Bob's Chapter

The second son. The third child.

I REMEMBER MOM. Actually, I didn’t realize or appreciate it at the time, but our mom was truly extraordinary. Just having seven kids seems an impossible task. But with the help of her dad, Iris, and the neighbors, she did a great job of raising us kids. When you think of the cooking, sewing, and cleaning and all the other things she did, it’s just amazing. Like the early years at the little four-room house on 39th Street with no bathroom. How did we all keep clean? I remember the round galvanized tub on the kitchen floor for Saturday night baths. We all hoped the kid who bathed in the tub before we did didn’t pee. And, that awful out house—yuk! Mom always sent me off to school in clean clothes and with a good breakfast of a peanut butter sandwich dunked in cocoa and a special lunch in a brown paper bag. (After lunch the brown bag was folded up, tucked in a pocket to be used again and again.) Mom always made me an angel food cake for my birthday. I remember it had thirteen eggs in it. The garden was a huge annual undertaking. Rows and rows of tomatoes, peas, beans, lettuce, radishes, and corn. There were watermelons, and cantaloupe. (We called them muskmelons.) The pumpkins and cucumbers were planted in little hills. Then the harvest and all the canning Mom did. It’s always hot that time of year, so canning was a real chore. What was it… two-hundred jars of tomatoes and pickles? Mom sent me out to pick the beans one day. When I was done she asked me, “Did you do a good job picking?” I said, “Yes.” Then she took the bucket and went down the row and picked three more buckets. She never said a word. A good lesson. With all the work Mom had to do she still found time to crochet those beautiful doilies. I still have and treasure several of them. Mom also became a great crafter. Her Christmas ornament balls were the greatest. I have forty or fifty and my boys, Steve and Brian, have some, too. I still display and show them off each holiday. Also, I display the Mr. and Mrs. Santa dolls with the velvet clothes and the wire glasses. I know we all have them, but I ended up with two sets. (Eat your hearts out, guys!) It’s just mind-boggling what our mother accomplished in her lifetime. Too bad moms can’t live forever.

MOM’S CANNING

Every year, Mom put up the produce from our big garden and orchard. We had hundreds of Mason or Ball jars with glass -lined lids that she used year after year after year. Grandpa Williams was Mom’s biggest helper in canning season—Iris, too. Sometimes the jelly, which got used up first, would be sealed into old jelly glasses with only a thin layer of melted paraffin, which we all loved to chew on. Sometimes she put waxed paper covers on the jelly jars with a rubber band. The basement was lined with shelves that Dad built like library stacks. Sometimes something would go bad and explode—usually peas. And if something got a little moldy on top Mom would just scrap it off and we’d just eat the rest. Iris remembers these canned items from the early years: Catsup, cooked for hours. Pork. It was cut into small pieces and cooked with spices and packed in quart jars. When it was heated up to be eaten, it made a nice gravy. Pepper hash made of red and green bell peppers, onion, peppercorns. Cabbage and cucumber relish. Bernie remembered that, in the late fall, Mom would fry up some pork sausage and sage patties. When they were cool, she put them into a gray crock with blue hunting scenes on it (Bernie still has it) and then covered them with pork grease which would solidify. The crock was kept on the cold porch where the patties would keep for months. These were made strictly as a delicacy for Grandpa Williams, who ate them cold directly from the grease.

Tomatoes, at least 200 quarts, good for making Swiss steak Tomato juice, about 100 quarts, good for making goulash Green string beans, yellow wax beans, and lima beans Peas Corn Beets Sauerkraut was made in a 50-gallon ceramic crock sitting under the front basement window. It was an open crock with an inverted dinner plate covering the kraut, which grew about a one-inch head of mold that had to be lifted up to get at the good part below. Recipe: Sauerkraut and spareribs cooked in the same pot, until the meat fell off the bone; served over riced potatoes with butter.

Cherries Peaches Pears Lots of Applesauce Dad wrapped pears and apples in newspaper and stored them for several months in bushel baskets in a covered hole in the backyard. Sometimes the apples got a little wrinkled but we ate them anyway.

Dill Pickles (we grew the dill) Sweet Relish Sweet Pickles Watermelon Pickles (made from the rind) Curry Pickles Picalili (relish with onion and mustard seeds Mustard Pickles Horseradish (for eating with pot roast) Bread and Butter Pickles Pepper Hash

Apple Butter Pear Butter Red Raspberry Jam Plum Jelly Blackberry Preserves Strawberry Preserves Cherry Jam Red Current Jelly Apple Jelly Concord Grape Jelly Yellow Pear Tomato Preserves Gooseberry Jelly (we called it Green Jelly)

All extra good eating and healthy, too!

The thing I remember most about Dad was that Dad could fix anything. He was an excellent mechanic and welder. His workshop in the back always had some project going on. These projects always required many trips to look for parts or advice. Dad would always haul us along. We did a lot of sitting around while he made deals or trades with friends or just sat around talking. Dad had a variety of genuine characters as friends. Dad was active in Dad’s Club and attended most meetings. I don’t remember what Dad’s Club was all about but he was right there with us. He also took us to Scout troop meetings. Our dad was a hard worker at John Deere, where his friends called him “Casey.” I guess we were pretty poor but didn’t know it. One of Dad’s big responsibilities was the orchard. A half acre of apple, peach, cherry, plum, and pear trees. Spraying and pruning were hard work but helped the crop. I know one of the pear trees was very special. Everyone wanted the pears of that tree. They were extra large and juicy. Dad had a good sense of humor. I remember lots of laughter when he spent time with his friends. One day we were over at Oscar Peterson’s sitting around. Dad and Oscar were having a few beers and Dad fed some to Oscar’s cat. The cat acted crazy and we all had a big laugh. Dad taught me how to make a willow whistle. I can still make one today. He taught us how to make home-made kites from sticks, newspaper, and string. They flew very well. We would occasionally travel to Minnesota to visit Dad’s brothers. We would never call or write to tell them we were coming. We’d just show up. I guess all the Guilds did that. One summer Bernie and I planted a field of popcorn next door. Dad said if we took care of it we could sell the popcorn and keep all the money. When it came time to pick the popcorn we had grown just a little weary of it all. Dad said there was one gold ear of corn in that field. Well, we picked that field in record time. We never found the gold ear, of course. I think we made a little money on the popcorn sales. We sold it for ten cents a pound. Dad took us with to buy a car a few times. He was an extremely tough negotiator. He didn’t care what he said to the salesman. I was embarrassed by his outrageously low offers and rationales for deserving a better price (“I’ve got seven kids to feed.”) but he always got us a good deal. Of course, we all know Dad was a handsome guy. People who knew him still mention that to me. I know Dad enjoyed his retirement. His motorcycle and his camper were special to him. I still have some of his tools and think of him each time I use one of them. I’m glad Dad had at least a few years to enjoy his retirement.

I played baseball in fifth and sixth grades. I can’t remember what position, but I do remember my new baseball glove was very special to me. In Junior High School, I was manager for the football team. It was fun and I got to know the players and coaches very well. I was able to travel with the team to out of town games to places like Kewanee, Geneseo, and Rock Island. Oh, I also played marbles in grade school, if that is considered a sport. I had the usual yo-yos, and did a little hopscotch, too. I started playing golf when I worked at J. C. Penney’s in the 1950’s. I played in a league and with friends. Although my ability at this game hasn’t improved yet today, I still enjoy playing. The best thing about golf is the four hours away from the phone. (No cell phones allowed!) I have met lots of interesting people and have played some great golf courses. I bowled for many years in my thirties and forties, usually on a team. Our teams were never any good, but we had more fun than anybody. My best score was 207 and my worst was an 88.

I’ve always been interested in all sports. When reading the paper, I turn to the sports page first. I have been to a few Green Bay Packer games and quite a few Wisconsin Badger Games. I enjoy watching football, baseball, hockey, basketball, and golf in person or on TV. During the 90’s my son, Steve, and I attended Milwaukee Bucks Basketball games on a regular basis, (I do not watch W.F.W., but before we had a TV when I was little, I remember Dad taking us to Iris and Bill’s apartment to watch wrestling on TV. Argentine Aroca was our favorite wrestler in those days. Having lived in Wisconsin for many years, the Green Bay Packer football team has become a religion. We live and die every game. We wear the hats, the T-shirts, and the sweat shirts. Win or lose, we are all die- hard Packer fans around here. We love our Packers!

Although there is no particular hobby that I am into, I do like reading, golf, going fishing, and boating. Currently, jet skiing is my favorite thing to do. Living on the Rock River now makes it convenient—if only the summers were a little longer. I do a little woodworking and have become a pretty good picture framer. And over the years, I have had some great fishing trips to Canada. The best trip was to Northern Canada with a bunch of guys in 1975. We flew on an old DC-9. For openers, the pilot had jeans and a flannel shirt on. We sat on duffel bags and flew one thousand miles straight north of Minneapolis. Almost to the Arctic Circle. We were so far north that it didn’t get dark until midnight. We were half an hour from our destination when the pilot said that we were low on fuel due to head winds. We had to turn around, fuel up at a very small airport, and head back. We landed on an island with a runway that started at one end of the island and ended at the other. We used all of that runway! But, the fishing was great.

(Bernie helped me out with some pictures to replace the narrative I didn’t write.)

At random. The neighbors: The Johnsons, Tom, Ruth, and Billy, Ray Rohrer, The Vergaine kids, The Reichenbergs, The McFarlands. Burning my hand while playing with gasoline. I was trying to make smoke come out of the smoke stack of a toy steamshovel. (Mom cried and Dad was mad!) The gardens. Barbara getting spanked because she wouldn’t take her medicine. Bernie’s broken arm while ice skating. Trips to Cordova to visit the Rodgers and playing slot machines in a bar there. The Petersons. Tom Johnson cutting down a tree and knocking out the power lines. Mr. Rohrer killing chickens by pulling off their heads. (They ran around with no heads for a while.) The orchard and spraying. Camping out in tents in the orchard. The outhouse! Gathering nuts and Grandpa’s black hands from shelling walnuts. Swimming trips to Campbell’s Island. Iris’s wedding. The Erector Set. Tinker toys. Cap guns. Homemade kites. Annual picnics at Riverside Park. Mom’s luck at cards. Poker games with Art and Eileen Cordingly. The well, and hauling water when it went dry. Making ketchup. Watermelon pickles. Fried mush. Home-made French fries. Gramp’s coffee can under the bed. My first pair of Levi’s. M-80s (now illegal in the U.S.) Bike trips to the fireworks stand on 23rd Avenue. Building the addition onto the house. Living in the basement during hot weather. Two feet of water in the basement. The coal bin. The coal stoker. Sitting out back with a salt shaker eating tomatoes. The home-made tree sprayer on wheels. The Chinese Elm in the back yard. The mailbox millstone. (It’s still there. It can be seen in a picture in Carol’s memories on page 174.)

I attended McKinley grade school for kindergarten in 1942. I am told I cried the first day there and Iris came and got me. After we moved, I attended Roosevelt grade school, Coolidge Junior High, and Moline High School. The high school was still over on 16th Street when I graduated in 1955. I have attended many classes, workshops, and seminars over the years. I have attended the school of “hard knocks” for many years, like most of you who will read this. School memories have kind of faded, but I do remember some of my teachers and of course the “two-mile walk” to school each day even when it was twenty degrees below. Cutting through King’s Apple Orchard and Ferry’s Woods was a short cut we all took. One day, we were playing with matches in Ferry’s Woods and got a good fire going that got out of hand. Iris had to take me over to Ferry’s house to apologize. I will never forget that! I was in a few plays in junior high school, but no major parts. I also enjoyed working on scenery and props for plays. I took art classes whenever I could and had one picture I sketched of a log cabin published in the Illinois Junior Historian magazine. That is about my only claim to fame! Does anybody have a copy? In junior high and senior high, I ran around with the same group of guys. They were a little rowdy, especially at football and basketball games. But we never did get into big trouble. We were told we were an embarrassment to the school at times with the way we dressed and acted. One time in high school, we went to an out-of-town football game, and one of the guys borrowed his Dad’s hand-held siren and red flashing light. We used it all the way to the game passing every car in sight. Another time, in high school, there was some beer drinking going on in cars late at night. One of the group had a Nash Rambler station wagon. Someone suggested we see how many people we could get into that Rambler. When the cops arrived, they hauled fifteen kids off to jail and the article in the paper said, “15 Kids Arrested in Rambler for Drinking.” However, there were eighteen kids in that car. Three of us ran when the cops arrived, so I didn’t go to jail that night. I haven’t talked much about academics but I really did get pretty good grades all through school.

I started driving at thirteen around the 39th Street neighborhood. In the early the Fifties, Dad built a car out of two cars to be used to take us kids to school. He took a junker 1936 Chevy and a junker 1937 Chevy and made one good car out of them. I got my driver’s license in that car. I think Bernie, Carol, and I all drove it. (It was a stick shift, of course.)

My first car was a black ’48 Ford. It was a beauty with a bathtub- like body style. Washed it every day. Next cars were: ’52 Mercury in green, a yellow ’57 Olds, (sharp car that also saw a lot of drive-in movie action) a ’62 Chevy, a ’69 Pontiac wagon, (my first brand new car) a ’73 Pontiac wagon, an ’80 Dodge, an ’85 Dodge, a ’93 Dodge, ’93 Chevy Blazer, and the ’96 Chevy Blazer. My friends all made fun of me, but I loved those station wagons. You could haul lots of stuff. I have always wanted to own a red Corvette convertible. The red Mustang convertible comes pretty close.

When I was around thirteen or fourteen, Dad bought us a twenty-gauge shotgun. He took me rabbit hunting a few times. He was a good hunter and knew where and how to find the rabbits. I remember him telling about rabbit hunting in Minnesota. They filled up the back seat of a car with them. I think there is a picture around of this? He also taught me how to clean the rabbits safely. YUK! I have also done some quail and pheasant hunting. I remember target practicing with handguns out in the back yard with Dad and Dale McFarland. They were both good shots. We had BB guns as kids. That Red Ryder BB gun was my favorite. We also made sling shots from old bike inner tubes and had fights using green grapes.

Mostly Bob, sometimes Robert. Dad called me Robbie. Some call me Bobby. I like them all. In junior high school, I was a little small and someone started calling me Pee Wee. When I go to class reunions, I still hear it! That’s okay, too.

As a youngster, the one trip I remember was with Dad and Bernie to Minnesota to visit Dad’s brothers. Bernie had just learned to drive and was hesitant to drive over bridges. Bernie would stop and Dad would drive over the bridge. Bridges were all pretty narrow in those days. Bernie was eleven and a half and I was ten years old. (See 1947 picture from that trip at right.) Our best family vacation was a three-week trip out West in our new 1975 station wagon with Sue, Steve, and Brian. We went all through the Black Hills, over to Yellowstone Park, down through Jackson Hole, Wyoming, through the Grand Teton Mountains, a stop in Salt Lake City, over through Reno, and then on to San Francisco. We spent several days with Bernie, who happens to be a great tour guide. Then onto Los Angeles, Universal Studios, and visited friends in San Bernardino. Back through Arizona, the Grand Canyon, a stop in Albuquerque, up to Pike’s Peak in Colorado, and back home. Five thousand miles and we all still liked each other. Amazing!

I was in the Illinois National Guard for three years while in my twenties. In 1963, I did six months active duty. Went through eight weeks of Boot Camp at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, during the winter. Learned a lot about myself there. Came through those eight weeks slim and trim and with a good understanding of how much you can take. I finished active duty at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in an Artillery Unit.

As a child one of our neighbors gave us a baby pig. We raised it in a pen out behind the garage. Can’t remember its name but we greased it and rode it. Eventually, Dad sold it. The only other pet, I remember, was a white cat named Fluffy. I don’t know who gave it to us but we had it a long time. It would disappear for days at a time but would always show up beat up and ragged looking. My kids had a dog, a hamster, and some fish.

My very first job was working at a circus that set up in Moline. I was around twelve or thirteen, and asked them if I could help. I helped set up the big tent. They used elephants to pull the big tent poles up with the canvas attached. I was very impressed with that. My pay was a free ticket. Of course, we did work around home as soon as we were old enough. Mostly orchard and garden stuff. With five sisters, I don’t think I did dishes very often. The big orchard and gardens needed all our help. Plowing and planting the garden was always a big event. I think Mom and Grandpa did most of the work. Planting the pea seeds in a row, planting baby tomatoes plants in a small hole, planting cucumber and melon seeds in mounds, the green pepper plants and the cabbage plants all had to go in by hand, and each plant had to be watered. I remember Dad bought a contraption that you put corn seeds in, pushed it in the ground, and squeezed a lever to release seeds. It was a real time saver. Bernie and I also used it to plant a field of popcorn. The neighbors loaned us some land and Dad said we could sell the popcorn and keep the money. It was bunch of work but we sold several hundred pounds at ten cents per pound. We were real entrepreneurs. My first job in the real world was at the Kay Bee Clothing store in Moline in 1953. I started there as a stock boy when I was fifteen. Bernie had the job before me. It was a credit clothing store in the days before credit cards. One of my jobs there was to go to people’s homes and repossess stuff they didn’t pay for. I met some real characters that way.

After graduating from high school, I went to work at the J.C. Penney Store in Moline. Bernie worked there before I did, too. I became their best sales person in the men’s department and got onto their management training program. I was transferred to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where a new Penney’s store was being opened in 1962. The highlight of this job was meeting and working for several days with Mr. J.C. Penney himself. He came to Oshkosh to work the grand opening. He and I stood at the front door of the store handing out roses, and every hour or so Mr. Penney would call me over and say, “Go ring out the registers, kid, and see how we’re doing.” It was quite an experience to be around this famous retail legend. After three years in Oshkosh, Iris and Bill asked if I would be interested in a Ben Franklin Store. I left Penney’s and went to work in Bob Retzlaff’s Ben Franklin Store in Madison, Wisconsin to learn the business. Meanwhile in 1983, we opened a retail clothing store in Madison, called Bormann’s. I was a part owner and the manager. It was the first time I ever borrowed money. Bill Retzlaff cosigned the loan, for which I am still grateful. We did very well for five years, made some money, and paid off the loans. In 1972, I sold out of Bormann’s and became manager and a partner with Iris and Bill in a chain of clothing stores in Janesville, called Elliott’s. We did this for eight years and then sold out. During this period, we bought Sue a candle store called Wicks N Sticks. Sue operated this store for five years. It was a wonderful experience for her. She did a great job and made some money, plus she got to spend many hours in the mall. There were also some great trade shows around the country that we attended, and we made some lasting friendships. Our best trip was to Montreal. Montreal is a beautiful city, plus Sue won nine hundred dollars in a raffle there. In 1988, I bought a Ben Franklin Store in Janesville and converted it to an all-crafts store. During this period, I was elected to the Board of Directors of Rock County Bank. I served for five years. It was extremely interesting; especially finding out who had to borrow money to pay their country club dues.

These are some of my favorite foods throughout the years. Ages 0 - 5: Can’t remember—probably milk. Ages 5 - 10: Peanut butter sandwiches dunked in cocoa—everyday! We always got one bag of candy to share during the weekly, Saturday, A&P grocery trip. Orange Slices and Circus Peanuts were my favorites. Ages 10 -15: Macaroni and cheese with double cheese on top. Eating at the PX restaurant—world’s best chili and French fries. See Chris Bonney’s Ethel Guild family cookbook for more.

Except for local issues, I have always voted straight Republican. (Got to vote the pocket book, you know!) I have always told politicians that I have talked to over the years to remember one thing, “Anytime you give money to someone who didn’t earn it, you took it away from someone who did earn it.”

Becoming a husband and father Completing military service Completing high school Serving on the Board of Directors of my bank Working for forty-five years and missing only two days due to illness (Both days were due to kidney stones) Talking a bank’s Board of Directors into loaning me $200,000.00 Organizing two large highly successful crafts shows yearly My son, Steve’s, achievements in high school track, especially winning the State Finals in the relays, and Steve’s graduating from college Watching Brian accomplish things the experts said he never would Catching an 11-pound Walleye in the Mississippi River Catching a 25-pound Northern in Canada

I remember Sunday school classes at our neighbors Tom and Ruth Johnson’s house. I learned The Lord’s Prayer there. Didn’t do much church going after that. Got married in a church in 1960. After moving to Janesville, in 1972, we joined the Methodist Church where I have attended on a fairly regular basis. I do believe in God and do say prayers. During silent prayer time at church, I include each of you who are probably going to read this.

Not spending more time with and helping Mom and Dad over the years; I would like to have gotten to know them better. Not going to college. Not writing and not picking up the phone often enough. Taking five years to finish these memories!

I do not remember outward displays of affection as a child. It was probably all around but I just don’t remember hugs and kisses and “I love yous.” I do remember one time Dad and I were in the car going somewhere, and just up the road from the house a stranger was walking toward our street. Dad stopped and said, “We better check out this guy.” We turned around and waited until the stranger moved on. I also remember times the plate of pork chops went around the table and there were none left when the plate got to Mom. Of course, I now know that working as hard as Mom and Dad did was the most important love of all during our childhood years. Dad talking me out of joining the Navy, when six of my close friends joined, was loving advice.

SUE

In junior high school I had a few dates but nothing I remember a lot about. I do remember my first dance. I was in ninth grade and Mom got me a new shirt and pants. I picked up my date by taking the bus to and from the dance. I also attended dances at the “Rec Room” at Coolidge Junior High and in the summertime at the Moline swimming pool. I was a friend of Bob Warner in high school, and that’s how I met his sister, Sue. We dated for six years and got married in 1960. We were married for thirty-six years until she died from cancer in 1996. We had forty-three wonderful years together. We did many things over the years—the great trips, and great family times. Sue was an organizer and saw to it that we had something going on all the time. We had lots of great friends, most of whom Sue got to know first. We never missed Saturday night out and never missed a New Year’s Eve party. Sue did a great job raising our two sons, Steve and Brian, while I worked. She always made the best of what we had. She loved all four grandchildren as I do. We miss her.

Right now, I love everyone in my family and am thankful I am able to help out those less fortunate. My sons, my grandchildren, and my friends keep me busy and happy. A special thanks to Bernie for his efforts in putting this book together.