School’s out- summer vacation. When I was a kid that vacation looked like it would last forever- what fun we could have. My sisters and I lived on a farm about two miles out of Cardington and although we had chores to do daily, we managed to cram a lot of fun in those summer days. Our chores – remember this was in the 1940’s – involved helping plant and tend a huge garden, taking turns pumping water in the trough in the barn and mowing the lawn – the old fashion way with a push reel mower.
One day, my sister Joanne was driving our 1945 Massey Harris tractor pulling the hay wagon on which my dad was spreading the hay as it came up the hay loader (this was BB – Before Baling). My youngest sister was to walk behind the loader with a hay fork making sure extra hay got onto the holder. This particular day she chose to read a book as she sauntered along with the fork. Suddenly the fork was caught in the loader and made its trip to the wagon landing on my dad whose bass voice shouted “Are you trying to kill me?”
Among the many fun things we did was to go fishing in the little creek that ran between our farm and that of our neighbor, Wes Heimlich. Wes still farmed with horses and he would shout at them in German – sometimes I wondered just what he was saying because the horses’ ears would flatten. We four sisters were fishing one afternoon – usually got craw daddies on our hooks. My sister, Norita, sat on what looked like a nice rock but almost immediately the head of a snapping turtle popped out.
Shortly thereafter, it was found there were lots of those turtles there and someone came with a truck and captured them.
Those summer vacations went by so fast but when I was raising my own sons, those summer days went so slow! I would count the days until they went back to school! I would love, though, to go back for one day on our farm and one day with my kids at home playing in the back yard. Great memories.
June, 1915: “A thief stole 50 chickens from Mrs. Martin Hack. Mrs. Hack lives four miles in the country from Cardington.”
June,1925: “Pheasants have become so numerous in certain sections west of Cardington that farmers have been forced to shoot a number of them, the birds destroying corn by puling up the young shoots. Killing is permissible in such cases but the birds must not be used for food or their plumage for any commercial purposes.”
Do you recognize any of these names? It was Children’s Day at Center Church and the following youths participated: Ilo Howard, Grace Margot, Jack and Trill Bensley, Francis Fiant, Ivan Hart, Ferne Griffe, Myron Sage, Merle Margot, Ivah Hart, Lewis Ault, Thelma Sage, Virgil Powers, Virgil Ault, Hazel Snyder, Dorothy Sparks, and Ruth and Doris Kirkpatrick.
June 1955: The Class of 1955 graduated 55 seniors. Ann Thompson was Valedictorian and Linda McElroy was Salutatorian. A quartet composed of Dean Curl, Kenneth Rengert, Mills Poorman, Noel Hack, Lynn Chalfant, Donald Wilson, Vaun Coykendall and Richard Koon sang. Dottie Haycook, Janenne Heacock and Joan Ross also sang as a trio.
June 1985: Four Morrow County Schools graduated 370 seniors; Highland had the largest class with 107; Mt Gilead, 99; Northmor, 85 and Cardington, 79.
