635 10 6623 http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/6f654accdce437efb854dfc89ad526fd.pdf f87f0d3403de4f35b88f0ea9ca9aab83 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Newspapers Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Sunbury News, 2013-12-19 Description An account of the resource Mazzi gains teaching experience Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Sunbury News Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013-12-19 http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/2d0fcab3f01e42d69e1a17fe8f68683e.pdf b48b22226ca1536bd4eb3024c5842093 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Newspapers Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Sunbury News, 2013-12-26 Description An account of the resource Sunbury native lauded for early career in Batelle NBC Defense Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Sunbury News Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013-12-26 http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/10f5a803c9f92434baaeb670887d6dc0.pdf f4c818850afabd6fbf07461c3a99d6cb Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Newspapers Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Sunbury News, 2014-01-02 Description An account of the resource Remembering 2013 In The News Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Sunbury News Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014-01-02 http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/919c5914017760f3471a1d5ead37e4c5.pdf dbc6fd7771d159744b923312575f9b97 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Newspapers Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Sunbury News, 2014-01-09 Description An account of the resource Barkeloo wraps truck for Stage II Hauling; owner Knece also has Wizard Wrap race car Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Sunbury News Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013-01-09 http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/da20e97a902557e181e2846c252c7316.pdf 9085615e894e5dd6c622db968fbb490c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Newspapers Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Sunbury News, 2014-01-16 Description An account of the resource Fagan 2014 BW School Board president; Meyer named VP, Hildreth on DACC board Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Sunbury News Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014-01-16 http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/8c28d73356c8ea37bd6bf5ec6ee4f99f.jpg 8dee9ad1c4374c3dd195b8c3024358e4 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (1) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to the unnumbered cover page of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L.Hoover * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * MEMORIES AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY by Robert L. Hoover Written - December, 1983. Epilogue - September, 1999 Epilogue II - January 2010 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/3c0618d01fbffdcfe9c810bc22e9dc84.jpg 2cfb7e3615d435347598adc19281c0ad Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (2) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to unnumbered page of Memories: An Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover FORWARD This autobiography has been written, not as an ego trip, but in the hope that the experiences and happenings I have described might be interesting to my progeny and give them a little more knowledge of their heritage. I hope it is taken in this manner. I would like to dedicate this especially to my grandchildren and step-grandchildren in the hope that they will read it and learn a little more about their granddad, and, perhaps, pick up a little advice that may help them in their journey through life. RLH http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/386fdb4f0088f70deb69e271eed8a53c.jpg 27946cbb49cb96a041f8ca3590a1f7b3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (3) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to unnumbered page TABLE OF CONTENTS of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Residences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Athletics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 My Pets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Outdoor Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Vocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Epilogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Epilogue II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 * * * * * * * http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/eaa6e94fb6b1f93a1b7688be1db1e610.jpg d1a3511cb008878aec273f8e13247782 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (4) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 1 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover RESIDENCES The earliest memory that I have is o f a happening when I was, at most, three years old. We lived in a small house in South Condit, just north of the intersection. I walked into the bedroom, stood in front of the full-length mirror, turned around and saw: - a lump in my little pants! This was obviously the result of not yet being completely potty trained. Why this stuck in my mind these many years, I will never know. The house I have referred to was the third my father, mother and I had lived in since I came into this world. I was born March 13, 1919, in a house in Harlem Township, Delaware County, Ohio, just north of Center village, on what is now State Route #605. Coincidentally, this was the same house in which my father was born some twenty-seven years previously. Within a year we moved about one and one-half miles north, still in Harlem Township. About this time my father resumed his career as a schoolteacher, being hired to teach the one room school at South Condit. Thus, the move to the house of my "first memory". The following year he taught at the one room school in North Condit and we moved to a house on the old 3-C highway, just east of the intersection with #605. It was here that my dad bought me something that was to play an important part in my childhood days,- namely, my dog , Jack. He was a small rat terrier pup, destined to a life of many happy experiences with me, and many accidents and illnesses. More about him later. By this time I was just five years old. My grandmother Forwood had just died, leaving my grandfather alone. He owned twenty acres, with house and barn on State Route #605, just three houses south of State Route #37, in Trenton Township. This community is known as Vans Valley. This house had at one time been a frame one-room schoolhouse, probably in the last half of the nineteenth century. Sometime around the turn of the century, it was moved closer to the road and remodeled. In addition to the barn, there was the "buggy shed", "coal shed", "straw shed", and chicken house. In the barnyard and adjacent lot, apple, pear, peach, cherry and plum trees produced delicious fruit yearly, Grape arbors, a rhubarb patch, raspberry bushes and a strawberry patch added to the well-stocked shelves of jellies and jams. A small garden, plus a large "truck patch", yielded all sorts of vegetables to be eaten fresh, or preserved by canning or drying. Into this "Garden of Eatin" my parents and I moved, somewhat alleviating the loneliness of my grandfather, and providing us with a good home. This was my home until I was married. To me, this was my only boyhood home. -1- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/78b44c136b7f5a58fa5bc39749096700.jpg 3db432189e87f60a12eac474a69211d5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (5) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 2 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover I would like to describe life as I remember it, living on this small farm in the 1920's and 1930's. We always had one or two milk cows. Of course, this meant they had to be milked night and morning. At an early age I learned how to do this, with only an occasional swat in the face with a manure covered tail, or a cow's foot in a half-full bucket of milk. After finishing, there was always the cat's dish to fill. Usually there were three or four cats around the barn, to help keep the mice and rats in check, and, occasionally, one extra special one that was made a house pet. The milk was then brought to the house and strained through cheesecloth into some sort of container. Since we had no refrigeration of any kind, the milk had to be disposed of in some manner before it soured. Of course, we had fresh milk twice a day for table use and for cooking. The really staple fare for the evening meal often was bread and milk, with maybe some honey on the side, taken from the beehives in the barn lot. Much of the time we had a hand operated cream separator with which we separated the cream from the skim milk, and either sold the cream or made butter from it. To do this, we had a churn, a gallon glass jar with crank operated paddles inside, to stir the cream until the butter separated from the buttermilk. The butter was then put into a large wooden bowl and "worked" with a large wooden paddle, adding some salt, until all the buttermilk was eliminated and the butter was smooth. The skim milk was often used as hog feed, mixing some bran and tankage with it and pouring it into a trough from which the hogs ate. This was known as "slopping the hogs'". I can remember only one or two occasions that we butchered our own hogs. This would take place in the late fall or winter, so that the meat would cool quickly. One butchering day, a large fire was built from wood. Over this was hung a large iron kettle. This served two purposes, first to heat water to scald the hog, and second, to render the fat into lard. Over a large barrel a tripod was erected, with block and tackle hanging from the top. The barrel was filled with scalding water and we were ready for the unfortunate hog. The hog chosen was killed with a .22 rifle. My dad told me to draw an imaginary line from the hog's left ear to its right eye, and another one from the right ear to left eye, and where the line crossed, that was the spot to place the bullet for an instant kill. The jugular vein was then cut to allow most of the blood to drain. Then the block and tackle was fastened to the hind feet: the carcass was hoisted above the barrel of scalding water, dipped into it several rimes , and then scraped thoroughly with metal scrappers to get rid of all the hair. It was then opened up, all entrails removed, and allowed to cool out. If stuffed sausage were to be made, the intestines were salvaged, turned inside out and thoroughly cleaned, and put aside to be filled later with fresh ground sausage, and tied off into links -2- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/176980239df5fb81a38036c41efd93e2.jpg 666e8e5537e2c53ff9518a77f9d01c52 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (6) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 3 of Memories : an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover After cooling, the hams, shoulders, sides and loin were cut, and the remainder was cut into small pieces, the lean to be ground into sausage, and the fat put into a large iron kettle and rendered into lard, the leftovers being called "cracklings". The hams and shoulders were either smoke cured or sugar cured and the sides cured into bacon. O course the various organs were saved, - the liver, heart, brains, pancreas [sweetbread], and even the testicles [sometimes called mountain oysters!] Yes, everything of the hog was utilized except the squeal. Our farm was divided into four fields, roughly five acres per field. One of these, the one nearest the barn, was a permanent pasture while the others three were planted to corn, oats and clover, in rotation. The power to do the fieldwork was furnished by a team of horses, - Goldie, the mare, and Nig, the gelding. The soil was turned over with a horse drawn single furrow walking breaking plow. This was slow work, - being able to plow only about one acre in a full day. The soil was then worked down with a horse drawn single disc harrow and spike- tooth harrow. The corn was planted with a horsedrawn two-row corn planter, using a wire with a knot every 40" stretched full length of the field. After arriving at each end, the wire was moved and fastened by a special stake. By using this we were able to plant the hills of corn in a checkerboard so it could be cultivated both lengthways and crosswise. This was done with a horsedrawn on-row cultivator, usually about three of four times before the field was "laid by". In the fall the corn was cut by hand with a long corn knife and put in shocks, ten hills square to the shock. After allowing a few weeks for the corn to dry, the shocks were torn down, one at a time, the ears taken from the husk by hand, [known as "husking'], piled in a pile on the ground, and the remaining fodder was tied into bundles and laid over the top of the piles of ear corn. Later the piles were uncovered, the corn loaded on a wagon, and hauled to the bardyard and stored in a slatted corn crib. The fodder was left in the field to be hauled in later to be used as livestock feed or bedding. July was the time of the year for the harvest of wheat and oats. Since we did not have a grain binder, a neighbor was hired to cur our oats. The grain binder cut the grain, tied it into bundles, and dropped them on the ground. Our job then was to set them upright in shocks, four in a row and three on each side, with two used as caps. After a week or ten days drying time, the grain was ready to be "threshed'. i.e. separating the grain from the straw. The customs surrounding the threshing process in that time were rather unique. A threshing "ring" was established, simply a group of eight or ten farmers living near each other. They exchanged work and use of their teams and wagons. The threshing machine, or separator, and the steam engine to power it, were owned by an individual that made this his profession. -3- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/be0b618d1c4cd58b9d07e0118c456112.jpg 60500499048929d83df73cb3c06c34ad Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (7) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 4 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover When it came our turn, the rig came rolling into the driveway and to the spot designated to set up, depending upon where the straw was to be blown. We usually had a "straw shed", a framework over which the straw was piled, leaving one side open. This made a good shelter against wind and sun for the livestock. Some of the members of the threshing ring would already have been in the grain fields, loading the shocked grain onto wagons, by pitching it by hand with a pitchfork. The owner of the team and wagon would load the grain, in a very precise manner, so that one wagon could haul much grain without it sliding off. By the time the threshing rig was set up, two or three wagons would be waiting to unload the grain into the separator. It was pitched into the conveyor, one bundle at a time, and always head first. Usually two wagons could unload at one time, one on either side of the "mouth'". As the bundles, or sheaves as they were called, passed through the separator, the grain was separated from the straw, the straw being blown out a long metal pipe that could be maneuvered to build a stable straw pile, and the grain came down a spout into burlap sacks. Another wagon was available to haul these filled sacks to a storage bin somewhere in one of the farm buildings. The sacks were emptied and brought back to be refilled. There was another very important phase to the threshing operation, and that was the huge thresher's meals usually provided by the women of the ring. It was necessary to determine just where they would be working at meal time, a no small task at times, and the wife of that farmer would prepare a dinner, or supper, whichever it might be, for as a many as a dozen or fifteen hungry men. Usually this was a very lavish menu, - fried chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes, and gravy, vegetables, rolls or homemade bread, jam and jellies, and, of course, pie. The threshing ring not only accomplished the job of getting the grain harvested economically, but it also provided an opportunity for good fellowship and was one of the social functions of the year. Of course, no money changed hands, except to pay the owner of the threshing rig. This was also a big time for the kids of the area, being in July when school was out. One thing required to keep the steam engine running was water, and this came from a large tank on wheels, drawn by a team of horses. Usually several trips a day would have to be made to the nearest creek to refill the tank, and I can remember riding on the tank back and forth after water. Also, we would ride the grain wagon to the bins and back, and the wagons going to and from the fields. Of course, to watch the big old steam engine huff and puff away was very exciting to a small farm boy. It was not to difficult to entertain a child in that more simple time. Since we had no electricity until 1936 [my parents felt that $5.00 a month was too high]. our mode of living was very much different than now. For light we used the kerosene lamp, a gasoline lamp or the Aladdin lamp. A kerosene lantern -4- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/d0764062bf3f57628ce010b3aca749c6.jpg 2e6e4d5b0323717e07bc51aed1c4af25 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (8) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 5 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover was used to do chores after dark. The best way to clean the globes of either the lamps or lantern was to wad up a sheet of newspaper and rub the inside thoroughly. This took the smoke off that had accumulated. Cooking was done on the wood and coal range, complete with baking oven , warming closets and hot water reservoir. This also provided heat for the kitchen in the wintertime. Washing of clothes was done by hand on a washboard set in one of two large galvanized washtubs sitting on a special rack, with a hand cranked wringer fastened to the tub. One tub was for washing, the other for rinsing. The clothes were dried outdoors on the clothesline, winter and summer. Heat for the rest of the house was furnished by wood or coal burning Round Oak or Heatrola stove. It was primarily my job to keep the coal buckets filled from an outside coal shed, or wood box filled from the outside woodpile. In the summer the heating stove was taken down, cleaned, polished and stored until fall. The way of life as I have described it seems very primitive and laborious, but if you had known no other way, it was enjoyable and satisfying. Each generation lives in its own age, and believes their mode of living is the best, and that is as it should be. I lived in this house in Vans Valley with my father, mother and grandfather until the death of my father in 1939, then with just my mother and grandfather until I was married in 1941. Helen Harris and I began going together the end of our junior year in high school, and continued all through my college days, and were secretly married June 28, 1941. The reason for the secrecy was the fact that she was working at Timken Roller Bearing Company in Columbus, and at that time they allowed no married women to work there. In December we announced our marriage and went to house keeping on a 125-acre dairy farm on Sunbury Road, about four miles south of Galena. The nearly three years we spent there were very enjoyable in many ways, but as a financial venture, it was a complete fiasco. The farm belonged to Helen's cousin and her husband, they having just bought it and had no experience with a farm. Also, we were young and had no experience managing a farm. To begin with, there was no written contract, no definite agreement between us, only that Helen and I were to operate the farm and help them pay the mortgage payments. Adversity hit in the form of bang's disease among the cattle and we really never did make any profit on the operation. It was really a relief in a way, when I received my induction notice to enter the armed forces in September of 1944, to be relieved of an almost hopeless situation. Before I left for the navy we rented the old schoolhouse that had been made into a dwelling, located just across the road from my mother and grandfather. The intention was for Helen and Brenda, who had come along by now, to live there while I was gone and be near to help my mother. But since my mother died suddenly just five days after I entered the navy, Helen and Brenda lived with her -5- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/e0944ce174b0f0ba82d0f60eeca554ee.jpg 32d7ab61f66ecc5f69568addfa3f3da0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (9) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 6 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover mother, continuing to rent the school house as a place to store our furniture. For two years after I returned, we lived in the school house, paying the huge sum of twelve dollars a month rent. By this time Don had joined the family, being a war baby. This house had electricity but not much else in the way of conveniences. In March 1948, the owner of the school house informed us that he intended to move back there, and that we would have to move. We found a house on Rainbow Avenue in Sunbury that had just been built, that we could rent for forty dollars a month. This seemed like an almost prohibitive price at the time, after paying only twelve dollars, but we decided to try it. A year later we were able to buy it, borrowing the down payment on a personal note and financing the balance. Of course, this is where I still live and will probably be my residence for the rest of my life. SCHOOL As my father was a school teacher, and my mother was a former school teacher, and as I was an only child, it was only natural that I receive intensive early instruction in my ABCs and my numbers. Consequently, in January before my sixth birthday in March, I was enrolled in the Vans Valley one-room school directly across the road from our house. The following fall I went on into the second grade, putting me a year ahead in school of most others my age. When I was in the third grade my father was my teacher. The following year he was hired to teach the four upper grades in a two-room school at Norton, in northern Delaware County, where he taught for three years. He and I drove back and forth every day in the fall and spring, and had light housekeeping, rooms there in the winter where we all stayed during the week. My fifth and sixth grades were under my father again. This fact can have its advantages and disadvantages. It was almost necessary that he bend over backward not to show any partiality. I remember a time in the sixth grade when he promised the class a small prize to the pupil making the highest grade in a health and hygiene test. Well, I made the highest grade, but he gave the prize to the second highest, and gave a duplicate prize at home. I think much can be said in favor of the old one and two room schools. For one thing, due to the limited time a teacher could spend with each class, and on each subject, just the fundamental subjects were taught. However, they were thoroughly stressed, and each student was given special attention, since classes -6- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/eb447e5b270b012f316b05d8d211915c.jpg de5c59acab6ad8d7e32d046018cbe883 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (10) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 7 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover were very small. Another result of all grades being in the same room , all pupils, from first to eighth grade, could overhear the other class reciting and consequently, could pick up material two or three grades ahead. This made it a little easier for them when they advanced to a higher grade. As an example, I remember when I was in the third grade I heard my dad teaching the upper grades how to diagram sentences in grammar class. This intrigued me so I had him help me at home, and I was able to do this several grades in advance. We were able to salute the flag and recite the pledge of allegiance each morning, and could have prayer if desired. After three years at Norton, my father went to Galena where he taught the seventh and eighth grades until his sudden death nine years later. By then the Vans Valley one room school had been closed, so I rode the school bus to Sunbury for my last six years of elementary and high school. I was fortunate to have two great teachers for my seventh and eighth grades, Harold Tippett and Rolland "Pop" Neilson, respectfully. Both of them were strict disciplinarians, yet fair and compassionate. At that time a countywide eighth grade test was given to all eighth graders in the county. Due to the excellent teachers I had over the previous years, I was able to place second in the county, a fact that pleased Mr. Neilson, and of course boosted my ego somewhat. I went sailing through high school with very few problems, and ended up being valedictorian of our graduating class. I was president of the junior class, consequently, the master of ceremonies at our junior-senior banquet. I was president of the science club and captain of the basketball team my senior year. Helen and I had the leads in both our junior and senior plays, and I had the lead in an operetta presented when I was a senior. I also played clarinet in the high school orchestra, and sang in the glee club. Naturally it was in this stage of my life that I began noticing girls seriously. I first started dating the beginning of my junior year, when I was fifteen. Since this was previous to the enactment of the driver license law, there was no problem of transportation as I had been driving for years. I dated Geraldine Morris [McNamara]for about three months, Then Frances Williamson [Ruthig] until May of that year. I took Helen Harris to our junior class picnic at O'Shaunesy Dam, and this was the beginning of a relationship that led to our marriage six years later. Dates during high school consisted mainly of going to school functions, skating parties, occasional movies, or just riding around the country. Money was in short supply during the era of the great depression. It was a forgone conclusion on my parent's part that I should attend college. So, after studying several college catalogs and brochures, I decided upon Miami University at Oxford, Ohio. The estimated cost of a full year there, including tuition, room, board, books, fees, etc, was $420.00. I had saved some money from -7- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/b87f304c8a346fea3d2d7ed95dc07e65.jpg e0b28f5ed87fb69b674327ebf3de3dac Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (11) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 8 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover various projects and jobs, and with some help from my dad, I was able to swing it. Neil Harvey, a high school classmate, roomed with me at a freshman dormitory. At the time I had very little idea of what I wanted to do in my life. I enrolled in liberal arts college, and took courses in English, chemistry, history, German and physical education. I found the studies here to be a little more difficult than I had experienced previously, consequently, I ended the year with only a 2.5 point average. This was the first I had been away from home, but I adjusted very well. I was able to come for holidays and my parents visited occasionally, bringing Helen with them. Also, another high school classmate, Mary Katherine Condit, was attending Western School for Girls, with adjoining campus. Her boyfriend, Alva Cornell, would come down frequently on weekends and bring Helen. She would stay with Mary Katherine and he would stay with me. We would visit various attractions around there and in Cincinnati, and attend a few college functions. By the end of the college year I was forced to make a more definite decision as to what course I should pursue. My dad suggested that I might like to become a high school agriculture teacher, since this was the highest paid position in the school system, even higher than school superintendent. This would mean I would be close to Helen and could see her often. This was a factor that probably played the most important part in my decision to transfer. The first year at O.S.U. I roomed with Elliott Wilson, another high school classmate, at a private rooming house on Frambes Avenue. The second year, and fall quarter of the third year, I roomed with Gordon Ryder on Woodland Avenue. That January 1939, my father died suddenly from peritonitis following an appendectomy. This necessitated my dropping out of school for the rest of that school year. An effort was made by our county superintendent of schools to obtain for me a temporary teaching permit in order that I might complete the rest of my dad's year at Galena. But the state department felt that I did not have enough education courses and refused the permit. That summer I worked as a paint contractor, painting farm buildings with the use of a spray gun. I hired Clark Belt as a helper for the huge sum of twenty cents an hour. That fall I went back to school, obtaining a NYA part time job in the Agriculture Engineering office, and working in a restaurant for my meals. Soon the restaurant closed, but then I got a job serving meals and washing dishes at a sorority house for the rest to the year. In the summer of 1940 I got a job at Nestles', working on construction. When it came time to go back to school, they offered me a job inside the plant, working from 10P.M. to 6 A.M., enabling me to drive back and forth to Columbus -8- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/770aa77609793295fd7552543992da86.jpg e7635b552ace16eefee99886a2bec1c2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (12) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 9 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover to attend classes. This I did for my entire senior year. I worked five nights a week, carried a full schedule of classes at school and still was able to see Helen often. Needless to say, I didn't get a whole lot of sleep. Many a time my notes in an eight o'clock class would dwindle out to nothing as I dozed occasionally. In spite of the rigid schedule, I was able to complete my entire college course with a 3.2 grade point average. During my senior year I began to have doubts about wanting to teach. I was called into the dean's office, prior to my final commitment to practicing teaching, for a conference. It was then that I decided not to finish in Agriculture Education, but to skip the practice teaching, take some specialized courses in the spring quarter and graduate with a B.S. degree in general agriculture. It was also at this conference that I was informed that in the entrance I.Q. tests I had placed in the upper ten percent. And so it was, in June of 1941, I was a member of the class that, it was said instead of being graduated, it was "launched". The ceremonies were scheduled for 5 P.M. in the stadium. About that time a torrential rain and thunderstorm struck. They tried to hold it under the stadium, but since no one could be heard, they gave up and sent us our diplomas through the mail. Although this completed my formal education, I like to think that the training and course of instruction I received in the navy was an extension of my education. When I registered for the draft in 1941 I was classified 1A, and in September of that year I received my official "greetings". Only three day before I was supposed enter the armed forces, some of my neighbors in Vans Valley interceded on my behalf and persuaded the draft board to change my classification, thereby keeping me home. They did this because they felt I was needed at home to support my mother, since my father had recently died. I learned later that those that were drafted at that time ended up in the army in the North African campaign, fighting Rommel, the"Desert Fox". After we moved to the farm on Sunbury road I received an agricultural deferment. But this finally ended, and on September 15, 1944, I was sworn into the navy at Columbus. Since the swearing-in ceremony was held in the forenoon, and the train for Great Lakes Naval Training Center did not leave until evening, there was some time to kill. We were asked who had some college education, and who would be interested in taking the test for the radio technician program. Thinking I had nothing to lose, but not expecting to pass it, I volunteered to take it. We were not notified at that time as to the outcome of it. We rode the train to Great Lakes Naval Training Center, were issued our gear at mainside, marched five miles to our barracks, and began our boot training. Five days later I received word that my mother had died suddenly of a stroke, and I was given an emergency nine-day leave to come home. The yoeman who made -9- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/9d06cdeaf3535de4385926993305ead6.jpg 5a95637a94d9d29d05df96642684f6c6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (13) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 10 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover out my leave papers told me that he was a brother-in-law of Billy Southworth of Sunbury, and that he would be there while I was home, and for me to look him up. The outcome of this chance meeting was that, upon returning to boot camp, I was made battalion clerk, with my own office in our barracks. Because of these duties I escaped much of the more distasteful training in boot camp. At the end of the twelve-week period of training, when we received our pay, I found that I had twice the money coming as the other boots. It was finally determined that I had passed the exam for radio technician that I had taken in Columbus, was promoted to seaman first class, and was supposed to have been in a special four week R T company. Somewhere things had been mixed up [SNAFU" being the navy term for it] and was not straightened out until I returned after boot leave. The R T program took precedence over everything else so upon return to Great lakes I entered this training. I spent eight weeks at High Manley School in Chicago that the navy had taken over, studying fundamentals of electricity and mathematics. I then went to Great Lakes Training School Command for three months in primary radio school, studying radio transmission and receiving. After that it was eight months of very intensive training at Navy Pier in Chicago, studying radar and sonar, and learning how to service them. If I had really applied myself here I could have come out with a very good basic education in electronics. However, I was interested mainly in keeping my nose clean and getting home to my family as soon as possible. A very good navy buddy of mine, John Buchen, used this training as a basis to enter the electronic and, later nuclear field, and is still employed as a research scientist in Los Alamos, New Mexico. After graduating from Navy Pier, I was sent to Norfolk, Virginia, for assignment aboard ship. But before this happened, I became eligible for discharge under the point system, was sent back to Great lakes and eventually, to the naval armory in Toledo, Ohio, where I was discharged February 18, 1946, having served seventeen months during and after World War II. Nothing much very exciting happened to me during my navy career. It was a period of very uncertainty, never knowing when I left my family after a leave of liberty, when, or if ever, I would see them again. But I was very fortunate, much more so than many others, and returned home, none the worse for my experiences. This was the end of my formal and technical education. -10- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/abb63ecf3798f81d1173f2c0c87fa859.jpg 2a8d6b3d40b12f7e16da6beab70a143e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (14) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 11 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover ATHLETICS My first introduction to organized athletics came when I was in the sixth grade in Norton. We had a sixth grade basketball team, complete with uniforms. We played in the township house, a building used for various purposes, but a great basketball court it was not! In the seventh and eighth grades at Sunbury, athletics was limited to noon and recess, and occasionally during physical education period. My facilities for practicing at home were very limited. For basketball, I had an old barrel hoop nailed to the side of the barn, and for a ball I used a small rubber ball, or a football which I was fortunate enough to have. I did have a fielder's glove and catcher's mitt for baseball, and I played catch often with my dad or a neighbor boy. I was always throwing stones and consequently, developed a pretty good arm. In high school I played reserve basketball my sophomore year, both reserve and varsity my junior year, and varsity my senior year. It was in my senior year that I was captain of the team, and at one time high scorer in the county. At that time there were twelve high schools in Delaware County, outside the city of Delaware. Some of the gyms we played in were really "cracker boxes". At Powell you could not arch a foul shot, as you would hit the ceiling. A zone defense in one of those small gyms covered practically the entire half court. We won the league championship that year but lost out in the finals of the county tournament. I like to think it was because I was sick in bed with laryngitis the week prior to the game and, consequently, wasn't up to par. Sunbury High School's baseball program was very strong at that time. My senior year marked the thirteenth consecutive year they won the county championship. The coach for that entire period was the superintendent of school, Guy McFarland. He knew baseball and he taught us thoroughly the fundamentals of the game. I attribute my later limited success in college baseball to the training I received under him. I played varsity baseball my junior and senior years, having to drop out my sophomore year because of a sore arm. This was caused by throwing too hard, too much and too soon at the beginning of the season. I recall that in the county tournament my senior year I batted an even .500 for the whole series. I played outfield, third base, and pitched occasionally. At the time I entered college there was not the intensive recruiting or scholarship programs for athletes that there are today. When I was at Miami University, I simply tried out for both basketball and baseball. I made the freshman squad in basketball but did not receive numerals. In baseball I made the -11- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/b70619e129b86e5aa51d8dc4aa4a85c6.jpg 3c3f185da0f799c38cc4d5bee1eeb331 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (15) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 12 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover squad and received my sweater and numerals as a pitcher. When I transferred to Ohio State I still had to play freshman baseball. A group of 185 aspiring players was cut to a squad of 25 and I was able to survive the cut and went on to win my numerals. Since I had to drop out of school the following year because of the death of my father, my college baseball career came to an end. I am thankful that God gave me a healthy, strong body, with good coordination, so that I have been able to enjoy many sports. I have always considered myself to be not a great athlete, but a little above average in most sports in which I have participated. I have enjoyed ice skating, bicycling, water skiing, golf and bowling. I have bowled in league play from 1950 to the present, averaging 170 to 184. I was secretary of the bowling league for twenty-two years. I did not start to play golf until I was thirty-three years old, but have played it steadily since then. Again I have not been a real good golfer, but a little above average, with a handicap of around twelve for eighteen holes. I have enjoyed golf very much and still do. I like the fellowship that accompanies it, and I have been able to make many friends that, otherwise, I would not have done. I believe that organized sports are very helpful to the growth of a boy or girl, both physically and emotionally. It teaches them discipline, self-assurance and the ability to get along with others. I think that in all competition one should always try to win, but also to know that winning is not everything. MY PETS Earlier mention was made of my rat terrier dog, Jack. He was given to me as a pup when I was four year old, and lived a charmed life until I went away to college. He finally had to be put to sleep on account of old age and a tumor that developed. He survived bouts with distemper twice and being hit by a car at least four times. The first was when he was just a pup, nearly killing him. The second time he had a hind leg broken, causing him to run on three legs for over a year, then he was hit again, breaking the leg over, and after that he was able to walk and run on all four legs again. Jack was a great rat killer. He was very instrumental in keeping the population of rats down on our farm. He also loved to chase groundhogs, although he was not large or strong enough to kill one. Many a time in the spring or summer we would hear him barking in a field, maybe as much as a quarter of a mile away. Upon going to where he was we would find him and a groundhog he had cornered. He would constantly circle it, keeping it from running back to its -12- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/ed6667f1e00de26299b731d02d266eb6.jpg b7691fab49d38ad50d5c191e720912dd Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (16) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 13 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover burrow, until we would kill it. sometimes it would be a couple of hours from the time we first heard him bark until we would finally get to him. Another animal I had that gave me great fun and excitement was my shetland pony, Buddy. When I was six or seven years old, Stelzer's grocery in Sunbury held a contest at Christmas, the first prize being a pony. Shoppers were given votes for the boy or girl of their choice. Through the efforts of my dad and granddad, I received the most votes. What a happy Christmas for me! I learned to ride him bareback since I did not have saddle until the next Christmas. I remember the first time I rode him bareback at a gallop, he shied from a blowing piece of paper, throwing me off, and stepping on my eye. In seconds my eye was swollen shut and mother was sure I had been killed. But it was nothing serious. George Ford, my very close boyhood chum, also had a pony. We had great fun riding together, playing cowboys [how I longed for a real cowboy suit but never got one], and racing across the fields. At harvest time we would ride our ponies back and forth to the fields with the wagons. I often dreamed of having a paper route in the community so I could deliver the papers on my pony, like the pony express riders of the old west. I can remember racing Buddy across the pasture field with Jack running on one side and Bill, a pet sheep, running on the other, often jumping stiff-legged. Buddy later developed an affliction, common to shetland ponies, that caused his hooves to turn up so that he had to walk on the back of them, crippling him. No amount of trimming or any other treatment seemed to help, so I was finally forced to sell him. With money I received from him, and from the saddle and bridle, I bought the very best bicycle available at the time. Other animals I owned, but not really be called pets, were sheep and hogs. When I was about ten years old my dad bought me four shropshire ewe sheep. From this start I was able to build a flock of nearly fifty by the time I went to college, and the sale of them helped pay my first year's college expense. I also bought a registered spotted Poland China gilt and from her, and one of her offspring, raised several litters of market hogs. Old Frank McMahon of Galena bought one litter, and never after that did I see him that he failed to tell me what a great pen of hogs those were. Soon after Helen and I were married and started farming, an English shepherd, named Rover, or as we usually called him, Buster was given to us. He was a beautiful, intelligent dog, but strictly a one family dog. We could do anything with him and later Brenda and Don could play as roughly as they wanted and he would seem to love it. But he had nothing to do with strangers and woe to anyone or anything that attempted to harm the children. One time when Don was about two years old he wandered away from the house. When we found him he -13- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/468f81ade430f523d45991d2311013b1.jpg 5062ae18b7ed5cd6e66065afb1b35199 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (17) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 14 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover had gone to the road, but there was Buster, nudging him back and keeping him from going into the road. He was a great rat killer, and loved to hunt groundhogs. Unlike Jack, he was big and strong enough to kill them by himself. Once I saw him dig into a groundhog's burrow until he was able to grab it by its face, pull it out of the hole, throw it into the air in one swift motion, then catch it and break its neck in seconds. He would chase a rabbit, run it down and catch it, not easy for a dog to do. But he was no good as a hunting dog. He was extremely gun shy, even shaking at the mere sight of a gun. He was also very frightened of thunder. On the dairy farm we usually had fifteen to twenty cows. At times they would be turned into a thirty-five acre woods during the day to graze. When it came milking time in the evening they would have to be rounded up and driven up a long lane to the barn. After going with me a few times, Buster learned to go by himself and all I would have to say was, "Go get the cows, Buster", and he would be off and running as fast as he could back the lane to the woods, and soon here would come the cows with him at their heels. Buster moved with us to the schoolhouse in Van Valley, but while we were gone to Michigan on vacation in 1947 he died under rather mysterious circumstances. I never did really know the exact cause of death. Soon afterwards Helen obtained a cocker spaniel pup which we named Sandy. She was the household pet all during Brenda's and Don's growing-up years. She was the one who used to allow Brenda to dress her in doll clothes or at Christmas decorate her with bows and ribbons. She lived to be about fourteen years old before dying of old age [helped along by stumbling beneath Don's moving car]. Of course, all during my boyhood days we had an assortment of cats, some of them being house pets, but most of them being barn cats. We had one strain that had seven toes on each foot, a rather unusual characteristic. I also raised rabbits for several years, selling some of them for meat. I had one old buck rabbit, named Pete, that ran loose in the barnyard all the time. He was big and strong enough to chase the cats instead of them chasing him. Then there was the little turtle about the size of a quarter that I found one time, kept it in a fish bowl for about six months, and then cried when my folks made me turn it loose. It is my opinion that a pet is a good influence upon the life of a child providing there are facilities for the proper care of them. They teach a child a sense of responsibility, sensitivity to life, and an awareness of the rights of other beings. Besides, they are cuddly and lovable. -14- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/ece4526832f5dab59ad100ea62580360.jpg 66e726f9587296943b8033a20dfccce1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (18) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 15 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover OUTDOOR LIFE I guess I am and always have been, an outdoors person. I would much rather be on a lake in the wilds of Canada than downtown in the most modern city in the world. I suppose being raised in the country, with no brothers or sisters, and very few other children with whom to play, may have contributed to my desire for solitude, and love of field, forest and stream. As a boy I spent many, many hours tramping the fields and hiking along the streams, watching the wild animals and observing the varied plant life and insects. George Ford and I spent many an afternoon walking in the woods, talking, and maybe imagining we were in the deserts of the west, or on safari in darkest Africa. Later, we spent much time together hunting squirrels, rabbits and pheasants. I cannot discuss my experiences in the out-of-doors without bringing up the subject of guns. I was introduced to them by my dad when I was only five years old. He would take a .22 caliber cartridge, remove the lead bullet, and stuff a wad of paper in its place, making it a blank cartridge. This he would load into an old Stevens single shot rifle and allow me to shoot it. By this means he taught me the proper way to handle a gun, both for effectiveness and for safety. The next step was to allow me to use the same rifle, but to substitute a .22 caliber shell filled with many small lead shot. With one of these I went out to the straw shed and killed a rat, my first game with a gun! I recall another amusing experience when I was only six or seven years old. I took the same Stevens rifle, two cartridges, and my dog, Jack, and went "hunting"in the fields behind our farm. Jack began barking around a large brush pile. I didn't know what to do so I went back to the house to get either my dad or granddad, but neither one was home. So I went back to the brush pile and by that time Jack had "worried" a large possum out into the open. I shot it in the head with both shells, broke a club over its head, then let Jack shake it. You see, I had heard my granddad tell how a possum would play dead then later get up and run away. I dragged the possum to the house by its tail since it was too heavy for me to carry. Granddad skinned it, stretched the hide, and I later sold it for $3.00. I shot my first pheasant, on the wing, with a .410 gauge shotgun when I was ten years old. The year I was freshman in high school, at daylight on the opening day of hunting season, I took Jack and went pheasant hunting near our farm. He flushed several in a fencerow. I shot one, then a few yards farther he flushed another, and I drowned it, completing my limit. I took them to the house, changed my clothes, still got on the school bus for school. Another interesting experience happened some fifteen years later. George and I were hunting near -15- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/8954483364387c691c5fa1b084f0af62.jpg f90338ddaa6a7e5cf0572dc1842142d2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (19) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 16 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover Magnetic Springs. We were walking along the end of a field of standing corn, looking down the rows. I spotted a cock pheasant, quickly fired, and when I went to pick it up, there lay two , dead. Two birds with one shot! Fortunately, they were both cocks. When I was in boot camp at Great Lakes Naval Training Center we were given instructions in the use of a rifle. First, we were taken to an indoor range where we fired .22 caliber rifles. On a test with it I scored 144 out of a possible 150. Then we were taken to a 200-yard outdoor range where we shot the 30-30 rifle. Here I scored 136 out of a possible 150. Both of these scores qualified me as an expert marksman. Fortunately, I never had to use this training during the rest of my navy career. When I was a boy at home I used to listen to our minister tell of some of his experiences on vacation in the forest of Michigan. I thought how great that would be, but never expecting then to be able to do something like that. In 1947, Don and Irma Paul and Helen and I spent a week at Oxyoke camp on the Au Sable River in Lower Michigan. The first day when we got in the boat and headed upstream, pushed along by our 5-hp motor, we thought we were really in the wild. Boy! this is it! Nothing but water and trees! I still get that feeling when I head out on a lake in Canada. I hope I never get over it. In 1953 we began going as a family to Willisville, Ontario, and the camp on Charlton Lake. We spent every summer vacation there from then until Helen's death in 1967. I can truthfully say that some of the happiest weeks of my life were spent there, with my family, and with the Dawsons, Pauls and Nettlehorsts. I still am enjoying summer trips there with Evelyn, my kids and grandkids. I am pleased that my children evidently enjoyed their times there enough when they were young, that they want to take their children now. There are many things that stand out in my memory of times in the Canadian land of lakes and forests, - the lonely cry of a loon calling its mate, the sudden splash of a beaver's tail upon the water as it signals the approach of danger, the beautiful sunsets over the water and between two small mountain peaks. I recall one night when Chuck and Ralph Nettlehorst and Don and I portaged into Little Beaver Lake, fished in the evening, then rolled up in our sleeping bags on the rocks for the night. The mosquitoes were so bad that Chuck and I finally got up, built up the fire, and sat around it the rest of the night. About four o'clock in the morning we witnessed the most beautiful display of Aurora Borealis, or northern lights, that I have ever seen. Bright streamers of white, blue and red light, coming from all points of the horizon, terminating in an apex overhead in the center of the sky. The rustling, crackling noise was continuous, giving the whole phenomenon an eerie atmosphere. This continued for maybe a half an hour, then gradually subsided. This experience was well worth the mosquito bites we suffered. -16- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/b8c61a48c1656ab1e8349d256f070811.jpg d451820d70428daa1834ef474c77afa9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (20) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 17 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover The fishing at Willisvillle has ranged from poor to excellent, depending upon the weather, the time of year, and plain old luck. My largest fish taken there have been an eight and one half pound northern pike, a seven and on half pound walleye, five pound largemouth bass and four pound smallmouth bass. Rarely were we able to catch our limit for one day. I recall one trip that Gary Girberd, Don and I made to Little Beaver Lake. We hit the bass just right and came back to camp with twenty-eight for the three of us. The limit was six per license. Someone mentioned that we were over limit and old man Imhoff said, "Anyone knows that three times six is twenty-eight". Not all the time was spent fishing. Each summer we would pick blueberries for delicious pies and muffins and sometimes have enough to bring some home. Much exploring was done. I have walked the trail to the gold mine in the area, finding an operation bigger than expected. At one time some men from Sunbury owned part of the mine. On one occasion Chuck, Ralph, Don and I made a three- day portage trip, camping in a tent at night. Our route took us up Charlton Lake, Howry Creek, Murray Lake, Howry lake, Gem lake, Fish Lake and finally Great Mountain Lake. Along the way we crossed several beaver dams, the largest we estimated to be one hundred feet long, and twelve feet high, built in the form of a shallow V. On top of the dam we discovered the tracks of a very large bear. On this three-day trip we saw no one except members of our own party. Another time the Dawsons, Pauls, Nettlehorsts and Hoovers went in three boats through Lang Lake, Walker Lake, Fox Lake, Hannah Lake and Great Bear Lake to the foot of the dam on Lake Panache. All of this water is crystal clear, where one can see the bottom in fifteen feet of water. I remember on this trip we had several tin cans of food to be used for our shore lunch, but no one had thought to bring a can opener, so we opened them with a hatchet. The list of memories of times spent here is endless. The summer following Helen's death, Chuck, my son-in-law Curt, Don and I took a fold-down camping trailer and spent two weeks in the White River area of Ontario. Most of the time was spent at Lake Quinkwagwa. The fishing was poor, but we had a good time. Chuck had movies of the trip, including the step by step construction of a privy, complete with folding seat and half moon in the door. It was here also that Curt kept saying that someone was stealing our beer, but in most scenes in the movies he had one in his hand! A ten and half pound lake trout was the catch of this trip. I have enjoyed other fishing trips to Canada, including the time at Lake Quinkwagwa when three bears kept Chuck and I up all night, trying to keep them away from the tent. I made five fly-in trips to Brunswick Lake, where the walleye and northern fishing was excellent. Besides the usual loon, beaver and otter, we saw several moose in the area. The flights in and out in floatplanes were over -17- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/efcdbe726a484fcaebe15b624f615b20.jpg 301aa12d5c9417a3e459fb57afce306d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (21) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 18 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover miles and miles of nothing but forests and lakes, - my kind of country. In the trips Evelyn and I have taken with our travel trailer, I was always happiest when we were in some wilderness area, far from the congestion of thickly populated areas. I still say I am just an outdoors person. VOCATION I have already mentioned my job at Nestles' in Sunbury during my last year in college and for a short period thereafter. I was operator of a set of pressurized steam percolators used in the manufacture of instant coffee. This was rather interesting work as it was still in the experimental phase, beginning regular production while I was there. I was offered an opportunity to stay with the company, having already been given a boost in pay over others as an incentive. But since plans were already formulated for Helen and I to go on the farm, I turned them down and left there in December 1941. I might mention that just one week after I quit, on the same shift and same set of percolators I had been operating, a cell blew up and killed the operator on duty. On the dairy farm we operated for nearly three years I milked twelve to fifteen cows every night and morning by vacuum operated milkers, cooled the milk in an electric refrigerated water tank, and shipped the whole milk to a dairy in Columbus. The power for the fieldwork was supplied by a Massey-Harris farm tractor, used to pull the various implements. Our main field crops were corn, oats, soybeans and hay, use primarily as feed for the livestock. I enjoyed the work on the farm, but as, as I have stated previously, the financial arrangement left much to be desired, so it was with some sense of relief that I had to leave to enter the navy. Upon my discharge I fully intended to look for a job related in some way to my agricultural training in college. But before I did anything about this, Carroll Williamson, postmaster at Sunbury, came to see me to tell me there was a vacancy for a clerk's job in the post office and would I be interested. I went to work the next day, March 11, 1949, thinking it would be only temporary until I found something else. Well that "temporary" turned into over thirty years with the postal service. About a year later I took a civil service examination and was made a regular clerk. In the spring of 1950 an examination was given to fill the position of rural carrier on route one. Along with about fifteen others I took the exam, came out with a score of 102 out of a possible 100 [5 point veteran preference] but did not -18- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/dcc07610f6804b34e18150d0954e12b5.jpg 6a01bb9e9945331ff3003b3437a9ed99 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (22) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 19 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover get the appointment as Danny Conant, a disabled veteran, was chosen. Soon after, route two was vacated by the transfer of that carrier to another post office, so I applied for transfer from clerk to rural carrier and was appointed in September of the same year. This position I held until retirement in 1976. I enjoyed my work as a rural a mail carrier. When I started the route was fifty-two miles long with two hundred thirty boxes. When I retired I was driving seventy-nine miles, serving four hundred and thirty boxes. I always said that my job was one at which I would never get rich, but it did provide real security. I went to work at six in the morning, seven in later years, and was home by twelve or one most days. Leave was very liberal, over five weeks a year, and eight holidays were observed. This allowed me to spend much time with my family, a fact for which I have always been thankful. It might seem that it would be very boring to drive the same route day after day. But with the ever-changing seasons, the planting, growing and harvesting of farm crops, and the building of new homes, there was always something of interest to see. Also, I was in contact with many friendly people daily {and occasionally some that weren't so friendly!] It was only in the last few years before retirement that the work became a little more irritating. This was because of the great increase in rules and regulations within the postal service, brought on, I believe, by the mistrust on both sides between labor and management. Every duty had to be spelled out in detail in writing, and every minute had to be accounted for. I began to get the feeling that I was considered to be dishonest unless I proved myself other wise. It was this feeling that influenced my decision to retire at a relatively early age. I suspect that if conditions had been like they were twenty years previous, I might have stayed on another four or five years. But I have never regretted for one minute my decision to retire when I did. Since I had to be on the road six days a week, the weather was a big factor in the enjoyment of my work. In the spring, summer and fall the main concern was whether I had to wash mud off the outside of the car or clean dust off, outside and in. There were times when floods made some roads impassable for a day or two. The worst one I experienced was in the spring of 1959. School was cancelled so Don went with me. There were two bridges washed out, and several roads closed by high water. But I believe, by backtracking, we were able to deliver most of the mail, driving through water in several places. In the winter snow and ice could be a big headache. The worst spot on the route was on Hogback Road where the road made a big dip, going down steeply, around a curve then back up just as steeply, with an abrupt drop-off on the side next to a creek below. Many a day when the snow was deep or the ice covered the road I did not attempt to travel this spot, instead, drove eight extra miles to get -19- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/11947f3a4bc164944263a2146b4f9fa5.jpg 2fe3c71596dcbd8bf14be1eac51a5120 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (23) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 20 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover around it. There were a few times I could not complete the entire route on account of snow. I recall one day it was snowing very hard with a stiff wind causing it to drift badly. I had a brand new 1958 Chevrolet and had installed chains that morning. I kept plowing through drifts until the motor would hardly run. Upon investigation, I found the snow had backed up in the engine well, filling the space to the hood. The carburetor was pulling melted snow in through the air intake, nearly drowning out the engine. I managed to limp to a service station where we had to put it inside where it was warm and wait until the snow melted away from the engine. In the twenty five of driving the route I only once had to have a wrecker come to my assistance. This was on heavy ice when I slipped into a small ditch trying to get away from a mailbox and couldn't get out under my own power. Over the period from 1950 to 1976 that I was on the rural route, I owned sixteen Chevrolets, all but the first being new when I bought them, and all but two being sport sedans. I was hard on tires, getting twelve fifteen thousand miles at the most from a tire, and was especially hard on brakes. The constant starting and stopping caused the linings to heat up and crack. Sometimes I would get only three or four thousand miles from a set brakes. Fortunately, I could buy relined shoes and install them myself. In all the time on the route I did not have an accident, earning several safe-driving awards from the National Safety Council. Although there were times during my career that I felt that I should have gone into some other line of work, something at which I might have been able to earn more money, I am happy now with the course I followed. It was a job with much security, - I never had to worry about being laid off, and it gave me much free time. Now I am enjoying a very liberal retirement annuity, and have no reason to believe that I won't continue to do so for the rest of my life. Yes, the Postal Service has been good to me. ORGANIZATIONS The first organization that I belonged to was the Boy Scouts of America. I joined the day I reached the minimum age of twelve. My scoutmaster for the first year was our minister, Rev. Alonzo Green, who was also a good friend of my dad. After he was moved to another church, my dad became scoutmaster, and continued as long as I was active. I attained the rank of life scout, only lacking two or three merit badges of reaching Eagle rank. I learned much from my association with the Boy Scouts, and enjoyed many activities. The one that stands out most vividly in -20- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/380e4d01ed062864e6f9fb030ae3e6d4.jpg 3b68b7439c7d56e9c1d676587c1a01bd Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (24) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 21 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover my memory was the day of the G A R convention in Columbus. This was a gathering of the surviving veterans of the Civil War. We, as scouts, were each assigned a veteran to escort to all the activities of the day. In the afternoon we walked with them through the rotunda of the state capitol building where we met and shook hands with Governor White of Ohio, and the President of the United States, Herbert Hoover. I also recall ushering at football games at Ohio Wesleyan and Ohio State Universities, participating in the Boy Scout Jamboree at the coliseum at the Ohio State Fairgrounds, and camping at Camp Lazarus. I was senior patrol leader and several times led out patrol on hikes and campouts. In 1941 I became a member of the Masonic lodge in Sunbury, Sparrow Lodge #400, F & A M, in which I still hold membership. In 1946 I started through the chairs and in 1951 I was elected as Worshipful Master. It was during my year as master that much was done towards the plans for a new temple building, and later I was elected secretary of the association that supervised the operation of the temple after it was built. Helen and I became members of Columbus Chapter #33, O E S, and in 1950 I was elected Worthy Patron and served with Elizabeth Hoover, and in 1952 Helen and I were elected matron and patron and served the year together. We enjoyed the offices and were able to make many new friends. I do not now belong as I took a demit several years ago. When Brenda and Don were in school, Helen and I were active in several school related organizations. In about 1959 I was president of the band booster organization, and it was due to my efforts that the band calendar program to raise money was instigated. As far as I know , this great fund raiser is still in operation. I became a member of the Methodist Church at Vans Valley at a very early age, and was active in both Sunday School and Church. At various times I served as teacher, superintendent and song leader. Of course, our congregation was very small. When we moved to Sunbury, Helen and I had our membership transferred to Sunbury United Methodist Church, where I still worship. During the years here I have been chairman of the official board and finance chairman two or three times. Also, I have sung in the choir every year but two in the past thirty-five. Music has played an enjoyable part in my life since childhood. My father was a very good singer and sang many solos, as well as singing in a men's quartet. He and I often sang together, for our own enjoyment and sometimes at various functions, he in his baritone voice and me in my boy soprano voice. In high school I sang in the glee club and played a clarinet in the orchestra. Since then I have sung solos at church, Eastern Star, school, funerals and weddings, including my own daughter's. I was interlocutor and soloist for two of the Lion's Club minstrels, and have sung tenor in four or five local barbershop quartets. Yes, I have enjoyed music all my life. Nothing can make tears come to my eyes quicker -21- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/90a46ed5672154eb4a99139677ba4a3e.jpg b4c1aefb7356781651e195d54e3cdbbf Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (25) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 22 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover than to hear a really good piece of music, especially if it is as old standard, or a good patriotic number. FAMILY I have already mentioned several members of my family. Now I would like to list all the members of the immediate family that I remember and tell something about each one of them. My grandfather Hoover [1848-1925] was named Gaylord. He was married three times, my grandmother being his third wife, and had eight sons. From these eight sons, I, and my progeny, are the only ones to carry on that family name. I don't remember much about him as I was only six when he died. I don't really know what he did for a living, but I suspect he was a small farmer. I know he lived at Condit Station when he died. My Grandmother Hoover's name was Rebecca. Her maiden name was Hanover. She was a half-sister of Frank Hanover of Johnstown, and Ella Willison, who once lived on Letts Avenue in Sunbury, where Polly Brehm now lives. My most vivid memories of her were eating her brown molasses cookies and playing the old pump organ in her living room. I can also recall the little wooden kiddy-car they kept for me to use, and of riding it down their concrete side walk to the road where I would sit and watch the many trains that came and went at the Condit railroad station. After my grandfather died, she moved to South Condit, where she died in 1933. Their graves are in Fancher Cemetery in Harlem Township. My Grandfather Forwood [1860-1947] was named Ezekiel Brown. I am sure he was named for his Great Grandfather Ezekiel Brown, who was one of the first settlers of Berkshire township. He was married to Allie Huddlestun, daughter of John Huddlestun. Since she died when I was only four, I have no recollection of her. They had three daughters, but I was their only grandchild. It was with my Grandfather Forwood that we lived from the time I was five until I was married. Zeke, as he was called by most, was a carpenter during his early years. Among the houses he built is the one on State Route #605 that Terry Day now owns. He built it for Perry Feasel. In the later years he dabbled in many things, among them: selling newspaper and magazine subscriptions, selling several small gadgets that he ordered through the mail, and operating the small farm on which we lived. He was the first salesman in Delaware County for Farm Bureau Insurance, the forerunner of Nationwide Insurance Company. -22- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/84db1886f0f2cd6f32b1c7317282a404.jpg 40228cf075ad8bdab43a006396cd2ad2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (26) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 23 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover I remember my Grandfather Forwood as being a slow, easygoing man, very methodical, never raising his voice, and at times, stubborn. He was of slight build, had sandy hair that never turned gray, and a small mustache. His first and only automobile was a 1925 model T Ford coupe. He was not known for his great driving ability. It was said that he only took half the road, but that was usually out of the middle! Fortunately, he never did have an accident. One thing he used to do that would exasperate my mother was, unknown to her, pick a basket of fruit or a bucket of elderberries, bring them to the house and expect her to care for them immediately. He usually had a dozen or more hives of honey bees. Often some neighbor would all and tell him of a stray swarm of bees that had alighted on a fence post or a limb of a tree. He would take his bee net, smoker, an empty hive and a piece of oilcloth, go where they were, and gently scrape them into the oilcloth, on which sat the hive. They would enter the hive; he would close it up, take it home, and have one more hive of bees to produce honey for us. He outlived his wife and all three daughters, dying in a nursing home in 1947. He and his wife are buried in Sunbury Memorial Cemetery. My father was named Ralph Errett [1892-1939]. He was the youngest of eight boys, four of whom grew to manhood. He was born in Harlem Township, raised in the country, graduated from Harlem High School and attended Ohio University for one year. He began teaching immediately and, with three or four years off when he farmed, he followed this profession until his death. During the summer months he had any number of jobs, including driving a milk truck, driving a dump truck, working on highway construction, selling cemetery plots, encyclopedias and insurance. When he was twenty-two, he lost his left arm in a corn shredder accident. In spite of this he was able to do most anything. He had the ability to figure out ways to compensate for his handicap. He had tremendous strength in that one arm. About the only thing I remember that he would call upon my mother to do for him was tie his shoelaces. He was an intelligent man, ambitious, outgoing, sometimes quick tempered, of high morals, and always a loving husband and father. He taught me many things, both by precept and example. He played ball with me, talked with me, and helped me with my sheep and hog projects. Many stories and sayings I sometimes tell came from him. I only hope my children will have as many good memories of me as I have my father. He died in 1939, just six day after having an appendectomy. If this had happened three years later, after the discovery of antibiotics, he probably would have lived many more years. His sudden death was a great shock to all of us. My mother was Carrie Lela Forwood [1893-1944]. She was raised in Trenton Township, graduated from Sunbury High School, and was a schoolteacher for a year or two. She and and my father were married in 1917. She was good looking -23- . http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/e8b1e116bf57d283c7fc52ccd589ec42.jpg 7512b334078ac05c23b72d99d4408d23 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (27) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 24 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover kind, quiet, loving, and a good cook. She would get perturbed at the occasional outbursts of temper on my father's part, and let him know about it. She also had a tempering influence upon him when he would come up with a somewhat wild scheme or idea. As far back as I can remember, my mother had almost daily headaches. Many, many afternoons she would have to take aspirin and lie down. She and my father spent much time and many dollars trying to find out what caused them, but they never did. I recall one time an x-ray of her mouth showed a tooth buried crosswise under three of her lower front teeth. The dentist pulled the three teeth, then spent nearly an hour chiseling out the buried tooth from the jawbone. When the dentist was finished, dad asked what the bill was. He said, "Well, that was four teeth, so it is four dollars". This was in the middle of the depression. The sudden death of my father was a terrible blow to her, one from which, I feel, she never recovered. She suffered severe burns on one hand and arm, and one ankle and leg, in a flash fire while trying to light a fire in the coal cook stove. She also injured a leg in a fall, causing a huge blood clot. These things happened after he died. Just five days after I entered the navy, she suffered a stroke and died. My parents were religious people, being very active in church work, and living their faith and beliefs. I grew up in a very strict atmosphere. Of course, I attended Church and Sunday school regularly, alcohol and tobacco were strictly taboo, and playing cards were forbidden, as was dancing. These restrictions may seem a little severe now, but I believe that if more parents raised their children in a little stricter manner, there might be less trouble with drugs, crime, violence and other problems of the younger generation. Helen Winona Harris [1917-1967] was born and raised to high school age in Columbus. Her father was Charles W. Harris and mother was Zella {Prosser} Harris. They were divorced when Helen was a young girl and she lived with her mother until we were married. She moved to Sunbury in her junior year of high school and soon after we started dating. We went steady for six years and were married in 1941. Helen was a beautiful girl, above average student, and somewhat athletically inclined. She was full of fun, always joking with people, but with a bit of a temper. During our life together we had many interests in common and did many things together. We bowled, played golf, fished, and worked together in various organizations. Of course, we collaborated in producing two wonderful children, Brenda and Don. Helen was always very proud of them and I am so sorry she couldn't have lived to see how well their lives have progressed, and to see her five wonderful grandchildren. In the winter of 1964-1965 she began to increase in size around the waist. Some thought she was pregnant, but we knew better. I begged her to go to the -24- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/83ca358dfbb2b86859474c48fc149ed4.jpg 75ad5282023ee9ec0458e469bdea049d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (28) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 25 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover doctor for an examination, but she kept putting it off. Finally, in July, she went and it was determined that she an ovarian cyst. When they removed it at the hospital, it weighed nineteen pounds. She seemed to be recovering satisfactorily, but soon started having pains, and an examination showed that she had cancer in the area from which the cyst had been removed. When I was told of this, it was the most shocking moment of my life. I just couldn't believe that this could be true. Dr Livingston told me she might live two years at the most. He and I discussed whether we should tell her or not. He said it depended upon the temperament of the individual. Knowing her fears of water, railroad crossings, airplanes, etc., I told him that I didn't believe she should be told. To this day I don't know whether that was the right decision or not. I do know that it made it harder on me, knowing the truth but having to put up a false front. After a series of cobalt treatment, she lost weight until she weighed only sixty-eight pounds. I had to carry her from place to place. Yet she and I, and Brenda and Curt, went to Canada for a week that summer. It was there that she started to walk again, and was able to attend Don's wedding a month later. Soon after is was necessary for her to go back to the hospital and have a colostomy. this she fought tooth and nail, but finally gave in. After this, she began eating well and was soon back to normal weight. this condition continued for several months. She and I spent four weeks in Canada, enjoying it to a limited extent. About the first of October 1967, she took a sudden turn for the worse, and on the morning of the thirteenth she died in her sleep, at home, with just me sleeping nearby. Her suffering had ended. This began a period of drastic change in my life. I tried to be callous and dry-eyed on the outside, but I was broken up on the inside. I may have said some things or acted in such a manner that led people to believe that I was enjoying being single again. Believe me, nothing could be farther from the truth. I loved Helen very much and missed her terribly. But time has a way of gradually easing the pain, thank God, and life can go on and be good. In the years that followed, several people tried to play cupid and fix me up with a date with someone. I just took the attitude that "what will be will be", and did not take any initiative towards trying to find another wife. I think this must have been the way things were intended. Carl and Evelyn Dawson had been very good friends of ours for nearly thirty years. We had partied together, gone on vacations together, and our children had grown up together. They lived just five houses up the street. In 1972 Carl died suddenly, leaving Evelyn alone. It only seemed natural that she and I should be attracted to each other and in about six months we began dating. Nearly a year later, September 29, 1973, we were married. This has proved to be a very good second marriage for both of us. We have had no problems with our children since -25- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/bf5a33b246e531e4bf146e60a67dcce9.jpg 5d74ed52914c4761a0a54e24a3303144 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (29) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 26 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover everyone was so will acquainted previously. Evelyn is a very warm, loving and caring person. She is vivacious, full of fun, and very easy to live with. We have had as very enjoyable life together, and look forward to many more years just as good. Since our marriage, Evy and I have done much travelling, beginning with our wedding trip. On this we went to the Black Hills, Yellowstone NP, Teton NP, Salt Lake City, Brice, Zion and Grand Canyon NPs Phoenix and back through Texas. After our retirement in 1976, we pulled our travel trailer on a 10, 000- mile trip to the Pacific Northwest, down the California coast and back across the southern United Stares. That winter we started going to Florida for two or three months, a practice we are still following. In October 1977, we toured the New England States as far north as Bar Harbor, Maine. In the summer of 1983 we spent two months pulling our trailer on a 10,400-mile trip to Alaska and back, a trip we thoroughly enjoyed. hopefully, we will take many more trips in our lives. SUMMARY In writing these sketchy memories of my life so far, I cannot help but be thankful for many things. I am thankful for being born of good parents, in a land of freedom and opportunity. Nowhere in the world except in the United States could I have enjoyed life as I have. Our government is not perfect, far from it, but it is still the best in the world. Thousands have died to build and preserve our way of life, and it is the obligation of every citizen to see that it is not destroyed. I am extremely thankful for all of my family, - the home in which I was raised, the two loving women with whom I have shared my life, and the wonderful children and grand children I now enjoy. I am also thankful for Curt and Ruthie, my son-in-law and daughter -in-law, who have been such a great addition to my family. I lost part of my family when I was relatively young -my father when I was nineteen, my mother when I was twenty-five, and my wife when I was forty- eight. But, in spite of this, with the help of God and many loving people surrounding me, I was able to continue to enjoy life fully. I am thankful for the health I have enjoyed. The human body and the human mind are extremely complex, almost unbelievable in the way they function, and it behooves us all to do all we can to preserve them and keep them operating as efficiently as possible. To deliberately tear them down by the willful use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco, by overeating or poor nutrition, or by lack of exercise, is just -26- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/13e47fa5e6d7a68194ca546002987b83.jpg 53366a69767415d17bfc6040917eeb65 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (30) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 27 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover Plain dumb! Peer pressure is probably the cause of much of this, but we should stand by our principles and conduct our lives the way we see fit. We have only one go-around in this Old World, so we should make the best of it. Every person has a certain reputation among his friends and acquaintances, either good or bad, and the way we live from day to day determines what kind of reputation we have. It takes years of constantly living a good life to build this good reputation, but only one bad episode can tear it down instantly. So, we should weigh our actions carefully, making sure we do not destroy with one action, that which has taken so long to develop. So I say to my children and grandchildren, please take the advice of your old dad and grandad and live your lives accordingly, with God's help. -27- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/cc3ad57940d78c793db278ba11702075.jpg 09686abd6eed4e4c81df6bd8d6e5d7d5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (31) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 28 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover EPILOGUE Nearly sixteen years have passed since I wrote the autobiography. Much had happened in that time so I would like to update it. One activity that has been very enjoyable, and which I have not touched upon, is - gardening. The year we retired I bought a Troybilt Pony rototiller, with which I tilled and cultivated a vegetable garden at Evelyn's property. When she sold this property in 1979, I proposed to Chuck Nettelhorst that he allow me to have a garden on his vacant lot across the street from me in exchange for me keeping the whole lot mowed and cared for. This I did every year until giving it up the summer of 1999. My garden plot was approximately fifty feet by seventy feet. On this I grew a variety of crops, including: broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, beets, peas, lettuce, radishes, onions, green beans, lima beans, corn, cantaloupe, watermelon, turnips, potatoes, sweet potatoes, zucchini and tomatoes. Consequently, we kept our freezers full, also had dry onions, potatoes and sweet potatoes stored in the basement. We also gave away much produce. We not only enjoyed eating all these good vegetables, but I thoroughly enjoyed planting them, cultivating them and just watching them grow. I also developed quite a reputation as a gardener among the people of the community. It was with some regret that I gave it up, but all good things must come to an end. I have touched upon some of our travels previously. I would now like to summarize all of our travels since retirement. Summary of the travel of Bob and Evelyn Hoover - 1976 to 1990 Bought 25 foot Holiday travel trailer from Ed and Grace Wilson in 1975, for $3600.00. Both of us retired in June 1976, Bob from rural route two out of Sunbury Post Office, and Evelyn from Sunbury Community Library. -28- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/d6f93356d8d31ac3ddec5fc70a61fd40.jpg 2288a4f7c48a5f93ff8788ed8195915c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (32) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 29 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover August 1976 - Began 19.00 mile western trip with trailer, with practically no experience. Learned as we went. Traveled northern tier of states, into Alberta and British Colombia, then down Pacific coast to Los Angeles, and home through southern states. 1977 - Winter at Sherwood Forest campground west of Kissimmee, Florida. September - 2500 mile trip through New England. 1978 - 1990 - Winters at Sherwood Forest, Florida. 1983 -Trip to Alaska with Ed and Edna Hoke. 10,00 miles, 8 weeks. Traveled through Michigan, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon Territory and Alaska. Came back on state ferry from Haines, AK, to Prince Rupert, British Colombia. Highlights - Algoma Central railroad trip north out of Sault Ste. Marie; Alaskan highway from Dawson Creek; Watson Lake signs [left one of Sunbury], "Frantic Follies" at Whitehorse, Yukon Territory; Daylight at midnight at Fairbanks, AK; Denali National Park trip ;earthquake at Anchorage: Alaskan pipeline at Valdez; 800 mile ferry ride, stopping at Juneau and Sitka, disembarking at Prince Rupert, BC. 1984 - bought new 27 foot Airstream trailer. Trip to New England and Maritime Provinces with Ed and Edna 4800 miles, 4 weeks. Highlights - Niagara Falls, tours of Montreal and Quebec City, Gaspe Peninsula, Cape Briton, Fundy National Park and Golf course, Bar Harbor, Maine. 1985 - Trip west with Hokes. 5000 miles, 3 weeks. Highlights - Pikes Peak, Air Force Academy, Rocky Mountain National Park, Durango-Silverton narrow gauge railroad trip, Mesa Verde National Park and Carlsbad Caverns. 1986 - Trip to Las Vegas with Hokes. 6000 miles. 4 weeks HIghlights - Laramie, Wyoming; Flaming Gorge reservoir; Moab, Utah; Colorado River canyons; Bryce and Zion National Parks; Las Vegas casinos; Hoover Dam tour; Arizona desert; White Sands National Monument; Carlsbad Caverns [again]; Cowboy Hall -29- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/496eb26d4124d677a1df36a78e2f95bb.jpg a40bd115e062ba6338c2ca88b0cd9d1a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (33) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 30 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover Of Fame at Oklahoma City. 1987 - 5500 mile trip to Edmonton, Alberta, to huge mall. Traveled through Upper Peninsula of Michigan, through Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Montana, then on home. Highlights - Wheat harvest in Manitoba and Saskatchewan; West Edmonton Mall; Jasper National Park; Columbia Icefield Parkway; Banff National Park; Lake Louise; Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park; Teton National Park. 1988 - Trip to Las Vegas via Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona, and back to El Paso, Texas, Then we followed the Rio Grand River to Harlingen, Texas, and on home by way of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, etc. 6000 miles. 3 weeks. Highlights - Grand Canyon; Hoover Dam; Las Vegas; Big Bend National park; Rio Grand Valley; South Padre Island; Louisiana Bayou Country; Natchez Trace Highway. 1989 - Trip to Great Smokey Mountain National Park, to Virginia and home . 2000 miles. 2 weeks. Highlights - Great Smokey Mountain National Park; Biltmore Estate; visit with daughter, Brenda, and family at Burke , Virginia. 1990 - I-80 to Pennsylvania, down to Gettysburg, then Burke, Virginia. Highlights - Beautiful fall foliage along I-80 in Pennsylvania; Hershey, PA; Gettysburg battlefield. Have visited all the states except Hawaii and Rhode Island, and all the Canadian Provinces except Newfoundland. Have visited 23 of the 33 national parks, plus many of the national monuments. have met many interesting people, some still in contact. RVing is a chance to see much of our great country at a very reasonable price. We have thoroughly enjoyed all 75,000 miles of our travels with our travel trailers. # # # # # About this time Evelyn developed rheumatoid arthritis, and a little later, osteoporosis. These conditions made it impossible for us to continue -30- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/78547a0b2510ffeab44d882f66e6cd1b.jpg 6dc482609a5136155ad58b773facdf90 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (34) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 31 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover our travels comfortably. Later circulation problems arose, leading to the amputation of the big toe on her left foot. Circulation continued to worsen until she required by -pass surgery on the blood vessels of her leg. This was effective for about a year, then that failed and she had her left leg amputated above the knee. This condition meant that she was wheelchair bound. Through all of this she maintained a very positive attitude , and had a smile for everyone. We attended Leslie's wedding in November, and in many ways tried to lead a happy life, although it was very difficult. In August 1998, the blood vessels in the other leg became blocked, requiring another by-pass operation. By now it had become too difficult for me to adequately take care of her by myself. She needed more medical care than I could provide. So, in September 1998, she entered Morning View Care Center in Sunbury. I was very pleased with the care she received there. It is not a fancy facility, but it is very clean, the food is good, and the nurses and staff gave her excellent care. Yes, I would say they gave her very loving care. I visited her twice a day, every day. It was very painful, seeing her lying there, her condition constantly deteriorating. We knew she would not live long, but when the end came March 5, 1999, it was terribly heartbreaking for me. I loved her very much.This was the second time I had to go through this experience. Evelyn is buried in Sunbury Memorial Cemetery, on a five-grave plot, with my father, mother and Helen. There is just one grave left, - for me, between Helen and Evelyn, this suits me perfectly as I shared my life with two wonderful women * * * * * * http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/ad847f03849add9f3baebbff41dc8bfc.jpg 27fe5605f8be69955f9f86e739a769bb Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (35) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 32 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover Epilogue II In has been ten years since I wrote Epilogue I. They have been ten years of many joys and much sadness. After Evelyn's death in 1999, I was once again alone. I was still active, with golf and work around the house and yard, but it was a lonely life. Marion [Rudy] and Virginia Owen had lived across the street from me since 1948, having built their house in 1947. We had been friends all this time, but not real close friends. One morning. February 27, 2000, Virginia came over and said something was wrong with Rudy. And would I come over. At first glance I knew it was something serious so I called 911. The squad came and worked on him for a short time, then took him to St. Ann's hospital where he was pronounced dead from a heart attack. I knew what Virginia was going through so I did what I could to help her. That spring I mowed her lawn and did other chores to help her out. Virginia was diagnosed with breast cancer, and had a lumpectomy performed. After this, she was directed to have radiation for seven weeks, five days a week. I went with her to St. Ann's most every day. Naturally, we got to know each other better, and became close friends. After that we were together more and more, even eating most of our meals together. We fell in love, and that fall we decided to get married. We felt at our age we should enjoy what happiness time would allow us. We visited Pastor Brian Smith and asked him if he had ever married two eighty-year olds. He said that his last Church he had married an eighty-four year old man and sixty-some year old lady. So, on April 7, 2001, we were united in marriage in the Sunbury United Methodist Church. We at first had planned to have just our immediate families present, but so many people told us that they would like to attend that we made it an open wedding. At least one hundred people attended the wedding ceremony and the following reception. In February before the wedding I had the kitchen completely remodeled. We planned it and picked everything out together. I felt this would give Virginia more of a feeling that this was her kitchen and her home. Virginia and I both liked to travel, So , we visited Brenda and Curt in Virginia twice, visited Charlotte and husband, Brooks Berkley three times in Phoenix, AZ. We took a tour by bus twice to Branson, MO, and a long trip by plane and bus to the Canadian Rockies. We went with Brenda and Curt to South Dakota, and even on a fishing trip with Don and Ruthie and family to Willisville, Ontario. That was not one of her favorites! But, really, we just liked being home by ourselves, enjoying each other's company. -32- http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/57aa4978483443a229026462f5c4f773.jpg f779a0e0e5a612784cfaef3c611d17b2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories (36) Description An account of the resource Corresponds to page 33 of Memories: an Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover In 2008, Virginia began not feeling well,-feeling weak and not having much energy. She was examined by four different doctors, but none could find anything really wrong with her. In fact, they marveled how well she seemed to be for her age. Finally, after one blood test, it was determined that she had high enzymes, whatever that means. She then had an ultrasound of her liver, and finally, a catscan. That showed she had cancer of the liver. She went to Dr. Segal, a cancer specialist, and he confirmed the diagnosis. She, the doctor and I all agreed that she should not have chemo or radiation at her age. I asked Dr. Segal what the prognosis was and he said weeks, or maybe months. This was the first week of January, 2009. Her condition continued to deteriate and finally in the middle of February, I felt I could no longer give her proper care. So, she entered Country View nursing home in Condit. I visited her every day for fifty-six days. Finally, on April 6, 2009, one day before our eighth wedding anniversary, she passed away, with her entire family at her bedside. Her funeral was held at the Sunbury United Methodist Church and she was buried beside Rudy, her first husband, in the Sunbury Cemetery. Again, I was left alone, but this time at the age of ninety. I lived alone all summer, eating meals from Meal on Wheels, all by myself. Finally, in the fall I decided to move to a retirement and assisted living facility. It was a very hard decision to make, to leave the house I had lived in for sixty-one years, where I had raised my two children and shared with three wonderful wives. On the fifteenth of October I moved to Feridean Commons, a very nice facility, just north of Westerville. One of the main reasons for choosing this was the location, only eight miles from Sunbury and two miles from son Don's house. I have adjusted fairly well, but will never be completely happy without "Ginnie". I am thankful to have ninety years allotted to me so far, and to have had a strong body and a keen mind. I have had many joyful experiences, but also many sorrows. I do not know what the future may bring but whatever it is, I hope I am up to it. -33- Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Family Histories Description An account of the resource This collection contains family histories that have been written by residents of the Big Walnut area. Items in this collection generally contain genealogical information about the families, personal anecdotes, and images of family members. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memories: An Autobiography by Robert L. Hoover Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hoover, Robert L. Description An account of the resource The autobiography of Robert L. Hoover contains a forward, a table of contents, and two epilogues. Mr. Hoover includes memories of the places he lived, the schools he attended, the sports that he played, his pets, love of nature, his work history, the clubs he joined his family and personal life. The first epilogue was written and added to the book in September 1999, and the second epilogue in January 2010. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Dec 1983 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Paper Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 31131558 Subject The topic of the resource Autobiographies--Ohio--Delaware County--Sunbury Local history--Ohio--Delaware County--Harlem Township Personal narratives--Robert L. Hoover (1919-2015) http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/be335d50dc2b3425063729534f8f493d.pdf 9e013c80efb2f30ed26ab3d146fefd1b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Newspapers Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Sunbury News, 2014-01-23 Description An account of the resource BW Comp Cheer wins Cheer For A Cure Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Sunbury News Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014-01-23 http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/c668be5975c36442c633606cee02808a.pdf 69c54753117fcdd464a099c8dc6184b1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Newspapers Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Sunbury News, 2014-01-30 Description An account of the resource BW fee-based all-day Kindergarten a go; will begin with the 2014-2015 school year Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Sunbury News Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014-01-30 http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/f779f36138c7d7ce855a33de1a6b1ae7.pdf 3d4734845773960b614bb5d36c679eb9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Newspapers Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Sunbury News, 2014-02-06 Description An account of the resource Mazzi; This winter's weather has been unique when it comes to keeping schools open Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Sunbury News Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014-02-06 http://delawarecountymemory.org/files/original/81e13242dafb1298e2a03b335253a8a8.pdf 3ee302937e0e0bda3008d82d6a30f383 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Newspapers Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Sunbury News, 2014-02-13 Description An account of the resource Council says to Rumpke Rate increase, no contract; Rumpke buckles says one more year, no increase Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Sunbury News Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014-02-13