Betty MacDonald Forum - Betty MacDonald Fan Club and Betty MacDonald Society -
Fans and Friends of Betty MacDonald, author of The Egg and I and The Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle Series
Don't miss Wolfgang Hampel's fascinating Betty MacDonald biography and his very witty interviews with Betty MacDonald's family and friends.
we mentioned the new Betty MacDonald fan club item ' Betty MacDonald in Winter '.
It seems that Winter is starting right now with lots of snow and storms.
Be careful please. It's very dangerous right now.
( see reports below )
A Betty MacDonald fan club member
recently shared some very interesting Betty MacDonald photos including
pictures of Betty as a child in a real Winter season with lots of snow.
We have a great Betty MacDonald fan club Winter surprise for you.
We are working on a new Betty MacDonald fan club essay entitled ' Betty MacDonald and snow '.
We've already built several snowmen during this Winter season but the Wisconsin dad was the best.
Imagine - a 22 foot high snowman!
I'm really very impressed.
Thanks a million for your outstanding support.
As already mentioned we celebrated World Day of the Snowman.
There will be a new DVD entitled ' Betty
MacDonald and the World Day of the Snowman ' presenting several
International Betty MacDonald fan club activities.
Fred got the excellent idea to organize a Betty MacDonald fan club Snowman contest.
Send us a photo of your favourite snowman and you can some very new interesting Betty MacDonald fan club items.
Deadline: January 31, 2016
Betty MacDonald described Winter season in one of her unique books.
Betty MacDonald:
“ Big snowflakes fluttered slowly through the
air like white feathers and made all of the Heavenly Valley smooth and
white and quiet and beautiful.
Tall fir trees stood up to their
knees in snow and their outstretched hands were heaped with it. Those
that were bare of leaves wore soft white fur on their scrawny, reaching
arms and all the stumps and low bushes had been turned into fat white
cupcakes.”
Betty MacDonald described Winter season in a magical way but as we know Life can be rather hard on Vashon Island during Winter.
We got these messages from Betty MacDonald fans some years ago.
Guys it's much too cold for me!
I'm
afraid I'm the Southern type although I know how much children and
especially our children adore snow and really enjoy all these beloved
Winter activities.
Very cold days in the State of Washington! Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!
We recently had a wind storm followed by some very low temperatures and a lot of snow. Vashon Island had a power outage for a few days. My sister was without power from Monday evening to Thursday before noon. The next week is supposed to be above freezing, rain and occasional sun-breaks. Old timers on the Island had kerosene lamps and wood stoves and plenty of wood just for this type of situation.
We
had a bit of snow and cold around here and mother had to put up with no
electric power or heat for two days but seems cheerful about it all.
We
have just gone through an Arctic Express. Extremely cold and snowy on
Vashon Island. Broke records for low temps. I was without power for 24
hours, many much longer. Today is much warmer and the snow is almost
gone.
We have had bad storms that brought down some of the big
trees on houses and power lines. We have had long hours and days
without power, and the temperature got down to 15 degrees F. No sun,
but today it is raining and the snow and ice are melting.
For one
week here it's been verrrrry cold from zero with wind chil to now
finally 40 degrees. Seattle was almost shut down due to bad ice. We
cancelled plans to go to Sequim, which is not far from where Betty lived
the story of the EGG AND I. Too cold, too much snow, windy, and icy. So
we stayed home and roasted a duck!!
We're not seeing the sun yet! At
least it isn't raining. It's impossible to walk every day in this
weather. I usually go out for 45 minutes a day.
Winter storm brings near-record snow to eastern US as 17 deaths reported
A powerful, sprawling winter storm buried the eastern US in
near-record snow on Saturday, leaving in its wake accidents, injuries
and deaths from the deep south to New York City. Early Saturday morning, the blizzard moved into some of the nation’s
largest cities and an estimated 80 million people in 20 states heard winter weather warnings,
watches or advisories. Gale-force winds of up to 60mph spewed snow into
Washington DC, Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York City, and
authorities in seven states attributed 17 deaths to the storm, mostly in
car accidents. “It seems the weather forecasters got it right this time,” New York
governor Andrew Cuomo said at a morning press conference. “There is a
blizzard.”
Like officials all around the east coast, he warned people to stay
off the roads: “I don’t care how superb a driver, how big a four-wheel
drive vehicle you have, the roads are barely passable.”Cuomo and governors in 10 other states declared emergency conditions,
and New York City slid to an almost total standstill when the governor
and mayor Bill de Blasio banned road travel and shut down most public
transit. The city closed bridges, tunnels and outdoor subway service,
and most Broadway shows canceled performances.“The roads are technically open,” Cuomo said. “But if you really do
not need to leave your house, I can’t stress enough you should not leave
your house.” By 4pm local time, nearly 20in of snow had fallen in Central Park,
with as much as 30in expected before the storm’s end Sunday. New Yorkers
skied down 5th avenue and could hardly see the tops of skyscrapers past
a few or past a few blocks.De Blasio predicted the storm would rank
among the five worst snowstorms in the city’s history.
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Cuomo
said he was particularly concerned about flooding conditions – “what I
consider the worst of Mother Nature’s wrath” – in New York City and
along Long Island. Swells rivaled those of hurricane Sandy in some
areas, though officials insisted the storm did not rival the 2012
disaster. His fears were well founded, though not necessarily for New York. Icy, coastal flooding
pushed into Jersey shore, Delaware and Maryland towns after the morning
high tide, and officials anxiously awaited the evening tide.
Hurricane-force winds swept in from the ocean, and 21-foot waves broke
sea barriers in some areas. Hundreds of people were stranded for hours, some for half-a-day or
more, along highways where traffic halted amid snowdrifts and ice.
Emergency crews handed out snacks, fuel and water, and trapped drivers
and passengers tried to make the most of the situation by commiserating
on buses.
Tennessee
and North Carolina police said they had responded to hundreds of
accidents, and Virginia state police reported nearly 1,000 storm-related
accidents.Halfway through the storm, meteorologists could not say whether the
snowfall would break records. “Either way, we’re looking at a
significant event,” NWS meteorologist Frank Pereira said.The full force of the storm could dump enough snow on Washington
to eclipse the 17.8in of a massive storm that struck in 2010, and could
rival the “Knickerbocker” storm of 1922, when a record 28in fell. “It does have the potential to be an extremely dangerous storm that
can affect more than 50 million people,” said Louis Uccellini, director
of the weather service. A storm also brought power outages in the region. About 40,000
customers in New Jersey had no power by Saturday morning, and another
8,000 in Virginia were without power.
New Jersey governor Chris Christie also told residents to stay
indoors. “The most urgent need for our residents is to stay inside …
We’re getting two to three inches of snow an hour at this point.”Near Washington DC, snowfall totals neared 20in, and the national airport in Washington DC
recorded 14in of snowfall by early Saturday morningand mayor Muriel
Bowser declared a state of emergency there. She made the rare decision
to shut down all public transport.In Baltimore,
Maryland, the national guard was called on to city streets, where
officers waited out the storm parked in the middle of intersections in
armored vehicles.
Airlines canceled more than 7,600 flights, and 90% of flights into
and out of New York’s busy LaGuardia airport alone were canceled. Every
flight into or out of of Atlantic City, New Jersey was canceled. Almost
90% of flights from Baltimore were canceled.The blizzard caused travel chaos as far away as the UK, where more than 45 flights to and from the US were cancelled.
Alexandria, Virginia had a foot of snow by midnight. As far south as
Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, local media outlets have reported icy
conditions weighing down trees and making roads slick. States in the south-east saw the bulk of airline cancellations on Friday. Parts of Nashville, Tennessee saw 9in of snow and heard thunder
overnight. That was almost triple what was predicted, and made the storm
the 13th largest in Nashville’s history.
By Sunday afternoon, however, airliners hope to be back to a full
schedule to handle the typical influx of business travelers heading out
to start a week on the road. Overall, the airlines have canceled about
15% of their scheduled flights in the US for Friday and Saturday. Officials in search of a silver lining reminded residents that
Saturday is the slowest travel day of the week, and expressed gratitude
to people who stayed indoors. There are a little more than 22,000
flights scheduled to, from or within the US, according to FlightAware.
That’s about 5,000 fewer flights and 400,000 fewer passengers than on
Thursday or Friday.
A storm also brought power outages in the region. About 40,000
customers in New Jersey had no power by Saturday morning, and another
8,000 in Virginia were without power.
Betty MacDonald Fan Club, founded by Wolfgang Hampel, has members in 40 countries.
Wolfgang Hampel, author of Betty MacDonald biography interviewed Betty MacDonald's family and friends. His Interviews have been published on CD and DVD by Betty MacDonald Fan Club. If you are interested in the Betty MacDonald Biography or the Betty MacDonald Interviews send us a mail, please.
Several original Interviews with Betty MacDonald are available.
We are also organizing international Betty MacDonald Fan Club Events for example, Betty MacDonald Fan Club Eurovision Song Contest Meetings in Oslo and Düsseldorf, Royal Wedding Betty MacDonald Fan Club Event in Stockholm and Betty MacDonald Fan Club Fifa Worldcup Conferences in South Africa and Germany.
Betty MacDonald Fan Club Honour Members are Monica Sone, author of Nisei Daughter and described as Kimi in Betty MacDonald's The Plague and I, Betty MacDonald's nephew, artist and writer Darsie Beck, Betty MacDonald fans and beloved authors and artists Gwen Grant, Letizia Mancino, Perry Woodfin, Traci Tyne Hilton, Tatjana Geßler, music producer Bernd Kunze, musician Thomas Bödigheimer, translater Mary Holmes and Mr. Tigerli.
