Rowers' Wedding Won't Be All Wet

Even though the ceremony will be on dry land, the wedding party just can't stay away from the water.

After all, former Kirkland resident and Olympic rower Mary McCagg did meet her fiance, Kane Larin, when they both raced in the 1993 World Championships.

Mary and her twin sister, Betsy, went on to row in the U.S. Women's 8+ boat during the 1996 Olympics. The 8+ refers to eight rowers and one coxswain steering and calling out the rowing rhythm. (The twins also rowed in the 1992 games.)

Since then Mary has been working as a children's book editor in New York. Betsy lives in California, where she's training for the Sydney 2000 Olympics. Kane, who's retired from rowing, works as a photographers' agent.

All nine members of the 1996 Women's 8+ team will be at Saturday's wedding at Rose Hill Presbyterian Church.

"Mary and Kane said they're starting a new life and wanted no rowing references or oars at the wedding," said the bride's mother, Sharon McCagg.

But they do have plans to go kayaking Friday - and the rehearsal dinner will be at the Lake Washington Rowing Club in Seattle.

Stay tuned: You can catch Gerrit Hall of Redmond on television's "Teen Jeopardy!" Nov. 2 and 9 on KOMO-TV.

If you recall, a month ago the Redmond High School senior learned he was a National Merit semifinalist just two days after his initial TV contest taping.

Hall and his seventh-grade brother, Bryant, and their parents, Ramona and Bruce Hall, went to the East Coast on Wednesday. They visited several colleges before getting to New York City on Friday night.

"We weren't in our hotel room five minutes before the other contestants were calling and knocking on our door," Ramona said. "The kids had all exchanged e-mail addresses during the quarterfinals in Los Angeles. They had great times together in New York."

Between adventures the high-school students went to the semifinal and final tapings. Sorry, I'm not revealing Gerrit's results.

"We must have a `Jeopardy!' gene," Ramona said. "I was on the show in 1998 - Gerrit entered me over the Internet. It's amazing to have two from one family."

Old days: Have you been wishing for the good old days? In some ways, they're back.

My mother and grandmother talk about how the neighborhood grocer used to deliver. Now Homegrocer.com delivers the bacon, beans and biscuits.

The milkman never quit delivering.

Doing your holiday or clothing shopping online? Remember the Sears catalog and daydreaming your way through the toy section in the wishbook? (By the way, J.C. Penney, Nordstrom and other department stores still have catalogs.)

The errand boy at the local drugstore would bring your prescription to your house. Now Drugstore.com and other online pharmacies guarantee next-day delivery.

And just last week I saw a dry cleaner delivering clothes - not to a home but to an office complex.

OK, so you used to have a personal account at some of those places.

What else is your Visa or MasterCard bill? ------------------------------- Sherry Grindeland's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in The Seattle Times Eastside edition. Reach her by phone at 206-515-5633 or 425-453-2130, e-mail at sgrindeland@seattletimes.com, fax at 425-453-0449, or mail at Seattle Times Eastside bureau, 10777 Main St., Bellevue, WA 98004.