1982 Letter from Mom & Dad p1, March 10
1982 Letter from Mom & Dad p2, March 10
Wednesday morning -
March 10, 1982
Dearest Family -I suddenly realized that we hadn't written our letter last weekend nor would be home this weekend so got up a littler earlier than usual to get one started. We did talk to some of you on the phone on Friday and Saturday - thanks for your calls. It is hard to know the best time to reach each of you.
I don't think we told you that Mary Virginia got an "outstanding"rating on her tenor solo and a "good" on her alto. She was told that her tenor was better than any of the boys that had sung that day - I had been wondering how the judges would accept a girl in that category as Eileen Cline had said that some aren't very receptive. All the others that went from East Clinton also got "outstanding" so they represented East Clinton well. Mary Virginia didn't do the piano solo as she and her teacher hadn't thought it best.
Last Sunday we went to Miami University as the jazz band participated in a jazz festival there and also a clinic was held. Dad and I looked over the campus during the clinic. It is a very pretty place - so different from Ohio State as it is the only thing at Oxford to speak of - a real college town. Of course we took in the library as well and found Hiestand Hall named for a noted architect of the campus who had gone there years ago. Don't know how he is related to our Hiestands but it is the fine arts building. We had asked a student where we might find it and he had never heard of Hiestand Hall. We didn't know then that it was for fine arts. It happened to be right beside the auditorium where the bands were playing.
Friday was World Day of Prayer and so I had lunch with Elizabeth Johnson and brought her back for that - she stayed overnight - not having planned to but it worked out well. She also went to the annual Lions Club Pancake Day lunch and we took her back on our way to the Lincoln Day Dinner Saturday evening. Clarence J. Brown was the speaker, he is running for governor. [Better known as "Bud" Brown, 1927- from Blanchester, he was unsuccessful in the bid for governor, though he served as US Rep 1965-1983.] They had a fund raising reception for him before the dinner which was surprisingly well attended - raising about $3000. They had the largest crowd ever served at the Elks Club for dinner that evening - over 300 people. They said we were eating Cordon Bleu but didn't look like it as I remember what we had with the Morgans. It was chopped chicken and ham with a biscuit topping over rice - not bad but looked more like a stretchable meal to me. The last people served got ham so evidently that ran out of the other. I sat beside the coroner who is also a pediatrician and his wife is a learning disabilities teacher. He seemed to be down of LD teaching, Dr. Spock and Linden Smith, and also thinks that EVERYONE should pay into social security. The man across from us has been taken for Richard Nixon as he does look very much like him but the coroner didn't guess the resemblance til told. The latter said he enjoyed his work as coroner but he had to cover over to New Vienna recently for a terrible wreck in which the sailers [?] were killed - gruesome details.
We are still planning to go to Chicago this weekend meeting John and X in Dayton if they don't come down the night before - hope all goes well with Piper [dog] as they plan to leave him with a friend but are giving the telephone numbers of the Chicago apartments.
Dad is planning to go to Atlanta the last Monday of the month and will be meeting Grandma there and they'll come home together which sounds like it would work out well. We were disappointed that going to Cris' this year didn't work out but perhaps for the best and maybe next year something can be planned before Easter. Marianne and Larry and family are going there again and meet the Hortons there. That is at Easter - not the weekend before as we had talked about going.
[Switch from Mom to Dad writing at this point.]
A week ago today we went to Columbus for the quarterly meeting of the County Commissioners meeting. They had a tour of their correctional building and German Village. We divided up there. For supper we had a real German meal, these BIG sausages, kraut, German potato salad and the largest cream puffs one could imagine (they gave everyone a doggy bag) so the girls also enjoyed them the next day. Your mother also got a visit to the Ohio Readers Circle Book store, which is near OSU.
Monday was a full day at the Commissioners as we toured the Head Start program in Reesville in the morning, had a zoning meeting, then lunch in Blanchester and a visit to some of the weatherization projects. Our State Rep. and State Senator were also with us, they are such different personalities and Cooper Snyder [Ohio Senator 1979-96] is always asking people there names and then telling them HIS name, etc. etc. We wonder what office he has aspiration of running for. One bit of humor at the Monday meeting one of the visitors told me that come next January he would be sitting in that other chair as one of the County Commissioners. I hope not for that job would be a "drag" with just one uncooperative person. Two of us are up for election this year. (The man mentioned is running for D.M. Fife's term - not Dad's.)
Mie Young is taking the day off school today to visit Wilmington College with Melanie McCune - admission's office plus classes there. Melanie has a scholarship to Miami and had planned to major in Spanish there to eventually teach but now things she may get too homesick so is considering Wilmington even though her parents have promised her she can come home every weekend from Oxford.
Jody Rankin is still in the hospital in Texas and may be operated on this week. Joanne went down with her parents and they baby. She has been down there about three weeks now - her parents came home earlier I think. Kelly is here with is brother - the one that hadn't gone to Texas.
The Wall Street Journal reviewed a new book NEW YORK TIMES SELECTIVE GUIDE TO COLLEGES. They have selected 265 of the 2000 as the best and most interesting four years schools. They were given up to five stars each for the three fields - academics, Social life and quality of life. No one got 15, but Brown, Stanford and Virginia all got 14. Arizona State is termed "a collegiate fantasy land that may well have the best institutional food in the country" rating 5 stars in quality of life. It would be interesting to see the whole book. Some colleges were upset with the ratings thinking they had gotten a bad rap compared to their competition.
Have you been hearing about the Health Works fairs being held all over the country the end of March - first week of April - very reasonable chance to have a check up - it is completely free at Clinton Memorial and the dates are April 2 and 3rd. Hope you all are taking advantage if they are in your area.
This letter has gotten far longer than planned and still haven't said that much - do hope the Morgans enjoy their new water bed and get the amount of water adjusted to suit them. Lt us know how it is for making yogurt if you ever try it, Catherine.
Interested to hear how the men work out at Senior Village, Roberta, and glad to hear that the TV program created so much interest. I know it will be awhile before they actually move in but April isn't that far away either.
Grandma and Aunt Mary have really been on the go in Florida. Mrs. Thornburg and some of the senior citizen women have been going to the beauty shop at Laurel Oaks and thee is not charge for shampoo and set. Joanne Gruber said they would like to have all kinds of hair do to so maybe you [GHU?] would like to try it some time this spring. Mrs. Thornburg had the UMW meeting last night and Marie Cooper talked and showed pictures about her trip to Taiwan with Tom and his family. They went the last of January for about 3 weeks. Glad that she could go - too bad John never got there. [John Cooper 1912-1980, Marie 1914-2004] We hope to have church pews cleaned and even get cushions. [Last sentence is difficult to decipher as written on side.]
With much love, [Mom & Dad]
No comments:
Post a Comment