Sunday morning at the farm started off like any other morning. Grandpa and Grandma got up at the usual time (about 5:30 or 6:00 A.M.) and began their morning chores. Grandma headed for the kitchen, and Grandpa went out to the barn to milk. After he milked, we would sit down for breakfast. Every morning Grandpa would read the daily devotional at the table before we ate; this was done every morning. We would then feast on hot biscuits, Mustang grape jelly, fresh butter, eggs, bacon, and milk. As soon as we finished breakfast, Grandma would clear the table while Grandpa and I would head for the barn. We would load the truck with Purina Turkey Chow, spelts, and maize then drive out to the turkey range and put feed into the feeders. While I fed, Grandpa would usually wash out the water troughs. I didn't like to wash out the troughs because they were always full of crap, dirt, feathers, etc. (a nasty concoction). Grandpa did it without even thinking about it. After we fed and finished all the other little chores, we went back to the house to get ready for church. Since it got so hot during the summer, they had church at ten o'clock, before it got too hot. The only air conditioner the church had was to open the windows and pray there would be a breeze blowing from the east.

I remember Pastor Maakestad who was the preacher at Our Saviors Lutheran Church during the 1940s and early 1950s. He was a rather short and stout-built man with dark hair. I also remember that he was a rather stern man who didn't put up with any "horseplay" in church. I was sitting up in the balcony one Sunday morning with Marc Johnson, Sherrill Anderson, Hans J. and Cecil Wimberly. We were acting silly, and we were certainly not listening to the pastor. I'll never forget how embarrassed I was when he called us down for not listening. I believe after that I started sitting downstairs with Grandpa and Grandma.

I remember Mrs. Cap Olson playing that old organ. I always thought that was the most impressive organ I had ever seen. It was years later that I learned that the pipes over the organ were not real. That was a disappointment. I can still picture Helmer Anderson coming from behind the altar after turning on the altar lights. He would set the offering plates on the altar, and slowly make his way down the west aisle to the back of the church. He climbed up the stairs to where the bell rope hung down from the bell tower. The loud tolling of the bell signaled the start of morning worship. Helmer Anderson performed that weekly ritual as far back as I can remember, and I believe he was still doing it as late as the 1970s.

As the service began, the pastor made his entrance from the small room behind the pulpit. The preacher was always very somber and ritualistic. Once I remember Grandpa making a statement about that. He said he didn't know why preachers had to act so stern and somber during the service. That was not their mood, or style, outside of church.

We sat in the third pew from the choir loft. Most people sat in the same pew each Sunday. Young kids and babies sat with their parents. (There was no nursery.) Teenagers would usually sit on the west side of the balcony while older men and bachelors sat in the center and east sections of the balcony. There were not many women in the balcony, just a few young girls.

The order of service today has changed much from the days when I was growing up. The pastor would always sing or chant parts of the service, while the congregation would sing the familiar response. Every Lutheran knew the order of service from memory. In the choir you would usually find Aunt Ada, Aunt Orelia, Uncle Clyde, Uncle Ben. I also remember Grandpa, Tilden, and Albert Hastings frequently singing in the choir.

After the final hymn, the bell would peal several short reports from the tower. That would mark the end of the morning service. As we left church, we would stand around and visit with friends, neighbors and relatives. We would talk with Aunt Lula and Doc Hoover. I liked Doc because he would take time to talk to me about what I had been doing at the farm. Some times we would go over to Ada and Ben's for lunch. Grandpa and Grandma Grimland would be there along with Orelia and Clyde, Elma and Otto, and Lula and Doc. Grandpa Grimland liked to play bridge or dominoes, and after those bountiful Sunday dinners there would be some action around the card table. Since Benny, Ralph and Rex were older than I, they didn't hang around much after dinner, so I had to entertained myself by watching the older folks play dominoes, or just sat around with the men who were visiting. Marc Johnson lived next door, and I did get to play with him some. I remember being there the time his sister died. It seems to me that was the first time I realized that people die.

It was fun to see what Grandpa Grimland and Uncle Ben had growing in their gardens. They had plenty of everything. They had beautiful peaches, pears and plums, and always we took some home with us. It was enjoyable visiting with the Grimland family as they were always such a delightful group. I believe Grandpa Grimland had the biggest ears I ever saw. It was hard for me to keep from staring at them.

I remember once we took Grandpa George to Clifton to see his brothers. We went by Charlie's and visited for an hour or two, and then we visited with Albert. They lived just a couple of blocks from each other. It was fun visiting with both of them and seeing their gardens. They both had fabulous gardens. They had every kind of vegetable you could imagine. They had a bumper crop that year. Grandpa George seemed to really enjoy visiting his brothers, and so did I. That day, we took a large basket of peaches and other garden vegetables home with us.

Sometimes after church we would go home, have dinner, and then go visit someone, if someone didn’t drop by to see us first. I remember one Sunday afternoon we went to visit Elma and Otto. I enjoyed being around Otto because I liked to hear his Norwegian accent. He was a pleasant man to talk to. Aunt Elma would have some nice "goodies" and ice tea for a snack. She was always working on some kind of needlework. The things she made were beautiful, and what always amazed everyone was how fast she worked. She and Grandma would usually sit in the house and talk about sewing or just sit and visit. I would sit out in the yard with Otto and Grandpa and listen to them talk about the latest big news story, the market, or the drought. In the 1950s, drought was really the big topic of discussion. If I remember correctly, the drought ended in 1957.

When I got older, I used to go visit some of my friends. Grandpa let me drive the old 1946 panel truck if I promised to be careful. I'd visit with Bradley Rushing, who lived where Wade and Sue had lived. Sometimes I'd drive up to the Gap and see Richard Troll or Sherrill Anderson. Once I went swimming with some of the guys from the Gap. We drove to the Ghost Bridge on Meridian Creek. It really wasn't deep enough to swim in, but we horsed around most of the afternoon playing in the creek. I remember Jan Tyler and Sherrill were letting Frankie Tyler dive off their shoulders. That soon lead to throwing him high into the air...letting him hit in the water. They eventually hurt him and that ended our afternoon.

On a couple of occasions, I went with Darrell Olson to the Que-Anne swimming pool. They had a nice pool, a dance floor, and a concession stand. Kids from all over went there to swim and dance. It was typical for a couple of fellows to get into an argument over some girl, and of course, there would be a fight. Usually one or both were fairly well "potted" and both were really just looking for trouble. Ralph and Rex Tindall were pretty much the "king bees" around the Que-Anne pool during the '50s.

As I reflect on my summer Sunday afternoons, I find that those times were a very special part of my growing up around Mustang and Cranfills Gap.

         JMW/June 1978

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