Grand Pa Tell Me Your Memories

Grand Pa, Tell Me Your Memories
as requested by Grandchildren

For this Father's Day 1995 I have received an interesting and challenging book and in it a sneaky request from my grandkids!

They have sent me a spiral bound 4 ½ by 6 almost blank book with 366 pages. First a title page with book information on the back then for the next 365 pages, each page is dated and has a question on it, the rest of the page is blank. As an example from April 7, "Did you ever try to adopt a wild animal?" seems a logical question for some one to ask and enough space is given to answer. However some questions evoked memories and thoughts that are too long for the space provided. Another excuse for not doing the book as set up is, some memories brought up other memories that were not the next question in the book. There are also some questions that are not applicable in the life I have lived, an example being October 12 "Share a n memory about a bat in the house". Hey come on now bats! I may have bats in my belfry but not in the house of my parents or any other house where I've lived. I will use the questions to stir or jog my memory and go from there, and I can promise they will not be in the order of the books questions.

I'll play one memory then another as the come to mind meaning no order as to date occurrence. I will eventually get most of them answered though I won't have the question posed at the beginning of that memory. So here goes, Thanks grand kids for the burr under my saddle!

I promise that there will be a random thought for you to ponder scattered through this road down memory lane, ones I was taught and have tried to live by.

Pa's pause to remember

These are footprints of who I was and who I am today! Memories are unique experiences and impressions of ones own past. They reflect what is embedded in our hearts, they are a priceless part of each of us. We revisit our past to see what was good and right, what we accomplished, and what we wish to do in the future that we have dreamed of doing but not done to date. Memories are composed of many things: a word, an act or gesture.

Seldom does one revisit the miseries and mistakes of the past, for there is no benefit as it only bring regrets. We should have looked at them when they happened and made corrections in our ways at that time, not look back several years later. I have no regrets, as I view today's youth and their chances to have youthful experiences, as they should. 

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I do wonder sometimes, since we lived on a farm in my youth and had different type of responsibilities early on, we never got to experience a casual carefree youth period in our time. It is the act of remembering that which is stored away (remembering my life) in my mind that has special meaning and my grand children wish to know some of it.

Though out this you will run across some unrelated thoughts that have occurred as I am reflecting back on my past and events in it. These over the years have been guide stones in my life.

I, William Perry Young was born about 3:30 pm on Thursday, May 6, 1937 in a farm house on what was then called Sandy Hill Road now called Webester Road. One mile in from Old US 60 highway now Ky. 448.

Address was RR 1 Guston, Kentucky. This was the only house I lived until I went off to Western Kentucky State College, Bowling Green, Kentucky, in the fall of 1955.

Mrs. Jessie Smith and Doctor Brown were present at my birth. The setting was the summer living room, which in wintertime was converted into a bed room. This room was the an original part of the house, it is still to this day a log room covered with weather boarding and now that is covered over in a brick veneer. The interior is again exposed log that was done in the early 1960's when we sold a portion of the farm. Mother moved into a brick ranch about two miles from the farm by road, We retained two hundred acres plus for income for Mother. This house is on the Paynesville road just west of the settlement of Midway an unincorporated area.

At time of my birth I had two older brothers, Robert Reed Young Jr., August 18, 1933, (died June 30, 1970) and Lloyd David Young, April 19, 1935. Six years after my birth in 1937 a sister was born, Laura Ellen Young, March 24, 1943, (died Easter Sunday April 3, 1994). Both are buried in Cap Anderson Cemetery Brandenburg, Ky.

Mother was Minnie Elizabeth Long, July 21, 1912 (died July 30, 1995)

Daughter of William Burch Long, August 5, 1880 (died December 4, 1953) and Imogene Boundrant, June 27, 1889 (died March 21, 1914). Mother was born in Waverly, Kentucky. All three are buried in Cap Anderson Cemetery, Brandenburg Ky.

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Daddy was Robert Reed Young, November 22, 1909 (died August 14, 1956) son of Jesse A. Young, September 30, 1877 (died September 10, 1934) and Hassie Holman Williams, December 19, 1883 (died December 27, 1967).

Daddy was born in the same house and same room that I was born in. The address was an still is Guston, Kentucky. All three are buried at Cap Anderson Cemetery, Brandenburg Ky.

Mother and Daddy were married in Jefferson County, Ky. September 2,

My parents were farmers, farming 309 acres that was the family farm for several previous generations. Daddy purchased this land from his parents who had purchased it from their parents who in turn purchased it from their parents and so on back into the early 1800's. It was a purchase not an inheritance as there were other family members which would have meant a division of land among, or some other means of equal distribution. The farm was a general all crop farm not specialized as the farms are today. 1990's on into the 2000's, crops included at least two types of hay, barley, oats, corn, tobacco and occasionally soybeans. Livestock included beef and milk cows, pigs, sheep, and goats. A team or two of horses and/or mules were also a necessity up until the early 1950's as they were one of the means of tilling and cultivating until tractors really replaced them. Mother was a housewife and raised chicken for eggs and meat for the table also to sell to supplement family income. We also killed hogs for meat to eat and sell as smoked salt cured hams and shoulders. We also hunted the local area for rabbit, squirrel, duck, geese, and dove as well as an occasional deer. Every year we also raised about a half acre of garden with the usual vegetables, several different plantings of sweet corn, popcorn, peas, pole beans, bush beans, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, watermelons, cantaloupes, including a large asparagus bed 3 feet by at least thirty feet and about 10 rhubarb plants etc. We also burnt a lettuce bed where we planted lettuce and radishes. Fruit trees on the farm, were pear, apple and cherry. We did not have any peach trees. There were also two fence grape arbors, one white and one purple.

Over the cistern there was a four legged arbor about 12X 12 feet about 7 feet high.

We had no choice as to chores, we did what had to be done, if there was a least favorite it would be cleaning out the livestock stalls after they were kept up most of the winter, but this was not a regular daily chore.

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Tending the livestock was a daily chore. We had a good life and the chores gave us responsibility and helped make it a good life. It definitely taught us to accept responsibility and cooperation in working with other individuals whether family or neighbors.

Our farm was uniquely located in that we lived near Sandy Hill, our mail address was Guston, we grocery shopped at a little area called Midway, rail shipped cream out of Irvington, rail shipped other items out of Ekron or Brandenburg Station, trucked shipped livestock to Louisville, and attended Church in Brandenburg.

There were no nicknames with in our family and as far as I know in either of my parents family.

Think smart, think clear, make it clear to yourself what you want, what you expect of yourself and from yourself as well as from others. I believe this was a lesson taught to me early in childhood.

At Western Kentucky State University I lived in a rooming house my first year and college dorm my second and third year. I was married June 8, 1958 to Judith Mae Gleim the summer before my senior year. Judy, born October 15, 1942 passed away June 7,1996 and is buried in Owensboro Memorial Garden Cemetery in Owensboro Kentucky. Judy's parents were Delbert Virgil Gleim and Gevena Katherine (Johnson) Gleim, they are buried in the same cemetery as is her sister Gene Ann Gleim. Genie was married to my older brother Robert. During my sophomore year I lived in Potter Hall, my junior year I lived in East Hall, the dorm director was James R. Coles and his wife Betty.

Senior year we lived in a trailer 8 feet wide X 28 feet long including the tongue, this unit was smaller than many campers. The trailer park was called Cherryton Village. The summer of 1960 we moved across the street next to the college's agriculture pavilion into a house that was moved from where they would build some dorms. This was 17, 17th Street in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

In 1961 Carl Christopher Young (born September 6) in 1964 Jennifer Ellen

Young (born March 15). Carl was named after Mr. Carl Barnes Sr. a teacher at Western Kentucky State University, Christopher after his Great Grandfather of Judy's side. Jennifer a take off of Geneva her Grandmother on Judy's side and Ellen after Great Great Grandmother Laura Ellen (Gary) Boundrant.

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A fond memory of Granddaddy Long he lived on a hill that was a corner lot in Henderson, Kentucky. The three of us boys would take turns riding down the hill sidewalk on an ice cart that Granddaddy let us use. He also raised game chickens which he took to fights and some times we could go along, gee we were with the big folk. Game chicken fighting became illegal so we as kids never got to go again.

Grandmother Long passed away when my mother was a child I never knew

her.

A fond memory of Grandmother Hassis Young, I would get to spend a week in Louisville, Kentucky and visit with my first cousin Peggy. We were allowed to explore the area on foot as long as we were back at a set time. As a family we also would haul watermelons to Louisville in season to sell or give to people in Grandmother's neighborhood.

Granddaddy Young passed away before I was born I never knew him.

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My Daddy had one sister who died before I was born, her name was Anita, and he had a twin brother Richard Davis whom I never met until I was about 18 years old. I never knew what happened between the brothers to cause this separation of family to come about.

We never had any relatives live with us but there were hired hands who did, to help on the farm. That is until us boys got big enough to be helpful in milking and in the fields, plowing, cultivating, setting tobacco, hoeing tobacco, mowing hay, putting up hay etc. I remember Charles Hood a German prisoner of war (WWII) that was with us for about three years. Then Charles Eugene Smith (called Junior all his life) who worked for us about two years, he was a neighbors son. Charles Hood and Junior Smith both lived with us when they worked on the farm. Then there was Billy Martin who came drifting through the neighbor, claiming to be an orphan, he worked and lived with us for probably four years full time then married a neighbor girl and still worked as a hired hand. We later learned just before his death that he had family up in Indiana. Both Junior and Billy still lived in the neighbor when they passed away.

Mother has a sister Annie Laura (Long) Perdue Meers who had two daughters.

Imogene and Mary Ellen Perdue, their father, Joe was killed in an accident

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before I was born. Annie Laura and her girls spent a week or two on our farm yearly and also spent some weekends with us. We often rode our bicycles up and down the gravel road in front of our house. Just to ride or to visit neighbors of course this often lead to bicycle races involving several bicycles on a basically one lane road and lots of loose gravel. Well you are thinking right we often wrecked. One time Mary Ellen was riding on the handlebars and I was pedaling we crested this long hill and began to pick up speed. Loose gravel, high speed, one on the handlebars, therefore not being able to see really good where the gravel was packed or was loose lead to a high speed crash. To make matters worse we were both in shorts, bare footed and short sleeve shirts, as you can image we hit the gravel lost control and started a slide like going into home base in a ball game. We slide about fifteen feet in the gravel which torn and abraded skin all over our bodies. When we got home we were painted with iodine after all the gravel was picked out of our wounds and they were washed. Talk about something burning try Iodine on a cut or abrasion sometime. It was thought back then if it burnt it was better, Mercurochrome didn't burn so we were swabbed in Iodine.

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You will have some good ideas; So don't let someone make you feel that they are wrong or stupid pursue them. It doesn't hurt to put yourself on the line in testing your ideas

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My bicycle was a Firestone with a dual top rail with a horn tube over these rails. It also had a basket, a luggage carrier on the back as well as spring loaded fork like a real Schwin bicycle. It was blue with white pin stripping, a mirror on each side of the handlebars, a basket in front and a headlight as well as a tail light.

My only Aunt Annie Laura my Mothers sister from my earliest memories lived in Louisville, Ky. She had moved there with her two daughters after her husband Joe was killed, this was before I was born. My first memories, she had a job at the Federal Post Office in Louisville and had met Perry Meers who was in maintenance. Aunt Annie Laura then lived across the street from the School for the Blind, in a second story apartment with her two daughters.

When our family went up to visit we three boys along with Imogene and Mary Ellen would go over and play with the blind children while Mother and Daddy visited with my Aunt. We spent many hours over there playing as we visited our Aunt probably at least every four or five weeks. They visited us often on the farm also, we had a large yard and plenty of space to play and ride. Perry Meers married Annie Laura when her two daughters went off to a private

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school in Midway. Kentucky. Not the Midway near where I was brought up.

Perry loved to fish, he and I often went fishing when they were down. He helped me pick out my first rod and reel for bait casting, there were no spinning rod and reels back then. He also taught me to fly fish. I could never catch many fish though. He claimed my body had some odor that the fish did not like. He could bait my hook, attach my crank bait or tie a fly on my line and I could catch fish, seldom I'd catch a fish if I touched the bait. Since that time others have proven to me this same thing, particular a Bob Borland, down here at the lake early on.

I had one Uncle my Father's brother (his twin) that I never knew. Something happened long ago and they never spoke nor was he mentioned in our family even though Uncle Richard lived in the same county (Meade). To my knowledge I never saw him until my Father passed away. I may have seen him but did not know it. I never saw a picture of him or was told who he was or what he looked like. His daughter Peggy who was raised by Grandmother Hassie did visit often and we visited them often. Grandmother Hassie was a Director at the Kentucky Baptist Orphans home at Glendale, Ky. before she moved to Louisville. When we visited with Grandmother there, there were many kids to play with as well as play with our cousin Peggy. I therefore can say I have no memories of an Uncle even after Daddy passed away.

My first car was a green 1955 Fairlane Ford two door sedan that was nearly new, the original owner dropped a cigarette which set it on fire and in fighting the fire ran into a ditch and cedar thicket. Almost all the damage was to the interior with just a few scratches and dents on the outside. Thus I had to only replace or fix the interior. He purchased a new car and I bought the trade in, it was a stripper model, no radio, clock, turn signals, seat belts, air conditioning, or back up lights but it had burnt fabric seats and some burnt wiring and a little interior blistered paint.

Family feuds among the three of us boys usually meant two against one (always fair odds) yea! These feuds usually were about who did the most work in the field, whose time it was to milk the extra cow, feed the pigs, throw hay down for the livestock. Go out in the chill of the morning and round up the cows for milking. Yes, we even quarreled over whose turn it was to do the dishes after meals. I'm sure Mother and Daddy developed a many headaches from our arguments and squabbles. Most were just over silly kids things as kids of today probably still do.

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Anger only sets things back, stay calm and take at least partial control of self.

Once others see you as in control they will probably try to get control of themselves. You will feel better about self and have a better outlook on others.

But do not step on others to get where you want to be. You don't stand taller standing on someone else. They may make a wobbly platform for you or just pull out then there is no where to go except back down.

At tobacco suckering time we would race to see who would finish their row first and get the heart of the watermelon. The losers would almost always check out the winner's row to see if he really cut out all the suckers. Then the race would start all over again, back to the other end for the next watermelon heart reward.

The dumbest thing I know I ever pulled was throwing a pitchfork over a hay mound in the loft of the barn to my brother Lloyd, he wound up with it stuck in his leg, I then had to do his chores for several day until his leg got okay.

I never have had to this date a broken bone, but some bent bones in my younger days, as when cranking the tractor when the electric start would not work. This was a 1948 Model A International tractor. 00

Fried chicken was my favorite meal, and probably still is, chocolate ice cream, or pineapple upside cake were and still the best deserts. I can't eat fried food like I could as a kid but often I forget and then I suffer. I still love fried chicken and have added fried fish fillets to my eat to much list.

There was often enough snow to build a snowman with carrot nose and lump coal for eyes. In winter we often go down to a neighbors (Aloish King) that we would sled down it was about a mile and one-half from our home. It was a relative long steep hill. We each had a wood runner sled with runners about 5 inches high, we never did have a Flexible Flyer as some of the neighborhood kids did but they did share theirs on occasion..

In the summer time we could hardly wait to start going bare footed.

In fact we often went barefooted out to round up the cows in the morning to milk them and there would still be frost on the ground. I'd be willing to bet there was not a summer that went by that all of us did not wind up stepping on a nail or two. A sore foot always resulted and it was treated with peroxide what else is bubbly, therefore it must be cleaning out the deep wound.

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There was always a rope swing in the yard as well as a porch swing on the front porch. There were over 17 big trees in the front yard so one of our favorite games was tag. Hide and Seek was also a favorite especially in the hour or so just before dark. When neighborhood kids came over to play as parents often visited and often played cards, there was no TV. Rook was the most often played with Gin Rummy next in favor. On winter nights we ate popcorn. almost every night and either played cards or put picture puzzles together. This was after all chores were done and our homework lessons finished.

Accept change responsibly, we can't embrace the future without releasing some part of the past.

New Years was never a big deal, no special memories. I could never stay awake that long. I think as a teenager I was out only twice beyond midnight, remember we had the morning chores to do before we caught the school bus at 7:00 am this meant getting up about 5:00 to go out and round up the milk cows from the pasture or feed them their hay if the weather was to cold for them to be outside overnight.

Valentine's Day I never had a crush in school so no memories worthy of space.

I do not remember any special Sunrise Easter Services though there were several in the community.

No May Day celebrations in our area. I don't think I knew of such a day

On Mother's Day we always wore a flower in a button hole of our shirt by this time of the year some flowers were blooming in our flower garden.

Memorial Day we always cut a bunch of flowers and decorated the graves at Cap Anderson Cemetery in Brandenburg. This time of the year there were many of Mothers flowers in bloom in her garden. There were many graves to remember: parents, grandparents and great grandparents on both sides of the family.

I believe my favorite holiday was Fourth of July, going on the picnic and seeing friends I hadn't seen since school was out in the spring.

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Fourth of July was almost always spent going to the local fourth of July picnic at Doe Run Inn the community celebration was held on an island in the Doe Run Creek just behind the Inn. This old stone built flourmill was converted into an Inn in 1929 and has been in continuos operation as an Inn since. There were fire works at dusk and all afternoon there were booths of skill sponsored by different groups to raise money for all kinds of causes. The creek was cold but fun to wade in and down stream about a quarter mile was a swimming hole Burr! There were a couple of Fourths though that we stayed home and had to harvest wheat, as a result of rain potential ruining a crop. The fire works at the least were basically roman candles and fire crackers a few rockets, not the fancy stuff of today, besides money was scarce it wasn't spent on such foolish things.

This was generally the start of the watermelon season so getting them icy cold in the creek then eating them was a pleasure after a picnic lunch basket meal that Mother usually fixed. Fried chicken, homemade pimento cheese sandwiches, deviled eggs and lemonade were always in the basket along with other vegetables as green beans, cooked apples etc. Many families always gathered and basically it was a pitch in meal for all, it was a true community picnic.

Labor day was a day off from school we usually cut tobacco then.

Thanksgiving was usually a big meal with family and friends coming in, the adult men going hunting.

At Christmas usually the tobacco had been stripped and sold, Daddy always got a crate of oranges, stalk of bananas, tangerines, coconut bonbons, orange slices, chocolate covered peanuts and a lot of other sweets. Also he got nuts of all kinds, hazel, California walnuts, pecans, peanuts, almonds and Brazil nuts that we cracked, ate and made candy. I can't forget taffy and divinity, coconut cake as well as fruit cake wrapped in a cloth soaked in a little bourbon. Yes, it was good very very!

There was an amusement park in Louisville and we generally were lucky enough to get to go one time a year. This amusement park was called Fountain Ferry Park. The amusement parks of that day were similar to today's mall carnival, but with a large wooden roller coaster. They certainly were not like the roller coasters of today. They had the merry-go-round, Ferris wheel, loop-the loop, electric bumper cars, tilt-a whirl, and all kind of booths dart and balls throw, ring toss. Shooting ranges to win the large teddy bear, swing the mallet and hit the peg to ring the bell at the top of the vertical slide. This was the

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macho thing for teenagers to try to show the others what strong muscles they had.

At the county fair there were the carnival rides, horse shows, horse pulling contests, auto races and tractor pulls for late evening and night entertainment.

During the day there was cattle/sheep/pig/chicken/goat judging in the show ring as well as clothing, canning, craft, garden vegetables being judged in the tents all judged for first second and third prize. There were adult divisions as well as children divisions of entry plus first timers and more practiced exhibitors levels.

There was also always large array of food stands of all types. Fried fish, cotton candy, funnel cake, sandwiches and pies (all kinds) these were sponsored by different organizations to support their activities during the year.

The Kentucky State fair was very similar to the county fair but much larger and many more displays to see.

There were also in the community the Catholic Church picnics in the summer.

There were at least six in our county that had annual picnics. They always had a very large economical supper and we almost always went. There was one almost every other weekend all summer. In winter the different rural schools had fall festivals and box suppers as fundraisers. There were also family reunions which always included more than just family, so we did have many activities to be with friends, even though it seemed that all we ever did was go to school, do chores and work on the farm. Don't feel sorry for me, I had a wonderful childhood.

Does peace of mind come from knowledge of oneself or from achievement?

Achievement is a satisfying feeling but knowledge that you were honest in your dealing is a greater feeling. Right is right, and wrong is wrong! Truth and integrity are essential as they are the keystone of a happy fulfilling life.

In the summer time, on weekends, several families might get to just to visit and the children would play kick the can, hide and seek, three legged race, jump rope and other games of ones imagination. The adults would just visit or perhaps play horseshoes and croquet.

When there was a big harvest event such as putting up hay, cutting tobacco, thrashing small grain or shredding corn many neighbors pitched in and shared rotating work. This was a time when the women would get together to work as a team to prepare large meals for a crew of from 10 to 25 men. This made the

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work easier and was also a time to socialize. The women would also get to gather to can fruit and vegetables, thus socializing and only heating, up only one kitchen rather than all working alone and all their kitchens getting heated up, in summer no less.

Summer time was also time to fish and swim on lazy summer afternoons.

I never caught very many fish but it was a good excuse to get out by my self and just enjoy the beauty of the surrounding area, I also used squirrel hunting as an excuse to get out and just enjoy the closeness of nature. I was never much of a social person, I have always liked my own company so I guess I'm just a loner. There was time for long bicycle rides, to just get away feel the breeze in the face after a sweaty up hill climb.

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There were no birthday or kids parties as such when I was growing up. There were softball and baseball games that perhaps included adults as well as kids if there were not enough players other wise. Red Rover - Red Rover was a game that both boys and girls joined in to form teams. This was a game where you tried to break through the other teams line, they were all holding hand in a line.

Annie Over a ball game played over the roof of a the barn, Tug of War across a mud puddle, Kick the Can, were just some of the games played as a kid.

On extra hot days to stay cool there was swimming, laying in the grass under a shade tree watching the clouds form pictures, going for a breezy bicycle ride, taking a walk in the woods. These things were on days after all work was caught up and the daily chores were done.

Only birthday memory I have is my sixth birthday. I had always wanted a pocket knife, like a grown up. I got six for my birthday, but within two weeks I was down to one. I lost them then as I do to this day, I can't keep a pocket knife for any length of time. Another year my craving was for a pocket watch like the adults carried, I got two. I didn't loose them as they were tied to my bibbed overalls.

My first paid job was during the summer between my freshman and sophomore year of high school. It was cutting tobacco on a farm over by Ekron at $5.00 per 10 hour day. Mr. William Smith told me I had to drop and drive my own sticks. It was a two day job at the end of the second day the farmer told me to start charging by the stick. He suggested I ask for a penny a stick. A stick of tobacco consisted of 6 stalks of tobacco cut and split over a sharp point of steel (an item called a spear shaped like an ice cream cone) and slipped down over

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the stick. Mr. Smith said he would recommend me to his neighbors and I could make more than $5.00 a day. Two days later one neighbor of this Mr. Smith called and asked if I was for hire. He said I was a good fast and gentle cutter with the tobacco. I was willing to work for money and he accepted my asking price of a penny a stick, but I had to drop and drive my own sticks. I make $10.00 that day and for the next four days. I was in Hog Heaven I was rich. I was then hired by others to spear tobacco and stayed busy for about the next two weeks. The next summer I had a cutting job every day of tobacco harvest One day an old codger who kept watching at different farms before I cut for him. I had out for him two days and had about two easy days of cutting left.

When he approached me with the following. He had talked to and gotten people to bet against him on the amount of tobacco I could cut in a day not having to drop and drive my own sticks. He asked me if I would prove a point by working a 10 hour day again, he explained his scheme to me his bet with other farmers and said he would make it worth my time. All bets were on. I showed up the next morning and there were six men out dropping and driving sticks. I sharpened my tommy-hawk and cleaned my spear I was ready. They started the clock, at noon some were already willing to pay up. At a little over 8 ½ hours the old codger told me I could quit or slow down as all farmers had lost their bet. He had bet I could cut over ¾ of a acre in 10 hours. He encouraged me to keep on working though because it was his crop. At just before 10 hours I had to quit there was no more tobacco to cut, I had cut 1.1 acre of tobacco. They counted over 1600 sticks of tobacco ready to house. I was paid my $16.00 dollars for cutting and another $16.00 as a bonus. After that I never had to drop and drive my own sticks and I still got a penny a stick. That was a raise about half way through the cutting season. I was rich for those times, back then 12 to 14 dollars a day was a lot of money (a days pay was usually 4.50 or 5 dollars a day) and not working that hard it was great.

On the farm we were not paid as such to do farm chores it was expected of us.

After we each proved we were good and dependable workers at age seven we were each given a new born heifer calf. Daddy and Mother explained to us what we could do with this calf, raise it and sell it for money in the fall or keep it and in two years breed it and have another calf from this then new cow.

Should the new calf be a heifer we could again keep or sell if it were a bull calf we could sell as a calf or raise during the summer and sell in the fall as grass fed beef. Any heifer calf we kept in two years became a mother and then we had two producing cows, as a result of this we then shared in the cream money to the percentage of cows producing at that time. During the time from our first calf till it became a cow were given a small percentage of the cream money.

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We were shipping about fifty gallons of cream with butterfat content well over 85% each week but not year round. We got about $5.00 per week for our share. This did not start until we were seven years old and lasted two years until our cow produced it's first calf. Our chores not only included our farm operation it included helping Daddy return labor to neighbors who helped us on the crops such as setting tobacco, putting up hay and trashing wheat or oats in the days before combine. When there was a lull in farming we were allowed to hire out to neighbors if they needed help but only after all of our farm work was done or caught up.

There was so much going on in our lives that there was never time for any imaginary friend. There were the chores to do night and morning. School bus to catch each day for the hour ride to and again from school. In the summer there was always the chores plus the crop to tend. On weekends there was church and usually a family or neighborly visit, church picnics, hunting/fishing, bicycle riding by oneself or in groups with neighbors. I honestly can never remember a time when I felt alone or left out. In fact I often would go hunting, fishing, bicycling or a long walk in the woods, all by myself just to get away from all that was going on. I liked to be by myself, still do.

There wasn't much need for discipline in our family, for we knew the results would be cleaning out the barn stalls where livestock stayed or the hen house where the chickens roosted. There was also the one-half acre garden that always needed some weeks hoed out or some planting to do. This would help us keep a continuous garden all summer and up until the first frost. This has to be done anyway but we felt why have to do extra so we all basically behaved.

We all had to share in the dirty work of farming as well as the mundane and also the pleasant parts. There were many pleasant and memorial moments, such as witnessing the birth of a new born calf and seeing it try to stand up and nurse for the first time, hearing the squeal of new born pigs. Trying to ride a cow, wrestling with a sheep to hold it still while daddy tried to shear it with out cutting its skin. Learning to shear a sheep by our self, trying our hand behind a team of horses, plowing in the garden, learning to drive the tractor when we first got one on the farm, our legs would not reach the pedals but we wanted to prove ourselves to be as big as neighbors boys or even our brothers. There was also a flower garden of about one tenth of an acre which I always enjoyed working in with Mother, a privet hedge separated it from the regular yard. It seemed it always needed to be trimmed into its box shape about 2 feet high and 18 inched wide.

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Probably the naughtiest thing we did but was expected of all boys was to raid a neighbors watermelon patch. Their melons were always better than our own.

One year Mr. Owen Aughtbright posted a sign in his patch stating one melon has been poisoned, when we next raided or planned to raid his path we didn't for obvious reasons. A bunch of not to be out done kids, got together to discussed this situation and took action. Collectively we decided to alter his sign with it now reading "now there are two poison melons". We left a liquid that would look like a mix of Paris Green and Arsenic Lead (a spray used on tobacco to kill worms) and a syringe. We also left a little real powder of each to give the illusion that we had really mixed some. That brought a compromise to the water melon stealing Mr. Aughtbright admitted he had not poisoned a melon and us kids also admitted that we did not and all was good thereafter. It was a good laugh and story for several years after that.

In winter all of the livestock was kept in the barns to protect them from the cold. In winter we had we had to go out and cut holes in the ice on the pond for the cows to get a drink of water when we let them out to drink. This one winter the a cow decided to wander out onto the ice, it held up near the edge but out at about 50 feet from shore she broke through. We had to get ropes and get out on the ice and get them under her to literally lift her up onto solid ice. With neighbors help and good luck we were able to get her out of the pond before she drowned. I do not remember any winter storms, but a spring storm the night Bobby graduated from high school I do remember. All the trees in the front yard were blown down not a one hit the house though, there were all locust and about a foot in diameter except for one extra large oak about 30 inches in diameter.

I can never truly remember being really envious of any of our friends or classmates. If there were instances it would be when we had to work on a Holiday or Saturday when the neighbor kids got the day off. This didn't happen often, but then again there were days they had to work that we did not have to work so it seemed that it all came out about even. There were no really poor or rich kids in the community so I don't think anyone one ever felt much different than anyone else. There were a couple of lazy one however.

The best I remember all parents were in mutual agreement about discipline and when we were at a neighbor's house we conformed to their style of discipline and their wishes.

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I do not remember a favorite movie by name but do know we would go to any movie that had Ester Williams in it. On each Thursday night the movie house in Brandenburg would run a short serial and we would always hope we had done enough all week to get to go as a family to see what would happen next in this serial. During World War II the movie theatre was the place to go to see what was happening on the front lines there were no TV's, just the daily newspaper. There was a weekly update of the latest news on film, yes we did have a radio but that news was only verbal, when you really saw it, it was so much more easily understood and made it real.

I have always been accident prone so there is no way I can remember my first injury or smashed finger. I do remember over the years stepping on many nails that had to be pulled out of my foot (this was a regular occurrence to happen with me) and doctored by Mother with Hydrogen Peroxide. Hydrogen Peroxide for punctures and abrasions along with Iodine, Castor Oil was for an upset stomach these were the medicines of choice.

The most famous person I ever saw was Harry S. Truman when he did a whistle stop tour through Irvington, Ky. he was running for a term as president, he had finished out the term of Franklin Roosevelt so he was seeking his own term.

This was still during World War II, he had developed the term "The buck stops here". It seems to me in this day this does not happen at the responsible persons position but is passed on to a committee being at fault. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the President when I was born.

I do not remember any one big fib, I am positive there were many denials (little fibs) though when my brothers blamed by me for not doing what I was supposed to do when I was supposed to do it.

I never had any urge to hop a freight train as I never wanted to run away and the train tracks were too far away anyway.

I never really had a girl friend but had friends that were girls perhaps more than I had boys. Two names stand out in memory that I had a crush on perhaps to the point of being girl friends Donna Hesler and Audrey Bruner.

I think my first date would have been with Audrey Bruner but not really a date as such but at a school box lunch supper at a one room school house. After that her brother (Jimmy) and date, another couple, Audrey and I would all go to the movies together every now and then. We all went together on and off about a

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year. Jimmy is the only one who had a car, in fact the only teenager in the area to have a car for at least a year.

First kiss was probable at the school box lunch supper. I really can't say when, or where, or why my first kiss as a kiss happened or who with, probably with Audrey. I never kept a little black book and was never one to kiss and tell.

My first try at smoking was at about 14 years old and was a piece of grapevine.

I was put up to it by an older boy, at a Saturday afternoon get together of neighbors, you know the type, a dare. That grapevine had no resistance to the draw as the vine is very porous not dense, and it burnt my tongue and throat to the point I did not try even cigarettes until college. I did not like cigarettes, so I tried pipe and cigars, unfortunately I like both and to this day still enjoy both. I have quit several times but about six months later start again.

My first pizza was my junior year in college when home one week end. Our neighbor girl Verna Mae Smith was going with this soldier from Fort Knox who was a cook. Mother invited them down since we had a large kitchen and several other neighbors over, for something different. Ernie cooked seven pizzas all at about the same time (by an in and out process) it was so smooth you didn't realize what was going on.

I know there were Valentine Days boxes at school but I do not remember any thing special about any of them except if you gave one valentine card you had to give one to each. I didn't ever send any special card to anyone and I never received any special card.

There were no mention that I remember of St. Patrick's day or a celebration.

My first TV show I remember would be the 'Kate Smith Hour' on in the afternoon when we got home from school. This would be 1949, it was a music singing show that we could watch before we had to start the evening chores of feeding the livestock and milking the cows. I just remember I liked to hear her sing it was always such a cheerful program after a day in school. There was also a show about a school teacher in the classroom, it was a comedy 'Our Miss Brooks'. It really did represent the classroom of the early 1950', the things we would try to pull off and many we got by with.

I remember family reunions and community reunions and church reunions, but not a single one that stands out. There was always plenty of food and such a variety. Each family always seemed to bring their favorite specialty in a large

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quantity, with very little duplication of foods, yet there was always enough of each food selection for all to have some of that dish if they wished. Croquet, baseball or sofiball, horseshoes, tug-of-war, three legged races, Kick the Can, Were some of the games played. There was almost always a late in the afternoon ice cream making or water melon cutting to finish off the days activities. We must not forget the just setting around and talking, gossip, weather, crops, farm prices, local happenings as well as national news.

My favorite subject in school was geography and my least favorite was spelling.

None of us liked to miss school because if we did Daddy always had a days work we would be required to do, as punishment for missing or skipping school. The most boring day in school was better than an extra day of work that was there waiting. Very seldom did Daddy keep any of us home to work rather than going to school, it really had to be an emergency type of problem such as dogs getting into the sheep and killing some.

My biggest problem in Grade school probably was talking and not listening to the teacher enough. I also would get involved in reading in a geography book or science book and not stay with the rest of the class when we changed to a different subject to study. We did not change classrooms or teachers for different subjects until we were in High school.

In high school my biggest problem was staying focused on the subject as we changed classed every 50 minutes and had a 10 minute pass period. We would no more than get started on a subject then it would be time for class change. In the ten minutes between classes we had to go to our lockers, store our present book and papers and get the next class book and papers as well as visit with our friends. Many times this meant going to the other end of a long hall and then returning to nearly the same room for another class. The hall was only about 10 feet wide and with students getting into their lockers on each side of the hall this meant there was only about six feet of hall used for passage and this was two way traffic. From one end of the building to the other was probably three hundred feet, a right angle turn and another one hundred feet of hall and there were no short cuts. To add to the confusion at center of the long hall was the gym and everyone had to see what was going on in there, at the heel of the right angle turn was the study hall-cafeteria and there again we were all nosey as to what was going on. Girls were never a problem as I knew I could not date much because I did not have a car and lived basically out of the area. In fact I only remember only two kids who had a car even in their senior year.

Occasionally a kid would get the family car but certainly not very often, when

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someone would probably eight or nine kids would pile into it and go the driven-in-movie. Nearly everyone had a 11:30 curfew and the movie house in Brandenburg had closed so the nearest movie was a drive-in bout 30 miles away. Since the movie could not start until good dusk we seldom got to see more than one movie any night. Many times we would cut the movie short and go to the drive-in restaurant and get something to eat and just talk for a while until it was time to drive the return trip home. If we stayed the full movie there was barely time to get anything to eat and head home the drive-in was further away than the movie by about three miles.

Our family had a pet dog Blondie that is the first pet I remember, and she lived to be 17 years old. There were, over the years, several bird dogs but they certainly were not pets. I had a pet goat that I carried around until it got too big.

We kept a few goats with the herd of sheep to help keep the dogs away, but if there got to be to many goats, they would form their own herd and then ignore what they were there for. There were always cats around that were pets but they were never any house pets. The cats all took up residence in the different farm buildings and kept the mice and rat population under control. Laura Ellen and I always had a pet chicken or two.

I was in one play in high school, it was an operetta, and I had the only non-singing part. I do not at present remember the name of it but it was a hillbilly setting and I was the farmer.

There was only one county school superintendent (James R Allen), one school principal (Maude Miller), and one lower school principal (but not really a principal, (Manford Ripperdam) he was the only man teacher in the lower grades so he kinda was an overseer of the facilities. They were there all 12 years of my schooling. In summers he would often get together with another teacher and sponsor bus trips to places of interest. Some of these would be educational and some would be fun trips, Mammoth Cave, Wyandot Cave, Hidden Springs, Fountain Ferry Park or some distant pienic or fair that they thought a bunch of rural kids would enjoy. Mr. James R. Allen was the superintendent all through my schools years and continued for several years after. He must have been doing a good job, his wife Wanda was the high school English teacher. Our principal also was there all of my memory, so I guess she also did her job well. I never was sent to the principals office, the classroom teachers handled all of the discipline. My home room teacher William Allen (no kin to J. R. Allen) let us know on first day of high school he

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would not put up with any foolishness or excessive talking. His first day he had four boys up front and bent over ready for a good hard swat on the rear for not listening. He let them go though, the next day one of the four tested him, thought it was a bluff, he found out it was not just talk, he meant action. I'm quite sure you could hear the swats (at least four if not more) down the hall several doors if not all the way. There were never any more need for Bill Allen to ask for the room to be quiet more than one time in all the years. He did not expect total quiet but he did expect one to be reasonable and respectfully of others.

In grade and high school there was not time for a "haven" or "hangout" place that as kids we used. There were never any times we felt crowded or spied upon. The closest neighbor was about ¼ mile away and we did not get together except on the bus or maybe on weekends and then it was often with more than one family.

We knew better than to pretend to be sick to miss school as well as not to be late and miss the bus. The consequences were a day of forking out a stall in the barn where the animals were kept in winter and during their daily milking.

I don't remember knowing any curse words when I was little, I was probably in seventh or eighth grade before I knew any and that did not keep Mother from washing our mouth out with soap or giving us a dose of Castor Oil. I do not remember ever hearing a curse word from either parent. If you ever even smelled Castor Oil you would know why it was a good discipline device. It smelled terrible and tasted even worse.

Saturdays were spent on chores around the farm as were other days and there were the crops to care for. There was corn to pick in the fall, tobacco to strip, the animals required more care when in the barn lot vs in the pastures as in the summer. Winter time chores expanded to making and burning plant beds for the growing of the plants that would be used to set the tobacco in early spring.

This then called for cutting up the tree trunks and splitting them for firewood to burn in the stoves used to heat and cook on. This was also hog killing time when the most of the meat for the coming year was put up. Ham and bacon salted down to preserve and smoked for flavor, Early spring then was occupied by plowing and getting the crops in to the ground crops such as wheat, corn, oats, barley, tobacco, perhaps even reseeding a hay field. Summers were devoted to cultivating row crops, hoeing the garden and tobacco, putting up hay, harvesting the grain crops and of course canning fruit and vegetables for

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meals during the coming year. Remember all these were over and above the daily chores, milking (twice daily). We separated the milk from the cream which we shipped and sold to a creamery, feeding the pigs, checking on the sheep, tending to the chickens which furnished us with eggs and also some meat for the table.

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Sundays almost always found us going to church and Daddy to play card at a local gas station (Schacklett's) where there was always a card game of Rook going on. This was also his diversion on really rainy days when we could not get into the fields to work. In the afternoon we either all rested or would wander off to play and visit with neighbors, go hunting, fishing, bicycling, sledding, or perhaps all of us going on a family picnic a family reunion or church picnic. There was very little time in which one could get bored.

We basically were well behaved because the consequence was extra work and usually the least desirable type. I did get mad at Lloyd and threw a pitchfork at him and it stuck up in his leg of course the results were I had to do his work as well as mine till he could walk again, plus I got to shovel out three stalls after cows had lived in them all winter. This was above and beyond the regular amount of work done daily. On another occasion I threw a pair of sheep shears at Lloyd with almost the same results and penalty, I guess I had a temper and was a slow learner and lost my temper easily, I guess that is why I'm a loner.

I guess my favorite radio program was either "The Shadow Knows" or "Sky King". One was a mystery and the other was a flying show on a ranch out west.

Favorite movies were the "Tarzan Movies" This man would swing through the trees on grapevines and would rescued someone, sorta a jungle based Superman concept. His lady friend was Jane.

"I Tarzan you Jane"

There was very little teasing, in our community among different families most if any teasing was within the family. Mother and Daddy did not put up with it very much either.

01 1962 and

I went to Western Kentucky State College in Bowling Green, Kentucky and earned my BS and MA in Industrial Arts and Education so I could teach. I had wanted to farm but Daddy died after my freshman year and things on the farm had to change from a family farm to a rental farm. This was so Mother would have a steady income for her and Laura Ellen. We sold the milk cows and got beef cattle which required much less work, sold the pigs and sheep, therefore

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much of the hay we put up could now be sold for income. The tobacco crop was share cropped out which meant no work but income.

My major was by pure luck, I was interested in science and geography, but as I walked to and from where I was staying a gentleman Mr. Carl Barnes was almost always seated out front of the Industrial Arts Building when I would go by and would speak to me. One day he invited me to sit down and visit with him, I took him up on the offer and it changed my life. I was working at the cafeteria and snack bar to pay for schooling as well as going home and working in summers and on some weekends. He offered me a job in the print shop starting at 25 cents and hour this was after I had made good money cutting tobacco in the summer. If I could do the work he would raise me to 75 cents in six week and one dollar at semester break. The best part was I could keep my job in the cafeteria where I could eat free meals when I had worked at least one hour over the rush hour morning, noon or night. At night I could still work in the snack bar and have a late night snack. This meant all the good and snack food I wanted. Mr. Barnes taught in the Industrial Arts Dept. and taught not only printing but metal working, general shop and drafting. He would let me work in the print shop any time I had time, if I had my lessons all caught up. It seems I must have caught on to how to set type and run a printing press as he kept me on, and let me work at my convinces day or night. At this time there was only hand set type in the shop. Big companies however had linotypes to set type but Western did not. In the spring each of my four years I set the college catalogue by hand and printed it page by page two pages up on a Chandler and Price clam shell platen press it was a 12 × 18 hand feed press. Being in the Industrial Arts building I saw what the students were doing and I liked it and gave it a try and therefore chose it as my major. Mr. Barnes probably also kept me from dropping out and going home to try my hand farming. He also recommended I take teacher education as he thought I would enjoy teaching others to use their hands and minds in a useful manner. Mr. Barnes was right, I went into teaching and taught three years at Western Kentucky State College then moved to Normal, Illinois in summer of 1962 and started that fall teaching at Illinois State Normal School which two years later became Illinois State University. At ISU I first taught in the Industrial Arts Department teaching metal work, printing and working in the university press. I got to help design the Shop areas of Turner Hall (1963) and the Industrial Arts area of the new University High School (1964) and order the equipment and set it up. I was then offered the chance to cross teach between the high school and the college. I really enjoyed this crossover, at the high school I taught drafting, wood working, machine metal working, welding and sheet metal, printing,

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photography occasionally taught earth science and basic math. At the college level, I taught drafting, machine metalworking, photography, printing, machine maintenance, introduction to Industrial Arts and occasionally in the Teacher Education Department. Both at Western and Illinois State I also got to work with and supervise student teachers. I taught until May 31, 1993 when I retired.

Display your worth and you will not be disappointed with the results. Put yourself on the line, test your skills and thoughts and find out what others think about your abilities and of you as a person. Remember you must live with yourself.

My freshman Year at college I hitch- hiked many a week ends to get home to do farm work.on Saturday and Sunday then hitch a ride back late on Sunday afternoon or night. It was about 120 miles one way.

I believe the favorite time of the year for me has always been the spring when the earth is coming back to life and all the brown is leaving as life revives, the earth coming back to life. Next, I like the fall season when the earth is tucking itself a way for the winter. There are all the colors, it is the celebration of another cycle of earth an its many marvels. Winter is a self healing time, its resting for a new beginning, as in our own lives we have our ups and downs and we must not let the downs get us down for any length of time. Tomorrow can be a better day and we do not want to leave this world with out making a worthy contribution to society.

House hold chores as a child were keeping our room straight and clean, as well has helping Mother get meals ready and doing dishes after the meal, this was over and above the farm chores as mentioned earlier. In summers when we had a large crew as putting up hay, thrashing, cutting tobacco, I would stay in the house and help mother prepare meals if no neighbor ladies showed up. After the dinner dishes were washed I would be sent out to the field to finish the afternoon helping there.

As an assignment in Senior English we had to write a paper on the civil rights movement our views and thoughts concerning the new law that integrated schools across the country. There were two charges (1) why approximately 100 years after the Civil War why had we not done one of the things the Civil War was fought over. And (2) was how would we propose to settle the new conflict peacefully? Remember this was 1954 and schools were not yet integrated

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especially in the South and even in much of the North. There was much civil unrest and many boycotts of buses and businesses as well as demonstrations.

This is the time in history when Martin Luther King was killed, Mrs. Parks refusing to give up her seat on a bus as well as many protestors including the students at Kent State, of which several were killed by our National Guard.

In English class with Mrs. Wanda Allen as teacher we each had to write a term paper (so to speak) topic of our choice. I wrote about the Civil Rights movement and the local news paper got wind of it and published it. I was walking on cloud 9.

I have never had to have stitches, I guess I'm just don't like the thought, as I have needed them several times but have always avoided them.

I have always been accident prone (an accident waiting to happen) so there are so many I can't separate anyone accident out except the bicycle one (with my first cousin).

I do not have any superstitions nor do I have any physical problems that can be blamed for any goofs that I have made in my lifetime. I have to take full responsibility for all the misdeeds and capers as well as all hard feelings I have created through the years. Some I remember and most I probably did not recognized at the time as harsh actions, unkind comments, ignoring someone who needed help just to name a few of the misdeeds - capers of my life.

Den 1

I had all of the child hood illness that were possible except polio, which several friends were unfortunate enough to catch. My worst illness was at the state fair driving rodeo when I was starting my senior year in high school. I had food poison, hepatitis and mononucleosis all at the same time. I lost from 200 pounds down to 135 pounds in two weeks. All I could keep down was Seven-Up, a clear broth chicken and water would not stay down. I was a junior in college before my weight started coming back on and staying. Now I have trouble trying to keep my weight down. I was in bed at least a good 4 weeks before I could move about under my own power.

I have had only one memorable experience at the doctors. That was when I was cranking the A tractor and it kicked back, I bent my lower right arm and Mother took me to see Dr. Brown. He saw my arm and had his assistant start mixing stuff for a cast, while he x-rayed the arm and looked at the film. He found no break, but said it would probably break when he straightened it. Over his knee

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he pulled my arm back straight, then x-rayed it again, it hurt like #%§$ but it did not break. So to date no broken bones but many injuries.

School chums were Gene Medley, Bill Boling, Harry Mills, Allen Lee (Sluggo) Applegate, Donald Spinks, Donna Hesler, Audrey Bruner, Delores Ritchie, Bernadette Hardesty, Lynn King and others. There were never any clicks, all seemed to get along and no two or three just hung together.

We rode a school bus to school and were picked up before seven in the morning to get to school by eight. The bus route was about thirty miles long and we were some of the first to get on in the morning and the last to get off in the evening.

The road by our house was mud/gravel up until about 1946, the ones who regularly used the road maintained the road. The county took over at about this time and it was then gravel and graded regularly.

Sluggo is the only name that I can remember as being a true nickname, his real name was Allen Lee Applegate. Have

I was never good at telling jokes, pulling pranks, or doing April Fool's, it seemed I couldn't keep a straight face or would get mixed up on my attempt and start laughing before I got what ever completed.

We as kids made kites every spring with Mother and or Daddy help. It was just toe old diamond cross style, never anything creative. There was always a crash landing even when we went out into an open field to fly. It seem to my memory there was always to much wind that was gusty or not enough wind to fly. We'd run our self to death trying to get the kite up and perhaps be successful for a few minutes, but never long enough to get tired and willing bring it in. The kites always seemed to have had a mind of their own and they controlled and taunted us kids.

We hunted every hunting season that was a part of our growing up, trying to get meat for the table, that we could say we killed. Then of course we had to brag of our skills with the gun, probably most often slightly exaggerated. We never hunted just to hunt, we were taught animals have the right to live unless we needed it for food.

We were taught not to try to tame wild animals as they were meant to live in the wild for a reason. There were plenty of domestic animals on the farm to satisfy the deep desire to tame something. Have you ever tried to train a chicken or a

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cat? Many of the domestic animals wanted to go wild and keeping them under control was enough to tax anyone patients. One of our neighbors always had a pet crow(s) and they raised their young and the young grew and raised young so I don't know if it would it then be wild or domesticated?.

If I could return to childhood I would study more and be a better son, by not complaining that our chores were more than the neighbor's kids chores were.

In hindsight I had a super childhood with all good thing coming my way and Mother and Daddy shielding us from many unpleasant events by the way they raised the four of us kids. They had to have had the patients of JOB to have kept their sanity with the many escapades that we pull or tried to pull but they foiled or ignored. I wish I had been taught to be more sociable, where I could carry on conversations much more easily and be comfortable around most any one. As a teenager I wish I had learned to be more out going in my personality.

The first time I tried to drive was in Driver Education class at school, our class as Juniors were the first class to have Drivers Ed. The previous class had a lot of deaths as results of no training. The State Police came in and all Juniors had to take a full year of Driver Education before they were issued their license. I had driven a tractor a lot but never a car or truck.

I don't believe I ever had a favorite singer or song, if there was one it would be Kate Smith and singing God Bless America. Favorite band would then be Lawrence Welk such variety in his music each week. This was all from early days of TV.

I was never coordinated enough to dance but I did go to my Senior Prom and took Barbara Barr. We tried to dance but got to laughing at ourselves so hard that we set out the entire evening laughing. Neither of us could hear a beat to the music. That reminds me of my first experience with music, it was in the third grade. Mrs. Katherine McGee was the roving music teacher, she issued each student a tonette. They were plastic tubular instruments and had to have the holes punched out first before you could play it. The whole class did as told and punched away then the note holes used to get certain notes (fingering). At then end of the lesson this was over several days, Mrs. Katherine asked me to come to the front of the room. She took my instrument and gave me another one and said don't punch out the holes, in fact just hold it to your mouth don't blow, pretend you are playing. There went my musical career before it got of the ground.

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I do not remember any fears as a child. Perhaps I was to fool hearted to recognize a fear. I do remember climbing over the pigpen fence and playing with new born pigs and getting a great big long chewing out by Mother and Daddy. I also crawled into a newborn calf and it's mothers stall and playing with the newborn calf and getting my head squared-up as a result of an unhappy mother cow.

We never had a tree house as we could always go to the barn and build a hay bale house any time we wanted. When we did Daddy would always said he could put our energies to better use so we almost never did expend the energy in those types of endeavors.

Daddy was never in the military service, however Bobby and Lloyd were.

Bobby in the airforce as an air frame mechanic, Lloyd in the army as missile specialist. Daddy was too young for World War I and 29 when World War II started and had three sons. My age slipped me between the Korean War and Viet Nam War. As a child we bought saving bonds and collected scrap metal for the war efforts.

Don't be a pawn to the whims of fate!

I believe this was the most beautiful sight and action I have ever witnessed!

As usual I was out by myself in the early morning in northern Colorado, 1990.

SEATED ON A ROCK

There is no path it is an older wooded area the trees are large sprawling Oaks and other varieties I cannot identify. The time of day is the cracking of dawn, the birds are awakening. The ground and leaves are wet with dew, the birds have just started their daily hunt for food. There is a slight chill to my feet, and the moss covered ground feels soft and comfortable under foot. As I go into this area of the forest it is beginning to come awake, the birds are chirping, the squirrels start their daily chatter with their neighbors. The night animals have all tucked their self away for the day. Since I am on a hill and the wooded area is all around the rising sun turns the tree tops golden green. The mist is clearing from the valley as I look back the way I came as I look across the tranquil valley the cows start getting up and wandering about for their morning meal of lush fresh green grass.

I turn and wander on, up and over the crest to the next rise and the wooded area becomes more dense, I'm tired and find a place to take a seat letting the stillness of the moment enter my soul.

I hear a noise and freeze for it is totally unexpected. There is a Mother Black Bear and her cub wandering over to my left just visible through the dense stand of trees.

They must be totally unaware of my presence. What do I do? I'm scared I'm excited,

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I'm stunned, stupid me I follow the sound but trying to keep out of sight but wanting to see more! Can I, Will I, Should I? I start to hear another sound, what is it? I stop, I listen, I cannot identify this sound so I move cautiously forward scared and yet excited by the unknown possibilities. Then ahead of me I see sparkling light flashing and decide it is a babbling creek. I no longer hear the bear and the hair stands up on my neck, where did I loose this creature of beauty? I back track and circle up the side of the mountain and approach the stream. Down about a thousand feet I see the bear teaching the cub bear to fish. I again take seat and keep a cautious eye in their direction.

Nature lets us coexist. Each enjoying the moment the bear its cub and me the beauty of nature in all its glory. I don't know when the bear left. I don't know when I became aware, all at once there I was in this beautiful area and I just seemed to be there stunned.

COT

You gotta have hope. What is hope? Is it an expectation of something, a desire or a promise of some thing yet to be obtained.

There was no bridge at Brandenburg until the 1960s therefore if we wanted to go to Coryden, Ind. To the fair or visit some distant relative we had to cross the Ohio river on a ferry that was designed to carry six cars. The river is about ½ mile wide but the crossing had to be at an angle to compensate for the current, therefore the distance was at least a mile in river pool stage, but much more when the river was entering a flood stage. If it was an over the banks flood the ferry could not run. The land on the Indiana side was flat and the river would spread out to be about two miles wide with shallow water and very swift current. The Kentucky side was high bluffs at Brandenburg except for the trough that made up down town. The river would back up in this tough and flood out the lower ten to fifteen businesses.

About every five years it would get at least three feet deep in these businesses. The businesses that I can remember that got flooded regularly were a hardware store, insurance agency, dry goods store, drug store with fountain service, lawyer office, two taverns, a restaurant and feed store. The others often flooded were the Ford dealership, the Meade County Messenger (a weekly newspaper), furniture store, movie theatre and rental rooms as well as some private homes that were further up the hill.

I have had one train ride it, was as a Senior in high school going on our senior trip to Washington DC where we spent a week touring the area.

Our class had raised enough money to rent two train coach cars for the round trip, and to pay for every ones hotel stay and meals while in Washington.

That way everyone in our class got to go not just the one from the richer families, this was the one condition of school policy on school trips. Trip total cost must be earned prior to any trip, any distance, so some classes did

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not get to take the Washington trip their Senior year or choose some other designation.

As one of three boys and a sister following by six years, going to public school we had all of the childhood sicknesses that were available and some of the two or three times if we did not develop an immunity. Our school community was lucky in that only about three kids developed polio. Some communities had perhaps 10% of their school get polio. The community was very up on shots and immunizations, I don't think anyone had the option to not take their shots.

Just before the beginning of my senior year in high school, I was at the state fair for the driving competition and I got sick and I mean sick/sick. I got food poisoning, yellow jaundice (hepatitis A) and was very sick. I went. from 200 lbs to 135 Ibs in less than two weeks. Not a good way to reduce. If I'd have been a farm horse they would have shot me on the spot. I could keep nothing down I couldn't sit up, I could not even lift my head off the pillow. Five years later when I started teaching I had only gained back enough to weigh 145 lbs.

In the April of my Freshman year in college I lost my voice and could not make a sound of any type with my vocal cords. They even tried hypnosis several times to no avail. However it has come in handy many times since then to help me relax, I can still put my self under. This no voice (noise period created some interesting events the rest of the school year and that summer as a surveyor that summer. I was almost immediately treated as a deaf and dumb person and many people assumed that I could not hear so they talked in front of me. I had to learn quickly to keep a straight face.

Dr. Dooley a Chemistry professor refused to pass me even though I had a B average in his class, all the other professors treated me okay just a little skeptical at first. However after about a month they all were okay with me being in class but not able to verbally respond as I had previously. I surveyed crop acreage again that summer (my third summer) for the Agriculture Stabilization Committee, the ASC board knew I could do the work and that I was good at the job, quick accurate and efficient. They let me deal with the individuals farmers when I would show up for crop measurement. This was after the initial county contact to set time and date for the surveying to take place. That year it was tobacco, corn and wheat that we measured. I wrote many a noted that summer explaining what we were to do and how we were going to do it and plot it on their farm map record. Some really tried to cheat the system but most were very

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cooperative and understanding. Yet there would be some individuals who even after I'd responding to his questions with a note in reply, would treat me like I was deaf as well as dumb. Some would call in to the ASC office and tell them they refuse to let that dumb they sent out measure his crops. This invoked many after work or before work the next day laughs.

Over all things went well, as did the next in school, then comes the second summer and my voice came back. in August. During this whole time Doctors were trying everything to find out what was wrong. Some said it was mental, some said it was me just being stubborn, others said it was muscle paralyze and others just examined and shook their head.

I was and still amvery lucky as far as dental is concerned. My teeth were treated with fluoride and I never had a cavity until I was in my thirties and to this day I have had only three true cavities. I still have all 32 of my teeth. All of my molars when they first came in were smoothed over with filling material to prevent cavities from forming by having no place for food to start a decay area These original fillings were Mercury base and they were not replaced until 2003 with newer material, (mainly to get rid a chance of mercury poisoning).

I really did not know what I wanted to do with my life until Mr. Carl Barnes talked to me about just giving teaching a try. However I would not have met him had it not been for Daddy in late August of 1955 after high school graduation in May, asking if I wanted to give college a try. I had planned on farming with him. In essence Daddy said if you don't try it you won't know whether you like it or not. So he dropped me off at the foot of the Hill, Western Kentucky State College was known as the Hill.

If I could return to any part of my child hood in today's world, I wouldn't want to! I don't think I am strong enough to face what this generation faces, especially this electronic world, it blows my mind. If I returned back in my time I'd study harder, be more friendly and outgoing. I'd like to end up teaching again, I think I helped others and I never did not look forward to the next day in the class room regardless of class level or subject I was teaching. I really enjoyed teaching I sometimes think I was probably a better teacher than I was a Daddy. If this was or still is I sorry and apologize for not being a better Daddy and Granddaddy.

My best elementary school teacher was in the third grade Mrs. Ava Burch, she would let me read geography books when there was some down time. She was also very strict and not lenient with the yard stick, you would know when you

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were caught. She wasn't mean, she was consistent with all and never did apply it in malice just enough to let you know, not to do it again.

In high school there were two Ms. Glovie Burch (daughter of Ava) and Mr.

William Allen they were fair, good at leading as well as knowledge of the subjects they taught. They would listen to your ideals and comment without trying to change your thoughts to match their, they always were putting out challenges. I do not remember not liking any teacher or even thinking they were not equally fair to all. Evidentially they were all good or I would not have turned out as I have. My parents, the community population and the teachers all had a good influence on the out come of my life, I hope I have repaid a part of that debt to society by my contribution as a teacher. In retirement I hope I have continued to contributing to my community. Daddy and Mother always lived, believed and worked toward leaving their community a better place than they found it. Take the seed given you and improve its genetics so that you may harvest more than you sew.

Our high school colors were green and white we had only one sport and that was basketball, the team name was greenwave there was no mascot.

I never was into sports after the first basketball game, one of my team mates kept elbowing me. I lost it after the third elbow to the chest and throat area I turned and decked him right there (just before half time) on the floor and walked off the court. First game of the freshman season. This was the only organized sport in the whole of the five or six counties surrounding Meade County High School.

The school custodian was a Mr. Otis Hayes he lived over the hill from our house about a mile away. Our bus driver was Mr. Manford Ripperdam he was also the 6 th grade teacher all the time I was in school. Mrs Ava Burch, Mr.

Manford Ripperdam, Mrs. Wanda Allen, Ms.Glovie Burch, Mrs. Maude Miller Mr. Wayne Pace, and Mrs. Katherine McGhee were teachers that were there when I started and there when I graduated.

I never remember a teacher being excessively harsh in discipline and when they did discipline us it was very justified in ever case that I can recall. No one in those days would dare be very mischief as we would be disciplined at school and then again at home. At school either writing 500 times in lower grades or a paddle later in the upper grades then at home it was always extra chores and not the regular ones we had to do anyway.

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In the first three years of school there was no grade school lunch program but then they put in a cafeteria and we had hot lunches after that. About two years before I started school they had built a new building to house the upper six grades, so in about the fifth grade we started looking forward to the newer building and being with older kids. We thought we were to mature for the little kids anymore.

There were no special memories about the chores such as burning leaves, mowing the lawn, hoeing the garden or tobacco, milking the cows, feeding all of the animals, bailing hay, riding the combine (tying grain sacks) shucking corn, these were accepted daily or seasonal chores that were just accepted for the privilege growing up on a farm. There I bet, never has been a kid that didn't play in the leaves after they raked them up, or squirt milk into a cats face and watch it lick it's face and then beg for more, or squirt milk at another person near by also milking on a near by milking stool. This of course would lead to a milk fight and result being told by Daddy to quite wasting milk. At sawing wood time the saw dust pile became a play area, at thrashing time the straw stack became a play area. It was even fun to jump in the grain bin an feel your self sinking in the grain, whether it was either oats, barley or wheat it did not matter it was fun.

We never kept pets in the house and the house was up off the ground on rock pillars except for the newer part (1919) had a basement that was dug in under it in the early 50's. There were no mice, rats or bats to deal with in the house as her were plenty of out buildings. There was also the cats and dogs that kept these pest at bay.

The cows were bred to calf in mid spring, the pigs in late spring the sheep were the only ones that was not controlled breeding, and it seemed that they always were dropping their lambs on the coldest of nights. In super cold weather (that would come occasionally) we would take a stove to the barn and try to save the lambs by keeping them by the stove. One year however there were so many being born so fast that we had to carry the ewes into the house and use two rooms of the house as birthing stalls. It was super cold that year and I only remember it happening only that one year.

Cold winter snows were also for sledding, the ice was never thick for skating.

Besides I liked hot weather better than icy cold. I still do! In hot weather all the windows in the house were open and the arrangement of rooms and way it was

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situated the house seemed to remain relative cool. Of course when cooking on the wood burning stove (before we got the electric stove) the kitchen was hot and no amount of breeze could keep it cool. This was especially true when cooking for a haying, tobacco or thrasing crew.

The most destructive wind was the night Bobby graduated from high school. It blew down every tree in our front yard and there were 17 of them all locust except for one extremely large oak. This would have been in late may of 1951.

The only hurricane I remember was in April 1974, It lifted the large tobacco barn up and the little white barn near it and shifted them on their rock pillar foundations but did not knock them down. The white barn in the 1980s tried to fall down but couldn't because of trees that were growing so close to it. It was finally knocked down after we sold the land in 1996. We were about ten miles from the river so we never suffered with much flooding except in a basin that the rural road crossed., but it was never covered to the point of not getting through except for a couple of days at a time a minor inconvenience.

Our first vacation was a trip down through and across Tennessee. I remember the Parathion in Nashville and Ole Hickory's Home in Nashville. Lookout Mountain, a copper mine, the Natural Arch in Cumberland Gap, the horse farms of the bluegrass area of Kentucky and the Capital building in Frankfort, Kentucky.

The Senior trip to Washington DC was extra special as all the Seniors in our class got to go regardless of family conditions. We had raised enough money and also paid the way for the 4 adults. One whole week five days, there visiting all the sights, there and back was on the two week ends. To raise funds for a trip each class was assigned some concessions or event. This kept each years class from competing for the same good fund raiser year after year. Events such as the concession stand at all basketball games one year, another year that class sponsored the fall festival another year they sold magazine subscriptions in the area, a concessions stand at the county fair etc. Any class could also come up with something else if they had the initiative and willingness to work, ours did.

As all country kids did we tried to made kites for the windy spring weather.

Then competed with each other as to design and height at which they would fly as well as who could get theirs up first. There were always crashes and tangled string to fuss with and use as an excuse for not being the one to stay in the air the longest time.

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I can't say I had one favorite childhood book that I read or had read to me over and over. They were all read to us over and over as there were not that many available, this being during the period leading up to and during World War I.

The biggest physical problem I ever had to deal with was not being able to talk or make any sounds for a period of about six months. I think everyone else enjoyed it at times. But I could still be a pest but I was any way. I wrote notes and never stopped asking questions. Did you ever have someone continually sticking a sheet of paper in front of you for you to read and then expecting you to answer then and there? I can image I was a pest often.

1 do not have any superstitions that I am aware of on a conscious level. No telling what is on the unconscious level is there? I don't think I dare go there.

I wouldn't know where to start to look or recognize it if I did arrive on some level beyond where I am now.

When a bunch of neighbor kids got together and we played hide and seek, the adults were visiting in the yard. Some times we had the whole barn yard to hide around, but not in any building. Other times we had just the yard area to use, it was often determined by the weather, sometimes it would be in just one outbuilding such as the hay cattle barn or tobacco barn. Kick the can was probably the most often played game, as it went faster and was more fair to all size and age players. Speed, being sneaky and willing to risk getting caught were the keys to survival in this game.

The first time I was behind the wheel of an automobile there was a State Police officer in the seat beside me. It was the beginning of driver education in our high school. The class before us had had several auto deaths and our school then started a driver education program. with our class. I had for many years driven a tractor on the farm but never was allowed behind the wheel of a car. I suppose if the school had not started the program Mother or Daddy would have started teaching me when I reached 16 or 17 years of age.

I do not remember any fears other than disappointing my parents. We were raised on a farm so animals were never feared. We hunted and fished so the woods and water never bothered us. At night we went frogging and coon hunting so the night never seemed to be of any concern either. I guess if there was a fear it would be going to town with my parents. Them letting me stay in town, and hitch hike home late at night, hoping to get home before curfew. I'd get to do it again, if I obeyed the rules set forth for that time. I'D stay in town to

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see a movie, ball game or just to be out on my own. It was only about ten miles home and it could be walked in about 2 hours if all else failed.

Ice cream cones were a nickel a single large dip, a baloney sandwich ten cent, and coke in a bottle was a nickel as were most candy bars. O Henry, Clark, Baby Ruth, Milky Way, Snicker, Hershey etc. They were larger than the 69 or 89 cent bar of today.

A favorite memory of mother would be summer between the tenth and eleventh grade, she was sick and I did all the cooking from early April until about October of that year. It was her patience with me, her explanation of how to prepare food and how it cooked. Prior to that I only assisted in cooking. I learned a pinch or dab or a smidgen to mean season to your taste but not to extremes that you may have as an individual. Cook for eye appeal after you have flavor, not eye appeal only. Cook meat at a lower temp. than most books recommend but cook to internal temperature recommended. It will be more tender, have more flavor and juicy but done thru and thru.

Favorite songs would be How Much is that Doggie in the Window, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, Harbor Moon, God Bless America. The Washington Post March was my favorite music to wake up to, it was the opening theme of WHAS Radio each morning when it came on the air. It was stirring and really would wake you up if you tried to be a sleepy head. I think it was the family alarm in the morning. Tommy Dorsey would be my favorite band along with Sammy Kaye and Lawrence Welk.

We never went to many dances but occasionally to a square dance, there was a group that would square dance on roller skates. Not me, I barely could stand up on skates, but Laura Ellen was good. We went about once a month to the roller rink for skating in the winter months.

I graduated from high school in May 1955 (there were 41 in my class), that spring Daddy and I agreed I'd start farming with him. There was always homework; two types (1) the farm chores (2) school studies. At school there was always a study hall and you had to utilize it, if you didn't you were assigned more homework. The teachers all knew what was assigned and what each should be studying in study hall, certainly not reading some comic book.

Come late August he asked if I wanted to try college and I replied, "not really I like farming". He said in essence, "You may like college give it a try, you can come home on weekends and finish out the crops". He and Mother dropped me

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off the next day at the foot of the Hill in Bowling Green at Western Ky. State College. Lloyd was a student there so I had help if I needed it, but I was too proud to ask and did not need any help. Things just seemed to fall in place. I found a rooming house then landed a job in the cafeteria on campus, registered and started my studies. I enjoyed the classes and going home on weekends to put up the crops etc. The best of both worlds, I hitchhiked back and forth nearly every weekend till the crops were in and the tobacco stripped. In the fall daddy took sick and never was the same again, so we reduced farming the next year and he passed away in August. We sold the new farm machinery and started raising beef cattle for an income for Mother. This is also the beginning of time when we considered selling a part of the original farm or trading for a smaller house for Mother and Laura Ellen. This was finally done in the early 1960's not positive of a specific date. Bobby had been discharged from the Air Force (I think in 1957) so he had come back to help out after Daddy passed away. He too then registered as a student at Western, he and I then traveled home ever weekend to finish up the farming season and decided to call it quits after one more year. So then the farm was no longer totally farmed by us but grazed with cattle and hay for winter feed. Tobacco and corn crop were share cropped out on a 50/50 basis for the next several years.

We always cut our own Christmas tree on the farm as there were always plenty cedar trees to chose from. Every year each one claimed to know were the best tree was hiding. It was always on a rotation basis for tree selection, problem solved. There was popcorn to string on thread for decoration. We enjoyed this as it took several days and several big bowls of popcorn and we would eat as we strung popcorn. There was almost always contest to see who could put the most popped kernels in their mouth with out swallowing! It is amazing how many! try it sometime. There was always the same treetop angel, and glass balls along with icicles and blue and silver garland and of course multi colored C-7 bulb (large by today standards). The tree was usually put up about two weeks before and kept up till New Years day. It was then undecorated except for the popcorn strings. This then set out in the yard for the birds. They had a feast for several days after that.

In the living room was one of four fireplaces, the only one used. The other three were blocked to keep heat in the house. In winter we did not live in the whole house full time, the two furthest bedrooms were closed off. In super cold weather we all lived in just two or three rooms. (More on the house later) Back to Christmas and fireplace, we always hung stockings for everyone. They were always filled with a couple of small toys along with candy and fruit.

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I don't remember ever visiting a Santa Clause, we always set out a plate of cookies and milk for him. The next morning there were just crumbs and an empty glass, I guess there really is a Santa. When I remember I still set out a couple of cookies and a glass of milk, it its still gone the next morning.

We were brought up to be very practical so gifts with in the family was always something to wear or use on the farm. Socks, handkerchiefs, blue jeans, flannel shirts, hats, gloves and so on were the main items. One year I got an electric train, other years perhaps a basketball, mirrors for my bicycle, cap pistol, this type of stuff. I never remember being disappointed in what I received. Presents were always opened after the morning chores were done. Caring for the animals and chickens was always first in the morning. Seeing that they were all watered and feed, the cows milked if they were giving milk. The milk then separated and the creame stored and saved for shipping. The milk fed to the pigs, the eggs gathered so they wouldn't freeze, then we got the whole day to enjoy a family Christmas and our toys. Food, candy and fruit to our hearts content or sickness if we were foolish and had not learned better early on.

We always had Christmas at home, some times a relative might be there but not that I remember, none lived nearby.

I don't remember any anniversary celebrations, the only other big celebration was usually the Fourth of July, birthdays were just another day except for a cake and a present at supper time. My cake request was always a pineapple up side down cake, to the best of my memory this request has and is still honored each year.

When growing up I never remember just going to a store to just browse, time on the farm was too precious to waste shopping. When we went to town it was for specific items, remember this was war time and just after the depression. Later many of the items we take for granted were not available, many were not even developed, so much has changed.

December brings to mind Pear Harbor, I was only five so I have no true memory of my own, only memory of stories I heard as I grew older. Many in the community were called up in the draft and several did not make it home.

There were funerals that I attended as a family. I remember the 21 gun salute and standing in the cold in my Sunday best trying to be a big boy, perhaps not really understanding all or its meaning. I do remember the movie house news reel reports and radio broadcast of many events. The Korean War was when I

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was in Jr. High and High School. No good memories of any stories that were related to me that I wish to pass on. The same for all wars, they have changed so much yet still so the same. Is civilization going to ever learn?

My first name is from my grandfather William Burch Long, my middle name is supposedly just picked from a list. But I can not believe that it was not after the man my aunt Annie Laura was going with and eventually married. Until I was through college I knew of no one else with this name and to this day I know very few Perrys.

I have never known any famous people nor have I ever met any famous people.

As far a I know there are to this day no famous people from the area I grew up. in. Many famous people use other people to get there and that was not the life style in Meade County, Kentucky and it is not that way to this day. The county is still hilly, rural, thinly populated, church going, friendly and basically a working class group of individuals.

A year and one-half is long enough. Christmas is coming so I'll stop and make copies, to mail to each family before Christmas. Then I'lI continue with more written memories later to be mailed at a the future time. This has been a memory revival tool and I can honestly say that I have had a most pleasant trip.

My life has been blessed everyday by good things happening. May yours be so blessed. !!

Done With Love

  Grand Pa

         Pa Pa

Wm Perry Young

             12/10/06

            
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