How is Tucker Doing?

Great music & great times with The Blue Sparks – a fantastic day!

Thank you all so much for coming and being a part of an incredible musical tribute to Tucker. Everyone was an important part of the day, not only the incredible array of musicians, but also everyone who volunteered to help to create the day, and especially the people who came and danced, laughed & cried. And thank you all for your donations  - all expenses for the picnic were covered.

Blue Sparks and their extended families thank everyone for such a wonderful day. Tucker touched all of our lives – I’m sure he was there singing and dancing with us.

P.S. There is a Facebook page for “Fans Of The Fabulous Blue Sparks From Hell”. That is an easy place to share photos and videos if you wish.

As we gear up for the Tucker “Picnic in the Park”, here is some more info:

To find the place: Hampton Boro Park is in Hampton, NJ, just off Rte 31. Turn on to Main street, turn on to Valley, entrance to park about 50′ away on right.

NO FOOD PROVIDED it’s B.Y.O.P. (Bring your Own Picnic) I am modeling this on a lovely festival in Saratoga. Everyone brings their own picnic food & beverage, lawn chairs, blankets, popup tents – anything they can think of for a comfy afternoon in the Park. Many of the tents have decorations, folding tables and anything else you have the imagination to bring.

Pets on leash allowed in park, but that might be a bit chaotic with that many people?

Music? You bet! To many to list here, but we’ll be starting at Noon so we have time for everyone.

Rain or Shine, well see you on August 1st. Noon – 4pm

It’s “Bring Your Own Picnic” day at the Park!

Stuff your picnic basket full of goodies, grab a lawn chair and join us to celebrate the memory of C.T. Tucker with an afternoon of wonderful music.

August 1st, 2010

Hampton Borough Park, Park Dr. Hampton, NJ 08827

Noon to 4pm. Rain or Shine

Music all day, including the Fabulous Blue Sparks From Hell

We will not be providing food or beverages, you get to do that yourself!

No cover charge, but donations will be accepted to cover costs.

More info will be posted as it becomes available.

See you there!

Thank you all so much for coming to the Memorial Service. What a beautiful turn out for such a remarkable man. For those of you who couldn’t make it, links to a few photos & videos are posted in some of the earlier comments.

Please write your memories, thoughts, condolences to share with the rest of us. There are already several wonderful stories thru out the site.

Personal notes to Susan will be forwarded directly to her. Your posts/stories usually show up on the site within 24 hours.

Keep tuned to this website. There is a plan for a summer music event. Details will be posted here, as they become available.

A giant hug to everyone….

Alison

I do want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers. I really appreciate all your help! All the people who came to clean the house, move the fencing, feed the animals, cook me food, cut wood, bring animals to SNL and everything else – it really helps.

Thank you so much,

Sue

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Hi, this is Alison, helping out the awesome Josh for a bit.

To all the family, friends and fans… Your posts are wonderful. Keep those stories coming. They mean so much.

Just to confirm date and time, here is the information on Tucker’s Memorial Service. There is a small private service that weekend, but this one is public, and all are welcome.

Sunday, February 21st, 2010 at 2pm

Trinity United Methodist Church
213 Main St.
Hackettstown, NJ 07840

Afterwards there will be tea & coffee in the adjoining Hall. If you wish to bring a plate of cookies to share, I’m sure they’ll be enjoyed!

Some of the out of town folks were asking for hotel ideas. Here are some names, you can google the rest.  : )

In Hackettstown there is The Inn at Panther Valley and The Comfort Inn. In Mt. Olive, NJ there is a Best Western and the Wyndham Garden.

The Service will be held at:
Trinity United Methodist Church
213 Main St.
Hackettstown, NJ 07840
February 21st, 2010
2pm service in the Sanctuary. Afterwards there will be a light reception in the Hall adjoining the Sanctuary.
Coffee and tea (maybe cookies?)

This Service is to address our mutual need to grieve for the loss of a friend so well loved, and to help each other through this time.

We hope to have an exact date for a special summer musical event soon. At that one we will celebrate the music and life of Tucker, a reminder of his own joy and belief in great music, wonderful people and fabulous times.

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Ok, this is Josh again.

We have full confirmation on the above. I expect everyone who can be there to be there. I haven’t seen many of you for so long. It’ll be nice to see you again.

This will not be the potluck. That will be the summer event. That one will be musical, magical, and definitely without brown acid.

This one (Feb 21st) will be fun, but primarily respectful, and relaxed. We want to hold a service, and then relax, enjoy, and share our memories of Tucker, Sue, bands, music, hats, and us. We all participated in a lifestyle, and a family. Hell, my little sister practically grew up in Rosie’s Cabaret!

Joshua

I have been updated as to services.  I wanted to pass it on, as I promised.

As people are scattered all over, and band members have commitments they must keep, we are going to wait a few weeks, and have a memorial service in Long Valley.  Tucker is being cremated, and so there is not going to be a graveside service.   We are working on figuring out where and when to hold this, as we expect a LOT of people.

There will be a service, and a party.  Sue has expressed the wish that the Blue Sparks will play, and Tucker’s many many musically talented friends could honor his memory by singing for Tucker.  Hats are encouraged.

I thought that perhaps we could do a potluck?  Would anyone mind bringing a dish to the party?  I don’t want to stress Sue financially by asking her to feed all of us.  But as we all know from Tucker’s Breakfast King, Tucker loved a good feed.  I ate some awesome soups, breakfasts, and dinners in that building.

Preliminary thoughts are the end of February, or sometime in March.  This is preliminary, please don’t take it for gospel.

UPDATE: There will also be a warm weather party, once it warms up, probably at the park where Tucker and Sue got married. Again, details to follow. But if you have to miss one, you can come to the other! We’re not going to leave you out, promise!

I would also like to ask anyone with pictures of Tucker to email them to me.  I’d like to do a slideshow for the party.  Pics of the band, Tucker around town, Rosie’s Cabaret, Tucker’s Breakfast King, anything.  Doesn’t matter.  email them to jmarpet@datadevastation.com.

Thanks,

Joshua

Over 30 years ago, Tucker was smiling, and rocking, and he had damn near the same hat.  This is the original Blue Sparks From Hell group, from 1977.

I don’t know what to say anymore.  I can only hope that when I go, I will have touched maybe, MAYBE, half as many lives as Tucker did, in such a positive way.

The outpouring of emotions shown in the comments is amazing.  The love and care that all of you have shown is simply outstanding.  I am in awe.

I haven’t received any word about any arrangements yet.  I expect to get that information tomorrow.  I will disseminate that as fast as I get it.  I promise.

I also haven’t received any instructions as to flowers, or anything.  So please, don’t buy any quite yet.  There might be a charity or something they would prefer donations too.  We all know how generous Tucker was.  He gave to so many worthy causes. (Mind you, Sue only found out about some of them when she got the credit card bills, but hey!  It’s the thought that counts!)  Dammit, he still makes me laugh.

If you didn’t hear, Tucker passed away today, Jan 19th, at approximately 4pm.  I have no precise times, or knowledge yet.  I will get that, and get it to you, as soon as I can.  Please don’t call the family, or leave a voicemail, or sto p by right now.  They are grieving, and we want to respect their grief.  I know you understand that, and will respect it.  And I appreciate that.  Thank you.

If we don’t love you, baby, Grits ain’t groceries, Eggs ain’t poultry, and Mona Lisa was a MAN!

CT Tucker Hartshorne

Joshua

CT Tucker

I’m sorry.  Tucker was doing so much better.  But he took a turn for the worse, and today, after long consultations with the doctors.  Sue and Tucker’s family decided to let the pain end. Tucker passed at approximately 4pm today.  I just got confirmation a little while ago, that’s why it took me so long to post it. I apologize.

I do not have any details yet on services.  Please do not call yet.  Let them grieve for a bit.  I will post every detail I get, I promise.

In the meantime, I’d like you to remember a favorite memory of Tucker.  Let it play.  Now freeze it.  I bet you that he’s grinning from ear to ear, looks kinda like a couple rows of teeth, with a half-head stuck on top, and a jaw stuck on bottom, right?  And the HAT!

Somewhere in Heaven, Tucker is driving a Real Man’s Car. Its got a 4 barrel, posi-traction guaranteed some back seat action – kids today will never know what it’s like to drive a Real Man’s Car!

Tucker knows.  Heck, if they’re smart, they’ll give St. Peter a break, and let Tucker do the welcoming.  No one else can grin that big, or make a person feel so at home. Put Tucker in a 57 Chevy, or a Dodge anything, and he’ll drive you to your house in Heaven just for the heck of it.

Please comment, and let Sue and Family know how Tucker made you feel at home, whether it was the Stanhope House, Wild West City, Tucker’s Breakfast King, Rosie’s Cabaret, or any of the other crazy places that Tucker and his crew made us a family together.

Tucker had fungal cultures done 2 days ago, and yesterday.  They take 48 hours to grow, and then they can be read as positive or negative.  Negative is good, means that the fungus is not there in the culture.  The ones from 2 days ago are negative.  YES!

He also had a test yesterday, since on an x-ray they noticed a blob on one of his heart valves.  they thought he might have a clot of yeast (fungus) in his heart.  He didn’t.  The test was good!

Tucker also had a full CT scan today to assess damage to his heart, liver, lungs, etc.  Sue actually got to see it with the doc.  They compared with an earlier scan.  Significant amounts of liver damage, from the lymphoma, are gone.  Simply gone.

Tucker did get put on a ventilator, as he was ripping off the oxygen masks.  So he is sedated, and resting.  The docs think he is healing a lot faster because of it.  He isn’t wasting energy on anything but healing.

If the cultures from today come back tomorrow as negative (no fungus), they can end the antifungal meds, give him some lasix to drain some extra fluids, and get him off the vent.  Then they could do the next round of chemo.  With his current progress, it really sounds good. So cross your fingers!

In other news, this weekend we are going to have new pictures of all the animals for sale.  So expect to see them next week on this website, the Rockandrollanimals.com website, and Rosiespetites.com

We are revamping all the websites to reflect the new content, and working to bring them all under one roof to make them easier to maintain.

Whew.  Got a lot to do this weekend!  Ah well, it’s fun.

I’ll update you soon!

Joshua