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I am going to end my Welch articles with more information on Eldon (Cub) Welch. In Shifting Scenes he reports on his family and some of his military service during World War II. While still living in Ekalaka, Cub married Marilyn, the oldest daughter of R.J. Price. At the time, Price owned the Super Valu Store. If my memory is correct (and many times it is not) I believe Marilyn was married to Jack Hough who was also a part of the Super Valu Store group. R.J. Price and his family came from Wyoming to Ekalaka. Now I am going...
Hello, This has been a trying week. I have trying weeks fairly often. Especially when the weather is bad. I try to do things right, but struggle. It started with a water tank. When you have frost-free tanks, tanks that require only ground heat to remain open, the weather a week ago was a true test. I found out that frost-free tanks are NOT frost-free when the wind chill is –60 for a couple days and nothing is venturing up on the hill to the tank to drink. When the weather straightened out and warmed up to zero, I checked t...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, not everyone experiences being ‘homesick’. Who would have thought that homesickness of a child was homage/respect and praise of a good home life? Such seems to be the case. Thinking way back on school classmates making fun of homesick peers brings those once sad faces into perspective. More than one of us in that small room was a ‘suitcase’ student so very long ago. Right about holiday time – any holiday, but that particular year it was Thanksgiving, which was right around the...
I never considered myself a “Feminist.” I was just always instructed by my parents to do my best. That often meant excelling past male students. It was appalling to me to learn some of my fellow, very bright female classmates, might choose to score lower than their boyfriends on tests. Maybe I was lucky not to have a boyfriend. In the United States, we have countless opportunities and few, if any, liabilities because of our gender. We are free to pursue any future we choose. Politics never interested me when I was you...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, going through an old ‘salted away’ pile of papers, it sometimes is fascinating to see what had been stashed. Up popped a poem by Phil Perkins – date unknown. Let’s see what he has to say. Ready? “My daily wish is that we may see good in those who pass our way. Find in each a worthy trait that we shall gladly cultivate. See in each one who’s passing by, the better things that beautify. A gently word spoken with cheer, a kindly face, a smile sincere. I pray each day that we may view t...
If I remember correctly, 1935-36, the year Camp Needmore was being built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, (CCC), February was a cold and very snowy month. In fact it was the coldest February on record, a miserable month where their bulldozer was kept running 24 hours a day, to avoid its freezing up. In September of 1935, a snow storm closed highways across the state. The whole year of 1936 was colder and snowier than usual. Records were set. We haven’t set any records this year, but that doesn’t warm anything. We’ve been...
Hello, February was not nice. After a mild start to winter, this past month the proverbial “stuff” hit the fan. Coldest on record. Wind blows every day. This past weekend we had wind chills to minus 60! Minus 60! Hay piles that looked like you could never feed it all are dwindling down. You can pick those old cows out that you decided to keep “one more year.” And to me, March is the cruelest month. One bright spot is Shirley. She is home this winter and is always happy to help with chores. When you are sitting in the cab of a...
In this article, I will continue writing about the Chuck and Maude Welch family with a thought by their daughter Lucile: “I don’t believe my parents ever regretted coming to Montana although I am sure they did endure many hardships. I guess the good times off-set the bad!” Maude passed away in 1961 and Chuck in 1970. After reading many articles in Shifting Scenes of the Homestead Days I have to agree. What made these “good times?” It had to be then, and today, because of caring, wonderful neighbors and people who were read...
Hello, Remember the controversy just before Christmas? About a song. The song “Baby It’s Cold Outside”. People were complaining it was sexist. I didn’t care. It is my favorite Christmas song. Although you don’t hear a lot of it in church or when people are out caroling. Or maybe I’ve just missed it. Anyway, baby it’s cold outside. And it looks like it is going to stay cold well into calving season. You would think after seventy years, I would have learned to calve later. I’ve told you about my fencing ability. You ju...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, many towns have a center where kids of all ages can go after school to do a multitude of activities, including homework. They’re there until someone picks them up to go home. While at these centers, paid staff and volunteers get to interact with kids in a 1/2 dozen or so places where they can play, work on computers, do arts and crafts, sit and read, or do homework. Interest and attention span is different for each child. Little ‘Chloe’s’ eyes sparkle as she does her math while lit...
Here is part four of my four-part series of articles dedicated to providing the you, the community, with information regarding basic estate planning documents, forms, and what to do with the information. In this article, I talk about Health Care Directives. What is a Health Care Directive? A Health Care Directive allows competent adults to appoint someone, called an agent, to make health care treatment decisions for them when they are unable or unwilling to communicate a decision for themselves. It allows the written expressi...
I remember an old picture I saw of a pioneer woman positioned next to a large cauldron, surrounded by fire — a nineteenth century hot water heater! It was laundry day. There was no wringer to squeeze water from clothes. There were no rinse tubs in sight. Things got better with time: electricity was harnessed, inventions were made, and eventually, even a teenager could handle most of wash day (my daughter did). As I remember from my youth, wash day was always Monday, that was in the ‘50s and early ‘60s, before most women...
Snowmen got made, crooked or straight, and two were rather wide. What fun to be outdoors that day and view the countryside. Laughter, snowballs, oh, what a day to play in fresh white snow. A game, a race, how about snowballs? You catch the one I’ll throw. Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, dear Lord, Winter’s still here, it’s time for chilly treat. It’s Snow Ice Cream like Mama made, the best you’ll ever eat! Snowman will watch while we scoop Snow, unsullied by cow tracks. So gently scoop the soft white snow; be careful how...
When the price of DNA analysis had fallen enough for me to purchase it, I did so for my husband and me. I already knew my mother’s family were German, and my father’s maternal grandmother had filled me in on his family history. I’m 48 percent German and 45 percent England, Wales, etc. I am 3 percent Scottish and Irish. Not enough to go crazy on St. Patrick’s Day. My mother’s family were very German, but Catholic, not Lutheran. Explain that. So I didn’t really learn anything new, not for free with only my DNA results. I...
Hello, Corb Lund has a song titled “You’ve got to have cows around”, or something along that line. It tells of how you’ve got to have cows around and how that interferes with everything else. They get out or have problems at the most inopportune times. I’ve got good neighbors. Always have. There is a saying that “good fences make good neighbors.” My neighbors know that I am not a great fencer. I would have to improve to be a good fencer. Truth be told, I’d rather ride than fence. But my neighbors pretty much accept me for w...
In this article, I will continue on with stories about Charles (Chuck) and Maude Welch. Lucille wrote that her father and mother had many hard times but also many good times and wonderful neighbors; many who gave up their homesteads and returned to their former houses. She lists at least ten families with the statement “just to name a few.” The names listed were not known to me. Maude writes of their “Literary Societies,” social neighbor singing groups and baseball teams. She mentioned that Chuck was quite a catcher. Those b...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, there’s a cute story about a young couple shopping in a Second Hand Store. The gal was looking for a frying pan like her grandmother had used. They passed several departments. As the gal passed the stuffed animals, she said, “Oh, Titus, look at that cute little bear. He’s wearing a heart on his front.” Then she hurried on to the cooking ware department. Titus quickly grabbed up the bear, plus a few things that he wanted, paid for them, had the clerk tuck the items into a larger sa...
After Mainstreet Market burned down, people were suddenly forced to drive the 35 miles to Baker, or farther if they lived out of town, to get most groceries. We relied on lists and hoped not to forget anything. If we missed anything, we generally lived without it, or asked someone to pick up our forgotten treasure when they were shopping. A local woman who worked in Baker even offered to pick up orders people would make from Reynolds when she returned home most days of the week. Now, with the new Branson Grocery open just dow...
Hello, It’s cold. But it’s been colder. I’m willing to bet that you won’t find a farmer or rancher who would hesitate to tell you that this cold spell is nothing like the ones we’ve weathered in the past. But we dang sure got spoiled by the winter so far. And those forty below wind chills seem colder because of those nice days. I’m taking off for a cattle sale for a couple days and I dang sure hope Shirley doesn’t freeze her face while doing chores. Now, I know many of you watch the news. And I also know that many of you don...
I am going to shift from good old neighbors with this article to another family who I knew, but each family member was older than me at the time. This came about when my wife (who loves poetry) came across a poem written by “Cub” Welch. To my surprise, I didn’t remember that Cub wrote any poetry. These poems will be presented later. For my memories I am once again returning to Shifting Scenes Vol. II, pages 918 and 919 with articles by Lucile Welch Venhaus. She has information about the Welch family beginning with her grand...
This article is about another neighbor, Bonnie Peabody, who also lived across the street and up the hill from us. I would like to share some information about Bonnie, but first I need to go back a generation on the Peabody family. Charles and Mary Peabody Charles was born in Vermont and moved to Iowa where he met his future wife, Mary Hite. They were married on July 4, 1879. In the summer of 1884 they moved to Rapid City, South Dakota coming overland in a covered wagon, drawn by four horses, trailing their cows and milking...
I watch too much television where I see lots of ads for things we don’t need, starting with Home Security systems. Do we need cameras at our front doors to guard against intruders or thieves where we would see them and tell the potential thieves we are calling the police and sending their picture to our neighbors? I’m always at home, and if I’m sleeping, I appreciate deliveries placed inside my house. Vince, our UPS driver, knew I was handicapped and couldn’t open my door. He had my permission to open my front door and put de...
Hello, Maybe I’m just old fashioned, but I will say that the halftime show at this Year’s Super Bowl was the worst I have ever seen. And that is an accomplishment that is hard to achieve. And that is all I’m going to say about that. As I said before, I didn’t have a dog in the fight, so I didn’t care much about the outcome of the game. My main concern yesterday was a mouse. Yes, a mouse. I had been to a bull sale in Nebraska with a friend. I went along to assist on the drive home, since it would be a long day and night dea...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, many folks get depressed during the cold winter months. But here’s a good word: did we know that Praise combats depression? It’s been suggested that we count our blessings; let’s give it a try. Following is a list of just a few LIFESAVERS: Electric blanket… bread hot from the oven… letter from favorite niece… watching animal antics especially as they are playing in the snow… no wind today, hooray… a good book to read from the library… call from oldest brother… stiffly starched shir...
The government of the United States opened up last week (for three more weeks) to solve the problem of border security and the President’s preference for a border wall. Federal employees should get paid. The government had been shut down for over a month. Why? Because the Democratic controlled House of Representatives won’t give the President a border wall, a wall along the border with Mexico. That border is long and the wall not feasible in certain areas. So the President closed federal offices. We have one of those in Eka...
