Moving Day Approaching

This picture represents the best look of our house this evening with all things taken out of my bedroom chest, and put in a couple boxes that will be picked up tomorrow morning and moved to the bedroom in our Brookdale unit. We have focused on the things that we will need in our new setting and lifestyle. We will have about 20% of the space that we have in our house, (counting our lower level). Our sorting process involves taking things to EtCetera, Recycling and Garbage. We hope to have a garage sale or two but also realize we may need to have an auction. We did get up to Brookdale with a few things this afternoon and took in a Dave Oates presentation on "Making Sausage". There was a good sized crowd of residents and guest to hear Dave and enjoy some of his samples. We have known him and his wife for several years through Church and Kiwanis and always enjoy his stories. Some years ago Elaine sold Dave the historic Flowerday Family sausage grounder which included 3 blades and was mounted on an oak table board. Dave asked her to write a story of its history and her memories of it. He read that as part of his presentation so it served as a great welcome of us.

Our current house was built in 1969 by a local builder for a elderly well-to-do widow who built in many features that we haven't fully appreciated until we realize the the bathrooms in the Brookdale unit are not close to the size and features that we have taken for granted the past 36 years.  I have prescriptions and other bathroom necessities boxed up to finish filling after breakfast tomorrow but will come down later and go through everything we have in the main bathroom closet. This move isn't easy, and we couldn't do it without Carolyn and others.

Things are Shaping Up

We were pleased to walk into our unit this afternoon and see the TV working and the end tables in place with lamps on them. It actually took some "reprogramming" of the Spectrum box that Jim was able to have done that made it work.

(The spots are in my camera and not on the wall and couch). The TV screen is just the right size and height for easy viewing from our new chairs. It was so comfortable that we actually just watched TV for a while and rested from our work. We make a point of taking up a few things each time we go and this was no exception. I know that Carolyn and Julie have plans to add more pictures on the wall around the TV but it already looks pretty comfortable to us.

Nebraska University President Hank Bounds

University of Nebraska President Hank Bounds spoke at our Kiwanis meeting in Seward this noon. He was introduced by Gail (Schulz) Miller, Executive Assistant to the President. Gail is the daughter of Marvin (Pee Wee) and Marilyn Schulz of Seward. President Bounds is relatively new to Nebraska but brings very impressive credentials following progressively responsible positions in Education in his home state of Mississippi. He presented a vary favorable picture of the Innovative Campus, The Medical school, and the impact of technology on education and our lives. The increase need for security of medical records is just one of many challenges. He responded very favorably to the impact of Nebraska being in the Big 10, the effect locally of Washington decisions, the question of global warming, our collaborative research in building predictive models, etc. While he outlined the University Budget challenges, he said we have not done a very good job of telling our story. I was very favorably impressed by what he said and how he said it.

Swallowed up in Activity

We are swallowed up in activities with our move to Brookdale only 4-days away. A lot of the emotion of "cleaning-out" is lessened by not setting a time when we have to be out of our house. Tim called this evening and we talked about our surfacing the old Joe DiMaggio baseball glove. He too remembered it as a kid and made sure we keep it. I told him of having disposed of several files this afternoon but when it came to a couple Baseball files, they were put on his "box of things". We are recognizing that we will have a considerably different lifestyle after making the move and that some of the things that were important in our day-to-day life will not be so in the new setting. Hopefully we will be able to determine more nearly what we are going to want in our limited space after living in it for a few weeks than what we know now.

Drafting and Engineering Tools

I cleaned out a desk drawer today that held some of my old engineering and drafting equipment that included the slide rules and triangular rule shown in the picture. I had them setting next to me not knowing for sure what to do with them. The question was answered a few minutes later when Verlon called to say he would like them so they will go on his pile. Carolyn has set up a system in the lower level with names and piles for each of the 3 boys. (She just takes her own home with her) I also told Verlon of finding a mechanical pencil that uses "fat" lead, extra lead of various degrees of hardness, and the round sharpener used to get a sharp point. All of it will be on his pile before I go to bed tonight.

Verlon is back to Richmond

Carolyn took this picture of Verlon, Elaine and I  as she was ready to take him to the Lincoln airport for his flight back to Richmond, VA. We really appreciate the "heavy lifting" he was able to do during his multipurpose visit. This year his visit dates were determined by the Eclipse, but we also had several cool days for his home maintenance work. In addition this year, we have the "cleaning out" project underway in preparation to move to Brookdale. What he did toward that and cleaning out our attic storage, etc. was a great help. I worked all afternoon cleaning out the material stored in the Library Table which has been used as a desk in my lower level office. I was able to do that setting down, but I couldn't have done some of the things he did.

Old TV Sets

One of the several things that Verlon was able to get done yesterday was to take 3 old TVs down to Seward Electronics. We had talked to Joe earlier and he was going on a missions so suggested we just put this in front of his building. All three of them were in working condition and utilized to some extent when we had Time-Warner. When Spectrum took over the first of August and went all digital, they became obsolete. Joe will send us a bill for the processing that he is required to do before disposing of them. He says it's not much different than what is charged at Seward's annual Clean-up Day. I would never have been able to get the larger one up the stairs so was real pleased to see Verlon get rid of them while he was here.  That was true of several things that he got done for which we are really appreciative.

Joe DiMaggio Baseball Glove

This old Joe DiMaggio baseball glove of mine is one of the rare finds during the cleaning out process, that I thought was "long gone". As recently as Monday, I pulled out a box in our lower level storage area that I hoped may contain the glove but it didn't. I had accepted the fact that it was gone and this morning, Verlon brought down a box from the attic that had my glove, shoes and other equipment. I came back out to play in an "old timers game" at Garland after we moved to Lincoln in 1958 which is the last time the glove was ever used. I have done nothing to "clean it up" so it's just the way it came out of the box. There is a rip in the seam that separates the thumb from the fingers which I remembered. I used it in playing CF for Seward in 1953,  their last year in the Cornhusker League. I bought it from Norm Neujahr some years earlier. 

Tim, Laura and family were back here for the Vrana family reunion and before they left to dive back to Indiana, I suggested that he go through my Baseball books and take the ones he would like. Among them was this 2 volume set of Joe DiMaggio which included this picture of his glove that is in the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, N.Y. When I scanned it less than a Month ago, I didn't really expect to ever see my "model" of it.

My Office Ceiling

I have spent a lot of time in my Office since we made the decision recently to move to the unassisted Living Unit at Brookdale.  The office is in the lower level of our house and was part of an unfinished, 20' 7" by 14' 7" storage room when we bought the house  36 years ago. We laid floor tile on the south 9 feet of the area as a first step, a hot water radiator was already in place near the bottom of the south wall. I built three, 3'sections of bookcases that provides the east "wall" and separates the "office" from the "shop". Wall board was put on the west wall of the office area and wood paneling on the south side of the room. We had a rug just the right size for the floor.

While the ceiling is finished with ceiling tile throughout the rest of the lower level, the 2 x 10" floor joist are visible in the whole storage room. We worked on remodeling this area during the time I was working with the Nebraska Natural Resources Commission and attending many meetings where name tags were provided. I started stapling them to the 2x10's to provide some color as well as an interesting way to display "reminders" of meetings throughout the country in various capacities. At least 30 years ago, Elaine began reminding me that they would be more difficult to get down than to put up. During Verlon's visit, he was able to get them all down. I hope to find a better picture showing them but you get the idea from the first picture.

Solar Eclipse in Seward, Nebraska

We went out to John and Julie's to view the Eclipse this morning. John's brother Dan and his wife Kim are visiting there, so along with Verlon, Carolyn, Sadie and Jack, we had a good viewing party. We got out about 11:15am so with the beginning being at 11:36, we spent a little time watching what was happening out in Oregon and had our Pizza lunch. Then we moved outdoors as we put on our glasses and began to see the moon working into the path of the sun. The kids did great in keeping their paper plate, glasses mask in place by lying on the blanket and looking up. Jack had a good time just playing without being too concerned with the eclipse

It was a truly great experience but we were far enough away from the center point of the path that we were never able to see the "sunsets" that are referred to nor did it get dark enough to see any stars. I'm sure the street lights didn't come on in downtown Seward as we anticipated. With my viewing glassed off during totality and my regular glasses on, I was able to see something very similar to this picture during the 1 minute 36 seconds of totality. While the view may have been better near the center line, the fact that we were less than a mile from home and among family more than offset what we may have missed.

No Water from the Faucet

There is an old adage that: "You never miss the Water till the Well runs Dry." Our City Water pressure was noticeably low as I opened the faucet mid-afternoon and by an hour or so later, it was just a trickle. Elaine was able to collect a half-gallon or so and she washed dishes with water from the dehumidifier. Word from the City is that both water towers have been totally drained by a water main leak in an undetermined location. The water towers are being refilled in an effort to locate the leak. Meanwhile, the stores in Seward have sold out their water supply and people are driving to Lincoln for water. Elaine has always kept a bit of supply in the lower level refrigerator, but it is definitely limited. We have a flush in each of our 3 toilet stools which we are planning to conserve till morning, at least. We did have an electrical and rain storm last night that left 1.50" in our gauge but doubt that could have caused the problem. We do have some flooding in the area which may make locating the break more difficult. Tomorrow was scheduled to have a lot of activity with the Total Solar Eclipse from 1:01:33 to 1:03:10pm and unless the water issue is resolved very soon, it will complicate the planned activities considerably.

Elaine and the Forest Service

Elaine had several years of very successful experience with the Forest Service in USDA while we were back in the Washington, D.C. area. She started with the FS as a Secretary and advanced rapidly to a Management Analyst position in the Timber Management Division. This 17 x 11 inch slab of Colorado Limestone, (3/4" thick) came from the Cattermole Studio in Idaho Springs, Colorado and was shipped to Elaine in 1973. The Lichen is natural and the drawing of the Deer on the stone, is done by a secret, Native American process. It has occupied a prominent place in each our Family Rooms since, in the  3 houses where we have lived.

This 11 x 12 inch, Forest Service sign also came to Elaine during the time of working with the Agency. The story is that one of our kids spotted it in a midst of garbage, pullled it out, cleaned it up and gave it to Elaine as a Christmas present. She never mentioned to any of her fellow Forest Service employees that she had one of these that so distinctly identify National Forests. It has never been displayed in our  Family Rooms, but usually put up in my shop rafters. It was one of several things that Verlon pulled down from places difficult to reach. At this stage of our move preparation, we are utilizing his ability to do many of the things we are unable to do as well as focusing of the things we know we will move to the new location at Brookdale Independent Living here is Seward.

Fish in Bee

The agenda today included Verlon using a Power Washer from Sack Lumber to wash our deck. It cleaned up nicely. He also did some back yard trimming as I did. In fact I did more yard work today then any one time this summer. Verlon got the last of the "rolls" down from the rafters in the storage area which we enjoyed sorting; some to recycle, others to yard sale and a few to garbage. I went through more old work files and was pleased to find some pictures of my long time SCS boss when he was a young man as a CCC camp leader. This evening we went up to Lou & MaryAnn's for fish supper. We didn't get there till after 5:30 and were fortunate in getting a table near the entrance. We have never seen as many customers as what were there this evening. We must have waited for over 30 minutes for our food but the fish was excellent and the helping seemed larger than normal. We estimate there were as many as 200 people involved during the time we were there. It's not only a great meal but also an interesting experience.

Bringing in New and Hauling out Old

Carolyn was doing some work with drapes up at our Brookdale unit when our new living room chairs were delivered from Slumberland. We got up to try them out right away and decided we liked them. Elaine and Carolyn had bought them and I am well pleased with their choice. They fit well and I like the height at which we sit.  They will be moved around a bit as we bring in lamp table, and a narrow mahogany desk to the left of my chair. We are anticipating having a TV on the wall across the room. Some of the plans may change as additional furniture gets moved in. We  took up some of my jackets to a closet  and Elaine always has things to take along. We try to never go up without taking along something that we don't need here during the next couple weeks.

We used Verlon's height and strength in bringing down some boxes off the top shelf in our storage area. Most of which had been there since the shelves were built nearly 35 years ago. One box contained several of my GW university notebooks. The paper pictured is of an "Analysis of Management appraisal Methods" which was a 5-person MBA project in 1968. It involved collecting data from many Government Agencies and Private Industrial Companies. These are all in bags out in the trunk of the car headed for the recycle center. We took Verlon out to dinner this evening for his birthday and felt we had done a good days work.

Home Maintenance

Son Verlon was able to get the garage door railing support repaired this afternoon. While there are many additional items on his work agenda, this was at the top of the priorities. The thin, vertical, angle iron support from the railing to the base support at the ceiling broke last winter and I got it "wired up" to let us get by. He was able to get a heavier grade of material at the local lumber yard and got both this south railing support and the north one for the north door properly repaired. We also got up to Brookdale and measured the size of the garage. It is a single stall, 21' 6" by 11' 5" in a building of about 10 such garages.  Our car should fit in nicely with room for a certain amount of storage. It has a remote garage door opener for the locked door. Knowing the storage capacity of the garage will help us in determining just what we will be able to take with us. This is going to be a definite "down-size" after all the space we have had in this house with the finished lower level and a big finished, double garage. We are happy that Verlon will be able to spend his birthday with us tomorrow. It always brings back a lot of Happy Memories when we remember of the birth of our First Born.

Verlon Arrived

We welcomed son Verlon in from Richmond, VA this afternoon. Ben picked him up at the Lincoln airport after his flight from Chicago on United had been delayed for about an hour and a half. We had a good chicken/potato salad, Pumpkin Pie supper and then went up to Brookdale to show him the place. We then drove up into the Waverly Rd. area to see the new housing. We have many home maintenance items awaiting him during his brief stay but nothing will stand in the way of his observing the eclipse next Monday (unless it's the weather). We will also have an opportunity to celebrate his birthday with him during the visit.

Kiwanis Kitones in 1996

My Kiwanis file has been reduced from about 2 feet to 4 inches. It went back to when I joined the Lincoln Center Club in 1986 and included current material. In the fall of '89, I took a job in Ankeny, IA and dropped the Lincoln Club Membership. We returned home and I joined the Kiwanis Club of Seward in the Spring of 1992 and continue to be an active member.  

Kiwanis has been a significant part of my life during these nearly 30 years. The Lincoln Club had well over 100 members and included many of the "movers & shakers" of the City. The Seward Club has also grown to flirt with membership of 100. Our current membership includes a good representation of people from throughout the community with great representation from Concordia University. 

The Kitones were a definite factor in my decision to join the Seward Club. I bought my Jacket and sang with the group after having only been to a couple weekly practice sessions. Dr. Harry Giesselmann led the group with his wife Lois serving as accompanist. One of my Highlights in Kiwanis was singing with the Kitones at the Kiwanis International Meeting in 1996 in Salt Lake City. The picture above is of the Kitones at that time.  Our leader, Harry was a friend of the Assistant Director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They arraigned for us to set-in at the Choir practice session and had reserved seats for us at the Sunday Morning telecast.  

Elaine and I drove out early and were able to visit several National Parks in southern Utah including: Arches, Natural Bridges, Bryce Canyon, Zion as well as the glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell ahead of the Meeting. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was a luncheon speaker and I was able to have a personal conversation with him about environmental matters. We spent some time with Don and Jackie Armstrong who were living in Salt Lake City at the time. All-in-all it was a wonderful experience.

The Next Chapter

We spent some time up in our unit at Brookdale with Carolyn this afternoon. She and Ben are doing a great job of doing things to pave the way for our September 1 move. She has worked with curtains, drapes, shower curtains, kitchen utensils, etc. Ben has put up the old baseball picture in the walk-in shower bathroom. The picture has the added value as the last purchase I made at an Auction being called by Brother Don. Ben has helped Carolyn with several things, and has put up a bird feeder next to the patio and hauled up my "custom made" Rocking Chair to see how it looks in the living room. They had already taken the small table and chairs from our Deck up to the patio and have added a potted Chrysanthemum to it. Elaine has also been packing up little things that they have taken up.

We visited with Carl Everts, a fellow Kiwanian and my former golf instructor, as we were leaving. He and Helen have moved in very recently and was very encouraging to us, with his very favorable assessment of the place. This sort of downsizing move is not easy though we know it's appropriate. The work Carolyn and Ben have done to make it a very hospitable place along with their optimism and encouragement from many, helps. We know we will have to learn new routines but in general, life will be much easier for both of us, especially Elaine. I already take it pretty easy since not mowing the lawn nor doing any yard work. But Elaine has been doing all the house work including planning and cooking 3 meals a day and all that goes with "keeping house".

Accordion Jamboree at the County Fair

We got down to the Ag Pavilion this afternoon for the Accordion Jamboree. We haven't missed it in the last several years at the County Fair. The fair crowd was overflowing but we lucked into a parking spot near the Pavilion door. After taking a load to the Recycle Center early this morning, we drove down through the fair grounds and even then there was a lot going on. We were pleased to see Leonard Nemitz back in the group with his base horn and singing voice. He is in the back row and doesn't show nor does the drummer and guitar player. Our friend here in Seward, Franklin Hronik is center front. Jean (Sousek) Rath led the group. Elaine is shown visiting with her afterward. Her 92 year old Dad still plays with the group and told me he learned the words to all the songs first and then learned to play them by "ear".

Happy Birthday Carolyn

While I wished Carolyn a Happy Birthday earlier today, I also want to acknowledge wishing the happiness to extend throughout the year. One of her Happy times during this past year was when she showed us her new Subaru.  She was so happy with it, she almost had me convinced to get one. The Seward County Fair was going on at the time Carolyn was born.   I had won a prize for my beard, so was late getting to the Hospital.  I had no idea when Dr. Carr walked past me in the waiting room and matter of factly and without even slowing down, said, "you have a little girl", did realize the impact she continues to have on me.  Sons are important in helping to carry on the family name, etc but I have said every old man needs to have a daughter living near him. This is not to take anything away from having a good wife living with him, but acknowledges the need for someone younger to see things in a more realistic light, than what old folks are sometimes inclined to do. 

Elaine's Recognition at SWCS Annual Meeting

I got through our files of the Soil and Water Conservation Society Annual Meetings today. It was as though I spent the afternoon visiting with old friends. While I have a significant quantity of material to go to the recycle center on Saturday morning, we will still have our book of Highlights, Pictures, and my Journals to rely on for information. Here is a picture of Elaine who received a Commendation Award at the August, 1995 Annual Meeting of the Society in Des Moines, IA. She was "cited in recognition of 45 years as a strong advocate of SWCS, of spouses taking an active role in the technical aspects of Society activities, and for her positive influence to many young people entering the field of conservation. She volunteered more than 1500 hours of highly effective and efficient time helping the Society headquarters fulfill responsibilities". The volunteer work at the Society Headquarters was during the time I served as Executive-Vice President from 1989 through '91. Pictured here are Dayle Williamson, Paul Johnson, Elaine and I. Elaine proudly reminds me that the framed certificate is prominently displayed in my Den Room.

ARSCSE Officers in 2000 at St. Louis

Our continuing "cleaning out" took me to the files of the Soil and Water Conservation Society. (SWCS)  With overlapping membership, the Association of Retired SCS/NRCS (ARSCSE) former employees typically have their annual meeting in conjunction with SWCS. I came across this picture in the file of the July 8-12, 2000 meeting in St. Louis, MO of the two organizations. It includes: (Front Row l-r)Mel Cohee, Michael Schendel, Linc Gallagher and Bill Brune. (top row) Tony Vrana, Mike Nethery, Ted Ifft, Bob Halstead, Tom Pointer,Neil Bogner and Owen Lee. Bob Halstead was President for a 2-year term, I was Pres. elect, Bill Brune immediate past Pres., and Neil Bogner Secretary-Treas. I wonder if anyone seeing this blog page will know or have known any of these fellows. I could write a story about each of them  but Mel Cohee's might be most interesting. He was truly among the first generation of SCS employees and held the record for having attended the most annual Society meetings the last I heard. I would appreciate your comments on this picture. Coming across things like this are what makes "cleaning out" interesting.

Sorting Continues

I dropped a pair of old SAS shoes in the Garbage Can late this afternoon after wearing them from the time I got up from my nap. I was completely satisfied to get rid of them after the test run. That was a small part of my afternoon in comparison to the old baseball programs that got boxed up with Tim's name on the box. Most of the programs have a scorecard filled in from the game that we saw. There were a couple envelopes of excess picture of stadiums and  beyond those utilized in my "Baseball Parks Visited" binder. There was even an envelope of duplicate pictures from Tim of our '93 trip which he and I made including Cooperstown. My only regret is that I didn't recognize what all of this baseball collection consisted of while Tim and Laura were here last week. The 40 pound box would have fit nicely in their Honda. Tim lost a lot of his old baseball memorabilia a few years ago in a house fire so I know this box will provide many happy memories when ever he gets it and he has time to look at it. I took time to look at the pictures and enjoyed every one of them. Old shoes are easy to dispose of but old baseball scorecards and memorabilia are more difficult.

Bluestem Fiber and Spectrum

Marv Taylor is shown here announcing at today's Kiwanis meeting that Barry Fisher will be moving on with Bluestem Fiber and will be replaced by Derek Dibbern. Derek will continue to represent Bluestem Fiber with their Corporate Membership. Marv also announced that their firm had sponsored a beautiful Drinking Fountain down at the Parade of Flags. There were some pictures taken with the 3 of them down at the site following the meeting. In our conversation  I mentioned having finished reading Senator Ben Sasse's book on "The Vanishing American Adult" in regard to a possible Kiwanis project. Derek spoke up and said that he had gone to High School in Fremont with the Senator and even as a HS student, he was very interested in politics. Even at that time, he indicated an intention of being President someday. I had the impression that Ben wasn't "one of the boys" in High School.

We have been limited to one television in our house since spectrum went totally digital on August 1st. The "box" that we got through Time Warner a couple years ago has enabled us to continue to receive TV programs. Spectrum has made one "box" available to customers at no charge for the first 12 months. Additional boxes are $4.99/mo. We ordered our one box which was delivered this morning.  It took me out to the extreme edge of  my ability, but after a phone call where all I needed to say was "activate", and told by the recorded voice that it would be activated in an hour; I was pleased to be able to see Ken Siemek give the local weather. 

Milestones

We helped Sadie celebrate her 5th birthday today. After blowing out the regular candles and our singing Happy Birthday, her Daddy lite a number 5 at the top of a wire, it flashed like a 4th of July Sparkler. It was a big hit but didn't last more than about 15-20 seconds. It was long enough to get some good pictures. She received several nice presents. The most outstanding one being a knit Mermaid "sock" that she can pull on with the top being a "blanket" with which to cover. 

Carolyn took us up to our unit in Brookdale where the painting is all done. Everything looks good. With the temperature in the low 70's, I wore my windbreaker and took along a hanger to leave it there, so could say that we were starting to move in. Elaine took up a few things too. Carolyn and Ben have already put together a new couch that was delivered there as well as setting up the Coffee Maker and a few other things. Our moving date is set for September 1 but that date is flexible. The more time that we spend up there, the more convinced we are that we will like it. We continue to be very favorably impressed with all of the staff and with all the people we have met there in addition to old friends.

Things are Shaping Up

It may be difficult to understand what I did this afternoon, (with our upcoming move) but it was to "shuffle" old magazines out and put newer ones in the rack.  We have utilized it for the past 25 years on the wall of our Family Room in our Lower Level.  Over the years, we have received many more than we really got read.  We have not subscribed to any new ones in the past couple years but felt it important to take several to keep up with whats going on, particularly, the Ag magazines where technology has brought about such rapid changes. Nebraska Life is a comparatively new magazine published here in-state and an excellent magazine with slick paper and many pictures. It like National Geographics are hard to "throw-away".  I believe we have taken National Geographic's more years than any others. While in HS, and for a few years after, I hardly ever missed an article in the Readers Digest but haven't seen one lately. 

Our Naked Ladies (Amaryllis Belladonna) are in full bloom at the edge of our deck. Mother had them after they retired and moved to town. That was where I saw them for the first time. Mother was a very pious person with a little Irish ornery streak and she always had a "twinkle" in her voice while showing off her "Naked Ladies". I don't think she ever knew their scientific name and when the Methodist Preacher came to call, they were "Surprise Lilies". They do pop up from bulbs early in the spring, producing long, narrow leaves which die-back in late June. Then, in late July, the bloom heads pop-up on 18 inch stems and they are in full bloom within a few days.

Celebrating Dad's 90th Birthday in 1986

 Dad's 90th birthday was celebrated over a 3-day period with the October 18th event in 1986 held out at our farm. Us 5 siblings sang "The Lost Cord" among other old favorites. The 42 people in attendance included Dad's brother Joe & Ruth, Mother's sisters Dorothy and Ethel with John. We made the VCR tape from which these pictures were taken this afternoon. While we were able to show part of one old tape at the recent reunion that Carolyn had moved to a DVD, we hope to make more and give them to family. It has been over 30 years since this tape and others were recorded and it is amazing how well they have aged. (We never did get very "professional" with our camcorder but it's interesting to get the sound and see the motion.)

Jerry skipped out of the singing as it "drug-on" and was replaced by little Julie who led us in singing Kum-by-Ya. We went on to have a Family picture taken which has been framed and on the wall for all these years by here is a picture from the tape. The next day, Sunday, the folks had an open house at their home here in Seward. Don and I served as greeters at their front door where over 100 people came to wish Dad a Happy Birthday, which he certainly had. 

Out with the Old, In with the New

Our new Queen sized Spring and Mattress arrived today from Slumberland in Lincoln. While we expect to move it up to our new "digs" early next month, it seemed appropriate to have it delivered here. We have really enjoyed Tim and Laura being here this week. After the bed was made up, we all went up to Brookdale where most of the painting has been done in our unit. Carolyn was able to get my laptop connected to their Internet signal.   The mattress is higher than our old one so we are hoping we don't fall out of bed tonight. We will miss Tim at coffee tomorrow morning since they will be heading back to Indiana.

Kenneth L. Ferguson 10 18 24 - 7 30 17

We were shocked this evening to learn of the death of Kenneth Ferguson. He died on Sunday and a Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, August 5, 2017 at St. Paul Methodist Church in Lincoln. 

Kenny, Marion and daughters Kay and Dianne were our next door neighbors while we lived in Lincoln from 1958-'62.  We were close neighbors, and were more than that. I had know Marion from Sunday School when we were 5 & 6 years old and played basketball against Kenny in High School. Our daughter Carolyn was 5 years old when we moved to Lincoln and Dianne the same age. They were in school together and best friends for those 4 years. During the years we lived in Virginia, we kept our voting registration in Lincoln, partially so we could continue to vote for Kenny as Lancaster County Registrar of Deeds, a position he held for six four-year terms. They even came back to Arlington to visit us on one occasion.

After returning to Nebraska in 1980, we got together occasionally. Kenny had many friends out here in Seward and would come out for coffee. Carolyn and Dianne got to see each other once in a while. I remember going down to Crete where Dianne was involved in a piano concert at Doane College. 

While our lives took us in different directions, The 4 years as close friends and neighbors was a mighty significant chapter in our lives which we fondly recall. When going to east Lincoln, we frequently went past the old neighborhood near 66th and Hartley street and within the past few months, wondered how Kenny was getting along as we drove by. Why didn't we stop to visit visit??

Family Visits

Janice, Larry and Benji stopped by yesterday as they were leaving town after the big family reunion at Mahoney that Janice has worked on for over the past year. In cleaning out things recently, Elaine came across a large crystal bowl that Jerry had won pitching pennies many years ago, and gave to Elaine. He was a teenager at the time and kept pitching pennies until he had one for Vivian and Gladys as well. It seemed to be a very appropriate time to pass it on to Janice who will appreciate it's having come from her late twin brother. They were heading for western Nebraska to visit some of Larry's family. 

We also got Maggie and Adam on their way this morning. We had never met Adam before but were very impressed with him. There were no votes taken on but he's accepted by acclimation.

I got Tim set up down in my office to watch Duke beat Michigan in the 1992 NCAA Basketball Finals. We had recorded in on  a VCR taken at the time in was played and it hadn't lost a bit of it's color. The game has changed considerably during the past 25 years. While Tim was watching basketball, I went through my 2 shelves of books on Baseball. I have already given Tim a 2-volume set on Joe DiMaggio who was my model as a Kid for getting hits in 56 straight games in 1941. I must have bought the books off a discount table several years ago because I would never have paid the suggest price.