Gleanings from DeSoto

I learned of the death of Myrtle Fauske last week. You know in your childhood days sometimes you are in awe of a certain person and Myrtle was one of mine. I remember being at the Zion Church, and was wearing a gray or brown suit and she was about to be married or had just married and I stood there in a trance when she was speaking. My sympathy is extended to her families.

Betty Erickson passed away this week. My sympathy is extended to her children; Karen, Kathy, Karla, and her two sons, Joe and Arne and their families.

They had to postpone the ski tournament because of the bad roads. Maybe next week, they may be skiing in mud.

On February 16th, the Westby mealsite was recognized as the “Mealsite of the Month”. I sure would have liked to have been there, but there are days when you have several commitments and can only be in one place at once.

I am going to quote a portion of an article in the AARP bulletin’s latest issue on getting drugs from Canada. The article said in Canada, we had a 180 degree turn from accepting the industry, and working with it to make sure that” safe standards are adhered to, saying we have to eliminate the industry”, Rondeau says, “Usually 180 degree reversals of government policy don’t happen in seven days”. Now, there is certainly a food for thought, isn’t it?

The DeSoto Area Schools had a day of vacation of Friday while some of the teachers had some special sessions at WWTC.

The youngsters in the area who will be eligible for pre-kindergarten next fall had a “Child Development Day” at Stoddard on Feb. 23rd. The Prairie View School will be hosted these children and parents on February 24th.

My brother, Alvin, shared these verses with me because it reminded him so much of his younger days. It was written by a Robert Hayden.

“Those Winter Sundays”

“Sundays, too, my father got up early and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold then with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather made banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

“I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking when rooms were warm, he’d call and slowly I would rise and dress, fearing the chronic angers of that house speaking indifferently to him, who had driven out the cold and polished my good shoes as well.

What did I know, what did I know of love’s austere and lonely offices.”

Yes, I did get a jolt in my memory as I thought about our dad getting up very early weekdays, no Sundays off and building fires in the cook stoves and the dining room heater. We would grab our clothes and go down by the heater in our pajamas because it was too cold upstairs to do that. We hugged that heater while we let the warmth of it soak into our bodies. Then, My father being a farmer he would brave the bitter cold to milk and feed the livestock. We kids were too small to help him so he did the lonely job of making a living for us. The, with his work done, he’d come in and eat breakfast and gather up us kids and mother and get us to church and Sunday School. And when you think about it you get such a food feeling thinking about their warm love and many labors of love. Our mother, of course had the job of preparing breakfast and seeing to it that we were properly dressed to go to church. Those were the good ole days, very rough at times, but the memories of how they struggled to make thing comfortable for us, will never be forgotten.

This week there is an observance of the planting of the Flag at Iwa Jima during World War II. If you can see the movie “The Sands of Iwa Jima” do so, it is very good.

Last week a lady told me that Orien Samuelson comes on at 5:00 am on Channel 3. Sunday morning, I woke up about 4:30, so I decided to check it out. Sure enough it was the right station. So, if there is any special events by him, we will be able to see the program. Channel 3 for me is Cedar Rapids.

Going back to Iwa Jima observances. It was of great interest to me that the flag that was planted on that rock 60 years ago is now preserved in Washington D.C. and it will be traveling around the country next summer. We have to be thankful for the persons or person that had the forethought of retrieving that flag, and returning it to the good old USA as a symbolism of our young men fought and died for their country back in the 1940’s- a vital part of the history of our great land.

I learned today of the death of Eileen Wuolle. She and her husband, John have lived in the former Pinecrest Trailer Court near DeSoto for several years. Our sympathy to John, their children and families.