Baptism of Crawford IV and NYC Trip for Marguerite and Betsy, September 2012

In early September Marguerite and her sister, Betsy McCaghren, went to Westhampton Beach, New York, for Labor Day Weekend events and then three days in New York City on a "shopping and shows" trip. The first Labor Day Weekend event was the annual Cox Family Carnival on September 1 and then Crawford Gardner Jackson IV was baptized on September 2 in the same chapel in Quogue, New York, where Grace had been baptized in 2010.

Happy Birthday Marguerite

Cox Family Carnival

The Cox Family compound is on the beach in Westhampton Beach, New York, less than a mile from the family home of Gar's wife, Chandi Neubauer. Marguerite and Betsy enjoyed spending time with both families in this charming town. Neville and Dune were married on the lawn of the Cox Family compound on May 25, 2002, and it was also a gala event. The carnival has become an annual tradition, sponsored by Dune's uncle Howard Cox, and includes entertainers, bounce houses, wonderful food, and fun for about 250 guests.

Below are photos of Gar and Crawford IV, Grace in the bounce house, Grace, and her cousins Miriam and Griffin, enjoying the special "kids food" provided for them. Betsy and Marguerite also make Halloween costumes for their families each year and you can see Betsy's oldest son, Kirk, holding Alida while we were making final alterations to the Mickey and Minnie mouse costumes for them! Betsy, in her hat, is known as "the fancy grandma" by her grandchildren, and dressed as a mime for the Carnival -- she even had her face painted!

The Baptism

Crawford Gardner Jackson IV was baptized at a lovely old Presbyterian Chapel (in Quogue, NY) with the Reverend Charles Carey conducting the service. Reverend Carey also baptized Chandi, Crawford IV's mom, when she was a child. Crawford is wearing a romper that Marguerite made from the bottom of Chandi's wedding dress. It is also hand smocked.

Crawford slept through a good bit of the service and Grace was very good. Grace is wearing a very special gold locket that was a gift to Marguerite when Gar was baptized in 1969. The locket has photos of Gar (Crawford Gardner Jackson III) and his dad, Crawford Gardner Jackson Jr. Grace is wearing the dress Marguerite made for Miriam when she was a flower girl in Gar and Chandi's wedding.

In the photo, left to right: Rommel, Grace's Godfather; Chandi's mom Karen; Chandi's dad Ralph; Betsy; Chandi's brother's girlfriend Jenn; Crawford IV's Godfather, Mike; Chandi's brother Leif; Marguerite; Chandi; Gar holding Crawford IV; and Kathleen, Crawford IVs Godmother. In front are Leif's daughter, Miriam; Grace; and Leif's son, Griffin.

Post Baptism

Following the service everyone was invited back to the Neubauer home for a delicious brunch and visit. There were about 50 people in attendance, including many of Chandi's aunts and uncles and also Betsy's son, Neville, his wife Dune, and their three children (Anne, Lachlan, and Alida). Ralph and Karen (Oma and Opa) the Neubauer grandparents, have lots and lots of toys for the kids, and lots of good food to eat too!

New York City

On Tuesday morning after Labor Day, Rommel drove Marguerite and Betsy into New York City where they had reservations at the Roosevelt Hotel, an old hotel in the Theater District. In the first photo Marguerite and Betsy are having a "ladies lunch" at the original Macy's Department Store.

During the three days, Marguerite and Betsy saw four shows: Book of Mormon, Evita with Ricky Martin, Newsies, and Once. All had gotten many Tony awards. In the top middle photo they are in the lobby of Evita where they are preparing to take their wine into the theater. They also bought CD's of the original cast recordings of both Evita and Once. Of course, Book of Mormon was the favorite! In fact, it was so good that Marguerite convinced George to go with her to a performance by the touring company on November 4 in Los Angeles.

Sardi's is an old restaurant with lots of cartoons of famous people. It is a favorite of Betsy's husband, Brent, and Betsy and Marguerite always try to have at least one meal there on their New York City trips. In top right photo they are sharing a delicious dinner there one night before going to the theater.

The Roosevelt Hotel was really good to us! After the first night of little sleep due to a loud party in the room next door, the hotel upgraded us to a lovely two-room suite (bottom left photo). That made the trip even more special! The photo on the bottom right is of the beautiful flowers in the lobby and two rather tired ladies en route to the airport home.

The middle bottom photo is in front of Rockefeller Center after a visit to FAO Swartz to buy gifts for the grandkids.

As you can see, it was a very full week and a wonderful way to end the summer!