Winton Old Timers, the Day Before

Some of the committee members met at the Winton Middle School today to set up for the Winton Old Timers reunion tomorrow. (Sunday, Sept. 27).
Pictured is Agnes S. mixing up her Easy Bake Beans. She promised to share the recipe with us for the Winton Centennial Cookbook.
The troops were there to set up 37 round tables for tomorrow. We are preparing for nearly 300 people. We never know how many or who will show up, but there are always people from out of state, as well as other towns in California.
My cousin, Norm is going to take pictures for us this year. I'm so happy for that, he takes really good pictures.
If you are a Winton Old Timer, come out and see some old friends. More info at a previous post.

Reminder

This picture was taken at the 2007 Winton Old Timers Reunion.
Don't forget, this Sunday, September 27, is the 49th annual Winton Old Timers Reunion. Be sure to attend and visit with old friends.
Come early. Registration starts at 10:00 a.m. Winton Middle School on Cypress Avenue, between Almond and Gertrude Avenues.
Lunch is $7.00, pay at the door. Lunch is served at 1:00 p.m.
Don't forget to bring your recipes for the Winton Centennial Cookbook.
See you there!!

A Day in Jamestown

My sisters and I had a lovely time in Jamestown today.
We had a special reason for going.
Our brother, John had a handgun, a Colt 45 and a special holster that meant a lot to him.
He purchased them in Hollywood in the early 1960s.
The holster was made especially for John.
He drove all the way to Hollywood to pick it up when it was finished;
my Dad and youngest sister went with him.
From that time on, this gun and holster was John's greatest treasure.
He took it with him to the mountains on vacation with his friends and just about everywhere else.
When John died last year, we weren't sure what to do with this special gun.
No one in the family was so fond of guns like he was.
My sister and brother-in-law had it appraised in Jamestown.
Found out the gun and holster together was worth $1,000.
So it was left there to sell on consignment.
It sold recently for $1,200. to someone from Ohio.
This person was in Jamestown to attend a "Western Shoot-Out."
After the show, this man went into the B-Bar-Y Traders store.
They have a wide assortment of guns, gun supplies and Old West clothing.
When he spotted John's special gun and holster, he had to have it.
So now John's gun is in Ohio and will be used in gun shows.
I think John would be pleased to know that his treasured gun is very special to the new owner.
We sisters had lunch in town and browsed the antique shops.
I found this silhouette at the "Time Travelers" antique store.
I always have an eye out for silhouettes, but really didn't expect to find any. Surprisingly, there were several to choose from.
I chose this one because it is so different from the others that I have.
It was a very enjoyable day.

"Grandma" file

Yesterday my exciting mail was the cookbook kit from the publisher.
Today my exciting mail is the "Grandma 6" file of 1,107,275 individuals of Mennonite ancestry from the California Mennonite Historical Society in Fresno.
People on the database are those who can trace their ancestors back to the Mennonite churches in Russia or Prussia.
They have one of my lines going back to the 1500s in Holland.
Very interesting to browse through and see who is related to whom.
If you have a Mennonite background, you may want to check it out. You can build your family tree in no time at all. They get their information from church records, census records, obituaries, information from genealogists and other sources. They are very careful and are checking and rechecking information all the time.
Click on this link to their website.
The above picture is the monument to Menno Simons in Witmarsum in the Friesland area of the Netherlands. Menno Simons was born in Witmarsum in January of 1496 and was a Catholic priest there in his early years. He later questioned their teachings and and was one of the early Anabaptists. His followers became known as Mennonites.
To learn more about Menno Simons, go to Wikipedia.

Cookbook Kit

This is not about flowers, but I had to include a picture. This is Pink Cloud Gaura from the raised flower bed.

EXCITING NEWS:
Today I received the cookbook kit from Morris Press.
There are so MANY options to choose from.
It will take a while to get it clear in my head before our first cookbook committee meeting.
I know it's hard to get everyone together for a lot of meetings, so the easier I can make it on the committee, the better.
I'll be pouring over the Cookbook Publishing Guide and then type up a page or two with options and prices for our consideration.
They sent 3 sample cookbooks and of course I like the one with all the bells and whistles.
I'm eager to know what the committee will think of the different options.

We can even have a contributor index as well as the recipe index.
Now I'm thinking I may have submitted too many recipes. (grin)
Decisions, decisions.

From the recipes we have so far, I know this is going to be the best recipe book ever!! I just hope no one later says they didn't know about it or they would have submitted some recipes. That happened with our last book, so be sure to tell your friends and relatives to send in their favorites. Or drop them off at the Winton Old Timers reunion on Sunday, Sept. 27.

Probably some people felt they sent in their favorites for the last recipe book. There are a lot of good recipes there also, but how could we justify having repeats?
I don't know how people would feel about that, one way or the other. We'll have a good sized book without repeats.

Too bad our "Hometown Recipes" is out of print. It is a cute book with 9 vintage pictures of Winton.
But, I am sure the committee will do a bang-up job with the new book. It's bound to be a treasured souvenir of the Winton Centennial.

Besides the recipe book, I need to get busy on the next newsletter. It has to be printed before September 30. But, we want to include reports / stories from the Old Timers. It feels like hurry up and wait. Or wait and hurry up.
It's making me nervous. I hope it all gets done in time.