New Years Celebration At The Finch's Home

Did You Know? - Richard Carleton Sirrine built this house for his kids when he owned the surrounding property. Richard was born in Port Henry, N.Y., Dec. 21, 1918.

He grew up in Port Henry and graduated from Port Henry High School. He entered the Signal Corp. on Oct. 3, 1940. On Jan. 4, 1946, he was honorably discharged as master sergeant, communications technician. He attended the Rennsselaer Polytechnic Institute and earned a bachelors of science and a masters of science in Physics.

On July 22, 1943, Richard married Eleanor Virtine Fadden. On Nov. 24, 1950, they had a daughter, Jessica. During that time, he earned a doctorate in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois.

He was one of the first graduate students to work in John Bardeen's semi-conductor laboratory. Since that time, his career path included positions with Sylvania, General Electric, Motorola and in 1962, the Lincoln Laboratory (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

Richard was also an inventor. He had two patents for semi-conductors and transistors. His professional achievements include involvement in the growth of the semiconductor industry and integrated circuit technology.

In 1970, he became one of the officers of a new company, Western Digital Corporation originally called General Digital Corporation in Orange County, Calif.

After retirement, Richard and Eleanor traveled the world. They lived in Cuernavaca, Mexico to learn Spanish; a suburb of France to learn French and Brazil to learn Portuguese.

Quotation To Remember: "A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you." ― Elbert Hubbard

Quotation To Remember: "There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate." ― Linda Grayson

Did You Know? - Desert Pink or "Mountbatten Pink" was used on several aircraft. Reducing reflected light and making aircraft less visible from a distance, a number of RAF aircraft were painted Desert Pink (or similar tones) during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. The paint used was washable, so it could be easily removed.

Quotation To Remember: "It's the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter." ― Marlene Dietrich

Quotation To Remember: "I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light." ― Helen Keller

Quotation To Remember: "Stay is a charming word in a friend's vocabulary." ― Amos Bronson Alcott

Did You Know? - The term cottage pie or shepherds pie is known to have been in use in 1791, when the potato was being introduced as an edible crop affordable for the poor (cf. "cottage" meaning a modest dwelling for rural workers).

In early cookery books, the dish was a means of using leftover roasted meat of any kind, and the pie dish was lined with mashed potato as well as having a mashed potato crust on top.

The term "shepherd's pie" did not appear until 1877, and since then it has been used synonymously with "cottage pie", regardless of whether the principal ingredient was beef or mutton.

Quotation To Remember: "Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over."― Gloria Naylor

Quotation To Remember: "No friendship is an accident. " ― O. Henry,