O.K. HERE GOES,
Jim Beattie arrived on Friday afternoon, 2 July. He and Sheryl arrived at approximately 1900 hrs. Sheryl departed Monday afternoon, she had to go back to work. Jim stayed until Thursday at approximately 2030.
Caroline Halovsky arrived on Sunday morning 4 July at 0730 and remained until 1700 on Monday 11 July.
On Sunday 4 July, I picked Gil "Deacon" Palmer at his sister's home in Bonham, TX and we headed from there to the VHPA Reunion in Dallas. After the festivities and Dinner, Gil and I departed for the farm. Gil remained at the farm until Tuesday evening when he recieved notice of the death of his brother-in-law in Bonham, TX. I drove him to his sister's home in Bonham.
The first to arrive on 5 July was Pete "Beatle" Daly and his wife Marlene. They were only here for about an hour and they departed for their home in Corpus Christi, TX. They did get a chance to talk to BonBon before they departed.
Mike "BonBon" Bonthius arrived while Pete and his wife were here and he visited with us until it was nearly dark.
The next to arrive was Calvin "Bo" Bohannon and his grandson Kaleb. They stayed with us until Tuesday when they departed for home in Baytown, TX. after I had departed to take Gil to Bonham.
Bob Taylor and Babs arrived on the 5 July shortly after "Bo" and Kaleb. Bob and Babs waited for Shoofly to arrive on Wednesday, but they gave up mid-afternoon. The heat and the mosquitos got to Bob and he just couldn't wait any longer for Shoofly.
John "JonJon" Morrison and his wife Donna arrived on 7 July, Wednesday morning. They stayed with us until Saturday afternoon when they departed for home.
Jim "Shoofly" Saufley, and Bud "Pappy" Clark snuck in here sometime on Wednesday night, they said that it was at 2300 but I didn't hear them and I was in my computer room until 0100 on 8 July awaiting their arrival. They passed within 50 feet of my window and I neither saw or heard their arrival. Shoo and Pappy remained with us until about 1000 on Sunday morning, then they departed for home.
Jim's son and grandson, Tony and Skyler respectively, arrived on Friday afternoon, and remained with us until their departure on Sunday morning. Skyler went back to Omaha with Grampa and Pappy.
The turn-out was rather slim, and it would have been a lot better if we had more participants, but those of us that were here had fun and ate well due to the efforts of Caroline and Bob Taylor. Caroline made almost all of the fixings throughout the entire reunion. She made salads, hamburgers and all of the side dishes that we shared throughout the reunion. Bob cooked his famous "Swamp Chicken" on Tuesday night, there was plenty for all and there was enough left that it was warmed it up for two days after the cooking so that all could enjoy it. Bo cooked a "turtle" (meat and vegetables in aluminum foil) which he shared and he joined us for "Swamp Chicken". Bob cooked the "Swamp Chicken" in his "Western Cooking Kitchen", one of two Dutch Ovens that he brought. I got the last half cup of the "Swamp Chicken" on Thursday night when we re-warmed the last of it for Shoofly and Pappy. They were being polite, I wasn't going to let it go to waste. On Wednesday morning Bob fixed breakfast in his small dutch oven that is best described in a posting earlier on this site. Outside of that we cooked hamburgers, hot dogs and steaks.
Several of us discussed the website and the postings on it. Several found us through the site and all said how much fun we have posting on the site. Mark, we missed you this year, this year we had "BonBon", "Deacon", "Pappy" and I, all of us remembered Marty.
On Tuesday night Caroline and I called Tom Palmer, at about 2330, to bring him up on the reunion and to chat for a while. He sounded good, but the reunion would have been better if he were here with us. Next year Pappasan!
The tub was in operation from Monday afternoon, until the end of the party. Several took advantage of its cooling effects, but it just wasn't the same without Mary Beth. I bet her ears were burning, there were several discussions about how much we missed our little sister, her joking around with all who showed, and her antics.
Kaleb and Skyler were the fishermen in the bunch, they were supported in their activities by Caroline, "Bo", "Deacon", "Shoofly" and Tony. Kaleb caught an eating sized catfish and a couple of bass. Skyler caught several small catfish which they returned to the pond to allow them to grow.
The days were lazy and the discussions ranged from "what have you been doing for the last 30 or so years", to tall tales, war stories, jokes, and discussing the joys, and the trials and tribulations of our lives since our little vacations in Southeast Asia.
Yes, Tom Frankenfield, the area was mowed before everyone arrived, but due to the fact that we have had so much rain it had grown back up to nearly 8 inches before Shoofly and his party departed. Luckily, we only had about 15 minutes of rain on Saturday morning and the area where everyone stayed was dry, we suffered few problems with moisture, and dust was not a problem. I did get the gravel down in time for all to get in and out of the reunion without having any problems. The road was rough and I did have to go move some gravel with the tractor to level the road down to a rough but passable state.
On Friday night Shoofly and I called "Gomer", he sounded really good especially after having surgery. We both wished that he could have been here with us. Gomer was in the thoughts of all of the people who were at the reunion. Our prayers were with him, we were all wishing him good health and a speedy recovery.
I had fun during the reunion, and I enjoyed all of the conversations, cooking, and comradery. I sure hope that everyone had as much fun as I did. It sure was good to see all of the people who showed up.
Huey