Going to the Fair (P*S*C* #51)

Hard to believe, but in the whole time I have been going to the cabin (38 years) I never even knew about the Iron County Fair! The local newspaper had the fair as its lead story, so we put that our our list of things to do last weekend. 

It was a BLAST! First we saw all the animals raised by the 4H kids: cows, horses, sheep, chickens, hogs, goats rabbits...talk about up close and personal!

I so enjoyed how the animal stalls and exhibit barns had hand-written notes by the young care-takers introducing themselves and their animals.

Outside on the fairgrounds were food booths and carnival rides.

We think Miss E might really enjoy these next summer.

It was also fun to check out the arts and crafts barns.

Then, the pinnacle of our day - going to the SICK AIR show. (It had nothing to do with the environment.) Held in the Grandstand, the Sick Air-ists were motorcycle stunt men.  Using bikes and a ramp, they propelled themselves into the air and caused gasps and cheers from the
audience. (Thank you, John, for not being a motorcycle stunt man!)

We ended our day by attending the hog auction in which young (to us) 4H kids
showed their animals around the rotunda and bidders provided means for these
kids to see a dream achieved with the funds made from the selling of their animals.

It's fair to say we enjoyed the fare of the fair, fair and square!

We Won! (P*S*C* #51)

We came as visitors to a lecture, competed as contestants and walked away
with prizes. 
WHAT?
Let's back up a bit.  First, we went to the Ottawa Visitor Center near
our cabin.  There was a program about black bears.  We have seen them
nearby and wanted to know more. 

But before the program was fully underway, the presenter led about 50 attendees through
the fun and engaging "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" with motions.

Loved it!

Then the presenter (I wish I could remember his name - Steve?) told us that instead of
a lecture, we were going to learn about bears by playing a game show with questions.
Winners would win prizes by choosing the answers from multiple choice questions.
Losers would also win prizes.  Count me in! 

Realize that black bears in Michigan number from between 15,000 to 19,000 and
90% of those bears live in the forests of the Upper Peninsula.  It's a wonder we
have not seen more near our cabin grounds, but they are a bit on the shy side unlike
their grizzly cousins.

The question I got right was about the birth weight of the bear cubs: between 2 and 7
oz.  The Smokey Bear Key chain is now mine!   Wes scored a zipper-pull thermometer
for answering correctly about the male bear living in an area of about 100 square miles
while the female has an area of 10 to 20 square miles due to her cubs.

Much was learned in this program.  It was highly BEARable!  For further info, clink on this
link:

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10369-105034--,00.html

Picture This (Pink Suitcase Chronicles #51)

This time when I packed Pink for our third (and final) trip to our North Woods cabin, I also
packed two old photo albums and a new book I found at the library:  DEAR PHOTOGRAPH
by Taylor Jones.  The author explains how it all started by sitting in his old boyhood kitchen
while going through old photographs. Once the photo was in his grasp, he matched it with the
current-day background and snapped a picture of the "vintage" picture...get it?

This got me going!  How fun would it be to use our kids-at-the-cabin photos?  Answer:
waay fun.  Oh, and the author also suggests writing a little caption to go with the photo as if
writing a letter.  So with this in mind, here goes!

Photo #1

Dear Photograph,
    How was I supposed to know it would eventually be my job to put up and take down
this dock when I grew up?  And, sheesh, it's the same old dock some twenty five years
later!  At least Dad still pays me in steaks.

John

Photo #2

Dear Photograph,
    Who could ever imagine all the times I'd pass through this back door to our cabin?
Not only me now, but my husband, my daughter and the new "bun" growing inside
me this summer have passed through the door - trying not to slam it, of course, in 2012.

Anne
Photo #3

Dear Photograph,
     These two kids had a love/hate relationship sometimes.  I hoped that they would get
along someday and become friends.  It happened!  Yay!!!

Mom

Photo #4

Dear Photograph,
     Even though the oldest two never married each other like their moms had planned,
they are still buddies!  And the youngest three are, too.  We have always loved those
handsome, charming Rholl boys.

Love,
The Lindahls


Photo #5

Dear Photograph,
     Sitting together on these lawn chairs, (oldest to youngest from left to right), they still
make their parents proud - and six more kids have been born since this picture of them
was taken!  And one is now even a grandpa himself!!

Deb

Photo #6

Dear Photograph,
    We are now grandmas and we don't "do" perms anymore, thank goodness!

MeMo

Photo #7

Dear Photograph,
     I miss those days when we had all the kids around and made them do things they
didn't want to do like hiking up the hill.  And when Grandma could make the hike with
us, too.

Kris, Renee and Deb

The Well-Used Old Cookbooks (P*S*C* #50)

Cleaning out the cupboards at our cabin revealed an oft-overlooked treasure: the cookbooks.
Generally, we cook and bake pretty basic meals there such as burgers and dogs, spaghetti, and scrambled eggs.  Occasionally, the raspberry pickers will search out a recipe for pie or jam.  But this time, I really delved into the old cookbooks used by Wes's mom and his grandmother Martha.

Titles of cookbooks included:
BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS (1950 red and white checked classic)
COOKING WITHIN YOUR INCOME (1936)
JAMS JELLIES MARMALADES (1927)
MARY DUNBAR'S COOKBOOK (Jewel Tea Company 1927)
OUR OWN RECIPES-LADIES AND SOROSIS SOCIETY (First Lutheran Church Iron River)
SCANDINAVIAN RECIPES

My own personal favorite was OUR OWN RECIPES, not only because Martha's handwriting was on the front cover, but also because Martha had written notes throughout the book pointing out Carol's banana bread and chocolate fudge and David's spice cookies.  Apparently, something was wrong with the Daffodil Cake because Martha had placed an "x" next the the recipe with the note "do not make."

The MARY DUNBAR'S COOKBOOK brought the most detailed information about using Jewel products for the ingredients.  An entire page was devoted to recipes with corn flakes!

And who could resist all these recipes using cocoa?  Not me!

The back section of the cookbook had recipes for feeding the Invalid - accent on the the first syllable please, not the second!  You would pray to get better after having to swallow down most of these recipes...my personal yummy favorite is offered now to you for:

Lemon Albumen
1 egg white
2 t. sugar
3/4 c. water
1 1/2 T lemon juice

Method (cookbook word here)
Beat egg slightly with a fork.  Add sugar and water.  Add lemon juice. 
Serve at once over cracked ice.

Following the Invalid recipes was a section on foods to eat if you wanted
to lose weight.  Much toast was to be consumed.  I'm assuming no butter was involved.






Part of me would very much like to take the cookbooks home and test out some of
more interesting recipes.  But  somehow, these books are meant to be a part of the cabin
telling a story about the women who used the books long ago.  Albumen, anyone?

The Old Church (*P*S*C #50)

Somehow it seems quite appropriate to write today (Sunday) about an old church next
to the one room schoolhouse I wrote about in the last blog.

Bethany Lutheran Church, located in Beechwood, Michigan is no longer in use. We
walked around the building and I imagined how it looked back in 1913 freshly constructed.
In 1911, the co-owner of the Beechwood Store, Albert Sandgren, drew up the plans. 
The cornerstone reads 1912; my research indicates the church was actually finished in 1913.

The church construction was primarily carried out by volunteers - most likely Swedish
Lutherans in the small community.

The front of the church houses a square-shaped belfry tower.

The church "footprint" is rectangular with a gable roof structure.  Clapboard sides
sit upon a rough-cut rock foundation.  Knowing this is a rocky terrain, this indicates the
rocks are from local soil.  Farmers coped with this soil with limited success.  Wes
reports that his relatives tried various crops, including potatoes, thinking that it would be
a longer growing season like back in Sweden.  Eventually, it was realised that logging was
the best "crop" and Wes's grandfather and his three brothers owned a logging company
near Beechwood. 

But back to the church....really back to the back of the church.   It has an apse (love that
word!) hexagonal in shape with a small leaded window. 

Probably my favorite feature of the church exterior is the use of Gothic windows.  (How is it
that I can never look at a Gothic shaped-window without thinking of the couple depicted in the
painting American Gothic by Grant Wood? I think that as we age, Wes and I are going to
look more and more like this couple.)

Again I digress...back to the church. 

Though we couldn't go inside the vacant church, we were told that the sanctuary
was very typical of a Swedish Lutheran church back in the old country.  The curved
oak communion rail and altar were altered a bit after another congregation moved in
years ago, but the pieces were retained.  Perhaps someday, the Historical Society can
refurbish this building as well and restore it to its former simple glory.

It has been said (written) that this church is "significant" due to its unaltered
condition in a rural environment.  For me, it was a significant experience to walk around
the building and imagine the sounds of a congregation singing hymns with the
accompaniment of a pump organ wafting through the windows on a hot day of summer:

Rock of ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee

or from The Church's One Foundation

O happy ones and holy! 
Lord give us grace that we
Like them the meek and lowly,
On high might dwell with thee.


Coming next in this series of UP Oldies:  the cookbooks.

One Room Schoolhouse/Beechwood Town Hall (*P*S*C* #50)

One of my favorite book series (and TV show) is based upon the life and experiences of Laura Ingalls Wilder.
The "Little House" series captured a life of long ago where kids went to school in a one room schoolhouse, parents were hard-working, and life was tough at times.  But, oh for those calico dresses and bonnets!

When we were reminded that there was going to be a special event at the old  Beechwood schoolhouse - a BBQ and "tour" - Wes and I decided to go have a look at the place where his Grandfather attended school. The school was built in 1914.  After the Chicago and Northwestern Transportation Company made a railroad stop in Beechwood in 1888, a post office soon followed in 1889.  The next building project was Bethany Lutheran Church, built in 1912. (More on that later.)

By 1934, the school was no longer used as a school.  It was the Town Hall.  Currently, the Beechwood Historical Society is using the building and working on needed repairs.  Come along
now for a little tour with me!

You might ask where the building's bell tower is? Rumor has it that it was "borrowed" after the school closed, and it ended up in a nearby museum. Soon, it is going to be returned.  The historical rendering, below, shows the bell in its tower.  Meaning the tower will have to be rebuilt as well.

Once you walk up the steps, you can see two bathrooms side by side to the left. The
tour guide pointed out the unusual toilets and explained why they were unique.
Becuase this area gets so cold in the winter, the cylindrical water tank holds no water to freeze. What happens? The user sits on the "throne" causing the seat to have pressure as the weight of the user touches down (see the gap between toilet and seat?) causing the cylinder to fill up with water and allow flushing. Cool, huh?  Sure beats "going" ouside to an outhouse!

To the right of the entry is a small room, now a vintage kitchen. Originally, the room
was for the teacher's use. A cut-out was made to open up to the main room years later.

And now we get to the main room where all the learning took place nearly 100 years ago!
It is set up with tables for the Open House, but you can get the idea quite well as to
the room plan. The chalkboard and flag are original.

Isn't it interesting to think about the songs being played on this piano back in the day?

Many original one room schoolhouses can be found throughout our country, but
somehow knowing there is one in our cabin "neighborhood" is very special indeed.

Coming to this blog next: The Old Church

Looking Back in Time (Pink Suitcase Chronicles #50)

Yes, we have been back to the family cabin in Michigan.  This time, though, was a bit different than previous visits as there were many more glimpses of the town's past history than usual.

The main road through the center of town is currently under construction.
Therefore, a detour is necessary to get from one end of town to the other.  The detour sends the vehicles

one way on the side streets, and the return trip leads the vehicles back on the opposite side of the main drag.To me, an out-of-towner, this translates to seeing buildings and houses not usually glimpsed as we leave our lake cabin to fetch groceries, visit the local thrift store or gather materials for yet another repair project.  And this time, I fell in love with an old, boarded-up beautiful building which I assumed was formerly a school bustling with students and teachers.  This building is magnificent!  (And much larger than it appears in these recent photographs.)

Nowhere is a sign or cornerstone to mark the building's history or name.  But, there
is a very reliable source of information:  my Father-in-Law.  He grew up in this town
and when I explained the location, he immediately told me that this is Central School and
he attended the school from kindergarten through 6th grade.  He remembered one teacher
specifically:  Miss Scott.

Once I knew the name of the school, I could search online for details.  I found out that
the construction for the school started in 1904, was completed in 1909 and this is what it
looked like then.

With the population of the town rapidly growing, the school was added on to in 1911.

You can see it under construction here.

And here is the school in 1919.

In case you are interested in specifics of the history, click on the link here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_School_(Iron_River,_Michigan)

My FIL told me he thought there were possible plans of turning the old school
into apartment units. The article found online confirms this, though I do not
know if the plan is progressing. I would love to see this happen! Meanwhile,
I was pleased to learn that this grand structure has been placed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 2008.   Good call here, folks!

Finding this building was more than just finding a building for me.  It was a
gentle reminder that a detour in the road - the road of life if you want to think
in a broader stroke - can bring inconvenience, but also unexpected beauty.






Coming:  A visit to a one room school house.