchester, that change involves the new members of our community. We wish only the best to those who have moved away for whatever reasons. We are delighted to welcome the following:

• Leslie Waxman at 7821 Dorchester Road
• Neil and Roz Goldberg at 7740 Dorchester Road
• Dennis Cyr and Sylvia O’Keefe at 7621 Dorchester Road.

While we are talking about out neighbors, Walter Areinoff, who has been in Dorchester and a member of the club for many years, is having some health problems. We wish him better days to come. Walter, a former dentist, an ardent tennis player in his day and a wiz bridge player, has also written books in his recent years. His neighbor, Margaret Vitale, says he is the kindest gentleman. It is so nice to have him in our community.

There is more good news that has emanated from our residents. Jan Siders just told us that her husband, Dick, got his 2nd hole-in-one at Elmcrest Country Club where Zach Johnson is also a member. Maybe we should get him in the next Ryders Cup. Congratulations, Dick. We just want to know if that is luck or talent? Two of them must be talent!

Peggy Urbinato got to celebrate with the entire Urbinato family as her daughter, AnneMarie Schieber, got married July 9th to John Dykstra in Grand Rapids, MI. Then, Peggy was off to see her son, David, and his family in Chicago for a vacation. Well, spending fun time with your kids, regardless of their age, is what it is all about.

More joy moved into the lives of Jill and Jon Shaw. Their first-born daughter, Rakelle, was married to Stephen on Oct. 1st at a sunset wedding on Boynton Beach. They are thrilled to have Stephen join their family as Rakelle’s loving husband.

And, “if kvelling” is allowed, Harvey and I want you to be on the alert for when the next movie that stars Melissa McCarthy, “Cook Off,” comes out. Our son-in-law, Joel Beckerman, has done the music for the movie. In addition, the next time you go to an IMAX movie, listen to the music that introduces it. Joel did the musical logo for it. And every time you see or hear a commercial for AT&T, the 4 notes that you hear are the sonic logo he created for them.

Well, we have had 2 of 4 streets recently repaved. So take a drive over here and visit someone on Lawson or Judson Circle. No more pot holes!

For those who celebrated the Jewish holidays, we wish you a good and healthy year. And for those who celebrated Halloween, we wish you some delicious days filled with Snickers and Hershey bars and no gain in weight. Leave room for some calories on Thanksgiving.

We wish all of you in Aberdeen a wonderful Thanksgiving. Knowing that we are grateful for all that we have, we should remember, at this time of year, that it is all about giving back in life.

Stew and Judye Suttenberg are so proud of their daughter, Pamela, who came home with a gold medal from the International Adult Figure skating competition held in Vancouver, British Colombia, More than 250 skaters from 17 countries competed.

Pam is 53 years old, and competes in the age category of 35 to 55 years old, all of whom were competitive skaters in their youth. She has been skating since she was 5 years old and has a room filled with medals and trophies. She was a United Figure Skating gold medalist when she was 14 years old. After college, she took time off to raise her family, for 20 years, but returned to the sport she loved 5 years ago.

Pam has decided to give her back and knees a rest and now is involved in ice dancing, a less rigorous sport.

Good-bye Mother’s Day. Good-bye Memorial Day Weekend. Good-bye to so many of our friends who have gone north for the summer months. We miss you already. Hello to the many people and things we have not been able to get to, but now is the time.

We are working on our community to beautify it and repair that which needs some work as a result of years of our traffic. The roads on Lawson and Judson Circles are being repaved so that cracks and holes will be a thing of the past. It would be nice if we could do the same for our bodies. Oh well!

Harvey and I spent Mother’s Day in NJ with our daughter, Tracy, and her family. If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading her work, she is an award-winning national humor columnist who writes her column each week in over 400 U.S. newspapers. While there, I told her we would be coming back up north for the summer to spend more time with her, her family and siblings. At that point she was told me how every summer they have this duck couple who come up to their pool. They named the couple Loretta and Larry Mallardstein. The same ducks come up every single year. So my daughter decided that they must be “snow birds” who fly up from Florida and make their summer residence here in their pool. She said that “we much prefer having our parents come from Florida because they do not poop in the pool!”

And so everyone should be excited if they are flying north and being with those they love during the summer. And for the many of you who remain here in Aberdeen … do whatever pleases you most.

Before I say “Good-bye” for the summer I would like to quote Andy Rooney, once again: “I’ve learned that it’s the small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.”

So take each day one day at a time and we wish you all a spectacular summer. All Dorchester Happenings will all be here again to celebrate life with you in the fall.

“May” you have a month filled with good health, good friends and good times. Isn’t that a good definition for May? We here in Dorchester have had time to look at this year and wonder where the time has flown. But we have great neighbors with great news in their lives.

We are so happy to be able to welcome new Dorchester residents. They include Robert Manniello, who is living at 7773 Dorchester Road, also, Ira and Wendy Springer, who are at 7669 Dorchester Road, and, Stanley and Marsha Koolik, are new owners of 8541 Judson Circle. Looks like they have agreed that Dorchester is the place to be here in Aberdeen. Smart people!

Our show biz star, Roz Kern, has informed us that The Original Florida Follies was a huge success for Roz and the company. Many thanks to all the Dorchester neighbors and others who came to support that worthy cause, they have raised in excess of $780,000 in the past 12 years to help children in need. Bravo, Roz. Now Roz and Steve are off to Maryland to celebrate the 2nd birthday of their youngest grandchild, Samantha Madison Posner.

We too, Harvey and I, managed to take off to Puerto Villarta, Mexico to spend a fabulous week with our son David, his wife, Emily and their 2 daughters, Bela and Ady. While doing that, our son-in-law, Joel Beckerman, the music composer and producer, did it again. He won the award from ASCAP for the 10th year in a row for the most music played on TV during this year.

And for those of you who went to the Aberdeen on Broadway show on April 5th, we know you had a great evening. Among the stars on stage were 3 Dorchester residents: Peggy Urbinato, Oliver Klapper and Stu Suttenberg. They certainly helped to make the evening a huge success.

For our neighbors who are heading north this month … “May” you have a wonderful summer. We will miss you, but will look forward to your return in the fall.

Some of us remember Andy Rooney. He said some terrific things … among them, we should recall:

“Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.” So let’s enjoy each day. And …

“It’s those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.”

So from all of us at Dorchester we wish you many spectacular days!

No, we are not pulling your leg as an April Fools joke. You should have set you clocks ahead and gained some more beautiful Florida sunshine … and spring will be here very soon! And so will the IRS to get your taxes. Albert Einstein said: “The hardest thing in the world to understand is income tax.”

But, among the good things happening here in Dorchester are the following:

– Phyllis and Sy Goldstein’s granddaughter, Brook Sabghir, was married Mar. 13th. She married a young attorney from Cleveland who works for a prestigious NYC law firm. Congratulations to the bride and groom and their grandparents.

– Congratulations also, to David Hollander for being elected to the Aberdeen BOD. We know he will be an asset.

– If you were among those who watched this year’s Oscars on TV, you may have seen the Barons daughter, Tracy Beckerman and her husband, Joel, on the red carpet. They were there because Joel is working on a project for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. He is the celebrated composer for the corporate world with its sonic logos and for so much of what you hear on television every day.

– Dorchester held its annual meeting and election of BOD officers on Mar. 8th. Those elected to the board were Don Applebaum, Carol Baron, David Hollander, Steve Lippert, Jon Shaw, Beverly Zimmerman and Don Zide. The officers of the BOD are: Steve Lippert, President; Beverly Zimmerman, Vice President; Carol Baron, Secretary; Jon Shaw, Treasurer; Don Applebaum, Director, David Hollander, Director and Don Zide, Director.

They will work to make Dorchester an Aberdeen community that is responsive to the needs of its residents while being cost effective, beautiful and friendly to all. We would like to take this opportunity to remind all those who live here in Dorchester, as well as our guests and visitors, that there is a 20 mile an hour speed limit here. That is for the safety of all of us. We hope you will follow this rule.

In closing, I would like to remind you of what 90-year-old Regina Brett said and she wasn’t talking about tax audits: “Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it.”

So it’s March and before we know it one quarter of this year will be behind us. There’s much to do this month, including tax preparation. Therefore, we should all take the time to be grateful for so many people and things that have taken place in our lives to date.

To start, let me (if I have not already done it,) welcome Cathy and Mike Andrasko to Dorchester. If you haven’t met them, take the time to do so. Other pluses included Iris and Saul Levine becoming the warm and fun spot for lots of company from NY and CT. While the LeVines were busy with company, Harvey and I were busy cruising to the islands and Harvey was celebrating another fabulous birthday with family and friends. “Birthdays are good for you: the more you have the longer you live.” We are celebrating 56 years of making each other feel so special. Can’t ask for more than that! In our family, our daughter, Tracy Beckerman, humor columnist and author will be chairing the Erma Bombeck conference for writers from all over the country. It is quite the event each year.

We would like to take the time to wish Rita Zide a complete get-well and to Maxine Bender, who also had some surgery. Alan Katcher, hope your shoulder is on the mend. They miss you on the golf course.

March brings along the annual meeting of the Dorchester HOA. It is at that time that we will hold our election of officers for the coming year. It is our hope that we will have a large turnout and lots of people who want to participate in continuing to make this a wonderful Aberdeen community in which to live. We will keep you updated as to the results of this election.

Well, as we go through a period of gray skies and lower than usual temperature, which affects our dispositions, we need to remember: “You may be only one person in this world, but you may also be the world to one person.” So enjoy every day