On Super Bowl Sunday, we attended the surprise 50th Birthday party held for

Jay Batz

at his home in Barrington.  Jay is the oldest brother of Kathy who actually had his 50th in November of last year.  Alas, wife Val wanted him truly surprised so she waited for 2 months past the date to throw the party.  Needless to say he was surprised!

It was a bone chilling day with temperatures below zero.  All the assorted guests assembled at a neighbors home down the street and at the appointed time marched over to Jay's house to ring his door and surprise him.  Picture left shows a clueless Jay opening the door to the frozen cheers of "Surprise" as the crowd stampeded past him to the warmth of his home.

Jay was looking forward to a quiet evening watching his beloved Chicago Bears play in the Super Bowl. However, 30 minutes before kick-off that plan got turned upside down with upwards of 30 people crowding into his family room, raiding his refrigerator, ravaging his liquor cabinet, and taking up all the prize viewing seats.

Picture below is of the entire crowd, hastily asssembled during a break in the football game to take the snap.   Jay is the fetching bloke wearing the Walter Payton "34" jersey and accenting his ensemble with a truly embarassing rubber Bears cap atop his head.  Snap all the way down is Jay with brother Gary and sister Kathy.  Val had a Mexican Fiesta meal set for half time and even though the crowd was ever more dejected by the shortcomings of our Bears - we all had a great time.

Click Here To see all the photos on the day

Click here to see a collage celebrating the first 50 years of the life and times of jay Rodley Batz

Kathy's younger brother Gary was there and brought along the "Betting Square" gambling sheet handcrafted by his daughter Kelsey for the big football game.  It was lovely.  Alas Kathy (or I) did not win any of the money from that pool.  It must have been fixed.

Belated Best Wishes On Your First 50 Years Jay!