The Event ~ This Old House

I have keen memories of growing up in this old house.  We had a fun neighborhood with lots of kids.  We had a big yard, a big open field across the road where often the neighborhood kids would gather for a softball game.

Picture taken January 2013

Living room on the right, dining area on the left, all one room.  Behind living room was Mom & Dad's bedroom (window on the right rear).  Behind dining area was the kitchen.  We had a piano, a couch, a chair, a heating stove and a kitchen table in this living/dining area.   The walls were always done up in big print wallpaper of the era.  The front steps were wooden steps for a long time, until my parents installed cement steps and the black railings seen in the picture above. At the time, that was a really big fancy update to the house.  The house was painted pink when I lived there from 1950 till about 1965.  One can still see some pink on the sides of the front step and the foundation.  Mom and Dad would park the cars in the little drive way area along the trees shown on the right side of the picture above.  This house was located on the far west side of town, a block away from the irrigation canal and farm fields. And about a mile from school, a long walk to school.

This side view shows the back door that went up into a porch or down stairs to the right.  The small square window is over the kitchen sink.  The window to the right was behind the dining table.The whole

front and side yard was planted with grass.  We played on the grass alot!  It was a big yard.  On the west side of the house I remember having big vegetable gardens every year.  Then in the winter, we would create an ice skating pond in the back yard, by building up dirt sides around the area and filling it by hose with water and letting it freeze.  That's when winters in Montana were freezing cold all winter long!  I think we only did this for a couple of winters.

'

'

Us kids had bedrooms in the basement and there was a toilet and a makeshift shower in the basement.  No sink in that "bathroom."  But there was a kitchen sink and counter in what we used as a big playroom.  I vaguely recall an outhouse near the lower left corner of this picture that we used before we installed a toilet and shower head in the corner of the basement.   My brother Allen and I each had our own bedrooms in the basement.  I don't remember where we put Vern and Kelly when they came along!

Following are just a whole bunch of pictures reflecting growing up in this old house.

Christmas 1959



1953



1959



1954 - Allen &  I with the big garden in the background



1954  We didn't have a bathtub, only a shower head on a wall over a cement floor.  Sometimes we took baths in the round galvanized tub in the middle of the kitchen floor.  I was 3 1/2 in this picture and still bathing in the kitchen sink!. 

September 1953

Mom, Allen, me & Vern on front steps

1957

1954 with Luther Wurster, the son of our minister, and my calico kitten

1953

1954

1961



I played lots of records on this record player, including Elvis and the Beatles. 



And there were poodle skirts in this era.  Although this doesn't look like a poodle!



This has nothing to do with this  old house, but couldn't resist the memory of our pet skunk. 
This picture taken in front of Dad's shop.



Our neighborhood was such a wide open space.  It still is today as nothing has been built around this area.

There was something special about growing up in the 1950's.  The 50's era is still popular today, as there are many museums and diners and collections themed around the 1950's and all the nostalgia of this era.  This has been an eventful journey down memory lane.  And these memories will be preserved in the hardbound book.  An eventful memory revisited!


Pictures were mostly taken only at Christmas and birthdays.



Look at those saddle shoes ~ another 50's icon.



The Event ~ A Blast from the Past

While in Montana recently, we  passed through Terry, my hometown, located in Eastern Montana,  between Glendive and Miles City.   We took time to drive around the quaint little hometown.  I would describe Terry as a living remnant from the past, a small cowboy community that continues to thrive.  It is a picturesque town bordered by the beauty of the badlands, rolling hills, and the Yellowstone River. There are new building facades scattered among the old one that still exist from my childhood days in the 1950's-1960's.



We drove around the little “run-down” but thriving town, and through old neighborhoods.

I snapped some pictures of places that were part of my childhood memories starting with the little old house I grew up in.  



The above is the front of the house. 

There will be more about this old house in the next entry. . . .

I think it was  late 1964 or early 1965 when we moved in to the big new house my parents built, this one on the far east side of town, the last building on the east edge of Terry.  



It was built just east of the Massey Ferguson implement shop my Dad owned.  I spent a lot of time there as a child also.

Me sitting on the parts counter of Dad's shop.

The shop still stands but today it houses a beauty shop and coffee shop.    The picture below is the building that used to be my dad's shop.







Across the street from the shop and our house, a fast food drive-in was built.  I think this was shortly after McDonalds became an American icon. I can’t remember what the name of the diner was called, but they made a new sandwich called “frenchies”, among the burgers and shakes.  It is still in operation today under the name of  “The Scoop Shoppe.”

Just to the east and across the field from our new house was the drive-in theatre, open  every summer.  Many nites the kids would sit outside on bleachers in front of the snack bar.  I remember going to the drive-in theatre with my parents and my older brother.  We would go in our pajamas as little kids and fall asleep in the back seat of the car.  Until we got old enough to enjoy the movie.  It was the place to meet up with a lot of friends in summer time during school years.  One night a week was always $1 a car.  That’s when we would get as many in one car as we could, and then go sit out on the bleachers!           




Sad to say, it is very run down and out of commission today.  Drive in theatres were another American icon in their day.  I'm not sure why the whole thing isn't tore down and cleaned up.  It is actually kind of

an eyesore in the landscape right now, the screen, the sign, the buildings.  The whole area should be cleaned up.  I"m glad I got pictures though before the area gets bull-dozed.

        

The old Rialto Theatre, above,  still stands today.  We went to a lot of 25 cent Sunday matinees in this old theatre, and bought a lot of penny and nickel candy and 10 cent popcorn.  Mostly the movies we saw included Elvis Presley, the Beach Boys, and westerns. 

The three schools I attended remain the same today as they stood during my 1-12 grades.


 Elementary School where I attended grades 1-3





 The middle school for grades 4-8  What a grand building it still is today.



The high school building. 





The football field across the street had bleachers that held a handful of students, but most spectators parked the cars around the football field to watch.  It looks like they still do the same thing today!

The football field was located across the street from Dad’s shop,  which is shown again in  this picture above across from the football score board.   When we moved to the new house when I was in high school, it was only a short walk to school across the back lot of the shop and across the street.  Unlike the mile walk when we lived on the west side of town.   

The same old swimming pool exists today as it was in the 50’s and 60’s.  I am sure it probably has had a facelift over the years.  I have had several recurring fun dreams through the years of swimming in the pool.  We would ride our bikes to the pool daily in the summer time.

In the winter time, we would ice skate in a dirt rink filled with water on the south side of the pool.  I remember many hours on the ice skating “rink”. 

The Roy Rogers bar and café still stands, but doesn’t look nearly as nice on the outside as I remember it looking years ago.  It remains as popular a place today as it was for the last 60+ years.

One favorite hangout is no longer there.  That is the Youngs Bar and Café.  By far the favorite hang out for all school kids junior high through high school.  We would go there after school, after games, after dances and order cherry cokes!  There was one big juke box in the café part, and little table top juke boxes in all the booths and at the soda counter.    We had the music of the 50’s and 60’s  playing all the time.  I also remember my Dad taking my brother Allen and I to Young’s Café for hot chocolate after delivering newspapers early on cold winter mornings.  Allen had a paper route and sometimes I had to help him and sometimes on cold winter mornings, my Dad would drive us around.  Then we would go for hot chocolate before heading home and getting ready for school.



Praire County Hospital that I was born in.  It is no longer a hospital, it is now a nursing home. 



Trinity Lutheran Church.  This was the church I attended till I left for college.  Tim and I were married in this church.




This is a picture of a historic out house, if an out house can be historic.  It kind of stood in the middle of town, but is now made a part of the local museum grounds, and is actually pictured in a book of historic out houses.

Since we went to Glendive on this trip, I snapped a picture of the old bridge we always crossed when going to Grandma and Grandpa’s house in Glendive.  I'm not even sure if this bridge is still used today since the new one was built.  These type of old bridges don't exist too much anymore.

The bridge crosses the Yellowstone River that runs along the west edge of Glendive. 

When I was a child, we spent alot of time with family out on the Ed Corneliusen farm ~my Uncle Ed and Aunt Nora.  Many holidays and family get-togethers took place there.  On the farm was located a one-room school house that many of my cousins attended.  Now the school is closed, but my cousin, Arvid & Sherry Corneliusen,  now owns the school since it sits on his property.  Another cousin, Marilyn Dufner, has completely repainted the outside of the building.  Inside it looks the same as it did when it was in use ~ books, chalkboards, desks, stove ~ it's all still there.  Even the playground equipment, including the giant strides.  And the original bell still hangs in the bell tower.

I remember attending alot of Christmas parties there where Santa Claus would come and give gifts to all the kids

What a blast from the past!  What eventful memories!  The 1950’s ~ a fun time to be a kid!

The Event ~ A Celebration of Life

We buried my Aunt Bertha Barnick. Saturday, January 19.   She was a spirited 90 years old.  She was the only sister of my dad.  My fondest memory of her was when I was about 8 years old.  I had gotten a much longed for "bride doll" for Christmas that came only with her bride dress on.  It must have been during the following summer that I spent several days at Aunt Bertha's house, and she sewed lots and lots of clothes for my tall 24" doll ~ pants, skirts, tops, dresses, coats.  I had the best dressed doll around!That's when I decided I wanted to be able to sew like her.  She said I needed to join 4-H to learn to sew.  I did. 

I didn’t know this before, but my Aunt Bertha went white-water rafting down the Colorado River when she was 82.  Way to go girl!

We enjoyed visiting and reminiscing before and after the funeral.  It is always fun to visit extended relatives, some whom we haven’t seen for years, some of whom we met for the first time.

Following are a few pictures taken of relatives.  It’s very easy to recognize the common thread in the pictures ~ among the guys.  Or I should say the common unthread, because there are no threads or strands!!!  

Evelyn Cole, Mom, Phyliss Griffiths, Aunt Lilly Corneliusen

Sherry Corneliusen & me

David and Carl Barnick

Mom and I

Family get-togethers are always fun, even when it’s for a celebration of life!  An eventful time in the lives and new life of family!

The Event ~ San Francisco Christmas

Rain, rain go away, come again another!  It rained two of the three days we were in San Francisco for Christmas.  But it was a beautiful rain ~ a hard rain that poured nearly continuously.  Intermittently the rain  stopped long enough to walk the three family dogs, but sometimes we walked them in the light rain.  We wish we would see that kind of rain in Nebraska.

However, rain and all, we enjoyed a very nice Christmas celebration in San Francisco with Alexis and her now fiancé Val Ornoy.  We were genuinely delighted to get to know Val through the three days we were guests in their beautiful SF home.  With all the beautiful architectural row houses there, I wish I would have taken a picture of their home.

We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Val (Luval) into our family and curiously await to hear of their matrimony plans.  Alexis and Val became engaged on December 20, which I understand is the second anniversary of their first date! 

Alexis took time  to scout out a church to attend on Christmas Eve, a very important occasion for Tim and I  to celebrate and observe  in church.  Val is of Jewish descent,  and Alexis raised Christian, but neihter are strongly tied to their faith,  so we very much appreciated them joining us in a worship service and sharing in our observance of  Christmas and  the significant meaning it has for us.   Alexis carefully selected a stately old German Lutheran church with bilingual German/English mixed service, remembering our German heritage.  It was interesting and different. 

Following church we went for dinner in a quaint little French restaurant only a block from their house.  Then returned home to a cozy fireplace, wine, and gifting.  Christmas Day we enjoyed a late brunch breakfast, played a little scrabble, went to the movie Lincoln, and ordered in pizza for evening dinner. 

I know Val and Alexis were looking forward to driving us to the beach and/or other places, but all the rain kept us pretty close to home.  They live within walking distance to several parks, so we did get out to walk the dogs several times when the rain let up a bit.

The dogs include Kuma, the beautiful poodle Alexis has had for over two years; and 16 year old Riley and 7 year old Max, two beautiful dogs that have been part of Val’s life all their years.  It’s easy to see how much they love these four-legged family members.

No matter where we are, as long as we are with family, the celebrations are so much more special and memorable.  We enjoyed this eventful Christmas in San Francisco and spending time with Val and Alexis. 

The Event ~ National Finals Rodeo

The National Finals Rodeo held in Las Vegas each December can now be crossed off the bucket list ~ Tim’s bucket list, not necessarily mine.  But we share in the realization of each other’s bucket list.

The NFR takes the best of the best  cowboys each year ~ the top 15 cowboys in each of seven events ~ and they each compete for ten straight nights to determine world champions in each event for the year.  Then they start all over on January 1 in the rodeo circuit. 

Tim and I were invited to accompany friends Ernie and Connie Bussinger to Las Vegas to attend two of the NFR performances.  A bucket list event for Tim that we couldn’t pass up.  They were the two best rodeos we ever attended.  Of course, Nationals should be.

A two-time world champion in steer wrestling, Dean Gorsuch, is from Scottsbluff and a member of our new church we attend.  Tim just recently met him at a men’s Bible study in November.  He held the world champion title in 2007 and 2010.  This year he entered the NFR in third place.  It was fun to follow him and cheer him on.  We also enjoyed dinner out with him and his family after the Thursday night rodeo. 

We shared a condo for three nights with Ernie and Connie, and enjoyed devotion and prayer time around the breakfast table each day.  Tim was a fantastic breakfast chef!  We also got in some card-playing time in the evening after the rodeos. 

The National Finals Rodeo was a great event with good friends.  An eventful time with eventful memories.