Connection

Hello Dear Reader,
Ten o'clock at night is late but I was afraid if I didn't call or make contact with someone all of our travel would be in vain. I first called Wally Curl but he didn't answer. I then called Marieta Grissom. Success! She answered the phone. When I explained who I was and that we had just arrived she said that if we would stay in the breakfast room she would get hold of the others and meet us there shortly.

I sat in the breakfast area while Anne took the luggage to our room. In a few minutes Marieta appeared and introduced herself. She's a lovely, happy woman with a great smile and beautiful skin. Then Wally came. He's a tall, handsome, kind, and dignified man--my first e-mail contact with the McNeill family. Cousins Connie and Judy also came. We sat, talked, and laughed for an hour. I felt a definite connection to these good people.
Love,
Aunt Genni

Arrival

Hello Dear Reader,
Before Anne and I left Utah I hurriedly pulled a file folder of information on the McNeills and printed out e-mails concerning the McNeill reunion. We didn't have a lot to go on but knew that the attendees were staying in the Comfort Inn in Fort Madison. We arrived there at 10:00 pm Friday night.

The inn had a vacancy so we checked in. I asked if there was a Wallace Curl and/or a Marieta Grissom staying there. Happily they were both still there. Now I had to decide what I should do.
Love,
Aunt Genni

More Reunions

Hello Dear Reader,
On Thursday, the day after Grandma (Mary) Carter's funeral, Anne and I left at noon to drive to Florida. Knowing there was to be a reunion of the McNeill (half-siblings and cousins of Mark G. Fifield) descendants in Iowa the previous day through Friday, we opted for the northern route hoping to arrive in time for some activities. We ate supper in Cheyenne, Wyoming and drove on until 10:30 when we stopped in Nebraska the first night.

We continued our trip on Friday. When we realized we wouldn't be in Fort Madison in time for the last scheduled activity we left the freeway and drove south before continuing east. We went through beautiful Iowa country and through Oskaloosa, Mahaska County. We traveled across other counties the Ballingers and Fifields lived in.

We felt Grandma would have been pleased to know the efforts we were making to reunite with distant places and people.
Love,
Aunt Genni

Grandma Carter's Funeral

Hello Dear Reader,
Grandma (Mary) Carter's viewing and funeral were nice. She had lots of people who loved her and many flew in or drove from all over the country to be there. Some came from New Jersey, some from Texas, and others from Alabama, Georgia, Arizona, Florida, Oregon, Colorado, and all over Utah. Many fitting tributes were paid to her.

Her love seemed to spill over to family members as we were reunited, renewed acquaintances, and loved each other. We parted with good feelings and fond remembrances. Grandma left us a wonderful legacy.
Love,
Aunt Genni

In Memoriam

Hello Dear Reader,
This post is to honor the memory of Mary H. Carter. She died this morning at 3:10 am mountain daylight time. She lived a good life and loved her family very much. We will miss her greatly until we are united again.
Love,
Aunt Genni

Big or Diminutive?

Hello Dear Reader,
Grandpa (Wes) Carter continued in sports his junior year of high school. Twice in his personal history he mentions that because he was held back he was bigger and older which helped him achieve in athletics in high school. I wonder if he was trying to be positive about a bad experience.

In one newspaper clipping in his high school scrapbook it says, “Paced by the diminutive Carter at forward, Provo High basketball team turned back a scrappy crew from Bingham 28 to 20 here Friday. Carter, converting seven points from the foul line, collected 13 points.” He may have been bigger than he was two years earlier but he was far from the biggest man on the team. In some team pictures he looks as though he was the smallest.
Love,
Aunt Genni

Summer Work

Hello Dear Reader,
In the summer (I think before Wes’s junior year in high school) he got a job at Pacific States Cast Iron and Pipe Company as a molder. The job paid about $50 a week. If you want to calculate what that translates to in today's dollars, click on The Inflation Calculator (to the right on this page) enter $50, then 1936, then 2009. Grandpa made a lot of money that summer! He said he was able to get a job with the company because they wanted him to play ball for them. He was on their softball team.

As I searched microfilm I came across many articles in the Evening Herald and Sunday Herald about “Provo Pipe’s softball team.” They did very well. All of this is to let you know what a competitor Grandpa (Wes) Carter was.
Love,
Aunt Genni

Scarlet Fever

Hello Dear Reader,
I don’t know how many sophomore games were played in the 1935-36 season. There were only 3 reported in the Herald. The last one reported was March 6, 1936. The article said, “Provo Second Team Overwhelms Lehi. Grandpa (Wes) didn’t score at all that game.

The varsity team saw a lot of success that season. They were at a disadvantage sometimes as one forward came down with scarlet fever and was out of play for several weeks. Towards the end of the season another forward came down with scarlet fever. The team, however, lost only one game during regular play—to American Fork. Provo beat American Fork on March 8 to tie for first place in the Alpine district. In the final game American fork beat Provo 29-25 and went on to state. They didn’t win state but Grandpa had a lot of pride in the Provo High team his sophomore year. He was happy to be associated with them.
Love,
Aunt Genni

Great Coach

Hello Dear Reader,
It’s been interesting to read about the success of the Provo High basketball team in 1935-36. Coach Simmons not only coached football he also coached basketball and track. No wonder Grandpa (Wes) Carter had a high opinion of him. On December 19, the Evening Herald reported, “In the sophomore game, the Provo five downed the Nephi ‘dings’ 59-19. No opposing sophomore team has yet been able to score 20 points over the Provoans.”
Love,
Aunt Genni

More Basketball

Hello Dear Reader,
There’s an article in the December 8, 1935 Sunday Herald which is headlined “Bulldogs Win Third Pre-Season Hoop Game.” At the end of the article it says, “In the sophomore game the Provo team won 36 – 24 with Wes Carter leading the scoring parade.” Grandpa (Wes) made 16 of the 36 points in that game.
Love,
Aunt Genni

Basketball

Hello Dear Reader,
By November 8, 1935 the Herald was featuring basketball instead of football. Grandpa (Wes) Carter was mentioned as chief among the sophomore players. Another sophomore player from Dixon Junior High was Gordon Mitchell who was in our ward. Both were considered very good players.

In Wes’s history he said he played varsity football and basketball for Provo High his sophomore year. I previously mentioned that he played some football for the varsity team but I have not been able to find proof that he actually played basketball on anything other than the sophomore team. That’s not to say that he wasn’t a substitute in some of the regular games. He was a great basketball player.
Love,
Aunt Genni

More Football

Hello Dear Reader,
Yesterday I implied that the Daily Herald carried the stories of Provo High’s athletic competitions. I misspoke. In the 1930s that newspaper was called the Evening Herald. On November 3, 1935 a Herald article told of Provo High playing Payson High in football. Grandpa (Wes) Carter played in that game even though he was a sophomore. His team won. The Provo High Bulldogs didn’t have a lot of success in football that year but when they did, Wes seemed to be involved.
Love,
Aunt Genni

Football

Hello Dear Reader,
When Grandpa (Wesley) Carter began high school in the fall of 1935 he made the football team. The coach was Glen Simmons who I had as an algebra teacher many years later. Anyway, Coach Simmons put together what looked like a good football team. Unfortunately, although they tied their first game, they couldn't seem to win.

On Wednesday October 23, there was an article in The Daily Herald saying the team was going to Ely, Nevada to play on Friday. Three of the major players, along with some others, decided not to go. They were going deer hunting instead. That left twenty-one members of the team to play White Pines high school. This article was the first to mention Wes—probably his first trip out of state. The team won 19-6. The writer said they finally came into their own and played great football for the first time that year. Interesting.
Love,
Aunt Genni

Adages

Hello Dear Reader,
Grandpa (Wesley) Carter taught many lessons using old adages. Some of these he repeated many times until the lesson actually stuck. I'm sure he learned them from his parents (Ed and Annie Carter) and his grandparents. I imagine when he was growing up and during his high school years he heard them many times--so he passed them on to his children. Here are a few that I remember:

“Many hands make light work.”
“Beggars can’t be choosers.”
“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
“Laughter is the best medicine.”
“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
“All’s well that ends well.”
“If something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.”
Love,
Aunt Genni

Whistler

Hello Dear Reader,
Musical talent seems to have skipped our family although we have many musical relatives and ancestors. One time, when Grandpa (Wes) Carter was singing a hymn in church with the congregation, the man whom he shared the hymn book with moved Wes’s thumb. Wes asked, “Why did you do that?” The man replied, “So I could see the note.” Grandpa was amazed. He had no idea that people read notes and sang them.

He was talented in a way, though, that I will always remember. He was a great whistler. He could whistle any tune—and it sounded beautiful. If he were to enter a whistling competition today I’m sure he would do very well. I have heard a few gifted whistlers in my life and Wes Carter rates right up there among the best of them.
Love,
Aunt Genni

Grandpa Carter Begins High School

Hello Dear Reader,
Today I’m going back to Grandpa (Wesley) Carter’s history. He had an illustrious athletic career in High School. Remember, there were no middle schools in Utah then. Junior High went from seventh grade through ninth grade. So Wes began high school as a sophomore in the tenth grade. He played varsity football and basketball for Provo High School right from the start.

I’ve been searching microfilm for articles in The Daily Herald about the football and basketball games that he participated in. It has been interesting to see how he fared. I hoped to find photographs that I could include but so far have come up with little. I’ll keep looking and see what I can come up with.
Love,
Aunt Genni

The Greatest

Hello Dear Reader,
When Grandma (Mary Hall) Carter was fourteen she graduated from Primary in Lake Shore. That was the age of Primary graduation back then. She also graduated from Junior High. Her graduation dress was her first long dress. It was a yellow ruffly one with a detachable yellow ruffled cape. Her cousin, Lila Francis, had one just like it in blue. Grandma (Caroline) Hall probably made the dresses for the girls. She often made Mary and Lila dresses alike. Mary said, “We thought we were the greatest!”
Love,
Aunt Genni

Curly Teeth

Hello Dear Reader,
After eighth grade Grandma (Mary) Carter continued Junior High School in Spanish Fork. The kids from Lake Shore rode the bus. Mary had black hair and considered it her only beauty. She took pride in making every curl just perfect whether the bus was coming or not. She often ran for the bus and ran pretty fast if the ground was frozen.

She recalled one embarrassing moment in ninth grade when a boy looked at her, pointed, and said, “Oh look, that girl’s got curly teeth!” She said she could have died. Braces were rare when she was a girl “So,” she said, “I have had crooked teeth all of my life.”
Love,
Aunt Genni

Canary Legs

Hello Dear Reader,
Grandma (Mary) Carter attended school through the eighth grade in Lake Shore. In seventh grade she was "little and skinny,” to use her words. One time the girls in her class went outside to have “gym” (physical education). They were in their gym shorts. Some of the boys spotted her legs. Much to her dismay from then on they called her “canary legs.” But she said, “As I got older my freckles weren’t quite so prominent and sort of faded; and I did become, not too bad looking.”
Love,
Aunt Genni

Hunters: A Bunch of Turkeys

Hello Dear Reader,
Grandma (Caroline) Hall tried her hand at raising turkeys. The family called them “her little project.” They had to watch the hatchlings very closely to make sure they didn’t suffocate or smother. The birds needed to be kept warm, so the family kept fires burning until the birds were established.

There were lots of pheasants in Lake Shore and they often got into the turkey feed. During pheasant hunting season hunters came down through the fields and shot at the turkeys and nearly everything else that moved. The family had an awful time trying to keep hunters away from their poultry.
Love,
Aunt Genni

Teaching Responsibility and Devotion

Hello Dear Reader,
The Hall family lived two and a half miles from “Center” in Lake Shore. “Center” was where the store, the four-room grade school, and the church were located. The church was an old red brick structure with a stage up front for programs and plays. The chairs were movable so the hall could be used for dances. The family spent a lot of time at church as Grandma (Caroline) served one time as Primary President and another time as Relief Society President.

Sometimes the lane and local roads were impassable because of snow or mud. When the roads were closed Caroline left early and walked the two and a half miles arriving at church in time to open the building for meetings. This was a wonderful lesson in responsibility and devotion to church callings for her children.
Love,
Aunt Genni