The Friendship Festival
While Lathrop is a bit of a small town, they do host quite the summer celebration. Bands, talent shows, food, food, more food, magic shows, food, and a carnival.
I went most years as a kid. I felt it was only right to take the boys. We were out of town for most of the festivities, but they did get some homemade root beer, and rode on lots of spinning rides.
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The Speech
My uncle, gave a wonderful speech on the day of my grandparents' anniversary celebration. My mom passed along a copy of it, and I will pass it along to you.
All of these people you see here this afternoon are the children of Doctor Grafton and Estyl Bowers, along with their spouses and the Bowers grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And we are here to celebrate Doc's 97th birthday, which was yesterday, and Doc and Estyl's 75th wedding anniversary. The family has come from St. Louis, Lathrop, Lee's Summit, Columbia and Warrensburg, Missouri; Raleigh, North Carolina; Glendale, California; and Topeka, Kansas.
Grafton Bowers and Estyl Cowgill were married on June 2, 1935 at the home of Stella Thompson, clerk of the court, in Kingston, Missouri. They had met, rumor has it, at the swimming pool in Cameron. The way I heard it was, Grafton jumped off of the high diving board and made a huge splash, and when he came up, his face was just inches away from the beautiful face of the girl whom he would marry and spend the remainder of his life with.
Doctor Bowers is a 1938 graduate of Kansas State University School of Veterinary Medicine. Following his graduation, he and Estyl borrowed money from Dr. Frick, his surgery professor, to buy a car, which would take them to Baton Rouge, Louisiana where Doc would be a meat inspector for the United States Army. Later they moved to Chicago with the army, and ultimately settled on a farm south of Cowgill where they raised their four children. Doc practiced veterinary medicine for 35 hears all over Caldwell and Ray county. His 1945 and 1946 Willy's Jeeps became an icon to the community. somehow in the midst of everything that happened on that farm, Estyl managed to receive a Bachelor's Degree in Piano Pedagogy from what is now the University of Central Missouri at Warrensburg, and later, she earned a Master's degree in Music. She taught piano lessons from their home on the farm for over 40 years.
Their four children are Mitchell and wife Agnes, who live in St. Louis; Brenda and husband Pete, who live on a farm east of Lathrop; Ellen who makes her home in Glendale, California; and Charlotte and husband Jim who make their home in Topeka, Kansas.
Music has been a huge part of the Bower's family from the earliest years of their life together. Grafton has played the bass violin, the banjo, mandolin and sings tenor. Estyl plays the violin but is basically a keyboard person, playing the organ, piano, and accordion. Together Grafton and Estyl have been known as "We Two", and they have played impromptu at innumerable community events around the two county area.
As a tribute to our favorite "We Two", the family is going to sing a few songs that we are pretty sure most of you know, and we hope you will sing along.
Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue
Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet
Let Me Call You Sweetheart
The World is Waiting for The Sunrise
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Rare Visions
One of the first apps I got for my iPhone was "The Best Road Trip Ever". It is created in conjunction with the PBS show Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations. We love that show, and we love this app! We already went and saw these kinds of things, now we will go see MORE!
So, on Sunday, we visited several iconic pieces of American history. The above photo is the Davis Memorial. In a nutshell, a man who was very wealthy and did not get along with his wife's family, created an insanely eccentric memorial to her. It was built for $200,000 during the depression. It was very interesting.
We also saw a backwards headstone. The family poured the headstone themselves, and when they pulled it out of the mold, the letters were backwards.
We saw the world's largest Russian egg. The boys were not terribly impressed with this one. We searched and searched for the world's largest hatchet. It is no longer there. We had a photo of it, and found the buildings in the photo, and the hatchet is gone. A bit of a let down.
We found a fire hydrant garden. It was private property, so I didn't want to get out and take a photo. It was done by a family whose dogs tore up their flowers, so they planted fire hydrants instead. We had the warning, that the dogs are not friendly.
We went by Bobo's drive in, which is suppose to be great road food, and has been featured on tv, but it was closed. It did look like they had some good food. We may have to go back.
Our final visit was to Grier Garden in Hiawatha, KS. This photo does not do it justice. It too, was private property, but we got out. It was built by a man, in honor of his mom, because he loved her so much. It had a pond, a gazebo, and plants plants and more plants. All tastefully done. It was very nice.
We are looking at our route we'll take this summer. We'll be able to see the world's largest coffee pot, one of the crash sites of Lindburg, and much, MUCH more. I am so excited!
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Happy Father’s Day!!
Happy Father's Day to my daddy! Happy Father's Day to Gary! Happy Father's Day to my grandpa! Happy Father's Day to my brother! Happy Father's Day to Jared!
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Weekend at the lake
We just got back from a wonderfully relaxing weekend at the lake. The boys learned the fine art of fishing, from a fishing expert. We all took turns in a kayak, which was more fun than any of us expected. As we drove away, Jared was wishing he could be out on the lake in that kayak again, in the calm morning waters. We took a mule tour, but the mule broke down, so then it turned into a walking tour. We were able to call for help when we reached the top of the hill, so then, it turned out into a ride in the back of a pickup truck tour. Quite the adventure.
We took a sunset cruise on the pontoon. We played music with family, and the boys learned how to play bumper pool. Jonas is ready to buy a bumper pool table for the house. I was told he was a NATURAL. It's a game of math you know, angles and velocity. Perfect for Jonas.
We enjoyed fine dining, and wonderful visiting. We came back refreshed and relaxed. I browsed real estate in the area on our drive home. Not that we are in a position to buy, but a girl can dream.
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75 Years
Happy 75th wedding anniversary to my Grandparents. I have said it before, and I"ll say it again, they have set the bar mighty high. I couldn't of asked for better grandparents (on both sides of the family), and am very lucky to still get to spend ample time with these two. They gave me the gift of music, the gift of humor, and sprinkled in some wisdom. From them I learned many life lessons and skills. I'm a lucky lady to have them as my grandparents.
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Auction
Today I went to my second auction in my adult life. I do recall going to auctions with my dad, growing up. But, as an adult, with money, it's different. The above photo, from the first auction. My grandparents. That event was an emotional one. The first half of the day I fought back the tears. The second half of the day, I found enjoyable. The auctioneer was wonderful. He was delightful to listen too. Alex followed him around most of the day, mesmerized.
Today, auction number two. It took place across the street from my folks. They had a couple things I was interested in. It was good, not to have any emotions wrapped up in this sale. However, the auctioneer, was not as charming. I did a lot of comparing throughout the day. It was an interesting time. Alex followed this auctioneer around as well. He loves listening to them.
In good news. I walked away with a washing machine for $15. I've been hauling laundry to my folks' for the past 7 months. My mom told me I still need to come visit.
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Happy May Day
Happy May Day! It's finally here. OUR month. We spent the afternoon and evening in Independence. I needed a book for work, which gave us the excuse to drive there. We enjoyed browsing the books, and managed to just buy four. Not bad. Jonas is now going to clean out my mini van to earn his book, and Caleb will mow the yard. Score. We took our first trip to Bass Pro Shop. That was an experience. Waterfalls, aquariums, stuffed animals, a restaurant, a fudge shop. Wow. We were hunting for some very compact camping chairs for vacation. They had one, but we tested it, and it was NOT comfortable. Looks like we'll take turns sitting on the cooler.
We headed over to Independence Center for the food court. The boys love that we don't have to agree on one restaurant, and everyone gets what they want. Jared and I enjoy the free wifi. The lines though, are not for me. Waiting in 4-5 different lines for food, is rough on a hungry gal.
We finished our night in Guitar Center, testing drums and guitars. I am wanting to get an electric guitar for the family. I think all of the boys would enjoy playing one. We will probably have to add more, once they fall in love, and want to play together, but we'll start with one. I wanted to hear the different sounds of the different brands. I also was looking at amps. I would like to add a pick up to the mandolin. No one could complain that they can't hear me again. I priced things. BUT what I did find... was the coolest, sparkliest guitar. It was a Daisy Rock. I totally want one. I want to learn to play it. I'm hooked. Never mind getting a guitar for the boys. We must get a Daisy Rock.
All in all. A good May Day.
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Four Day Weekend
I need a break from my four day weekend. We stayed busy, busy, busy. Today, we went for a hike at Wallace State Park. I have a lot of fond memories of spending summer afternoons at this park. We were always joined by friends, and swam for hours. We ate snacks under a large tree right next to the swimming hole. That tree shrunk, but other than that, the park was still very nice. We hiked for a couple hours along the lake, and through the woods.
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Easter
In past years, we've gone all out and done the egg hunts, easter basket hunts, once we had some friends come by, dressed like a giant chicken. Perhaps you had to be there. This year, I didn't do any of it. No easter candy, no plastic eggs, no dreadful plastic grass. Nothing.
Instead, we went to church. I'm sure the boys had been to an Easter service before, but, I can't recall when. Moving back to Missouri has caused us to be much more regular church members. I went to the Methodist church in Riley once or twice only, I tried the Methodist church in Manhattan a handful of times. This church here in Lathrop has always felt like home, and it was hard to find a new one. So, it is very comforting to be back.
But, that's not really the point. I thought the boys would complain. Jonas did a bit. Poor kid, he probably isn't too old for easter egg hunts, and was just cheated. But, both sets of Grandparents provided plenty of candy. I'm a sucker for chocolate covered marshmallows, so we've been eating those for a month. Instead, today we died eggs, and enjoyed some deviled eggs for dinner, and then we decorated sugar cookies. I was a bit lazy with the cookies, they're just round. Premade dough, which I sliced off. But, they had fun.
So, Happy Easter to everyone. I for one, did not go the commercial route this year. I enjoyed that.
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