August was so busy that I didn’t find time to write my beloved (by me) column.  So here it is.  Late, but, I hope, welcome.

        August birthdays include Helen Nordstrand, who lives in Hudson, Wisconsin and is now in her mid-nineties.  She is Vern’s cousin-in-law, widow of Alvin Nordstrand, son of his Uncle Hjalmar. She and I have been pen pals since 1944, although we have only met once, when she came to visit us years ago.

Helen and family

        Our son, John, was our only summer baby.  The other three chose January, March, and April.

John

        Paul’s eldest daughter, Megan, is an August child.

Megan, 1985

        Heather’s husband, Thomas Withrow, shares August with two of Jack’s line..his granddaughter Sharon’s husband Wayne Nancarrow, and Sharon’s son, Cole Carpenter.

          Heather, Skyler, and Tasia were here for Heather’s birthday, July 31, and for the Summer Family Picnic hosted by Dan and Hildy for both the Lightfoot and Nordstrand families this year. Unfortunately, Thomas wasn’t able to come with them this time.  He had torn his achilles tendon and was sporting a heavy cast.
          The Summer Family Picnic is always a great event.  It was a beautiful evening and a delightful picnic. Having both the Nordstrand and Lightfoot families there was so special.  I hadn’t seen Dan’s sister, Kathleen, or brother, Steve, and his family for a very long time. Steve’s twin daughters have grown into young ladies in the meantime.

John, Skyler & Tasia

In the pool

        The day before they flew home, Heather and the kidlets came down to Green Lake with her parents and we had a picnic at the kiddie’s wading pool, the very same pool where I took our little ones, when they were little ones.  That was a pleasant day, too. Dan, Hildy, and I sat in the shade watching this mass of cute little kids having fun in the shallow water.  Heather was very busy trying to keep her eyes on both of her children at the same time.
          (I remember those days when Moms are stretched to the utmost.  One day when I was extra stretched, I recall putting a big X on the bare fronts and backs of Dave and John with my lipstick so I could “find” them as they were out on the big raft at the beach while Hildy and Paul were playing inside the ropes closer in.)
They were good sports about it, bless ‘em……

Someone shared this with me and it is too good not to pass it on:
(This is a true account recorded in the incident log of Jasper Cty, SC Sheriff's Office.)
          An elderly Sun City lady did her shopping at Wal-Mart and, upon returning to  her car, found four young white men in the act of leaving with her vehicle.  She dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream at  the  top of her voice, "I have a gun, and I know how to use it!  Get out of  the car!"
          The four men didn't wait for a second invitation.They got out and ran  like  mad.  The lady, somewhat shaken, then proceeded to  load her shopping bags into; the  back of the car and got into the driver's seat. She was so shaken that she  could not get her key into the ignition. She tried and tried, and then it  dawned on her why. For the same reason she did not understand why there was a  football, a Frisbee and two 12 packs in the front seat. A few minutes later, she found her own car parked four or five spaces farther down. She loaded her bags into the car and drove to the Jasper County sheriff's office to report  her mistake.
          The sergeant to whom she told the story couldn't stop laughing. He pointed to the other end of the counter, where four pale men were reporting a car  jacking by a mad, elderly woman described as white, less than five feet tall,  glasses, curly white hair, and carrying a large handgun. No Charges were filed. Moral of the story? If you are going to have a Senior Moment, make it memorable.

(editor’s comment: Amen!!)         

          For his birthday this year, John had the pleasure of being leader of the pack that planned and produced the fabulous day of celebration for the unveiling of Fremont’s newest statue… “Late for the Interurban”… which depicts J. P. Patches and his friend, Gertrude, with right elbows linked, running in a circle and getting nowhere in a hurry!  J. P. and Gertrude were TV characters on a long-running children’s show when our kids were growing up. Chris Wedes, who is J. P. in real life, is well known to History House staff ( Paul, John, Nan), so they offered to “do” the celebration. They did well!         
          First order of business, they ordered 1440 red, sponge, clown noses which were given out to the hundreds of Patches fans to throng the area.  Pat Cashman, MC, drilled the crowd on how the noses should be used.  When J. P. and Gertrude were introduced, the whole crowd turned their backs to the stage and affixed their red noses and turned back a solid sea of clowns looking back at them!          
          The new statue is a great addition to Fremont.  There is a collection box for Children’s Hospital there to continually add to the check for $78,000.00 presented by J. P. to the hospital director at the ceremony.         
A beautiful day and a great cause.

Gertrude & JP

Paddy Wagon for Dignitaries

Donned noses

What a crowd!

We could see the statue once the crowds had thinned        

          On a previous weekend, John, Nan, Deb, and Josie won the blue ribbon at the Indianola sand carving contest with this:

August 26,
          The location is Vostock Antarctica. It's the coldest place on Earth. In 1957 it got down to 128 below zero! That's the coldest temperature ever recorded on the planet. Today's temp was " only" 117 degrees below zero.
Dan
(Dan is a great weather resource.  Now, if we could just get him to call off the rainy weather when we would rather see that good, old sunshine)

Something to think about:Living in the past has one thing in its favor…it’s cheaper.
                                    -Filched from Reminisce Magazine-

Dixie/Dorothea, Senior Editor

Home Page: Dixie-Press.com

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