SHARES NAME(S) WITH SOMEONE NOTABLE/FAMOUS
TOM BROWN
Our TOM BROWNs share their name with fashion designer, Thom Browne. They are all looking particularly dapper in the photos below.
ESTHER KENYON
By happenstance, I came to find out that ESTHER KENYON was the name of a prominent member of the Narragansett Indian Tribe. Portrait of Esther Kenyon presented by Reed College (Portland, Oregon), contains the following caption: Esther Kenyon, the last of the royal Narragansetts, and sister of ‘King Tom’ Ninigret. She was the last of the tribe to be crowned here. An eye witness wrote: ‘When the crown was put on the soldiers fired a royal salute, and huzzaed in the Indian tongue. The ceremony was imposing.’
There’s a lot to unpack and learn about this woman and her tribe but for now I’m just appreciating the past tense use of “huzzah.”
NORMA JEAN
Our NORMA JEAN shares her name/s with a very famous Norma Jean(e) Yes, that other Norma Jean has an “e” at the end of her middle name. For anyone not following, the other Norm Jean(e) is better known as Marilyn Monroe.
FOURTH
I couldn’t come up with a FOURTH, can you?
MID NAME FRM HILLMAN/CUMMISKEY GRND/GRTGRND PARENT
DAVE
MOLLY
MEGAN J
JANICE
DAVE‘s middle name is Francis which was his great-grandfather’s name (Francis Cummiskey).
MOLLY‘s middle name is Claire as is MEGAN J‘s. In Molly’s case, this is her great-grandmother’s name, for Megan J, her grandmother’s.
JANICE‘s middle name is Lea which was her grandmother Esther (Hillman) Kenyon’s maiden name.
HAD PICTURE TAKE WITH RI’S INDEPENDENT MAN IN 1975
DAN BLAIS
NANCY
BILL
JACKIE BLAIS
In 1975, Rhode Island’s Independent Man (as in the statue atop the state house) was removed for repair work. The statue, first installed in 1899, had undergone repairs previously but had never been removed for such work. In 1975, much of the repair work was done in Johnston and primarily involved replacing gold leaf. Once the work was complete, the statue went on display at the Warwick Mall where members of the public were offered the opportunity to have pictures taken with the 1,400 pound, 14-foot statue. At some point during this mall display/photo opportunity, Nancy and Bill along with Jackie and Dan Blais went to the mall and had their photo taken in front of the statue.
The idea behind the mall display and photos was that the monies collected from photo sales would help offset upcoming events to be held in honor of the country’s bicentennial in 1976. However, things are rarely simple. While the statue did appear at the Warwick Mall for a short time, there was opposition to the plan by business owners in Newport, Cranston, and Woonsocket (law suits were filed) as they felt the state artifact was providing the Warwick Mall undue benefit and advantage.
There is also the added layer of state law at the time preventing retailers from making Sunday sales of anything other than convenience items. Here, the issue wasn’t the sale of photos specifically, it was much bigger than that. First off, understand the law was unpopular with just about everyone – consumers and retailers alike. In December 1975 the malls decided to open their doors to the public on Sundays with little to no effort of limiting sales to convenience items. This resulted in record breaking traffic to the malls that holiday season and put a lot of pressure on then Governor Philip Noel. He was already accused of favoritism by allowing the Warwick Mall sole “display rights,” but allowing the malls to then blatantly disregard long-standing Sunday sales laws was adding insult to injury for many.
Ultimately, Noel ordered the statue to be removed from the mall and returned to the state house where it remained on display in the retail-free rotunda until it was returned to the capitol dome in July 1976.
SOME OF CLAIRE’S SIBLINGS
BOB
TOM/JOE
CHARLIE
JANE
If you are of my generation, you may know/recognize the names of some of Claire’s siblings. If you are of one of the younger generations, you should have done the Aunts and Uncles puzzles back in August. I’m not scolding…really, I’m not… just sayin’ (with a little attitude maybe).
So, anyway, Claire had six brothers, among them BOB, TOM (sometimes called JOE – his middle name was Joseph), and CHARLIE. Brothers not used in this puzzle were Bill, Jim, John.
Claire had two younger sisters, JANE and Eileen. Below is a photo of Eileen and Jane (on the right). Note: I’ve been told this is Eileen and Jane. I don’t doubt Eileen at all but I was never sure if it is Jane on the right. I don’t think it looks like Claire so Jane makes sense. Also, she reminds me of Karen here.
10 responses to “September 13, 2025 – Puzzle Discussion”
I should have had the text in the middle name grouping paragraph above identify Grandma Kenyon as “Esther Hillman Kenyon” since the grouping indicates the middle name comes from a grandparent/great-grandparent from the Hillman/Cummiskey lines. Having her name appear as Kenyon may have confused some. Apologies.
And for the record, Bill’s middle name is Francis – after his grandfather but I was using Bill in another group because I’m sneaky like that.
Only got the one with me in it. Didn’t even get close with the other ones.
Did you actually have a clue as to what the grouping was or did it just “make sense” that those four people would be in a grouping?
Okay Wow! Where do you come up with these pictures! So many I’ve never seen!
You got me on this one…no clue! Actually I thought Bill, Dan, Jackie, Nancy went together and then decided it was too obvious and then never even tried it!
Interesting read about our Grandmother and the Narragansett Indians.
Also didn’t remember all that about the independent man at the Mall!
I got none of these but seriously amazing pictures!!!!
Was there a replica of the Independent Man in the mall long after the real one was because I remember it being there and I am sure I don’t remember it from when I was one!
That is the cutest picture of Muffin! And that Esther Kenyon looks just like Amber, Sheila and Kevin!
Oh, can I see Piper in that Esther photo!
Sarah, the owner of the mall had a replica made in ‘75/76. It was indoors until food court revisions at which time it was moved outdoors – near the food court entrance.
Oh yeah. It’s still out there now isn’t it!!
I can picture one in like a fountain or garden area in the lower level of RI mall. Was that a thing?
It’s still out there as far as I know but at Warwick Mall – was never at RI/Midland Mall.
Great pictures this week. Loved the one with the Independent Man.
Really interesting information about the Sunday shopping laws. Did not remember it at all.
I knew Marilyn Monroe was Norma Jeane. Did not know about extra e.