Seasons Past

December 1971 @ Grandma Wright's

[L-R : Kellie Wright, Jim Wright, Travis LeMaster, Jason LeMaster (seated)]

Christmastime is full of many traditions and memories in my family. I remember as a child going on Christmas Eve to my Grandma Wright's house in Alexandria, and then on Christmas day, after opening presents at home, we would travel to Grandma LeMaster's in Portland.

One of the family traditions that I recall from my youth at Christmastime was gathering together for a family photo. My cousins and I would gather next to the plastic Santa, who had our names written on his list, and pose for a group photo. The Santa is now at my mom & dad's, and they've tried to carry on the tradition by adding the grand kids names to Santa's list. I'm not sure when the Santa tradition started, as he is not in the 1971 photo above.

Another tradition I can recall from Grandma Wright's was the famous red punch that was a hit with the kids. If I remember correctly, it was Hawaiian Punch with ice cream. Many of the photographs from that time will show us kids with red punch smiles!

Early Christmas morning we had to eat breakfast before we could open any presents. I remember dad getting out the old Super 8 movie camera and the big light that it had. We each had to take a turn opening presents, so that everyone could see what was being opened. After everything was opened, we each placed all of our loot on the bed for a photograph that would show all of the things that we received. When we would get dressed to head over to Grandma LeMaster's we could take one or two things with us to play with.

At Grandma LeMaster's I remember a big meal with lots of cousins around watching football on television or playing games. Many times that would be the only time of the year that I would see these cousins.

Christmas continues to be a special time of the year for me, but for different reasons now. I wonder what the kid in the picture above was thinking about.

Submitted to the 61st Carnival of Genealogy :: Traditions

Nancy Byars Power (1802-1876)

Received an email from another researcher who found my WorldConnect database and sent me an addition for my records. So many times I have been given additional information and corrections to data through postings online.

David Alsup sent me information on the death date and place of Nancy (Byars) Power, my first cousin 6 times removed. She was the daughter of John and Catherine (Heck) Byars, and died August 14, 1876 in Bracken County, Kentucky. Many of the Heck family were in this area.

This is a family that I didn't have much information on, nor would I have time to dig into, but it is nice that someone took the time to add to and make corrections to my data.

Creating and sharing memories

This weekend my daughter, Corinne, and her boyfriend, Ryan, were here from Evansville for a visit to Alexandria. Staying at her grandparents gave her the opportunity to show her boyfriend some of the highlights of the Alexandria area, and I had the privilege of going along.

One of the highlights of the tour was a visit to the World's Largest Ball of Paint, a roadside attraction that no one should miss. Both Corinne and Ryan had the opportunity to add a coat of paint to the ball, sign their names in the registry, and obtained a certificate showing that they had placed another layer of paint on the ball. Corinne even bought Ryan a T-shirt so that he would always remember the visit.

We toured the area of Orestes and Alexandria, showing them the old Orestes Elementary, the famous Oak Tree, Red Gold and the county landfill. As we came into Alexandria down Harrison Street, we showed them some of the old storefronts and stopped by the library. A trip to Gaither Family Resources to show one thriving business that Alexandria is famous for and a trip by the old ball diamonds.

As we drove, mom started talking about the old mill in Alexandria and remembering when her grandfather would haul grain into town and she would ride along. At that time the roads were all gravel. This was a memory that she hadn't shared before, or I hadn't remembered. We drove by where the old Armscamp Speedway was and she told me that her dad used to qualify the cars for her uncle to drive, another story that I need to find out more about. We drove by the old abandoned Lippincott glass factory and pointed out where the Alexandria Hospital used to be, as well as the old paper mill, etc. It is hard to believe that the town had so many factories at one time.

Memories like this need to be written down and I plan to 'interview' mom over the holidays and the coming weeks to get these types of stories written down.