Sunday 30 2007

Something happened and the picture didn't show so here it is. This our family taken at the Randolph 4th of July parade 7/4/07

December 30 2007

Another year is all but gone, one more day and it'll be 2008, where does the time go. Before I get to my year in review, must make the note that Stew and Merry arrived in Wildwood yesterday. This morning they have gone to Wally World to start finding all the goodies they need to set up housekeeping in the South. A few days and I'm sure Stew will have everything the way Merry wants it. It will be fun having them around for the next four months. At least it will give you folks up North a break from having to put up with Stew. We watched the Pats last night, three more for a really perfect season.

2007, a year that went by very fast, to fast I think. All in All it was a good year for us and our family. Nancy completed 29 years 11 months of her 30 year teaching career and as everyone knows she will retire on 31 Jan 08. I have played a lot of golf this year, worked two days a week at the golf course, went on a golf trip with a group of frieds and did get a few things done around the house. Nancy went to Vt all she normally does, I went for a couple of weeks. Our whole family was in VT for the 4th and Hannah, planned an anniversary/birthday party for us. Big time was had by all. This year saw Hannah get the use of her voice back, after an absence of about thee years, it still not 100% but a good 85%. She was also able to go back to work on a part time basis, which was good for her in many ways. Also this year Andrew and family have moved from St Thomas to Maui, Hawaii. Andrew is now the Hotel Manager for the RitzCarlton Kapalua. 2007 was good, no major illness, no accidents, a good year. I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year.

December 27 2007 Rogers History

Another warm and sunny day in Florida, I guess those of you up North are really feeling the effects of the Global Warming. Maybe you should invite Mr. Gore up to see the effects up close...Ok enough politics, back to G & G Rogers..I never did tell about their children, they had three as most of you know, Beth , the oldest, Norma, and Ernest(spud). All three were educated at the old #3 schoolhouse which is now a house at the upper end of the Town Farm road. They also attended South Royalton High School. All three were married and had families. Norma married Edwin Anderson and they lived in Chelsea, had two children, Joan and Jane. Beth married Donald Sanborn and the lived in Springfield(Chester Depot), they had two girls Linda and Mary, Spud married Mary Ware , lived all his life in South Royalton and had five children, Dennis, Stewart, Ted, Jeannette, and Patrick. The following is a family picture taken 1953-54 and shows the three children and their spouses and five of the grandchildren, I'm sure most of you can identify them all.I am going to include a few more pictures from the family for tonight's post. Ops the second picture ended up on top, still a lot to learn. That is a picture of G Rogers sawing ice on the pond.

December 26, 2007

Good evening, well made it through Christmas, had a grand time, Christmas Eve, Hannah, Wes, and Addie were over for dinner and then we all went to Church in the Villages.Christmas day we went to Hannah for breakfast and their Christmas. Around 11:00 we came home and rested...I think we both slept most of the afternoon and then got up and went for a long walk, and early to bed...I had to work today and Nancy went shopping with HB. Tonight Nancy and I went to Orlando for a nice dinner. This was arranged by Hannah, because she said if she didn't make reservations for us somewhere we would end staying a home and eating leftovers. She was right but I glad she did it as it was a very nice evening. Home now and both ready to crash. As I told Nancy on the way home tonight, tomorrow we start on year # 41....

Check out my Slide Show!

December 24 2007

This will be a couple day early, but I have to work the 26th so today will be what I would have done on the 26th. Dec 26th is a special day in my life, the day I married Nancy and as most of you know that was 40 years ago. Much has happened in those years, mostly good, a little not quite up to par but all in all a good ride. Some people ask me why Dec 26, well it's real simple, I was in the Army and I could only get about a weeks leave so Dec 26th it was. We were married at the South Tunbridge Church at 8:00 at night(had to wait until after milking) and it was a very cold night and not much heat in the Church, but that was ok as the ceremony didn't last very long, and then off to Mark & Barbara's for the reception. This also was short as we had to leave that night to drive back to North Carolina as I had to work two days later. The trip didn't start very good. I had rented an U haul trailer to take all our goodies back and when we got ready to go, the trailer had a flat tire. Never was sure how it got that way, but we got it fixed and were on our way to a life time of fun and adventure. Our first "home" was a single wide mobile home in a dirt trailer park outside of Fayetteville, North Carolina. What fun that was, remember Nancy wasn't real happy with the new digs, as she had to be there alone for the next two days as I had duty. We didn't live there long when I was able to obtain Post housing, this was a nice 3 bedroom townhouse. We lived there about six months and then we had a separation. Nancy went back to UVM to try and complete her degree and I went to VietNam for a year. In Jan ' 69 we had a short reunion in Hawaii as I had 5 days of R&R, then back to VN.When I came back we went to Germany for 3 years, were Andrew was born. One more move with the Army, back to Fort Dix, New Jersey and that ended my Army career and a new chapter in our life started. We moved back to Vermont and I went to work for Proctor Trust Company. My Banking career started in Chelsea, from there we moved to Proctor where we stayed until 1979, but before we left Vermont I almost forgot, we had another addition to the family with the birth of Hannah(sorry Bean). Now we two children we packed up and moved to Wildwood, Florida. I continued to work for several banks in the area retiring in 2005, Nancy is still teaching, but will retire Jan 31 2008, she will 30 years in and says it enough. We have been blessed with three grandchildren, Britt,Anna, and Addie. The 40 years have gone by so fast and seem to go faster with each passing year. There is not enough time left in my life time to relate all things I would like to say about these years and the memories we have compiled. It is times like this that you really think about people, places, times and all that they mean to you. I think having an anniversary at Christmas is special and adds so much to the holiday season. To all of you who have helped create some of these memories, thank you so much, and for those who will give us future memories we thank you in advance.

NOTICE.........................

ON MY PICTURES, DOUBLE CLICK ON THE PICTURES AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SEE THEM BETTER.....I WILL GET BETTER

23 Dec

This just a note to say I'm sorry about the pictures, I need some help in making them bigger so that all can see them. When I get the help I will republish all of them

23 december 2007

Today will be my Christmas issue. I wrote this last night but lost it all somehow, so will try again this morning. This will not be about a special Christmas but our Christmas in general. Our Christmas was always on Christmas Eve. We would all wait for Mom to get home from work and fix supper, didn't take very long as we all were ready for the big time. After supper we would wait for Gramp and Gram Rogers to come to watch us open our presents. Opening presents was not an orderly procedure, more of a free for all. After giving us a couple of minutes to play with new toys, we would all pile in car for the trip to Tunbridge to watch G & G Rogers open their gifts. Then back home and to bed to wait for Santa to come and fill our stockings. In the morning of course we went down stairs to check on the goodies Santa had brought, but again not much time as we had to go to Chelsea to be with Uncle Eddie and Aunt Norma and family for their opening of gifts. At noon on Christmas we would all go to G Rogers for dinner. Still not much time as we would pack up and go to G & G Ware for yet another Christmas. So much to do, so many places to go and so little time to explore the new toys, socks, shirts etc we had received.At the end of this I have a picture that I hope you will be able to see, it is of a Christmas around 1954 or so, see if you know any of these folks. Our family always had Christmas on the night before, as it was a Rogers tradition and one that Dad would never let us change, even though it would have been easier for all of us. Some things you don't change. This year we will have a quiet Christmas, Andrew and his family will celebrate in sunny Hawaii, Hannah and family will be with us Christmas eve for dinner and a trip to Church. We will go to HB's Christmas morning for the opening of presents, then they will go to Wes's family for the rest of the day. I hope that one all have a Wonderful Christmas and a great 2008. I forgot one thing I wanted to put in this, that being that every Christmas G Rogers would make her famous pink candy, it was made with wintergreen and she added pink food coloring and it was always the hit of Christmas, several people, including Nancy have tried to make it in recent years but not as good as hers. Aunt Beth still makes it every year, but again it not the same, she says it has something to do with the wintergreen and not having real heavy cream to make is smooth. Even though it not the same, it always reminds me of Gram Rogers and Christmas.

December 21 2007

I guess I hit the wrong button and posted before I even got started today. Missed yesterday, played golf, went shopping with Nancy and to Addie's Christmas program at Pre School. Didn't have enough energy to do much else.

Today I am going to continue with a bit about the "pond" and about Nat & Essie. First a couple of pictures, both showing the Home place and the pond but from different angles.

Before I get to the Pond, I need to back up and explain something that many don't understand. Ok, Gramp came from Bridgewater Vt, and Gram was a local girl, who's maidian name was also Rogers(no relation)

so when you think about all the Rogers in Tunbridge, you are related to them through your grandmother and not your grandfather. Gramp's family for the most part stayed in the Bridgewater area, we were not close to them but did go to a family reunion most every year, and I remember going with Dad and Gramp to mow in a cemetery in that area on many occasions.I will not go into the local relatives but remember you are related to most of the Rogers .

The Pond: As I said in an earlier piece, the pond was a source of income in the winter with the cutting of ice to sell(picture of ice cutting coming soon), but there came a time the folks fell on hard times, the great depression hit small farmers hard and money was hard to come by, it was at this time that the pond was sold to shares. Most were sold to raise money, but one , was given to the local Doctor, Dr. Mitchell, whose family still has the share and another to "Uncle Joe" more on him later, and Gramp kept one for himself. The pond today is officially the Tunbridge Trout Club, and my brother Stewart is the current president and has been for many years. Stew also is the unofficial caretaker of the pond, ensuring the grass is mowed, the spillway cleaned out and any thing else that needs to be done. Stew has a camp on the pond which is in the picture above. Today there are 15 shares in the pond and most have been in families since the inception of the club, they are closed guarded and highly prized. Gramp built a camp there and I spent many days and nights there with them as a youngster. Their camp was the green one just across the foot bridge.

Uncle Joe....Uncle Joe was Joseph Raytkwich, not an uncle but we all called so. He was a friend of Gramp's from World War I, they served together in France I think. Joes was he Sargent and after the war he started coming to Tunbridge. He loved to fish and would come two or three times a year. He was a fly fisherman, and always smoked a pipe. He lived in Connecticut and never married. Everyone was always excited when Uncle Joe came because he always brought presents for everyone. I think he used to do his own shopping as the presents were sometimes a bit strange, but everyone loved him and was glad to see him. He usually brought a couple of others with him to enjoy the fishing. It is his share of the pond that now belongs to Stew which he got from Dad...We all enjoy spending time up at Stew's camp and makes a great place for family outings. I think all three of my granddaughters caught their 1st fish in front of the camp.

I think this is enough for today, have lots to do......Four days till Christmas

December 21 2007

dec 19 20others0 History

Today we are going to continue with more info about Nat & Essie....More of their years were spent on the farm next to the "pond". I guess the official name of the pond was Bellnap Pond, named I think for the people who lived on the farm before N &E. Nat was a farmer, milked cows and also worked away from the farm as he could to feed his family. One story I have been told over the years was the Gramp with a team of horses helped transport the granite statue that is at the Joseph Smith Birthplace on Dairy Hill. That Statue is from a single piece of granite and a one time was the largest monument made of a single piece of granite. The granite was transported to South Royalton by train and then moved to Dairy Hill by many teams of horses and oxen. My memory on this is foggy but I think they put the granite on a sled of some kind and laid down logs and pulled the sled over them. I don't know how long it took to complete the task or how many teams it took, but quite a feat... In the winter, Gramp and others who helped would cut ice from the pond and sell to people in town. This was done with big hand saws and horses to pull the cut pieces out. Dad used to tell about one time a horse or horses fell in the water but was saved. You might wonder why cut and sell ice, well in those days no one had fridge, only ice chests. A box that you could put ice in to keep stuff cold. Most people had ice houses where they stored the ice, which had to last all summer. You might ask, wouldn't the ice melt? I'm sure a lot it did, but it was packed in sawdust which acted as insulation and keep the ice cold...At some point, Gramp went to work for Wendell Eaton in his saw mill in South Royalton. Gramp was a sawyer, he was the one who sawed the logs. The mill was located by the mill bridge on the way to Tunbridge, across the river from Eaton's Trailer Park, most of that hill is slabs from the mill. Gram also worked for the Eatons at the Clothes Dryer factory that just across the bridge on the left. If you have an old wooden clothes bar that has been around for many years it was probably made at the Eaton factory. The building burned in the 1960's but they had not been in production for many years before that. I believe they both worked there until they retired , sold the farm and moved to the house they built on Tuckers flat, the house now owned by Ski and Blance Barnaby. In my next installment I will talk about the "pond" and why it is now owned by so many people. Also I cannot talk about the pond without bringing Uncle "joe" into my story. So this is it for today, tomorrow is a golf day, so may be tied up most of the day. Six more days to Christmas, and may have to put in a bit about Christmas when I was much younger... Good night.

dec 18 2007

Busy day, worked and did errands, Nancy and I went to Wallyworld to pick a couple things , then to Mickey D's for quick bite and then to baketball games(2), just got home and don't have time for anything more than this tonight..........later

History Lesson #1

This will be the first of several posts I call History lessons. This will only be a preview as time is short this evening.This picture of Nat & Essie was taken in about 1953 in down town Tunbridge, they were living in the Brick house as you turn to go up the Spring Road, the house is now owned by Alan Howe's daughter Shannon and her family. Nat & Essie lived there(not sure if they owned) while their house just south of town was being built. The little guy in the picture is me, more than likely on a Sunday afternoon. More about Nat & Essie is the full lesson coming soon.

Day Two

I guess everything worked, I got a couple of comments, so I will continue....Went to the Dr. and lost one pound. Well, it was cold this morning and I had a lot more clothes on than normal, so I think I really lost more.....

In thinking about this blogg, I have decided to make at least one day a week, a history lesson. This fall, when I was in Vt riding around deer "hunting" with Ted and Ashley, I realized that many in our family don't know much about their Grandparents or Great Grandparents depending on how old they are, so I am going to tell what I know or at least think I know about them and some of my expierences with them. As a boy I spent a lot of time with both sets of my grandparents and think I may have some interesting tales to tell. As we drove over the hills this fall I could not help but think about riding these same hills with Dad and listening to all his stories, which hopfully I can still remember and pass on through my blogg. I hope to be able to include pictures of many of the people that many of you never knew.

The beginning

My daughter, Hannah thought this was something I should do, not sure why but she thinks it will be something for me to do. I'm not sure what I will do with this, but I will try and make it fun. She says I have way to much free time and this will help me in my retirement days. Actually I think this may end up being ramblings about a whole lot of nothing. She thought maybe I could write each day what I do and my busy life....I have a rough week ahead, Monday I have to try and get Stew's "house" ready for him to move into, you know, water, lights, cable, all the basics. Tues and Wend I have to work, Thursday have to play golf, Friday more Golf, Saturday more golf and Sunday, well that's my day of rest....

Of course I have many other jobs to do, like dishes, trash, watering plants, laundry, and planning and cooking meals. No wonder I'm always tired...

I do have one big project I'm working on...........Diet...for real, doctor supervised, high dollar thing. I have to go and weigh in every Monday morning...To date I have lost 12 lbs. Go back in the morning and hopfully I've lost a couple more. Gee, I guess that's something to write about tommorrow. Stay tuned... This is the end of my first installment, maybe tommorrow something exciting will happen. You have to read everyday to find out..