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Recently I saw a social media post made by a great-granddaughter sharing her memories of visiting her great-grandfather’s house as a child. The house was a large two story house that once stood along a road my parents would travel when going to a neighboring town. I remembered that house well as a child. I often wondered about the history of it and the family who once called it home. So many childhood memories are made in our great-grandparent and our grandparents’ homes. Though many of those houses do not exist anymore, as most older farm hom...
Living on a farm most all of my life has given me an appreciation of the country life. Mostly it’s the simple things that draw my attention to my surroundings such as the lovely smell of freshly mowed alfalfa; the fragrance of the rain as it falls on a summer day; the sweet smell of the blooming yellow clover. Memories include being a young girl and climbing into Dad’s truck box that had just had wheat augured in and then walking barefooted around in that grain feeling the grain as it went between my toes. I liked climbing up into the com...
Happy 245th Birthday of The United States of America! As we celebrate Independence Day over the week-end and into Monday, there will be picnics, BBQs, ball games, camping by a lake, fishing, boating and the firing off of numerous fireworks. Some people will be sporting patriotic shirts, caps, and displaying American flags at homes, businesses, campgrounds and on the towns’ main streets. What exactly are we as Americans celebrating besides the official birth of our country? It should be we are also celebrating our freedom that was won at a p...
To those who say, “There are no entertaining events in this area,” I say “Look around. You can get your fill of entertainment right here. Consider what the area has to offer from the end of May through July. At Memorial Day time there is the Lady Vestey Victorian Festival with games, foods of all kinds, parade, crafts, historical programs and even a machine to create your own teddy bear. At the end of May many communities host alumni reunions. Memorial Day services are held in almost every community. There are two great lakes within about...
Farm activities have increased. Fields were fertilized and the planting of the fall crops is almost at an end. Around Memorial Week-end, the alfalfa begins to be cut and baled. Cattle now call the lush pasture lands home. It is hoped pasture fences have been checked and will keep cattle confined. Thankfully the spring rains came and the pasture ponds are filled. The grasses grew and hopefully the rains will come when needed to keep the grasses growing. Spring calving has thankfully concluded, as it began during a cold snap and some calves were...
It was an exciting weekend in my hometown of Burr Oak, Kansas as the town’s 1871 founding was celebrated. The town’s roots began 150 years ago when A.J. Godfrey and his wife, Sarah, decided to move west. They first settled with others from the German Baptist faith in North Central Kansas. They established a little settlement. A post office was in one of their log homes, named Greenville near the White Rock Creek. Godfrey and his wife decided to move a couple of miles west, to where the White Rock meets with the Burr Oak Creek. They built a log...
Saturday events of Burr Oak's 150th Celebration kicked off with the Emory Clemons Unit 263 American Legion Junior Auxiliary serving free pastries in the Veteran Park. It was estimated more than 2,200 people were present to enjoy Saturday's events. Forty-nine cars and 36 motorcycles were lined up in the shaded grounds of the museum and library for viewing. Marty Tietjen, Superior, won the car show's "Best of Show" award. Antique tractors were also on display on the southwest corner of the...
Tour of Tombstones was part of the Burr Oak 150th Celebration over the week-end. The tour was held at the Burr Oak Cemetery following the celebration parade. The guide was Gloria Garman-Schlaefli, who wrote the book, "Burr Oak, The Roots Run Deep." She started the tour with the group viewing the site of Burr Oak from the hill east of town, where the cemetery is located, down into the White Rock Valley. She pointed out what she thought drew the first settlers to pick this location to establish th...
The past few days many people have been taking the country roads to visit cemeteries, decorate grave sites. At each stop, a memory of a loved one comes to mind. It’s the time to honor and show respect to those who are no longer with us. It is also the time for patriotic ceremonies. It’s time to honor those who gave their lives for this country and it’s freedom. It time to fly Old Glory, and to sing those special patriotic songs such as God Bless America, Battle Hymn of the Republic and of course the National Anthem. It’s the time for parades...
The community is gearing up for the weekend’s activities for the Vestey Festival, to be held in Superior, the Victorian Capitol of Nebraska. The Victorian Era was named so because it was the time of the long reign of Queen Victoria of England, 1837-1901. It was during the Victorian Era that many influences and practices were done in certain ways, maybe not so much in rural America but in England and in urban area in the United States. Most of these practices and rules certainly would not be accepted in today’s society. Here are just a few of th...
Flowers make memories! Recently I went to my parent’s farmstead, and in the yard were two lilac bushes my mother had planted years ago. To my surprise the bushes were filled with beautiful lilac lavender blooms. They stirred memories of when she transplanted those bushes, took care of them and every year looked forward to seeing and enjoying their fragrant blooms. Another example of flower memories was when I filled my large pots with pansies remembering my Granny Boyles having planted them in pots on her porch. This Mother’s Day, I was sur...
Have you ever had one of those weekends packed with activities and so many different emotions? With high school graduations occurring in schools in communities near and far, some parents and grandparents were having to travel to a loved one’s graduation in one direction in the morning and turn around to hurry off in another direction to a second loved one’s graduation. Weddings were held this same weekend. Then there was Mother’s Day. It made one’s head spin trying to go to every occasion and celebration on the weekend. For myself, the recent...
Though mothers are thought of and remembered all year through, Mother’s Day is a special time to be thinking of her. Though my mother and both of my mother-in-laws, whom I had been blessed, are no longer with us, their love and devotion to their families lives on in the hearts of their loved ones. Grandmothers also hold a special place in our hearts. Along with our mothers and mother-in-laws, they are shaping us, or have shaped us, into who we are today. A mother’s love and dedication to her family are God given. The sacrifices given to her...
Sunflowers are popping up everywhere in Burr Oak these days. In fact there are 150, one of a kind, primitive art created sunflowers up and down the main street of Burr Oak. All the sunflowers were created by welding, bolting or wiring metal pieces together. Adding the bright sunflower colors onto the metal was also done by volunteers. Sunflowers were items like old wheels, disk blades, hay rakes, augers, chains, fan bladesand hinges, all donated by people within the community. There is even a...
A drive on the country roads this week would show fields covered with beautiful purple flowers blooming ever so proudly. Now if you are a K-State fan, or a fan of the color purple, it would look pleasing to the eye, but if you are a farmer, this brilliant blooming purple flower is nothing more than a hated weed. This year, this weed is appearing in abundance. Upon research, I learned this blooming purple weed could be either Purple Deadnettle or Henbit. After reading descriptions of both of these weeds, it seems most of what is seen in these...
David Simpson, a native of Virginia, recently moved to Jewell County and is now giving MMA instructions in Mankato. David is an accomplished in mixed martial arts. He holds a champion title in this sport. David, Kaeley and their three sons decided to move here to be closer to some of his family who live in Nebraska and made the move eight months ago. David grew up learning martial arts as his father was an instructor. His younger brother, Chris, is also a MMA champion. The two brothers enjoy...
It’s prom time! Area high schools have been hosting the annual proms the past two week-ends. Social media has been abuzz with photos of grandchildren, children and other students dressed up in their finest attire. Gone are the jeans with the cuts slit up and down the legs. Instead the girls wore the latest in full length gowns, with their hair done in the stylist hairdos and looking grown up. The guys wore the usual classy black, gray or white tuxedos, but some guys went all out wearing gold, silver or colorful dress jackets. There were p...
The residents of Burr Oak are preparing to celebrate their town's 150th anniversary with a week-end filled with activities and reunions, June 4,5 and 6. The settlement of Burr Oak began in 1870 when A.J. Godfrey arrived in the White Rock Valley, near where the Burr Oak Creek winds down from the northwest and meets up with the White Rock Creek. It was at this bend where the two creeks meet that Godfrey decided. He built a 16'x20' log cabin on the northwest edge of what later would become the...
This weekend was certainly a family and extended family week-end. Friday night we attended a high school play that our granddaughter had a part in. She is a senior this year and this was the second year she participated in a school play. It was fun watching her on stage playing the part of a mystery book writer. I remembered my high school play years and enjoyed being a part of them. We had a junior play and a senior play where only class members had parts. Now it seems it is the “in thing” to have it open to students in all grades to bec...
Writing has been a main interest of mine for many years. As a high school senior at ole Burr Oak High, I took a journalism class. Our teacher was Mrs. Mildred Mullins and she ran a “tight ship.” Everything went by the “book.” I don’t know if all high schools now offer a journalism class , but I hope they do for anyone who has an interest in writing. We had a snappy school paper that came out weekly. It was called “The Tomahawk,” which fit in with our school mascot, the Braves. A senior classmate of mine, Donna Dye, was the editor of the paper....
It’s time to get the hard boiled eggs out of the refrigerator and the colorful dyes out of the drawer. Baskets are filled with thinly cut green paper that resembles grass. Soon the baskets will be filled with the dyed eggs ready for Easter. Easter egg hunting events are planned and plastic colored eggs are being filled with candy and treats. Soon the hunts will be held in parks, church and family yards with children running here and there carrying baskets and bags finding the hidden eggs. Once the baskets and bags are full, the children c...
The Sweden Creme has been a popular ice cream and food service place for more than 65 years along Highway 36 in Mankato. It's going even stronger today. Recently a new dine-in addition was built onto the east side of the building and remodeling was done in the original part. The menu has been increased over the past years to suit the customers' wishes and needs. Recently it was voted as serving the "Best Hamburgers" along Highway 36, in Jewell County. With the COVID 19 issues for businesses,...
I have always been thankful I live in a small populated rural community, but within the past two or three years, I feel doubly blessed to live where I do. Farming and ranching is a good life. There has been rioting with the terrible looting and destruction of property and businesses in cities on the east and west coasts. Though most of the political unrest shows up on television and on social media, around here it has been mostly respectfully shown. There are no suggestions of picketing or boycotting local businesses because of a difference of...
My calendar tells me spring will officially arrive Saturday. I couldn’t be more ready for spring than this year. While we were traveling home a year ago, after winter time in Texas, we heard of the restrictions put in place because of the COVID-19 virus. Tough times followed in all social living, in family times together, in communities and in learning to wear masks in public places. I’ve never sanitized my hands so much in all my life as I’ve done in the past year. Now, just like the arrival of spring and nature’s new beginnings, the COVID r...
When planning a trip to the Hill Country of Texas, we had to reschedule three times. A terrible ice storm had hit most of Texas including the place we wanted to go. Roads were so icy that traveling on the highways was not warranted unless absolutely necessary. No delivery trucks could travel, so the stores, gasoline pumps and propane stations were low on their supplies. As the storm held so long with the unusual below freezing temperatures, supplies soon ran out. The ice covered the trees, the electrical lines and soon power was off. Some place...
