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Charlie Campbell Tribute

  It has been a whirlwind few weeks. One  father's friends from high school passed away earlier and we made an expected trip down to Murrells Inlet for the celebration of life. They have kept in touch over the years. Charlie moved around a lot during his eighty plus year his roots remained n Allendale, NJ! He and his wife Bev were a fixture a t DeeDee and Anth ony's Fourth of July Parties. I   know their kids,John and Annie.Charlie also had to sons from a previous marriage and it was recently discovered he has another daughter. Charlie was the CEO of several companies, like Floor Shine shoes and Munsingwear, a golf clothing company.  The family moved around a lot from  Allendale,NJ to  Connecticut to Minnesota before finally  settling in Murrells Inlet SC, founding the Dead Dog Saloon, a fixture on the Murrells Inlet Marshwalk, he later built the Claw House next door. Ironically Charlie and Bev brought a second house in Cape May which meant I spen...
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Slow August---NOT

I was just looking at posts I made the last few years and it seems every August I hit a "slow time" for writing on justinmattes.com. Some might think it's because there's not much going on, but in reality there's a lot going on. So much that I have a hard time finding the time, or the energy, to write about it all. Let's see here I think we'll try something new here...
Well the very first day of August I had the Stony Point Lighthouse Activation...this time I was ready with my YAESU radio to do PSK. Even though I only made 19 contacts, the day couldn't have been better. Unlike the rest of the summer the weather was perfect, sunny low humidity and a light breeze off the Hudson River. The group we had was perfect it included 90% of the 10-70 Board and some geust operators. We had a blast and again vowed to make the trip again next year. Although with Howie moving to Reno, it might be tricky. A little aside I did write an article about the day's activities so I managed to slip a writing project in as well.
The next weekend was the big Woodcliff Lake Fire Dept Wetdown of their new ladder truck. So I did take some good shots and had fun with the guys. Again great weather was a real bonus and the shots I took were great. I even got invited for a hardy steak dinner afterwards
I recouped from that outing with my yearly trip up to see Gail and Michael. Gail is one of my former high school teachers. However since I actually met her before high school (she accompanied me on the 8th grade trip to Boston) she let me call her Gail.. Anyway her husband Mike is a photographer and he had a show to do the weekend I went up so I help them setup and take down. It is always nice t o see them and it gets me out of dad's hair.
Then a week after returning from Deposit, Sean ands I went to the Loggins and Messina concert which is when I broke down and wrote an entry! We had gotten the tickets back in the spring so this was a long time coming....and as you read well worth the wait. I had to break my silence for that event
Then to cap off the month I attende kMike and Karolina's wedding. Mike has been my brother Petey's friend since grade school. I have watched him grow up just like all of Pete's friends. Imagine my surprise when they invited me to their wedding. I was touched by the gesture. It was very exciting and we all had a great time!
Well there it is, all in one single post!!!! How's that for a recap?

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