Camp Granny 2010

The fun started June 7 when we picked up our first campers-Myra and Noah, Josh`s kids.  The camp bus picked them up at Davis, Oklahoma-halfway to their home in Ft. Worth.  It was some 5 days of swimming, sno cones, fireworks, hot dogs and movies.  Forgot to mention Kennedy joined them because  she and Myra are such great cousin friends.  Kennedy kept them on the run and Myra settled them down on occasion.  Noah just followed along or not as his mood struck him.  He was pretty busy taking care of his new found favorite thing Kennedy`s 2 little puppies. Ricky, Hannah, and Andrew were staying with his sister for a few days and they joined the kids for a swim one evening.

The next week group 2 came in including Anna and family.  Again a round of camp things happened fitting them in between visits with the Gode cousins from Maryland.  Sunday after brunch Papa and Sky left to join Brandon for Scout Camp.  Ricky feeling left out made plans to return Wed. for Scout Camp which he did and helped Brandon not feel so homesick until his Dad arrived on Fri.

Week 3 included Nate and Brandon and Ricky for one afternoon.  This was a different camp-doing things a city kid doesn`t often get to do-rifle shooting, tubing on the lake, fireworks,  golf, and just hanging out with his Dad and Papa.

Kennedy was able to be included many days as she swims on Stroud Swim Team and practices here 3 evenings a week plus Angie was in summer school all of June.  Tho Jett, Skylor, Kenzie and Hayden didn`t get to stay at Camp Granny they were in and out often.

As I look into the immediate future Nate and Brandon left this morning.  Then Josh and family will be here July 1st for Noah`s 6th birthday party on the 4th.  This is the perfect place for fireworks for our  little firecracker.  July 9th Anna and family will be passing thru on way to Aquarina Reunion in Alva and possibly back thru on the 11th.  Angie, Walter, Kennedy, 2 cats, and 2 dogs will be with us July 15 until the  28th while their new home is finished.  It will work well for Kennedy`s swim practice.  I`m glad we have the space to help them out a bit.  To say the least our big quiet house has had a fun time with Camp Granny 2010.

Christmas Davis Style

A few years ago I was looking for a way to make Christmas memorable for our family. The old fashioned Christmas on the farm was not doing it for them. Since all my children are self supporting, the small gifts I could buy for the many members would not be that much and how many socks and underwear can one use? So I came up with trip to a motel with a pool, meals, and some sort of entertainment to fit the bill. Destination and particulars were secret til close to the day. I asked way-6 to 8 months- in advance to save a certain weekend. A couple years Mother was able to go which made it special. Tho in her 80`s she came along with nary a complaint of strange bed, food, and often snowy cold.
The 1st trip was to Pryor to the Christmas train. Jordan was able to go that year and since all was secret his mother worried how to get him to the appropriate destination-not knowing it would be in their hometown. It was cold and snowy thus Nate and family had to turn around enroute from Kansas City much to Lindsay and Brandon`s dismay.
One year we took in the Territorial Christmas in Guthrie. Dinner was at Granny Had One where to save space Christmas trees hung from the ceiling. I remember Mother timidly asking for pie if it were included in the buffet. We surprisingly met my cousin Sandy Phillips Wright and family. The store fronts all had actors acting out sights of early years in Oklahoma such as playing board games, making apple pie etc. etc. Kennedy was surprised to see children from her Ok. City daycare as actors in one store front. The evening ended looking at Christmas lights from a trolley. This was Mother`s last Christmas with us so for a bit I couldn`t get in the spirit to plan any outing.
One year our celebration was postponed until April to vacation at of all places Kendrick, Oklahoma at a dude ranch of sort called Tatanka Ranch. We rode horses, swam in a salt water pool, hiked to the top of Elvis Tower, paddleboated, celebrated Andrew`s 1st birthday, had a huge fireworks, slept in rustic cabins and enjoyed cooking on the house. The no cleanup was great.
Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine Texas was another favorite destination. After that the little kids thought only Granny could take them to the Lodge.
This past year found us in Tulsa. Nate and family were able to join us for the first time in spite of blizzard like conditions which worked to our advantage because the hotel was nearly empty. Gift exchange, swimming, Incredible pizza and laser tag were the entertainment of the day. The surprise this year was in the form of a "stimulus check" for each family.
What will the next Christmas bring? My wheels are turning and time will only tell!!

Sister`s Date 2010 minus Karen plus Marty

Just returned from Sister`s Date to New Braunfels and Gruene Texas. It was settled by German immigrants thus the history is rich in German influence. The towns are abounding  with entertainment from parks, to water rafting, museums, a hardware store that only sells American made products(many are similar to things found in Cracker Barrel shops), a huge many acre water park.etc. etc. etc. In Gruene we visited the dance hall George Strait began in and John Travolta danced in and several antique shops.

Our gracious hosts were Uncle Ernie and Aunt Mary Ellen Balk and their daughter Louise and husband Brian.  Her name is Ernellen Louise but after going by that in younger years she now prefers Louise. Ernie always lived in California then Utah and Nevada so I really never knew them well. We tried to catch him up because he said he regrets missing so many family things. Since we are orphans and Ernie is our last surviving uncle we adopted them as our parents.

We were greeted with pizza and sangrias(delicious).  Our other dinners included an authentic German restaurant that sold German clothing and a Texas BarBQ place. The German Restaurant was run by lady who came over as a serviceman`s wife.  She hoped to go back in May to visit and Mary Ellen invited herself along.ha  At the end of the meal Mary Ellen ordered 3 different desserts and told us to take a bite and pass it on.  We sampled a cherry, an apple, and a chocolate dessert there and buttermilk pie at the BarBQ place.

Ernie entertained us with stories of when his dad died he was 13 and became Oklahoma`s youngest licensed driver.  They lived on a farm and Grandma couldn`t drive.  He sat up on pillows.  He helped on the farm until he graduated High School then headed to California with his mother and cousin to join the Navy.  Mary Ellen was traveling with her mother to a job in a hospital.  They flirted back and forth along the way and passed notes on an umbrella stuck out the window.  They married after his 4 year hitch.  Grandma visited for a time with former renters from Vance Air Force Base.  She had set up an apartment during the depression in her farmhouse to help money wise that she rented to airman from the local base.  She returned to Oklahoma by train.

One of his Navy memories  was of when a paratrooper died jumping they just moved the food on ship to one side and carried the deceased in the fridge.  After Navy he worked for a company that built things for NASA.  Duce filled us in that Ernie had been promoted 3 times to his bosses job in his career.  One was after they were working on rocket fins that would not work.  Ernie took them home and worked on  it with bungee cords until it worked.  When he could not be promoted anymore because of lack of an engineer degree he scimmed  engineer books from the library and took tests.  He received his engineering degree at age 54.  All this from a small Oklahoma High School grad.

Ernie shared a picture of a lake in Germany and a tale his Dad told of walking along the shore as a child with his Mom and Dad.  He like many children would do ran ahead of his parents and fell in step with a woman.  After visiting with her a bit he ran back to ask parents if they knew the woman.  Parents replied," what woman we saw no woman."  She was according to the tale the ghost of a woman who had drowned there years before.  Guess Grandpa Joe Balk was a bit of a psychic.

A modern story was of when they visited there before they moved they turned onto a street called Klein. That was Mary Ellen`s maiden name and she took it a a sign that is where they should move.

Another was when he and his sons visited a brewery they asked for directions to a good lunch spot and if they sold beer.  The brewery person hesitated so they decided to check it out before going in.  One of the sons came back to the car with good news and bad news.  The bad news was they didn`t have a beer license.  The good news was beer was served but not charged for.

We were allowed to purchase lunch but dinner tickets were paid by Ernie and Mary Ellen.  Said they were paying back for all Mother`s hospitality.  Thank you Mother-what goes around comes around.

No Ordinary Boy Scout Ceremony

This entry describes Not Your Ordinary BSA Order of the Arrow ceremony.

 This weekend 09-26-09 some 40 youth and 15 adults gathered at Will Rogers Scout Reservation near Cleveland,Oklahoma for a OA weekend filled with service projects and fellowship.  Saturday evening`s ceremony near the boat pond started out as others do except for the 7 in attendance in street clothes rather than Boy Scout uniform.  It quickly turned into a Memorial for a recently deceased  OA member.  This was to fulfill his last wishes.  Three adults eulogized his days in scouting telling of his love for fishing and teaching boys to fish at this very pond.  He had carved the large Indian totem poles in the background.  Each symbol had it`s own meaning.  Then per his wishes part of his ashes were shot over the pond from a cannon used in ceremonies.  The rest were distributed among those wanting to help scatter them.  I wondered what the younger boys thought of this as most participated.  Thus Richard Gode`s ashes remain for all eternity at the place he loved-Boy Scout Camp.  It was, to say the least, a very unusual but meaningful service!!

Mid July 2009

This year`s Granny`s Pool Party was graciously hosted by Marty and Maddie and their 3 girls and their families at their home in Quitman, Texas.
We gathered at the Mineola, Texas Best Western Friday Evening.  Maddie had Taco Salads with all the trimmings waiting for us.
Many of the group arose at the ungodly hour of 4:00 am to go on a guided fishing trip.  Funtime had by all and I think a total of 78 fish were landed.  The afternoon was spent eating all sorts of smoked meats compliments of Marty`s cooking skills, celebrating Karen and Sarah`s 29th birthdays AGAIN, nonstop swimming, visiting , and just hanging out catching up.  At dark we were treated to a belated fireworks show that rivaled many a city shows.
Sunday saw some departing early and the rest back to Marty`s for fishfry and cake to celebrate Marty and Maddie`s 35th wedding anniversary.  Their bestman and matron of honor were able to join us.  Interestingly no one could remember the time they married.. They just lined up at the courthouse for their turn.  One last swim before everyone but Josh left for home.  Josh was having a car problem so he stayed over until Monday morning.  Christina and Noah were picked up by some friends that just happened to be visiting in Mineola.  Myra came back to Oklahoma with Kennedy for a visit.  I believe 42 family members gathered in Quitman to carry on Mother`s Pool Party tradition.  She would be so proud.
P.S.  As I wrote this I remembered I did not do a writeup on our great time in Ensign, Kansas with Duce and Becky last year.  Maybe later!!

PS to The Self Made Man

This is a bit of a sad PS to an earlier post.  Wesley Davis, 80 something, and bride of a year are now divorced.  Not privilege to the whys but he is reportedly looking for a new mate.  Maybe she was looking for fortune after all.

Great Grandmother Theres Kreuzer Balk lived 1840-1889??

On this Mother`s Day I will write about a Mother of long ago.

I saw a documentary on Ellis Island recently that may explain what happened to Peter Balk`s wife, Theres, upon arrival in America.  Family stories told she was very sick when they arrived.  The documentary was giving a tour of  the buildings on Ellis Island.  The baggage room was on the lower level.  They left belongings there and were sent to the receiving room.  It was a large room that would have been packed with tired, anxious people speaking many languages.  The people were funneled upstairs into interview rooms where it was determined if the immigrants were well physically and mentally.  Doctors stood at the top of the stairs to watch for physical disabilities.  Then they were screened to see if they had enough money (about $20) to make a start in the new world.  They were then directed to a set of 3 parallel stairwells down.  One allowed individuals to get a train ticket West, one allowed those sent to it to stay in the New York area, and the last was to the dreaded hospital where sick ones were tested to see if they had curable or noncurable ailments.  Those with noncurable diseases were sent back to their native land at the cost to the steamship that brought them.  That was only about 2 per cent.  I guess curable ones were allowed to recover in the hospital.  At the bottom of the stairs were doors to a room where people were joyfully united with family members or sadly realized that a family member did not appear healthy enough to join them. Evidently Peter, Joseph, and halfsister Anna Mary Kruezer had the $20 and were given train tickets West for they settled in Nebraska.  I can only speculate on Theres.  She was ill, about 49 years of age, had borne 6 of her 7 children in a bit under 8 years, buried 5 of them death do to typhoid.  We do not know her ailments.  I read from another source that it might be something as simple as body lice that detained them.  Did she have to go back and possibly did not survive the trip or die at Ellis Island.  I can only imagine the sadness of having to leave wife and mother there on the island.  I am sure she as any mother would want them to make a better life for themselves.  It is no wonder they never spoke much of life before.  I have heard Peter went back to Germany several times.  WHY?  Did he not want citizenship early because he could not freely go back and forth?  He would have had to renounce forever fidelity to reigning William II Emporer of Germany at the time.  I know Aunt Margaret, Joseph`s oldest living daughter, was not thrilled at the thought of Ernie going to visit Germany in the last couple decades.  She feared what he might find.

Too many questions.  No answers yet.