Let's play ball!

This week, I've been thinking about baseball and opening day 2020 for the St. Louis Cardinals which sadly, was supposed to be today. Hopefully, things will improve and our favorite teams will be back in action before we know it. In the meantime, who remembers the Rangers baseball team that was sponsored by Sorrells Farm Supply?   

The following article appeared in the June 26, 1975 issue
of The Raymond News.

Citizens of Tomorrow

I figured we could all use something to smile about this week. Following are the "Citizens of Tomorrow" that appeared in the May 21, 1964 issue of The Raymond News:

Be Prepared...

The following photo and article featuring Boy Scout Troop #77 appeared in The Raymond News on July 21, 1968:

Back Row, left to right: Scoutmaster Rev. Kenneth DeWall, Rick Richardson, Dick Johnson, Russell Poggenpohl, Steve DeWall, Bruce Wright. Front from left: Mike Hough, David Seifert, Joe Lambert, Greg Barry, and Tom Johnson. 

A "noteworthy" teacher comes to town

I've had a great week back in Raymond so far. I was lucky to get a ticket to the Fireman's Dinner/Dance on Saturday night where I ran into a lot of old friends, including Darrell and Barbara Cannedy. Playing in the band was one of the highlights of my school years, and Mr. Cannedy had a huge impact on so many of us who went to school in the Panhandle District. He told me that he is still playing playing his trumpet with a group up in Springfield. 

Yesterday, I went down to the Montgomery County Genealogical Society office in Litchfield to look through old issues of The Raymond News and this was the first article I found from back in 1964: 

From The Raymond News, September 3, 1964

The Gilbert Sisters

"The Gilbert Sisters"

I remember my Aunt Pauline talking about her friend, Maime Osborn, and her daughters, known as "The Gilbert Sisters." I came across the Gilbert family history in the Raymond's 125 Years of Memories book. It turns out that their father, Lee Gilbert, built the White Cottage (originally a gas station and ice house), and according to the family history, a time capsule was placed in the front corner of the building. I wonder if anyone ever found it? 

The family history below (author unknown), is from the Raymond 125 Years of Memories book, published in 1996: 

Lee and Mayme (Luking) Gilbert’s family of ten children have six generations going back in three directions, buried in Asbury Cemetery. The family names are Potterf, Luking, and Gilbert.

Reuban Taylor and Sarah Emma (Tittle) Potterf are great grandparents to this family. He was a Raymond merchant for many years. He and his sons built the store buildings where Mizera’s market is now. This is at the end of downtown Raymond, in the business district, at the corner of Broad and McGown, as the streets are now named. The steel doorway plates had the name “POTTERF” imprinted on them. One still remains. Reuben Taylor Potterf was the elected Justice of the Peace. He also made the pine boxes that were used for burials of the day. So it was said of him that “he married them and he buried them.” Something more added to that was -- he used the hearse as a paddy wagon and he “hauled them off to jail.” This early Raymond couple have quite a few descendants in the area and many more scattered. They lived in Raymond in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.

The great grandfather and mother of the Lee and Mayme (Luking) Gilbert family were William and Minnie and they are both buried in Asbury Cemetery. There were three Luking sons: Frank, John, and Henry. Frank and Henry lived out their lives in the Raymond vicinity. John, the grandfather of the Gilbert family of ten, went West and is buried at Missoula, Montana. He was a storekeeper most of his life and owned and ran a small neighborhood store.

The Gilbert ancestors first settled in Jefferson County in 1838. Eli Wilson and Abbigail -- “Wils and Abbie” -- the grand grandparents of the Gilbert family, grew up there. They married and brought their family to Sangamon County, farming near Pawnee. They retired in 1903 and moved to Raymond, buying the house next to the Raymond Cemetery. At this same time, 1903, James Wilson and Martha Caroline (Uncle Jim and Aunt Matt to many) bought a farm east of Raymond. 

Lee Gilbert was about eight years old and grew up on this farm. In 1914 he married Mayme Luking. Their first five years of married life was on a homestead near Roy, Montana. There were crop failures and finally a hailstorm, and they were forced to give it up. The next two years or so they lived in Hettinger, ND. They got back to Raymond in 1923 and the fifth child was born in January of that year. They lived first on the farm east of Raymond that was owned by Grandfather James Wilson. Then they lived for six years in the house by the Raymond Cemetery that was the home of Eli Wilson and Abbigail, the great grandparents who are buried in Asbury Cemetery, passing in 1911 and 1920, respectively. If that little house could have talked, it would have had a lot to say. Two more of the family were born in those six years. In 1930, the family moved to the property where the White Cottage restaurant is now. The last three of the ten children were born at this place. Lee was the “ice man” for the town in the 20’s and early 30’s before refrigerators. He also delivered coal which folks burned for fuel to heat homes, schools, and churches in those days. The early 30’s is when Rt. 127 and Rt. 48 were put through Raymond. The White Cottage was built by him as a filling station and ice house. In 1935 and 1936, the ages of the children ranged from one year to 19. There were seven girls and three boys.

The girls became known as the “Gilbert Sisters.” They did a tumbling, acrobatic act and performed at area picnics and other affairs. The older girls formed a quartet and took part in church services, minstrels, and other programs. The family fell on hard times, and in 1941, most of the family undertook to leave Raymond and settled in Cedaredge, Co. Lee was killed in an accident and subsequently the rest of the family came back to Illinois. Raymond citizens collected a fund to help the family get back. In 1996, there are about 107 descendants of the Gilbert family -- Lee and Mayme (Luking) Gilbert’s family of ten. Mayme later remarried and was known as Mayme Osborn. 

The White Cottage building has a time capsule in the front corner nearest to town. They thought of several things to put in it. Someday someone will find it.

The Other Side of the Tracks

The photos in this week's post were taken around 1970 when several businesses were open on the section of Main Street between the railroad tracks and Rt. 48. Some of the businesses were: Hank's Sales and Service, the Lumber Yard, the Raymond Inn, the Raymond Café, and Raymond Implement, 

School Days

A couple of weeks ago I shared some Kindergarten memories and since then I've been thinking about more elementary school memories, including the two years we spent at Harvel.   

Playground at Harvel Grade School

First Grade was a wake-up call. Gone were the days of lounging around before or after half-day Kindergarten. The Raymond kids were bused to Harvel for first and second grade, and the mornings were hectic. Mom had to get me to the Harvel bus, my sister, Sue, to junior high, and my sister, Nan, to high school. We would make several stops on the way to pick up Nan's friends. It seemed like they were always running late and we would wait outside each house while Close To You by the Carpenters and I’ll Be There by the Jackson 5 played over and over again on KXOK. Once in the car, they would resume getting ready, combing their hair and applying extra layers of blue eye shadow. Sometimes we were really late and the bus would be pulling away just as we drove up, but the driver would pull over and let me on. Occasionally, we missed it all together and mom would have to make the trip to Harvel to drop me off.  

Harvel Grade School

I don’t remember what I learned in First Grade, but I do remember the adults who made an impression on me that year:  

Our first grade teacher, Miss Vivian Hefley, did not have thumbs. I  found this unsettling because I wondered what had happened to her thumbs and assumed that whatever it was, must have hurt. Really bad. Miss Hefley explained to us that she was born without thumbs and then showed us how she could easily write on the chalkboard by holding the piece of chalk between her index finger and middle finger. It turned out that she used those two fingers for almost everything, and really didn’t seem to need thumbs at all. Before long, no one thought anything of it.    

Ruby Egelhoff and Clara Neunaber were our lunch ladies. Since there was no cafeteria at Harvel Grade School, we ate at our desks. At about 11:30 each morning, the top half of the door in the corner of the room would swing open, and Ruby and Clara would be there to give us our trays. They served us good food and they were always friendly and happy.  

Reuban Smith was our bus driver and custodian. Mr. Smith wore bib overalls and a hat, and he always whistled as he rolled the big garbage can on wheels around the school. Everyone loved him.

Photo and caption from the 1973 Harvel Centennial Book

Second Grade went much more smoothly. My oldest sister and her friends had graduated from high school and the mornings were easier. Mrs. Chausse was my teacher, and she spent a lot of class time reading books to us like Charlotte’s Web and the entire Ramona the Pest series by Beverly Cleary. That's when I realized for the first time that I loved books and reading, and I will forever be grateful to Mrs. Chausse for providing me with that foundation. She also gave us plenty of time to color and paint, and I'll never forget that almost 50 years before the low carb craze, she introduced us to spaghetti squash as a substitute for pasta. 

Birthdays were a huge deal in second grade. The birthday girl or boy would provide treats for the class (usually cupcakes) and each student would make a birthday card out of construction paper to present during the party (I included some samples below). 

Mrs. Chausse in later years

One January morning, I woke up feeling sick, but since it was Steve Bails’ birthday and we were having a party, I didn’t say a word and went off to school as usual. We had just started making Steve’s birthday cards when I threw up, right there at my desk in front of everyone. Poor Mr. Smith had to come in with his big garbage can on wheels and sprinkle that stuff that resembled kitty litter on the mess and then clean it all up. I don't recall that he was whistling that morning. Then, the Principal, Mr. Howard Hartke himself, drove me back to Raymond in his fancy sports car. He gave me a little plastic bag to hold "just in case" and I’m sure he drove extra fast to get there before I threw up again. Luckily, we made it. 

Thanks to Susan Lebeck for providing the Harvel Grade School Photos from the 1973 Harvel Centennial Book.