Civil War Days journalists

Erica McClain, Fred Priebe as Abraham Lincoln and Sean
Dalton at Gordon Hall.

Reporter Sean Dalton and I got the rare and fun chance to get involved with Dexter's Civil War Days this past weekend. By involved I don't mean "cover" the event but rather we got to re-enact with President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd.

State Rep. Mark Ouimet and Reporter Sean Dalton chat
at Gordon Hall.

Fred and Bonnie Priebe, who are professional Lincoln re-enactors and attended last year's event, were phenomenal. There were points when it was unclear whether the two were re-enacting or simply talking. They were simply amazing.

A huge thanks to Donna Fisher and her daughter, Abby, for inviting us and letting us borrow period-correct clothing.

La Jolla issues refund to Branch family

In an effort to write a follow-up story to NBC and ABC's coverage of Maurice "Maury" Branch's ordeal with La Jolla Fine Jewelry in Chelsea, it was revealed that the Chelsea-based jewelery store owned by Curtis Gough has issued a refund to the Branch family.

As the story goes, Maury wandered into La Jolla last month to purchase a watch battery when a bracelet that he believed was adorned with rhinestones and a $20 price tag caught his eye. Unfortunately for the retired economics teacher, the item's actual value was $25,000, which the Branch family discovered recently when a bewildered Maury showed his most recent credit card statement to his daughter, Carol.

"I saw this $25,000 charge and I said 'Dad, do you know this La Jolla Jewelry?'" Carol told ABC News last week. "He said, 'I bought your mom a real pretty rhinestone necklace there for $20."

After sticking to his guns, Gough recently decided to take a step back from defending his shop's "no returns" policy and issued the Branch family a refund, according to a woman who is house-sitting at Carol's Milan home while the Branch's are up north for a bit of summer repose.

Up to that point Carol and Gough attempted to cooperate on a consignment deal, but could not come to an agreement on the terms, according to the ABC News report.

The fallout for Gough and his business has been significant online, where angry members of the public are making their displeasure known on sites such as ringenvy.com, where the shop's customer rating has dropped to one star because of the negative backlash in reaction to standing by the no-returns policy, despite the Branch family pleading with the business-owner to have a change of heart due to the 90-year-old's advanced age and his condition, which the family describes as "cognitive impairment."

Messages with Gough have been left at La Jolla Fine Jewelry and his residence in Chelsea, but were not returned as of publishing this blog entry. Heritage Media contact information for reporter Sean Dalton was left with the Branch's house-sitter, who agreed to pass it along to Carol.