Jack and his Great Grandfather

Jack was over early this morning and caught Elaine and I in the bathroom. He knew we looked different but didn't understand why.  Julie and Sadie were also here when I got back home from having a short coffee break. In addition to playing ball, domino's and "Pony Boy", he sat on my lap and wanted to take selfies with the laptop.  We took three and when I looked at them tonight, it struck me that his and my facial expression's were very similar. In fact, I thought it interesting that  while our expressions are different in each of the pictures, his and mine are similar in each. I wondered if we had some sort of special bonding to make that happen. I already knew that we had a pretty special relationship. Sadie had been to Story Time at the Library and brought home several books which she enjoyed having read to her. Jack had his own little book with pictures of objects such as Trucks, Tractors, Cows, etc and he knew the name of most of them. Trucks of any kind are still his favorites.

Cliff Lowell and Hope Springs Eternal

Clifford Lowell presented the program at Kiwanis this noon. He told of his 8-weeks of Basic Training in Texas after having volunteered for the U. S. Air Force in the early 50's. Cliff plays the Piano for the singing at our noon meetings. He has taught school, written a book on life experiences, and makes presentations on various topics over the years. He went into detail with some actual quotes of his introduction to the military. Time didn't permit him to cover the full 4 years of his service commitment but promised to give us "the rest of the story" at a later date. 

I put a dollar in the "Good News" basket and told that Elaine and I had delivering Home Delivered Meals this past Friday for "the last time".  We have been delivering meals here in Seward for a number of years. I mentioned that we usually remember the first time we do things but seldom have the benefit of knowing when we do something "for the last time". There are probably more things in that category that we are ready to accept since "Hope Springs Eternal".

Family Reunion 2005 etc.

This picture was taken back in 2005 at a Vrana cousins reunion held at The Villager in Lincoln. It was planned by Muffy and Ted and was a great event. We took down albums of pictures and memorabilia as did others. Ted, Kenny, Don, Bob and I played 18 holes of golf during the afternoon at Pioneers. A catered set-down dinner was served in a private room where we told Vrana stories and took pictures. We continued the reunion by going to Crete the next day for a Czech Buffet dinner. Several of us played golf again at Highlands in Lincoln. One of the features of the reunion was the unveiling of the "Vrana" quilt. Most families provided a block representing some memory of a family heirloom with Muffy and her daughter putting it all together. 

Don auctioned it off to the group, and we all were  happy to see Muffy have the high bid. Several of the blocks were picture collages but there was good variety. My writing this was prompted by writing our contribution to Pat this afternoon for our quarterly cousins newsletter. I am also in the process of writing a narrative of our activities during 2005. It was one of the few years when I didn't get it done on a timely basis. I am actually going back through my 2005 Journal and reading every page. While it is more difficult to write after 11 years, it is also interesting to recall events that were completely forgotten. Others like the Kiwanis Flag Project saw its beginning back then. I played golf on nearly a daily basis and was on the City Council and deeply involved with other Church, Civic, Fraternal, Retirees and other organizations.

Col. Gerald D. "Jerry" Meyer

We went to the Retirement party for Colonel Gerald D. Meyer this afternoon at the Nebraska National Guard Museum where Jerry will continue to lead the staff for the State as the Nebraska National Guard Historian.  He, Mary and their family came to Seward just a couple years ago when the National Guard Armory here was selected to become the State Museum. Jerry has had an illustrious career with the Guard having enlisted in 1984 in Iowa and trained as an enlisted solder. He was commissioned through ROTC at the University of Northern Iowa. He served in many positions during his career and was deployed on 2 occasions to Afghanistan. He was also deployed for Hurricane Relief. He has, served as a High School teacher in Exira, IA and Columbus, NE. It was in Columbus that he and his students led the effort to build the "Andrew Jackson Higgin's Memorial". Mr Higgins was born in Columbus and designed the wooden landing crafts that helped the Allies win WWII. 

Jerry's leadership and experience made him the ideal choice to head-up the Seward Museum project which took a 1956 National Guard Armory and converted it to the Museum. There is still a lot of work to be done but his leadership so far had demonstrated this will become a destination point for many. This picture of part of the crowd this afternoon gives a glimpse of the "Curtis Pusher" and the recently dedicated "Airborne exhibit" which features a mock-up of a soldier jumping out of a C-130. Jerry and his wife have already had a very favorable impact on the Seward community.

An '05 Birthday Celebration in D.C.

At he end of each year we typically go through my Daily Journal and list what we call Highlights. We usually also write a narrative of the year's activities. Selected pictures are put on collages. The Highlights, Narrative and Collages are printed out from computer files and put in a 3-ring notebook. They are also stored on computer files for each year along with all of our digital pictures, Christmas letters, etc. We found recently that the narrative for 2005 had never been written so we decided to do it. Many of the  narratives have been written years later which is an opportunity to relive many interesting events and refresh our memory of things forgotten.

We celebrated my birthday in '05 by going back to Washington, D.C. and getting most of the family together. We drove our '02 Buick La Sabre, took Carolyn and Julie with us and went to Tim and Laura's in Columbus, IN. We then took their Tony and Maggie and went on to the D.C. area where Jon and Mary's family is located. Verlon drove up from Richmond to join us in visiting the Folk Festival on the Mall, Old Town Alexandria, Historic building on the Mall, and saw the Nationals beat Toronto 5-2 in the old RFK baseball stadium. We all had a great time.

...for the Last Time

Elaine and I started doing "Meals on Wheels" some 20 years ago and for the last several have done "Home Delivered Meals" for Kiwanis. We decided some time ago to "retire" from the task. I even recruited a new member who may be able to "fill in". Our quitting never hit me until Gene, while announcing who was doing what for the Social Services Committee at the Kiwanis meeting this week, mentioned that we would be doing the delivery this Thursday for the last time. While many of the Kiwanians do it by themselves, Elaine and I have always enjoyed doing them together. It has worked out real well since our delivery day coincides with the Senior Center Potato Bake. Our last two deliveries are at the Manor which is adjacent to the Center. The meals for both deliveries are prepared at the hospital, and there are probably over 40 delivered by volunteers. The recipients look forward to seeing the person doing the delivery just about as much as the food. The City of Seward is blessed with a Cadre of volunteers that cover a wide range of activities. The Senior Center is another of the places where a large number of people continue to work to provide service to others. Many of us think America is already great at the local level.

Vrana 1st Cousins

This was taken out at the Vrana farm north of Garland in the late 20's with my Mother, Aunts, and 1st Cousins. The aunts are: Anna, Rose and Tillie (my Dad's sisters), Dad's brother John's wife Anna, and my Mother, Florence. The little kids are (l-r) Dick, Bob (twins), Lindy,  my sister Vivian and me. Another cousin Ted,  a couple years older  isn't on the picture. We were the first "wave" of the 27 eventual cousins. Interestingly, Ted is one of the 14 of us still around and he celebrated his 94th birthday recently. We have always been a close-knit family with annual family reunions when we were kids and then Cousins reunions as our parents passed on. For the past several years, Pat, one of the younger cousins has compiled a Newsletter from information provided by us individual cousins. We are all indebted to her for helping to keep us all in contact. It was her request for information that prompted me to write this and see if this picture has ever been included in a Newsletter.

A Good Day

 

Carolyn was taking care of Sadie and Jack this morning and walked to our house from theirs. Sadie rode her bike and Carolyn pushed Jack in his stroller. We had a good visit and Jack seems to enjoy being with me almost as much as I enjoy him. He has learned more new words each time we see him and some of his names of things are original. He says "ball" very clearly and likes to throw it in my direction when I roll it to him. He is right handed but can throw pretty good with the left. Our living room becomes a "play pen" when both of them are here but it makes for a happy time. They both do a good job of entertaining themselves with what Elaine brings out but also know where to find things.

This evening we went to the Nebraska Chautauqua Announcement at the National Guard Museum. The Chautauqua will be part of the Seward Sesquicentennial Celebration in 2017. The Theme of the Chautauqua will be: World War I-Legacies of a Forgotten War featuring scholars as President Woodrow Wilson-moderator, Edith Wharton, E.W.B. Du Bois, William Jennings Bryan, and Jane Adams.

The Kitones sang for the event which was chaired by Clark Kolterman, Chairman of the Celebration.  Darin Krueger, Nebraska National Guard Historical Society President gave greetings as did Josh Eickmeier, Mayor; Roger Glawatz, Seward Co. Commissioner and Ryne Seaman-Corporate Sponsor of the Chautauqua. A cake was cut and everyone sang "Happy Birthday to Me" for kicking-off the 150 year birthday party. A good time was had by all.

Barry Fisher-Bluestem Fiber

Barry Fisher, Business Development Officer with Bluestem Fiber and a new Seward Kiwanis member, presented the program at today's meeting. They are in the process of stringing fiber optic lines in the business district and will soon make the high speed service available to home owners. Bluestem Fiber is powered by Corning FlexNap technology and provides faster Internet service than what has been available. They will also provide a telephone service but do not have a television component at this time. They have established a Business location in the Bradford Building downtown. The monthly rates he referred to, appear very competitive. While the transaction speed may be significant in the business community, it will be interesting to see how many of us are going to give up a service with which we are satisfied, for one that is faster and supposedly less expensive. We will probably not make any changes until after the service has established a "track record" for home users and the cost can be verified. We have lived by the old adage: "Be Not the First to take the New in Stride, Nor be the Last to Lay the Old Aside."

Love God: Love each Other

We got to 8:30am Church this morning where Pastor Robert Henre used the following reading as the basis of his sermon: Matthew 22:36-40.  "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself." He went on to talk about Agape love which is from the Ancient Greek and refers to the highest form of love; that of God to man and man of God.  It is not to be confused with "philēo", brotherly love.

 He went on to say that is how Philadelphia, PA, the City of Brotherly Love, got its name. Phileo love also refers to compassion and the benevolent feeling for people in need. Other types of Love referred to in the Bible are Eros which is the physical , romantic attraction between Husband and Wife. Storge Love is the love of family members, the tenderness love of parent to child. While I was aware of Agape, and Eros, the words Phileo and Storge were new to me. My sister Janice and her husband celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this summer by taking family to Alaska. Their family name is Sorge. I wonder if their name may have evolved from Storge. They are certainly a very close, tender family, so the definition fits.

Jaudon Auction

I got down to the Schweitzer Auction in the 4-H Building for Charley and Ruth Jaudon and others at the Seward Fair Grounds this morning. There was a good-sized crowd, and it appeared that there was a considerable amount of material brought in by the auctioneers in addition to that of the Jaudons. Charley and I were golfing buddies for a number of years and still maintain a close relationship. His health encouraged their moving into an assisted living facility early this year here in Seward. It is an excellent place which helps with the transition of selling their home and having an auction, but it is still a tramautic event. I came home for lunch thinking the Auction would take much of the afternoon but when I went back down soon after 1:00pm, there was very little left to be sold.

I did have a good visit with Charley and Ruth and was pleased that they were accepting the movement of many prized possessions to new owners. They were of course, able to take their closest personal items with them to their new "home". Having had several months to consider this day probably helped to make it more acceptable. I only bought one little item of pictures and postcards. This auction has helped me realize that parting with personal possessions is just another of the steps most of us have to take, along the way, if we are lucky. My sister Vivian died very suddenly and never had the

experience of seeing things sold that once were so valuable to her. 

Friday evening at the Senior Center

Elaine and I joined more than 60 others for the "Friday Night Polka and Dinner" at the Seward Senior Center. The Dinner menu included Hamburgers, Potato Salad, Baked Beans and Texas Sheet Cake. The Baked Beans were especially good and I went back for seconds. Entertainment was provided by Lonnie Piitz, a Butler County farmer who has his own Dance Band, plays a number of instruments and farms several hundred acres. He sings and the Piano Accordion is his main instrument when performing alone. He is also somewhat of a comedian and the older people really appreciate his stories. He also played an old Button Accordion and told of learning to play it with lessons through a telephone call.

I enjoy the Piano Accordion but when it comes to playing Polkas, nothing beats the Button one. I included the little organ on the upper picture since we donated it to the Senior Center some years ago. We bought it while back in Virginia. Our Son Jon played it and during his Senior Year in High School, with the other kids in college,  he and I spent many evenings singing along with his playing. Leo brought his wife and family along and introduced them to the audience when they got back from shopping. It was a good evening with a half-inch rain.

Edward Jones Appreciation Night

The Seward Offices of the Edward Jones Co., Financial Advisers hosted a customer appreciation evening at the Band Shell and introduced Adam as a new Adviser. John Owens is shown here presenting an Edward Jones check to a Col. in the Nebraska National Guard for our local NG Museum.  Adam was also introduced and is standing with them. Col. Jerry Meyer, NG Museum Director is shown getting a picture while the "Fire House Five" band is getting set-up for musical entertainment on the stage. They served Brats, Hot Dogs, Chips, Cookies and Drinks on this beautiful evening. It was a very informal event and everyone seemed to have a good time.

There was a good crowd, good food and good music with Carolyn, Julie and the kids set-up down close to the stage where we joined them. Sadie and Jack both had a big time playing on the grass with other kids. They both make new friends very easily. I had the opportunity to visit with some of my old Garland friends and learned that the Farmers Elevator there had closed. Also filled in a void by learning the names of people who followed Lou Ditto in owning the Garland Bar back in the mid-50's.

Our First Son's Birthday

At Breakfast this morning, I congratulated Elaine on it being "Mother Day". It was on this date some years ago that she became a Mother for the first time which also made me a Father. We couldn't have been happier and without a second thought, named him after me. This picture was taken when he was about a year old in the front yard of our first little house. The "pith helmet" that I was wearing was for protection from the sun while working with the Soil Conservation Service doing field lay-out of terraces, dams, etc. on farms in Seward County. Elaine was a full-time Mom but also still did some work for the Extension Office. 

 We talked to Verlon this morning at his home in Richmond, VA. He had plans for celebrating his birthday, and we talked about his coming back to visit us again in early October. He was out earlier this spring, treated our deck, did some painting, and a lot of home maintenance. In addition to his work we went to a Auction where he tried on a cowboy hat, and also went to Bee for fish. On our way home we stopped by what is left of the farmstead where Elaine grew up and where Verlon has a lot of happy memories as a little kid. We celebrated today by taking Carolyn out to Nate's on the Nine for a great lunch.

Aunt Dorothy & "Our Little Home"

This picture was taken a few months earlier at our "little home" than the one I posted yesterday with Vivian and I cutting apples and Donnie in a crib next to us. Aunt Dorothy is with Mother, us boys and Trixie. This was on the east side of the house near some of the Apple trees in the orchard. Aunt Dorothy (Mother's sister) was a part of our lives for many years. As a young girl she was stricken with "Infantile Paralysis" (Polio) which limited the growth of one of her legs. She wore a built up shoe but walked with a decided limp all her life. When Uncle Clarence's wife, died suddenly leaving 3 little kids under 5 years old, Aunt Dorothy volunteered to help fill the void in helping raise the family. When the kids were raised and on their own, Aunt Dorothy invited her Uncle Fred to come live with her in his declining years. They were very compatible and did a lot of child care. Occasionally, we even had them take care of our 4 kids when we lived near them in Lincoln. She was recognized by Radio Station KFAB as the "Good Neighbor of the Midwest" in 1956. 

After Uncle Fred passed on she moved back to Seward into The Manor and spent the last of her 90 years in the Sundermann West Care Facility. Her sister Ethel spent time with her during these years as did Elaine and I. She had many of her Mother's desirable Irish traits. 

This is a winter view of our "little home" as Mother would say, and shows the Outhouse, Goat shed at the end of the Garage, wash house and the house. When the Folks sold the place to Hughes Bros. in 1944, we put skids under the tin garage, and I drug it with our John Deer A out to our farm north of Garland.

Early Childhood

During our visit to the Seward County Fair that ended last night, I had occasion to mention to a friend that I was born near that location many years ago. Some of the ancient building are seen in the background of this picture. The Grandstand was to the left of the buildings in the picture. The race track extended from that area right up to the other side of the RR tracks and just beyond the white post shown. Donnie was a cute little fellow in the crib; Vivian and I were cutting up apples which Mother used to make Apple Butter. I don't remember the kettle I was working with, nor the dishpan, but the blue bowl that Vivian has was a part of Mother's kitchen equipment for many, many years. We were close enough to the Grandstand that Vivian & I would take our coaster wagon over and ride down the steps. The City park was nearby so we would also ride on the swings and slide.

This picture was taken over a year later when Aunt Ethel, Uncle Ralph and Aunt Dorothy stopped by. Here again some evidence of the Fairground and racetrack is visible in the background. We are standing on a platform above the door to our cave. While we had electric lights, we kept many things in the cave using the small ice box very sparingly. Everyone looks "dressed up" but me.  I might have had to stay home and take care of our goats while the rest of them went some place. I wasn't able to digest breast nor cow milk when I was a baby; so Dad bought a Nanny goat for $60.00. The goat's milk agreed with me and got me off to a good start. We later moved out to the Vrana farm where my Dad grew up. It was a difficult transition for a "town kid", going from a new school building to an old country school with kids in all eight grades. 

'36 Ford Automobile

My Brother sent information on this car. "In 1935, officials at Allegheny Ludlum Steel Division and the Ford Motor Company collaborated on an experiment that would become a legacy and a tribute to one of the most dynamic metals ever developed. Allegheny Ludlum, a pioneer producer of stainless steel, proposed the idea of creating a stainless steel car to Ford. The idea took shape in the form of a 1936 Deluxe Sedan." This story reminded me of the '36 Ford Victoria that we had in the late '50's as our first, 2nd car. Elaine often wanted to take the kids and go out to her Folk's farm and I had driven our car to work. Seeing this green Ford Victoria on the Ford Dealer's lot one day, provided a solution to our problem. 

 Our offer was accepted on 2/23/55 for a house on 5th St. and on 3/2/55 we bought this low mileage, '36 Ford  for $35. It had belonged to an old maid who gave it good care. It got run into on 8/22/55 while parked on our side street resulting in minor damage. (I did have it properly parked at the time.) With 4 little kids, we traded our '52 Chevy for a new '56 Pontiac Station wagon on 4/13/56. Elaine was teaching Sunday School and on 8/12/56, she put the 2 older boys in the back seat of the Ford and hurried to Church. As she turned on to 5th St., the back door flew open and Tim rolled out on to the busy street. I had watched the whole event take place and rushed out to pick up this 4 year old. Fortunately, he wasn't hurt and they went on to Church. I don't think she ever drove it again after that nor did she want the kids riding in the back seat. By 12/7/56 I bought a '47 Chevy 5-passenger Coupe from Sahn's and sold the old Ford to a couple of young farm boys from Bee for $90.00.

Seward County Fair

Marv and his Lady were working the Kiwanis Club of Seward booth at the County Fair when we stopped by this afternoon. This is the 146th Annual Seward County fair which is running August 11-14. 2016. The number of events, the extent of open class exhibits, the amount of 4-H competition and the entertainment schedule is just unbelievable. Each year it seems that the Fair Board is able to put together a schedule that tops the previous year. When the State Fair was is Lincoln, it was always the "big fair" for most of us in this area. Since it moved to Grand Island a few years ago, both the Seward and Lancaster County Fairs have grown considerably. We didn't participate in very many of the activities but did enjoy the exhibits and booths in the Ag Pavilion when we got down for the Polka Jamboree. Franklin Hronik heads up the group of Button Accordion players that also includes a Drummer and Tuba player.

This group plays for several events during the year and is always an attraction at the Fair. Dennis (far right in the picture) is the only local person in addition to  Franklin. They come from David City, Crete, Valparaiso and elsewhere and seem to enjoy playing as much as we enjoy listening. My Dad would have enjoyed playing his button accordion with such a group but never had the opportunity. Son Jon would have to learn some of the music since they all play by ear but they still play many of the same songs he heard Dad play.

Nebraska Elected Officials

Governor Pete Ricketts, Lt. Governor Mike Foley and our State Senator, Mark Kolterman held a Town Hall meeting in Seward this morning. I had another commitment so was unable to take-in the whole session but was very favorably impressed with what I heard. The Governor used budget charts to show State funding to agencies, commissions, and others receiving state funds. He is very articulate and demonstrated a working knowledge of each entity in his discussion. He focused on the number of quasi administrative commissions receiving state funds, outside the Governor's control. 

  The Nebraska Natural Resources Commission was such an Agency during my 8  years there during the '80's but has since been brought in as a "Code" agency and later combined with the Department of Water Resources to become the Department of Natural Resources. There are legitimate arguments on both sides of the "independent commission" issue, but I can certainly understand the Governor's point-of-view.  The professionalism shown by all speakers was what we Nebraskan's expect of elected officials, I wish we could see something similar in our Presidential Candidates.

A 97 degree Birthday.

I put this picture of Carolyn on Facebook this morning for her Birthday, with this message: "Would you believe that this little girl now has 2 Grandchildren to play with instead of this Barbie Doll". This was taken at our home in Lincoln ahead of our moving to Virginia later that summer. Carolyn would have been approaching her 9th birthday. She had a little red haired girlfriend her age that lived next door. They were best friends during the four years we lived in Lincoln and have had occasion to get together since coming back to Nebraska. I found a notation that this Barbie Doll was her first. I have no idea how many she may have had eventually. One of Carolyn's many traits is her ability to foster good friendships. That trait has been a blessing over the years and still is today. It has no doubt been of more value to her than the old "Vrana trait", that never allows you to passively accept something you don't agree with without speaking up to question it. While we have thoroughly enjoyed a close relationship with Carolyn over the years, we have more than ever appreciated she, Ben, and all of our Seward family as we grow older. 

Elaine and I did some geneological research this afternoon in an attempt to put together family relationships of some people who passed on during the 20th Century. Elaine has done a lot of work on my family but some connections are still difficult. As we worked in the living room on this rather tense project with the outside temperature in the high 90's, we noticed that it was even getting warm inside the house. I checked the thermostat which was set at 75 degrees and the temperature showed 80. I checked the vents and no air was moving. I went right to the phone and called H & S Plumbing at 4:40. The receptionist said she would try to catch Tim before he got away. He was over within a few minutes. After checking  things in the basement, he went up in the attic where the fan is located and determined its motor was the problem. He went back to get one and installed it in the blower in the garage before taking it back up to the attic. Everything worked, and he was on his way before 6:00pm.

Seward Memorial Library Site

This is what the lot looked like south of the Post Office when Bob Dahms and I talked to John and "Red" Keller about making it available for the Seward Memorial Library. Bob and I were on the Library Foundation Board along with others, and their willingness to make it available was great news. The Foundation had looked at several other possible sites and none were nearly as desirable as this "downtown" location. Getting this southeast quarter of the block "paved the way" for obtaining the SW quarter of the block where the Library was then constructed.  This is what the west half of the Library half-block looked like on Saturday, October 21, 2000 when the Seward Fire Department burned down the two old houses that sat on the property. The two old buildings on the right side of the picture, on this side of the City Hall, were also demolished for the Library. The building at the left edge of the picture was across 6th street, west of the library and was demolished fairly recently to provide for the expanded and renovated Jones National Bank and Trust. These were major improvements to downtown Seward.

David and Nancy's Summer Tour

David Held  presented the program at Kiwanis this noon by showing pictures and telling of a trip he and Nancy took this summer to California and on up to the Canadian Rockies. He told of flying to San Diago where they boarded the Amsterdam, a Holland American Line Cruise ship. They visited the Zoo there and the highlights of other California cities as they worked their way up the coast. Dave is an excellent photographer and had wonderful pictures to document their travels. Their Cruise ship took them to Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada.

 In Vancouver they visited the Butchart Gardens among other sites. Their tour took them by train to Jasper, Lake Louise and to Banff. They rode on a very large "snow bus" that took them into the Glacier areas. In one of the later stops near Banff they rode a "sky lift" up to a mountain top resort. They left Banff in a bus that took them to Calgary for a flight home. Dave's photography was not only excellent buy he was able to interject video at certain points along with audio so we could hear the sound of the waterfalls, etc. It was a great show and obviously, a wonderful trip.

Enjoyed Looking Back

This picture was taken on May 31, 1999 at the Lincoln Airport as Ben, Julie and Carolyn were leaving for England. Julie had completed her 1st year at UN-L. It was an ideal time for them to travel. One of the pleasures in old age is in looking at pictures and rekindling memories of past times. My Journals add to this pleasure by providing another dimension. We had taken them to the airport and took care of Jack (Poodle) while they were gone. We took him along when we went up to North Dakota for Mel and Marilyn's 50 Wedding Anniversary. He slept in the car after hearing every noise in the room but we got along O.K.

This picture of me at the Golf course was taken on May 2, 1999. It shows a small Blue Spruce tree that I had planted the day before as a memorial to a dear friend. We had planted several seedlings in a nursery row when we had the farm and this is one that I brought into our back yard and nurtured it for a couple years. It is some 20' high today and located on the right side of the #4 fairway near the Yellow Tee Box.  We had also sold our restored '67 VW Beetle on the same afternoon that this picture was taken. I continued to give the tree some special treatment for several years  and even planted a Pine tree near this site.