A fly-over, circular fashion, took place at the memorial service for Dan Ortner, the pilot in a plane crash that tragically killed himself and three others, two of them children. Flight seemed to be the theme of that Monday night, as when the crowd gathered outside of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church to see the jet go, they first were fittingly buzzed by a wayward sparrow that flew just a few feet over their heads across the length of the assembly.
Later that evening, when I was leaving the house to go to a block-party turned extension-of-the-memorial that took place in the Cherry Circle cul de sac, a small bat buzzed me. Still later, dozens of balloons were let go in Dan’s honor, some big and some small, but they all eventually looked just like pins of light as they rose in the night sky. The cul de sac portion of the night was almost as well attended as the earlier service, with enough people there to fill several 747s.
Also dying in the crash were Eric Larson and boys Matthew and Michael; the memorial for them was held at the church three days earlier. The memory of the four has lived on, for most cases for over a week, in the signs on places that included haunts where the adults used to hang out. At the Village Inn in North Hudson, where Eric’s wife works as a bookkeeper, the sign simply says “Community Heartbreak.” Across the street at Kozy Korner, the moniker on the marquee read, “Word Can’t Express How Heartbroken We Are.” At Season’s Tavern in North Hudson, the well wishes were a simple “With You.” On Agave’s sign, there was a recitation of the first names, and at The Nova was the longest of the messages, starting with “Our Community Will Stand With These 4 Amazing Men ….”
— Planes and Automobiles, but no Trains. There have been some interesting former cop cars out on the street at night, as law enforcement meets up with the public in a different than usual way.
A State Patrol vehicle parked locally had only its front half still painted in the traditional blue colors and shield logo on the door. The back half had been turned into the yellow color and decals that go with, of all things, a taxi cab. Granted, this was last month, but at that time there were still some lights across the top of the vehicle, and on top of them was a “taxi” globe.
Oddly, in the same neck of the woods, one can still see parked late on the street what appears to be a former police cruiser, painted black except for some white doors, and turned into a private vehicle.
And then at Historic Casanova Liquors, things got even more historic, with a police vehicle parked in the lot that appeared to be from the Capone era — you’d think that was the now resort that’s Up North where he used to hole up. This car had only a small single light that used to flash, and it was set off to the side on top of the roof.