DOGWOOD ACRES, 05/11/08, ELANE CRUM
Hello friends. My weekend kicked into high gear early Saturday when sister-in-law, Dawn Bilyeu, and I went to Coffee Club at Harvey and Sherry Westfall’s home. Yes, it was “The” Coffee Club where ladies are not really welcome and tolerated only if they do not invade the male space. Harvey has been coming to coffee for several weeks and is Rick’s fishing buddy, but it was our first time to meet Sherry. They truly live at the end of the trail after leaving one gravel road, then following another one deep into National Forest.
Harvey Westfall
Several of the fellows were showing recent pictures taken of black bears and their cubs. The same bears that used to visit Larry and JoAnn Rice are now regular visitors of the Jim Evans family. They have grown and look enormous now. Chuck Taylor is seeing a sow with cubs in his neck of the woods so that is evidence of an increasing bear population.
Ashton, Erin and I stopped in at Ken and Nita Puchta’s cabin to see the new kittens there, as if we do not see enough cats at our house! Justin and Kasie’s Mama cat moved into the Puchta’s garage and is raising her six kittens there. They are cute; we each picked out our favorite, picked it up for some cuddling, and then went on our way.
One afternoon last week I spent a couple of hours in line at Sight and Sound Theater getting tickets for the area appreciation show, Noah, coming up in a few weeks. About 30,000 other people had the same idea and I think the line was perpetual for days. Two hours is a long time to stand in line but worth it as I made a new friend, Linda Pingleton. Linda and her family attend Tri-Lakes Church where she works in the Missionette Program with my sister Dawn.
Rick and I went to Plainview School Thursday night for the spring concert. It was Mrs. Crum’s last concert for the year and we think she and the kids did a great job. We especially enjoyed and were impressed by the original music written and performed by the students. There is such great talent there and surely some proud parents.
Saturday night’s storm sent Jim and Dawn scurrying to Bill and Christie’s house for shelter if needed. Christie said Dawn brought a rice/chicken dish and they put it together with what they had and enjoyed dinner together until the storm passed over.
As the storm began to brew, Rick told the girls if he yelled “Basement”, they had better dive for the basement door. We had one and one-half inches of rain in thirty minutes and some thunder rumbles, but fortunately, that was all.
I feel so bad for those folks in counties west of us who suffered such terrible destruction and loss of life. After church Sunday night, I called James and Louise Meier who live just two miles from Newtonia, the small town where there was so much damage. They had gone to the home of their daughter, Leta, who had some sort of hidey-hole under her house, but had no damage.
Louise said her brother, Roy Dean Bilyeu, continues to recover and improve from throat surgery done several weeks ago. He feels blessed to once again be able to lead singing and teach his Sunday School class at Monett General Baptist Church.
It has been a good Mother’s Day weekend. Granddaughters and I had lunch Saturday with longtime friend, Carol Reynolds, at Gilberti’s on Acacia Club Road in Hollister. Carol and her husband, D.C., had come up from Tulsa for a weekend of trout fishing with her boys, Tom and Rick Smith.
We did some shopping on the way home; stopping at the mall for a new coffee pot that Rick wanted me to have for Mother’s Day.
Before bedtime we called Grandma Betty Crum in Oregon so the girls could visit and wish her a happy Mother’s Day. They talked about the pet frogs that both Grandma and Ashton keep in aquariums. Ashton loves her frogs, but Erin gets irritated with the noisy one when she is trying to sleep.
Sunday Dinner was at Bill and Mary Lou Hodges with a wonderful group of family from all sides. There was Mary Lou’s brother and sister, Ed Turner and Josie Adamson with her little grandson, Chance. Bill’s sister and family were there, Robert and Arlena Maggard, with daughter Robin and her two little boys. Uncle Martin was there, Neal, LeaAnn and girls, Rick and I. It was a very good day.
Makaylee, Sean and Grandpa Bill Biggs went to Meadows Cemetery Saturday to add some dirt and plant grass seed on Daddy’s grave.
I just learned that another dear Mother and Grandmother is to be buried in Meadows on Monday. Grace Bilyeu passed away on Friday and will be buried beside her husband, Earl and two children, Anna Lee and Denny.
Another of our Pine Ridge neighbors, Lola Rhoades, passed away and was buried on Tuesday in Chadwick Cemetery. Lola used to ride to work with Mother when they worked at Hagales in Forsyth, but that seems so long ago. She was well known as an expert basket maker and could set for hours and weave those supple oak strips into beautiful, but useful, baskets.
Both Grace and Lola lived all of their lives in the Bilyeu Creek and Pine Ridge Community, were good neighbors and will be missed. Bye for now.
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