C.M. Saves the trains- Paxson, Ks.-The Stampede- C.M. takes a fall

{To read story in proper sequence go to bottom of Blog Archives & go up}




This isn't really a part of my story.  It' just a bunch of the letters I made up to send with our Model Railroad Passes.  I thought they were kinda cute & humorous & I had fun making the up  so included a few.

Our O. B. & C.S. Pass

                                                  

                                    

The Letterhead that went with our model R.R. letters

                                            
                                              C.M. SAVES THE TRAINS

    The most loyal & avid Osage Beach and Colorado Springs rail fan is C.M. Trains from Camdenton, Mo.  This story is of one of his photo trips.  He had packed his Brownie Kodak Camera & several rolls of film in his old Model T  Ford & was headed for western Kansas to get photos of some O.B.&C.S. 'High Ball'  freights & 'Varnish Runs' on the Kansas prairie.
    Now unbeknownst to ole C.M. some things were happening that would change those plans.  Rollin Along & Ollie Board were headed west from Osage Beach, Mo to Ft. Scott Ks. with a 'Hop" [engine & caboose only].  Rollin was in Engine #10 and Ollie was up in the 'Angel Seat' in the Caboose.  At the same time Ken I. Makit in Engine #1 was east bound pulling a 'Big Drag' of military supplies from Ft. Carson, Colo. to Ft. Osage, Mo.
     C.M. was on his way to Kansas when he spotted Rollin, Ollie  east of Hermitage, Mo.  Since he didn't have any Hop pictures he decided to follow them, taking pictures from first one startegic point and then another before headin on.  He had topped a hill around Wheatland, Mo. when he spotted Ken with the freight drag.  Remembering seeing the Hop east of Hermitage he realized that the Telegraph Operator, Kent Heargood, had missed a message coming over the 'High Wire' again and that their was going to be a 'Cornfield Meet' if something wasn't done.  So he dropped the old T in reverse, spun her around right in the middle of Hiway 54 and raced back to Hermitage.  He slid to a halt, threw open the door, and started running down to the tracks as fast as he could.
    Now folks at the Hermitage Cafe knew about ole C.M. and some of his crazy stunts so they started coming out to see what was going on.  C.M. got down to the tracks.  About this time Ollie could see the freight coming towards them and was frantically waving at Rollin but couldn't get his attention.  C.M. could see them both approaching fast so he threw the 'Switch'  sending Rollin and Ollie onto the Siding, then threw the switch back so Ken and the military freight could go 'Thundering down the Main.'   But, that was as much  of a Hero as C.M. was gonna be that day.
      Rollin had been watching C.M. wondering what craziness  he was up to, when he realized he would be going onto a 'Dead Siding' [for east bound trains to spot cars only]  Rollin 'Wipes the Clock' and 'Sets the Brakes', but, that's not gonna be good enough.  Engine # 10 hits the 'Toad' at the end of the siding and jumps the tracks.
      Now folks from the Cafe had been watchin this all from the top of the hill.  After all the dust had settled they went down to the tracks.  With some pinch bars Ken found at the R.R. Station and some oil field pipe that Hermitage citizens had scrounged up they pinched #10 back on the tracks so Rollin and Ollie could return to the Main Line.
    The town folks took C.M. back up to the Cafe where he spent the afternoon drinkin coffee and tellin everyone who came in how he had saved the trains.  The only regret he has was that in all the ruckas he didn't get a picture of Engine #10 while it was on the Hermitage siding.

                                               Yours till the Toad Hops,

Patrick's High Ball B.N. freight on the Ks. prarie

                                    
                                              
                                                   PAXSON KANSAS

     Many, many years ago somewhere between Argonia and Albion, along The Chicaskia River was a town called Paxson, Ks.  A Scotch-Irish immagrant whose name was Paxson founded it.  His first name or initial were not known, he was just called 'Pax'.  He was headed west in a covered wagon with his family.  History does not record his destination, perhaps he was just headed West.
     He was crossing the land of the Kansa Indian [Kansa meaning 'People of the South Wind']  They were probably named during the summer, had the been named in the Winter they would probably be 'People of the North Wind'.
      He had met Oracle Jones while camped along the Missouri River.  Oracle being headed for Colorado.  After talking to Oracle, Pax decided he too had invisionary power. While camped along the Chicaskia River Pax had a Vision.  His wife called it a bad dream but his spirit was undaunted.  He saw Russian Mennonites bringing a hard red winter wheat to the area that would grow in great abundance.  He saw the settlers exporting the wheat in great amounts back to Russia and around the world & that the area would become the 'Bread basket of the World'.  His wife declared he was, no doubt,  the biggest fruitcake in the world but he was unswayed.
    So he established a Trading Post and sure enough the settlers came.  The Trading Post became a settlement, the settlement a town, the town a riverport.  It prospered till farmers started building ponds and dams on the creeks that emptied into the river so much that in hampered nivigation.
      At one time Paxson had 2 hotels, 3 Cafe's & Opera House.  A saw mill that cut cottonwood trees into lumber and a wheat terminal at the river docks.  For awhile in had a River Boat the 'Queen Mary Margaret'.
    The railroads came to Paxson in 1865.  First the Osage Beach & Colorado Springs Railway.  A wooden grain elevator and stockyards went up.  Paxson, Ks. became a shipping point for cattle drives that strayed from the Elsworth and Chislom Trail.  At one time 4 railroad went through Paxson.  The O.B & C.S.,  Santa Fe,  Burlington Northen and SOO Line.  During the boom there was a Harvey House on the Santa Fe.
    The town eventually died.  Surrounding towns outgrew it and it dwindled away.  Of the 3 town, Argonia, Albion & Paxson only Argonia survives today.  A small farming community with some of the Paxson decendants still living there.  There is nothing left of Paxson except some old overgrown railroad beds.  Signs with the town name used to set along the old tracks but railroad buffs have taken them.  So Paxson, Ks. is just a part of history and not a very well remembered part at that.

                                                     Yours till the Ice Hatches,

{Note: A town of Paxson did actually exist in the Lindsburg, Ks. area in the 1800's}

Imaginary routes of our Model R.R.

Our Santa Fe R.R. Pass

                                                            

The Pax's Santa Fe Division 'Super Chief' at Osage Beach, Mo. R.R. Station.

Pax's Santa Fe freight engine spotting Cat equipment & Semi Trailers.

                                        
                                          THE STAMPEDE

     This little Incident took place in 1887.  It involves two parties.  One is Texas Jack, trail boss on a herd of longhorns the Lazy R was sending up the Santa Fe Trail to Abilene, Ks.  The other is Ken I. Makit, engineer for the Osage Beach and Colorado Springs Railway.
    Now for the story.  Ken was running a long string of box cars full of Wheat he had picked up at the elevator at Paxson, Ks. the sodbuster had harvested and was headed for a mill in Colorado Springs, Colo.    Ken  had been doing pretty good considering he was dragging an Osage-Colorado freight and the trouble they usually have.
     Texas Jack and his trail hands had brought those longhorns up from Tahoka, Tx.  He had been having trouble all the way.  He'd lost some to rustlers.  He'd lost a bunch in the Red River that was flooded but they'd had to cross anyway.   Indians had run off a few now and then for meat.  The last thing the wanted was a stampede.    Texas Jack and the trail hands had just got the herd across the Cimarron River in Southwest Ks. and was headed for the lower crossing of the Arkansas River at Ford, Ks.  They still had a thousand longhorns which wasn't too bad considering all the trouble, so things were looking up, but not for long.
     Up on the track Ken was coming up on a smitherin of Buffalo standing on and along side the tracks.  So he let out a couple of long blasts on the whistle.  That cleared the Buffalo off the tracks, but, it also did something else.  The longhorns were close enough to hear the whistle and it spooked them.  They started to run, straight at the train!  Texas Jack and the cowpokes spurred their horses to the lead steers and tried to turn them.  They got them turned and headed alongside the tracks running with the train.  But as the mass of cattle got to the curve they began to bunch up and crowd against the train.  Now it so happened the the cattle and the train were moving at the same speed so none of the cattle got trampled and the loaded wheat cars were heavy enough to stay on the tracks without tipping  over.  But a strange thing happened, the force of them longhorns pushed the ties and rails over about 5' for a length of about a mile.  This wasn't noticed until the next day when Ken made the return trip.  The curve is still in the tracks today!  The track crews never did get around to straightening it out.
      Any, Texas Jack and the cow hands finally got the herd under control, but, they were half way to Dodge City, Ks. so they just took the herd to the O. B. & C.S. cattle pens at Dodge and shipped them to Abilene from there.  The station master at Dodge City wired Colorado Springs and they sent down the No. 2 engine with an extra of cattle cars.  The Lazy R cow hands saved a few days on the trail and had a chance to whoop it up in in famous Dodge City.  They got as much for the cattle as they would have in Abilene and the O.B. & C.S. got some extra business
                                                      
                                         Yours till the switches point,

Jason's SOO Line drops of some Hopper cars at the CO-OP Elevator.

                                              
                                          

                                             C.M. TAKES A FALL

       When the train crews for the Osage Beach and Colorado Springs R.R. are off duty, hanging around the Coffee  Shop telling railroad stories there's a good chance that our faithful railfan, C.M. Train, from Camdeton, Mo., is going to be mentioned.  A favorite story is C.M.'s attempt to get an aerial photo of an Osage-Colorado train.  Now C.M. not being a man of means figured he needed an inexpensive way to get his photos.  He got the idea that the old steel R.R. bridge that spanned the Pomme De Teree River on Hiway 54 was the perfect solution.
     So one day he got in his Model T Ford, took his Kodak Brownie and headed for the bridge.  Upon arriving he climbed high in the girders to wait.  It so happened that engineer Rollin Along and fireman Rusty Waters were running engine #10 and a freight drag.  Since the Osage-Colorado couldn't afford sufficient water towers along  the way a flat car with two large water tank were coupled behind the coal car.  If the crews got desperate for water they would have to stop and bucket water up to the engine.
     On this particular day this was a good thing for C.M. as he had been up on the bridge for some time and his muscles were getting tired.  He spotted the train coming and shifted positions to what he though would be the best angle for a photo.  Thing were going pretty well, he thought, till the train started onto the bridge.
    Rollin had spotted C.M. and had slowed #10 and it's drag to a crawl,  but the old bridge still began to shake as the train entered the bridge.  C.M. was trying to hold on with one hand and take a picture with the other. Before he knew what was happening he lost his grip and began to fall.  Now Lady Luck was smiling on Ole C.M. that day because he fell into one of the water tanks.
     Rusty Waters Who had only seen him fall anxiously climbed over the coal tender to see exactly where C.M. had landed.  There he found him sputtering and splashing around in the water tank and fished him out.  He managed to get him to the engine where he could dry out.  Needless to say the camera and film were ruined.
     He got a new camera but the incident didn't keep him from trying to get his aerial photos.  Train Crews would find him out in Kansas perched atop a windmill or silo and he was spotted in the top branches of a big old Cottonwood tree snapping pictures.  But they never found him atop any of the railroad bridges that spanned the Osage Beach & Colorado Springs railroad tracks.

                                              Yours till the roof walks.

Caribbean Cruise- Favorite Scripture- The Best In Life Is Farther On

Back to the original manuscript!

   

The Sovereign of the Seas--Royal Caribbean Cruise Line

Mary & my room was the first row below the front life boats & last window on the right

Mary in our caabin

 CARIBBEAN CRUISE—Mary had often brought up the idea of taking a  Cruise & I had always said & meant,  “That would really be nice.”  or  ''That sounds like a wonderful idea." But honestly I always thought to myself, ‘'I don’t know how we’ll ever afford one’'.  I secretly thought it was just  something nice to talk & dream about.   I never wanted to throw a wet blanket on her suggestions so I just tried to make positive comments. 

       Thanks to John and Dolly, again, who generously offered pay for a cruise to celebrate their 40^th Anniversary, it became a reality.  John Bert, Jane & Helen went also.

 John & Dolly hired a Limo to take us from their house in Melbourne, Fla. to Port Canaveral, we sailed on the ‘Sovereign of the Seas’ of Royal Caribbean Cruise Line.  It was a dream come true.  The ship was beautiful, marvelous and huge.  [880 ' long, over 2 football fields, & was 11 decks high]  It was like a floating hotel/mall.  Shops, food courts, activities, one time Mary, I, Jane and Helen watched an animal towel making demonstration & followed it with at a stop and Ben and Jerry's ice cream place.  There was always something going on somewhere.  The cabin rooms were nice, cozy, romantic, intimate & nicely decorated.  We often found towel animals on our bed each day.  One was a Rabbit, it had on a pair of glasses on  I assumed was something the cruise line had picked to add to the decoration.  I made a comment  & Mary said they were her spare glasses she had left in the room.  Whoever had been taking care of the rooms, when they had changed the bedding & had put the rabbit on the bed  had spotted Mary's glasses and put them on the Rabbit.

    The food variety was endless, Mediterranean, Chinese, India, Asian & European.  Our evening meals were in the Mirage Dining Room which was beautiful & the food was amazing.   Every meal I was trying something new.  Breakfast & lunch was usually in the Buffet area called the ‘Windjammer’ with an endless selection from around the world too.  

      With all these foods from around the world, I couldn’t believe the number of people that were getting hamburgers & fries!   Mary & I played shuffleboard & basketball on the top deck but the pool was so crowed we skipped it. 

        

The Buffets were endless, Larry tried them all
well all the international dishes

Rosario Strings

  There were neat places all over the ship on all levels where music groups performed throughout the day and night.   My favorite were the Rosario Strings. Three young Japanese men that played all types of instruments:  piano, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, violin, bass, drums.  They played all types of music Pop, Classical, Jazz, Country, Rock & Roll.

       I don’t think there was any type of instrument or music they couldn’t play.  I'd been using a wheel chair because with my Cancer Meds side effect my legs weren't always strong and sometimes would swell up.  One evening Mary & I where headed back to the cabin and Mary was pushing me in the wheel chair.  We were on the floor above but could look down on an open area where the Rosario Strings were playing.  They were playing slow County so I had Mary stop and I got out of the wheel chair and we danced to the music, I noticed we got lots of looks.  I'm not sure how bad off they thought I was but as I said the wheel chair was just to keep from getting to much leg swelling that might 
have curtailed my activities. The Rosario Strings serenaded us at our table one evening in the Mirage.  Concerts and entertainment were held in the Follies Theatre each night.  Lots of musicals, some aerobatics & entertainment that was fantastic.  

    

Mary & Dolly on Ferry to Coco Cay

The Island of Coco Cay was beautiful, had great sandy beaches & the ocean clear,  breathtaking & warm.  There were lots of Palm trees and  flowering bushes with colorful flowers. There were also shops with an endless variety of neat souvenirs and places to get a variety of food.

Nassau, Bahamas was a delightful, charming, tropical city. Lots of flowering trees, flowers, coconut trees & palms & beautifully warm temperatures..  We took a tour of the city & heard the history of the City.  There were some buildings of English design.  We visited a Botanical Garden type Zoo, with a lot of Marching Flamingos that put on a performance.  A product of English rule.

  

The beach and lagoon at Coco Cay island

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FAVORITE SCRIPTURES----- I've  read a lot of Bible translations & paraphrases, but I often prefer the Living Bible.  I have several favorite scriptures, but with the trips to Mexico and cousin Lloyd’s Memorial Service at Argonia Cemetery, that I was asked to give, it seems there are two that I often share.  One  is Romans 8:37-39.  I really like it in the Living Bible, it reads ---- ‘’Overwhelming victory is our through Christ who loved us enough to die for us.  For I am convinced nothing can separate us from His Love. Death can’t, life can’t.  The Angels won’t, and all the powers of Hell itself can not keep God’s love away.  Our fears for today, our worries for tomorrow, or where we are— High above the sky, or in the deepest ocean—nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God, demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us.’’

       When I first started to like this one it was awhile before I had one of my weird thoughts but one day I was thinking that it seemed like a lot of Christian go around with  long faces and somber attitudes & the thought occurred to me.  If there was any power in the universe that could possibly be able keep God’s Love away it might be the Angel, but they won’t because they are on our side.  If Christian have the 4 greatest powers of the Universe; God’s Power, the Power of Jesus Christ, the Power of the Holy Spirits & the Protection of the Angels;   Christians ought to be going around in a perpetual state of Joy, always full of smiles.
        Another one I like that cuts through a lot of the baggage that Churches some times attach to being a Christian is Romans 10:9:  If you confess with your mouth, ‘’Jesus I Lord ‘’, and believe in you heart, God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  
      There is one other Bible Verse I have shared when ask to give a testimony of my life in Mexico.  I usually share that I have not always walked as close to God & Jesus as I would have liked to in my life & if they were finding themselves in a similar situation the verse I would share with them is James 4:8.  It says; ‘’Draw near to God and he will drew near to you’’.  And I would encourage them to renew their prayer time and Bible reading.  I’d also say,  ‘’Don’t get discouraged, always remember there is someone in the U.S. that Loves You & is Praying For You.’’

 THE BEST IN LIFE IS FARTHER ON—‘’Joy was just a thing that he was raised on,---

   There are two quotes  I have tried to pattern my life around.  One I found in India from Mahatma Ghandi:   “I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides.  I do not want my windows to be stuffed.  I want the cultures of all lands to be blown around my house as freely as possible.”  I always tried to have our family make contact & become friends with people from other parts of the world or different cultures & backgrounds whenever possible.  That has been through 4-H, Church Activities, Missions & just talking to people on vacations.  The other I found shortly after returning form India.  It was from Sir. William Mullock, former Canadian Prime Minister taken from a speech on his   95th Birthday:    “Warm both hands before the fires of Life, make good friends, & cherish good memories.  But above all, keep looking ahead, always ahead, for the best things in life are farther on.”  When I first read this I thought, if I always kept this as a prime thought, life would never be dull & something exciting would always be ‘just around the corner’.

The family playing the Wii

     Looking  back over my life I have been a lot of places many people have never been, experienced a lot of things many people will never experience.   I’ve seen God work Miracles.  But, now that I am older, & the body doesn’t do the things the way it used too, things exciting & exotic sometimes seem far away, although I still concentrate on enjoying life.  Things I  look forward to now are watching a movie, or playing a board game with Mary, a steak dinner, going to Fibiola’s Mexican Restaurant, or making my Indian Briiani, attending Yearly Meeting, [especially at Barclay College in Havilland, Ks. & meeting all our church friends], putting a new Lego together with the boys.    Holiday Time:   [July 4^th, Thanksgiving, Christmas], or time when all the kids are home for a picnic, bonfire & wiener roast, homemade ice cream or just a weekend visit. Playing  Pitch or  another card game with them.  It’s so peaceful to sit back in a recliner, eyes closed, relaxing & listening to Patrick, Jason, Jonathan, & Paul playing a video game on the Wii, the girls join in sometimes,  & hear their enthusiasm & laughter as they try and win a Wii football game or Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos.  Or maybe they & the girls have all the computers lined up playing an online game,  playing a board game with Mary,  it is just great to hear all their voices together having fun & laughing.  Or, marvel at the way the grandkids are growing & watching or hearing them playing together and having fun.  I look at Sir William Mullock's words:  “The  “Best Things”,  & I think maybe they are not always exotic places or exciting trips, just maybe, sometimes, the ‘Best Things’ in life are the ‘Simple Things’. 

       

 And the words of John Denver's song ring true again,  “Growin up a Kansas Farm Boy, life was mostly having fun!”

Other Places I Worked- The Board & The Board- Christmas in the Country- Chiveree- Old Argonia- Cancer & Kidneys

OTHER PLACES I WORKED----I failed to mention several places I worked before starting at Cessna.  The first ones were winter jobs in Wellington while we were farming at Mayfield.  The first was Sunflower Motor Homes & Campers in Wellington.  My job was putting together & finishing the cabinets that went into trailers &  campers of all sizes.  The wood was precut & stored in bins.  I'd get the type of wood & length from a work order, nail it together, stain or varnish it.
     I worked at 3 places that made airplane parts for Cessna, Boeing, & Beech:   those were Clark. Mfg [router operator, sheer, heat treat], Midwest [hand router, table router, broken arm router] & Oxwell [drop hammer, roll press, punch press].  Oxwell was the best to work for & the place I made the best friends.
      Clark Mfg. was the worst.   There were lots of old Cessna tools but they would not make parts.  One particular part had 6 tools & none were any good.  I made most parts by using a sample part & scribing the out line on the material,  then cutting  it out on a bansaw.  Sometimes I used a table router and would have to draw my own material, Cut in on the sheer, clamp it on the router tool and then route it.
       I also worked a winter at Bill’s Apco Gas Station south of A&W.  I was working at Oxwell too.  I'd  work 8 hrs at Oxwell grab a hamburger at A&W & work at the gas station till 1O p.m.   He’d had lots of help but told me one time I was the only one he ever had he trusted to leave the Station with and go on vacation.  He'd leave on Friday about 5 when I would get there.  I run the station Friday night & Saturday, it was closed Sunday and he'd be back to work Monday morning.
       He loved to go to Brownsville Texas.  At the station he'd be in old work clothes,  have grease all over him & under his fingernails, but when he’d come in to get money out of the cash register to go to Brownsville on a Friday he would be wearing the brightest, wildest clothes.  One I remember was white shoes, white pants and the brightest yellow shirt.   I mostly fixed tired, did oil changes & grease jobs & pumped gas.  I could never judge the right time to sweep & mop the floor.  It seemed every time I tried there was a rush of customers.  If for weeks I'd had been cleaning at 9:30  there’d be a rush,  then a lull at 9:45.  The day I’d decide to clean at 9:45 there’d be a lull at 9:30 &  a rush at 9:45.  I’d switch back & forth to different times, but it seemed like I'd always pick the wrong time.

THE BOAR & THE BOARD---I think the scariest thing that happened was on the Dairy Farm.  Once in awhile when the hog market was good dad would get a few sows & a boar and we’d raise and sell pigs for a few years.  Right now the details escape me.  We kept the hogs in pens around the old wooden barn downhill west of the house.  I think we already had some sows, & had  bought a boar,  unloaded him in the barn where we kids had milked cows by hand.  It seems we were trying to drive him out to the pig pens north of the barn.  He wasn’t wanting to go & started this low WOOF’ing sound boars make.  It’s really kinda scary.  Anyway, he charged dad, knocked him down & bit him on the inside of the right leg about 6 inches above the knee & kept on biting him.  At first I just yelled at the hog and tried to push him away, that didn’t work, so I found a short 1 by board  & whacked him on the head a few times.  He  kept attacking dad, so I looked for a bigger board.  After grabbing a few   & throwing them down I found a 2x4 about as long as a bat.  So I started whacking him on the ears, pigs ears are really tender, & on the head, still no affect.  So I started hitting him with all my strength.  At first  really hard, then I started getting tired & weak & at one point I thought. “ I got just enough strength for 2 more hits & if those don’t work he’s liable to chew dads leg off.”  I think I had been doing a lot of praying too.  I made those couple hits and the boar backed off & dad and I both scrambled out of the barn.  I remember the inside of dad’s leg looking like so much hamburger & thinking I didn’t know how it would ever heal but it did. 

CHRISTMAS IN THE COUNTRY—I  thought I’d see what I remember about Christmas as a Kid.  If you read the story my Mom wrote she said on Christmas Eve when she was a kid they would take off the socks they had been wearing that day and hang them up and Grandma Stitt would put apples, oranges & bananas in them.  Personally I think this is a War Story or faulty memory, but,  I do know the socks kid's put up  were clean & dad’s work socks if we could find enough, since they were bigger.  But apple, oranges, bananas & chewing gum made up the bulk of it’s contents.  Maybe, if we were lucky there was a candy bar.  I believe when I was maybe 8-9 years old I got a Red Ryder B.B. Gun, but I must have worn it out quickly.  I don’t remember any toys.  I do remember lots of overalls, jeans, shirts, sock, coats, gloves, winter hats & underwear.  The only tree decoration I really remember was each year we’d color each line of several sheets of notebook paper. Cut out the strips and glue them together making a paper chain.  I think maybe we had a few ornaments we’d been given  & one maybe two strings of lights.  They sure weren’t covered with lights like they are today. For a tree we usually went out in the pasture and cut down a cedar tree.   I’m not sure how it started but every year we would spend either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day at Grandpa & Grandma Paxson and the other at Grandpa & Grandma Stitt, then the following year we would switch days.  It didn’t sink in till I was older how much  that must have taken.  As all the Paxson & Stitt’s would be there including those who had married into the family.  I never knew when Aunts & Uncles who weren’t directly related had Christmas with their side of the family.

BOX SUPPERS---were a big fund raiser when I was a 4-H member.  The most successful ones were ones on a county level.     Girls & women would fix a box or basket of food & decorate it.  The main meat item was usually fried chicken or meatloaf.   There  was cookies, cake or pie.   Maybe potato salad, baked beans or fruit.  

         It was kind of a social dance.  Usually girls would try to  hide their box bringing it in unless they wanted a certain boy to buy it,  then they'd let a glimpse  show.  Or while the boxes were on the table they might  fuss with the wrapping.  If they'd heard a certain boy was wanting to buy their box but wasn't interested,  she would make herself seen around another girls box.  The boys  might buy it  & find in belonged to different girl.  From the boys side there were a few approaches.  Be very really observant when the girl brought in her box  & put in on the table. The boxes sat  on the table  awhile before the auction started & guys could go up & test the weight, how much food was inside or get a whiff to detect the kind of food.   Another option,  get a younger boy from the girls Club  to find out which box  he wanted.   The boxes would be Auctioned off to the highest bidder.  After all were sold the two would sit down together, eat the meal inside and talk. It seems there was a little entertainment also.  Someone might sing, play the piano, play the guitar & sing.

  I’m not sure the system, but, the husbands always seemed to buy their wives boxes.  Other men might bid early on just to run the price up a little,  in the end it was almost always the husband who bought it.    

CHIVIREED—Mary & I were Chivireed a few weeks after we returned from our Honeymoon.  I  think we were the first Paxson couple in 30+ years, it was a popular event in the Folk, Aunts & Uncles generation.  Relative show up at the newly weds home & pull all the pranks they can think of.  On the night it happened at the Mayfield farm I had returned to the fields after 10 p.m. or so to plow a wheat field.  The Paxson cousins of our generation must have arrived around 10:30,  Mary was at the house alone.  I wasn’t aware  anything had happened till I came in from the field about 2 a.m. & went to the Fridge to get some ice to fix a cold drink.  When I opened the Freezer door I was greeted with the site of all my underwear, obviously soaked in water,  completely frozen solid to everything  in the freezer, ice trays included!  So I woke Mary with one question on my mind, ‘’Why is my wet underwear completely frozen to the freezer?’’ She explained that the cousins had came, waited a while to see if I would come in from the field, then went ahead with their pranks.  The next question was, ‘’Why didn’t you take it out before it was frozen solid.   Her reply, ‘’They said if I changed anything they would come back & do it again,’’  To which I replied,  ‘’I wouldn’t have told  anybody if you wouldn’t have.’’  I  remember a few things besides the underwear like, taking all the labels off the canned goods.  Putting rice between all the bed sheets  in clothes in the closet & on all the sofas & Chairs, other place too maybe.  They pulled out all the dresser draws, this would have taken several people,  holding the clothes in they put the drawers in upside down so all the clothes fell out when opened.  After the first one Mary & I tried to open them as a team but clothes still fell out.  There were a few other of our Paxson generation that had weddings after us.  Mary & I suggested Chivrees for them but we couldn’t get any helpers.  I never did quite figure out why we were the only ones singled out in our generation.

OLD ARGONIA---I mentioned some of the Businesses I remembered before & during elementary age.  Now I’m going to touch on some back then & during & right after high school years.  Every now & then you hear the comment,  ‘’Small town never change!’’  But, basically that’s not true.  They do and even the atmosphere & attitude of it’s residents.  I’m going to give business & location of present business or ones maybe my kids & grand kids will know.

   There were five gas station in Argonia on Main St. at one time. Starting a block N. of the R.R. tracks & ending one block S. of Hiway 160  there was a gas station at each intersection.  Sinclar run by Dale Pearce/ Bob Ellis [Carwash] :  Mobile [N. fitness center] run by Gary Sevier, Bob Merideth- Lagrant Watts=bulk fuel;  Standard Oil [Dance Studio] run by Alfred Johnson, Wayne Johnson, Carl McKee.     Champlain [Dentist] run by Leo Koehler=Bulk Fuel-Clayton Showlater; Texaco [corner S. blue Bldg- Main ST.-Hwy 16O E. side.] Run by J.B. Coffman, Gilven Walker.

   There was a brick Movie Theater [EMT/ Fire Station].  Lions Club met in basement at one time.  There was a Mortuary catty/corner west across the intersection from the EMT/Fire Station.  Two  Wooden Grains sat south of the R.R. tracks, one on the east side one on the West side.  I remember riding in truck loads of wheat to both of them.  One was Wolcott & Lincoln the other Hamilton Grain.  On the west side just across the street from the tracks one of them had a grain mill.  I remember getting cattle feed ground there.  

There were 3 Grocery stores;  Haworths [empty spot S.of  R.S. Furniture] ran by Milford Haworth.     Ingrim Locker & Grocery Store { butchered hogs, Beef, had lockers to rent to store meat}  [N. modern Post office].      Grocery Store [S. part of Bank} ran by Mel Pohlenz, Lena Bringer, Glen Rakestraw.  The vacant Lumber Yard [S. Post Office].  was First the Badger Lumber Company then McWelling Lumber Co. ran by Al Broseck. 

       Leon Amman had a Machine shop in 2 big roundtops [Across for Library]  People would come from all over the U.S. to get him to make parts for machines.  Design & build a new machines.  He milled, taperd, etc all kinds of metals.  He would mend or make broken machinery parts for farmers.  He was amazing when it came to metals.

       In the building in the vacant lot {N. of Bank} were Blgs. ,some  still standing. There was Dr. Craig Office, Valentine’s Café, CTS Machine Shop ran an By Duewe Snyder.  

      Over the years there were several cafés.  Quick Café,[lot N. Bank] Gingham Girl [N. Beauty Shop], Valentine Café, [N. across EMT] Chuck Wagon,[Texaco Station] Four Seasons [dance Studio] Raiders Inn [fitness Center].  Usually just 2 open at one time, maybe 3.  Grace Wulf owned some & was waitress in all, I imagine.  Winifred Haskns cooked in many.

  The Quick Café sat right on the corner [N. across street Bank] The door was in the corner so parts of the Café went West & North  There was a 2 story wooden Building Area going west toward Community Center , seemed to be 3 offices. Paul Rust & later his wife Margaret ran an Insurance agency in the middle one.  Rufas Garst had a kinda music store/piano tuning business, the Argonia Argosy was there & later moved north of the Cafe along Main St.  The Lions Club, &  Oddfellows met in the Upstairs Rooms.  Noth of the café [where mural is] was one time a Laundry Mat & Soft Ice cream place,
in 40's was a Baldwin Combine dealership.   Across the street north of EMT Bldg. [Brown Bldg] was once several Business.  Jr. Tatons Auto Repair.  Crouse Jewlery,  & the Café that was later moved to the Texaco Gas Station the ‘Chuck Wagon’. Deke Rhodes had a small tractor lot north of it.

   There were 3 Tractor dealerships in Argonia.  Deke Rhoades had & M & M place S. of Hardware bldg.  Chuck Renouh had a Internationals where the City Bldg  is & N. to corner.  It was a large red brick Bldg.   He  had a 'M' Farmall & Cub tractor on a display floor.    The John Deere dealer ship  ran by Richard Forrest [S. of Pool Hall].    West of the bank was a Telephone Office   The Barber Shop [now S. Hair Saloon, S of Bank],   ran by Firman Pohlenz & Kenny Reynolds.  Andy Lehman had a Black Smith Shop {N. R.R track, E. City Sheds]  I Remember dad taking thinks there.  Blacksmith shops had such interesting smells. The fire, hot metal, burning coal.

   Where R.& S. Furnitre now is there were several businesses.  The part with  the white trim was once the Post Office.  Wayne Johnson was the Post Master for 30 years.  Under the Awning was a Drug Store ran by Thompsons'  & Rea Stephans.  At one time it had a Pharmacy, Soda Fountain, & variety area, Birthday, Anniversary, Christmas present type goods. The Pharmacy was the first to go.   Later Hortons Furniture had all but old P.O & a huge storage Bldg behind acroos the alley. Ralp/Shiley Stansbury purchased all of Hortons buildings and the  Post Office later. & it became R & S Furniture.  The Hardware Store E. across from Bank was  run by  Alvia Raines, Reidnours' & Bernie Phillipi [affectionately called ‘Bernie the Bandit’].  Dry Cleaner [S. Carwash] run by Adams.

 THE DOYLE FAMILY—There is someone I forgot when I was writing about my kid years.  Mom & Dad had two very good friends, Bob & Jane Doyle.  They were friends  before Mom and Dad were married & the friendship lasted their lifetimes.   They had two children, Harold & Theda both a few years older than I.   Mom had lots of pictures of us  when I was maybe 1-2 yrs old up to 9-10 yrs. old.  Most were on the farm  2 miles N., ½  E. of Argonia or someplace fishing. Often we would picnic.  We fished a lot on a creek at the corner east of the farm.  The creek was small by the road but down it the pasture there was a pond or  a larger body of water there. We didn’t have much, if any fishing gear but Bob always had a trunk or pickup full so he would fix us all up with fishing poles & everything needed. I remember going though 6-7 fishing poles picking out the one I thought looked the best. They lived in the Plain View addition up in Wichita.  Houses in Plain View were built during WW II for Aircraft worker.   Boeing was making the big Bombers.   We would go up there and I seem to remember a huge open grassy area, maybe part of a school playground that we would play on.

CANCER & KIDNEYS------In the Spring of 2007 Mary insisted I go get some blood work done.  So I went to see our family doctor, Dr. Baker.  When I went for the results he said he wanted me to go see a Blood Dr. in Wichita to do a little more detailed test.  I didn't think to much about it but when we drove into the parking lot the sign on the building said 'Cancer Center of Kansas'.  I said to Mary, ''I think their is one  word Dr. Baker forgot to mention.     I saw Dr. Dennis Moore Sr., he informed me I had Multiple Myeloma, Bone Marrow Cancer.  He ask if I had seen a kidney Doctor.  I said Wellington Clinic was supposed  to make me an  appointment a month ago but hadn't.  He stopped asking questions and picked up the phone and called a Kidneys Doctors office & said he wanted to talk to a Dr. Weber.  When he got off the phone he said I had a 2 p.m. appointment the next day with Dr. Lisa Weber and then began to describe the Cancer medication he was going to put me on, one was a new drug that could only be gotten from the manufacturer in Georgia that's supposed to cost $7,000 a month.
    When I saw Dr. Lisa the next day she said I was 1% away from when she put patients on  Dialysis and wanted me to put in a stint/shunt immediately so it would be healed by Thanksgiving because she thought I would need to be on dialysis by then.  She said the cancer produced a 'protein' the kidneys could not  remove.  She put me on some meds.  Three days later I had the device installed & we went to an orientation on the different possible types of Dailysis methods available.  Mary and I didn't really know how to feel, it all happened so suddenly and seemed so mind boggling.  However there was no fear of the 'Big C word'.  I'm not big on jewelry but I found a necklace with a saying 'What Cancer can not do''.
     It says ''Cancer is so limited"   It can not;  Cripple LOVE. Shatter HOPE,
Corrode FAITH, Destroy PEACE, Kill FRIENDSHIP, suppress MEMORIES,
 silence COURAGE, invade the SOUL, Conquer the SPIRIT, Steal ETERNAL LIFE.
I try to remember to wear it all the time! And live with those things in mind staying positive about life.
      When Mary and I learned I had  Bone Marrow Cancer we just kinda said, ''OK, God has seen us through a lot of things, he'll see us through this.'' Every two weeks I was getting blood tests done & getting shots because of low:   red blood cell count, white blood cell count, blood  platelets & other things I probably can't remember. This went on for 3-4 months.  I was seeing Dr. More & Dr Lisa once a  month.
     I will always member Fathers Day  2007, we had spent the night at Alan & Cheryl's on the way to Patrick & Hannah's.  I had gotten up  before everyone else & was sitting in the recliner and it was the first time I was really feeling the wight of it all, I'd felt anxious  before but not overwhelmed, that morning  I prayed,  "Lord I know you can perform a  miracle healing of the body  if you desire, but if you don't I'm going to trust you to get me through this, your my ultimate hope."
     Things began to improve The blood tests got better and I stopped needing shot.  by late summer Dr. Moore said the Cancer was in remission and at each appointment began to say he couldn't believe how strongly I was in remission.  Later on  he said they were getting results on the drug that when starting it in the early stages like mine it was actually killing cancer cells.
      At each visit to Dr. Lisa may kidney function was a few percentage higher by mid summer 2007 she was sure I would not be going on dialysas.  She kept saying she could not believe what was happening, that when people loose any amount of kidney function it stays that way, it does not recover.  Today in 2011, when I go to Dr. Moore or Dr Lisa they go over my numbers, say everything looks great and we visit and joke around.  Both say they have never seen patients recover like I have.  Dr Lisa has said more than once in her 20 plus years of doctoring she has seen only 1 other patient  make a similar recovery as myself, I'm within 2 percentage of what is normal for a person my age.  I've told both of them more than once I don't mean to take anything away from their medical skills but a lot of prayer goes up on my behalf from family and friends and MAYM church friends from Kansas, Colorado, Missouri, Oklahoma & Texas.  There was no Miracle Healing of the body but there has been a Miracelious healing process that I'm quick to testify to in and out of church.










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Jet Airplanes & Milk Barn- Kentucky Derby- 4-H Swim Parties- 4-H Christmas Caroling- Stand In The Gap, Washington D.C.

        JET AIRPLANES & THE MILK  BARN--- I don’t really remember when this started but it continued up until the time the Guard unit was activated.  During milking time every few days, & sometimes a few days in a row, huge airplanes, looking like  bombers or passenger liner would fly over the dairy barn just above the tree tops.  I often thought, ‘’If you threw a rock at it you could almost hit it.’’  The unusual thing about them was that all the windows were painted over with gray paint.   I don’t know if this was the time auto-pilots came out & the window were painted over so they would have to depend on the instruments or what. They would come over with a low roar & if you didn’t remember they were coming it could startle you.  Later fighter jets started coming over & they would really scare the pwaddin out of you.  It was a fast loud roar & sometimes they would make a sonic boom.  There were times I remember dropping the milkers it scared me so much, &  dropping the milkers might startle a cow & she would kick, sometimes I’d get nailed.  Both planes seemed to follow the same pattern.  If you happened to be a little late starting milking & were outside you could see them coming from the northeast.  They would be visible for a kind of half circle, coming over the milkbarn & house & then swing back toward Wichita.  Sometimes I suspected there were some pilots who deliberately broke the sound  barrier just as they were approaching the barn because they knew someone was in there milking.  They started banking as they approached the barn so I could never see why the sudden burst of speed was necessary.

Cleo Burden his ponies & wagon

OTHER RELATIVES----There are a few other  Paxson side relatives that we saw but not as much as Buck & Florence and Alice & Clifford.  Clyde and Janie Griffith lived in Wichita.  Clyde was an avid fisherman.  He fished a lot of places but once in a while he would come down to the folks and we would go fishing different places.  I’m not sure but he may have done some fishing down on the Chicaskia River.  We would sometimes have a picnic when they were down.        
        Frank & Mary Ginder living at a couple places west of Oxford, Ks.   There was one place a few miles west & a couple north that I remember in particular.  They had an old Gander Goose at that place.  I don’t know what age I was, lower grade school, but I remember the Gander would chase me.  When we went over there I was always on the lookout for him when we got out of the car.    Actually I would sit in the car after mom and dad had gotten out & scan the place looking for the Gander.  If I went outside to play I'd keep a stick handy.    He’d start for me with his wing flapping & honking.  I would run, as I remember he got ahold of my pants leg a couple of times.   Don’t remember that he ever got skin but I sure didn’t like him.
         Charley & Jenny Bell lived a few places around Belle Plaine but the one I remember the most was west of town where the ponds are by the blacktop & a couple miles north.  I  remember that many times when we visited them Jud & Shirley Mattingly and their kids were there too.  Some of the  girls were more my age than the boys, who were several years younger.  I can picture a swing on the front porch, a red barn & a creek/draw to the north of the house.  Maybe we spent time visiting on the porch & playing in the draw & barn. There were 9 kids in Jud & Shirley’s family: Cheryl, Beth, Yvonne, Roberta, Paul, Bill, Crystal, Pricilla & Pam.  They lived in South Haven so for years there were always 2nd cousins to talk to at Argonia/South Haven ballgames.  Since I was farming with dad after I graduated from High School  I was around Argonia attending games while all the Mattingly kids went through school. 
         Cleo Burden of the Burden, Bostic, Bell, Yeager, etc. relatives  was closet to the Paxson family.  At family reunions he would quite often  sit with and visit with a Paxson.  I seem to remember him visiting the folks a few times when they lived 3 N, 1W & 1/2 N. of Argonia. For as long as I can remember he had a team of ponies & a  wagon.  He would bring them  to Reunions and  take people for rides. At least one time he came to Argonia for the Argonia Daze parade.  Several of the Argonia Paxsons rode in the wagon.

     I didn’t see much of the Stitt side of the family.  We had a picnic once in a while up at Uncle Kenny's & Aunt Jenella's out by the old milk barn.  We'd get together for Thanksgiving & Christmas each year.   We went down to Delaware, Okla. a few times to visit Abe [Bill] & Marie Stitt.  They were Francis Stitt’s folks, the one who helped mom a lot during the summer.  I have a lot of old slides of Grandpa Stitt and his 3 brothers, 3 is what comes to mind right now, usually all dressed up in suits or nice clothes, so it may have been for funerals or wedding.  I seem to remember a few dinners at the farmhouse where a lot of the Stitt’s were present.  We’d see the Burford’s now & then that lived around Milton at card parties.  Don’t remember there being any Haven family around when I was a kid.

  

KENTUCKY DERBY----Our IFYE group had a weeks debriefing in Washington D.C. after returning to the U.S.  At the end someone suggested having a reunion in a few years.  Jane Ann, from Kentucky said, ‘’Why don’t you all come to the Kentucky Derby next year’’.  We talked it over & it sounded like a great idea.  So the following year we all met at Louisville for the Kentucky Derby.  Some girls stayed with Jane at her apartment, the other girls plus Bill & I got motel rooms.  We headed for the racetrack the next day. It was the largest crowd I’d ever been in, in the U.S.  I remember thinking it was bigger that any crowd I experienced in India.  We all placed bets on the horses.  I bet on ‘Hold Your Peace’ to win.  We compared our bets.  Someone said if you bet to ‘Show’ you had a better chance of winning.  I ask, ‘’What’s ‘Show?’’  They informed me that if the horse placed 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd  you got winnings.  I said, ‘’What the heck, if your going to bet on a horse, why not go for all or nothing.’’ Actually I kinda wished someone had told me that before I bet.
      We were down by the rails about 4 rows back.  I thought OK we’ll get a glimpse of part of the race. Just before the race  started gals starting sitting on top of guys  shoulders. We couldn’t see anything! When I heard hoof beats I held my camera up high & took several pictures.  It turned out I got a picture of one horse  The horse I picked did finish 3^rd.  One of the girls did bet on it to show and won a little over $2 on a $5 bet.  Several of us did have some small winnings.  The line for Collecting was Loooooooong, some weren’t going to collect but a couple wanted to collect their winnings & put it in a jar or box & keep it, they figured it would be the only time they’d ever be to a Kentucky Derby.  At some point in time I went to the MEN’s room.  I walked in & there was liquid on the floor that was over the soles of my shoes. It Wasn’t Water!  They weren’t just using the urinals, they were using the walls! I had seen men and women relieving themselves in the gutters along the streets in India.  You just pretended they were squatting down taking a break or stopping to rest & you just didn’t look.  But that Derby restroom really grossed me out, more than anything in India.  I’m sure if those people saw a picture of what I saw in India they would be all freaked out, but they were doing something similar and thinking nothing of it.  People do that, see something, think it gross, then do something almost like it & think nothing of it.

MOWING WATER----This is Mary’s favorite story of the Hideout Days.  Mary, Patrick & I were camping with Maurice & Juanita’s and some other Paxsons.  It had rained the night before & we were loading up to go home, there was a large water puddle in the camp area.  Mary & I were packing the camper.  Patrick was pushing a little toy mower that was making a RRRrrr, RRRrrr sound so we were using it to keep track of his location.  Then suddenly it was quiet.  ‘’Where is Patrick ?’’,  we wondered.  We looked out & he was pushing the mower through the water which had silenced the mower.  We went back to packing the camper, when ever the RRRrrr, RRRrr, stopped, we would stop & listen, usually in a short time, he would get back on dry ground and the mower sound would start again.

4-H SWIM PARTIES----  Were a big thing back in the 50 & 60’s, several each summer.  The two primary spots were Wellington & Caldwell.  A couple were held at a pond near Belle Plaine.  They had struck an artesian spring while drilling an oil well, no oil.  It was very Saline, more than an ocean, you could lay back & you would float high in the water.  It was really nasty to taste & would burn eyes and the littlest cuts. The Swim Parties were usually in July & August after  harvest & field work were done & before wheat planting. These were the time of socializing & having fun as at 4-H FAIR with livestock showing, clothes modeling, crops, garden, 4-H DAY had Demonstrations, talks, Square Dance, Model Meetings, clothing   & SPRING SHOW which had Poultry, Flowers. Rabbits, chickens, we were all too busy.  The clubs back then were: Rome Rockets [Rome]  Skylarks, Sunflower, [both Caldwell], Perth  [Perth]. Milan Rustlers [Milan], 20^th Malaby Pushers [Argonia/Conway] Red Wing [Mayfield], Paradise Valley [Belle Plaine], Happy Hustlers [South Haven], Drury Millers [Drury] Jolly Workers [Dalton], Clipper [Riverdale] There was a group of  boys in Malaby, before & a group after, but neither palled around together like, Mike Crews, Jim Shetler, Leon Meyers & I.  We went to movies, went bowling, played pool & snooker &  went to the  swimming parties.  The jock games at swim parties were Basket Ball & Rooster Fighting, one guy sitting on another guys shoulders tries to dump the other top guys in the water and stay on his partners shoulders.  I was the stockiest so I was always the bottom man.  Mike was better than Leon at  wrestling or knocking the top guy off balance and into the water.  With Jim the best strategy was to have him get a good grip and then move sideways or pull back & pull both guys under water.  I think Jim was the lightest.   Many a night I would come home with the sorest neck because pushing back on Jim’s stomach with my head was the only thing that kept him from going into the water too. I always attributed my nack for staying on my feet for riding the sled behind the hay baler.  It took a lot of fancy footwork to stay upright.  If boys and girls wanted to mingle & get in a little body contact, Water Polo & Keep Away were the two popular ones. There were a few roller skating parties 
1-2 a winter, usually at Wellington & later Winfield.

CHRISTMAS CAROLING---20^th Malaby must have went Christmas Caroling every year it existed. I went the 10 yrs. I was a member and l0-11 years I was a leader. We’d load up at the Malaby Schoolhouse & later [after Malaby was torn down] Silverbrook schoolhouse in cars, pickups & stock trailers, wheat trucks with stock racks & tarps around the sides, then go to farms between Argonia & Conway Spgs. and sing Carols.  We’d sing 3-4 Christmas Carols at each place.  Two places we always stopped  were Bob & Rila Jodon, old Community & project leaders that had a beautiful farmstead,  I always wondered if they were of European decent.  Their Farm had a beautiful white 2-story house & huge white Barn & a few other buildings, all white. There were white wooden fences all around the lots & pastures next to the house. I think it had to be the most beautiful farm around Argonia & Conway.  Every year it looked like everything had just been repainted.  The ground sloped to the west and there was a neat little creek about 75 yards from the house There was a sidewalk leading to the house, at the end of there was a Rose Trellis.  On one side  of the trellis was a school bell atop a short utility pole.  When we went caroling I think ever 4-Her rang the bell------- coming and going.  The other was Grandma McGregor, Grandmother of the McGregor family  & long time project leader.  Her name was Martha  but I think every Malaby 4-Her over the years called her ‘Grandma McGregor’.  We’d stop at other couples in their middle 60’s-early 70’s and some of the older 4-H parents who didn’t go caroling.  At some of the regulars they would have homemade cookies for us & hot chocolate in foam cups.  Especially Grandma McGregor, I don’t think she missed a year as long as she could bake.   After the Caroling was over we would go back to the schoolhouse where more Cookies and Hot Chocolate were waiting.  Sometimes we’d go with a little snow on the ground, other times is was just down right cold.  When I was older I remember more than once getting back to the schoolhouse with a crust of ice on my mousthe & eyebrows.

QUAKER CRITTERS---Was the name we gave a set of Puppets that we used when Mary and I were teaching the 4^th- -5^th grade Sunday School Class at Argonia Friends and were taking the S.S. class to Conway Springs Rest Home to put on Puppet Skits.  Actually we started using them earlier.  Our family had been going there to play the guitar & sing for the residents for a few years &  I got the idea to build a Red Barn & buy animal puppets.  We used it as a family, the boys would do puppet skits & then when we started teaching that particular S.S. Class It was real easy to start them going.

The D.C. Mall during STIG
Promise Keepers wouldn't give numbers
Mall personell kept saying 3 1/2
Million

STAND IN THE GAP---In 1997,  Patrick, Jason & I went to a Promise Keepers Event called ‘Stand in the Gap’ that was held on the Mall in Washington D.C.  It was a 24 hour drive so we must have left on a Friday morning.  We drove non-stop arriving at a Metro station outside Washing D.C. at 2 a.m. in the morning.  We picked up a football at a gas station somewhere  that had the Oil Company name on it.  So every time we stopped for gas or rest stop we’d throw the football around for a little exercise.  We went through Ks., Mo., Ill., Ky., W. Va.  Patrick and Jason had put some signs on the Van windows with white shoe polish.  One was on the back window, ‘Honk if you Love Jesus”, that kept us awake most of the night there were a lot of vans full of men headed for D.C.  
      Before we got on the Metro and headed for the Mall.  There was a very helpful, friendly Metro employee that gave us advice and helped us get the right Metro ticket for the best price.  We headed for the Mall and took a place near a large Megatron Speaker.  Later a group from Chicago took up a space beside us.  They had at least one guitar in the group so we sang Christian songs while waiting for the event to start.  There were so many great speakers from all Culture & Ethnic groups.  The Native American delegation & speaker were in native dress so it was impressive.  We had a variety of Music groups lead singing throughout the day. 

  

Our little spot on the Mall

  Promise Keepers Staff wouldn't give numbers although guy's were always asking, they kept saying it wasn't about numbers but about the event, messages & music.  We heard from many of those who had worked at the Mall for 10 years and more that it was the largest, best behaved and easiest to work crowd they had seen on the Mall.  They put the figure at 3 -1/2  million when guys  said P. K. wouldn't tell but they were curious.  People sat on steps of buildings & going back to the Metro  we found them on side street we had no idea they were there.  
       I had always had trouble envisioning the part in the Bible where it talks of singing continually in front  of the Throne.  After Stand In the Gap, I decided, ‘I could do that’.  The Preachers, Speakers were all impressive & inspirational.  The event lasted about 12 hours. After it was over we headed back to the Metro and to our parking lot.  We arrived about sundown.  The same Metro helper was there that had been there at least 12 hours earlier.  Still chipper and friendly.  
       When we got home were heard lots of comments on the news.  One was that commuters on the by-passes 5 miles from the Mall could hear the singing if they rolled down their windows.  It was a very inspirational day. 
       We left D.C. in the evening hours of Saturday.  To me the only down side of the event was going home.  We were on the Interstate headed home going the speed limit.  We were being passed by these Vans with Church names on the side going 10 to 20 mph above the speed limit, which I didn’t think was to good a testimony. The thought occurred it looked like they were all trying to outrun the Devil.

     Going to D.C.  we had been passed by lots of vans going a little faster than we were, they would honk and all wave.  One the way home,  I think it was Patrick,  noticed there was no honking, and all the people in the Van were asleep except the driver.  It was a most Inspirational day in the heart of our Nation, Washington D.C. our National Capital one worth the 48 hours of non-stop driving.