Happy Birthday - Better Late Than Never

The infamous dual birthday party went off splendidly on 18 September. Pleep has been yelling at me since then to get the highlights up on the blog. The celebrations actually commenced Friday afternoon at the annual Berghoff Oktoberfest street party in the Loop. 

Ida's birthday aptly coincides with the official Oktoberfest in Munchen. Many of this year's revelers have journeyed with Ida to Munchen to celebrate her birthday and had also been involved in her 30th birthday party at the Berghoff fest. 

Friday turned into a long day as the crowd moved north from the Loop to the Division & Rush area. Butch McGuires back room became the base camp as various groups arrived from airports, day jobs, and dinners. The diehards made it to several other hotspots and debated the wisdom of hitting Five Faces for a gyro nightcap before turning in.

The Ambassador East Hotel was the main lodging spot for out-of-towners and in-towners who had no interest in returning to their own homes and families. In addition to the Heidkamp affiliated crowd, the Ambassador was the main hotel for two other interesting groups - the Chabbat House Hassidic Jews celebrating Yom Kippur and the Black Hip Hop Artist Convention. As you might imagine, it made for interesting encounters in elevators, lobby areas, and the bar. To top it off, the Notre Dame Club of Rome was holding a reunion in the Pump Room bar at the hotel.

The next day part of the crowd started the pre-party party at the Lux Bar on Rush Street. Someone had started a rumor that there was going to be more people and less food at the main event so they wanted to load up just in case.

The evening's festivities kicked off early at about 5:30 pm. Because everyone who ever thought about having a beer with George or Ida was invited, there was a concern about exceeding capacity. Thanks to smart planning by Alex Collins, the media room was also included in the reservation. This turned out to be especially fortunate as it provided luxury seating for the Notre Dame game.

The highpoint of the evening was Moon's dramatic reading of his tribute to George - The Life of Buddy.  (Watch this blog for potential posting of the reading.)  The lowpoint of the evening was ND's loss in overtime which resulted in a mass exodus from the party to the nearby Miller's Pub.

Defying both federal and state laws, we greatly exceeded  the number of Heidkamps allowed in one place at one time, especially during Notre Dame football games.   Thanks to a monumental effort by David Gates, event photographer and one of Alice's adopted sons, the moment was captured forever digitally--getting George with the majority of his grandchildren & a family shot of "The Troops".

For those interested in consumption statistics several cases of wine (red, white & a few bottles of rose) and about 10 cases of Anheuser Bush products (Bud, Bud Light, Bud Select) were consumed. Damages were limited to several broken cork screws all of which belonged to Alex Collins. According to Alex, her mother only provided cheap cork screws so she will not be missing them. The 49th Floor at the Park Monroe may not recover from this group for quite a while. 

Thanks to everyone who journeyed from far (London, New York, California, Boston) and near (Chicago, Cincinnati).  Your presence made the event very special for George & Ida.  George says we don't need to repeat this again for another 20 years.

The following photo montage is brought to you thanks to the Apple's Iphoto capabilities.   If you are wondering about the bike, Moon still had Ida's old Schwinn from grade school in the garage.  He thought adding the bow to it made it the perfect birthday gift.  Fortunately for Ida, who had no way to get the bike back to California, Alex was extremely excited about inheriting a bike she could ride to work, the beach and other places nearby.  (You Tube required an audio swap from the Bette Midler soundtrack used in the Apple production. If the ads show up just click on the X and they will minimize.)