Chit-Chat: City residents make beautiful music together

By: Merle Citron
   Born and raised in Lambertville, Lisa Durburow Chouteau, Emmy-award winning TV producer, and her husband, Marcel Chouteau, of New Hope have a lot to shout about!
   Marcel and his band, House of Swank, just came out with a CD that has received very positive reviews. To top is all off, most of the House of Swank band members are local. Marcel plays the ukulele and does most of the arranging. Lead singer Robin Terrault is from Lambertville and is married to Pat Terrault, who plays the harmonica and does the sound at their gigs. Lambertville’s Bob Deverell plays the guitar and over the years has designed many of the Shad Festival T-shirts.
   Matt Kohut plays the upright bass and lives in Trenton. J.P. Wasicko, who plays the drums, lives in the ‘ville. By the way, he just got married to Falecia Kent, a waitress at the Inn of the Hawke.
   Another drummer in the band is Lambertvillian Max Crandall. New Hope resident Jim Stagnitto plays the flugel horn. Last, but not least, is Steve Peckman, who plays the sax. Needless to say, this group makes beautiful music together!
   Last month Terry Kintzel and Dawn Bigley worked at Sneddon’s while the restaurant was closed.
   Terry related the following story: "So Dawn is working down in the basement, and I’m standing on the sidewalk outside the restaurant, talking to her through the basement doors. No one could see Dawn from where I stood so I suppose I did look a bit strange to the woman who came over to me, patted my back and said over and over again, ‘It will be OK, honey. It’s gonna be okay.’ "
   Terry was startled. She told the woman, "Hey, I’m really talking to someone in the basement, but the woman kept repeating, ‘It will be OK, honey, really.’ "
   More Sneddon stories.
   A few weeks ago, Aaron and Eileen Sneddon’s daughter, Emma, celebrated her second birthday.
   Jackie Sneddon, Aaron’s mom, thought it would be fun to rent an Elmo costume for the occasion. Marlene Lynch, Jackie’s sister, donned the costume and was an immediate hit. She was such a hit they decided Elmo should stand on Bridge Street. She nearly caused a riot!
   Jackie giggled, "Cars slowed down and blew their horns. People pushed their kids out of the cars yelling, ‘Look! It’s Elmo!’ Tuesdee and I sat in my car watching Marlene do her Elmo bit. It was unbelievable. Then we drove to Cavallo Park where Marlene, still in costume, got on a swing. A youngster on the monkey bars couldn’t believe his eyes and started screaming, "Oh, my god, my god, it’s Elmo!"
   Jackie told me during that hot day, five different people wore the Elmo costume, much to the delight of parents and children.
   When I saw him last week, John Patterson was mighty proud of his wife, Doreen.
   "Doreen made dean’s list at Raritan Valley Community College," he told me. "She was really surprised when she found out."
   John and Doreen and their two children live on North Main Street. Now that the kids can take care of themselves, Doreen is doing what she never had the chance to do before. She is going to college to get her degree. You go, girl!
   "Uncle" Charlie Lipsen and his wife, Norma, who is a learning consultant, live in Solebury.
   Charlie started teaching at South Hunterdon in 1959, the year the school was built. This means almost every student who attended South had Uncle Charlie as his teacher.
   Mr. Lipsen was a teacher who genuinely loved kids. His students were an extension of his family.
   Charlie retired a few years ago and does admit he enjoys it.
   "Now that I’m retired," he confided, "I get to do everything that I never had time to do, like gardening and cooking."
   By the way, the Bucks County Council of Boy Scouts recently awarded Charlie the Silver Beaver, the highest award given to a scout leader. He also just received his 25-year service pin for scouting.
   Congratulations, Charlie, you deserve the honor. You have given a great deal to others through the years.
   These days, Joan Rose Spiegel, wife of Herb Spiegel of Clinton Street, can be found power walking along the towpath in preparation for her three-day, 60-mile walk to raise funds to fight breast cancer.
   Next month, Joan will be part of a large group of people, who will begin walking in New York State and finish in New York City.
   You’ll know Joan when you see her on the towpath. She’s the one carrying a water bottle and wearing a backpack, sweatband, biker’s shorts, sturdy sneakers and a warm smile. Go get ’em, Joan!
   She had enough and couldn’t stay home anymore — the boredom was killing her.
   Mary McCloughan is very glad to be back at work at United Trust Bank. Two months ago, Mary unluckily fell off of her back porch, breaking one ankle and severely spraining the other. That’s the bad news.
   The good news is Mary wasn’t able to do much during those two months. Thus, her husband, David, did all the cooking, food shopping, cleaning and the laundry.
   "Yup, he did it all," Mary told me, "and he’s thrilled that I’m back on my feet and back to work. I kept telling him, ‘David, welcome to my world!’ He’s a great husband, who is always helpful but the poor guy was shocked when he got a real dose of what it’s really like."
   John Walsh, New Hope’s irrepressible impresario, and his lovely wife, Sylvia, stopped to talk.
   Sylvia told me she and John are hard at work on their 30th Musical Fireworks. During the past eight years, in order to raise funds for the New Hope-Solebury Public Library, John has brought 128 musical performers to the New Hope-Lambertville area and has raised nearly $100,000 for the library.
   If that’s not enough to be proud of, John was just selected to be a member of the Lake Placid Hall of Fame for figure skating. Wow, he was Sonya Henie’s skating partner for two years!
   "And you?" I asked Sylvia.
   "Oh, my background isn’t nearly as exciting as John’s," she told me with a shrug of her shoulders. "I was in men’s underwear for 15 years in Philadelphia at the Franklin Men’s Shop."
   "And that’s where I found her," John added.
   I did not pursue this line of conversation.
   While some may have discovered the find of their dreams in Lambertville during "Sparkle Week," Karen Kurti of Rocktown Road found no joy this season.
   "I just think that I have bad ‘Sparkle Week’ karma," she confided. "I found nothing, and I really shopped around."
   Perk up Karen, there’s always next year.
   And there you have it folks. Today marks the one-year anniversary of a little chit and a little chat.