Harper National Guard- Uncle Reece- Colorado Springs/Temple Resort- Golden Buffalos 4-H- Memorials at Rock Spring Ranch- Kansas State Fair.

A 1o6 set up at the Harper County Fair
Larry, Jason, Patrick, Jonathan

HARPER NATIONAL GUARD--  After moving to Argonia Mary & I talked & figured if I got back in the Guard for 4 years we could pay off the old farm debts.  So I joined the Harper Guard.  Boy, was it different than Wellington.  They were an Anti Tank Missile Platoon, at first it was 106 rocket launchers mounted on Jeeps, then it was the new ITV’s, missiles on a vehicle much like the personnel carries. Field exercises were more like campouts.  They built fire pits before dark to start a fire & then cook goodies at night.  They would shake their heads & want to know what in the world I was doing when I would do things the old infantry way, I explained I planned to stay alive if I ever needed too.  Eventually they adapted a few of my old Infantry ways ,but, I enjoyed some of their laid back approaches.  I enjoyed Harper much more than Wellington.  In Harper I was a Platoon Sgt.     Because I had been Infantry & a Drill Sgt.  I took things more seriously than everyone else, whenever visitors from Battalion or Brigade came I was always the one picked to be their guide at the Armory or out for training.  At one point they wanted a P.R. man for each Guard Unit.  Take pictures, publish articles, etc., I was chosen.  I attended military photography training at Salina for several weekends.  Having  Photography as a hobby it came naturally.  I was sending pictures &  articles to newspapers in Medicine Lodge, Anthony, Harper, Conway Star/Agonia Argosy & Wellington every town where someone in the Harper Unit lived.  I started keeping a notebook similar to the old 4-H Reporters notebook, I even started a Unit Newsletter.  Once we had the Battalion Commander, a Lt. Col. visit.  He was asking about our P.R. man, since I was showing him around I got out my book.  He was blown away, he hadn’t seen anything in any Kans. Guard Unit like it.  He asks if I had been turned in for a Medal.  I ask what for I’m just been doing my job, SGT. Baker  the fulltime Armory Personnel said  we didn’t see it as a big deal everyone in the Unit took their jobs seriously, although we had a reputation for being Mavericks.   But the Btn. Commander insisted he send in my name & I was eventually awarded some Army Accommodation Medal I no longer remember the name.

An ITV with the rocket launcher up in firing position

      The first year we had ITV’s.  It looked like a Personnel Carrier but had a missile launcher that would raise up. we were to get them at Annual Training.  I made a mock instrument panel of toggle switches & old car gauges. I took it to PSG. Baker not sure he would use it, but he was impressed.  We used if for several months.  Some guys spent a lot of time memorizing everything so when we got the ITV's at AT they would have the instrument panel & missile controls memorized, others just familiarized themselves with it..

        Annual Training was always a competition between the “old guys” as the younger guys called us, & the  ‘Kids’ as we called them.  It was always a fun jesting.   Baker always put all the ranking NCO's as one Track Crew so others got training in places they would move into.  We would have a  Platoon Sgt. doing the loaders job, usually filled by a  Pfc.   I was the Track Commander, since I was new to the unit & had a lot to learn, Psg. Baker was the loader [Pfc. job],  Ssgt Cook was  Gunner. [Specialist  4th Class job]    I was the youngest of the 3, in my 40's  Baker & Cook were in their 50’s.  Our driver ,the only one in the right rank slot, was  Spec. 4. Ross in his late 20’s. 

An ITV with rocket launcher in travel mode &
T.C. & driver hatches open.

     Before Camp the young guys were always raging us about how they were going to  wipe us old guys out on all the tests.   I had ball caps made for our ITV crew to wear off duty at A.T.  On it was a picture of an ITV & the name 40+1 the driver suggested it since he was the only one under the age of 40.  I  gave them out to what would be our track crew about 3 drills before A.T.  That was the topper.  The ragging really got serious.

       At Annual Training there were all kinds of tests on how to operate the ITV & how to fire a missile,  they were all simple but one, firing the missle.   40 + 1 tried  doing the firing of a missile  step by step as we had done with everything else.& timed it again & again but was always a couple seconds over.  So we talked & agreed,  if it were the real thing everyone would be doing their job at the same time. We decided that was the only way we could come in under the time & if the scorers, who would be inside the ITV watching us, disqualified us for not doing it step by step we’d just have to go from there.  So that’s what we did.  We had a much better time than 3 crews & was only 2 seconds behind the fastest. It really blowed them away, they couldn’t figure out how we had done it.  They bugged us for days to tell them, finally we did.  And then everybody was…”If we ‘d done it that way you wouldn’t have beat us.’’ Of course we were saying something like…. ‘’In your dreams’’, or ‘’As you get older you get smarter.”  We always had a smart reply.

        At A.T., Baker always let Harper crews push vehicles to the limit, breaking things, getting stuck, going places no other units did.  Other units babied equipment.  At first I questioned it & then concluded how else would they know the vehicles capabilities, if ever activated, if they didn’t push everything to the limit in training. 

      One story that points out our Maverick side I will always remember involves when our sister unit from Wichita came down to train with us.  They only had the big ditch, so they liked to come to Harper. We had several places we used that had much more room and variety of terrain.  I had got permission from Phil Wacker & Ron & Lawrence Swingle to use their land along the Chicaskia River.  Of course we always tried to show-up Wichita  when they came down so we wondered about crossing the river with the ITV’s.  Several of us thought it could be done but some had doubts, we tried it  one weekend.  It worked fine, no hitches. We'd picked an entry place with a gentle slope & free of trees but  had to go up river a ways to the place that looked best to go up the opposite bank. Because of trees the only place that looked good had a pretty good slope & trees were close on each side.  When Wichita came down one weekend we had a River Crossing on  the training schedule, of course all the Wichita guys didn’t think it possible…”No Way!’’, ''They [ITV's] won't make it !''   We didn't tell them that we'd already tested it. But we persisted and roaded the [6] ITV's from Harper to the Chicaskia River west of Argonia along 160 Hiway.  We admitted we'd scouted the area. So they wanted us to go first to prove it could be done 
   They were warned the place  to go up the other bank was narrow with big trees on each side.  You could cross the river at a moderate speed but you'd have to gun it to get up the bank.  Two Harper ITV’s were to cross first, a Wichita one, then my ITV & then 2 more from Wichita.  The first 2 Harper ones made it fine. By now the 1^st  Wichita Unit was all hyped up about going.  They started across the river doing fine till getting  to the opposite bank.  The driver hit the gas.  They were  just headed up the bank when the ITV stopped dead, instantly !!   The driver had hit a tree. It took a little while, but soon we heard a startled exclamation, “”Holy .…!!” come drifting across the river.  The rest of us made it across fine.  But, we never stopped laughing in Harper about that one Track that hit the tree.

   The Guard Unit always had some displays at the Harper Co. Fair, mostly just equipment on display.  I just couldn’t get the Old Drill Sgt. out I guess.  Each year I would make a little booth with a training theme, Identifying friendly & enemy tanks, map reading, reading a compass, etc.  Going  to the Fair was supposed to interest young guys in joining the Guard. I thought my booth would help, I think Gary Baker hoped so too,  however, it was always mostly boys & girls that would stop by my booth out of curiosity &  I could tell  Sgt. Baker was a little disappointed but kinda…”Well, maybe they’ll remember when they get old enough to enlist.”  I always tried to keep it simple so they made no or maybe just one mistake.

      

Ready for Covered Wagon Ride

 UNCLE REECE----A really fun time was going down to Uncle Reece & Aunt Ruth’s by Elmwood, Oklahoma when the boys were young.  Uncle Reece had his mules Jack & Jude. He  always hooked them up to the covered wagon & took us for a ride.  Some of us would ride the horses. Buck is the only one I can remember by name.  Jason was always having a mishap.  Reins breaking, saddle slipping sideways, etc.  Uncle Reece as he put on the harness would explain each part & it’s purpose.  By then we had left the farm & I wasn’t sure the boys would find it interesting, but they seemed too.  One time Uncle Reece put Jonathan on Buck & led him into the house, something he used to do with his kids.  Aunt Ruth raised a big ruckus as Uncle Reece lead Buck around the house with Jonathan on him.  However, I suspected that Aunt Ruth just made all the noise & fuss just to make Uncle Reece laugh.  One time Uncle Reece wanted Patrick to  jump on Buck from the back like they do in the Cowboy Movies.  He led Buck all over the lot stopping here & there.  He finally had Patrick try.  It seems it took a couple of tries but Patrick finally made it up to Buck’s rump  behind the saddle.  A week or two later it dawned on to me why Uncle Reece has spent so much time going around the lot.  He was looking for a place where Patrick would be running down hill & at the same time find a little low spot for Buck’s back legs that would make it easier for Patrick to make the jump.  The farm was only 2-3 miles from the Texas, Oklahoma State Line.  A time or two Reece took us down to the Texas Line.  It wasn’t very far but it sounded impressive if you came home & told someone you had gone from Oklahoma to Texas in a Covered Wagon over the weekend.  Another thing Uncle Reece would do was to crawl from back to front on his hands & knees between Buck’s legs. He was always trying to get the boys to do it.  After a few years of the boys always turning him down I did it.  I had thought about it before but  kept waiting to see of the boys were ever brave enough.  I finally decided they were never going to so I did.

Uncle Reece takes Jonathan & Buck in the house

   

Uncle Reece, Paul, Jonathan

Another story about Uncle Reece involves our home in Argonia.  We had gone somewhere & when we came home stuff on our front porch had been moved around.  Just as Mary was starting to speak, the name “Uncle Reece” popped into my mind.  Mary asked, “Do you think kids were messing around on our porch”?  She says this as she is opening the door. About the time I start to say. “I bet it was Uncle Reece”.   Mary finds a note from Aunt Ruth saying they had stopped by & she left the note as she didn’t want anyone to worry about Uncle Reece’s pranks.  I just started laughing & then told Mary that Uncle Reece had been my first thought.  I hadn’t thought about it for years but my folks did the same thing when we went to visit family & friends when I was a kid & no one was home.  They would rearrange things or mess with something so that when people got home they would wonder who had been there.  I remember it happening at our house  & how we would try to guess who had been there. Usually weeks later we would find out who had stopped. Sometimes we had guessed right.

    
HOMEMADE TAFFY AT RUTHANNA’S—One year  we went over to Ruthanna’s at Booker, Texas, when visiting Uncle Reece, which I don’t think was more than 5 miles or so.  Ruthanna had a tradition of making lots of homemade candy between Thanksgiving &  Christmas. One of the candies was homemade taffy.  Mary the boys & I helped.  Pulling the taffy was a real experience.  You smeared butter all over your hands, & the taffy was just off the stove & very hot.  Sometimes you just had to quit pulling it & put it down.  Our hands were all bright red from the heat of the Taffy.  Everyone was looking at them and making comments.  It was a fun time.  I always said we should go again, but we never made it back.

Ft. Osage Amusement Park at Lake of the Ozarks.
Patrick, Larry, Mary,  Jason

       
COLORADO SPRINGS & TEMPLE RESORT--Our first family vacations when Patrick & Jason were young alternated one year in Colorado the next in Missouri.  With a weeks vacation from Cessna it was nicer than a weekend vacation squeezed in between farm work.  In Colorado we often visited Uncle Rex & Aunt Kate at Green Mountain Falls.  Since they had both  graduated from K-State lots of things in the basement were K-state Purple.  Pool table felt. Vinyl on a couple of barber chairs & sofa.  There were bedrooms & a kitchen in the basement done in K-State Purple.  Relatives could stay a few days and Kate & Rex would usually have them upstairs for a meal or two but their days were often busy.  They had a lot of antiques.      

Mary, Jason & Patrick in
Garden of Gods

       Other favorite places around Colo. Spgs. was Garden of Gods & Helen Hunt Falls, we visited a few museums & loved the water slide at Manitou Springs. We only drove up Pikes Peak once.  We did drive Gold Camp Road a few times.    Highlights at Lake of the Ozarks were staying at Temple Resort, Playing pool, ping-pong & pinball machines in the Rec. Room.  Getting a ski boat & going out on the lake for a few hours. The Clown Drive In for boats on the lake was fun.  Going to Lee Mace Ozark Opry.  Eating Catfish Dinners at one of the Restaurants.  Going to the Amusement Park, Fort Osage, that had a lot of rides for small children, the cool part was instead of having signs saying you had to be so tall to ride a ride.  They had signs on an Ozark Hillbilly that said if you were shorter than the Hillbilly you could ride the ride.  Kids were always excited to find they could ride a ride instead of that they weren’t big enough.   We always went down to the shops, go-carts, mini golf & things by Bagnall Dam, there were lots of children’s things there.  The talking outhouse was always fun.  When you opened the door it activated a tape recorder that had hilarious things recorded on it.  We went to the Lake of the Ozarks and Colorado later when Jonathan & Paul were older,  but not as often.

    
 GOLDEN BUFFALOS 4-H----Mary and I started the Golden Buffalos 4-H Club after we moved to Argonia.  We took on the job as Community Leaders as well as project leaders, the only family that stayed with us was my sister Arlene & Matthew.  Doris & Boyd Lovelace & boys stayed awhile.  All the other families would stay 2-3 years & drop out.  When they got Jr. Hi. & High School age they didn't have time for 4-H.  So every few years it was like starting a 4-H Club all over again.  It really got to be a strain for us so we just finally let it go.  We tried going to Red Wing at Mayfield for Patrick but all the kids went to school in Wellington so Patrick just didn't fit in & the kids didn't make any effort to include him.  Later we went out to Hilltoppers, a Harper County 4-H Club, west & north of Argonia.  There were a few Argonia families we knew.  We got along quite well & the boys went to some Regional 4-H Days & the State Fair.  But they were inclined to do a lot of club activities & project meetings on Sunday.  With our involvement with Church that presented a conflict.  So we just eventually got away from 4-H.  So Patrick, Jason, Jonathan & Paul's involvement never grew to the point that it did for Mary & myself which always made me kind of sad, but we hosted IFYE's;  Parmar from India, & Maria from Panama, and was involved in the LABO exchange for  15 years, which were 4-H related & holds a lot of special memories.

   

Our Family Bench & one of the trees.
On the bench is engraved.  ''In fond memories of R.S.R.''
The Larry Paxson Family

 MEMORIALS AT ROCK SPRINGS RANCH---In the years that we were involved with LABO we discussed having Memorials put up at Rock Springs Ranch for our parents, Beryl & Marcella Paxson & Henry & Marian Clark.   First we had a tree planted on a walk behind the Administration Building for Henry & Marian.  When we did my folks we contacted my brother & sister, Alan & Arlene about buying a tree.  So at the bottom of the hill behind the citizenship center, Heritage Hall, we had 3 trees planted in my folks name & had a stone bench placed in honor of our family.   The plaque reads,  “In fond memories of Rock Springs Ranch- the Larry Paxson Family’’.  I always felt a little guilty that we planted more trees for my parents than for Mary's,   asking her several times if she was ok with that & offered to plant more for her folks, she always said yes it was OK.

        
POOL SLIDE AT ROCK SPRINGS RANCH---This is not about me & was suggested not by me but by Mary,  but was  something that made me kind of proud.  There was a 4-H agent in Sumner County, Raymond Frye, who after he retired, tirelessly campaigned Sumner County Business & people to raise money to be donated to Rock Springs Ranch.  Because of Mary & my involvement in County 4-H activities Raymond knew us well & I think we could be called a family friend as we visited with him often & he had been an agent when I was a 4-Her & remembered me from those days, not only from Fairs & 4-H Days but I had been quite active as a Sumner Co, Junior Leader.   Patrick was a 12 years old  4-Her when Mary suggested he write Raymond Frye with the suggestion to put a slide up at the Olympic size swimming pool at Rock Springs Ranch 4-H Center.  I reacted enthuastically but must admit I didn't really expect it to happen.  So you can imagine my surprise when in a year or two we found a brand new slide at the pool at RSR when we went to LABO Camp.

    
 KANSAS STATE FAIR----My goodness, how long has someone in the Larry Paxson family been going to the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson.  My trips would have started back in the mid 1950’s when taking either  garden & crops exhibits or being a member of the Sumner County Dairy Judging Team.  Mary would have started going with her family when she was 2-3 years old. I have gone every year since except the 2 years I was in the Army.  Mary has probably never missed a year.  All the boys, Patrick, Jason, Jonathan & Paul went to the State Fair before they were a year old, carried in a backpack baby carrier by myself or Mary.  As 4-H members  every one of the boys was in Clothes Strategy Style Shows at the State Fair with clothes they had selected in the project. Jason was in the  State Fair Style Show one year, He was County Champion in Harper Co.  Jason also won the State 4-H  Reporters Award.    More than one of the boys, can’t really remember who, participated in a Photo Fun Day.  They would take fair pictures, they would be developed & put on display.  
        We always camped out in tents at the back of the Fair Parking Lots.  

Early days at the Kansas State Fair
Patrick, Mary, Jason


We usually went up on a Friday night & then stayed all day Saturday. Because of my aversion to the Midway, when the boys were young we only rode rides where the money went directly to the Kansas State Fair.  The State Fair Train, Ye Ole Mill, and Talbot Lake Boats.   Many years later a Ski Lift was put in along the Livestock Buildings to save people from walking several blocks.  As the boys got older we  allowed a certain amount of dollars to spend on the Midway rides.  The boys would pick rides of their choice.  Mary and I might ride the Ferris Wheel or Scrambler. When our boys were older we started taking Seth & Pam Roe’s kids, Madeline, Connic, Davis & Sydney with us.  We met Seth & Pam while they were Managers at Camp Quaker Haven and we became good friends.  When our boys became High School or College age they began to go with the family & also  with friends & often brought home very nice stuffed animals, the kind their Dad could never win.   We all enjoyed the log water ride when it was at the fair.  Mary & myself began to go a second time just to look at all the old people stuff like the Domestic Arts Bldg., all the Livestock & Poultry Bldg. and others, stops at some Food Booths for things like Biscuits & Gravy & Apple Dumplings & ice cream. The Cattleman’s Steak House was a favorite of mine.   As a Family, Pronto Pups & Corn on the Cob were favorites, visiting the Farm Bureau Magician was always on the schedule.

Mary's winning target, 47 points out of 50

     

       Mary always wanted to have a shooting match on the National Guard Shooting Van.  I guess she thought since I was in the Army I was supposed to be  an expert with a rifle.  I did qualify as Expert several times but I also was only a Sharpshooter sometimes.  But Mary thought if she could outshoot me she had really accomplished something.  
       I don't remember just why this was, maybe she couldn't see the center of the target that well,  but she always needed one round to mark the target and then adjust if needed.  The target was on a clip attached to a cable.  After the first shot she would always reel it in to see where she had hit the target.  If she got an 8 on the first round,  I usually beat her, sometimes we'd have a tie, but if she got a 10 the first time she could beat me which she did now and then & that really tickled her.