Reclaimed Memories
1961 - Lanny
hen I finished typing the summary for 1960 and saw that it took three fully typed pages and I thought of having thirty-five more of the little books to interpret my resolve almost failed. But then I thought, "Well I have the rest of my life
for this project," so decided to undertake the next year's book. The trouble with me is that when I tackle anything I become obsessed with it and other things are neglected. When Troy was reading my pages for editing and came to be last statement
he said a big "AMEN" to my admission. (May 4, 1991)
I note as a carry-over on this book that Troy had a radio broadcast over WTRL on Dec. 25, 1960 and another one over WBRD on Jan. 2, of this year (1961).
The Florida Annual Conference of the E.U.B. Churches met Jan. 17th for a three day session. I was teaching, so did not get to attend during the day. There were only twelve churches of our denomination in the state so all parsonage families were
more or less acquainted. We also knew many of the lay people from the different churches. This contributed to a very enjoyable fellowship.
( Joy was over last night. I told her that I had decided to type my memoirs. I had four pages typed at that time and I showed them to her. She almost sold me on the idea of a computer, which would correct my typing errors so much more easily
than on the typewriter. Boy! Would that be nice! But at almost 84 years could I learn to use one? I am no typist, but I console myself with the knowledge that I never tried to type until I was 45 years old. With my nervous condition I could not
function without that skill now. When Grandson Drew learned that I planned to rent a computer, to see if I could learn to use one, he brought his down and after about a month I thought 1 had it about mastered.)
A Billy Graham Crusade was held in Bradenton in February of ‘61. Troy and I met Billy at a planning and luncheon session and heard him preach at the opening of the crusade. Other members of the staff brought the messages later, when he had to
begin another series. We enjoyed the meetings and felt the churches in the area were helped by it.
Bland and Helen arrived on Feb. 28th. Bland was the speaker for services in our church from March 1st to the 12th. Zoid Hawk stirred the church when he told of the commitment he made when his boat overturned and he thought he was going to drown.
He said he knew he should have been in church and from that time on he was!
I left early again this year for vacation. The two or three days Troy wants to allow for visiting my relatives in Ohio is not enough time for me. This year I went by train to Barberton, a suburb of Akron. I stopped in Martinsburg, West Virginia,
for a visit with Chris and Louise Angelo. I left Bradenton at 10:20 a.m. and got to Martinsburg after dark. The Angelos met me at the station.
The conductor on the train from Martinsburg stared at my ticket but said nothing until after we passed the station in Akron. He came to me then and asked if they did not tell me that the Barberton station was closed when I bought my ticket?
I replied, "No. Nothing was said about that.”
Then he asked, "Is someone going to meet you there?”
I replied, "I have written my sister and she wrote that they would meet me." (If the time had been the 90's instead of the 60's we would have phoned. In those days only an emergency would have warranted a long distance call!)
I was really frightened when he said "Trains have not been stopping there for years, but we will put you off there."
Almost immediately the train stopped and the conductor took my large suitcase from the overhead rack and I followed him out of the train. Outside he took my arm and walked around the end of the building with me. There was no one there for me and
I cannot describe in words the panic I felt!
Old train station, Barberton, Ohio - 1908 (top) & Present day (below)
The station was a rather long, one story building, very dilapidated and almost under a viaduct high overhead. The windows were either boarded up or the glass broken. The only lighting was that shed by the street lights on the viaduct. The
acres surrounding the building were covered with weeds about knee high. It was so dark that I could not tell just where the road was that led up to the street. I know the conductor was uneasy about leaving me off the train there. He advised me to
walk up to street level and get in touch with someone, by phone, from one of the buildings we could see.
As the train pulled out I picked up my heavy suitcase and started on toward what looked to be, the nearest way to the street at the end of the viaduct. My heart was beating like a trip-hammer as I made my way in the darkness! I had gone about a
block when I saw the lights of a car on the old road leading down to the station. I was sure it was Beulah and Buddy, but I was not on the road that they were on. I was so afraid they would not see me in the dark. I started running, as best I
could with my heavy luggage and the suitcase banging against my leg with each step. Beulah told me later that they were on the viaduct and saw the train stop, so they knew I had been put off there. They saw me and drove over to pick me up. My
fervent, 'Thank you, God!" was one of the most grateful prayers I have ever uttered.
When the Clintons got my letter they began to inquire as to the location of the Barberton train station and found it had been abandoned for years, so they just assumed that I would get off in Akron. They took time to drive to the location and
came to the conclusion that I would NEVER be put off there. When I did not get off in Akron they were as frightened as I. They drove as fast as they possibly dared and were close enough to know that the train had stopped there. They had heard
that the old building was used by bums and drug users and knew I might not be safe, as well as frightened out of my wits.
(Going back to Troy's little book)
This was the year that Lanny spent our vacation with us. On June 26th he and Troy left Bradenton at 4:15 a.m. and drove all night. They reached our home at 1:15 a.m. on the 27th. Lanny was only 14 years old, so could not help with the driving and
had been asleep for several hours when they got to the Glen.
They both slept late the next morning, then got the water on and the house aired out. I suppose they had snack food for their breakfast, but our good neighbor, Myrtle Norcross, gave them lunch before they left for Akron.
I want to digress here and write a little about Myrtle. She was a dear lady in her seventies when we located at the Glen. She lived in a small house, log covered, just back of the
post office, which
she kept spick and span. We owned the land between her house and ours and at that time had not sold the two lots on which houses are now located. We neighbored in the same way Hilda Calley and I do here. She would often remark that she would be
so glad when we retired and were back to stay. One year when she was giving us our last meal before we left for Florida and we were saying "Goodby," I said "Myrtle, in two more years we will be back to stay."
She replied, "I am afraid that might be too late for me."
Her prophecy proved to be true. She was in the hospital getting treatments for cancer and died unexpectedly of a heart attack before our retirement.
Troy and Lanny left in the afternoon for Akron and drove to the Smiths where they spent the night. They got into Akron about noon on the 28th.
We left Akron the next day taking Blossom with us and leaving Lanny. It is no wonder that I went early to Akron to visit with my relatives! I would not have had time to see them; much less visit in the short time Troy was there! We all spent that
night with the Smiths, so Helen and I could have our usual annual visit.
The entries in Troy's little book for the next day, the 30th is very confusing. He simply wrote, "To Bland's---To Zylpha's---To Bland's overnight." That would not be logical. We certainly would not go back several miles to Bland's to spend the
night, after just stopping there. Our natural route would have taken us in the opposite direction. I feel sure that we just stayed the night with Bland and Helen and went on the next morning to Zylpha's and Rosalyn's. He probably made the first
two entries when he planned the trip.
We went on to Elkins from Rosalyn's on Saturday, and spent the next two nights with the A. J. McQuains. Sunday morning Troy preached at the church we had served from 1945 to 1952. His subject was, "It Takes All Kinds."
June 1, 1991. (I am still working this morning on putting into the computer the materials I had typed in May. I have decided to include in my 'Memoirs" a thumbnail sketch of the close friends we have had over the years. The same people will be
referred to over and over, for there are several that we made an effort to see almost every year or even more often.)
The A.J. and Hazel McQuain family were the first people we really knew in the United Brethren Church in Elkins. At the time we carne to know the Elkins congregation we were serving the Freemansburg Charge and lived in Pricetown, near Weston, W.
Va. During the seventeen years we served in the West Virginia Conference of the United Brethren Church and later the combined U.B. and Evangelical, Troy was always considered one of the most successful evangelists in the West Virginia Conference.
He enjoyed that type of service and had to turn down many invitations for campaigns in order to not neglect the charge to which he had been assigned.
In 1940 Troy was asked through Rev. Koontz, the pastor, to preach for the Elkins revival beginning January 6th and closing on the 19th. The official of the charge gave permission and during the series he was entertained at the A.J. McQuain home.
I went over for at least one weekend. From that time until the deaths of the older McQuains we were close friends. We went from that charge to the College in Virginia and later to the Florida Conference, but we were always in close touch with
this family. It was A.J. that had enough confidence in us to sign our note when we borrowed money to buy the property in Virginia.
At the time of the revival the McQuain's daughters, Izetta and Mary Margaret, were in high school and they played pranks on Troy that all of us enjoyed reminiscing about during the following years. One day they short-sheeted his bed and stitched
his pajama leg bottoms closed. Another time they put one of their mother's old hats, with very stiff feathers at the foot of his bed. Finally, Troy told them that if they would not play any more tricks on him that he would perform their wedding
ceremonies without pay. Several years later, while Troy was pastor of the church, Mary Margaret held him to this lightly-made promise.
(I am now returning to my typewritten pages done on May 7th. which, of course, did not contain the "digress" section.)
We had left Lanny in Akron and dropped Blossom with one of her siblings in West Virginia and returned alone to Singers Glen on Monday. I'm sure we spent long hours each day on some project at our home there. (Some descendents may read this
document in years to come and wonder why it was necessary for us to spend so much time working on a hundred-year-old house almost every vacation. If I live long enough and keep my sanity, I will write an explanation for that after I finish with
Troy's little books!)
On Thursday (6th) we were inundated with very welcome guests. Ted, Blossom, Sharon and Lanny came in one car and Bland, Helen and their two grandsons, Mike and Steve Nestor, in another. The boys were seven and eight years old and thought it would
be great fun to sleep in our little camp trailer. which was parked at the end of our drive way. It did not prove to be the adventure they had anticipated. The dark and the mosquitoes were just too much for them alone and Grandma Helen ended up in
the trailer with them. They slept, but she didn’t. We were sorry that we did not insist that they sleep in the house on the floor. Bland, Helen and the boys returned to their home in West Union the next day.
After these four had departed the rest of us decided to take a little sight-seeing trip. We went to Fort Valley where tradition claims that General Washington planned to retire with his troops, if they were driven farther west by the British. This is a beautiful valley between high mountains, with a riser running
through it. After we toured the valley we went to Lost River State Park. Lost River is an interesting stream in southeastern West Virginia. It seems to flow into a small lake and from there travels under the mountain, emerging again as a stream farther east. We
were told that it was determined that the two were the same stream by putting shavings in the lake and seeing them surface on the other side of the mountain. The Thrashes returned to Akron on Saturday.
We were anxious that Lanny see as much scenery as possible, so alternated work with trips. On Sunday we drove back east across the eight mountains over beautiful Route 33. Since we had already visited Otterbein Church we stopped for morning
worship at the Wayside church, which is
about two miles east of Elkins.
Shortly after we moved to Elkins Troy felt that the community which later became known as Wayside needed a church. He started having services in the schoolhouse on Sunday afternoons. The first Sunday one man came; the next about ten and it kept
building until around forty were coming. Troy led them in building a nice little one room church. The new church in Elkins and the Wayside Chapel were being constructed at the same time. It has grown over the years; additions have been added to
the building and it is now a thriving country church. (I alluded to this church in writing the "Elkins' segment.)
After the morning service the Kelly's, owners of the Kelly Monument Works in Elkins, treated us to dinner at Phil's restaurant. It is hard to confine myself to a narrative of events and places when I mention people who have been such good friends
in years past! My memory is so stirred that my vision blurs and a lump forms in my throat. For many years we saw the Kellys almost every year for a short visit, along with almost every other person whom I will mention in these memoirs. They are
near their nineties now and Mrs. Kelly is blind.
We took leave of our friends shortly after lunch and took the long way back to the Glen, so Lanny could climb the tower on Bickles knob and clamber over the rocks in Bear Heaven. Then we drove to the
Sinks of Gandy and very late in
the afternoon experienced the very cold and very strong winds on the summit of Spruce Mountain, which is the highest point in West Virginia.
We worked on our remodeling projects most of the following week. The Hahns came in the afternoon on Thursday and I prepared dinner and we visited until rather late that night. The next day the Rexroads and the Hardings arrived after the evening
meal and we had a long visit with them. All these guests were from Waynesboro, Va. On Sunday morning of July 16th we attended Sunday School and worship at the Glen. In the afternoon we took Lanny to the top of Feedstone Mountain. This was quite
an experience for him. The road over the mountain is very narrow, rough and steep, with many sheer drops of hundreds of feet. It would be very dangerous if one missed the "trail" and went over the side.
I believe we took each grandchild who went north with us to the top of this mountain. I remember that some of them often closed their eyes to keep from being afraid. Several years later Troy took Howard and Grace (Chena) on this trip and she said
the experience was worth the entire trip. The mountain laurel was in full
bloom and just covered the top of the ridge. Chena brought me back a large bouquet. It was beautiful and lasted about three weeks. I had never had a bouquet that I enjoyed as much.
We drove to Waynesboro and Troy preached for the evening service at the church we had served for several months before moving to Florida. He used as his subject, "Is Your Faith Up To Date?" Evidently not, for sixteen came forward that night. The
minister who built this church, and for whom it was named Glovier, had had a heart attack. Troy completed the nine month remaining before conference, before transferring to the Florida Conference of the United Brethren Church.
On Monday, July 17th, we spent most of the day finishing odd jobs, packing the car, and preparing the house for almost another year of unoccupancy. We spent the night with our friends, the Hahns, in Waynesboro and got an early start on our way to
Florida the next morning.
We had enjoyed the drive over the Blueridge Parkway
so much the year before that we decided to travel that route again for Lanny's sake. We reached the top of Grandfather Mountain by 3:00 p.m. After a short time there we drove on to Mt. Mitchell, which is the highest point in the United States east of the Mississippi River. Lanny had fun
searching for rocks for his mineral collection.
There is a beautiful inn down about a mile from the summit of Mt. Mitchell and we ate our evening meal there. There was a large log burning in a huge fireplace at one end of the very attractive dining room. Our table was right in front of a plate
glass wall, which gave us a wonderful view down the sheer mountainside for several hundred feet. It was a most enjoyable day for Troy and me and we hope Lanny has happy memories of it.
We stayed that night in Greenville, South Carolina, and arrived in Melbourne about 8:30 the next evening. We spent that night at Howard's and reached Bradenton about 1:30 p.m. on Thursday. Troy went immediately to visit in the hospital and I
stayed home to unpack the car. We had covered 3,885 miles on this, our 1961, vacation trip.
Life seemed to run its usual course the rest of the summer. After the Wednesday evening service on October 4th, Troy left for Akron, Ohio, to preach for a revival series, beginning the next evening and ending on the 15th. It was held in the
Bethel United Brethren Church. I took him to the airport in Tampa and picked him up there when he returned.
He must have had a lot of faith that he would get a good offering. His little book shows that he sent his sister, Lois, $50.00 and had a balance of $30.88 in his checking account while he was in Akron. I guess she must have been in particular
need. We helped her some each month until her second marriage, but usually a smaller amount. His notes also say that he bought me a gift at O'Neils. He always brought me back a gift. I'm sorry I cannot remember what this one was--perhaps a plate
for my collection.
On Monday, after the close of the revival, Blossom took Troy to Buckhannon, West Virginia, where they visited the Hinkles and on to Coalton to see Rosalyn and family. They spent the night with Bland and Helen. The next day Troy, Bland, Helen and
Blossom made a quick trip over the mountains to Singers Glen. I cannot imagine why this extra trip was made, but I can easily believe that it was just because Troy could not bear to be within 150 miles of home without walking through the house.
They drove back to Elkins that afternoon and Troy took the 5:20 plane back to Tampa.
The year ends with the usual events of the holidays with all the family being together at the parsonage for Christmas dinner. In the afternoon we took Howard and the two babies back to Melbourne.
We drove back to Bradenton that night and the temperature-time clock on one of the bank buildings said 12:00 o'clock, with the temperature at 75 degrees. We were still too new to Florida not to marvel at that warmth at midnight on Christmas
night!
On the evening of the 31st we had an all-music service at the church, ending with a watch night service from eleven until we rang in the New Year.
The Brady Trilogy I Reclaimed Memories - (1991) I Pop Troy's Anthology - ( 1992) I Kinfolk - (1994)
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