The Bulletin
Let me introduce a little piece (an exposé really) sent to me by my St. Cloud Correspondent "Crazy Legs" Anderson. I looked at the table, hardly daring to look at the table. Someone had wrapped gold aluminum foil, the kind you wrap baked potatoes in, around the legs. Then I noticed someone had wrapped the legs of all four industrial-sized work tables with gold aluminum foil. It was going to be a long week. End Installment One Introducing another new feature!!!!!! We have started a weekly column: You are invited to present questions to the columnist -- who will attempt to answer family questions. It will be called "Let's ask Mom or Grandma." ~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have two questions to be answered this week. 2. (from Donna) How many houses total did we live in,while I was still living at home? Locations and slight descriptions, if possible. 1. At the time of Donna's birth we lived in a farm with older buildings in Ibsen Township (where I taught school) -- Richland County, North Dakota. 2. When Donna was 3, we moved to a farm near Miltona Lake, near where she lives now. This farm was small and hilly and had nice farm buildings. We lived there a year, but things didn't work out to buy it. 3. We next moved to Kingston for Dad to work on a dairy farm. When we arrived there, we saw it was a mistake -- the farmer involved worked like a slave himself and treated Dad like one. I was expecting a baby at the time. We lived in a really cute older house right in town. 4. While I was in Litchfield having Donnie (Remember, those were week-long stays), Dad and Jim moved our stuff to Aunt Gert's farm. We lived there for a short time. I can't remember much about it -- but that it was old and cold -- not the place to care for my baby. 5. We saw an ad in the paper for a dairy manager in the state of Washington. Dad called the man that advertised and we were hired over the phone. So house number 5 was in Washington -- near Kennewick. That didn't work out, as the hours were long and the cement floors with water running all the time were such that Dad gave up. 6. We went back to North Dakota and probably Donna remembers dropping Snooks out the window onto a mattress when we moved into a beautifully kept farm house near Great Bend, Minnesota. That job was the one where Dad fell and broke his back and could not work for a couple of years. 7. For a very short time we lived in a little apartment upstairs, and cramped. It was at Abercrombie, to be near my teaching job in Colfax. There I met Shirley Lindquist who lived in Wahpeton and taught at Colfax, too. We decided to move to a nice house in Wahpeton and drive together. We found a really cute little house there, and Dad kept house and baby sat while I taught. Donna got to go to kindergarten there. 8. We found out Dad could get an easier job -- as parts man in Howard Lake. We moved into the little pink house that belonged to Frank Zanders in Howard Lake. 9. Dad started a business of his own in farm equipment and we moved onto a farm near the Montgomerys which was south of town. Rather old farm buildings, but nice. Then Dad found a place where he could have his business and live the same place. 10. The Pillsbury place as it was known was a large, square gray home -- and I really enjoyed its roominess and handy arrangement. That was our home and business during the time the last three of our children were born, Marlene and Doug were born in Litchfield with Dr. Houts being my doctor. In between, while I was teaching in Winsted, I had Patty with Dr. Carol as my doctor. 11.We sold out and moved back to Wahpeton when Grandpa Anderson died. We lived at Parsley's house, another older but beautiful farm home. 12. Dad got a job in Breckenridge and so we moved into a beautiful home just two houses from the gas station where he worked. 13.I applied for an opening in a government sponsored seminar to improve rural teaching. It was at Chadron College in Nebraska. We stayed in one of the friends's mobile home during that summer session. In that time I accepted a job in Winsted Holy Trinity 14. We moved back to Howard Lake and lived in the old Hagelin house. There Dad started up his business -- and that was handy, as he did tractor painting in the trees. It was surely a cute little red house; most of you remember it, I imagine. 15. We built our own business and home -- where Donna left the family to make her own way 16. I will finish with the house that we bought from the Olivers in Howard Lake, because that is the one that several of the grandkids can remember, and out of it the rest of our kids left to make their own way!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~ Editors |