The Week in Photos: A Special Vow Renewal, Two Lifelong Friends, a Boat Incident, Myrtle the Turtle and More

This week in photos includes a wedding vow renewal with a 50-year backstory. Back in 1976, my mom, Mary Johnson, played for the wedding of Sharon Tompkins and Gary Husted at Old Mission Peninsula United Methodist Church (known then as Ogdensburg UMC). Sharon is part of the Tompkins family that goes back many generations on the Peninsula.

Her parents were Bruce and Joan Tompkins. Her grandparents were Oliver and Bess Tompkins, who lived next to what is now Old Mission Tavern (though back then it was a Case tractor place, owned by the Dohm family, I believe). One of Sharon’s siblings, Karyl Tompkins, passed away in 1966, and the trail through the woods at Old Mission Peninsula School was built in honor of Karyl. My sister-in-law Sherie Boursaw was part of the class that built it, and we’re planning to do a video over there soon.

I still attend the Methodist church where I watched Mom play the organ for decades. As my friend Jamie Jamieson says, Mom “married ’em and buried ’em!” So when Pastor Andrea Johnson asked if I was available to play for Sharon and Gary’s 50th wedding anniversary vow renewal, of course I said yes! It was a full circle moment when Sharon said to me that day, “You look just like your mom.”

I often feel Mom’s presence when I play my violin in church on Sunday, and I certainly did the day I played for their vow renewal with my friend Michele on piano. I love living where I was born, and these moments are just one of the many reasons why.

At the top of this story is a photo of Mary Lyon and Karen Buchan, posted on Facebook by Lyon Farm and Vineyards. “We took Grandma Mary to Buchan’s Blueberry Hill yesterday for the best ice cream around, and also to see old friends. Two 5th generation farms still going strong thanks to our local community!” Thank you for the photo of these two pillars of the Old Mission Peninsula community!

Also this week in photos: our new County Clerk Sam Gedman, who takes over for the retiring Bonnie Scheele (he attended this week’s Township Board meeting); a beautiful flag and tractor at Little Long Ears Provisions (why, yes, this WILL be in the 2027 photo calendar, available next week); a drifting-boat incident in East Bay (all turned out well thanks to quick work by Bluff Road neighbors and the Coast Guard); Myrtle, our neighborhood turtle who sometimes needs help crossing the road and/or getting out of the drainage ditch; Sandy the Toad, who hangs out on my deck; and a monsoon that had me sheltering in place at the Cut-Across (corner of Center Road and Smokey Hollow Road).

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