<div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">May 27,
2016, 1:45 pm EDT</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:Arial"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial">Funeral
For A Friend</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial"><br></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"><font size="4">Obituaries are for the dead.
But sometimes it’s worth talking about a friend who has only hours to live and
still has every expectation of bringing joy and excitement to many until the
end, bitter though it may be. </font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(26,26,26)"><font size="4"><br></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(26,26,26)"><font size="4">The end? At
3 am Sunday, May 29, the S&J Restaurant & Bar in Riverdale Park will
lock its doors. It will be for the final time. But until then, the cozy dive
will be the life of the party for scores of those bent of living another day,
no matter their condition or their stage in life. </font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(26,26,26)"><font size="4"> </font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"><font size="4">There are a few in the area
who will say “I have never been in that awful place.” They’ll never know what
they are missing, like so many of us, it’s the heart of this long standing
restaurant and bar that made this spot special. It’s the people who have been
there that will but in varying degrees, like “missing” relative: A lot, a
little, not so much.</font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"><font size="4"><br></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"><font size="4">We’re talking about a
neighborhood dive. A place where a fern or a potted plant could never live.
Where a martini never found its proper glass and where the chili pot was never
empty, just added to. And the beer mug rings on the bar top could be yours, or
maybe your grandfather’s. </font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"><font size="4"><br></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"><font size="4">But the S & J was a
place where longtime friends who’d never met, came to forge relationships for
life. Some crept out of a blinding snowstorm into the warmth of a bizarre
karaoke night and found themselves in deep and wonderful conversations that
ended only when the bar check arrived, the lights came on. And when Rusty the
bouncer smiled and said “goodnight.” More often than not, the conversations
grew into meaningful relationships built on activities outside the Queensbury
Road roadhouse: summer boating adventures, national and foreign travel, and
sometimes, shared sheets. </font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"><font size="4"><br></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"><font size="4">S & J, which as local
lore has it, stood for Sarah and James. She was the owner some six decades ago,
and her son, James, cooked and kept the bar. The establishment was one of several bustling hot
spots in Town Center in its day. More recently it’s become known as the
grammatically incorrect “S&J’s” -- there has never been an accounting
for the added apostrophe and “s.” But that didn’t matter, everyone knew what
you meant. </font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"><font size="4"><br></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"><font size="4">Little had changed in the
place until a decade and a half ago when lifelong Riverdalian and DeMatha High
football standout, Steve Schmidlin, came along and tweaked the place. And
tweaked it again. Steve made meals the food worth eating, created entertainment
nights and packed the space with friends. After Steve’s death in February 2007, widow Ziggy
carried the torch for years, aided by former Riverdale Park Mayor and otherwise
all around superman, Guy Tiberio, but the flame began to flicker, and will soon
flicker out. </font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"><font size="4"><br></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"><font size="4">S & J was never as
horrible as some thought, and never as great as it could have been. While
credit cards were always accepted, plastic personalities were not. It was just
what it looked like: a great place to find a friend and a cold beer to enjoy
with a good burger and really good soup, wings and potato skins. It was a g<a name="_GoBack"></a>ood place to have a great conversation with someone you’d
never expect to enjoy talking with. It was one of those places you always look
for and rarely find. </font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"><font size="4"><br></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"><font size="4">May God rest its merry soul.</font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"><font size="4"><br></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family:Arial;color:red"><font size="4">Ziggy Schmidlin said the wake begins 8 pm
Saturday, with food “and whatever else I have in the stash.” </font></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family:Arial;color:red"><font size="4"><br></font></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family:Arial;color:red"><font size="4"><br></font></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"><font size="4">-- Jeffrey Yorke</font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-family:Arial"><font size="4">- 30 -</font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="4"> </font></p>
</div><div><font size="4"><br></font></div><div><br></div><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">Jeffrey Yorke<br>Yorke Property Management, Inc.<br>Yorke Partners<br>Jeffrey@YorkeRents.com<br>301-502-1243<br></div>
</div>