Dateline Dayton – Last Thursday was Graduation Day for our grandson Ryan at Niles High School in Michigan. The ceremony was to be outside in the stadium. Due to wet weather, it was moved inside to the gym. Boy, was it hot?  No air conditioning. They only had a couple fans (of the electrical variety but many of the human variety).

Fortunately, the ceremony moved fast, considering 215 graduates. Only four short speeches were given, three by students, the fourth by the President of the School Board. They did recognize the honor graduates as a group. Ryan was one, graduating Magna Cum Laude.

An awards ceremony was held the last day of school. In addition to Ryan’s academic awards, he was acknowledged for his heroic actions in rescuing a man from his burning car. He also received an impressive medal and certificate from the United States Army for his academic and athletic achievements.

We returned home early Friday evening, after stopping at the discount store, customary on our trips to Michigan. We also stopped in Englewood, Ohio, for a delicious Italian supper at Tony’s.

Saturday evening we were in Middletown for our granddaughter Ashley’s graduation party. Our daughter Lisa did an outstanding job with the party, and everything went off on schedule. We gave Ashley the box I wrote about last week. The rain, threatening all day, held off until the party was nearing the end.

Tomorrow, I will be heading to Piqua for another garage sale. This time I will be setting up with my sister and her granddaughter. I have some Piqua items to sell, along with my National Cash Register memorabilia and other items. A few Piqua items are unique – a full size Hartzell’s wooden airplane propeller with a clock, a wooden beer case from my grandfather’s brewery, with bottles that I would sell separately and some items from his dairy.

My grandfather’s family switched from the brewery business to a dairy during Prohibition. I also have a cheese box from Zollinger’s, where my father worked for more than  50 years. I hope to provide you results from another good sale. By the way, rain is in the forecast.

Gee Whiz – or Not So Whiz

The suddenly retiring President of Ohio State University, Gordon Gee, sure couldn’t keep his foot out of mouth. Or should I say he ought to have kept his foot in his mouth so he would not have been able to utter the dumb statements he makes. For a person with his education, you would think Dr. Gee would be able to think before speaks.

His remarks about priests, Catholic’s Notre Dame, Kentucky and Tennessee are the latest example of his total late of respect. I firmly believe the man is a bigot. He should have been removed as president, instead of being allowed to retire, which will take place on July 1. On the plus side, he will be gone

President Gee was scheduled to be the commencement speaker at a Catholic high school in Columbus. He withdrew because he said that “I want the graduates to be the center of attention, not me.”

I suspect he was more concerned about being booed from the moment he entered the building.

Mr. Hennessey may be contacted at pmhenn@sbcglobal.net