Thanks for the Memories

There are so many different perspectives in a family – different memories of what it was like being part of a large, close Swedish family. I used to think that all families were just like ours. As I grew older, I discovered just how lucky I was to have been a part of this particular family.

Thank you for sharing your memories with us.  A special “thank you” to Cathy who sent me many photographs that I’ve never seen before, and the many emails we exchanged during the last month, many into the wee hours of the morning. For those who might like to share more memories with us, I’m only an email away.

You’ve given me a special trip down Memory Lane.

Larry Dishaw

remembers when he was 11 or 12 going up north to visit Aunt Nancy and Uncle Rhiney.  They were baking bread in their kitchen, with the wonderful smell of yeast bread. 

He spent hours in the lake catching crayfish.  Uncle Rhiney always wanted the soft shell crayfish to use as bait for bass fishing. 

He and Tommy were sitting in the lake,  and the planes from K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base flew over and first you saw the plane and then you heard the sonic boom! that would actually ripple the water they sat in. 

When they went to see Aunt Doris and Uncle Dave., Aunt Doris was always cooking and always fed them.  Aunt Doris made pasties and everybody thought they were the best.  

When he remembers Uncle Steve Chiolak and Aunt Violet, he remembers how Uncle Steve loved the horse races and always went to Hazel Park raceway when he visited the Detroit area. 

On the trip up north along Highway 2, mom would let them get out at a rest stop and go out into Lake Michigan.  It was so cold that they couldn’t swim and only went up to their ankles. 

At Aunt Janet and Uncle Bill's, he (Larry) and Tommy climbed their tree so high they almost fell out of it. They were 30 feet in the air and as he (Larry) hung onto a branch, it broke. On another occasion, Larry remembers Aunt Janet scolding his mom as Tommy hid behind the couch mocking them, saying "Alice! Can't you control your kids?"

Once while running in the woods with Jimmy Lundwall, they came upon a skunk.  Sure did scare those city slicker Dishaw boys. 

Doris Dishaw

I do remember some things going up north as a kid. Dad would never stop. What a long ride. That's when I found out I got car sick. As much as I love to read that's something I cannot do in the car.

Mom and Dad did let me stay up north one year when they went home. I spent three weeks with family there. One day when I was at Aunt Janet’s the girls went down to the lake to swim and out to the raft they went. Guess I'm like Aunt Doris, mom said Aunt Doris never learned to swim either. I wasn't going to be left behind though. I can float and I managed to float out and back. I think it was Aunt Janet and Uncle Bill who took me home. Funny I don't remember that part.

I remember one time staying at Aunt Nancy's out at the lake. Always fun but she didn't like if we said Jeez. Sounded too much like that special person.

That reminds me too, that mom never let us play cards on Sunday. I know that was from her upbringing but she never said why.

The first time mom took me to see grandma when she lived alone I remember thinking how small her place was. And we lived in a small house.

I remember thinking how Aunt Janet and Uncle Bill’s house was so far off the road. Remember, we lived in a subdivision. When Jim and I were up one year, we went to find their old house and missed it the first time. It was closer to the road than I remembered but everything changes from a child’s perception with time.

I loved all the picnics at the county park. And the Indian Burial Grounds.

I remember mom telling me one time how mad Grandma got at Janet when she was young that she took her slipper off and used it on her. Sure was something I saw mom do when I was little too.

Mary Ann

Some of my memories:

1.  The great get togethers of the family at Chicaugoan Lake.

2.  Aunt Doris' "Dream Bars" (I loved them!!!)  She would always lift the pan and smile at me when she put them down on the table.

3.  Uncle Dave's laugh

4.  Eating a lemon slice with salt on it with Aunt Joyce when she was pregnant the last time.  I still do that!!

5.  Babysitting with Nancy Adele at Aunt Joyce's and being so scared because the house was across the street from the cemetary.

6.  Visiting Aunt Inga in her little house on Ice Lake Road.

7.  Trips to Commonwealth to visit the relatives there.  I remember a big white stuffed owl in one of the rooms.

8.  The last time I saw Aunt Janet (God bless her)

9.  Sweet Uncle Bill

10.  The Christmas after Uncle Lloyd died and we were at Aunt Joyce's for dinner.  There was lutefisk, and Al was so thrilled because he thought it would taste like one of his favorites, creamed codfish.  I tried to warn him that it really wasn't the same.  The look on his face when he took a big mouthful will always remain in my memory.  Needless to say, lutefisk was not a favorite of his!!  I still grin when I think of it.  (but then, I have a wicked sense of humor!!)

11.  Nancy Adele and I getting in trouble for tasting the dessert in the fridge that Nan had made.  We weren't allowed to have any of it after dinner.

12. The fun Al and I had with Aunt Violet and her friend each time they were here in Las Vegas.

Cathy's Memories 

Grandma Lundwall and All, by Cathy 

 I first remember seeing Grandma Lundwall when Aunt Nancy brought me over to see her when I was 5 and she lived in a tiny, little house out on Ice Lake Road with Aunt Inga, Grandpa’s brother's wife.  If I think really hard, I can hear Grandma's high-pitched yet gentle chuckle when she spoke with Aunt Inga--I think it was in English.  (Later on, I remember Aunt Nancy having Grandma's sisters over to her cottage on Chicaugoan Lake and that they were all speaking Swedish, even Aunt Nancy!  I think it was there that someone told me my name was "Katrina" or "Katrinka" in Swedish.)

Back to the little house, though, I remember there being one room that seemed large to me but was probably actually quite small and that it was both a kitchen and living room, and off to the side was a bedroom (there may have been two bedrooms, though) and a tiny bathroom.  I remember a big table off to the side and two rocking chairs that faced the front door.  I think there was a steep stairway to a loft upstairs, though I don't think I ever spent the night there or was even allowed up there.  

I am grandchild #9, there being Davey, Nancy Adele, Gerald, Roger, Ron, Ted, Eugene, and Doris ahead of me, so spending the night with Grandma in that tiny house was probably never an option, at least not in my spot in the lineup of grandkids.  I remember the house was very clean, very plain, with hard, wood furniture.  

Outside the house there sat a little shed, alongside of which was a metal washtub where Grandma would collect rain water with which to wash her long hair (more on her hair later).  

At least once, Janet and I crossed Ice Lake road to pick tiny, wild strawberries for Grandma--I wonder how many we actually brought back to her, as I do remember vividly how wonderfully sweet they tasted and how Janet hunkered over a little patch she had discovered, telling me to go find my own patch.  I like to think Grandma may have given us each a sugar cookie for our efforts when we got back.  

I think it was there in that little house I saw Grandma roll out dough for cinnamon rolls on that big table and watched her dot the dough with butter and then sprinkle it with cinnamon, sugar and walnut pieces before rolling it up and cutting it.  The powdered sugar frosting on the finished product was light, not overloaded like Cinnabon's but more like Ikea's.  Those are my memories of Grandma in the little house on Ice Lake Road.

I should probably interject at this point how I ended up in the UP with Aunt Nancy and Uncle Rhiney at the tender age of 5.  So, my story necessarily starts in Chicago, where my mom (Margaret) and Aunt Violet moved to after Violet graduated from high school.  I think this must have been in 1935.  My mother graduated from high school the year before Violet and hung around waiting for her for a year before they set out for Chicago together.  

They worked at various jobs during those years.  One of my mother's jobs was working as a housekeeper, and Violet worked as a telephone operator, I believe.  

So marriage, babies Roger and Ron happened before the war took my father away.  I'm not sure if Uncle Steve was in the service or not or just where he was at the time--oh, he must have been home because then there was Ted, born in 1944(?).  Anyway, our father apparently came home from the war damaged (PTSD they call it now) with an alcohol problem that would soon tear our family apart.

Before that happened, though, along I came in 1947 and then Paul in 1950.  The divorce happened, and Mom went to work full time as a comptometer operator.  We lived on South Drake Street in Chicago at the time, and our landlady upstairs from us filled in as daycare provider for us.  

Summers with us out of school, though, were difficult for our mother to manage, and so my mother called upon her sisters back in the UP to help her out during those times and sent us up to Michigan for the summers.  Aunt Nancy would meet the train in Channing and then, days later, would bring Roger up to Trout Creek to stay with Aunt Doris and Uncle Dave and the boys.  I would stay with Aunt Nancy and Uncle Rhiney, and for the first few years, Bud and Mary Ann were there also.  Maybe this sounds like a sad little story, but really, it wasn't.  

Truly, I felt so loved, protected and cherished that I didn't get homesick unless I left Aunt Nancy's home to stay overnight at a friend's house next door or even at cousins'.   Times during the day with Mary Hartley (the friend next door) and with cousins from time to time were just so much fun that I didn't have time to feel homesick then.  

There were times out in the backyard at Janet Jean's, making tents out of blankets on Aunt Joyce's clotheslines, putting up with Lloydie and Georgie; times at Aunt Janet's where we rode bikes around and went down to the school to slide down the fire escape (Carol would always generously offer me Ruth Ann’s bike to ride); picnic times when Aunt Violet and family would come up for a few weeks (or was it days?--summers were so long then) and stay in a rented cottage.  I don't remember Aunt Alice and Uncle Earl there for picnics until the later years.  

I especially remember the picnics, though, when all the relatives--Uncle Ward and Aunt Margaret (her hearty laugh set the tone for the day); Aunt Doris and Uncle Dave (how many fish did Eugene have by the Fourth of July?); Uncle Ken and Aunt Rose and their toothbrush-tasting little boys; Uncle Marlin and Aunt Madeline and their little ones) would arrive in the morning and excitement was definitely in the air.  

We did our summer treks for five years, Roger and I.  I think Paul came up the last year and stayed with Aunt Janet and Uncle Bill.  It really didn't hit me much that I was away from my mother until I arrived back in Chicago at the end of summer and would again hear the Chicago trains clickety-clacking and the whistles blowing at night.  What soothing sounds those were!

As I was about to enter the 5th grade, my mother moved us all back to Stambaugh from Chicago, and Grandma (and, for a while, Uncle Ray) lived with us.  My mother bought an old two-story house on 2nd Street in Stambaugh that needed fixin' up, and so Aunt Janet and Uncle Bill as well as Aunt Joyce and Uncle Lloyd went to work on the inside with paint, wallpaper, and probably many tools making the inside livable and also pretty.  

They had plans to paint the outside later on, but this was not to be as everyone's responsibilities shifted when the mine took Uncle Lloyd's life the winter of Janet's and my 6th grade year, leaving a huge, devastating hole in our family.  

We lived in that house on 2nd Street for three years.  I think Grandma was there for two of those years.  During that time, I see in my mind's eye Grandma in an old-fashioned bib apron covering a print dress, thick hose on her legs at all times, those black shoes with stout heels that she always wore.  She seemed to always wear a "broach" in the V of her dresses.

I think she must've helped my mom a lot with housework and keeping an eye on us, especially that Paul kid (I still love to tease my little brother), who was a very busy little boy.  It was also my job to keep an eye on Paul, a responsibility I often shirked.  I remember Paul'd be bouncing around the house doing kid things and Grandma'd tease him that he was "wound up like a screw."

I remember Grandma sitting on a chair in the kitchen, fixing her hair which had never been cut (why in the kitchen, I don't know--my own mother would never allow me to comb my hair in the kitchen for fear of getting hair in the food, of course), leaning over slightly from the waist left and right to braid first one side and then the other before twisting the braids around her head, securing them with hair pins.  Sometimes she would put on a hat over all this, before going to church probably, and then she would poke sharp hat pins through to her braids, though for a while I would cringe, thinking that she was getting awfully near her head with those.

One time, Grandma asked me if I could thread a needle for her, which I could do so easily in those days.  She told me that she thought I was going to grow up to be a seamstress.  All this because I could thread a needle.  I'm still waiting for that to happen.

In later years, I can see Grandma sitting in a chair in the living room, cutting carpet rags or playing solitaire.  She began to grow vague and far away as "hardening of the arteries"/Alzheimer's took the life in her from her and from us.  I will always miss her kind, gentle ways.

More Photos Part 2

Ward and Margaret on their Wedding Day in Palmer

Nancy Adele at 3 in Negaunee

Alice and Earl (newlyweds?)

Aunt Nancy

Doris and Eugene 

Nancy Adele reading the funny papers to Doris, Roger and Cathy

Joyce and Janet Jean, Carol and Janet

Janet Jean

Nancy holding Doug and Norene

Nancy holding Lloyd Larry with Janet Jean

Bill and Janet Curtis in Detroit

Earl with Ruth Ann

Ruth Ann

Grandma and Aunt Nan

Margaret in Ward's Store in Hibbing. I was most fond of the ice cream for cones in big tubs in the cooler in front of my mother.

Nancy Adele and Aunt Joyce

Nancy Adele with fireworks on the 4th of July. One of the few times we didn't go to Upper Michigan to celebrate the 4th.

Lloyd, Nancy Adele with Margie and Carl Backstrom in St. Paul.

Lloyd Larry, Lloyd, Joyce holding Georgie, and Janet Jean

Teddy, Violet, Steve, Ronnie with Marie and Joan in front

Marie and Joan

Norene, Doug and Gary Lundwall

Aunt Nan and Mary Ann after Graduation

More photos Part 1

Grandpa with Marlin in Palmer

Carl Lundwall with Teckla at Ward's in Negaunee

Earl John, Aunt Nan, and Doris

Gerald and Davey in Trout Creek

Cathy & Eugene "Was it something I said?" Wonderful photo!

Grandma on her birthday, Doris in mirror

Grandma on Wash Day

Kenneth with another soldier in army

Margaret with Nancy Adele

Nancy A, Margaret, Marlin and Alice

Roger, Cathy and Doris

A younger Roger

Baby Roger in Palmer -- stone fireplace on house

Roger, Margaret and Cathy with ??? No names on back of photo.

Roger, Cathy, Alice and Doris

Mary Ann, Grandma, Nancy Adele, Lloyd (Ward's Margaret made the dresses and hats)

Rhiney and Lloyd

The Move Back to Stambaugh

1945

When Grandpa Oscar died, the family was living in the mining-owned house in Palmer. As Aunt Nan said, they never owned a house, never had a lot of money in the bank, and they had 11 surviving children. They sent Uncle Ray to the School for the Deaf in Flint in Lower Michigan when he was 7, along with Nancy who was to learn how to be a teacher, and learn she did! She taught there for many years, even after Ray graduated from high school.

Left at home were Grandma, Janet and Marlin. They were living in a Mining owned house, with no close relatives nearby, with very little savings. By this time her brother Willard was working in Calumet, up near Houghton-Hancock and there were no relatives living near Marquette at the time. And so the move was made to an upstairs apartment in Stambaugh close to Oscar’s relatives who may have helped her find the apartment, and old friends from their first move from Commonwealth. Kenneth was in the army; Lloyd was in the Navy. Still living in Stambaugh at that time were Huldie Hughes (Frank had been one of the pallbearers at Grandpa’s funeral) who also came from Commonwealth and Hudie was Grandma’s close friend. Andrew Lundwall and Aunt Inga, the Carl Lundwalls, the Walter Lundwalls, and Andrew’s daughters, Maggie and Tillie all lived either in Stambaugh or Iron River.  

Now Ward and Margaret were living in St. Paul; Doris and Dave were in Trout Creek; Margaret, Roger and Cathy went back to John in Chicago; Violet and Steve were in Chicago. Nancy and Ray were in Flint, Michigan. Janet met Bill, and Marlin went to Trout Creek. Lloyd returned home from the Navy and met Aunt Joyce. Joyce at the time lived upstairs of the house that Uncle Bill’s parents lived in at the top of Stambaugh Hill. Janet and Bill got married and Lloyd and Joyce got married.  Janet and Bill went to St. Paul, returned home and lived in a side-by-side house on the left, part-way up Stambaugh Hill. Lloyd and Joyce went to St. Paul, returned home and lived in an upstairs apartment next to Maggie. 

Grandma Teckla sometime during this slightly chaotic period moved to Iron Mountain, probably to be closer to her siblings who were still living. Aunt Ida was living in Aurora, her brother Emil was living in Commonwealth, Aunt Julia was still in Homestead, and the Krans’ (Roy, Robert, Edward and Vernon)  were in Aurora, and Uncle Charlie Krans was living with Tom and Beda Krans Beaudry in Aurora as well. Grandma moved into a little house owned by Rose Krans Olson in Iron Mountain (living room, small kitchen, small bedroom off the kitchen, a tiny bathroom off the other side of the kitchen, and a small bedroom off the living room) and the rent was probably pretty minimal. Rose Krans Olson still owned that house in the early 1960’s because Gayle Krans and her husband lived in it when Jerry and I lived in Iron Mountain and had dinner with them there. My husband Jerry and 2nd cousin Gayle were working together at Dickinson County Hospital at the time. 

Alice and Earl had a small trailer house (about the size of a small RV that could be pulled behind a vehicle) that was parked next to this house for awhile. I’m not sure how long, but I remember going from Grandma’s to Aunt Alice’s just across the driveway. I think it was moved after that, and later I seem to remember Alice and Earl living in an upstairs apartment in Iron Mountain.

The summer that Grandma lived in Iron Mountain, in that house belonging to Rose Krans, Roger and I were staying there during the summer. We were allowed to go to the movies one evening and we were supposed to go the theater closest to the house to see a comedy. Roger wanted to go to a scary (monster?) movie at a theater a couple blocks further away, so off we went without telling anybody where we were going. I don’t remember the movie, except it was very scary, at least for a girl, and we ran all the way home in the dark and we didn't tell anybody what we had done.

In Iron Mountain, we could walk to the dairy on Carpenter Avenue and buy an Eskimo Pie for a nickel, a special treat. A block or two the other way had a gas station with a big Red Coke machine shaped like a big box with a lid that opened on the top. You opened the top, put a nickle in, and slid your bottle of pop to the corner where you could take it out.  The pop machine held Orange, Grape, Root Beer and Coca-Cola. Hard choices on a hot summer day.

Grandma taught us how to count to ten in Swedish, and she told me that Grandpa’s favorite song was “Jimmy Cracked Corn and I Don’t Care” when they played it on the radio.

After Janet and Bill AND Lloyd and Joyce moved back to Stambaugh, and Alice and Earl moved to Detroit, Grandma moved back to Stambaugh to be Rhiney Roberg’s housekeeper after his wife died suddenly. Huldie Hughes was a relative of Rhiney’s and probably arranged the job so Grandma could move back to Stambaugh.

Nancy came home to visit Grandma the following summer. She stayed at Rhiney’s for her vacation. When she went back, Rhiney called her and asked her to come back and marry him. Nancy said yes.

When the marriage took place, Grandma was out of a job and a place to live – but Carl and Walter Lundwall arranged for Grandma to live with and take care of their mother and her sister-in-law, Aunt Inga, who was older than Grandma, and also a widow. The terms were that Grandma would be able to live in the house rent-free until she died in return for taking care of Aunt Inga.

When Aunt Inga died, Grandma stayed for a short time. Margaret moved back to Stambaugh and Grandma moved in with Aunt Margaret to help take care of the kids (see Cathy's comment). Later Grandma moved on to a little house behind another house on Lincoln Avenue. My only memory of that house was that it was tiny and had a sloped floor -- if something was dropped, it rolled across the floor. 

At this time it was decided that each of her children would send a certain amount of money each month for Grandma’s expenses (back then if she got any Social Security, it would have been minimal, and Grandma didn’t have savings.) That didn’t work out so well because not everybody was able to send their share each month and now Grandma had begun to be even more forgetful.

Then it was decided that Grandma would spend a month with each family. Ward who worked for Northwest Airlines, could get airplane passes for his mother to fly, so transportation would be covered.

The first time she stayed with Ward and Margaret, she showed real signs of forgetfulness. One time, in the middle of the night when everybody was sleeping, the doorbell rang and it was the police bringing Grandma back to the house. She knew her name, but didn’t know where she was – she had gotten up, gotten dressed and gone out for a walk fully clothed, in her coat, hat and with her purse, and they found her wandering down the street all alone.

My mother, Margaret, put bells on all the exterior doors so this wouldn’t happen again, but Grandma was having a terrible time remembering things. One night helping Grandma with her bath, Margaret found the lump on Grandma’s breast. Margaret and Ward took Grandma back to Iron River to get treatment, probably because she could get medical aid in Michigan where she was still a legal resident.

Grandma was then sent to the Dickinson County Hospital in Iron Mountain, where Jerry worked. Jerry took care of Grandma for two nights after surgery in place of the required overnight nurse to save expenses. After that, Nancy and Janet took turns staying overnight until she got out of the hospital.

Grandma first went to stay with Nancy, but they were both gone most of the day – so Grandma went to stay at Janet’s. 

Memories of Grandma in her last years are difficult. By now she was pretty deep into altzheimers (or hardening of the arteries or dimentia) and unable to deal with living with a family that included young children, and the trauma it caused Aunt Janet trying to deal with not wanting to put her mother into a nursing home, yet dealing with the very real problems Grandma's condition was causing Janet's own family.

The Grandma I remember best was always the center of a very large family, very quiet much like Alice was or I am, looking on smiling at all the laughter of her children and their families; everybody who could be home for summer holidays were there, and we had large picnics rain or shine. All the women and girls wore dresses and dress shoes, and all the men were dressed in dress pants and shirts to these picnic get-togethers. One of my earliest memories is a large family picnic at the beach at Champion Lake.

This is the way I remember Grandma's life and times, and from what I have been able to piece together. Tomorrow will begin the rest of the memories I've received from some of you, and photos of get-togethers and the few photos I have of our generation. If you have photos you would like to share, let me know or email them to me or bring them with you to the reunion. 

It would be helpful if you would also bring full names, marriage dates, birth dates of your children and your grandchildren. I have everybody up to the 1982 reunion. If you are willing to share your parent's stories, it would give us all a chance to know our extended families better.  

I apologize for so many posts in one day, but the reunion keeps getting closer and closer, and there is so much to share.

Trout Creek, Part 3

From Larry Dishaw

When we went to see Aunt Doris and Uncle Dave, Aunt Doris was always cooking and always fed them.  Aunt Doris made pasties and everybody thought they were the best.  

When we walked along Trout Creek, Earl, my dad, would tell us how he would catch fish with his bare hands at the dam. The fish would get stuck in the holes behind the dam and he could reach in and just grab them. He has fond memories of Uncle Dave and how he always had a smile on his face.  Uncle Dave always told the story of how he and dad (Earl) had too much to drink in a bar one night and dad cut Uncle Dave's tie in half. 

Gerald DeVowe used to take us (Earl, Tommy and Larry) to the dump to see the bears scavenging for food.

Another memory of Davey’s:

Uncles Lloyd, Ward, Marlin, Earl, Bill and my Dad took a ride one evening to see if they could find a deer.  Marlin had his own vehicle.  Uncle Lloyd shot a deer and Uncle Ward didn't want anything to do with it, (for fear of getting caught) and said that he would ride home with Marlin which he did.  On the way back, they hit a deer with the car just coming into Kenton and Ward said, "Leave it there, leave it there", but Marlin wanted the meat so he got the deer and threw it in the back seat of the car and drove home.  Marlin finished the job in the bathtub at his home.

Nancy’s note: YES -- I was there too. Marlin was living in a small upstairs apartment across the alley from Aunt Doris’s. We climbed the steps and they had the deer in the bathtub -- I was speechless. I had never seen so much blood in my life! Think either my mom or my dad got me out of there quickly.

More from Nancy

One time when we got to Trout Creek, my mother sent me upstairs to take a nap. It wasn’t long until Gerald climbed a ladder to knock on the window to wake me up. I went downstairs and my mother let me go outside to play.

Playing games like "Olly olly oxen free" and making wooden guns with a spring clothespin on the end to shoot what I think were pieces of inner tubes cut to the size of thick elastic bands, and playing with slingshots.

Searching for night crawlers, HUGE ice cream cones for a nickel, and western movies in the “theater”.

The first time my husband Jerry went to Trout Creek with us. Jerry was a city boy, he fell asleep in the back seat on the way, and woke up when we were on Forest Highway. He said he’d never been in such a “desolate” place in his whole entire life. It was his first time fishing for trout.

Watching Jerry trying to eat a brook trout with a fork and knife was a sight to behold.

Trout Creek 

Part 2

MORE from Davey -- 

In June, 1958, I returned from the Phillipine Islands after 2 years of duty and while there I bought a 22 lever action rifle from one of the other sailors.  Instructions for shipping firearms was that the gun had to be disassembled.  I paid the guy for the gun, gave him my address and he shipped it out.  When I got home and opened the box, every piece, every screw and whatever could be removed was removed.  I was at a loss, but went to uncle Lloyd's house and on the living room floor, we spent several hours piecing the gun back to operating condition.

The time we were going to do some ice fishing at the "springhole" by Johnson's Lake. Uncle Bill didn't have any skis and someone had a pair of very short ones which he used. He had a terrible time all the way since the back ends would sink into the snow.  Uphill and downhill required about the same energy.  The round trip was about 5 miles. Needless to say, it was out of season and we didn't get a bite.

Uncle Lloyd bought a 1929 Model A Ford pick-up and left it in T.C. to be used to go fishing in areas with bad roads or trails.  Also, he told me that I could use it anytime to go where ever, which I did.  I used it for fishing, hunting, trapping, but my mother and dad let me use the car for the prom.  Many times I would pick up my dad at the mill at 4:00 and we would race to get south of town about 6 or 8 miles and then turn around and hunt slow for partridge all the way back.

The time uncle Lloyd took me fishing to Cook's Run just before dark to fly fish for german browns and with each splash of one jumping, you would have to try to set the hook since it was too dark to see your fly.  Once in awhile you would get lucky, if you didn't, you would catch the brush on the other side and then have to use a flashlight to attach another fly.

The time when uncle Lloyd and I were wading the stream side by side above Cook's Run and I whipped off my fly.  He asked if I lost my fly, so he gave me another one and in no time I whipped off the second one.  I didn't have the heart to tell him, since he had the flies, so I continued wading and casting my line, knowing full well, that I wasn't going to catch anything.

The time uncle Lloyd came over and got me to go partridge hunting and we left the house just before daybreak.  We drove about 5 miles south of town and it was just breaking day.  He stopped the car, asked me to hold the brake as he saw a bird fly down from a tree. After going into the woods and firing 4 shots he came out with 4 partridge.  We hunted the rest of the morning and as we were getting close to town, I spotted a bird and shot it which made it number 10 - we each had 5, our limit for the day.

One time uncle Marlin and I were hunting partridge and a deer ran across the road and as we drove up, it was standing in the woods.  Marlin said, "give me your 22".  From the driver's seat, he got the deer.  Of course, deer season started in about a month.

I wish I knew how many fish were cleaned in the sink at the house  over the years.  I'm sure there were enough to fill a couple of rooms up to the ceiling.

I still have "The Real Story Book" which was given to me by Aunt Nancy for Christmas, 1943.  The book shows a lot of wear with some tape on the hardcover and pages torn in places, but still very readable.  My children and grandchildren have heard or read many of the same stories that I cherished as a child.  I also remember that when Aunt Nancy got to the house, I would run and hide in my parents closet, for fear of her giving me a kiss which she always did. (Nancy's note -- didn't you receive Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates from Aunt Nancy as well? I remember reading it at Trout Creek and I thought you told me Aunt Nan had sent it to you.)

I remember Uncle Ward talking about being in the CCC's and he was at Camp Jumbo, located approximately 2 miles due south of where the old Ottawa Lodge was located on  M-28.  We fished for many years in the vicinity of that camp.

When Uncle Ray was coming to live with us, I wanted to learn how to communicate with him, since he couldn't hear or talk.  My mother had a small card with all of the "signs" on it. One side was for making the "sign" or each letter of the alphabet and on the opposite side was for reading the "sign" or as it looked to the person getting the message.  I recall that it only took a short period of time to memorize all of the letters, but reading the "signs" and deciphering them was a whole different story.  Uncle Ray would go so fast and I would have to tell him to slow down.  Then he would laugh.  I learned the one-handed, but I remember Uncle Lloyd, Aunt Janet, Uncle Kenneth and Aunt Violet signing with two-hands. Aunt Nancy used one hand, but I'm sure she knew both.


(Nancy Adele's note -- Aunt Nan was still trying to talk to me in sign language the last time I visited. Then she went through the alphabet twice to try to make me remember more. I didn't learn very much, only my name. Uncle Ray and I communicated by his little note pad.)

When I played basketball, Uncle Ray said that he would give me a quarter for each game that we won. I know he paid many times and he never missed a game unless it was too far away.

Mother would ask Uncle Ray if he wanted more to eat and he would indicate that he was full by putting his hand just below his chin.  When dessert was served and he wanted some, Mother would tell him that he said he was full and then he would say "No" and motion by putting his hand at the top of his chest.

Uncle Ray used to like to hunt partridge and we went many times in the Model "A".  He also liked to hunt deer, but he was never successful.  

A couple of additions to my notes of a month ago.

1.  I was about 5 years old when I rode the train from Palmer to Trout Creek.

2.  Uncle Lloyd was the only one that called me "Jon" and he always did.

I asked Gerald for his recollections about Ray and he had the following:  Some of these I remember also, but only when Gerald related them to me.

Dad's Uncle Mose was a short man and was staying at our house and he and Uncle Ray had to sleep in the same 3/4 size bed.  In the morning, he came downstairs and said that Uncle Ray had kicked him out of bed.  Uncle Ray said that he didn't know or remember that.  The next morning Uncle Mose said that he kicked him out of bed last night.

Uncle Ray and I went hunting partridge on a road across from the old dump about a mile north of town.  As we were returning to the car, across the road, in the dump, a bear stood up on its hind legs and we both turned around and started running.  Uncle Ray may have been a little unsteady when walking, but he could sure run.  We were both scared and I told him that he was so scared that he passed me and 2 cars and Uncle Ray laughed. 

Uncle Ray, Uncle Marlin, Dad and myself went partridge hunting in Marlin's Model "A" on a road by Aloff's  homestead and we each took turns shooting birds.  Next one to shoot sat in the passenger seat and we ended up with 20 partridge that day.  Uncle Ray gave me his .410 shotgun and I think Eugene has his 30-30 lever action Marlin rifle.

Nancy's note -- Uncle Ray always came to the picnics with his Cribbage Board. He LOVED to play Cribbage.

Uncle Ray played Santa Claus when he was in the nursing home in Ontonagon. He made a wonderful Santa Claus!

If anybody wants to send me more memories, we will post them as Trout Creek Part 3 or how many parts we need to add! There are so many wonderful Trout Creek stories to share. 

   

Today is Trout Creek Day

Part 1

Memorial Day, the 4th of July and Labor Day were picnic days. Those who could came from Chicago, Detroit, Trout Creek, and Minnesota. I loved being able to sleep on the floor at Grandma's, along with the men. The women all slept together or got the couch. We did the same thing when many were at Trout Creek at the same time and I got the living room floor or the couch. The men slept upstairs.

Uncle Dave and Aunt Doris lived in Negaunee about 6 months when Dave worked in the mine.  He didn't like working in the mine and Mr. Weidman gave him his job back. They had plenty of visiting relatives in Trout Creek and so many of us have wonderful memories of Trout Creek. For many of us, it was like a second home!

One time we had a big dinner with lots of relatives in Trout Creek, Davey and I were told we had to do the dishes. Aunt Doris had a whole collection of  Autumn Leaf dishes sold by Jewel Tea. Davey was washing the dishes, and I was wiping – I think I stacked some dishes on top of the refrigerator – and many plates and saucers were broken. I don’t think we were ever asked to wash dishes at a large gathering of the relatives again.

Aunt Doris telling jokes, laughing so hard by the time she came to the end she could hardly talk. And how often she told me "Smile -- it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile!"

The breakfasts that Aunt Doris made when the men came in from fishing -- fresh caught and fried brook trout, potatoes, eggs, fresh baked bread or cinnamon rolls (all cooked on her wood stove) and orange juice.  If I close my eyes, I can still smell that wonderful breakfast.

Eugene as a toddler just beginning to talk, asking constantly “What’s ‘at?” “What’s ‘at?” and more “What’s ‘at?”

Davey remembers Uncle Marlin, being 9 years older, wrapped or rolled me in a heavy blanket called a "robe" with my arms at my side and wouldn't let me up.  I believe that was the 1st time I experienced "claustrophobia".  I still get that feeling in very confined spaces.  Marlin doesn't remember that.

Dad was hunting with Grandpa Lundwall on the Mallad Tower road and they saw about 15 to 20 partridge, all sitting on a log facing the same way and by the time they got out of the car, they all flew into the trees and away and they never even got one.  That's when there were a lot of birds.

I have many, many fishing and hunting memories of Uncles Bill, Ward, Marlin, Earl, Kenneth, Ray and Lloyd that are too numerous to put down, however, there are some that stand out more than others and as I reflect on them, it turns out that most are of Uncle Lloyd. These are some of them in no particular order--

The evening gatherings at our house in T.C. when all of the uncles would talk about the day's hunt - memories of a great and happy time.  Many times it would be about shooting deer out of season.  The word "violator" was commonly used many times in the discussion.  I looked forward to the times that the "Lundwall" families would come to visit, fish, hunt or whatever.  It was a very enjoyable experience.

One deer season, Uncle Lloyd found a dead buck with a nice rack in the woods and the guys put it on the car, without a tag attached, and brought it to the house.  They cut off a hind leg, but it smelled bad when fried, so they brought it back and propped it up a couple of miles outside of town.  I was at Koski's store a couple of days later and a man by the name of Ted Bessen was relating the story to someone in the store, maybe for me to hear, telling of him seeing this buck facing the road and he got out of his car and shot 7 times at it and it never moved only to find out that it was already dead and that somebody had propped it up.  I recall all of the uncles laughing about that.

The time that the uncles (when I say uncles, I don't know how many or who, except the ones in the story) went hunting after dark and uncle Bill, who was in the Army, was to shoot the deer.  After 2 very rapid shots, it was found that 2 holes were in the deer, only an inch apart.  He was an excellent marksman!

The time uncle Bill, and I don't remember who, unless it was Billie, were deer hunting east and north of T.C.  Darkness came and they still hadn't gotten out of the woods.  We fired 2 shots and he responded with 1 shot.  They came out of the woods and uncle Bill said that when the shots were fired, they were heading in wrong direction, so they turned around to get back.

The time uncle Ward, my dad, Gerald and myself were fishing at "Black Pat's".  Our vehicle was parked at the end of a dead end road in the middle of the woods and when Gerald and I started back, Gerald saw dad and uncle Ward heading up a hill in the wrong direction.   We hollered to no avail, so Gerald had to literally run and catch them.  They were going in the right direction to T.C., which was about 4 miles, but the vehicle was only 1/4 mile away, 90 degrees to the right. 

The time that the uncles would stop at Mike Silk's for a beer during partridge season and I being 15 or 16, I wanted to go hunting. Or another story at Mike Silk's.  Whatever the occasion or why my dad was wearing a tie, I don't know.  Anyway, uncle Earl cut off my dad's tie, just below the knot, with his hunting knife.

I spent a week in Hibbing at uncle Ward & Margaret's when they had a store there and I remember riding my bike up the road to look at the deep open pit mine.

Also, spent a week at uncle Lloyd & Joyce's and I had my bike.  Only remember going down Stambaugh hill and hoping the brakes would hold or else I would run into the building at the bottom.