Tecumseh news: July 18, 2018

It’s a stormy Monday evening as I write these items, but we could use some rain. Karen and Dave Davis and I had lunch at The Center today. It was chicken nuggets, and they were good. It was nice to get to visit with several friends. People were coming in, not only for the dinner, but to get in out of the heat. After lunch I also had a doctor’s appointment in Gainesville.
It was good to hear from friends for my 96th birthday. At last count, I had received 17 cards and several phone calls. Thank you! I was blessed!
Almeda Hodges is a new friend in Shawnee, Kansas, who reads my news column and contacted me. She is an artist, and she sent me a special birthday card with a birdhouse and beautiful flowers that she created for my 96th birthday. She said, “I read your column in the Douglas County Herald each week. I live in Kansas but have a farm down around Bradleyville.” She added, “Happy birthday to you, young lady, and many more.” It was good to hear from Maxine Franks in West Plains, recently; I haven’t seen her for some time.
My son Marlyn Pitcock never forgets my birthday. Nor does my son Lyndon. And my two girls are here often, tending to my necessities. Aging requires attention!
Daughter Kris turned 57 on Monday, July 16. Happy birthday to her. Since we have three birthdays in July, her sister Karen and I are planning to celebrate together soon. Kris was born in Salina, Kansas, when her dad was employed with the Atlas (and later the Minute Man) missile program, then part of Boeing Aerospace. His job took us to U.S. air bases to live for several years.
As always, I appreciate my neighbor Jerry Miller sharing vegetables with me from her garden.
I enjoyed a call from Beulah Satterfield recently. We had a good phone conversation.
And my long-time friend Elda Edwards sent more photos of the “10-acre loop” at her Turkey Creek Resort at Theodosia.
Marigolds are blooming now, and the day lilies are especially pretty. I bought these bulbs several years ago. I’ve learned that it’s good to go at the end of the season when they have a clearance sale, and sometimes they’ll give you a good price. I bought some bulbs that way a few years ago, and I’ve certainly gotten my money’s worth from that purchase. I especially like the fact that they’re perennials and keep coming back year after year without any effort on my part!
This time of year I’m remembering the Steel Bridge Picnic, which was usually held in July in days gone by. My mother-in-law Nina Pitcock would always have her dresses starched and ironed to perfection, and then she’d go down there and we’d all wade around in that sand and with all the dust, her crisp, clean dress didn’t stay that way for long!
My cousin Ray Crawford had a stand at the picnic where he sold lemonade. The stand consisted of a wooden frame draped with old quilts or sheets hung to create an enclosure. In that enclosure they would have a tub with big chunks of ice. Bottles of soda pop were in there. (I especially remember how good a red strawberry pop tasted!) But the thing I remember most about Ray’s stand was the lemonade he sold. Oh, it was so good! It didn’t matter if there was dust in it. It cost maybe a nickle a cup. Ray made it in a big galvanized container – the kind with a lid like we had at school to keep the water in that we hauled up from the spring. It had a little spigot on it to serve the lemonade. Then he had the big tub with a block of ice, and he’d chip off some of the ice to put in the lemonade. My goodness, it was delicious!
There were games at the picnic, things like throwing darts at balloons. But it seemed no one was ever lucky enough to win the big prize, just the little ones. What a treat the picnic was in those days when there was no Silver Dollar City, no luxuries. The picnic was three days over a weekend. My husband, Eldon Pitcock, furnished the power plant for the picnic’s stands and rides and other needs. Back then there was no electricity in our area, no rural electric co-ops yet, just local power plants. We had a power plant of our own that powered our woodworking shop at our home. Maybe Eldon had ordered it from Sears; I’m not sure. Eldon would haul it to the picnic in the back of his pickup, and then he had to stay there all three days and nights, as well as the day before, to get the electricity to where it was needed. Houston Blackburn was a big help to him. And then, of course, there was a big clean-up job to do afterward.

Ozark County Times

504 Third Steet
PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

Phone: (417) 679-4641
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