Tag: family
-
The Route (Part 2)
I had several jobs during my youth besides the paper route. I helped to bale hay, hoed or walked beans, detasseled corn, worked at the local Lake’s and Earl May Seed and Nursery and cleaned hog pens. It seems like when I was old enough, I always had a summer or weekend job. Probably a…
-
The Pigs of Sleepy Hollow (Part 2)
Circa: 1968 Johnson Run Creek provided several years of adventure and entertainment. The creek formed the Southern border of Sleppy Hollow, and I suspect it was a source of water for the Henry Fields Flower Farm and pond (see Part 1). My brother spent a few years trapping the creek. He would trap muskrats and…
-
Viet Nam Turns 50
April marked the 50th anniversary of the end of the Viet Nam War. I was born in 1958 and graduated high school in 1976. United States involvement in Viet Nam began in 1955 and the war officially ended for the US in in 1973 when the last US combat troops left. The war did not…
-
Football in a Small Town (Part 1)
Growing up during the 1960s/70’s, the weekends brought four events I could always count on: Saturday mornings in downtown Shenandoah spending my paper route earnings at Woolworth or Western Auto, going to church, going out to eat after church and Kansas City Chiefs Football. I will talk about my paper route in a future Blog.…
-
Camping: Part 2
The Teenage Years As a reminder, I am working backwards in time for my posts about camping. For my last post, I described my current camping adventures in Colorado. This time I will focus on camping during the teen years. My family continued to camp up until about the time my brother and I discovered…
-
Harvey and the Hayshakers: Part 3
The End of the Trail Time changes all. As the 80’s rolled into the 90’s there were multiple factors impacting the band, least of which was the age of the bandmembers. Being in a band is a young man’s game. Late nights, setting up the equipment and then packing it up again, driving 60 to…
-
Harvey and the Hayshakers: Part 2
Becoming Hound Dog Headliner and Leisure Suits Times were good in the 1970’s and early 1980’s in my hometown of Shenandoah. The farm economy was strong, a new Eaton’s Transmission factory just opened (eventually employing about 400 people) there were 4 Seed and Nursery companies, a gate factory and a robust main street. Main street…
-
Harvey and the Hayshakers
Becoming Hound Dog Part 1: The Music and the Passion Typically, on Sunday afternoons after church, dad would break out his guitar and start strumming and singing. He would sing what I would call country music classics such as: Johnny Cash- “Folsom Prison Blues”. Hank Williams: Your Cheating Heart, Hey Good Looking, Jambalaya, I’m So…
-
Ralph’s Peach Schnaps
My dad delivered fuel to many farmers in the surrounding area for about 65 years. His first worked for COOP, then started his own business with the DX brand. He drove a fuel truck that would hold, I would guess, 1,500 to 1,800 gallons of diesel fuel or gas for tractors, combines, grain trucks etc.…
My View from 1958 