Friday, June 25, 2004
THE FIRST PART OF 1966....
George Jr.s Eagle Court of Honor was held February 20th 1966. Grandma and grandpa Andersen came for the occasion and stopped in Cabool for Grandma Strain. They spent the weekend with us and attended George’s ceremony on Sunday afternoon. A nice reception followed served by the Troop. It was a happy time after year’s of merit badges and trips, camps and meetings. George tells me he is still glad he completed the program and knows without our involvement and encouragement he would not have made it. Of course that is true of any honor we receive in life. We never get anywhere by ourselves….there is always someone who contributes to our cause and helps us to the finish line. Ceremonies are nice because it’s a slap on the back for effort and completion.
We had a heavy snow later that month and the children were busy making forts and having snowball fights. It was a nice diversion from school for a few days. When John’s birthday came around on March 2nd we had all the neighborhood children in to celebrate his cake and to play games. I drew a large leprechaun on a poster board holding a big golden ring. The idea was like “pin a tail on a donkey” only there were shamrocks to place in the ring. They had fun with that for a while and then we played other games until cake time. I made a large sheet cake with shamrocks, some lettering and candles. John was always excited about his cake. The fact he wanted a St. Patrick’s theme for his cake this year was easy to produce.
March 5th we had a Father-Daughter Bluebird Banquet in our garage. I was glad to see all of the dad’s turn out for the girls….no one had to come alone. After a proper meal we had a program for them and the dads could see a little bit about what the girls were learning. The girls had worked hard on favors and decorations beforehand and were quite proud when they saw it all come together. Group participation is so valuable in young people. Learning to work together and organize are traits that will serve them well later on in life.
Becky’s birthday was a quiet family affair this year because of the other two parties the first of the month and because we were going to Missouri for Easter. We drove down to see the grandparents and then on to Arkansas to see aunt Beulah. Cousin Dale came home so we were all together which didn’t happen too often but is always a treat. My kids were crazy about Dale and hung around him the whole time. Aunt Beulah who was always in for fun had a lot of the L’Eggs stocking holders and she put money and candy in them….then hid them around in the yard. The kids still remember finding eggs with “money” in them…….how fun is that?
April 25th our local Campfire Council had a ceremony for the girls earning the Firemaker rank. We made our banner to carry with our name, TAWANKA DAKONYA and our school name…NIEMAN. It was a good time for the girls to feel proud of their achievements and to mix with the other groups in our Council. At the end of the school year we put our “Moon Calendar” together for our group. Each girl painted the symbol for one month of an Indian year on a square beige piece of stiff material. I then sewed them together in chronological order…and it was put on a rod to hang in our meeting room. It was very impressive and authentic. Indian symbols are so intriguing and purposeful. Becky and several of the girls went back to camp this summer and George Jr. and Sr. went to Camp Naish. There was a family picnic in June for the Cubs so we went to that and had a nice time at the park and zoo.
July found us back at Lake Norfork with mom and dad and Dale and aunt Beulah. Anytime you mentioned “fishing” my mom and aunt Beulah were ready to go. I don’t know why but it never rubbed off on me. I was more content water skiing and riding in the boat while everyone else fished. The scenery and being in the water were the things I enjoyed about the lake….and sitting around the campsite knitting while everyone else was out fishing. It was a calm and relaxed time. We came back to Willow Springs and stayed a couple of days. Dad was having gravel and cement brought to make a driveway and sidewalk up to the mobile home. The boys and George Sr. got involved and helped with the project while mom and I watched and kept cool drinks handy.
September put George Jr. in his first year at Shawnee Mission West High School. He rode the bus and enjoyed the newer school even though he would have chosen Shawnee Mission North if he had his choice. He loved the old brick traditional building. Progress caused the school lines to change and so he was sent to SMWest. John was starting the 4th grade at KSSB and was still taking piano lessons. Becky was in her first year at Trail Ridge Junior High since once more the lines had been changed from Hocker Grove where George Jr. went his three years. They would seldom be in the same school at the same time again.
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
We had a heavy snow later that month and the children were busy making forts and having snowball fights. It was a nice diversion from school for a few days. When John’s birthday came around on March 2nd we had all the neighborhood children in to celebrate his cake and to play games. I drew a large leprechaun on a poster board holding a big golden ring. The idea was like “pin a tail on a donkey” only there were shamrocks to place in the ring. They had fun with that for a while and then we played other games until cake time. I made a large sheet cake with shamrocks, some lettering and candles. John was always excited about his cake. The fact he wanted a St. Patrick’s theme for his cake this year was easy to produce.
March 5th we had a Father-Daughter Bluebird Banquet in our garage. I was glad to see all of the dad’s turn out for the girls….no one had to come alone. After a proper meal we had a program for them and the dads could see a little bit about what the girls were learning. The girls had worked hard on favors and decorations beforehand and were quite proud when they saw it all come together. Group participation is so valuable in young people. Learning to work together and organize are traits that will serve them well later on in life.
Becky’s birthday was a quiet family affair this year because of the other two parties the first of the month and because we were going to Missouri for Easter. We drove down to see the grandparents and then on to Arkansas to see aunt Beulah. Cousin Dale came home so we were all together which didn’t happen too often but is always a treat. My kids were crazy about Dale and hung around him the whole time. Aunt Beulah who was always in for fun had a lot of the L’Eggs stocking holders and she put money and candy in them….then hid them around in the yard. The kids still remember finding eggs with “money” in them…….how fun is that?
April 25th our local Campfire Council had a ceremony for the girls earning the Firemaker rank. We made our banner to carry with our name, TAWANKA DAKONYA and our school name…NIEMAN. It was a good time for the girls to feel proud of their achievements and to mix with the other groups in our Council. At the end of the school year we put our “Moon Calendar” together for our group. Each girl painted the symbol for one month of an Indian year on a square beige piece of stiff material. I then sewed them together in chronological order…and it was put on a rod to hang in our meeting room. It was very impressive and authentic. Indian symbols are so intriguing and purposeful. Becky and several of the girls went back to camp this summer and George Jr. and Sr. went to Camp Naish. There was a family picnic in June for the Cubs so we went to that and had a nice time at the park and zoo.
July found us back at Lake Norfork with mom and dad and Dale and aunt Beulah. Anytime you mentioned “fishing” my mom and aunt Beulah were ready to go. I don’t know why but it never rubbed off on me. I was more content water skiing and riding in the boat while everyone else fished. The scenery and being in the water were the things I enjoyed about the lake….and sitting around the campsite knitting while everyone else was out fishing. It was a calm and relaxed time. We came back to Willow Springs and stayed a couple of days. Dad was having gravel and cement brought to make a driveway and sidewalk up to the mobile home. The boys and George Sr. got involved and helped with the project while mom and I watched and kept cool drinks handy.
September put George Jr. in his first year at Shawnee Mission West High School. He rode the bus and enjoyed the newer school even though he would have chosen Shawnee Mission North if he had his choice. He loved the old brick traditional building. Progress caused the school lines to change and so he was sent to SMWest. John was starting the 4th grade at KSSB and was still taking piano lessons. Becky was in her first year at Trail Ridge Junior High since once more the lines had been changed from Hocker Grove where George Jr. went his three years. They would seldom be in the same school at the same time again.
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
