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The MJB's are a group of friends dedicated to having as much fun as possible. Although MJB activities are not limited to sports, most MJB folk are avid sports fans. If you want to entertain a bunch of MJB folks, just give them a ball to play with.
The original MJB organizer was Duffy. Currently there are many organizers in the group and thus no one can (nor should) claim ownership. Duff has always been active in sports and was interested in meeting women but was not sure how to go about that. He was too busy playing ball to stop and figure out how to meet women. During Duff's college years he worked at Friendly Ice Cream and his manager at the time, Bob Wahmann, provided Duff with the solution to his problem. Bob started the famous Friendly's Finest, a coed softball team to be reckoned with and assigned Duff the role of beer/beverage man. That was perfect for Duffy because everyone likes the beer man and there were women out there! Each summer throughout his college years, Duff would actively participate in coed softball.
During his college years, Duff also met his all-time best softball buddy, Mark (Marko) Palmerino. Mark not only recruited Duff to work at Martin Marietta, but he played on many of the Martin softball teams.
When Duff graduated, he found himself with boatloads of time. He no longer had to carry a full schedule and work multiple jobs. He was looking for an outlet to use his free time. He missed the coed softball badly so he formed a Martin Marietta coed softball team, affectionately referred to as the Original 10. Mark was not part of the Original 10, because he went to graduate school at Harvard, but he certainly was a key force in causing Duff to work for Martin Marietta.
The Original 10 played in a charity men's league consisting of United Way, Associated Jewish Charities, and the Rayguns. The team's official name was simply Martin Marietta and their exploits were well-known throughout the Martin Marietta Labs. Every victory was special because it meant that a coed team upset a Men's team. The success of that team is what allowed the MJB's to really expand.
Just after the end of the second softball season which was 1982, Duff had a big crush on one of his co-workers. She also loved sports, especially volleyball. He had successfully recruited her to play softball and decided to leverage off his softball success to form a new volleyball league at Banneker Community Center. Although Duff was too shy to ask her out for quite some time, Duff and his secret love became and still are very good friends.
The majority of Duffy's cohorts knew little of volleyball, including Duff (who had one course in college), but he set up a league and the teams shared refereeing responsibilities. There were six teams in the first volleyball season, one local team and five Martin Marietta teams. Weisberg's Winners won the league by beating the local team in the finals.
The success of softball was small when compared to the success of volleyball. Things really started taking off! One of the volleyball players on Weisberg's Winners was the famous Mary Cunningham. Mary is the most social woman Duff (and many others) has ever met. Mary and Duff teamed together to recruit just about everyone at Martin Marietta to the various parties that followed. The little social group now extended its reign to activities other than sports. Using the bulletin board outside the cafeteria, all interested Martin folk were kept informed of upcoming events. The group participated in all kinds of new events including: parties, Szechuan Night, Chinese New Years, Cross-Country Skiing, Rafting, Racquetball, Soccer, ...
A good quiz question for the interested reader is who did Duff have a crush on. Duff bets that most people would get this wrong.
The 1983 and 1984 years were big MJB growth years. A new member of the group become more active, John Cox. Coxie is deceased now, but he supplied most of the original push to form the first MJB Volleyball and Soccer teams. Coxie, Mohammad, Corio, Weisberg, and Duff formed the nucleus of many of the early volleyball and soccer men's teams. When the MJBs entered their first volleyball league, they needed a name, and Mohammad asked a friend from work who suggested the Mexican Jumping Beans. That is how the MJB's got their name. The women became more active when Lisa Scott joined the group. Lisa, Joan, Anita, Claire, Linda, and Janice were some of the early volleyball players. The first coed volleyball team entered a league in Laurel and shortly thereafter moved to Columbia. Coxie was the coach of the initial men's and coed volleyball teams. The MJB's have been heavily commited to maintaining teams for all, men's, women's, and coed. The first coed soccer team formed a year or two later. They first played in a league on Eastern Ave and then moved to Columbia Ice Rink. One of the early recruits for soccer was Terri Paddy, Duff's first wife. In the years that followed, all MJB sporting activities continued to flourish. At one time they had nine volleyball teams entered in various leagues.
The group was growing by leaps and bounds, but mostly singles were participating. What was needed was a steady couple that was active in everything to encourage non-singles to be more active. Also occuring around 1984, Martin Marietta Labs which had two divisions (the Labs and Environmental) split into two. Duff moved with the Environmental group. This presented some communication problems. MJB folk could no longer rely on a single bulletin board and the "rounds" to get information on what activities were on the calendar. Both of these problems were resolved with the addition of Dave and Joan Hynson to the group. Dave and Joan Hynson fulfilled the MJB Couple role for many years, still do, and Joan helped us move to a whole different level. What the group needed was some organization and Joan provided that by acting as the first and only Calendar Girl. Whenever anyone needed to know what was happening, they called Joan for the schedule. The role of Calendar Girl became even more important when Duff left Martin Marietta in 1985 to work at Intelsat which is located in Washington, DC. The communication lines were clearly established and in spite of the distance, several new events, in addition to sporting activities, were added varying from taking over restaurants to cultural events to plain old-fashioned parties. It was and still is a lot of fun.
Many key players have contributed to the success of the MJBs. The arrival of Michael Dymek began the institution of the annual Chinese New Year's Party. The arrival of the Blickenstaff family brought about the institution of the annual Fall Picnic. The arrival of Brian Cuthie and the Thornton's (Dave and Janice) brought some annual pool parties. The activities range from well-publicized annual events to spontaneous get-togethers. The core members are far too numerous to mention, but get involved in the majority of activities. Since many MJB folk have settled down and have families, the MJBs have had to adapt to allow for more family-oriented events. They have also become more electronic in their communications to ensure that all are informed of the various activies. A newsletter is sent via e-mail and the MJB home page (http://www.mjb.org) provides the home for information like this.
As noted above, Duff met his first wife, Terri Paddy, by recruiting her to play soccer. Duff heard of her from her cousin Kelly who was a volleyball player on one of the MJB teams at the time. Terri was and still is a talented soccer player, and thus was a natural recruit to add stability to the MJB Coed Soccer team.
Duff not only enjoyed his growing relationship with Terri, but an even stronger bond was growing between Duff and Jimmie (her infant son). After living as a family for three years, Terri and Duff chose to marry. The courtship leading up to the big day was best documented with a letter posted at the wedding. Terri and Duff seemed to be headed for a great life together.
Terri and Duff wed on September 7, 1996. They began their marriage with a great wedding! That glorious wedding day was probably the highlight of their marriage. It soon became apparent that they were better off as friends than husband and wife. On the surface they appeared to be very compatible, but their life goals and individual styles didn't mesh well. After about a year and a half of trying, Terri and Duff decided that it was better to return to their original status. They announced their intentions with an emotional letter to their friends. Jimmie was the first to receive that letter.
It is a shame that these things happen, but the path that Terri and Duff chose to take was the best given the options. Fortunately for Duff, he didn't have to give up his relationship with Jimmie. They have been able to continue their special relationship, even while residing in separate residences and Terri has been very supportive of that relationship.
Duff's primary dreams in life were to meet and "settle down" with the right woman and to start a family. Duff treated his first marriage as a learning experience and was fortunate to get a second chance to find the right woman. He continued his strong relationship with young Jim and was looking for a woman that could both appreciate that relationship and also enjoy sharing her life with Tom. It didn't take long before the right woman appeared and Duff's dreams started to come true.
Ironically, softball and sport came to Duff's rescue again. One of Duff's long-time softball buddies, Gary Drussell, invited Duff to a family outing at Timonium Race Track. The Drussells gather each Labor Day to bet the horses. Duff and Gary were good friends going all the way back to high school and Tom knew most of the Drussell family very well. When he arrived at the track he saw several familiar Drussells, but one he hadn't met. Gary's youngest sister Carol was there, but Duff thought she was Gary's date. In the process of checking out his friend's date, he found out that she liked sports, and was not a date at all. Duff enjoyed Carol's company from the get-go and had a winning day at the track.
Shortly thereafter, the Annual MJB Coed Golf Tourney was to be held and Duff needed a partner. He decided to ask Carol and called Gary's mom for her number. Although Carol hadn't been on a course before, she had been to the driving range and that was enough for Duff. They played in a foursome with the Blickenstaff's and had a great time. That was the beginning of their romance. Carol and Duff started dating steadily almost immediately thereafter. It's amazing that Carol and Duff never met. They both spent many of their early years in Cockeysville, and Duff had been over the Drussell household more than a few times and even rode sleighs on the same hill.
Carol became an MJB regular and joined Duff at all the MJB events. She is quite a talented volleyball and softball player and the other MJBs were happy to get to know her.
Carol and Jim met the morning of the Golf Tourney and their relationship has also grown steadily. Everything was starting to fall in to place for the Carol and Duff and on August 17, 2000, Duff asked Carol to marry him. She said YES! They were married on April 28, 2001 and had a wonderful wedding and reception. They also enjoyed a fantastic honeymoon to visit Australia and New Zealand.
The arrival of beautiful Brianna Marie Duffy on January 22, 2004 started another chapter in Carol and Duff's lives. Brianna was the answer to Carol and Duff's life-long dreams. Each had wanted the chance to be a parent for a long time and Brianna provided them that opportunity. As happy as Carol and Duffy were on their wedding day, it pales in comparison to the joy their felt looking into Brianna's eyes for the first time. Wow, what a happy ending to years of waiting and a great beginning to life as a family!
For Carol and Duff, finding each other was the answer to one of their
dreams, finding the right partner in life. Brianna was the answer to
another dream. Hopefully together they can continue on their story book
path and live happily ever after. Their relationship with Jim continues
to grow and Jim likes the idea of having a sister. Hopefully, Carol
and Tom can provide Jim with a brother too. In the meantime, they will
try to make the most of their many blessings: good family, friends, ...
As for the MJBs, they should continue to flourish as a group and hopefully
they will continue to grow also.