Watching the Weather

The Weather in Klamath Falls, Oregon

R. Hoover

Saturday Night in Haigler - Eunice

After reading my sister Leone’s message about Saturday nights in Haigler, it brought back many memories to me.

I was the youngest of the five, and all of my siblings were my heroes. I could never think of a better place to be than with them. Something about going to town on Saturday night was a special thing. At a very young age, I remember us all going there as a family.

The main street of Haigler was a mainstream of activity. It seemed like every person from the country and their children were there. All of the parking places along the street were taken and the children ran and played and everyone seemed happy. People were doing their grocery shopping and nobody seemed to be worried about anything. I felt safe and happy.

I sometimes watch the old Andy Griffeth Show and feel that same old nostalgia because that is what life in Haigler was like when I was a child. Anyway, we were allowed to buy candy in Trembly’s Grocery Store, and I can remember Mattie tending to us. I remember thinking that it was the best place on earth to be. I can still smell the odor of Odenbach’s cream station where we sold our cream. And the water fountain in front of the grocery store and how awful the water was… (Sorry, but Haigler water was really ICKY – hehehe) Every single business was active and thriving, at that time. I think there were five gas stations, two grocery stores, Schmutte’s, next to Trembly’s. I remember buying bobby pins there. There was Trembly’s Hardware Store, Schorzman’s Grocery, Bill Wall’s Bar, Dexter’s station with the café.

Some other fuzzy memories of what was there on main street. I guess what made Saturday night special was spending time there with the people. People who I have gone away from, but still remember vividly. That piece of memory of Saturday night in Haigler will never be erased, and it is one of my favorite places to go in my memories.

-- Eunice Richard

Saturday Night in Haigler - Leone

In the early 50's we didn't get to go to town very often. We were pretty self-sufficient on the farm and only went to town for church and to buy supplies. My sister, Sherri, and I learned that going to town on Saturday night was a pretty exciting event, and every week we conspired to get Daddy to take us to town. We thought that he listened to Leah more than us since she was older, so we made her ask him if we could go. Usually, he said yes.

Most of the time was spent with friends we saw only on Saturday night. We walked up one side of Main Street and down the other for hours, sometimes buying a popsicle or candy bar (if we had a nickel). Mamma and the other ladies would sit and visit, usually in the car.

One year Saturday night fell on October 30, the night before halloween. A couple of friends and I decided that we should go "trick or treating", since we never got to go on halloween. At most of the places we went, the people were pretty annoyed (since it wasn't actually halloween), but I still remember when we went to Elizabeth Steidley's house; she and her sister, Thelma Polen, were so nice. They invited us in and gave us popcorn balls.

Saturday night just isn't what it used to be, and I still miss it.

--Leone Carlson

A Visit from Stephanie

The following note was written in the Guestbook by Jim and Ailene Dexter's grand-daughter, Stephanie. I love hearing these memories:

Hello everyone!

What a nice website to visit. My aunt Gwen told me about the site. So I thought that I would come visit the site.

I have not been to Haigler for many years but one day will get back to visit the grave site of my grandparents Jim and Ailene Dexter. I am Gail's daughter and the second granddaughter of Jim and Ailene. I have so many memories of visiting Haigler in the summer at both the" little" house and the "big" house across the highway. The thing that comes to mind right now were how big the grass-hoppers seemed to be as a child. Oh I do have other things that come to mind but won't bore anyone with them now.

I now live in Durango, CO with my husband and two daughters. My girls have been to Haigler in the last few years with my dad so that they could see where he grew up and to place flowers on the grave sites of the family buried there.

Thank you for the memories!

--Stephanie Jones (Dexter)

Saturday Night in Haigler - Dallas

When I was a lot younger and more resilient at about age 13 – 14, I stayed home this one Saturday night due to not feeling well.

As you know, my friends were in town with devious minds at planning and hatching mischievous plans. The plan was to go to the Sackett’s house and steal watermelons. This happened on a full moon night and the stars were shining brightly. Several candidates were a part of this ensemble.

Talent followed these grown men (the adults) as they were dignitaries and guests at the Sackett house. They were lying in wait… Amongst the soap weeds and the watermelon patch. Shotguns were brandished and the barrels of the shotguns should have glistened in the moonlight. Waiting… Waiting… and waiting, there were chortles underbreath, with occasional levity amongst them.

The younger paraded up the back pasture way, seeking to get closer to the hilltop where the Sackett house was located. As they got closer and closer, the men stood up and fired with the shotguns. Kaboom! Kaboom! and Kaboom! As the youngsters turned and ran away, there was another Kaboom. Excited and running – full of emotions, they ran through barbed wire fences with pandemonium and ultimate paranoia being present.

The adults chortled with glee and levity carried through the night still air. Hah, Hah, Hah! The youngsters were frightened for their lives, and I was not even there physically, but by proxy, I was there. Whew!!! What is the plan now???

Yes, Saturday Night in Haigler, there were not many dull moments held by anyone!

--Submitted by Dallas Adams

Senior Class of 1936

Front: Beth (Beckel) Leonard, Hazel (Douglass) Douthit, Edith (McFarland) Boyd, Ella Ruth (Macy) Gallagher

Middle: Violet (Wall) Wyman, Erma (Hoffman) Soehner, Maxine (Johnson) Crookshank, Helen (Wall) Cross and Teacher J. M. Boyle

Back: Ray Harford, Ralph Gies, Raymond Sampson, Herman Rose, Ward Wonder

--Submitted by Linda Jones

Watching the Thermometer

Horray!!! I've been watching the temperature today and see that Haigler hit the 50 degree mark today!!!

Horray!!! It is spring????

My Sister, Leone (Happy Birthday!)

Today I am thinking about my sister, Leone Elaine (Gregory) Beeson-Carlson. For the life of me, I can’t think of the very first memory of her. I think it might be the time Dad & Mom took us all to Haigler and stopped in at Bill Wall’s place and Daddy bought us all a soda. Then we all got in the car and went to St. Francis where Daddy watched us play in the park while Mamma went into the Court House to take care of some business and probably pick up some books from the library that was in that building at the time. “Us kids” liked to walk around the top of the big fountain in the center of the park and run from tree to tree playing follow the leader or hide and seek. Then we would run over to the swings and merry-go-round and play there for awhile. I remember Leone being there that day. She was probably a big girl of 5 or 6 at the time.

In our family, there were three of us girls and Dickie (until Eunice, the “tag along” joined us in December 1951). Leone was the second child, born on our Grandma Mae Crabtree’s 57^th birthday – January, 27, 1943. She was born at Mrs. Freeden’s house in St. Francis. Since we lived 20 miles from town, Mamma went to her house until it was time for them to call Dr. Walz to make the delivery. All of us were born there except Eunice, who was born in the St. Francis Hospital.

The first picture I have of Leone was taken with Mamma and Leah beside the south side of the house where we all grew up. She was cute and chubby with lots of naturally curly white blonde hair and probably about a year old. Leah is 4 years old and has red hair which Mamma carefully curled and combed. Of course you can’t tell from the picture that the trim around the window screens was dark green and Leah’s overalls were red corduroy. But I remember the windows and Mamma told me about the red overalls.

Her sweet disposition and happy personality showed up very early and she loved music from the very start. She and Eunice were the two of us who loved practicing for piano lessons without constant reminders from our Mamma. As a result, she grew up to play the organ and piano with great accomplishment, which is something she enjoys to this day.

Leone wasn’t really the kind of person who should have grown up on a farm. She hated bugs, but when Leah fed them to her, she dutifully ate them with no complaint. She hated chickens and anything else that would flutter. She would much rather be inside reading or playing the piano than helping with the cattle or field work.

One evening after supper, following a nice day when the windows had been left open to catch the fresh air and breeze, Leone went up to her room to go to bed. We heard an explosion of screams and a pounding of feet running down the stairs as she burst out the door into the living room. She was incoherent, but was able to let Dad know that there was something terrible in her room. We all ran up the stairs to rid the culprit. We could find nothing!! But she wouldn’t go back into her room and she insisted that there was a big black bird in her room. The next day, Leah, Dickie and I discovered a BAT hanging in her closet and chased it out the open window using brooms to guide it in the right direction.

One time, Dickie and I ran across a big bull snake in the yard near the chicken house, so being the brave kids that we were, we took the hoe and killed it by chopping off its head. Then we conspired against Leone… We thought it would scare her if she found a snake in her room. We took it up and placed it on the floor so the head was unseen under the edge of the bedspread, then curved the visible part so it looked like it was just resting there. At suppertime, Dick and I kept looking at each other in anticipation of the outbreak of screams we would hear when the snake was discovered. Since it wasn’t Leone’s turn to do dishes, she headed up to her room to read as soon as supper was over. Dick and I stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting and waiting for the outburst. All of a sudden the snake came flying down the stairs and it was us that was startled into screams of fright!! She wasn’t scared of old dead snakes at all!! So the joke was on us!!

Leah, Leone and I spent hours and hours playing with paper dolls. Most of them were books of dolls we had bought at the Duckwalls’s store in Wray or the Ben Franklin store in St. Francis, but since there were never enough clothes in those books, we cut beautiful dresses and suits for our families from the “Monkey Wards” catalog. (as our daddy called the Montgomery Wards catalog). We made rooms and towns and houses all over the upstairs of that big 5 bedroom farmhouse, even out in the upstairs hallway that had a bookcase under the west window and along the banister and up the attic steps. Sometimes, we would even take them out on the east porch and play.

Just north of the east porch at the corner of the house, daddy made us a ‘sandbox’ where we played with sticks and stones and the few little cars we had. There were lilac bushes protecting us on the north and the wall of the house and the north porch on the west where fragrant yellow rose bushes grew. The north porch was closed in with a vine that grew up the wire “wall” and made it dark and cool in the summertime.

One Christmas, Leah and Leone got doll buggies for Christmas and I got a wonderful little blue metal high chair. Daddy made doll beds from orange crates and Mamma made sheets and blankets and pillows for our doll family. We had plenty of homemade doll dresses and booties. For awhile, the only doll I remember is Leah’s doll named Diane. She was a composition doll with red hair. And probably another Christmas, we all three got “rubber dollies” that had bottles which we could fill with water and our dollies would wet their diapers. Then, when I was in the hospital having my appendix out, Mamma and Leah brought me a new dolly that I named “Pinkie” because she was dressed in a beautiful pink dress and bonnet. Her head was composition and her arms and legs were a soft new material they called magic skin. One day, Dickie and I were playing “Hospital”, which we did often after my stay in the hospital. Dickie was the doctor and decided “Pinkie” needed an operation. He proceeded to “take out her appendix”. My poor dollie didn’t have a crier after that and we had to get the help of our mother to “sew her up”.

In thinking about it, now, I wonder if Leone ever felt jealousy… Leah had her own Diane doll and I had Pinkie. We had the rubber dollies and maybe others, but I don’t ever remember her having one of her own. Just knowing what I know about Leone, I bet she never felt a pang of jealousy. Her disposition was that of a person who never showed anger or discontent. She was always such a pleasure to play with and be around.

Even though, she wasn’t ‘the farmer” type, she did do her chores (except gathering eggs and feeding the chickens). When we were old enough to help, we each milked a couple of cows and bucket fed the calves and squirted milk at the many cats that lived in our barn. However, I don’t remember her ever driving the tractors or doing the field work. I think she stayed in the house with Mamma and helped fix meals and other things around the house and garden. I don’t remember her liking to ride the horses, but she did love our dogs, Penny, Nipper and Gilda, a white German Shepherd.

I don’t remember us ever fighting or not getting along. We were each other’s best friends all through our lives – still are. We were each other’s playmates and confidants. We knew each other well.

We loved it when our daddy or uncles would play “dare base”, “Annie, Annie Over” the chickenhouse or “pom-pom-pull-away” as we call the game where we chose sides and had a jail and tried to get across the playing field to the “other side” without being caught and put in “jail”.

We all liked to climb!! Even Leone. We climbed up on top of the Grainery, the barn and even the house. We loved seeing the world “from on high.” We had a rope swing in the haymow in our big barn that hung from the track where the hay fork used to swing. By the time we can remember, the hay was no longer stacked inside the barn, so this was a perfect play room for us. We hauled all kinds of things up that straight up ladder so we could create houses with rooms and furniture. Leone and I spent hours playing house up there during the summer when it was warm. When people with kids would visit, it was one of the favorite places to play.

We all had to take turns “doing dishes” and “cleaning the bathroom”. Two of us had to do dishes and one would clean the bathroom and we were supposed to keep track of it ourselves!! Of course, even though I said before that I don’t remember us fighting, this was a point of contention. I remember one time when it was Leone and I who were doing the dishes – she was washing and I was rinsing and drying and Leah was finished cleaning the bathroom, so came to the kitchen for a drink of water. Of course, she had to fill her glass at the sink where Leone was washing the dishes, then after drinking as much from the glass as she wanted, Leah put the partially filled glass in the dishpan. Leone became very upset and started yelling at Mamma….. “Mamma!!!, Leah spit in the dishwater!!!” Of course, none of us could understand what the problem was, but now looking back on that incident, I know it was because, with Leone, things had to be done in the proper way. You just didn’t do “unthoughtful” things. Leone also arranged her food on her plate so nothing touched each other and had to have a clean fork or spoon for separate food. She would eat one thing first, then the next. She never mixed her food together. If we had dessert, she had to have a clean plate for her cake when the rest of us were happy to eat from the plate our dinner had been served on. When it was her turn to clean the bathroom, you KNEW there were no shortcuts taken. All the surfaces were wiped down, even if they LOOKED clean. Her room was always neat and clean and her bed made. When we all learned to sew, her seams were straight and corners sharp and perfect. She liked to do things “right.”

Leone was the only one of us who wore glasses when we were kids. She hated them!! She also hated her curly hair because it was always flying about and hard to control. She always felt like she was “different” and she WAS. She was beautiful and smart and talented. She was a musician, an artist and a “thinker.” The rest of us were tomboys and “farmers”… She was made for Opera houses and concerts and music and art studios and travel to far away places.

…To Be Continued

(This story about Leone cannot be told without including the rest of us, because we always did things together, so it becomes a story about “The Five of Us.” Which might become a sequel to Mamma’s autobiography, “From Where I Rock.”)

=============================================

You summed up your sister's life and personality very well. I really enjoyed reading it. Owney enjoyed giving you girls special names. I can't remember Leah's but Leone's was Magnolia - if I remember right. You were Brigette, I think. You are all very special in your own way. One memory comes to mind when Leone was in her high chair and learning to talk one of her first words she learned was "more." She loved food and when her mouth was still full she would call for "more." That is organization - no wasted time.

Love, Floy

====================================
I was trying to think of my first memory of Leone. I was the youngest, and probably the silliest one of all – and she was the “regal” one, just like you said.

I don’t remember her small childhood because I came along later. I do remember those paper dolls and her artistic abilities were incredible!! She didn’t need monkey ward catalogs to make those paper doll clothes. She drew them and colored them herself. I remember her drawing faces of people and they were beautiful! When I played with the paper dolls, I always liked the clothes that she made, better than the ones that came in the book.

My memories of her became more vivid with she was in the academy and I will never forget a music competition she was in where she played a Bach Fugue on the organ. Part of that piece was a pedal solo and she brought the whole house down!!! It was incredible!!!

I also remember that she had the most beautiful face that I ever saw! I thought she should have been a movie star.

Then when she was being courted by Norman Beeson, we had one of those old wooden wall phone with the crank on the side. All of the neighbors could hear the ring and could listen in on everyone’s conversations. One evening when we were all gathered at the supper table, Norm called her. Dick became the “teaser” that night. He would swallow a big gulp of air and belch loudly, close to the phone. We were all dying with laughter, even Mamma and Daddy!!! Being the proper person that she was, she was mortified!!!

Leone was the first of us to have a baby and that would be Kevin and shortly after, Kelly came along. I got to baby-sit at their house and watch “Ben Casey” on the black and white television. We didn’t have one at home. That was a real treat to go take care of these babies.

After two more children, she was busy raising her family, but still did her art as a hobby. I have two of her paintings in my house and a charcoal drawing of my face that she drew from my senior picture. It hangs in my office and every single person who comes in here thinks that it is such an incredible drawing. She captured the twinkle in my eyes on a charcoal!! As talented as she is with her pencil and paint brush, she only wanted to do it as a hobby, so I treasure the ones that I have, because there probably won’t be any others.

Now, I am the lucky one because I am still making special memories with her since we both love music and play together at church. We made a CD together a few years ago. Anyway, Sherri, I know this is leading up to her birthday and I hope this is the best one yet for her. She is the quiet, smart and talented one!! She wants no glory, even though she deserves it. Pretty much like our Mamma.

Baby Sister, Eunice

Happy Birthday to Grace Adams

Happy Birthday Richard Hoover

Hope you have a great birthday!!

Saturday Night - Leigh (Corder) Renzelman

I always liked to hang out with LaVonne (Smith) Jeager. We went to the movie theater. It cost 5 cents to get in. I had to pay, too, even though my Dad, John Corder, ran the projecter. We sat in the front row and it was always noisy until the movie started. We saw "THE FLY." It was scary!

Those were the days!

Submitted by Leigh (Corder) Renzelman

Saturdy Night - Floy Ruggles

My parents never went to town on Saturday nights but when I got married we often went to Wray and just sat in the car awhile to watch people walk up and down the streets. I remember going to Haigler once in a while. Ramond and Marilyn Jones, our neighbors, always did their weekly grocery shopping at Trembly's grocery store.
--Floy (Crabtree) Fisher-Ruggles

A Note from Marlen Flamig

The following note was written to the guestbook.

I was shown this site from one of my brothers, I really enjoy reading it, although I dont know or remember alot of the older generation that post on here.. but I do remember some of the family names.

Growing up in Haigler during the mid 60's and early 70's, the town and its population, has left many memories, but as typical of small town kids,, I couldnt wait to leave..but I do often think of the people there and my classmates, who I have lost any contact with. Keep writing on the blogs and I will enjoy keeping on reading them.

--Marlen

January Birthdays

The next few days include several birthdays. Here is a list of all January birthdays on the Haigler Calendar. If you know of some that are missing, feel free to add them to the calendar by clicking on the calendar link on the right sidebar then click on the date and add the event.

January 2: Joanie Henderson
January 12: LaVern Smith & LaVeta (Smith) Blecha
January 15: Sharna (Fisher) Richardson
January 19: CD Samler
January 20: Sherri Gregory
January 25: Richard Hoover
January 26: Grace Adams
January 27: Leone Carlson
January 30: Violett Workman (Click on her name to see address to send cards)

Happy Birthday to All!!

Making Comments

I have had several questions about how to make comments about the articles posted on the blog.

Below each article, there is a "0 Comments" link which allows a pop-up box to become available for your comments.

When entering comments, you write the comments in the box provided and then you have three choices for identifying yourself: (Select your choice by clicking on the little round dot indicated by 1, 2, 3 in the picture below.)

1. Sign in using one of the choices in the drop down box, (which requires you to enter your username and password)
2. Use a nickname: You can enter any name you want… You can leave the URL box empty.
3. Anonymous: This will leave the comment, but no one will know who left it…

Then click on the "Publish your comment" button.

Its MY Birthday!!

Good Morning Blog Readers!

I was born in St. Francis, Kansas sixty-three years ago on January 20, 1945 to William Richard Gregory and Alice Leah (Crabtree) Gregory, who lived on a farm 20 miles northwest of St. Francis; 7 miles southeast of Haigler, Nebraska; 17 miles southeast of Wray, Colorado and 24 miles southwest of Benkelman, Nebraska. In other words, "out in the boonies"... I grew up on that farm which I loved - milking cows, gathering eggs, feeding calves, riding horses, stacking hay, drilling wheat, one-waying summer fallow, shocking cane, killing rattle snakes, hunting prairie dogs, going barefoot all summer, attending country school; In other words, "tomboy" described me perfectly!!

I have 3 sisters and 1 brother: Leah, Leone, Dick and Eunice. We have always been close and consider each other our "best friends". We still get together as often as we can.

When I was 14 years old, I went to Platte Valley Academy (PVA), a boarding school near Shelton, Nebraska with about 100 other Seventh-day Adventist kids from around the United States even one student from Hong Kong who could barely speak English. What fun we had together. My best friends were from Hong Kong, Wyoming, New Mexico, Washington, Kansas and Nebraska. Besides all the ordinary subjects of History, English, Math, Typing, Biology, Chemistry, Music, PE ... we also had Bible classes. We had the opportunity to perform all over the country with Choir, Band, Orchestra and Gymnastics. We got experience speaking to the student body and at churches around the state, giving us self-confidence and the ability to express our views. Of course, I came home on "home leaves", holidays and summers.

After graduating from PVA, I attended Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. I got married in 1964 in Wray, Colorado and had 2 children in 1966 and 1968. We moved 18 times in 13 years, ending up in North Platte, Nebraska, where I began working for the Union Pacific Railroad in 1975. I worked for UPRR in North Platte, Omaha and Salt Lake City Utah over the next 15 years.

In 1994 I moved to Tucson, Arizona to help care for my ailing dad until his death on August 7, 1995. All five of "US" lived within a few blocks of Mom and Dad, giving us the opportunity to spend alot of time together. I lived there for about 5 years before moving to Lincoln to be near my daughter and her family. Dick's job took him to Houston, TX, where he now lives, but the others are still in Tucson living near Mom.

I have a daughter, a son and seven wonderful grandchildren. My life is GOOD! and I'm happy to be two years from retirement!! I love my job at Union College, where I have a wonderful boss and co-workers and will more than likely work there part-time even after I retire.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!
--Sherri

Happy Birthday CD Samler

We wish CD a Very Happy Birthday on Saturday, January 19. Hope you have a great day!

Standpipe and GOC

Anyone have comments about the Standpipe or GOC?

Here is a link to previous discussions:
Standpipe
GOC & GOCA

Note from Marvin Oster, left in the Guestbook

Nice Blog site. I peek in here once in awhile.

I enjoyed the articles on the STANDPIPE. I miss seeing it when I pass through. If that old standpipe could talk, it would have many stories to tell. I had the privilege? of going inside it each year to help my dad clean it. I also had the fun of clinbing it to paint over the graffiti left on it each year by the departing senior class.

Does anyone have any information on GOC? (Ground Observer something) I think. I know a building was moved in near the standpipe in the 50's and people would take shifts watching the sky for aircraft at night.
Fun stuff. Would like to hear more about GOC if anyone remembers.

MarvO said it

Guestbook

Fortunately, I get an email notification whenever there is a new entry in the guestbook. Otherwise, I might miss reading notes from people who stop by. I try to drop them an email if they leave their address and invite them to visit again.

You might want to go read the messages left there, if you haven't for awhile. It is fun to see who has stopped by to visit.

--Editor

Zip Code

Check out the Zip Code for Haigler at this interesting site.

ZipSkinny.com

--Dallas Adams

Good Intentions

While I was recovering, I intended to spend some time scanning and posting some of the Haigler annuals I have been waiting to share with you. AND copy some newspaper articles from some old Haigler Newspapers. AND edit some of Mamma's stories to share with you from the book we are writing...

BUT, I have an excuse!!

Even though I am doing well, I have very little ambition to do anything mental or physically taxing, so I've been watching TV, reading and sleeping and spending time with my kids and grandkids.

So that is why there hasn't been much posted to the blog lately. AND another thing, I let my subscription to The Benkelman Post expire, so haven't seen any Dundy County news for awhile... That will be remedied soon!

Ok, enough of excuses... I'll try to do better... I will definitely post anything you send me as soon as I get it...

Also want to say thank you for all the email and cards. It is wonderful to hear from you all!! I go back to work half time tomorrow, so we'll see what kind of energy I have left.

Stay warm!! And Happy New Year.
--Sherri

Haigler Water

Rich Gregory tells a story about the Haigler kids would hang around the water fountain and watch “tourists” stop to get a drink of water. They would have the best time seeing their expression when they tasted the “hard” water.

He also told of a spring about a mile or so west of Haigler where the water was piped out to the bank along the side of the highway where people would fill containers for drinking water.

Wash day was always Monday. They would use strong Lye soap and boil the whites, baby clothes and dish towels. The water would be heated in the kitchen on a coal range, which would keep the house swelteringly hot in the summer and cozy in the winter on washdays. They would put a big pot of beans on the back burner and bake potatoes in the oven.

Some lucky mammas would get washing machines with hand turned wringers.

-- a note found among Alice Gregory’s papers

Happy New Year!

As this new year, 2008, begins, I want to wish you all a Very Happy New Year!

Hopefully, things will settle down, after a busy 2 weeks, so I can keep up with my email, going back to work and posting on the blog.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and were able to spend time with your families and friends!

--Sherri