I can remember a time during confirmation school around the sixth or seventh grade we would have to walk all the way to school and do our chores before school. If I were running late due to being behind on my chores, I would run to school seven miles, five of which were through the woods. The school was a small one-room school located in Oak Grove, Missouri. I would cut back all of the weeds in order to create a path to walk on with Cleopha, Lolly, and Naomi. I remembers cutting holes in the barbwire and wrapping them with gunnysacks so the barbwire did not tear their clothing. The children were expected to attend no matter what the weather was like and even during the winter the girls still wore dresses. Cleopha, Beatrice, and Lolly later walked this path to school and across the creek in 2011. I also remembers a time when the creek was frozen. I saw a minnow in the creek, so I ran jumping onto the frozen creek with one foot on the creek and the other on the creek bank. The foot on the frozen creek fell through causing me to hit the ice with my bottom. Once I arrived home, my pant leg was frozen dry to my leg.
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I remember the hole Mahlon cut in the fence for us to crawl through. It was after you crossed the second creek and a small meadow. Before we walked up a wooded incline, there was a fence there. I remember the barb wire fence covered with the burlap sack also.
Was that the creek on our land, or the one on Goetz’s that you fell into Mahlon? You walked 7 miles to Honey Creek. and 2 miles to Oak Grove.
Mahlon fell in a creek more then once. The time that that was so terrIble was one 5 degree winter day, very very cold winter day. I think he thought he was steping on frozen ice. This time was on the creek on the goetz land. He got out of the creek thank god and took off for home.i tried to keep up with him but he got home and snuck upstairs and changed clothes and I don’t think our parents ever knew.
boy that was a long long way to walk with wet pants and 5 degree temp. Wonder it didn’t kill him!!!.
Why Mahlon had to do this d will never know , Vernon was gone to seek his fortune in the world, maybe he was in Japan at this time, I’m not sure. Mahlon with the wire cutters made us a small hole to crawl through and another thing the creek bank was washed out so it was hard to cross. Mahlon dug us steps to get down to the water and rocks to walk across tne creek where we needed them. Besides me there were 2 or 3 little ones that walked this path until the schools consolidated…..I forgot to mention all the weeds that would grow up un our pathway durning the summer, he would cut out. Those were the good old days. Thanks be to god. He was there all the time.
Not only he didn’t get sick that I remember, our parents didn’t know about it’, and I think he was changed and dry before we got home. God was watching out for us. To quoting one of my favorite songs ” he was there all the time. We need to make that OUR family song.
I want to comment on our school path before the issue changes. I think that in the beginning when we first moved to the farm we were raised on, sometimes referred to as the stroesner farm, VERNON who was the biggest boy at home ,about 15 years of age I am guessing, him an maybe father, cleared us a path to oak grove and a way through the fences, but some years later when Mahlon was going to honey creek, the neighbors I guess the goetz family or whoever owned the land at that time had to put in a new fence, because they started running cattle on that piece of land. They didn’t open up the hole in the fence off us. That fence was hard to get over , it wasn’t the kind you could crawl through. Continued later.
I am sorry that every thing I try to write turns out to be such a mess. The second part of my story came in before the first. You can tell by the time .sorry
I blame it on technology…and why did they have to invent these new-fangled things that us old people have to learn to us. Ha Ha…I like to say “there is no one living who hasn’t used an eraser..but how do you ERASE on a website or e-mail, once it’s been sent!! When we walked to Oak Grove a few years ago, the fence that Mahlon had cut the hole in was gone and a new replacement was there. I was heartbroken that I couldn’t find the hole we crawled through!
Lloyd says he had to walk to Oak Grove too. He walked a lot farther than that selling Christmas Cards and seeds. Took him all day.
Our path through the woods and fields will always be dear to my heart. It was wonderful. We didn’t mind the walk at all. One time though we were walking to school and it was so cold, that my hands were freezing, and hurt so bad, I was crying and Cleo was trying to help me keep warm I must have been about 6 years old. I don’t know why we didn’t have any gloves. Sometimes we wore old stockings over our hands. and once in a while we held on to hot boiled eggs to keep warm. We always got new shoes and overshoes in the fall, but never gloves. I wonder why!!