Your monthly Jerrems News
SIBLING RIVALRIES ARTICLE
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Introduction
Having previously published serious stories about my wife’s convict forbears we now turn to a light hearted article about the adventures of our Editor Donald, his extended family and some distant relatives, all living in the United States.
Here is an aerial photo of the condo in which our editor Donald and his wife Sharon now live until their new house construction is completed. Donald particularly likes the fact that he can walk out his front door to The Lake Club (pictured) and have the choice of three swimming pools, including an infinity pool.
The impetus for this article came from Donald and Sharon’s decision to move from North Carolina (on the eastern seaboard of the United States) in a southerly direction to Georgia, and for Donald and Sharon to continue to enjoy their retirement (with their two cats) in the manner to which they expect to become accustomed.
Although by relocating to Florida they would have been closer to family and friends, this did not hold the necessary appeal. They felt that they needed to get away from traffic and sub-urbanization.
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Sibling rivalries, especially when it comes to fishing
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The black and white photo was taken in summer 1956 and shows (from left to right) Donnie, Scottie, Alec holding Warren, Susan and Friend in front of Anglers Lodge on Anna Maria Island on the west coast of Florida.
Readers will see later that I have detected signs of sibling rivalries between Donald and his siblings who all live in Florida. In the blue corner we have Donald, and in the red corner we have Susan, Warren and Alec and their families.
In more detail, we have
(a)Donald and wife Sharon
(b)Alec and wife Darlene
(d)Susan and husband Didier, daughter Vanessa
(e)Warren and wife Mia, daughters Jacqueline and Olivia.
Not included is Scott, who passed away in 1999.
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All Jerrems Photo: The color photo below shows (from right to left) Darlene with husband Alec, Mia with husband Warren, Sharon in middle, sisters Olivia and Jacqueline, Susan, and Donald (overweight in yellow shirt).
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Donald and Sharon lived in North Carolina, until last month
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Donald (who was born in 1942, like myself) and Sharon lived for 24 years in North Carolina, with Donald carrying out work as a computer consultant, not to mention publishing the Jerrems Journal for 14 years. Sharon retired in 2015 after a 44 year banking career. Donald often frequented a nearby club and golf course. Recently they decided to move south to Georgia.
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Donald and Sharon rent a condo on an inland lake
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Here is an aerial view of the condo and inset the secret fishing location.
Actually my wife Diane and I are extremely jealous because in recent years we have been watching a television show called Lakefront House Search, which features properties on freshwater lakes in the United States, where the houses are on land owned by a cooperative or condominium (hence the word “condo”).
For an annual fee the condo provides a range of facilities. These condos have looked very tempting to us, heightened by the fact that we do not have anything comparable in Australia. Most of our major freshwater lakes (except for the Snowy Scheme) are used for town water supply and development on the lakes is forbidden.
In this instance Donald and Sharon are renting a condo at Reynolds, on Lake Oconee in Georgia (85 miles east of Atlanta) while a new house is under construction.
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The origin of the lake is that a dam (Wallace Dam) was built by Georgia Power in 1979 across the Oconee River. The lake is 77 square kilometres in area and has a maximum depth of 69 metres.
Reynolds is one of a number of lakeside communities in the area south of Greensboro and north of Eatonton. Historic Greensboro, the nearest town to Reynolds, has a population of about 4000.
The Reynolds facilities
Reynold’s 12,000 acres with 2800 rooftops include an infinity pool (pictured at the start of the article), clubhouses, fitness center, tennis courts, marinas, and six golf courses and ranges. The community is residential for full and part-timer workers, retirees, and vacationers seeking a resort destination.
Donald goes for activities in the first month
In June Donald told us that:
- “We have some sort of a routine and are fairly active, as follows:
- I have been swimming in the Lake Club pools every day.
- I’ve practiced my golf at the Oconee golf range almost every day. My swing is really rusty after a year off.
- We have been to all the Reynold’s clubs for dinner or lunch.
- I have resumed my yoga classes.
- We had dinner with long-time friends from the 1960’s, Bob and Jean Schoen. I am playing golf with them on July 5th. I need to get my game respectable.
- Last Saturday I played flag football with small kids. Four person teams. Two hours. Lot of fun.
- I jumped off the big boulder on the shore of the lake on May 25 when we went out on Bob’s boat. I look forward to the next jump”.
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Here is a photo of the big boulder Donald is talking about. Readers with good eyesight will immediately notice that the person jumping is not Donald.
Jumping off the boulder seems to be a rite of passage for people living on the lake, including Donald.
A distinguishing feature of such boulders is that they do not occur in places where Donald’s siblings live, such as Florida which is bound by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the west side, both of which have sandy beaches. The best they could do would be to jump off a bridge or a wharf.
The boulder therefore provides an ideal source of “one-upmanship” for Donald.
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Donald and Sharon make friends
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Donald soon found kindred spirits who liked boating and golfing. In particular he met Ron Willis, who took him fishing. Here is what Donald told his siblings:
“After a chit-chat he invited me to go fishing with him the following morning on Lake Oconee.
On Thursday at 7:00 AM we met (with his dog, Alamo) at the dock behind my condo. He has a “Ranger 15″ fishing boat fully loaded with a 250 HP Evinrude motor in back and electric motor in front. I sat in the back-bucket seat, Ron in the front. I brought the spinning outfit my brother, Alec, sent me as a gift.
Ron is a member of the Reynolds fishing club, and has been fishing the lake for 12 years. He helped me with my end tackle. He baited my line using a ”Texas rig” to affix a plastic worm to the oddly-shaped hook.
Initially we didn’t need to go far, 60 yards to the dock across the waterway. To catch the bass, Ron advised that I cast close to the shoreline near the rocks or seawalls. The bass are lazy so you need to drop the worm in front of them.”
On the tenth cast Donald caught a two pound bass.
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Donald tells his siblings about his fish
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Here is a photo of an ecstatic Donald holding the two-pound bass which he had caught. For reasons which will become apparent, I think Donald (a very experienced fisherman) is hamming it up.
He made the mistake of telling his siblings. His brother Warren came back with that old fishing riposte as follows (with my emphasis added):
“No scoffing from Gulf Breeze. We like to target those 2 pounders also, though usually for bait.”
To rub this in, several days later Warren had big news about his fishing near Pensacola, which is on the Gulf of Mexico.
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Here is Warren’s news:
“Just to catch everyone up on the Pensacola Fishing news and since we’re sharing pictures, attached is a picture of
Mia
with the largest Cobia we caught this morning. We boated 18 Cobia on light tackle, only two of which were keepers. I’m now up to 43 cobia in the last 6 weeks. Also attached is a picture of
Olivia
with a red snapper. Since the opening of snapper season on June 11th, 11 different fishermen have contributed to bringing 40 red snapper back to the dock, limit two per person on 6 different fishing trips. Needless to say, the fishing is white hot in Pensacola right now.
Maybe after a visit to Reynolds Plantation the Jerrems clan could stop by Pensacola for a visit also. While I don’t have a big rock to jump off, I do have a dock.”
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Obviously miffed by Warren’s satire about the small size of his two-pound bass, Donald reached again into the annals of big game fishing with the following account of catching an even bigger bass:
“Friends and Jerrems Family (saltwater types)
I know you are skeptical of my fishing skills, but maybe you will change your mind.
At 6:30 AM I went to my favorite fishing hole (an undisclosed location). I used my 8′ pole and spinning outfit that Alec gave me. I was casting with a patented black plastic worm called Salty Super Fluke with a really attractive motion in the water. (I shouldn’t be telling all my fishing secrets.)
On the 25th or so cast into the shallows I had a serious strike. I had to horse him away from the underwater branches. He tried to run but I had my tip up. I could tell he was a big bass. After an epic battle, I finally lifted the humbled bass to the shore. In the process, the tip of my pole broke; it is now 7.5 ‘.
I had trouble getting the hook off. Eventually being photo bombed and released, the embarrassed fish swam away.
Best estimate: it was nearly 3 pounds.”
Hurray, the pride of the Jerrems Oconee anglers has been restored and Donald’s Gulf Breeze siblings have been put firmly in their place! And he notes that bass are smarter fish than cobia.
I wonder what Warren has up his sleeve to regain the upper hand in the Jerrems Family Great Fishing Debate? Will he be able to come up with a better answer to “The Fish That Got away”, and will he be able to trump Donald about the Oconee Big Boulder. Only time will tell, and I will tell you immediately if this happens!
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What would Scott think about the Great Fishing Debate?
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Scott, who as previously mentioned passed away in 1999, was recognised by his siblings as being the consummate fisherman and conservationist. I am sure that he would be highly amused by The Great Fishing Debate if he was here.
Scott will be remembered in a future article.
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Meanwhile, while we are waiting for the next salvo in the Jerrems Sibling Rivalries debate, on the other side of the United States we have Donald’s distant cousin Cathy Jerrems who loves trout fishing and, as recounted in the Jerrems Journal of May 2007, caught the trout shown in the above photo.
But who had caught the biggest fish?
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The Chicago Jerrems family enjoys the lakeside
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Here is a photo of Donald’s great great grandfather Nicoll the tailor, his grandfather Donald and his great aunt Annie (two of Annie’s descendants, Alison and Susan Healy, are Journal readers).
In a sense Donald and Sharon’s move to the lakeside was a case of history repeating itself because Donald’s great grandfather William George Jerrems originally bought a house on
Lake Geneva,
Wisconsin, north of Chicago. Donald’s grandfather Donald and siblings including Annie (later Annie Healy) would spend their summer holidays at the Lake, and later Annie and her family would continue this routine.
Donald remembers the Healy’s house from 1946!
One winter day, his family walked to the house across the road out onto frozen Lake Geneva to visit fishermen dropping a line thru a hole in the ice. It was really cold. He also wonders if he met Annie back then when she lived across the road.
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Earlier I mentioned Donald and Sharon’s cats. I am pleased to announce that Zazzy and Kallie survived the long move and adjusted to the condo, but it took a few days.
The cats have also taken the “sibling rivalries” debate in their stride, demonstrated by their very relaxed sleeping positions.
Kallie, on the left, is a typically striped “moggy” (the term used in Australia), reminding me of our current “moggy” cats and their predecessors who date back over the last 40 years.
The most famous cat in Australia’s history is “Trim”, a ship’s cat who accompanied Matthew Flinders on his famous voyage circumnavigating and mapping the coastline of Australia in 1801–03. Trim was named after the character in Tristram Shandy, a novel by Laurence Stern. A statue of Trim was placed outside the NSW Public Library in 1985.
I would be interested in hearing from readers about their cats, or cat stories.
Conclusion
Don:
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the family fishing saga started in the spring of 1949 when our family moved from the Chicago area to Sarasota. That summer, our father took Alec and I out on rental boats into the bay to fish . The area was quite undeveloped at the time, so the fish were easily catch-able. Later when we moved to nearby Bradenton our childhood summers were spent on Anna Maria Island fishing from the piers, inlets and family boat.
In the 1970’s Scott and Warren became proficient snook fishermen (snook are the favorite game fish) in the nearby creeks and Manatee River. Alec continues to fish in Sarasota Bay from his kayak, which has been uplifted by a swimming Manatee. And, Susan’s husband, Didier, an avid fisherman is quick to launch his boat in the neighborhood bayou or surf-fishing off the beaches (when he is not golfing).
Ray:
I hope you enjoyed this light-hearted departure from my usual serious articles. I wish you “good fishing”
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