Hey David,

One of our neighbors was the head coach of the New York Giants at the time, a guy named Jim Lee Howell... Same type of guy as your Captain Brushett, I always took a bit more care when doing his yard (grin). Howell's teams won a championship or two, but he's probably best known for the 2 assistant coaches he helped begin their careers: some guy named Vince Lombardi, and another named Tom Landry...

Probably few things better exemplify how times have changed since my youth... These days, head coaches of NFL teams don't live in middle class neighborhoods, and probably spend $5K/month on landscaping services...

Great to hear from you, David... What are your plans for this summer? I'm hoping to make a trip back up your way again, further north hopefully... Looks like a picked the wrong year, however, with all the record ice. Sounds like the Strait of Belle Isle may not open up until late summer, at the current rate, we shall see...

Any chance you might make it over to Cape Breton, or thereabouts? Keep us posted, it would be great to run into you guys again...

Coach Howell, in the middle below, also bought his Christmas wreath from me each year (grin) Lombardi and Landry are the 2 on the left, wound up with 375 wins and 7 NFL Championships between them...

best regards,

Jon