Memories - From 1940 - 1941, small town Arkansas (or anywhere)

A similar group in 2013, posing= PL.

 

               [ An addition to last week’s list of family member veterans: a cousin, DOUGLAS P. SCOTT, Lieutenant JG in the US Navy. And the late Eugene Boener, WW II.] 

                On Memorial Day Sunday, I took my wire cutters and 4 stems of silk flowers to the nearby Cameron Cemetery to freshen those already in the urns. That wasn’t enough, but using some of the unfaded ones from earlier, I accomplished my goal. Nine family members rest there, fairly close together, two who served during World War II.

                New bedroom/hall carpets were to be laid on Tuesday after Memorial Day. To prepare, I had to take out all the small stuff from each room and clear off the tops of the heavy pieces, which the installers would move.

                This is where I found what follows. I opened the top drawer of a bureau to deposit those decorations thereon inside. In a back corner, I saw what resembled an old photo folder. I felt like an archeologist/ historian.  Bordered pictures—with their same-size negatives—fell out on the sofa where I could see them.

                Luckily for me, several yellowed, fragile clippings from the BENTON COURIER had been folded into the envelope.

                The date of the large clipping that showed the masthead was May 8, 1941. I was four years old and supposedly among the children mentioned in the second write-up of the Salem Home Arts Club.

                Here is the first one. It had no date. 

               “The Home Arts Club held its December meeting at the home of Mrs. Frank Davis ( Dora Maude nee Bragg). The house was very tastefully decorated with a beautiful Christmas tree.

                “It was an all-day meeting and after a delicious pot-luck luncheon the business session was called and old and new business was discussed, after which a social hour was held with Mrs. Raymond Pelton (my aunt Doris nee Couch) and Mrs. Harold Bragg ( Golden nee Crow) winning the prizes. The gifts were then exchanged and everyone received something lovely—most of the gifts being pyrex ware.

              “The meeting adjourned to meet in January with Mrs. Bill Kreigbaum (Gladys nee Lee).—Reporter.”

               The next clipping also had no date, but it was April, so it was 1941.
 

              “Mrs. Hubert Couch (my mother, Anna Pearl nee Scott) was hostess to the Home Arts Club on Thursday April 4. Her home was lovely with purple lilacs and dogwood. All members were present except one, and we were glad to welcome back an old member, Mrs. Vera Scott.

              “The morning was spent sewing and chatting. At noon a delicious pot-luck dinner was served, with the children having a lovely picnic in the yard.

             “In the afternoon the hostess was given a shower of many beautiful gifts. Then a short business meeting was held. The ones who went to Collegeville and gave the play made a good report. It was decided to have a ‘Radio variety program’ at the club house, Saturday night, April 20, and plans were made for it.

          “Pictures were made of all the group, the children and the officers. After this the door prize was awarded to Mrs. Woodrow Shelby (Lois nee Kane).”

            My sis and I concluded that Mom—as hostess—had given birth to her third child in mid-January. The belated “shower” must have been for that occasion. Perhaps the group didn't meet during the winter. We still lived in “the little house” until November of 1942. That would also explain the lilacs and dogwood.
 

           What a great way to temper the toil of cleaning for the carpet men—by finding vestiges of the past.