{"id":72429,"date":"2019-04-15T07:19:29","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T11:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?p=72429"},"modified":"2019-04-16T06:44:21","modified_gmt":"2019-04-16T10:44:21","slug":"mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/04\/15\/mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Mr. Owego\u2019 celebrated at Romeo table"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>For most, celebrating a birthday is an annual occasion that some try to avoid, but at the Romeo table at Becky\u2019s Diner in Waverly, N.Y., a birthday is something that is not to be missed! The Romeos, or Retired Old Men Eating Out, promise to never let a birthday go unnoticed, especially among their members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2019\/04\/Raftis1-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\u2018Mr. Owego\u2019 celebrated at Romeo table\" class=\"wp-image-72430\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2019\/04\/Raftis1-768x1024.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2019\/04\/Raftis1-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption>Jim Raftis Sr., pictured, was dubbed \u201cMr. Owego\u201d on Tuesday, and during a birthday celebration held by the Romeo group at Becky\u2019s Diner in Waverly, N.Y. (Photo by Wendy Post)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>On Tuesday, this elite group of men, that gather each week at the diner, celebrated a birthday of one of Owego\u2019s own &#8211; Jim Raftis, Sr.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Turning 87, the dozen or so that gathered around the Romeo table during the early morning hour on Tuesday made sure to take note that Raftis is now the second oldest \u201cliving\u201d Romeo; Jack Millage is the oldest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the group passed around the birthday cards, laughter could be heard throughout the diner.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAll will be forgiven,\u201d was written on a card for Raftis. \u201cTake a deep breathe, you\u2019re gonna need it to blow out all of those candles,\u201d read another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"753\" height=\"1024\" src=\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2019\/04\/Raftis2-753x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\u2018Mr. Owego\u2019 celebrated at Romeo table\" class=\"wp-image-72431\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2019\/04\/Raftis2-753x1024.jpg 753w, http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2019\/04\/Raftis2-221x300.jpg 221w, http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2019\/04\/Raftis2-768x1044.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 753px) 100vw, 753px\" \/><figcaption>Jim Raftis Sr. holds up one of many birthday cards he received on Tuesday, and during a birthday celebration held by the Romeo group at Becky\u2019s Diner in Waverly, N.Y. (Photo by Wendy Post)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>But with 14 members in this exclusive group, a birthday of one of its members is a grand occasion. And the next birthday coming up, they noted, will combine three celebrations into one. The net result will be a lot of unique birthday cards for Waverly\u2019s Mayor, Pat Ayres; Romeo member Jim Smith; and Romeo member and retired State Trooper, Frank Rooney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But on Tuesday, the focus was on Jim Raftis Sr. as his birthday was celebrated, and a cake, bearing the words \u201cMr. Owego,\u201d capped things off!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Raftis, who is recovering from hip replacement surgery, earned the recognition of \u201cMr. Owego\u201d as he has organized and volunteered his time for veteran organizations, Owego Little League, and many others for literally decades. When local residents hear his name, they know who he is!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Raftis was born at Tioga Hospital in Waverly, which is the same location where Elderwood sits today. His recovery and physical therapy was provided at that same location.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI was recycled at Elderwood,\u201d Raftis quipped of his surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But other members are always quick on their feet, noting that Raftis\u2019 birth location is what qualified him for membership in the Valley Romeo group. \u201cWhen I come to Waverly, they don\u2019t give me a hard time,\u201d said Raftis, adding, \u201cThe Romeos have fun!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some fast facts about the group were learned on Tuesday, one being the addition of their newest member, Mead Murtland, a Valley resident that serves several organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was also learned that member Bob Hagg drove the furthest for the gathering, traveling from Columbia Crossroads in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Waverly\u2019s Mayor, Pat Ayres, who was in attendance on Tuesday, talked of an upcoming meeting on Wednesday, where they would draw up a comprehensive plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On a more somber note, the Romeos also reflected on Romeo members that have passed since the beginning of the year &#8211; one being Doc Dimon, who passed in February, and the other being John Beam, who passed last week; both were charter members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But for now, members were able to enjoy a cake with Strawberry filling made by Dessert First, located on Broad Street in Waverly. The members agreed, \u201cThey always do a nice job on the cake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for information on joining the Romeos, don\u2019t bother; Raftis will confirm that becoming a member is no easy task.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For most, celebrating a birthday is an annual occasion that some try to avoid, but at the Romeo table at Becky\u2019s Diner in Waverly, N.Y.,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":72432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u2018Mr. Owego\u2019 celebrated at Romeo table - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/04\/15\/mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Mr. Owego\u2019 celebrated at Romeo table - Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For most, celebrating a birthday is an annual occasion that some try to avoid, but at the Romeo table at Becky\u2019s Diner in Waverly, N.Y.,...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/04\/15\/mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-15T11:19:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-04-16T10:44:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2019\/04\/Raftis3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"4032\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"3024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/04\/15\/mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/04\/15\/mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table\/\",\"name\":\"\u2018Mr. Owego\u2019 celebrated at Romeo table - Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/04\/15\/mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/04\/15\/mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2019\/04\/Raftis3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-15T11:19:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-16T10:44:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/04\/15\/mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/04\/15\/mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/04\/15\/mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2019\/04\/Raftis3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2019\/04\/Raftis3.jpg\",\"width\":4032,\"height\":3024,\"caption\":\"The Romeos gathered on Tuesday for a birthday celebration for Jim Raftis Sr., held by the group at Becky\u2019s Diner in Waverly, N.Y. (Photo by Wendy Post)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/04\/15\/mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018Mr. Owego\u2019 celebrated at Romeo table\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/\",\"name\":\"Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492\",\"name\":\"psadvert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"psadvert\"},\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/author\/psadvert\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018Mr. Owego\u2019 celebrated at Romeo table - Owego Pennysaver Press","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/04\/15\/mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018Mr. Owego\u2019 celebrated at Romeo table - Owego Pennysaver Press","og_description":"For most, celebrating a birthday is an annual occasion that some try to avoid, but at the Romeo table at Becky\u2019s Diner in Waverly, N.Y.,...","og_url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/04\/15\/mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table\/","og_site_name":"Owego Pennysaver Press","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/","article_published_time":"2019-04-15T11:19:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-04-16T10:44:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":4032,"height":3024,"url":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2019\/04\/Raftis3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"psadvert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"psadvert","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/04\/15\/mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table\/","url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/04\/15\/mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table\/","name":"\u2018Mr. Owego\u2019 celebrated at Romeo table - Owego Pennysaver Press","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/04\/15\/mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/04\/15\/mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2019\/04\/Raftis3.jpg","datePublished":"2019-04-15T11:19:29+00:00","dateModified":"2019-04-16T10:44:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/04\/15\/mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/04\/15\/mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/04\/15\/mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2019\/04\/Raftis3.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2019\/04\/Raftis3.jpg","width":4032,"height":3024,"caption":"The Romeos gathered on Tuesday for a birthday celebration for Jim Raftis Sr., held by the group at Becky\u2019s Diner in Waverly, N.Y. (Photo by Wendy Post)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/04\/15\/mr-owego-celebrated-at-romeo-table\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018Mr. Owego\u2019 celebrated at Romeo table"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website","url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/","name":"Owego Pennysaver Press","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492","name":"psadvert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"psadvert"},"url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/author\/psadvert\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}