As both of you know who follow this blog. . .

. .  I am always trying to do research on my family history, with a particular interest in my families experience in WW2.

In the past I have shown here stuff I have found out about my dad and a couple of uncle's.

My dad served in the RAF during the war, and what I know so far can be found here.

One of his first stops during his time in service was at the 
 Brighton Hydro, South Shore in Blackpool.
I take it that it was a hotel of some kind.
I have found nothing about his stay there, or where they may have sent him next in Blackpool, but I did find this interesting write up from a C. Morgan about his time there and though it may have been similar to my dads. His book  can be found here.

Enjoy.

"We arrived at Blackpool and were met by RAF police who took us to an RAF unit office by lorry. We were kitted out with uniforms and other equipment including a 'Housewife' each and ten shillings pay. We were next taken to `Brighton Hydro' to receive instructions about billeting. I was taken to Crystal Road, South Shore and billeted with a Mrs MacMartin, who had two daughters, one was twenty and the other eighteen years of age. They were not interested in us `Erks', they were going out with Polish Airforce Officers. The following day we were taken to the Tower ballroom where we received our first RAF pay of ten shillings. The next day we were walked to a church hall for inoculations. I was advised not to look at the needle going into my arm, so after seeing a brawny lad in front of me who had been staring at the needle, faint right away, I looked at pictures on the wall and did alright. . . . . . ."

New post on the Log Blog page. . .

Ed Beyl

Update on summer activities - Little League night at the ball park.

 Some where in this mass of humanity may be my daughter. . .

There they are on the Jumbo-thingy.
















Wait! There she is under that umbrella.

We even had a rainbow over right field.

Another sad loss in the world of historians. . . .

Hugh Ambrose

Remember when these old book covers steered us into imaginary adventures. . . .

 . . . and then we would go out and try to create adventures of our own?

Yea, me neither. I came along after these books started going out of fashion and television was already taking over our imagination.

But thankfully through my love of Scouting and history I discovered these old books.

Being a big fan of old illustrations these covers and content are just wonderful images.
The colors used and the dramatic tension they captured really invites one into the stories.

Produced in the thousands in the early parts of the last century they are still pretty easy to come by and fairly inexpensive.

I have even started getting girl adventure books for my daughter.

It's time to start a new list. . .

33 Beers to try before you Die.

Milestones and sunsets. . .

 Milestone - Touching a dead frog.

Sunset at her late ball game.

If you are interested. . .

is now available for pre-order at Amazon.

One of my pictures is suppose to be in it.

Keepin' the summer rockin'

Tuesday night swim team try-outs and practice.
And she had just come from two hours of dance practice!

 Practicing into the night.

 Wednesday first strawberry.

 Then off to Grant's Farm.

Grant's, well, farm. . . .
The old log cabin that U.S. Grant lived in.

 '. . .  where the buffalo roam . . .'

 Feeding the goats was fun. . .

 . . . feeding the birds was not.

 Finding the baby camel was fun. . . .

. . . but she was a little nervous about the big guy.

 Back to the little one and sharing her food.

Actually of the two, the horse was in a better frame of mind than the attendent.

 Lunch.

 Grandma with lunch and free beer.






(I drink the beer.)

 Happy campers.

 Feeling enpowered!

 Oh, yea, this is where they have the horses.

 Saturday soccer team pool party.

 Sunday pool time. . .

 . . . high flying fun . . .

 . . . and Circus Flora!

 The Flying Wallendas. (We had met Tino a couple of years ago at church.)

A small amount of vindication. . .

Childhood memories aren't always accurate. I think over time we unconsciously remake them a little.
Sometimes our memory of an event is just a tiny fragment of the whole picture that we have at times had to complete to make a whole story.
Things were always bigger or nicer or. . . well at least different then they sometimes turn out to be when we revisit them later in life.

Sometimes we have no way of proving our memories are accurate or not, there are no photos or movies, they are just that, memories.

All my life I have had a fleeting memory of at one time riding an elephant in our then local grocery store parking lot. I don't know if my folks ever took a picture of the event, I have never seen one.
It was a local chain of then only one store. One we went to every week, the same one I eventually ended up working for five years during high school and college. Hedges and Hafer was the name.

Well, this past fall, if you remember, my daughter and I went to a circus and she had a chance to ride an elephant. It was one of those kind of events I am sure would have still happened even if I had not remembered riding one many years ago. But having a shared experience made it all the better.

And I took lots of pictures so she won't have to rely on just memories.





Well, there is this Facebook page I follow in which people share memories of growing up in our then smallish town. And I posted the question; "Does anyone remember riding an elephant in Hedges and Hafers parking lot in the late 50s or early 60s?"
And well, not only did several remember the event, one follower actually had photos of the day.

 This one shows the Facebook follower on the elephant.

This one shows a picture of a trailer pulled by an elephant.
Someone more educated in fashion can probably date the photo from the styles people are wearing.


None of this actually proves I rode the elephant. It just proves at least partially my memory was accurate.
The event did happen, and until I have proof otherwise, I am going to remember that I rode the darn thing.

How old is your beer?

Missouri

Anheuser-BuschSt. Louis (Est. 1852)
Like so many major beer corps, Anheuser-Busch traces its roots back to a soap manufacturer named Eberhard. In this case, we’re talking Eberhard Anheuser, who teamed up with his son-in-law Adolphus Busch to conquer the St. Louis beer market in the mid-1800s. Busch’s kid would steer the company through Prohibition by marketing a non-alcoholic “cereal beverage” called Bevo, and then the next Busch would make it through the Great Depression with the fancy new metal can. They went on to become the biggest brewer in Missouri, and, you know, the world.

See your state here.