Tell what your hobbies or interests are. (Do you sing, sew, write, hunt, build things, let us know more about you.)

From: Brenda (Harris) Olszewski

When I was about 8 years old I can remember begging my parents to get a piano. Finally after seeing that I really had my mind set, that I wanted to play and had the desire (by the way, at age 3 my Mom said I would go to my Aunt Hattie's piano and pick out Mary had a little Lamb), my dad started looking for a used one. I remember there was an ad in the paper about a used old upright that either they wanted to sell or you could use as firewood. We checked it out. To me it was beautiful! Perfect! The only problem we could find with it was a few of the keys had the ivory missing. We had it tuned and I was ready to play.

I played non stop. Everything I heard I tried to pick out on the piano. Finally at age 10, I took lessons. Mrs. Sharland was my teacher. She played so beautifully, I wanted to play like her. Once I could finally read music I wanted to play everything I could. I remember Mom saying that for years she just let me have my time to play but it sometimes drove her crazy hearing the same songs(my favorites) all the time. I don't play as often as I used to, but I remember after my first year of lessons my teacher entered me into grade level lll of Competition. I did very well and got an AA+ rating. I was very proud of that. I played for Church and Senior Choir at school.

From: Amy (Glick) Freeman

I love to sing and play the viola (although I don't have one now). I hope one day to own a Viola because I haven't been able to play since high school. I think I was good. I used to be First Chair in my section throughout middle and high school. In middle school I was in 8th grade Orch, Chamber Orch, and a String Quartet. In high school I was in Orchestra, Amherst Symphony, and played the music for the musicals.

Now for singing, I was in Pop Chorus, Madrigals, Beauty Shop, a small acupelo (excuse the spelling) group, 7-8th grade chorus, and 8th grade choir. That was middle school all in the 8th grade. I didn't do anything in high school with singing because I could only choose between that or Orchestra.

I would really love to get into something for the singing and I would have loved to play in the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to.

From: Gail (Harris) Goodrich

I am interested in playing golf. We moved to Hilton Head Island in a golf community. There are two great golf courses and really nice people. I play four or five times a week. We have an 18 hole ladies league and I am the lowest handicap. I am currently playing in a league of woman from all over the Island. It is a match play league. I get to play lots of different courses and meet new people. I am the Club Champ for ladies two years in a row. If I could learn to putt I'd be awesome! Ha!

From: Connie Olson

Digging deep into my cranium I realize my number one hobby is doing my family history. I may not be getting as far as I want with it, but have found out lots more than I knew before about my past family members. I have helped a couple my neighbors Jake and Mary to find some of their roots too. Which was much appreciated and very rewarding. Jakes father was on his own at 15 after the mother died and his younger siblings were put in a home and then split up. The father was close to 30 years older than the mom, and he was in a soldier’s home by then. In fact I've found out more for them than I have on my own surnames.

Singing! Is only at church and that's quietly. Yes and then I sing along to the radio or TV, that's done when I'm alone. I don't want to scare anyone with my low froggy sounding voice. I had thyroid surgery in 1972 and it caused my voice to be very low. Hmmm, sewing is not my bag either, why even patching clothes can cause problems with me. My sewing machine is an antique by now and is probably buried with dust and cobwebs somewhere in the house.

Writing info on family history I do a lot of. I also enjoy writing poems, but haven't for years and can't find the ones I did write. As for hunting, I don't hunt at all I don't like guns. My family does all kinds of hunting, as well as my granddaughter's.

Living in the land of 10,000 + lakes I do fish. Fishing is fun when you can catch one or two of them. It's peaceful sitting out on any lake just enjoying the sights around me and the quiet serenity.

Now building things was also one of my favorites to do. My hubby was a carpenter and when the children were grown I went to work with him to help out. Was getting bored at home with all the kids gone. I had 6 children, then married a man with 6, so we had a dozen to raise. He was self employed, and did house building and remodeling. In the later years we were putting steel, alum or vinyl siding on houses all over northern Minnesota. That was fun as no two jobs were alike and brought us new challenges.

But as I'm getting older I very much enjoy being with my family and seeing the grandchildren games. All play in sports, except for the ones grown and married. Living in a small town there is not much else to do for them. They play in all the sports the school offers. I go to just about all the home and away games to support them and the team.

From: Jim Harris

I enjoy doing research and writing. I've had the good fortune of having books published (not New York Times bestsellers). One of the most interesting things I did was in 1994. I am a big fan of the jazz-rock group Steely Dan. They had played on tour and I saw them in concert. I found out that their keyboard player Warren Bernhardt, lived in Woodstock, only a few miles from me. I called him up and asked if I could interview him. We had a great interview; I was allowed to tape it. He gave me sample CD's and other pertinent articles. I transcribed the interview so he could review it. He only had one change because in their interviews they prefer not to have published information about future projects, so only one item was omitted.

I submitted the interview to a magazine for Steely Dan fans called Metal Leg. They published it and called it "one of the best interviews we've ever published." I'm hoping it will someday be included on their website at

http://www.granatino.com/sdresource/mllist.htm The title of the article is "Woodstock Warren."

From: Lois Rotella

The answer to question is so many.

I love to research family genealogy. I got hook on it when I saw Roots the Movie. It got me thinking I didn't really know much about the family. I also love doing crafts of all kind. I do scrapbooks now. I am taking the old pictures and putting them into scrap pages and explaining the who's and what's. That is fun. Right now I am compiling a scrapbook recipes book from relatives of my great niece as a wedding or bridal shower gift. It is a lot of work but fun. I also love to crochet. My mom showed me how and she learned from my grandmother Bentley Gagne. My grandmother was a whiz at sewing and natting. She would look at a picture and make it. It amazed me how she did it.

I think my best hobby is getting together with family and making things. When ever I get with my niece we would go to the craft store and make something. She showed how to make albums with fabric and now she tells me I took over. Ha Ha.

From: Connie (Harris) Farrington

I have been quilting and doing genealogy since the mid-1960's when my children were 1, 2, and 3. I've published several genealogical manuscripts, delivered several genealogical lectures in CT and NY, and taught several genealogy classes.

I like to think I'm a quilt artist out on the lunatic fringe of the quilting world. The last several have been humorous quilts about women. Most are about 7 ft X 7 ft. I compete internationally for prize money in the Art Quilt category, mailing my quilts all over the country. Since I only produce a quilt about every year and a half, it doesn't provide much income but does provide a lot of self-entertainment. I also lecture about my quilts and teach workshops when the opportunity arises. (Connie's Monet)

From: Philip Harris

I have a lot of things I like to do. I am a licensed square dance caller. I am now calling and teaching square dancing in the park we are staying in here in Bradenton, Florida. I also like writing. My book "Moses of the Barkeaters" was fun to do. I have another book that I have completed but not yet published. I keep going back to revise it. My love in the summer is my garden in Harrisena. I love to work the soil and watch things grow. I will have 300 strawberry plants this year to harvest berries from. I must be nuts. If you want strawberries in June, see me. Wanda and I love our dancing. We dance 3 nights a week.

From: Renee (Harris) Zamora

I guess everyone should know by now that I enjoy doing genealogy. I first started working on my genealogy when I was about 13. I took a class in church on it. I am LDS (Mormon) so that sparked my interest. I lived near two cemeteries that have my ancestors buried in them. I wanted to know who they were and how they were related to me. Plus, growing up in the community of Harrisena, which is after my maiden name, created a real interest in those ancestors preceding me. Right now I am disabled with Fibromyalgia so my spare time or should I say my coherent times are spent working on my website, genealogy, and scrapbook. I also like to crochet, and to date I have donated 26, 7 foot tropical bandages to our churches humanitarian project. It's one thing I can stay in bed and do. I also enjoy cooking when I feel up to it. I like to cook things from scratch and am trying to gather a food supply for tasty simple things.

From: Jenny (Glick) McMurray

I love to read. I have started a book club with a few members(most of which are family members). If you recommend a book to read, I'll usually get it that day and have it read in no time. I am a beginner quilter. I have been working on the same quilt for about 5 years. I am near the end and it really shows that I am a beginner. I still love to sing, but only at home. Liam loves to sing along now with me with a beautiful aah sound. I love crafts and I am trying to do more scrap booking. I enjoy making jam in the summer and for the first time canned peaches and salsa. I love berry picking and would love to go to Grandpa's and help him with his!!

From: Lucy Welden

I like to do crafts that don't require a lot of using my right hand, I can do some flower arranging, make door arrangements etc., read articles in magazines, walking spending time with my dogs and cats. I like to travel, play bingo, go to casinos, go out to eat, picnics and family outings.

From: Heidi McDuff

My number one favorite thing to do is sew. When I was 10 years old Aunt Millie (Harris) taught me how to sew a nightgown and Barbie clothes. I will be forever grateful to her for the patience she had to teach me. I can still hear her saying to me "you can do it" and "you did a great job". I enjoyed the time Aunt Millie spent teaching me and I still enjoy sewing....even though now days there is little time in my life to sew and it is cheaper to buy clothing than make it.

I also write in a journal / diary everyday. I have done this since I was 14 years old.

From: Joyce Eggleston

I play the piano, took lessons for quite a few years but I don't play too much anymore. I like to do colored pencil art and word search puzzles. Keeps my mind going.

From: Marie Zamora

I sing, play the guitar, draw, make websites, do photography, stuff like that..

From: Linda Smith

According to Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary, "A person with a hobby was thought to pursue a favorite pastime or obsession with the single-minded zeal of a child riding a hobbyhorse". That is where the word "hobby" originated. So, in light of that, I guess I'd have to say that my hobbies are Georgia's Junior Miss Scholarship Program, genealogy, and Boggle.

In addition, I like to put together jigsaw puzzles, go to the gym (some times more than others!), and read mysteries–medical, legal, and light-hearted. My favorite authors are Patricia Cornwell, John Grisham, Karin Slaughter, Kathy Reichs, Robin Cook, Diana Mott Davidson, and Tamar Myers. Does anybody 'out there' like any of these authors? If so, maybe we are "kindred spirits"!