Peace, Love n' Donuts

One picture to represent each month of 2019... 
I call it "Pic A Dozen 2019"

We finally did it! We hosted a Surprise Barbarian Spaghetti Dinner- Spaghetti with no plates and no traditional utensils. We did let our surprised guests pick out totally worthless utensils and they didn't know what the utensil would be used for. We took turns trying the 3 levels of Barbarian: 1) no hands 2) hands only 3) worthless utensils. To add even more fun to the night, our guests Brock and Whitney brought their 4 year-old son! 

                         

The Trojan Rabbit Rides Again! In 2018, Our friend Nicole Nigh Hondros built (and crashed) this Monty Python Trojan Rabbit for South Haven's Cardboard Sled Race. Just over a month later, Nicole unexpectedly passed away. In February, we rebuilt and reinforced the same Trojan Rabbit to race in memory of Nicole. Our friends Joyce and Frankie from Ohio piloted the rabbit down the hill and were quite grateful that they didn't crash. I think the most fun we had was watching Barb drive her truck with the giant cardboard rabbit towering above her truck!   

MARCH

                         

What a unique experience this was... Barb and I got to ice skate on Lake Michigan! The South Haven Lighthouse is behind me in this picture. The conditions actually made this activity much safer than it sounds. That big iceberg/snow drift behind me separated the dangerous part of the lake from this shallow beach water that froze. It was a bit bumpy but flat enough to skate on. It was a very fun winter experience!

APRIL

                             

On Thursday, April 4th I got to experience a happy collision of two of my worlds. The Association For Applied and Therapeutic Humor (an organization that I've been somewhat involved in since 2003) was having their annual conference in Oak Brook, Illinois and our Beatles Polka Band, Sgt. Sauerkraut's Polka Band  got to entertain the conference participants (and some of my favorite people on the planet) at their opening night party. Such a fun time and a GREAT AUDIENCE!

MAY

                           

In August of 2018, I semi-retired my famous Yellow Submarine and planned a new Beatles contraption... The Abbey Roadster- a 7-headed Beatles automated scooter built to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the iconic album cover. Three styrofoam wig heads on each side were the heads of John, Ringo and Paul and I played George. The arms and legs moved like they were walking across the street and I would sit inside on an electric scooter and drive around. I made the front and back look like the VW Beetle that is also on the album cover. I like this work-in-progress picture. It's like the cartoonist's pencil drawing before it gets inked in. 

JUNE

                           

In June, Barb and I got to take an awesome trip to Austin, Texas. We had a great visit with my aunt in Fredericksburg, then went back to Austin where I attended a 2-day Filmmaker's workshop. We couchsurfed with a really cool family and met a bunch of great people. In this picture, Barb and I got to be reunited with Elisa, the Singing Telegram Girl (an awesome friend from Chicago) and got to enjoy the company of my new filmmaking friend Sheree. 

JULY

                         

One of my favorite annual summer traditions is Pierogi Fest in Whiting, Indiana. This is the first year I wasn't in The Yellow Submarine for the parade. Instead, Sgt. Sauerkraut's Polka Band  got to play Beatles polkas in the back of a truck. Here's a post-parade shot with two of my favorite Polish gals, Barb Chartier Raudonis and Suzy Brack. Michalene Korosa is in the background getting ready to play drums in The Eddie Korosa show. 

AUGUST

                         

So many great pictures and memories from our annual Fest For Beatles Fans in Rosemont, Illinois. This picture won out though! The splash of color and smiling faces wraps up the weekend perfectly, our new friend "Juicy In The Sky With Diamonds" fit right in! I love how Susan Ryan's blue hair in the background even adds to the shot!

SEPTEMBER

                       

I finally got around to building the Polka Car I've been wanting to build. There were lots of trials and tribulations, small victories and big defeats as I test and tuned until we got it workable. Our late night test drives were super-fun memories- especially while Barb drove and I rode in the barrel on the drum trailer keeping the beat as we entertained the neighbors! 

OCTOBER

                       

Barb and I got to attend our first Hippie Fest at Val-du-Lakes in Mears, Michigan which is right by our one-room schoolhouse. It was so fun getting to hang out and soak in the freak show as a spectator. Our friends, Magic Bus gave us the perfect soundtrack for a groovy day! 

NOVEMBER

                       

I spent Thanksgiving weekend building my 3rd motorized contraption of 2019... a horseless sleigh that we used in the filming of Sgt. Sauerkraut's Christmas video (which you can watch HERE) I used the lower frame and scooter from The Abbey Roadster and built a cardboard sleigh body. I did the whole thing at my mom's house and it was fun having her help me out- just like old times! 

DECEMBER

Sgt. Sauerkraut's Polka Band decided to dress up as our favorite Christmas Special stars for our performance at our annual Fundraiser and Glove Drive, Christmas With The Beatles. In case you haven't figured it out, that's me on the right dressed as Snow Miser. 

Ok, well there's a dozen pictures. But bakers have been throwing in an extra donut for years, hence the term "baker's dozen" Here's my bonus picture from May of 2019...

                         

Here's me in The Abbey Roadster at Abbey Road On The River in Jeffersonville, Indiana. If you like the picture, you should see it in motion! I'll have it with me at my 50th Birthday party this May. Hope you can come celebrate with me! More Info HERE

Have a great 2020 filled with fabulous pictures and amazing memories! -Danny