The Dash August 13 1914 -1994

Today would have been my father in laws birthday, he would have been 102.  We were talking the other day, he was a Democrat…would he still be today?  We don’t think so.

Marvin was the firstborn of James X and Theresa who lived on a small farm just on the outskirts of Park Rapids Minnesota in 1914.  He was raised on a farm near Osage just two miles cross country from where we live now.   He survived the Great Depression, Civilian Conservation Corps., Prohibition (he bought some moonshine from my grandfather), marriage, World War II where his contribution was doing modifications on the B 26 Bomber, the death of his first two children, life after the war and starting his own business, and the birth of two more children.  He would have joints out on three diffrent Carnivals for over 40 years.  At one time he was a Wrestling Promoter for the likes of Dirty Gertie and others. ( Dirty Gertie was talking to Marvin once and Far Guy was verbally impatient…Dirty Gertie pushed him and knocked him down and said “Don’t talk to your father that way!”) He owned a tree farm along with Ben Knapp, Colorado Blue Spruce Christmas trees were grown and harvested for a number of years.

He was a booking agent for Merriam’s Midway Shows.

He was very tall…about 6’1”.

Marvin in the early Carnival years.

Marvin with Far Guy and Far Guy’s sister in the summer of 1950.

August 13 1994.  Far Guy, Marvin and Jennifer (our youngest daughter). This was his 80th birthday.

Sadly 15 days later he died from complications after surgery to remove fluid from the plura around his lungs.  One by one his kidneys, liver and lungs failed him.  We know now that he carried the Alpha 1 Antitrypsin Deficiency Gene.

He was loved and admired by many, he was a kind and generous man.  He loved his three granddaughters very much, and of course his wife of 54 years and his children.  He also loved cars, Cross pens, Tiperillos, fried potatoes, playing solitaire with a deck where he marked all the aces, a good liverwurst sandwich, the newspaper, the newest Road Atlas, hunting, guns, fishing, watches, coffee so thick it rolled out of a cup and hearty discussions.

So that is a bit about my father in law’s dash…1914-1994.

Weeds and Skeeters

Some of the weeds I see are very pretty.

It rained again last night and it hatched at least a billion more skeeters.  We carved for a while today…you have to be careful and not do the Minnesota Wave with your carving knife.  The summertime Minnesota Wave is when you take one hand and wave it in front of your face quickly followed by your other hand.  It makes a breeze which may or may not drive the skeeters away from your face…or flying up your nose.  Ever tasted a skeeter?  One time I swallowed one and it gagged me and made me cough until I nearly threw up….now that was possibly too much info. Those little suckers can fly around a long time.

Some kind of Thistle possibly Spiny Plumeless Thistle a Noxious Weed.

It was a noisy day outside, between swatting at mosquitoes…me saying well a thousand less will hatch…a thousand more…etc… then someone delivered dirt to the township road…that truck roared in and then backed up to dump his load of dirt…then the helicopter was spraying the potato field across from us.

I am bummed out. The Persids are very active the next few nights.  The skeeters make it impossible to go outside for more than a few minutes after dark.

Christmas Ornament count: 10 finished!  (65 to go)

Twin Fawns in August

The fawns still have their spots.  We found the twins munching along the edge of the woods trying to escape the skeeters.

They stood like bookends.  Mama was back in the woods watching.

Pretty little tick carriers.  I guess you could say my deer hunting is done for the year.  Photo opportunities of fawns with spots doesn’t happen very often.

I took these photos close to sunset on Tuesday night.  It was cloudy and rainy on Wednesday.  A catch up day for me…laundry, cleaning the bathroom and painting Christmas Ornaments.  The ornament count is still at  five completed…but we have parts all over my desk.  When those start coming together the count will go up dramatically.  Chance spent most of the afternoon hiding from the thunder…he has to be bribed to go outside.  We have enough rain, if this was winter we would have lots of snow…I hope the weather pattern changes before winter.

Midway Memories : The 1950’s

Sometimes there is a story within a story.
About 1952 or maybe sooner Tiny a Chihuahua joined Far Guy's family.

This photo was taken at the house in Park Rapids in 1952.

Here is Far Guy and Tiny in 1954.  This is one of those photo booth photos.

Far Guy’s Dad, Marvin loved dogs…especially Chihuahuas.  One day out at the farm someone shot a rifle, Tiny got scared and ran off and hit by a car over on Highway 34, he is buried under the trees at the farm on the east side of the house.  Marvin always blamed himself and had a hard time getting over Tiny’s death.

Dogs keep kids busy.  Especially kids growing up on a carnival.  Dogs and summertime friends.

Donny and Far Guy in 1955.  Donnys’s Dad was Brownie and he ran the Merry Go Round.

This is Far Guy and Muggy in July of 1957.  Muggy would live a good long time…he was 17 or 18 when he finally died.  He even grew to like me in his older years.

Kids growing up on a carnival.  The Midway is their playground.  Everyone watched out for everyone elses children that is just the way it was. 

Far Guy had jobs.  He was supposed to stay sitting on the corner of the joint, but would wait for his Dad to get busy or start talking to someone and he would sneak off.  He would head to the Commercial Building and the exhibits and collect all his pencils for school and what ever else they were giving away.  He liked to look at all the tractors lined up on a fairgrounds…one day he got onto a tractor and the key just happened to be in the ignition…so what is a boy to do?  Start the tractor and get it moving…but didn’t know how to get it stopped…so he went for a ride until someone jumped on and took over.  He and his best friend Bobby Suber would sneak over to the Girl Show at night and peek under the canvas at the show until someone noticed them and shooed them away.  He would hang around the ride boys and learn all about girls…and take that information home with him in the fall and enlighten all his friends in school.  He could ride any ride he wanted for as long as he wanted.
Besides being a somewhat absent gofer for his Dad…he had to go for more stock, coffee…take messages to other people…etc…anyways he would work for Sam Evans a Gypsy from Fort Worth Texas in the Six Cat Joint…setting up cats.  He would get sodas for the ride boys, sometimes they would give him a dime and say “Get yourself a soda.” He was the entertainment committee for all of the Fair Board Members and Committee Members kids.  He took girls on rides…and won them teddy bears.

His sister Jan was a ticket seller. Flossie Evans was a ticket seller too and he used to visit with her sometimes. There was a hierarchy back then, show owner at the top, concession owners, concession workers and ride boys, gypsies at the bottom.

He is pretty sure that his Mother took him into the trailer at night after dark and would stay with him…if she didn’t he would take off and go play Blackjack with the Suber kids.

They had a smaller trailer at first and then had this larger trailer that they took from town to town…when it was through with it’s travelling years it became a lake home for Uncle Jimmy and Auntie Esther.

August 1958  Marvin, Janice, Evelyn and Gene

He spent quite a bit of time with Shirley.  Shirley had a Hoopula (ring toss) joint, where you toss a wooden ring around a wooden block for a prize.  He picked up rings and sold them 5 for 25 cents.  He thought Shirley was gorgeous.  Her husband was Cotton, he drank a lot and wrote poetry.  Cotton was ride boy, they left the show suddenly…Shirley tearfully said her goodbye to Far Guy…his Mom was afraid Shirley was going to steal him away.  Shirley had some kind of a Government Job during the winter.

Most Carnival people had jobs in the winter and many were teachers.  Far Guys Mom was a teacher for many years in the 1930’s and the late 1940’s.

Far Guy and his sister Jan went out on the road with their parents as soon as school was out and would come back the day before school started again in the Fall.  Their Mother was usually with them…but if she had to stay out later in the Fall then they would stay with their Grandparents or Hazel Wall would come to the house to babysit them…Far Guy says she could make soup out of anything…he didn’t like soup…back them he was eating hamburgers and fries for breakfast.

Growing up out on the road (Carnival) was not exciting all the time and there were many things that Far Guy missed.  He never played baseball so he never really learned how to throw a ball until we got Chance.  He never got to take swimming lessons or go out for sports that started in August.  He missed family celebrations, weddings and get togethers during the summer…and his girl friends always found some way to break up with him over the summer…but then again he had girls that knew him all over Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska. ( For the record I was his first girlfriend that didn’t dump him come summer, and I met some of those girlfriends in all those towns.)  

Sunny Disposition

Nothing better than a trip to a sunflower field to find the sunny disposition that the events of the day took away.

A letter came in the mail.  Tricare doesn’t care if I am allergic to yellow dye and will not cover my Blood Pressure medication that doesn’t have yellow dye…they quote some FDA guidelines… government gobbly goup that you have to be a lawyer to read.  Pissed me off.

Off to town to do errand.  The witch is still there, guess she is going to have a permanent spot near the Wally World door…I must remember to use the other entrance from now on.  She was texting something or playing a game on her phone when I came in.  She has a service dog.  She used to come to wood carving a few years ago…she was mean to her dog then and is still mean to him now.  A few weeks ago Far Guy and I witnessed her hollering at the poor dog outside the Post Office.  Today he was laying in a heap on a dirty old too small dog bed with really sad eyes.  Yes using the other door for a while is a good idea…I don’t think she will last long as she is about as friendly as a starving Grizzly Bear.

Blue hair…all shades of blue on one head.  She was the only checker without a line at the grocery store.  She looked like a big old blueberry puked on her head.  I am certain that the blue hair was off putting to more customers than me…Far Guy is a better person than me…he tried to visit with her…well kinda he was asking about her blue hair.  I just busied myself with packing up my groceries and saving my bread from the hands of those that wanted to squish it in a bag.

Home to have a quick nap and then off to the sunflower field…at least the day ended on a positive note.

1929 Mercedes

Now this would be a great parade car!

I would get a large brimmed fancy hat one of those huge elephant ear ones…tie that hat on with a red flowing scarf, put on my leather driving gloves and take this baby for a spin!

This 1929 Mercedes is for sale. ($4,000)  I wandered by and had to take a photograph.

Can you hear the horn?  I wonder if it runs?  If it does I wonder how much it costs to rent it for a day. 

Flowers

I finally made it back to he Menahga Memorial Gardens.  The last time I was there the Crabapples were blooming.

Of course I was too late for the roses.

They have a few large Hydrangeas.  Some walkways are lined with Celosia, Gazania and Ageratum.  Others are lined with Petunias and Profussion Zinnias.

In my opinion the Zinnias are doing great.

Not your Mothers old Zinnia that is for sure.

There were a few Daylilies blooming.  This garden is a work in progress and is totally done by volunteers.

I enjoyed my walk around.  I sat for a short time and enjoyed the shade of the gazebo.

Little Library

Menahga has a new Little Library!  As you can see it is ready for all the rainy weather we have had.  I hope it survived the straight line winds that went through their town the other night.

This Little Libray sits right outside of the Historical Museum in Menahga (MEN ah gaw).

As a child I loved to read but not many books were available to me. The summer before I entered third grade, we lived in Stuart Iowa for the summer.  It was there I was introduced to my first Public Library.  I loved going there and wondering what great adventures were in all those books.

Someone once asked me what my perfect room would be?  A library room with huge comfy chairs and a fireplace, with books from floor to ceiling and a lock on the door…so I could lock myself in and just read. 

I still like holding a real book in my hand, but I read often on my Kindle…all those books in one spot that I can grab and go…pure heaven.

Lush Lolas

We went out for supper at Lush Lolas.  It is a BBQ place that has relocated to The Smokey Hills Wilderness Retreat.
 
This parcel of land used to be The Village of The Smokey Hills.  It was started by a dozen area women who mortgaged every thing they had to form an artisan community.  The long and short of it is they got too big too fast and decided to charge admission because locals were coming out to have pie and coffee all the time.  It was a wonderful place.  I consigned crafts with them for a number of years.  After they decided to charge admission the tour buses stopped coming and the locals stopped buying pie and coffee and they fizzled out.  It has been vacant from time to time…always under new management…a conference center/retreat of sorts and cottages to rent. 

Anyways Jim and his family had a catering business and his approved kitchen was in a building that burned down…so he has leased this property for three years.

It is a beautiful woodland setting.

The woods, pools and waterfall are surrounded by boardwalks.

Here is Jim the cook.  We got a warm greeting and went inside for the Wednesday Night Buffet.  BBQ Ribs, BBQ Chicken, Smashed Potatoes (Red potatoes with peeling on and cheese), cornbread, baked beans, some kind of macaroni and cheese and a salad bar. Dessert was peach cobbler.  The ribs were great as were the smashed potatoes then again I have never met a potato I didn’t like.  I make baked beans and cornbread that knocks your socks off…so they were not a hit with me…they were just okay. It was still a nice night out.

Hydrangeas

The inside of the restaurant hasn’t changed in years, still knotty pine and the message board that use to sport the daily specials now just welcomes you to Lush Lolas. There were a few locals dining, but most were touristy types.  The booth and tables are heavy pine furniture that sure has stood the test of time.  The traffic flow to the buffet is a little crowded, but I looked around and couldn’t see a better option unless it was built into a wall that separates two dining areas.

I think they are worried about how to make it through the winter but with some well placed advertising and continued good food I think the people will come.  It is the only place to eat in many miles…30 miles to Detroit Lakes and 12 miles to Park Rapids. Right now they are open Wednesday Nights for BBQ, Thursday or Friday (They haven’t decided yet) for a Shrimp Boil, breakfasts on Friday and Saturday and a breakfast buffet on Sunday.

Thursday’s Tidbits

Look ma no cavities!  Our Dentist visit was a success…cross something off the list. Nice to have that visit behind us before the snow flies.  Far Guy visited the bakery for some flat bread and a date filled cookie for Chance, most times Chance rides along but it was too warm. Chance knows the way to the bakery and which case his cookie is in.  You should see his nose go into overdrive as soon as we go inside.

We saw this deer down in a swamp along the way.

Pretty little tick hauler.

For now the ticks have slowed way down, it gets too hot for them, they will resurface when it gets cooler.

I found several Sunflower Fields…I am always on the lookout for them, they have just begun to bloom.

We are wood carving every afternoon.  We had so many wood chips on the patio it looked like a beaver lived here.  Far Guy got out the leaf blower and blew them away.

It is still warmish and humid here…highs in the high 80’s but it is supposed to cool off to the 70’s starting today!

I cleaned off my desk so I could give it a good dusting and piece by piece part by part I put stuff away where it really goes.  Far Guy said it was strange to see the top of the desk.  Of course it was all my stuff…our stuff doesn’t count…his stuff is always put away properly!

The skeeters are still bad, but we had a dragonfly hatch that has helped a tiny bit. When I was little I didn’t know what they were called so I just called them helicopters.

The one bat we have should be a fat little thing. Far Guy sees him/her flying through the yard just at dusk. I haven’t seen the bat yet but I used to love watching them fly out at night when we lived at the resort.

Midway Memories: 1936 -1950

We have to lay down a timeline to follow this story.  Far Guy’s Dad Marvin graduated from High School in 1932.  He wanted to be a Lawyer. (He was a real good debater.)  Times were hard during the “dirty thirties.”  He didn’t see much hope for going to college.

I am not sure what he did in 1933.  Helped out on the farm making ends meet most likely.

1934 to 1936 found him in the Civilian Conservation Corps at Itasca State Park planting trees that are still around at the Headwaters and cutting trails for roads. He was also at the Hanna Ore Camp near Osage and Lovelis Lake near Itasca State Park in 1936.

From what I can piece together in 1937-1940 he worked for his Uncle Herman running one of the Erie Digger Joints in Nebraska and in states southward during the Fall.  He enjoyed Louisianna and would often talk about how whole towns would party when the shrimp boats would come in.  Far Guy says “ Dad talked of people singing Shrimp boats is a coming and of a shucked oyster soaking in a glass of whiskey and water..soaking up all the alcohol and of a tiny seahorse that was wrapped in a piece of cotton that someone traded him for a free game.”

This a photo of Marvin on top of Cotton Bales someplace in the south.

This photo was taken while he was working for Uncle Herman.

Marvin is on the right.  The fellow on the left is one of two people Marvin’s best friend Eugene Cowels or a fellow who was called Irish.  Far Guy says he thinks it is Irish. The Erie Diggers are still coin operated at this time.  I can see the coin slot just above the crank.  I believe the sign says “ The Erie Digger See it Work”  It might say 5 cents or 10 cents.

The coin slot can be seen in this photo of a small child.  No one is real certain who the child is.

On October 26 1940 Marvin would marry Evelyn.  We believe they traveled with a carnival the summer of 1941.  Evelyn had never been away from home, one day in Wisconsin she was so homesick that Marvin put her on a bus for home. 

From April 6 1942 to September 5 1945 Marvin and Evelyn lived in Omaha Nebraska at 1732 Van Camp Ave.  Marvin worked for The Glen L. Martin Company building B 26 Bombers during the war.

During their time in Omaha three children were born.  Twins: Phillip Leroy and Elizabeth Ann born and died September 23 1942.  Far Guy’s sister and only living sibling Janice Marie born May 29 1945.

After the war was over they purchased a home in Park Rapids Minnesota which would be their “home base” close to family.

During those years 1945 –1950.  Evelyn stayed home with Janice while she was really little. Marvin traveled with a carnival during the summer and fall.  He was with Home State Shows and Rocko Shows. In the late 1940’s Evelyn went out on the road with Marvin leaving Janice home with her grandparents for the summer because of the Polio outbreaks. Janice says “I was three or four years old.”

Far Guy would join the family in 1950.

Far Guy writes:

So far the photos have been of Herman Henderson’s Erie Diggers mounted on a trailer.

When my Dad started up on his own, he bought a few machines here and there.  These machines were grouped together and displayed on top of their shipping crates.  A wood 2 x 4 structure with a canvas top and sides was placed above the machines to help protect the machines from the elements.  In carnival lingo this was referred to as a “set joint”.  The shipping crates opened to the inside and the spare prizes (stock) was kept inside. An interesting note here; after I built the replicas of the shipping containers, I was wondering what to use as a door latch.  From somewhere in my memory I remembered a latch wasn’t used.  The door was simply kept closed with a screw.

An Original Erie Digger sitting on top of it’s shipping crate.

At the end of the spot (fair or celebration) the digger machines would be placed back into their shipping crates and along with the set joint placed into a box built on the back of an old Chevy 1 Ton Pickup. That box served as living quarters when the joint was set up.

Marvin and possibly a fellow named Dick. 

The Diggers were no longer coin operated at the time of this photo about 1953.  The “See it Work” signs are now hanging from the roof of the joint to make way for the people to put their dimes on top of the machines.  The machines are now trailer mounted, it is no longer a set joint.  There are fourteen machines on the trailer.  This many people watching the diggers work, in carnival lingo would be called a “tip.”  My Dad is very well dressed, as he wears a white shirt and a sport coat while he works.  This was Dad’s first big joint. 

Skeeters and Poison Ivy

Hello August.  August can be a miserable hot month in Minnesota.  We already know that the skeeters will be bad. 

One of our friends said he mowed his yard in shorts and a t shirt and was regretting it when he had bug bites all over his arms and legs.  I told him that he was nuts. ( He agreed.) I wear long pants with my socks up over my pants legs and a hooded  long sleeved fleece, when I am done mowing it all goes in the wash and I head for a bath with the Jewelweed soap that prevents the spread of the Poison Ivy oil.  I don’t like bugs and more than that I don’t like Poison Ivy…which we still have a lots of at the edge of our yard.  It has been raining too much to spray.

The lawn looks good but when it rains every other day it should.  I am mowing every five days or so.

We order Jewelweed Soap from a place called Turkey Foot Trading Company and it is the best soap we have found for the prevention and treatment of poison ivy. 

We have not been compensated in any way…just passing the information on.

Sunday Night Drive

The harvest has begun.  Chaff and pea dirt is in the air. 

Donnie’s small grain field looked great…no irrigation…he just relied on the good Lord to bring rain for his crop. 

We saw a Hawk…not sure what kind but he was hunting above one of the recently harvested pea fields.

We will be glad when the pea field kitty corner from us is all harvested.  Far Guy likes to walk in that direction.  It was not a good idea yesterday.

We woodcarved most of the afternoon yesterday, there was enough of a breeze to keep the skeeters under control. Progress is slow but steady.  We hope to have a productive carving week… we only see the Dentist this week…no Doctors appointments are scheduled…yeah for us!