My First Year: 1939-1940

 

My First Year: 1939-1940

I was born on July 1, 1939. These were the proud parents.

Last week when I published my Childhood Memoir Challenge article, I included the following:

“My childhood can be seen in three phases, in my mind, at least:
1) Farm Rentals in western Iowa - Mar 1938 thru Feb 1942 ( I was there Jul 1939 to Mar 1942, approaching 3, on Jul 1 of 1942.
2) Our own farm, nearby - Mar 1942 through Seventh Grade at Willow #3 (May 52 - 10 years)
3) Town School, still lived on same farm - Fall of 52, 8th grade through Spring of 53 plus High School thru Spring of 57 (18 on July 1, 1957)

I have absolutely no memories of phase 1. Nothing. [ADDED: I’ve since been told that is perfectly normal to age 4…whew!] I have read my mother’s diaries of that time (She kept a daily diary from 1932 to 1999, the end of her life) and there are a few photos, but they only show things I don’t have memory of. Thank goodness for them, however.”

This week, I want to bring together the photos and words I have of my first eighteen months of so, birth through 1940. Next week we will look at 1941, and 1942 the following week, on Tuesdays.

These next two photos are also from 1939. An earlier blog post said this about the photo with Dad (it also applies to the photo with Mom, I’m now certain):

“I may have posted this before, but I've now determined more details about it. In Mom's diary, the first week of December, 1939, they got a new (to them) 1934 Chevy, it snowed, and Mom got me a new snow suit by mail order from Montgomery Ward. Pretty good reason to take a photo, I think.”

 This next one, with cousin Karen Kinnick, nine months older, would have been late spring of 1940.

And, on the Smith side, here I am with first cousin, Gary Hilgenberg, nearly a year older than me:

These two with Dad around the same time.

And, this one with Uncle Buzz, about 12 (now 92) around the same time.

 

At a Smith gathering in the summer, Dad is holding me, just left of center and the women:

With Grandma Kinnick on the farm:

 

 

With Mom and Dad perhaps in the fall of 1940:

 

Next time, we’ll look at the 1941 photos. Neat to finally put these together in one place…

See you down the road…

Music Activities in High School

 

Music Activities in High School

As mentioned in my Childhood Memoir Challenge article, music was a major activity of my High School career, both band and vocal music activities. Mom played the piano as well as sang all her life in various venues. So there was an influence there, for sure.

I believe this is Spring of Freshman year.

Starting in 8th grade with Mr. Bush, band director, I began playing the Baritone Horn (Euphonium) in concert and marching band, as well as small groups from time to time. Starting with Freshman year, I also played Solo performances for Contests, though I was most likely only mediocre… truth be told. Mom had me taking both piano lessons (from her and others) as well as vocal lessons early on in High School. I also did Solo Vocal performances for Contest, but again I was only a little better than mediocre as a Soloist. I was better in duets or small groups, as well as in choir performance.

At All State, our quartet was Wilson Thomas, Donna Grimm, Nancy Bolger and Bill Smith.
[I look at this picture of Nancy and just about melt away, by the way…so many memories!]

Probably my proudest musical accomplishment came from participating in All State Chorus, all four years of High School. And, this is where Nancy comes into the picture, literally as well as in participation. The full truth is that Nancy was probably one of a small handful of the most talented students, musically, in the four years we were in High School, regardless of grade level. However, she wanted to be known as a well-rounded student, musically and academically, not just a musician nor an accompanist. She was an accomplished pianist. She took lessons from Concert Pianist, Mr. Terchek, in Carroll, for several years. She almost certainly would have had some success in that direction if she had the interest. She wanted, however, to only do as much as she wanted to do, not get pulled into being THE pianist. There were others who could also do that. Donna was one of them. While Mom accompanied me the first couple of years, in that last couple of years, Nancy did. I was very grateful. I was better because of her. Nancy played Saxophone in Band.

Back to All State. In those years, we were chosen by quartet, and Mrs. Anderson, the vocal music instruction, usually sent three quartets to the TryOuts to compete. Everyone was surprised when our #3 quartet was chosen that first year. Nancy and I were Freshmen, Wilson and Donna were Sophomores. Donna was a good soprano, Nancy sang Alto very well, Wilson was Tenor and I sang Bass. None of us were great alone, but we were great together. Nancy and I ended up in quartets together all four years, with different Soprano and Tenor combinations. Andy Kretzinger, a very good tenor, good friend in our class, sang with us one year, but was also in quartets selected all four years, as well. Very unusual, but neat.

Marching Band and Concert Band were great experiences. However, I think I probably most liked participation in special events, such as Contests (usually in other towns) and County Band, or going to the Audubon County Fair, for example. Seeing different places, meeting different students, in different venues, was stimulating to me. It made a very naive young man into someone much more worldly. I still had a lot to learn, I just didn’t know it yet!

By the way, I did play my Baritone once in a special Marching Band appearance as a Freshman at Iowa State College. That was the end of my band experience. But, I still have that Baritone Horn, in the original case, over in our storage unit. It still works just fine.

P.S. We also played in the Roy Holliday Town Band in the Summer Time. We’ll save those stories for another time…

See you down the road… ;-)

 

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase…“run into town”

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase…“run into town”
 

This thought ran through my mind, and then, I thought of the Bill Holland, aka billybuc, Writing Challenge to ‘write about your childhood.’ My problem was, I have (In my mind, anyway) almost no recollections of my childhood, except those prompted by photos… and there are not a whole lot of them, to tell the truth. Now, if childhood includes High School, then, there are quite a few more memories. I’ll let that mull a bit, as I consider the phrase, ‘run into town.’

My use of the term “run into town” was in the context of needing to pick up a prescription from Walgreens in South Town Center of Hollister, about 5 miles away, with no other reason to go out. By the way, ‘run’ implies drive the car, not literally run… for you purists out there! ;-)

I have better photos of me and the 49 Chevy, but this is what popped up when asked; kind of liked the end of the slide film effect!! ;-)

I have become increasingly aware of phases used throughout a long life that make little real sense standing alone to be analyzed but seem perfectly logical in context, in conversation. Larry used one last week that was new to me, but perfectly meaningful to him, since he had heard it his entire life. He put a rock behind the camper so it would not roll away, he ‘scotched it’ he said. I had never heard the term, but he had… We always called the accelerator pedal in the car a ‘foot feet’ - now, where did that come from???

From 1942 to 1957 I lived on my Mom and Dad’s farm that was four miles east and three miles north of Coon Rapids, Iowa (“town”). From 1942 to 1952, while the school I attended, Willow #3, was open, I had thought that going into town was mostly a Saturday night grocery shopping and social evening. However, in reviewing the diaries my Mom kept (from 1932 to 1999) I got a very different impression. My Mom was a town girl, a Coon Rapids girl. Her mother and father lived in Coon Rapids. The rental farms my Mom and Dad, Eileen and Pete, lived on were closer to town by about half. It turns out from reading the diaries, there was a constant back and forth among them throughout. “I’m going to ‘run into town’” happened with great frequency, not just when needing a part or some grocery item. Often I was carted along, outside of school times, into town and dropped off at grandma’s house… much more than I would have guessed.

This just confirms my lack of memory of those early years. Once schools consolidated and I went to town for eighth grade, I remember these things occurring regularly. Both Mom and Dad were active in school board business, in the rural district and in the consolidation. Dad was President of the Coon Rapids School Board the year I graduated, in May 1957, and handed me by diploma. I do have many memories of those last five years in town school. I’ll have to be selective at that point if I write something about the time.

With these caveats in mind, I think I can respond to the challenge from Bill Holland, aka billybuc, to write a HubPages article: Childhood - a Memoir - Response to a Challenge. I am certainly going to give it a try. I’ll come back and post the link here, if I do! ;-)

See you down the road… ;-)

The Next Day of the Rest of My Life

 The Next Day of the Rest of My Life

 

My first blog post here on my Retirement Blog was 7 Jun 2008, “The First Day of the Rest of My Life.”

It was then just a year ahead of my retirement in June 2009. I maintained the blog, which became a Travel Blog, as well, through 14 Oct 2015, a trip to Silver Dollar City. It featured Nancy, she loved visits to Silver Dollar City!! ;-)

Nancy left us on 31 Aug 2020 (just had a nice little cry writing that phrase), of course, and now with Fall officially starting tomorrow, the “Next Day” title of this post was created.

I have already pledged to get back to posting in my Ancestor Stories blog.

This will get me back, likely to weekly posts, here in the Retirement and Travel Blog. Not too much traveling, but certainly keeping up with family and personal activities. These have been, since that Oct 2015 post, recorded at Facebook, mine as well as those of Annette, Allison, and Arrion, among other.

Annette and Larry just spend a week with me here in Hollister. Allison, who just lives down the street, fully participated, as well. I’ll be visiting Austin to see the rest of my family 15-19 Oct, so that will complete the loop until Christmas. Kaylee will turn 13 on November 8, if I am correct.

I just took the one photo as Annette and Larry were leaving to go back to Utah. It seemed an appropriate title photo here, but you can draw your own conclusions…

See you down the road… ;-)


 

Silver Dollar City - 14 Oct 2015

Silver Dollar City

14 Oct 2015

We called to reserve an electric cart, a few days out... the only day available was 'tomorrow' - so we got up early and went...

We got one of the first half dozen handicapped spots up by the entrance, so Nancy could walk. We got to wait about 15 minutes for the front entrance to open... quite a few vendors/employees came through while we waited. Nancy was first in line:

It was about 55 degrees when we arrived. She said the sweatshirt, hat and gloves felt real good!! ;-)

We were the first one to check out the electric cart... obviously a lot came after us... they were all over the place during the day. Also, lots of personal carts, as well. More cases where both members of a couple had carts. There was even one set of four folks roaming together... they took up a lot road room!!

We had breakfast, looked around all the crafts booths on the top level. Many "Made by Missouri Hands" craftspersons' booths. Pretty decent variety. As 10 am approached, we were ready to go down the hill. Here they raised the flag prior to the 'opening whistle!'

Later on, we got to Nancy's favorite Jewelry booth... they've been there for over 25 years...

And, as you probably saw on Facebook, she bought one!!

I should also mention that Nancy brought along some ear-rings she had bought at the other Jewelry store, last spring, I think. They needed repair, which they said to always bring in, if needed. She did, and they fixed them. Neat! ... and bought so new ones, of course! ;-)

It was a good day! Nice to be able to get back out the Silver Dollar City!!

It was a very good day! ;-)

Labor Day Weekend 2015 in Austin

Labor Day Weekend 2015 in Austin

We drove to Austin for the Labor Day Weekend in 2015. Several photos posted to Facebook, just wanted to record a couple of them here.

We played games, some with just Alex, some with just Kaylee, and some with both. Had a great time.

Board games, and card games...

What fur! ;-)

Birthday (July 1) - 4th of July Special Offer

Birthday (July1) - 4th of July Special Offer

 

 

I made this offer on Facebook, and was pleasantly surprised how many people signed up! ;-)
I want to extend it to all my readers, in case you missed it:

I will send you a free PDF of my 23K word eBook, “The Kings of Oak Springs, Vol. One” (Some say it reminds them of a ‘Little House’ story) when you sign up for my free: Dr. Bill’s “The Homeplace Saga” Newsletter. Sign up here today (free): http://eepurl.com/bpPujv