|
4th of july by hattie anderson
as far back as i can remember the town of gowrie
had a parade and a celebration. we would get an
early start on chores and then head for town and
view the parade on main street. dad always stayed
for the speech which was always political. many
times i remember that we headed to dolliver state
park for a picnic dinner and spent the afternoon
walking trails and wading in prairie creek which
wandered through the park. sometimes some of our
relatives met us there. in later years we had our
own firecrackers we shot off at the farm. one year
it was very dry -- before we left for the parade we
set off some firecrackers. when we returned from
town, we found the entire back yard black from
burning. fortunately the house was built on a high
foundation.
summer
as the spring lengthened into summer everyone
was busy on the farm. ground was prepared and crops
planted. oats, corn and soybeans were planted.
soybeans were not planted in our area until about
the early 30's. we always had hired men working and
living on the farm as farming in the days of my
youth was much more work-- machinery was pulled by
horses or mules... only about four rows were
planted at a time. we had had one team of large
black mules and another team of small brown ones.
also there were large draft horses, benny, king and
reunie were three of them. the mules would "spook"
easily and run away. the first tractor dad had was
a john deere and dad was so proud of it.
corn and oats were the crops planted in the
early years. oats were cut, shocked and then
threshed... the straw was used for bedding and the
oats to feed the horses, the corn was fed to the
pigs and cattle. there were always cows to be
milked in the early morning and at night. the milk
was separated, cream from the milk. the cream was
hauled to town where the local creamery made butter
under the gowrie label it was sold. we also churned
some cream at home for our own butter. i hated the
job of washing the separator every day. usually the
feed yard was full of steers being fed for market.
not all of our land was under cultivation, much of
it was planted into alfalfa, clover and wild hay
for feed. also a great deal of pasture land was
maintained for grazing for the livestock.
our work began as the climate changed -- gardens
were planted, sweet corn, potatoes, tomatoes,
carrots, cabbage, etc. we weeded, we dug, we
harvested, help can for the winter supply of food.
the cellar "fruit room" was always full. mother
canned meat after the men did the butchering. in
those days grocery shopping was not such an item.
we had our own fruits, vegetables and meats. the
orchard was always calling us to pick apples,
raspberries, mulberries, cherries, strawberries and
rhubarb. mother bought peaches and pears to can.
she was a wonderful cook, you might say a "master
chef." until her death in 1977 she would bake rye
bread and rolls each week... she loved to bake and
we did love her rye bread and we miss it so
today.
the oats were harvested in july usually cut
around the 4th of july. later the threshing "ring,"
machinery and men came to thresh the oats and stack
the straw. it was a big day for the cooks to feed
the workers, usually nine or ten. the pies were
made ahead. early morning we were sent to the
garden to dig fresh potatoes, pick the green beans,
tomatoes, and maybe cabbage for slaw. it was a
wonderful meal, usually of roast beef or pork or
meat loaf, with mashed potatoes and gravy,
vegetables, rye bread and always pie. and mountains
of dishes to do! then it was lunch time -- always
coffee, lemonade, cookies, rolls for the mid-
afternoon. this routine was followed again in the
fall when the silo filling crew came to cut the
corn and fill the silos.
the winters on the farm in iowa
growing up on the farm we spent our idle ours
outside doing chores, building snow forts,
sledding, and trying to ice skate in the dredge
ditch when it was frozen over. as we grew older we
would walk about two miles to "coon mound" the only
hill in the south end of webster county. we would
meet the children of fred hades, maureen, ronald
and roberta with our sleds and coast all afternoon.
since hades lived only a short distance east of
coon mound we would go to their house when we were
frozen and done sledding. mrs. (lil) hades always
had dishpans full of freshly popped corn ready for
us. at the end of the day the folks would come and
get us.
many times in winter when the barns were
partially empty of hay, we would put our basketball
hoop up in the haymow and play basketball. in the
winter of 1936 there was a heavy snowfall and the
roads were blocked for weeks. march 1st a state
rotary plough came through and cleared the road. we
had been using a large hay rack with runners on it
for transportation. dad would meet the school bus
when we had school and take neighbors home. one
night when the bus finally reached our farm, the
two drivers, ross plotner and his assistant for the
day jim springer insisted on returning to town,
leaving the bus stuck. it was a real whiteout
blizzard and the wind was not letting up. the two
men, covered with gunny-sacks, tied themselves
together with ropes, and started out, following the
fence rows to town, in a few hours they made it.
the same winter on march 1st the new neighbors
moved in north of us on the telleen farm. carl
telleen moved to town and his brother, ed moved on
the farm. as they maneuvered the lumber wagons
loaded with farm equipment and furniture, pulled by
teams of horses, we kids sat on top of drifts so
tall we looked down on the loaded wagons.
during this period of time pauline stayed in
town as she was in high school and they continued
classes for all that could make it.
during the four years i played basketball on the
gowrie high school basketball team, the businessmen
of gowrie were the volunteer drivers to the games
out of town... later only school buses were used. i
can remember the trouble that busses had getting up
the big hill when we had to play at stratford. one
winter we traveled on the interurban from gowrie to
stanhope for the district tournament.
if we had a snowy christmas, dad would fill the
wagon with hay and put on the sled runners, the
horsehide robe, and hitch up the horses and head
out to grandma johnson's for christmas eve. she
lived on the home place with uncle reuben and aunt
vernie. this is where darlene and vern ecklund live
now. as long as grandma lived we went there for
christmas eve. uncle reuben or uncle elmer would
play santa claus and have a grab bag. everyone
brought food "pot luck." the families present were
uncle reuben's, darlene, maria and laurel; uncle
elmer's, glenn and betty; uncle eugene's, marvin
and maurice. aunt esther's with martha and gladys
were also present when they lived in this area; and
aunt almeda.
springtime
people in iowa look forward to spring as much as
they do christmas. maybe more. sometimes we get a
february thaw, in march the days warm up - but
usually a cold wind sets in every day.
on the farm, down to the east meadow grew wild
pussy willows on the ditch back and a willow tree.
many trips on foot, were made to visit the pussy
willow bush, waiting for the first leaf and the
furry little bud. we would cut willow branches to
make whistles. the windmill still stands on the
east side of the road, however the wheel came off
in the 60's. the mailbox for all the years i was on
the farm was 3/4 mile south of the house. we would
walk after the mail everyday when school was out in
may.
saturday night
we came to town on saturday night to grocery
shop, go to the library, and do all of the errands
as we did not come to town for another week. on
saturday night the movie house was open and for .10
cents we could attend while mom did the grocery
shopping. .05 cents would buy a sack of popcorn at
the theater run by katherine and laurel nelson.
before we started home we waited for the train from
des moines so dad could buy the sunday paper.
we would go home with piles of books from the
library, as most of our time was spent reading, no
television, never heard of it and very few programs
for children on radio.
return to top
|
