Daily Five: A Determined Tank Driver Makes A Tree

1. Today there is a slight chance of showers in the afternoon, with a high around 65, according to the National Weather Service. Tonight there is a slight chance of showers until 9, with a low around 45, according to the service.

2. I’m back! Your friendly, energetic Patch Editor Paul Petrone is back after a four-day hiatus in Florida. There, we celebrated my grandmother’s 95th birthday, and she is still as beautiful and as smart as she ever was.

A quick side note. My grandfather was a Jewish tank driver in World War II, and was driving through the Netherlands when he saw the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, and demanded the tank be stopped.

She was a Catholic, and they spoke different languages, but he refused to leave with his tank. He was put in a makeshift jail for a week for insubordination, and there my grandmother visited him every day, and they fell in love.

Now, more than 65 years later, my grandfather is somewhere looking down but my grandmother is still around, with her four children, nine grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. And none of it would have been possible if that Jewish soldier didn’t stop his tank and demand to see the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. So there you go.

3. Okay, back to Waterford. Tonight, the Board of Finance meets at 7 in Town Hall. The board will review and approve budget guidelines for the 2013-14 fiscal year. And as always, there is time for public comment at the beginning of the meeting.

4. Tonight, Waterford North Little League will hold its monthly meeting in the Quaker Hill Elementary School cafeteria at 7. All parents and interested parties are encouraged to attend.

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5. On this date in 1973, U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned after being charged with income tax evasion. Gerald Ford was later appointed to fill his place. And on this date in 1845, the U.S. Naval Academy (then named the Naval School) opened in Annapolis, Md.

Quote of the Day

“I feel sorry for people who don’t drink. When they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day.”

-Frank Sinatra

Trivia of the Day

Who was the only bachelor president?

Yesterday’s Answer: The quote,  “If you build it, he will come,” is from the movie Field of Dreams.