Hillman Family Connections

February 8, 2025 – Puzzle Discussion

CONVERTIBLES WE’VE DRIVEN

MG

Admittedly, I might be wrong on this one, but I believe Bob had an MG once upon a time…and it was a convertible? I seem to remember a trip to the Pagoda Inn with him and experiencing another attribute of that car – it didn’t have reverse. It had to be put in neutral and pushed out of parking spaces.

MINI COOPER

Last April I went to Phoenix for an art class. While I was there I rented a MINI COOPER convertible. I only had it a few days. The weird thing is, I never drove it with the top down (too hot). I really wanted to love that car, but truth be told, it was nearly impossible to see out of the rear of it (with the top up) — kind of nerve wracking.

MUSTANG

The Nickelson’s MUSTANG! First it was Jan and John’s then Sarah drove it for some time. Most recently it’s become Molly’s car. I don’t have a recent photo of Molly driving it but I love the photo below of her and Megan in it many moons ago.

MEGAN (LEFT), AND MOLLY ENJOY A LATE-SUMMER
RIDE IN THE MUSTANG (SEPTEMBER 2010)

CADDY

John’s CADDY — a gem of a car! I will be forever grateful that we got to use it in tandem with (and in contrast to) the Smart car in the chase scene in the first CvS 48 Hour movie (What a Day! What a Story!). For the record, I checked on the spelling of caddie/caddy with regard to meaning a golf assistant or shortened version of “Cadillac” — this is accurate.

BREEDS OF HORSES NEIGHBORS HAD WHEN SIBS WERE KIDS

APPALOOSA, AMERICAN QUARTER, MORGAN, FOURTH

I can neither confirm nor deny the accuracy of this beyond stating that I’m going on information I got from Jackie Blais. She confirms they did have an APPALOOSA and indicates that at least one other horse was a retired race horse, so probably an AMERICAN QUARTER Horse. Other than that, she indicated the rest of the horses were “generic.” MORGAN Horses are a fairly common breed so I included it. Knowing they didn’t have any Clydesdales or Arabians, I exhausted my horse breed options/(knowledge) and filled out the group with my wildcard FOURTH option.

TWO HORSES IN THE CORRAL..AND A DEVIL (RUSSELL) ON A GO CART

SOME EARLY JOBS

CASHIER

Michaela worked as a CASHIER at Toys R Us in Warwick. I recently found her name tag. I imagine others have been employed as cashiers that I’m either unaware of or have forgotten.

WAITRESS

COAT CHECK

Jan (and maybe Bev?) worked at The Picnic Grill (where North Kingstown Animal Hospital is now). Norma worked at a restaurant called Norman’s on Post Road near the currently located West Passage Brewery. I worked at The Corner Tavern. My hearing wasn’t much better then so I was actually a terrible WAITRESS.

Norma and Karen worked in the COAT CHECK room at the Kingston Inn in North Kingstown. For those not remembering where the Kingston Inn was, it was located where the Bank of America is now, across from Roy Boy’s Clam Shack on Post Road. I don’t recall ever going into the place so I can’t say much about it.

BELLHOP

Gil had a summer job when he was a teenager as a BELLHOP at a hotel in Narragansett. I recall seeing a photo of him in his bellhop uniform but I’m not sure who would have had it.

ADDED FEBRUARY 16, 2025 — TURNS OUT
KAREN HAD THIS PHOTO OF GIL IN HIS BELLHOP
UNIFORM – THANKS KAREN, FOR SHARING

COINS FRM PLACES WE’VE VISITED

RAND

Jay visited South Africa in 2023 to attend his half-sister’s wedding. While there he may have picked up a few RAND coins. They are available in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents.

SALUENG

The Thai 25-satang coin is sometimes referred to as a SALUENG. Laureen and Tyler most likely collected some of these during their time in Thailand.

A COMPILATION OF ELEMENTS OF THE FOUR COINS LISTED HERE.
BIRD IN UPPER LEFT FROM THE RAND, PORTION OF COIN IN UPPER RIGHT IS FROM
THE PAISA. THE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS ON THE COIN IN THE LOWER LEFT CAN BE
SEEN ON THE GAPIK, THE TEMPLE AND ELEPHANT MOTIF APPEARS ON THE SALUENG.

GAPIK

You’ll find the GAPIK in Azerbaijan. The coin is equal to 1/100th of the Azerbaijani manat. I imagine Russell and Ayida probably have some rattling around at their place.

PAISA

I’m not sure when, but Brian visited India to attend a friend’s wedding. Like the GAPIK (above) it is the 1/100th subdivision of the country’s baseline currency — in India the rupee. PAISA is a singular coin, “paise” is the plural form of the word.

BONUS PHOTO: Sarah sent along a photo of Molly wearing the devil cape.

Nancy Knott

14 responses to “February 8, 2025 – Puzzle Discussion”

  1. I’m going to kick off the discussion this week myself by asking – how awesome is that pic of Russell in the devil costume?

  3. Yeah – that is a really awesome photo!!!!

    I wondered who had a Mini Cooper! And to clarify, I never full time drive the Mustang but it was in my possession when my parents were in Hawaii, as they only took the Smart Car. I drove it occasionally, if my car was in the shop or just from time to time on nice days so it wasn’t just sitting. Nadine also had it for a few years – and I think most recently her grandson’s girlfriend was driving it, before Molly got it!

    I also worked as cashier, among other responsibilities at Schartners. We all did a bit of everything there but I was sometimes on register. I was also a waitress in college!

    I didn’t know what the money connection was going to be but figured out those were all foreign currency!

    • I wish we could attach photos in these comments! I have a picture of Molly in the devil costume and in the Mustang!

    • I thought as much about you and the Mustang but I can only speculate so much in my postings. Thanks for the info!
      With that in mind…I’m working on next week’s blog post…get ready for some reading on that one!

      I did not know you were ever a waitress.

      It does make sense that you were a cashier at Schartner’s though.

  4. I didn’t know that Michaela worked at Toys R Us. I knew all the other jobs. Figured someone was a cashier somewhere! Karen might have the picture of Dad.
    And back to that pic of Russ. The costume Mom made! The go cart! The horses!

  5. I did not know Michaela worked at Toys R Us.
    But, she is always delightful.
    Not in the puzzle, but something I learned this summer. Michaela worked at the little Ed. Center at Burlingame.
    The mustang only recently came back to Rhode Island, spending time in New Hampshire. It was driven by the girlfriend of Peter’s son. Oddly, it is back in New Hampshire.
    The picture of Russ in the devil costume is gold. I think I may have used the skeleton costume as a school teacher in my thinner days.
    The coins, I just picked 4 words that I had no idea what they were.