1981 Catherine's Letter -Dec.8

 

December 8, 1981

Dear Mother, Dad, Mary & Mie Young,

Hi!  I am in hopes this will reach you by Friday so as to arrive on Mother's birthday but just in case it doesn't -- Happy Belated Birthday.  Speaking of birthdays, do I need to remind you that Gerry's is coming up?  It is the 17th.  Since it is on Thursday he will have a Lodge meeting so doubt if we will do too much at least on that day.The Elks birthday dinner is on Wednesday so at least he will get a Birthday dinner close to the day!  Also that Wednesday is the Red Cross Blood Drive.

The Charity Ball went off OK.  I wore my new long skirt and blouse that I had bought.  Gerry (and all the other officers) wore their matching suits.  They didn't have as big a crowd as at the 25th Anniversary but still a fairly large turn-out.

Wendy is getting all excited about Christmas.  We had thought of going shopping in Bend this weekend but decided we really didn't want to make the trip so I am getting ready to give Sears an order.   DeeDee won't be coming for Christmas this year.  She decided she would rather stay in California.

Got to go.

Love,

Catherine, Gerry & Wendy

1981 Catherine's Letter -Aug.31

Monday, August 31, 1981

Dear Mother, Dad, and Mary,

Hi!  Sorry I didn't call you on Friday, Mother.  I had every intention of calling you.  Somehow it slipped my mind until I was at work on Friday that it actually was Friday.  I don't know what day I thought it was but I certainly would have called you if it had occurred to me before 8:00!  Then I was going to call you over the weekend but figured you were probably gone to New Cumberland.  I will try to do better this week and be aware of what day it is!

One of the things I wanted to tell you was that we got Wendy's hair cut short.  She looks really different and it is certainly lots easier to keep neat looking.  I think it makes her look more like a Uible with the short hair!  She seems to like it and was all in favor of getting it cut.  We took a picture of her but of course we haven't finished the roll yet -- we'll take some more while Grandma and Roberta are here.

The new assistant librarian starts today so I'll be busy for the next few days getting her trained.  Barbara (former librarian) only worked two days last week so I was on my own for most of the week.  Tomorrow is the board meeting so that ought to be a big event.  Three new members ought to make it quite a change.  I have my first book order ready to go out today.  We can get a 40% discount from a company named Ingram but they have a number code for every book that has to be looked up on microfiche list that they send out every two weeks or so.  Or books can be ordered from Baker & Taylor at 34% discount without any special code.

DeeDee is flying out of Redmond today.  Republic Airlines which she is taking from Redmond to San Francisco had an unexpected change of schedule last week so we had to change her connecting flight from SF to SD as she wouldn't have had time to make the original flight.  She will now have a two hour layover in SF instead of the 50 minutes originally and she leaves from Redmond 40 minutes later.  Gerry is taking the afternoon off from work and will take Wendy with him to the airport.  So tomorrow Wendy will go back to Day Care after five weeks vacation.

We are looking forward to seeing Grandma and Roberta next week.  We have been trying to think of places they might like to go while they are around here.  We went quite a few places while they were here last year but I don't think we went to Sisters so that is a possibility.

We are going to have Wendy's birthday party at the Grizzly Bear on September 26th.  It is going to be a joint birthday party for Wendy and her friend Laura who will also be four in September.  The Grizzly Bear furnishes hats, horns, and balloons as well as an appearance by the Grizzly Bear himself.  We furnish cake and buy the drinks from them.

Well, better close and get ready for work.  Hope to talk to you on Friday!

Love,

Catherine, Gerry & Wendy

1981 Catherine's Letter -Aug.24

 

Monday, August 24, 1981

Dear Mother, Dad, and Mary,

Hi!  Nice talking to you on Friday, Mother, and Congratulations to Mary on her singing at the fair.

We went down the river Saturday with another couple who live just down the street from us.  That made it convenient and they are alot more reliable than Jeff & Shirley who either don't know what they are doing until the last minute or are several hours late.  We bought sandwiches at the Deli and took some soda and chips and had a picnic on the river.

Yesterday Gerry and I worked at the Elks for a few hours.  I worked on the bookkeeping and Gerry ran the addressograph machine addressing the monthly bulletins and also a set of envelopes for the letters they are sending out about the 25th anniversary.  There are about 840 names on the mailing list.  The cooking for Thursday night will be easier this week as they served stew on Saturday night before the hobo dance and had alot left over so we'll be serving stew.  I'll probably fix a salad to go with it and have garlic bread or rolls.  So that won't be much work at all.

Saturday night we had sort of a party for DeeDee.  We had fondue which Wendy thought was really neat.  She wanted to have fondue again last night.  We also had a cake decorated for DeeDee -- alot of decoration and it said "Deanna".  It was angel food (which she had expressed as her favorite kind) with strawberry icing.  We did it this weekend as next weekend we have filled up with alot of other stuff like Gerry has to work on Saturday and then has a district Elks meeting on Sunday.  DeeDee will leave from Redmond at 3:50 on Monday the 31st.  Gerry will take the afternoon off from work but I doubt that I will as that is the day that my new assistant is starting.  She has about an hour layover in San Francisco where she changes from Republic to Western and then arrives in San Diego about 8:45.

Yesterday afternoon we went to Oma & Millard Eakin's 50th Wedding Anniversary.  They are the couple that lived across from us at the apartments and sort of adopted Wendy.  It was held at the church and they had quite a turn out.  It was held from 2-5 and their daughter sang at 3:00 and 4:00.  She had a nice voice but I couldn't understand a word.

Everything is going fine at the library.  I had my first two days without Barbara [my predecessor who retired] on Thursday and Friday and the place held together.  It is quit a shock to the patrons to see a new face as Barbara had been there since 1964 I think and Helen (the asst. who also retired) has been there 10 years.  The hardest part for me at the beginning is ordering books as I have to get familiar with what is being put out and also familiar with what people here like to read.  There is also quite a backlog of gift books and other miscellaneous things that have just been stuck on a shelf in the backroom.  I'd like to get them under control.

I will be glad to get Wendy back in Day Care next week.  The disciplined and more structured environment will be good for her.  Also it should help her disposition.  She hasn't been taking a nap this summer at least not with regularity and then she gets cranky and unreasonable.  She will be changing into the four-year-old class during September which will be a change for her also.

Well, I better close and see if there is anything else I need to do around here before going to work.

Love, Catherine, Gerry

DeeDee & Wendy

1981 Catherine's Letter -Aug.17

Monday, August 17, 1981

Dear Mother, Dad, and Mary,

Hi!  Sorry I didn't get a letter off to you last week.  Hopefully the one I sent to new Orleans will catch up with you sooner or later.

We have another busy week ahead of us.  No meetings until Thursday night when Gerry has Elks and I have Bunco.  But we have to fix the Thursday night dinner again this week.  There is a blood drive on Wednesday night so we will probably do the cooking on Tuesday night and then heat it up on Thursday.

We are hoping to go on a raft trip next Saturday as that will be our last chance to go before DeeDee returns to California.  The following weekend Gerry has to work on Saturday, we have to go to an Elks meeting (a district meeting) in Prineville on Sunday and then she is leaving on Monday.

Saturday I went to the AAUW brunch.  It is an annual event (two years in a row now!) to get things in gear for the fall.  There were about 30 women there and the hostess served this really delicious casserole made out of eggs, bread, milk, cheese and mushroom soup.  [Doesn't sound that delicious to me now.]  She served fruit with it.  They had some musical entertainment.  I am trying to get the AAUW to go together with the library to have a book sale.  They also have a lot of sub-groups which meet separately from the main meeting.  I am in the reading group and I'm in hopes we can get permission of the library board to have the meetings at the library.  My first library board meeting will be September 1st. 

Yesterday we went to the Elks picnic.  That was the third year we have been to that so we are beginning to feel like real old-timers.  They had a turn out of about 150 people so there was quite a crowd.  The Elks furnish BBQ chicken and drinks and everybody brings something for the rest of the pot-luck.  After that was over about 4:00 we went to a swimming party.  Wendy had a wonderful time swimming and playing with her friend Darcy but I think DeeDee was pretty bored.  It made for a big day.

Several months ago I took some of Wendy's and my clothes to the consignment shop here and Saturday I went to see how my account was doing.  I could hardly believe I made $34.25!  I thought that was good for things that I would have given away otherwise.  I make 50% of whatever they sell it for.  So I gave them another bag of things and see how well I will do on them.  After they keep the things for four months (?) you have the option of picking them up or they give them to the thrift shop.

Things at the library are going extremely well.  I have been through one week of the "routine" so this week should be even better.  I am amazed that there still seem to be lots of people here that I hadn't met!

Looking forward to seeing you in October and Grandma and Roberta in a few weeks.  This is our week for getting the monthly bulletin for the Elks printed and addressed.  I need to take it over to the newspaper office this morning before work so better close so I will have time to do that.

Love,

Catherine, Gerry, DeeDee & Wendy

1981 Catherine's Letter -Aug.4

 

Tuesday, August 4, 1981

Dear Mother, Dad, and Mary,

Hi!  I am a little slow in getting this letter off this week but I figured you folks would be in New Orleans anyway so you should get it at the same time!  This is a busy week for us.  Last night we had Carl (who works at the Co-op) and his family over for dinner.  His family (wife and 15 year-old daughter plus 10-year-old twin daughters - also a son but he is in North Dakota) is just here for a few days to look for a house.  They haven't sold their house in North Dakota yet and are hoping to sell it before they move out here.

Tonight we all went over to the Elks to cook the Thursday night dinner -- enchiladas, refried beans and Spanish rice.  Now all I have to do on Thursday is to bake the enchiladas, and heat up the beans and rice.  We were supposed to cook enough for 30 so we have 72 enchiladas, 6# of beans and 4# of rice.  I am getting off work at 4:00 on Thursday so I will have time to do everything.

Tomorrow night I have a Ladies of Elks meeting.  I am on the hostess committee for August & September.  Some of the other ladies are fixing the refreshments but I said I would help to serve and clean up afterwards.

Also the County Fair is this week.  Family Day is on Thursday and all the rides are half price so I plan to take DeeDee and Wendy out after we finish with the dinner at the Elks.  Then we will probably go over the weekend with Gerry.  The parade is on Saturday morning and then a big BBQ after that.  And then on Sunday the Elks have a Buckaroo Breakfast.

We took a raft trip down the river on Sunday.  We went to the next stop down the river from where we usually go -- to South Junction which is probably about another hour trip from Trout Creek.  It was nice because there were more rapids than in the part we had been on before.  We survived without any of us falling in the water.  DeeDee & Gerry did all the paddling so it was very relaxing for me.  I kept Wendy entertained.  We went with three other couples who each had their own rafts.  It was a long day though as Gerry left about 9:30 in the morning to take the truck to South Junction, and we didn't get back home until about 9:00 at night.  One of the guys kept stopping to fish (itis illegal to fish from a boat so you have to stop and fish from the side) and he was catching so many fish that he didn't want to quit.  That probably delayed us about two hours

We got a letter from Serena yesterday which she had mailed to New Vienna and then was forwarded to us at our old address -- better tell Esther (or whoever) about our P.O. box.  Better close now -- I have a few other things which should be done!

Love, Catherine, Gerry

DeeDee & Wendy

P.S. Gerry did take the girls to the fair last night.  They had a good time.  Wendy even went on a "whirly-gig" type ride with DeeDee.  Wendy's favorite was a place where you jump up & down on these big plastic bubble like things.  They didn't have a merry-go-round.  She also liked to ride the little cars & a train.  Today is half price on the rides so I'll take them tonight after I finish fixing dinner at the Elks.

Hope you enjoyed New Orleans!

1981 Catherine's Letter -July 27

Monday, July 27, 1981

Dear Mother, Dad, and Mary,

Hi!  Sorry I didn't get to talk to you over the weekend.  I tried to call Friday morning but no one was home.  We were busy both Saturday and Sunday so I didn't have a chance to try again.

Saturday we played golf, worked at the Elks, and then went to a dance at the Elks Saturday night.  The Madras class of 71 was having a reunion and had about 150 people there plus Elks who came for the dance -- there was quite a crowd.  We were amazed at how many people we knew.  Several people told me they hadn't realized I was in the class.  We decided it is alot easier to go to reunions here than to travel across the country to our own reunions.  Plus we probably know more people here!  These reunions are a real plus for the Elks as they furnish the music.  The Elks provide dinner and drinks for them and make a good profit on both.

Sunday we went to Black Butte (the other side of Sisters) with Bob & Emily (our friends who moved to Wyoming but came back for her reunion) and played golf.  We rented a golf cart as we had Wendy and did not want her delaying everyone behind us.  The four of us played nine holes and then Gerry and Bob played another nine.  The golf and the cart cost us $38 which is $15 more than we pay for a whole month of golf in Madras.  However, Black Butte is a really beautiful course while Madras isn't that terrific.  Also Madras is not the middle of a resort!  Afterwards we had pizza at our favorite pizza place in central Oregon -- Papandreas in Sisters.  When we got home DeeDee was here.  She had called Saturday night while the babysitter was here to say that she would be here between 5 & 8 p.m. Sunday.  Since we didn't have a chance to talk to her and we didn't want to change our plans of going to Black Butte we arranged for the babysitter to come at 4:30 and stay until DeeDee got here so that she would be able to get in.  It worked out good because DeeDee got here around 5:00 and we didn't get home until 6:30.

So Wendy gets to stay home with DeeDee now instead of going to Day Care everyday.  That will give her a break from her normal routine.  The library is having a puppet show on Thursday to celebrate the end of the six week reading program so I am in hopes that DeeDee will be able to take Wendy to that.

The lady who was going to take my job at Dr. W's and who I had already trained decided she didn't want the job.  But then Dr. W was able to talk to Teresa who had the job before me into coming back.  She won't need trained although she is going to come in and work for a few days before I leave.  So things worked out better than they looked like they were going to.  Also his new assistant will be starting next Monday.  She is from LaGrande.  And I'm down to three more weeks.  Only 13 more working days!

Well, I better close and finish getting ready for work.

Love,

Catherine, Gerry & Wendy

1981 Catherine's Letter -June 28

 Sun. 6-28-81

Dear Mother, Dad & Mary,

Hi!  Sorry I missed talking to you on the phone this past weekend although I did enjoy the conversation with Grandma. We have had an enjoyable weekend with perfect weather (in the 70's with little wind -- good view of the mountains).

Saturday morning Gerry and I played golf and Wendy went to Day Care for awhile -- she enjoyed it as they had the wading pool out.  Afterwards we took Wendy for a snack at the Dairy Queen.  Then Saturday night we went to a dance at the Elks with another couple who are thinking about joining.  The dance was a "50's & 60's" theme with taped music from that "era".  Several couples dressed up in 50's and 60's costumes.  They had a fairly good turnout considering the time of year.

Today we went rafting taking another couple in our raft along with Wendy.  They took their car to Trout Creek in order to drive us back to Warm Springs to get our truck.  It was their first time down the river and they seemed to enjoy it.  Wendy did real well -- wearing her life jacket without complaining and not getting too upset when she was splashed.  So now we know that when you come we will all be able to fit into the raft.  In another month we should be able to take DeeDee with us.  She will be driving to Canada to see her grandparents and we will pick her up when they pass through Oregon on their way home, which will be during the last week of July.

I interviewed two people for the Assistant Librarian position last week and talked to a third one on the phone.  My fourth candidate who had been at the top of the list is pregnant with her second child and decided she didn't want to be considered.  I have pretty much decided on Debby Stubbe who just finished her sophomore year at Seattle Pacific Univ (?) and wants to take "a year  or two" off to work.  She says that she is considering going into library science.  Her parents live here in Madras.  I only have 28 more working days at the dentist office so they ought to speed by quickly.  I hate to see the summer pass quickly though.  Can't have one without the other though!

Wendy has been practicing taking her shoes off and putting them on again.  She found out that this is something she has to do in order to go into the four year old class.  They advance the classes in March and September depending on which month the child's birthday is closest to.  Wendy will be changing at about the same time as her birthday.  Every time we go by the bakery section of the grocery store she studies the birthday cakes debating what kind she is going to have.  

What are your plans to celebrate on the 4th?  Is New Vienna having a big shindig this year?  We are still thinking of going camping perhaps in the Ochocos which are to the east of Prineville

Love,

Catherine, Gerry & Wendy

1981 Catherine's Letter -Apr.13

 Monday, April 13, 1981

Dear Mother, Dad and Mary,

Hi!  Here it is another week.  Wendy and I were both sick over the weekend.  Wendy woke up in the middle of the night on Saturday and came into our room and vomited all over our bed.  After I got her cleaned up she went right back to sleep and seemed fine on Sunday.  I felt fine until yesterday afternoon and then I got bad intestinal cramps accompanied with vomiting and diarrhea.  I spent the rest of the day in bed and so far I feel OK today -- food doesn't have much appeal yet though.  Gerry doesn't seem to have been affected.

On Saturday I played the tape that you sent Wendy for her birthday.  She always enjoys hearing Grandma, Granddad & Mary "Aginia" on the radio . . . .  We couldn't find "The little engine that could" but she did follow along on the other two books and she talked back to the tape just like you would be there to hear her.  For the rest of day she kept saying "Mary Aginia is my Aunt Mary."

We called DeeDee yesterday to wish her a Happy Birthday.  Our answering machine has a special deal so you can tape conversations but it keeps going beep every 15 seconds so that you can't tape without someone else's knowledge.  We tried it out and it seems to work fine -- nice to replay the conversation so we could all hear both sides.  Wendy couldn't understand why we couldn't go to DeeDee's birthday party or at least have a cake of our own.  We told her we would have a cake when DeeDee came to see us.

This is our busy week of the month coming up.  Gerry has Elks Investigating Committee tomorrow night and I have to audit the books for the Lady Elks.  Wednesday night I have Lady Elks meeting (I have been considering dropping that and joining AAUW which meets the 3rd Monday of the month.)  and on Thursday I have Bunco and Gerry has Elks.  This Friday night is the last Bingo until next fall.  They are going to give away a microwave as a door prize.

Better close.

Love, Catherine, Gerry & Wendy

P.S. Thanks for  the get-well card for Wendy.  She enjoyed the card and has been wearing the bunny [?]

1980 Catherine's Letter -Dec.29

Monday, December 29, 1980

Dear Mother, Dad & Mary,

Hi!  This will probably be the last letter you get from us this year.  Did you see the comic strip where the guy writes 1981 on a sign and then hangs it upside down so that it read 1861?

Sorry about the delay in getting the airline tickets back to you.  I didn't want them to get lost in the Christmas shuffle but I suppose the post office could lose them just as easily any other time.  We got a new schedule from Amtrak but all the trains we will be on won't be changing - at least not yet.

We had a nice Christmas even if we did wait two days longer than the rest of the world.  I got contacts and a warm-up suit.  Gerry got a set of weights, an exercise bench, some new clothes and we got ourselves a set of bucket type pillows for the bed.  The co-op gave us a food processor.  I used it yesterday to chop up vegetables to make pea soup.  And then to slice ham for sandwiches and for quiche.  It also grates cheese -- did about ¾ pound in 15 seconds.

DeeDee gave us a matching towel and pot holder set.  DeeDee got a "Game of Life".  It had been several years since I last played that in New Vienna!  She had also requested some electronic games -- Simon & Merlin if you have heard of them but they are both on the expensive side so we decided she could spend her Christmas money on them if she wanted to after she gets back to San Diego.  We also got her some desk accessories as she just got a new desk.  

Wendy seems happy with her new toys.  She helped me sweep and mop with her new housecleaning set which also contains a vacuum sweeper, apron, dust clothes, brush, etc.  She's better equipped than I am!  She really likes her Fisher-Price school which comes with about 100 pieces.  Fortunately they all fit inside the school which closes up and can be carried around.  One of her other favorites is the Baby with her Treasure Chest (see p. 516 of the Sears Christmas catalog.)  She loves to push the baby around in the stroller.  The housekeeping set is on p. 547 and the school p.607.  We are looking forward to enjoying our present from you in March.

The weather here turned slightly more winter-like yesterday with the high in the 40's,  The low last night was 35º and the sun is shining now so it may warm up more today.  Western Oregon had alot of floods because of the warm weather but it didn't affect us any -- we did have two days of rain though.

Wendy will be staying home with DeeDee this week instead of going to school.  I will have another long weekend this week with Thursday and Friday both off.  Gerry will have to work Friday and Saturday though.  DeeDee will be flying back to San Diego next Tuesday afternoon from Redmond.  Gerry will take the afternoon off or however much time he needs to get her there but I will probably stay at work as it is difficult to get time off.

Almost time to go to work so I better close.  Happy New Year!

Love,

Catherine, Gerry & Wendy

1980 Catherine's Letter -Dec.12

 

Friday, December 12, 1980

Dear Mother, Dad & Mary,

Hi!  I wanted to get these copies of the Amtrak schedule off to you so you can see our proposed route.  Also, we need you to decide which of those Ohio towns would be the most convenient for you to meet us in.  Our plans tentatively are to arrive in Ohio on Monday, March 9 and depart on Wednesday or Thursday for the continuation of the trip.  But before I can make the reservations I need to know which town to plan the stopover in.  Ideally, we would like to make the reservations by the end of next week.

Tomorrow we are going to Bend to do some more shopping for Christmas and get Wendy a new pair of shoes as she has almost worn through that pair of saddle shoes which you may remember her getting as hand-me-downs while you were here.  We have also been buying all of our meat in a store in Bend that seems to have much better prices and quality as well as selection than here in Madras.  And we will probably stop at the canned food store in Redmond as we found some real bargains there the last time we stopped.

DeeDee is arriving on December 26 and staying through January 6th.  It will be much more convenient for us since she is flying in and out of Redmond.  She will change from Western Air Lines to Republic (formerly Hughes Air West ) in San Francisco.  Wendy is very excited about her coming.  Every time she thinks we aren't treating her properly she cries "I want DeeDee".  She also goes through the list of her aunts periodically, saying I want Aunt Serena or Aunt Mary, etc.  She even talks about her Aunt Linda & Aunt Debbie who she hasn't even met yet.  She doesn't forget her uncles either!

I better close as I desperately need to work on my Christmas cards and I want to get this off in the mail today.

Love,

Catherine, Gerry & Wendy

1981 Catherine's Letter -Jan.6

 

Tuesday morning
January 6, 1981

Dear Mother, Dad, & Mary

Hi!  We got your letter on Friday with the news about Mie Young so guess we didn't miss any mail after all.  I hope you got the tickets OK.

It seems like the New Year has started off busily.  Gerry had to go to the annual meeting of the Jefferson County Co-op yesterday.  Actually the employees get fed lunch, introduced to the members and then they go back to work.  I  had an appointment to get my contacts checked at lunch time yesterday but their office was running behind and I didn't get back to work until 3:00 (I had a 1:30 appointment.).  I have to go back again next week but I have an appointment at 8:45 PM.  I may be there half the night but at least I won't miss any work.  I got a stronger right lens as my left eye was seeing better than the right.  Now they seem to be matched fairly well.

Gerry is taking DeeDe to the airport in Redmond at 3:45 this afternoon.  He is taking the afternoon off from work so they will probably go out to lunch and do some shopping.  Wendy is thrilled that she gets to do something that Mommy doesn't.  I have a library board meeting at noon today so we set appointments from 9-12 and 1-5 instead of our usual 1-2 lunch.  Yesterday I found out that we may be closed on the 29th as Dr. Woll may have some friends coming from California.  Of course either Debbie or I would have to work like we do on alternate Fridays.  The Woll's are putting an ad in the paper this week for a new assistant as Debbie is expecting a baby the first of April and only want to work until sometime in February.  I got several large insurance payments last week which brought the monthly collections up to enough that I will get a $54 bonus.  I had a 96% collection rate last month.

We keep reading about all the cold weather you are getting in the east.  We hope you get a warm spell in March!  The weather has turned a little cooler here but the ground is still not frozen.  The low yesterday was 34º with a high of 43º.  Right now (8:03 a.m.) the sun is shining brightly and the temperature is 35º  DeeDee won' have to worry about her plane being grounded by the fog anyway.

I better finish getting ready for work.

Love,
Catherine, Gerry & Wendy

1980 Catherine's Letter -July 22

July 22, 1980

Dear Mother, Dad, Roberta & Mary,

Hi!  I have been trying to get hold of you folks since Saturday on the telephone.  My efforts have been frustrated though as our phone has been on the blink (Unable to get dial tone -- the phone company is putting a new system here which is supposed to improve that problem) and when I do get through I either get a busy signal or you aren't at home!  Perhaps I will talk to you before this letter arrives.

My Data Analyst School went fairly well last week.  I learned some new ways of doing things and some additional things they want us to do for our annual ratio report which will be due in November.  That is what all our efforts throughout the year are for is this big report in November which basically is the recommendations for the amount to be increased on property values in all areas and property classes that are not reappraised during the year.  I just wish more people in our office here in Jefferson County were more enthused about their jobs.  They are not at all inspiring except perhaps for the cartographer.  Driving to Bend every day was a drag but at least I was able to use the county car and leave Gerry with the truck.

We took another raft trip down the Deschutes on Sunday afternoon.  We went with our friends Jeff & Shirley.  They have an inflatable kayak and we borrowed a raft.  They left their daughter with Shirley's mother (Wendy's babysitter) so we left Wendy also.  DeeDee enjoyed the trip though.  Since it was our second trip we knew more what to expect and I think we enjoyed it more than the first trip.  Jeff's father picked us up at our destination and took us back to Warm Springs to get the truck.

Wendy is doing OK. I'm having problems getting her to sleep at night though.  She goes to bed fine but after I leave the room she gets up and turns on her light and plays with her toys or reads her books.  last night twice after I thought she was asleep and we had gone to bed I got up to find her awake.  The first time she had come out in the living room and was reading her books.  The second time she had spread all her toys out in her bedroom and was playing.  I finally had to put her to bed with us to get her to sleep and this was at 1:00 a.m.

DeeDee suffered a big disappointment yesterday as she has a friend in Idaho who was to come down to see her next week (we were going to meet half-way to pick her up) and then her friend called yesterday and said she had decided not to come.  Otherwise I think she is having a fairly good time this summer.  We are hoping to go somewhere this weekend -- maybe the coast.

Gerry is still very busy at work.  He has the new part-time woman to help him but no man as yet.  Fred's idea of hiring is to wait until someone walks in the door so it could take awhile.

Love,

Catherine, Gerry

DeeDee & Wendy

1980 Catherine's Letter -July 1

Tuesday, July 1, 1980

Dear Mother, Dad & Mary,

Hi!  Here I am at work on my "coffee break." I have the library board meeting at noon today so I am not going out for my usual break.

Things have been pretty hectic at home since I talked to you on Friday.  We had some friends over for dinner on Friday.  They have a little girl Wendy's age who goes to the same babysitter (her grandmother) as Wendy on Wednesdays & Thursdays.  That went off fairly well.  We charcoaled some steaks on our hibachi.

Saturday morning we left early for Portland and did some shopping before we picked up DeeDee.  I bought three new pair of slacks -- grey, dark green, and navy blue if you want to remember that for your Velva Sheen shopping.  My other slacks are black, brown and red.  So anything that will go with those colors is fine.  That should cover everything they have!  I checked some of the shirts that I bought last summer -- the women's style and several of them are size large and fit fine although one long sleeve one (that didn't have any decal) is a little big.  P.S. I forgot my burgundy colored slacks.  So you can judge by how big they look.  Gerry has about the same color slacks as I do except I don't think he has any red ones.  Do not be afraid of buying us too many!  I will gladly send you the money now if you prefer.

To go on with our trip to Portland we also bought some more unfinished furniture.  We bought a dresser which we will let DeeDee use for the summer and then it will be Wendy's and also a large cedar box which will be a toy box until Wendy no longer needs such a thing and then it could store anything.  [That box is now located in the loft at the Counts house.]  We put one coat of stain on both of them on Sunday and hope to put a second coat on the dresser tonight.  Then we will put urethane finish on both.

Sunday we went to church with a coffee hour afterwards.  The Jackmans are leaving this week for a three week vacation so there will be substitute preachers for the next few weeks.  The raft trip left Warm Springs bridge at 1:00  There were about 50 people in 10 rafts altogether so that was a good turn out.  It was a fairly calm trip with only a few rapids.  Wendy slept for about half of the 2½ hour trip.  DeeDee was the bailer & another guy that went along with us & Gerry were the navigators so I just relaxed and held on to Wendy.  It was alot of fun, Gerry & I  hope to go on a more difficult trip at some later date.  There was a pot luck picnic at the end of the raft trip.

Our friends the Grinvalds from Klamath Falls (he stayed with us last week) all came this week.  So I left Wendy home to play with them yesterday & today.  We fixed a Mexican dinner for them last night.

Tonight we are going to a pot luck salad or dessert picnic at the Jackman's.  They have invited the whole church in an effort to promote informal fellowship so it will be interesting to see how many show up.

Library board -- interesting -- decided to patch roof -- more later.

Love,

Catherine, Gerry & Wendy

1979 Catherine's Letter to John -Aug.13

Monday, August 13, 1979

Dear John,

Sorry I have been so slow in answering your letter.  I assume you have heard by now that Wendy and I are coming to Ohio for the big event.  We are to leave next Tuesday evening.  It will be interesting to see how Wendy handles the trip. 

We had a good time while Mary was here although she probably thought I worked her too hard.

I have been busy here pulling weeds.  They think now that we will get some grass next month although they still have not hired anyone to do the job.  I have been trying to work extra hours this month to make up for the week that I will be gone.  Gerry has been super busy at work with it now being the harvest season.

The Jefferson County Fair was last week and it is definitely the highlight of the year in Madras.  On Saturday morning they blocked off the street downtown and had a big parade with lots of horses, floats, cars, farm equipment, kids on bicycles, etc.  Wendy really like it.  Plus there was a big crowd on hand lining both sides of the street.  It was the most people I've ever seen in Madras.

After the parade there was a Churchmen's BBQ at the fairgrounds so we went to that.  I had to furnish two pies.  Then Saturday afternoon we took DeeDee to the airport for her flight back to San Diego.  I think she was a little anxious to get back to see her mother after having been gone most of the summer.  She and her mother may be moving to an apartment since her uncle who owns the house where they live now wants to raise the rent from $200 to $400.  DeeDee is excited about that since there are lots of kids at the apartments and a swimming pool.

I think of you when I go to the bank.  How is the job going?  I assume they are going to give you some time off for a honeymoon.  How is the library in Newark?  I'm sure Dad has checked it out if he has been there.  Well, better go.  See you soon!

Love,

Catherine, Gerry & Wendy

1979 Catherine's Letter -Aug.2

August 2, 1979

Dear Mother & Dad,

Hi!  Mary is using the typewriter so here's hoping you can read my writing.  I thought I'd try to get a letter written to you today since Mary can deliver it tomorrow and save me 15¢ as well as getting it to you quickly.

Only a couple of weeks now and Wendy and I will be there.  I still feel a little funny about coming without Gerry but we are gradually getting used to the idea and I'm sure we'll survive.  And I am looking forward to coming to New Vienna and being able to go to the wedding, etc.  What are the chance we can go to Velva Sheen while I'm there?  I thought after I had made the reservations I should have made them through Cincinnati so we'd be closer to Velva-Sheen but the Cin. airport seems so far away.

Mary & DeeDee have been getting along pretty well.  I've been cracking the whip and getting some work out of them so hope Mary doesn't come home too tired.  Wendy loves to go on bike rides & walks with Mary.  She'll have somebody she should recognize right off when she comes to Ohio.  Wendy is really going to miss DeeDee after she leaves.  One of her friends is gone for the week and Wendy talks about her every day and keeps wanting to see her.

I'm sure Mary must have mentioned some of the things we have done while she has been here.  She has met quite a few of our tenants since she has been here during rent paying time.  Plus we went to church on Sunday so she met some people there.  We had our monthly inspection on Tuesday so she met Sandi.  I really had the girls working before the inspection.

I started my golf lessons but there weren't enough for a class.  The teacher (the librarian's husband) is going to give another girl and I lessons after he gets back from vacation next week.  I've been practicing about twice a week with Emily (the other girl).  she only lives about a block from here so we go down to the Jr. High.  Emily has a 10-year-old step-daughter who is here from Tucson so we've done a few things together.  Next week Dawn (the step-daughter) is coming here on Tuesday and DeeDee is going with them on Wednesday to a ranch.

Also next week starting on Wednesday is the County Fair.  That is supposed to be the big event of the year here.  Should be interesting.  DeeDee goes back on Saturday.

Well, I'm anxious to hear more details of the wedding and all the other happenings you are all involved in.  Hope to hear from you soon.

Love,
Catherine, Gerry
DeeDee & Wendy

1979 MV's Letter -July 30

[Madras, Or.]

July 30, 1979

Dear Family --

I thought I better get another letter off before I come home.  Dee-dee and I try to help Catherine but unfortunately we don't always work up to capacity.  We have gone to the cove [swimming] three times since I've been here -- that seems to have helped my incision.  It's now a complete scar, but still pretty "red."

We did go to church yesterday, but the guy couldn't compare with Rev. Wise . . . .  Personally I didn't like him, but Catherine and Gerry seem to enjoy him.

Last nite for supper Catherine baked a salmon -- without the head and tail. It turned my stomach just to look at it, so I didn't eat any.  Catherine fixed salmon-salad for lunch today and I managed to eat some.  We're supposed to have chicken enchiladas for supper -- I'm looking forward to that.  I take it the wedding invitations have gone out --Catherine and Gerry got theirs today.  I heard John did a good job yesterday in church.

Love --

Mary Va.

1979 MV Letter -July 25

July 25, 1979

Dear Family --

I must say Cathy has been keeping me busy -- I hoed/chopped weeds, walked downtown & ran errands, and helped fix lunch.  Plus helped Dee-Dee do breakfast dishes & cleaned part of the bathroom.  We're talking about going swimming this afternoon.

Wendy Jean has grown into quite a little girl.  She always is running someplace and says Hi or Bye whenever leaving or entering the room.  DeeDee & I took her to Dairy Queen this a.m. and got her a dish of ice cream.  Then after it was 1/2 melted, it some how got spilled all over the stroller and Wendy.  That was one mess to clean up.  By the way if she finds money lying around, you'll never get it back -- she's gotten a little coin bank.

Love --

M.V.

[Madras, Or.]

1979 Catherine's Letter -July 18

Wednesday

July 18, 1979

Dear Mother, Dad, and Mary,

Hi!  We're in the midst of a heat wave here with the temperature at 96º and climbing.  Fortunately the humidity is very low -- around 8% and there is a breeze so it isn't too bad.  Plus the temperature drop at night.  Yesterday the high was 106º and the low was 53º.

Nice talking to you yesterday, Mother.  Gerry and I have been discussing the possibility of my flying back for the wedding.  He is unable to get any time off at this time of year.

Sorry this letter has been so long delayed.  With Gerry's folks here and all the apartments we have been pretty busy.  We had two of our messiest tenants move out last week.  One apartment took us 18 man-hours to get back in condition for the next tenant.  They really left a mess, including dumping the vacuum cleaner bag into the toilet which had to be bailed out by hand.  Actually it wasn't as bad as it looked.

DeeDee is doing the laundry right now, Wendy is sleeping, and I'm getting set to go out and try to chop down the weeds.  We have some that are trying to take over one of the sidewalks so I'm going to prune them all back.

This morning was La Leche meeting but they didn't have real big attendance -- about 7 compared to the usual 15.  I still enjoy going to the meetings and seeing the babies as well as meeting new people.  I have yet to go to a meeting and not meet someone.

This evening we are gong on a picnic at the Cove with Perry & Caren Jackman and their two boys.  He is the preacher in case the name sounded familiar to you.  I am taking DeeDee & her friend Lisa and their two boys as well as Wendy out later this afternoon and Perry & Caren will bring Gerry after he gets off work. 

I started and ended my golf lessons yesterday.  Only five showed up and they have to have eight to have the class so it was canceled.  But the teacher (who is the librarian's husband) said since we were there he'd give us a free lesson so three of us stayed and got a two-hour lesson.  He said he covered as much as he would in three lessons.  Another girl and I are going to the junior high tomorrow morning for a practice session.

Well, I better get this out in the mail.  Oh, I did think of one other thing -- Gerry and I are going to help serve a steak dinner to the Madras High School 10th year reunion for the class of 1969 on Saturday night.  It is going to be at the Elks.  We get a free dinner and then can stay for the dance.  Should be interesting.  We know a few people in that class.

See you soon!

Love,

Catherine, Gerry

DeeDee & Wendy

1979 Catherine's Letter -July 7

Saturday 

July 7, 1979

Dear Mother, Dad, and Mary,

Hi!  Another busy week here is almost over so I'll see if I can get this off in the mail to you.

I've been trying to get more maintenance hours in this month as the past two months we have averaged around 60 hours and this month we are aiming for around 60.  We got off to a good start last Sunday when we spent 12 hours cleaning #13 after the previous tenants moved out.  We are going to have another one to put alot of work into probably tomorrow as #12 (the one I had to take to court) is in the process of moving out right now.  DeeDee has been a big help in doing the work around the house like laundry, cleaning, etc. leaving me free to get the outside things done.  Then, of course, this week had the 1st in it so we had all of the rent collecting to handle and I got my monthly report off on the bus to Eugene this morning so have that done for another month.

We had a good 4th of July.  We went to this picnic at one of the local farmer's.   Evidently it started out years ago as a neighborhood event but has expanded to include practically anyone who wants to come.  We met several former Madras residents who had returned for this big event.  There must have been around 100 people.  It was very well organized pot-luck with lots of good food including many desserts and about 8 different kinds of homemade ice cream.  They had a pond for the kids to fish or swim, and a big field set up for a softball game.  Gerry played ball, and Wendy kept wanting to go out on the field to watch him.  One of the UMW nominating committee members cornered me and gave me a choice of being vice-president in charge of setting up all the programs or secretary.

We left around 6:00 for the airport as Gerry's folks plane was due in at 9:05.  They arrived fine along with one of their three suitcases.  The second suitcase came by bus from Portland on Thursday after it was stuck in Seattle and the third suitcase arrived this morning after taking a side trip to Anchorage.  A well-traveled piece of luggage.

Since their arrival we have been working in the mornings and going sight-seeing or whatever in the afternoons.  Yesterday we went down to Peterson Rock Gardens between Redmond and Bend.  DeeDee was very impressed (so were they) and quite anxious to go again when Mother and Mary are here.  DeeDee is really looking forward to seeing you (so are we of course) since it has been a year and a half.  Wendy has been enjoying all the extra attention.

Around the apartments we are still cutting down the weeds as we still have no landscaping.  Also I've been trying to brush the decks down with soapy water as they have gotten very dusty.  And there is our everyday sweeping and picking up of trash to keep us occupied.

Gerry's folks brought us a dozen live lobsters -- what a nice dinner that made!  We gave a half dozen to the three guys who had helped us move when we moved into this apartment, and two to our friends Doug & Susie and cooked the other four up for us.  We had enough meat left after the dinner to probably make a lobster stew or newburg or something.

Someone at work gave Gerry a big bag of bing cherries from Canada.  We had gotten some around here but they weren't nearly as sweet and juicy as these from Canada.  I am making a batch of cherry sherbet later this afternoon.  It looks like it will be real good.

Well, I'll close and run this down to the post office while Wendy is still taking her nap.

Love,

Catherine, Gerry

DeeDee & Wendy

1978 Catherine's Letter -Dec.18

Monday afternoon

December 18, 1978

Dear Mother, Dad, Roberta, Serena (?), John and Mary Virginia,

Hi!  Thanks for remembering Gerry's birthday.  The card arrived on Thursday so it was here in plenty of time.  Thanks for the checks – I think he is going to write you a thank you note for the birthday money.  We aren't quite sure about the Christmas money.  Your suggestion about the movie camera is appreciated, but . . . .  It is not something that we would probably choose to get.  I can see why it would be nice to have though.  So we really haven't decided what to get.  Gerry did look at some movie cameras that he might be able to order through the co-op.  There are quite a few things we can get at a discount that way.

We got DeeDee at the airport on Saturday.  We had heard that the roads were very icy going by Mt. Hood so we went up through The Dalles and then into Portland on I-80 through the Columbia River Gorge.  It is about 50 miles further but the roads were fine.  We went to a shopping center for an hour or so to do some shopping.  We went to the Lloyd Center which everyone we had asked here in Madras said was about the best one.  However it wasn't an enclosed mall and you would think that in a town that has weather like Portland, it would have been.  It was very crowded – probably more people in the shopping center than in all of Madras and we're not used to the crowds anymore.  We got what we wanted fast and got out, arriving at the airport in time to have a little snack before DeeDee's plane arrived.  It came 10 minutes early which seemed unusual.  She is doing fine and we had a leisurely drive back to Madras, stopping at a restaurant in The Dalles for supper.  The food wasn't too good but they had a very inexpensive children's menu.  DeeDee had the child's hamburger plate (79¢) and I had the adult version ($2.25) and the two plates were identical!  Wendy had pancakes and bacon also for 79¢.  I forgot to mention that DeeDee also got chocolate pudding for her 79¢ and I did get a slice of tomato with mine which she didn't get!

At church yesterday the Sunday School put on their Christmas program in place of the sermon.  It was excellent – they did an abbreviated version of the folk musical – "Sam" which is basically the story of the Good Samaritan.  We all enjoyed it and they had such a crowd they had to set up at least two rows of chairs in what they call the narthex which is separated from the main church by some glass but they kept the doors open.  Afterwards they had a coffee hour (the once-monthly affair) in the fellowship hall of the church.  Perhaps you will be here for the one in January.  I think it is usually the third Sunday.

On Wednesday night of this week they are having a carolling party followed by a chili supper – the church furnishes the chili and we bring crackers or vegetables to munch on.  That is preceded by a Red Cross Blood Drive which is also held at the church (the church is across the road from the hospital) so we're going to go early and give blood.  Supposedly the Red Cross comes to Madras about every 3 months.

Wendy has been super excited since DeeDee arrived and has been having a good time playing with her.  It is hard to get her to settle down for her nap or at bedtime.  Of course we got her way off schedule on Saturday by driving all over the countryside.

DeeDee fixed pork chops for Gerry's birthday dinner and we had chocolate cake with 7-minute icing.  Wendy still likes the ice cream better than the cake – she must take after her mother!  DeeDee also made us some home-made cheese pretzels yesterday afternoon which were real good.

This morning I babysat for two kids – the blind baby and her older brother – while their mother went to get her driver's license.  And then one of my new friends came over with her little boy who is a month older than Wendy so we had a houseful of little children.  Wendy is very jealous of the baby though and is always trying to stay between her and me.  I may go into the part-time babysitting business later on to bring in a few extra dollars so Wendy may have some adjusting to do.  Maybe Roberta mentioned to you that we have also applied to be apartment managers of the new apartment complex that is going up here in Madras but as yet we haven't heard anything.  It would be a few months yet as the apartments aren't completed yet.

Well, we're hoping we may get to talk to you sometime around Christmas Day.  Fred (you remember him, he Gerry's boss, the Co-op manager) invited us to Christmas Dinner at his house at 2:00.  I thought that was nice of him.  They have two children who are around our age and have small children (we haven't met any of them) so it should be interesting.

I'll start this paragraph out with something other than "well."  Here are some pictures we just got back – most of them taken during the month of November.  We got a nice card from the Bruces and they asked for Roberta's address.

Hope to hear from you soon! 

Love,

Catherine, Gerry

DeeDee & Wendy