Winton Historical Society's Newsletter

This picture of the Winton Community Hall was taken August 18, 1957 by someone from the Merced Sun-Star. This picture and the article from the Merced Sun-Star and memories from my sisters are in the November / December "Winton Hometown News;" the newsletter of the Winton Historical Society. On the cover of our newsletter is a picture of the Old Winton Community Hall as it looked a couple of years before it burned down.
Many fond memories remain about the old hall, as it was used for so many functions for the local people. Even my Dirks family had a reunion there in the 1950s. Some relatives came from Kansas. A quartet consisting of Kermit Dirks, Herb Heppner, Melvin Yost and probably Paul Koehn sang some hymns for our enjoyment.
The hall was used a lot by the Winton School for the Christmas Pageant, graduations and many other occasions.
Five members from the historical society met at the C.L.E.O. office this morning to get the newsletters ready to mail. Some members who have not paid their dues for 2011-12 were not sent a newsletter. Membership to the Winton Historical Society is due on October 1 of each year. We set it up on that date to make it convenient for out-of-town members to pay at the Winton Old Timers reunion the last Sunday in September.
Other historical articles are included in this newsletter. The newsletter, printed every other month, consists of 5 pages, double sided, includes a few pictures, memories of Winton, articles and stories. Dues are $10.00 per year for the 6 issues of the newsletter. Local people are encouraged to attend our meetings on the first Tuesday of each month in the C.L.E.O. office in Winton.
If you are interested in joining the Winton Historical Society, send a check payable to WHS, PO Box 554, Winton, CA 95388. New members will be sent the newsletters they have missed, beginning with the September / October 2011 issue.
If you have any questions, email WintonCA@aol.com Thank you.

Mariposa November 28

Jack drove his brother and Carole and I to Mariposa today. It's been kind of foggy here so we didn't leave until 11 a.m. Jack had a load of almond firewood for Jerry, so we decided to have a picnic lunch and talk about the "good old days" growing up on Fruitland Avenue. In the first picture is Jerry in the backyard. The yellow grape leaves were very pretty.
In the next picture is Jack and Donna. Donna is Jim Hawksworth's widow. Alice Hawksworth (Jerry's mother) died last month; she was 96 years old. So now Jerry lives by himself. Donna lives about 10 miles away.
In the above picture is Donna and Carole. The mountain scenery is beautiful. Carole told Jerry that he had a nice place. Jerry said, "oh, I don't know; I'm just a dog in the pasture."

This last picture shows Jerry and Bob, Jack's brother.
Jerry and Carole were in the same class in grammar school. He has a great memory. He reminded Carole of the nickname she had in school that she completely forgot about.
It wasn't foggy in Mariposa; that is smoke you see from the fire pit. It was a nice day. It started to get a little chilly about the time we left for home, about 3:30.
It was fun. Carole and I enjoyed it.

Thanksgiving 2011

My sister and I were invited to her granddaughter's for Thanksgiving dinner. Pictured is her granddaughter Stephanie, Richy and husband, J.R. The food was delicious.
They had 5 or 6 turkeys!! Good grief, that was a lot. The turkeys had different flavors. I chose the one with the Jalapenos. Little Richy said the prayer before we ate. He's a good little kid. Very polite.
Some of the turkeys were cooked in the garage in the deep fryer. Other family and friends were there. How many? 15 to 20 is a good guess. Everyone enjoyed the good food and had a good time.
Thanks Steph and J.R. It was a very good day.
I have so much to be thankful for. I think about this every day and know I am lucky to be living where I am with people my age around me. A yard big enough to enjoy, but not over-whelming. A devoted cat who loves me. lol.
Of course I am thankful for my family. I'm thankful that I'm able to talk once a week to my daughter who lives so far away. I'm thankful for the Atwater Methodist Church that I enjoy attending. The people are nice and friendly; the minister has wonderful messages for us each Sunday morning.
I'm thankful for the Afghan Claudia crocheted for me about 15 years ago that I still use every day. Nice for napping in the recliner.
In a few minutes I'll be thankful for my nice warm bed.
Goodnight all.

November Mandarins

My little Satsuma Mandarin tree has 13 mandarins on it. I ate one the other day, but it wasn't quite sweet enough yet. They are really sweet when fully ripe.
The dwarf Washington Navel has a few oranges on it again this year, but they won't be ripe for quite a long time. I'm just happy to have fruit so soon. They were just planted last year. I'm glad I had the orange trees removed that were not varieties that I like and replaced them. It's worth the short wait for something you like.
You can see in the picture that I seriously need to work in the front yard.
The other day I was very surprised to find a petite "Black Knight" Butterfly Bush at Lowe's. I didn't know the Black Knight was available in a smaller shrub. Six feet by 6 feet is supposed to be the maximum size. I'm going to plant it between the two Mandarins. The Pixie Mandarin that I just planted recently doesn't have any fruit on it this year.
I had some volunteer Zinnias come up by the duplicate Iris plants this summer. I hope they come up again in the spring. I like the bright colors. The other Zinnias were through and had to be pulled up. I enjoy my yard. I've made just a little too much work for myself and there is lots of work to be done. But that's o.k. Gives me something to think about.
Now if I could just get people to send in their memories of Winton for the historical society's newsletter, everything would be great!!

11-11-11

I have an Iris blooming now. "Autumn Circus." True to its name, it blooms in the fall as well as in April and May. It was just divided in July and replanted so I didn't expect it to bloom so soon.
Today is a special day. 11-11-11. My sister was expecting a new grandbaby today, but I don't think it happened yet. Too bad. Today is 100 years since the baby's great-grandfather was born. The first baby born in Winton on 11-11-1911.
Today I had an appointment with my eye doctor. Last year he wanted to remove the cataract in my eye. But I was scheduled for knee replacement surgery later that month, so he said to call him when I was ready to have it done. I never got around to making the appointment even though it's been getting hard to read the newspaper. I keep the magnifying glass handy. So, today I was prepared to make the appointment to have the cataract removed.
To my surprise -- my eye has improved. The cataract is better than last year. The doctor said last year my right eye was at 20/70 and today it's 20/50. I asked what would make it improve? He said something about the lens changes or something like that. Anyway I got to thinking -- it must be because of reflexology. Because of Miguel Gallegos working on my feet and sometimes my ears and finger tips, I went from horrible double vision (a plus 5 prism in each lens) to no double vision. So, if reflexology can do that, why not improve the cataract in the eye?
It's no wonder I keep going to Turlock once a month for reflexology treatments. There are other reasons of course. Pain or soreness in my back, hips, legs, stiff neck. You name it. I always feel better after a treatment.
I am so happy that I don't need to have a cataract removed, but just ordered new glasses instead. This was indeed a lucky day.