Stories, Memories and Writings
by Hi-Risers

"May I have this dance"
by Nancy Woods

If ask to list the things I value most, love and strong family ties would be two things at the top of my list. Born into a poor farm family, in the Hartford area , there were times we didn't have much,...... but we always had love.
(The whistler)
Music has always been a part of my life. At the early age of three, I had learned to whistle , and though I whistled pretty good , I was very bashful. Jesse Hammond and his Mother, lived as neighbors across the road from us . Jesse loved to hear me whistle and when I would go to visit them he would promise me a nickel if I would whistle for him. To shy, to stand there in front of them, l would crawl under the table where no one could see me and then I would whistle.
(Going to School)
I attended school in the Hartford area and graduated from the 8th grade in 1931. My Father had died in May of 1930 , leaving my Mother with four kids to raise. It was the very heart of the great depression and times were very hard for everyone. We were 8 miles from town. There was no transportation , so boarding in town would have been necessary for me to go to high school. There was of course , no money for that, so it was impossible for me to continue with my schooling.
(The Mistake)
Marriage at 16, was a big mistake,... but every cloud has a silver lining and mine had two. From that marriage I had two beautiful daughters. Living in Los Angeles during the war I worked as a welder at the OKeefe and Merrit defense plant and made good money. I was riding on a street in downtown L.A. when President Roosevelt declared war on Japan, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Those were scary times, we were in several blackouts, where we had to have our door and windows covered completely. I finally divorced my husband, and returned to Emporia.
"The First Dance"
Sitting at a dance in the Civic Auditorium in Emporia. I looked up to see , standing in front of me, asking me to dance, the handsomest man I had even seen in my life. He was wearing dark trousers, a lime green shirt and a dark tie. I was soon to learn that he was as wonderful as he was handsome, his name was Edgar Woods. He was a wonderful carpenter and loved to deal in Real Estate. During the earlier years of our lives we bought and sold around 40 different properties including town property and farms, some of which we lived in while we remodeled. Our son was born in 1952 and has been a blessing all our lives. We have 6 children now and enjoy knowing that we are loved by all of them. Our youngest daughter died in March of 1998,. ... a terrible ordeal for us.
"Forever Love"
On December 17th 1998, this still tall, still handsome, man had been my husband for 50 years.......We danced together for as long as he was able. He is now 98 years old , ...... and we are still in love.
"A word of advice"
My advice for a successful marriage ... never go to sleep angry, always kiss goodnight....and EVERY DAY embrace and confess your love. ...... Give 100% and you'll never fail.

"Harvest Time in the 30's"
by Emma Neumeyer Behrens

Emma Neumeyer Behrens was born the middle child of a family of 7 on a farm N.E. of Council Grove and spent all her childhhod years right there. Married for 31 years, she has a son and a daughter, 5 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. She worked for over 25 years as a nurses aid caring for people in their homes, many for several years at a time. She comes from a lineage of long lives. Her mother lived to be 104 years old and several others lived well into their 90's. She remembers the words of her Father: "Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see." She says she had a good life and there is very little she would change. "We weren't rich but we had love and we knew it."

The chores were finished for the day and our family was all in the house for the night. Dad sat down in the kitchen to keep Mom company while she prepared the evening meal. They talked about things in general. The livestock market, the price of grain, the weather, etc. My sister Ruby and I set the table, then went to the front room, where we entertained ourselves like we always did by playing a game or cutting out quilt blocks, or sometimes we sang duets, until it was time to eat.

It was mid-June, 1935, The hot dry weather had brought the wheat and oat crops to a rapid ripened stage. "I'm going to have to get a crew lined up, that wheat is ready. If it should rain it could go down and we would lose the whole crop," Dad said. Mom put muffins in the oven to bake, stirred the potatoes she was frying, then put another stick of wood in the fire box of the wood burning cook stove. When she opened the lid of the firebox, sparks flew in all directions. She quickly closed the lid again. With everything under control she sat down to talk to Dad. "You know there is rain in the long range forecast. It probably would be wise to get the harvesting underway as soon as possible."

That evening, Dad waited until he thought the men were in for the night and then he started calling the neighbors who always work together through harvest each year. They always started at our place because Dad owned and operated the threshing machine, Orville Button, one of the neighbors owned the big Rumly Engine that ran it. When they finished at our place they would move on to the next neighbor, until every crop was harvested.

The next morning Dad was up earlier than usual. First the morning chores and then breakfast. Then he harnessed the team of horses, hitched them to the grain binder and headed for the field to cut the wheat. The binder cut, then tied the bundles with twine string before dropping them to the ground. A couple of people would follow along and stand several bundles, grain heads up, leaning against each other. These were called shocks.

When the day arrived to start threshing, the neighbors came with teams of horses hitched to hayracks to haul the bundles to the threshing machine. Some of the men came with pitchforks only. They were the ones who stayed in the field to help load the wagons as they came back to the field empty. Orville Button came with the big Runley Engine and started working at lining it up just so. If the machines were not lined up just right, the big heavy belt that ran the thresher would not stay on the pulley wheels. At last all was perfect and ready to go.....In came the first load of bundles, the big engine was rumbling away, the slick shiny golden straw floating out of the large pipe at the end of the thresher to the ground, building up into a large stack by the time the job was finished. At the same time, grain was pouring out of a pipe at the side of the thresher into a boxwagon, which when full, was taken to the granary and scooped by hand into the bins.

Meanwhile, Mother was busy frying chicken, baking pies, and fixing a hearty appetizing meal for usually around 8 men. There was always lots of iced tea to satisfy their huge thirsts. We kids helped by setting the table, fetching water from the well, and whatever Mother would let us do. One of the men, when asked what kind of pie he liked replied, "hot, cold and more pie."

Two or three days at one place and then they were on to the next one. When all the crops had been harvested, an evening was chosen for all the crew and their families to get together for homemade ice cream!!! Thus creating wonderful memories of growing up in a time when everyone worked together and shared in good times and bad with neighborly love, caring for and about each other.

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