July • 2010 • NEWSLETTER

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Dear ##firstname[Friend]##,

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Some of my fondest summer memories come from camping trips with friends, when all we needed was a place for our heavy canvas tents, a collection of great music on cassettes (remember those?) and fixin’s for a campfire smorgasbord. Those potluck meals always tasted better under open skies. The folks at Taste of Home have some great ideas for throw-together camping recipes, including one we’re featuring this month.

—John Burlingham at Reminisce

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In this issue:

• Silk Parachute Went From Wartime to Wedding
• Picture from the Past
• Stirring Up Memories
• Time Capsule Trivia
• Over the Back Fence
• A Thought to Remember

Silk Parachute Went From Wartime to Wedding

View larger image Evelyn Boyle Braet

By Evelyn Boyle Braet
Staunton, Virginia

My husband, George Braet, flew 53 missions in the European theater as a
B-17 bomber pilot with the 15th Air Force during World War II.

In 1944, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his bravery in action.

During one of his final missions, the enemy ground fire was heavy and a piece of flak lodged in his parachute, staying there, thankfully. His parachute was made of silk (before the advent of nylon) and since its condition precluded future use, he was allowed to keep it.

Soon after his return home to Milwaukee, we were thinking about a wedding, and when I looked at his parachute, I saw a silk wedding dress!

In addition to the numerous holes left by the flak, though, the chute perimeter had three-inch letters at each seam that read AN (Army-Navy) stenciled in dark blue indelible ink.

View larger image Lt. George Braet

I found a wonderful dressmaker who accepted the challenge, and the result was lovelier than I had dreamed possible.

I still have that wedding dress, a bit yellowed now, but very much intact.

My dear husband, George, passed away in November 2005, four days after our 60th anniversary. We were blessed with three sons and two daughters, as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Click here to see more Nostalgic Stories.

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Picture from the Past

View larger image FIELD WORK: The crew at Grant Tobacco farms included (front row, from left) Preston Clement, George Troffer, Jim Crowley, Irwin Campbell, (second row) Bill Lillycrop, Bob Mercer, Roy Singleton, Dick Gullet, Bob Piper, Roland Crawford, (third row) Jay Poppell, Dan Barber, Bill Strode, (fourth row) Jack Odenweller, Jimmy Gamble, Jack Carpenter, Denny Parrot, Bill Lewis, Frank Wright, Harry Betts, Sidney Johnes, (fifth row) Ben Drymon, Charles Jackson, Chuck Rice and foreman Emery Abbe.

In 1944, farm workers were scarce. The faculty at Sarasota High School arranged for this group of Florida students to work in the fields for the summer at Grant Tobacco Farms of Melrose, Connecticut. I’m in the front row, second from the right, next to my friend Irwin Campbell (far right).

Grant Farms supplied barracks-type housing, and the school furnished teachers and cooks as chaperones. The foreman, Mr. Emery Abbey, was an employee of Grant Farms.

It was quite an experience for this young group to earn 60 cents an hour with food, transportation and housing furnished. Most of us had never been out of Florida.

When the summer was over, we were given a train ticket and turned loose to make our way back to Sarasota. Irwin and I teamed up and decided to stop off in New York City and Washington, D.C., to see the sights—what a thrill for us! We spent the night in a New York hotel and observed an air-raid drill, with the entire city dark except for traffic lights.

Click here to see more Pictures From the Past.

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Stirring Up Memories

Campfire Hash

Campers and backyard grillers alike will enjoy this deliciously creative hash that’s simple to piece together. There are all sorts of campfire concoctions, summertime recipes and festive culinary decorating ideas to browse through from our partners at tasteofhome.com.

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Over the Back Fence

Amusing morsels and bits of wisdom overheard and read here and there.

The Flour Sack

Gloria Luderman of Medford, Oregon, shared a poem by Colleen B. Hubert about the venerable cloth sack that was put to more than a few good uses. We’ve included excerpts.

In that long-ago time when things were saved,
When roads were graveled and barrels were staved,
When worn-out clothing was used as rags,
And there were no plastic wrap or bags,
And the well and the pump were way out back,
A versatile item was the flour sack.

Bleached and sewn, it was dutifully worn
As bibs, diapers or kerchief adorned.
It was made into skirts, blouses and slips,
And Mom braided rugs from 100 strips.
She made ruffled curtains for the house or shack
From that humble but treasured flour sack.

As a strainer for milk or apple juice,
To wave men in, it was a very good use,
As a sling for a sprained wrist or a break,
To help Mother roll up a jelly cake,
As a window shade or to stuff a crack,
We used a sturdy, common flour sack.

We polished and cleaned stove and table,
Scoured and scrubbed from cellar to gable,
We dusted the bureau and oak bed post,
Made costumes for October, a scary ghost,
And a parachute for a cat named Jack,
From that lowly, useful flour sack.

So now, my friends, when they ask you,
As curious youngsters often do,
Before plastic wrap, Elmer’s Glue and paper towels,
What did you do?
Tell them loudly, and with pride don’t lack,
Grandmother had that wonderful flour sack!

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Time Capsule Trivia

Sylva Mularchyk of Santa Maria, California, put together a list of actors and actresses by the names they were best known in their Hollywood days. Your job is to match the 10 stars with their original names.

1. Roy Rogers
2. Rock Hudson
3. June Allyson
4. Greta Garbo
5. Tab Hunter
6. John Wayne
7. Joan Crawford
8. Edward G. Robinson
9. Loretta Young
10. Jennifer Jones

A. Arthur Gelien
B. Lucille LeSueur
C. Emmanuel Goldenberg
D. Leonard Slye
E. Roy Fitzgerald
F. Gretchen Young
G. Marion Morrison
H. Greta Gustafsson
I. Phyllis Isley
J. Ella Geisman

Click here for the answer to Time Capsule Trivia.

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A Thought to Remember

Whatever you do, do it with all your might.

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