Halloween Memories: Carbondale, Illinois
We lived in Carbondale for my 5th and 6th grades. I was still into trick-or-treating, but the days of store bought costumes was behind me. Instead I would dress as a pirate. In the fifth grade, I was a pirate in a play at school. It was a fun play. There were a couple witches, and in the end they defeat me by taking my neck bone. I had to pretend I had no neck bone, with my head flapping back and forth. At any rate, the pirate costume stuck for Halloween.
This was a year of “watch out for the big kids who will steal your candy.” And so in addition to trick-or-treating, there was the need to be on the lookout for those who were too old to trick-or-treat, but not too old to be out looking for someone who would be easy prey. What a sense of paranoia that caused, because I remember them coming after people and getting them to run and spill candy out of their bags.
The first year we trick-or-treated up and down our street with all the side courts and streets. My second year in Carbondale we lived in an apartment complex. I am sure I went as a pirate again, but don’t remember much of that year. I do remember a branch party we had close to the Branch Garden. This had been a Civil War Battle site. Of course not a big battle, but you could still see bomb craters in the terrain. We set up a haunted hike and took the younger kids on a hike going past the crater and with other scary things. It was sort of a creepy area, with over hanging trees. I helped build a mannequin which we dropped out of a tree at the kids. One of the older kids ruined everything when he tackled the mannequin. It was suppose to be the highlight of the hike, and ended up being the low-light because a mannequin on the ground is not near as scary as one hanging from a tree, swinging back and forth.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Halloween Memories: Hyrum
Halloween Memories: Hyrum
We lived in Hyrum for three years, second to fourth grades for me, then moved away for a couple of years; and then returned to Hyrum. I don’t remember much about Halloween the first couple years, but I was old enough to go with older siblings the first couple years, and then with friends my fourth grade year. I would go as Casper the Friendly Ghost. Casper was cool.
Halloween in Hyrum, in those days was accompanied by fire. It was a time for burning leaves, and kids would always light up the leaves in the gutters. Sometimes they would also add gas. I remember one year there was a tire rolling down Main Street, which had been doused with gas and then set on fire. Hyrum Main Street has a pretty good hill.
In Hyrum at that time, houses were spaced fairly far apart, so in a block you would hit three or four homes. A block being an eighth of a mile meant to hit a great deal of houses, there was a good deal of walking to be done. If we had been smart, we would have cut over to Main Street where the houses were closer. We would go there sometimes, at least around our own block, but mostly we would stay on our street, 100 South. We would follow that street all the way to Center, and then come back on 200 or 300 South, catching the houses on the East West streets as best we could. By the end of the evening we would collect a goodly amount of candy, but we would be tired as well. I remember there was one house who gave full size candy bars. That was a treat. Families also gave apples and popcorn balls in those days. You don’t see those anymore. Everything is store bought and individually wrapped now.
When we returned to Hyrum I was a seventh grader. I remember some trick-or-treating, but we leaned to the tricking side. We would have a bar of soap, maybe a few rolls of toilet paper, and when I was older we would add a bit of gas to our tricking tools. My cousin went with me one yer. We put gas on top of a stop sign and lit it. It didn't burn long however.
Another year we lit some leaves in a gutter. A police man confronted us. Of course we denied our involvement, he he made us help him put it out all the same.
We lived in Hyrum for three years, second to fourth grades for me, then moved away for a couple of years; and then returned to Hyrum. I don’t remember much about Halloween the first couple years, but I was old enough to go with older siblings the first couple years, and then with friends my fourth grade year. I would go as Casper the Friendly Ghost. Casper was cool.
Halloween in Hyrum, in those days was accompanied by fire. It was a time for burning leaves, and kids would always light up the leaves in the gutters. Sometimes they would also add gas. I remember one year there was a tire rolling down Main Street, which had been doused with gas and then set on fire. Hyrum Main Street has a pretty good hill.
In Hyrum at that time, houses were spaced fairly far apart, so in a block you would hit three or four homes. A block being an eighth of a mile meant to hit a great deal of houses, there was a good deal of walking to be done. If we had been smart, we would have cut over to Main Street where the houses were closer. We would go there sometimes, at least around our own block, but mostly we would stay on our street, 100 South. We would follow that street all the way to Center, and then come back on 200 or 300 South, catching the houses on the East West streets as best we could. By the end of the evening we would collect a goodly amount of candy, but we would be tired as well. I remember there was one house who gave full size candy bars. That was a treat. Families also gave apples and popcorn balls in those days. You don’t see those anymore. Everything is store bought and individually wrapped now.
When we returned to Hyrum I was a seventh grader. I remember some trick-or-treating, but we leaned to the tricking side. We would have a bar of soap, maybe a few rolls of toilet paper, and when I was older we would add a bit of gas to our tricking tools. My cousin went with me one yer. We put gas on top of a stop sign and lit it. It didn't burn long however.
Another year we lit some leaves in a gutter. A police man confronted us. Of course we denied our involvement, he he made us help him put it out all the same.
Halloween Memories: Othello
Halloween Memories: Othello
Othello is of course where I have my first memories of Halloween. I can’t remember my costume, but I know one of my first costumes was as a skeleton. Weldon and I actually had the same costume, but different sizes. Othello was a rural community, and we lived outside of town. I do not remember going into town to trick-or- treat. Maybe my older siblings did that. Instead we would load into the car, and go so particular people who were friends, but lived far away from each other so there were not a lot of stops for us to gather candy. Each stop was more a social visit than today’s trick-or-treating. Some reason, I was always asked to sing. I think I started singing as early as three-years old. I would always sing the same song: “I’m a Little Teapot.” “I’m a little teapot short and stout, Here is my handle and here is my spout. When I get all steamed up then I shout, Tip me over and poor me out.” My brothers and sisters liked for me to sing. It got them off the hook, as it was a common request in Othello to ask trick-or-treaters to sing. Also they liked it as they said it got us more goodies. I guess I was good enough that we were all rewarded.
Othello is of course where I have my first memories of Halloween. I can’t remember my costume, but I know one of my first costumes was as a skeleton. Weldon and I actually had the same costume, but different sizes. Othello was a rural community, and we lived outside of town. I do not remember going into town to trick-or- treat. Maybe my older siblings did that. Instead we would load into the car, and go so particular people who were friends, but lived far away from each other so there were not a lot of stops for us to gather candy. Each stop was more a social visit than today’s trick-or-treating. Some reason, I was always asked to sing. I think I started singing as early as three-years old. I would always sing the same song: “I’m a Little Teapot.” “I’m a little teapot short and stout, Here is my handle and here is my spout. When I get all steamed up then I shout, Tip me over and poor me out.” My brothers and sisters liked for me to sing. It got them off the hook, as it was a common request in Othello to ask trick-or-treaters to sing. Also they liked it as they said it got us more goodies. I guess I was good enough that we were all rewarded.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Skinny Dippin' by Charlie Wardle
“Skinny Dippin’” by: Charlie Wardle
One day while we were at Granma Wardle’s in Rigby, Idaho, Dad decided that he would take us boys and some of our cousins to his old swimming hole for a swim. Since we didn’t have any swimming suits with us, Dad said it would be alright to go skinny dipping. When Uncle Olsen heard this, (he was very strict with his children) he told his two boys that if they even got a little wet, he’d beat them.
Dad assured Mother and Aunt Verna that his swimming hole was where no one could see us. It ended up being about twenty yards away from a busy highway.
Dad’s swimming hole was a great big canal with a small ditch that ran along the side of it. The place where we were swimming had about five great big trees and a rope hanging from one of the trees to swing across. Dad said there used to be a diving board when he used to swim, but it was gone.
The people that ended up going were Dad, Weldon, bill, Charlie, the two Olsen boys and Danny Green. The canal we were swimming in was fairly deep, at least over my head, and it was fairly swift.
We would walk up the ditch about thirty or forty yards, then hurry and jump into the canal and float on down the canal.
We had the Olsen boys at each end of the canal when we were swimming, to watch for cars when we switched from the canal to the ditch; or from the ditch to the canal.
One time when we were moving from the ditch to the canal, Weldon got up on the bridge that went over the canal, to dive in. While Weldon was standing on the bridge a car came by. Weldon didn’t have time to jump in so he just stood there and waved. The funny thing about it was that the people in the car were Sara and Clyde. When Sara noticed that the person standing on the side of the road nude was her brother Weldon, her bottom jaw dropped so far that I thought it was going to fall off.
After we got done swimming and put on our clothes, Weldon, Billy and Danny started swinging across the canal on the rope. The younger Olsen boy [Reed] wanted to try swinging across the canal, but his oldest brother [Ray] told him he better not in case he fell in. To show his oldest brother that he could do it, he grabbed the rope and started across. He just barely reached the bank on the other side with his “tippy-toes”. He was trying to pull himself up with the rope when his grip slipped and in he went. We all started laughing at him. When he pulled himself out, his brother was telling him how he had told him that he shouldn’t have swung across the canal on the rope. He got mad at his brother and pushed him in the canal so they both got wet.
When we got back to Grandma’s their dad was so mad with them they both had to go sit in their van until their family left Grandma’s.
One day while we were at Granma Wardle’s in Rigby, Idaho, Dad decided that he would take us boys and some of our cousins to his old swimming hole for a swim. Since we didn’t have any swimming suits with us, Dad said it would be alright to go skinny dipping. When Uncle Olsen heard this, (he was very strict with his children) he told his two boys that if they even got a little wet, he’d beat them.
Dad assured Mother and Aunt Verna that his swimming hole was where no one could see us. It ended up being about twenty yards away from a busy highway.
Dad’s swimming hole was a great big canal with a small ditch that ran along the side of it. The place where we were swimming had about five great big trees and a rope hanging from one of the trees to swing across. Dad said there used to be a diving board when he used to swim, but it was gone.
The people that ended up going were Dad, Weldon, bill, Charlie, the two Olsen boys and Danny Green. The canal we were swimming in was fairly deep, at least over my head, and it was fairly swift.
We would walk up the ditch about thirty or forty yards, then hurry and jump into the canal and float on down the canal.
We had the Olsen boys at each end of the canal when we were swimming, to watch for cars when we switched from the canal to the ditch; or from the ditch to the canal.
One time when we were moving from the ditch to the canal, Weldon got up on the bridge that went over the canal, to dive in. While Weldon was standing on the bridge a car came by. Weldon didn’t have time to jump in so he just stood there and waved. The funny thing about it was that the people in the car were Sara and Clyde. When Sara noticed that the person standing on the side of the road nude was her brother Weldon, her bottom jaw dropped so far that I thought it was going to fall off.
After we got done swimming and put on our clothes, Weldon, Billy and Danny started swinging across the canal on the rope. The younger Olsen boy [Reed] wanted to try swinging across the canal, but his oldest brother [Ray] told him he better not in case he fell in. To show his oldest brother that he could do it, he grabbed the rope and started across. He just barely reached the bank on the other side with his “tippy-toes”. He was trying to pull himself up with the rope when his grip slipped and in he went. We all started laughing at him. When he pulled himself out, his brother was telling him how he had told him that he shouldn’t have swung across the canal on the rope. He got mad at his brother and pushed him in the canal so they both got wet.
When we got back to Grandma’s their dad was so mad with them they both had to go sit in their van until their family left Grandma’s.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Malad Baseball Tournament
Malad Baseball Tournament by: Billy Wardle
When we were younger, we like to play baseball, but mostly we coached. Our baseball escapades gave us the opportunity to go to tournaments in Malad every year. We also went to other cities, but it seemed Malad was always our favorite. So much so that the city of Malad always held something magical for me.
The Malad tournament was held in August every year, usually the second weekend. It was about an hour drive from Hyrum. We would go up and camp out. We stayed in placed like the American Legion Hall, the old hospital, camped downtown; and camped by an old church.
The town always bustled with excitement. There was pinball to be played (this was before all the video games came out), a free swim pass to use, a free bowling pass, free movies as well as free prizes from some of the local merchants.
Of course there was the baseball too. Our teams varied in their performance, but we seemed to get better over the years. It was always more fun to win. It allowed you to stay more days at the tournament. It also allowed you to hold your head up high when you ran into kids from any of the other fifteen teams. It was especially good when you were in a championship game—which happened a few times.
When we were younger, we like to play baseball, but mostly we coached. Our baseball escapades gave us the opportunity to go to tournaments in Malad every year. We also went to other cities, but it seemed Malad was always our favorite. So much so that the city of Malad always held something magical for me.
The Malad tournament was held in August every year, usually the second weekend. It was about an hour drive from Hyrum. We would go up and camp out. We stayed in placed like the American Legion Hall, the old hospital, camped downtown; and camped by an old church.
The town always bustled with excitement. There was pinball to be played (this was before all the video games came out), a free swim pass to use, a free bowling pass, free movies as well as free prizes from some of the local merchants.
Of course there was the baseball too. Our teams varied in their performance, but we seemed to get better over the years. It was always more fun to win. It allowed you to stay more days at the tournament. It also allowed you to hold your head up high when you ran into kids from any of the other fifteen teams. It was especially good when you were in a championship game—which happened a few times.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Wolfer by: Charlie Wardle
Although our family had lots of pets over the years, Wolfer was our big family dog. He was almost just like one of the family.
We got Wolfer on my ninth birthday in 1970. Wolfer died in the spring of 1979.
He was the type of dog that you would call a “mutt”, having about ten different breeds in him. He was a very colorful, smart, and a very strong dog.
When Wolf was a pup, the neighbor’s dog, a German shepherd, used to pick on Wolf a lot. One time, the dog put a great big hole in Wolf’s head, just above his eye. He had a scar there the rest of his life. I always felt the Wolf learned how to fight from the dog, because when Wolf grew up, he was always getting into dog fights and won most of them.
There was on time, Wolf was fighting a big, black lab. Wolf was beating that dog up pretty good. The lab’s owner, who was a little boy, was crying, so I went to pull wolf off when the black lab bit me on the leg. When Wolf saw that, he jumped at the dog and got a death bite on the dog’s neck and started swinging the dog back and forth. Wolf finally let go and the dog took off down the street with his tail between his legs.
Wolfer always kept stray dogs and cats away. We never had any problems with dogs getting into our garbage.
Wolf was a very smart dog. If a door wasn’t shut tight, he could open it. You couldn’t tie him up, he would always get away. We went through a lot of chains and ropes that Wolfer broke trying to get away.
One time, Clyde (our brother-in-law) thought that he would out-smart Wolf by putting a choke chain on him (a chain that when you pull it, it gets tighter.) But Wolf out-smarted him. Wolf would just back out, and the chain slipped right over his head.
One time, Buffie (our nephew) wandered off to a barn a couple of blocks away from our house. Wolf, who was watching him, knew he was someplace where he shouldn’t be and came back home, got mom, then lead her to where Buffie was.
Another time we were swimming at our favorite place at Hyrum Dam called Rocky Point. Wolf noticed some birds in the middle of the dam on a “thing” the city had out there trying to clean the dam. Wolf jumped in and started swimming towards those birds. We all followed on our inner-tubes. When Wolf got to the place where the birds were, they all flew away. All of us kept on paddling towards the other side, and Wolf followed. After we got to the other side, we went back to the side where Rocky Point was at, and Wolf followed. (We did give him a chance to rest before we started back.)
Wolf was a very fast runner and loved to run. Whenever we would go in the car over to Sara’s house, Wolfer would race us over. Sara’s house was about three blocks away and Wolfer would usually beat us there.
There was only one person that Wolfer really disliked, and that was our neighbor Marty Smith. He was the only one I knew of that Wolfer had bitten.
On night, Marty and some of his friends were toilet papering our house. Wolfer was locked in our garage. Dad heard them outside and let Wolf out of the garage. The first thing Wolf did was he went and grabbed Marty by and arm and held him there while Dad chased the others away. Marty said that every time he tried to make a move to get away, Wolfer would make his grip tighter and bite down harder.
Wolfer loved to get bumble bees trapped in the garage against the window. He would jump up and lick them until the bees were dead.
Wolf did get into a lot of trouble with the police. One time he went through some people’s fiber glass garage door trying to get to a dog that was in heat. Mom and Dad ended up paying for the door.
Wolfer was the only dog I knew that got tickets from the police. He used to love to chase police cars.
Wolfer was the best dog our family ever had. He’s a dog that no other dog will ever be able to replace.
[Some of my memories of Wolf include my mom chasing him out of the house with a broom. She didn't like him in the house. A few days later for family home evening we were reenacting scenes on treating others with kindness, and a couple us kids pretended to be my mom with the broom and Wolf being chased.
Another memory is the way he use to chase us when we went anyplace. He would often follow us to Hyrum square. Sometimes when we were in the pickup, we would stop and let him jump in the back. He loved the wind in his face. But often he would beat us down to the square which was a mile away.]
Monday, October 22, 2012
Weldon Getting Sick by: Ileen Wardle
This story is probably the scariest experience that happened on the farm. When Weldon was eight he got very sick and almost died. This story is written by Mother.
All the children who were in school had been vaccinated for small pox and they all had good scab on them. We thought they were all healed and Weldon went swimming with some friends and he got his scab knocked off. It seemed to be all right. After church I came home and bathed and put the children to bed. Everyone was fine. My husband and I got up early the next morning as we had to take a tractor into Othello to be worked on. I left him with the tractor at the garage and came on home. It was around nine o’clock in the morning. I went into the boys’ room to get them out of bed. I looked at Weldon, and was horrified. Every muscle in his body was twitching and his eyes were rolled back in his head. I went screaming out the door to our hired man who was Spanish and couldn’t hardly speak English. He came into the house with me and we got a wet sheet and wrapped Weldon in it and took him into the hospital in Othello, Washington. It was a small hospital with only 16 beds. The doctor was afraid that Weldon might have some permanent brain damage.
In the mean time our hired man went and got my husband and our Bishop came and gave Weldon a special blessing. Jim and I then loaded him into our car after the doctor had shown us what to do to keep him from swallowing his tongue. The police escorted us 120 miles to Spokane. When we arrived at the hospital, Weldon started to rally. They took him into the emergency room and tapped his spine. They told us he had an acute virus and it was in his blood stream. I stayed with him for five days in the hospital and he improved every day. The doctor told us that if he had been under eight, he would have died. He is now a strong, healthy man, and has never had a sick day since. He is now a teacher and a coach, and also a father of three children [eventually four].
[Billy’s note: I was the first to see Weldon acting strangely as we shared a bunk bed with me on top. I remember looking at him very early in the morning and he was twitching and spitting up saliva. I asked him if he was playing a game and he didn’t respond. I went back to sleep, but my memory tells me I had gotten up when my mother came home, and I told her Weldon was acting strangely, although I didn’t perceive it as life threatening. It was her reaction that told me there was a problem.
I went through life thinking Weldon had a concussion. My dad had taken us to A&W for root beer on a Sunday. Somehow Weldon had bonked his head against the wall while we were horse playing. My memory must have been wrong and mixed two things together. I was five at the time.]
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