Thankful Thursday - Easter

As we prepare this week for Easter my mind wanders back to our trip to Israel.  In 2001, my husband and I were blessed with the opportunity to visit Israel with a large group.  What an awesome experience.  We were queried by others back home as to 'why we would want to go there?'  Their reasoning is the volatile condition Israelis are in from day to day.  We did see things that reminded us of how volatile Israel was and is....the teens coming by the bus load to the beach (the Sea of Galilee)...dressed in fatigues, carrying loaded guns...for practice;  the metal detectors we had to walk through to enter a store or shopping area; the border to Bethlehem blocked off by Pakistan so that we might not be able to go to the place where Jesus was born.

Many 'warnings' back home almost made us think twice time about going but our theory always was - if it's our time to go (die) what better place should it be than in the land where Jesus was born, lived, ministered, died and rose again so that He could give ME eternal life!  I'm most thankful this week for this.  And that's what Easter is all about.

One of my very favorite hymns is "I Come to the Garden Alone'  Words and Music: C. Aus­tin Miles, March 1912.  As I sing and contemplate upon the words it reminds me of another Garden we visited one day...a Garden where Jesus walked, talked, mediated...a garden filled with calmness, and the Spirit of the Lord everywhere...the Garden of Gethsemane.

I come to the garden alone

While the dew is still on the roses

And the voice I hear falling on my ear

The Son of God discloses. 

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own;

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of his voice

Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,

And the melody that He gave to me

Within my heart is ringing.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own;

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.

I'd stay in the garden with Him

Though the night around me be falling,

But He bids me go; through the voice of woe

His voice to me is calling.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own;

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.

He is not here: for He is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. Matt 28:6 KJV

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Wordless Wednesday - Groschowitz, Poland

More on Phillip and Maria Motzko

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Marias Prized Possession

Maria Fietzek Motzko was 24 years old with a husband and a 6 month old baby when she and her little family immigrated to the United States from Poland.  It must have been incredibly hard for them all, especially in the 1800s, to leave everything and almost everyone she knew and loved behind for an uncertain future.  I am sure Phillipp and Maria were more than excited about what lay ahead, but unsure and scared as well.  I cannot even begin to imagine what they must have gone through emotionally as well as physically to make this transition.

Maria never learned English...my grandmother (Mary Motzko Troyer) would have to translate everything for my mother and her sister when they would visit their grandmother. My mom and her sister knew little, if any, Polish.

 One of Maria's most treasured possessions was this map of her homeland.   She would sit for hours on end just looking at it.  How she must have missed her parents, her brothers and sisters, her home.  Did she ever regret that she left there? In the 21st century it's so easy to travel from one country to another and back again - but in the 1800s it was next to impossible.

Maria was fortunate her sister Francesca Reh (in picture on left) also came to the United States. They lived in the same area in Idaho and were able to raise their children together. I don't know if they traveled to the United States at the same time and on the same ship, or how long it was before they were together...but it must have been a huge relief for Maria (and Francesca) to have each other.





 

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

My Favorite Music

I LOVE most music...from classical, to big band, to instrumentals, to religious to pop, to country/western. About the only kind of music I won't listen to is rap. In the Catholic high school I went to we were required to take 'Glee Club'...I can't carry a tune at all so I was given the job of 'turning pages' for the pianist (even tho I couldn't read music either).

Today I enjoy singing the old hymns in church, making a 'joyful noise'.

Being a child of the '40s and a teenager in the 1950s and '60s I naturally enjoy rock and roll and the old favorites of that period. I'd run home after school everyday to watch "American Bandstand' and see all the 'up and coming' pop singers of that time, like Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon, Connie Francis, and many others. I use to dance at the "Rainbow Gardens" in Pomona California to the tunes of Buddy Holly, Ricky Nelson, and the Everly Brothers.

Over the years we've seen hundreds of live concerts from the very first one I went to in Laguna Beach, CA where at the "Festival of Arts" the Righteous Brothers performed one of their very first concerts. That was in 1962 or 1963. We lived in Las Vegas for 12 years (until about October 2009) where we again saw the Righteous Brothers perform several times before Bobby Hatfield passed away (2003).

In 1968 my husband and I went to an Elvis concert when he performed in Long Beach, California. I still have the tickets from that concert, we paid only $10 each!  Today to see a top star you can't touch a ticket for less than $200. What a difference a few (?) years make. A couple of years ago Bette Midler (who played at Caesar's Palace) tickets started at $135 for the 'nose bleed' section and topped out at $900 (for VIP seating).

I found this great web site recently.  It's a jukebox; but it's no ordinary jukebox. It'll play all of your favorite songs from 1950 through 1989. Each year has a scroll or drop down box that shows all the great songs for that year. Most years have over 40 songs. There is even a section at the bottom that allows you to listen to show tunes, TV show themes, DooWop and several others. And it is free.

Once you click on a song it will play and when it finishes it automatically plays the next song in the list and continues until it has played all the songs. It has a volume control which you should use in conjunction with your computer's volume control. One of the best features is that it will play in the background. Pick and play any popular song from 1950 through 1989 or go to the specialty areas. You can't miss them. They are listed in very bright colors.

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Psalm 98:4 KJV

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved, Mary Post Warren

©copyright, all rights reserved, Mary Post Warren

Friday Fun

Rawhide, Scottsdale Arizona

1991-ish

Janet (my niece), Howard (hubby), moi, Gerry (brother-in-law), 

David (nephew), Martha (sister), Kim (daughter)

or is it 1891-ish?

 Mary Motzko, Phillipp and Maria (Fietzek) Motzko, 

Francesca Fietzek Reh (Maria's sister) and husband, Frank Motzko, Catharine Motzko




Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Thursday Treasure

No stamp - maybe fell off, if you look close you can see the postmark.



Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Wordless Wednesday

My brother Jimmy and myself

(approx 1944)

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

My Mother's China

Mom used her china for all big events - family gatherings, graduations, first communions, etc.  I thought there was service for eight or twelve.  When I received the china though I only have service for six (exactly except only 2 coffee cups).  What's really neat about the set is it's in excellent condition (nary a chip or crack anywhere) and it  has many serving pieces - a gravy bowl, three meat platters, a large salad bowl, and another bowl with a lid which I can remember mom using for mashed potatoes.  I thought I remembered a sugar/creamer and a salt/pepper.  

                                                                                                                        

I especially like the fall theme - I'm going to start setting it out in September and leave it through Thanksgiving. I have Christmas china that I currently set out every year and it will be set out when our tree goes up.  I would love to add to this set, and make it service for twelve, if it's still available.  

Does anyone recognize the china or the markings? The back says HGB in large letters and Bavaria in smaller print (all within the circle in the middle).  There is also in a red print (just to the right, above the circle) an 'A' and what looks like one number. You can enlarge the picture by clicking on it.  I have no clue as to the age or time frame of the china...I have no history behind it, it was just there for our enjoyment.

Technically this china belongs to my daughter but I'm storing it for her until she has a need or use for it.

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved




Zion National Park

As winter 2010 has quickly made way for spring and summer 2010 I think back on a trip we made a couple of years ago, while living in Nevada.  Howard and I had the pleasure of going to Zion National Park. It was late April or early May. It's hard to believe that this beautiful area was so close to home (just a 90 mile drive up the interstate into Utah)...we stayed in a 'lodge' just outside the park and then took the free bus tour through the park.  There is camping in the park but many areas are inaccessible by vehicle (except on the bus to drive by).  The day (and nights) were awesome with the highs near 80 and the lows in the 60s.  The temps in the 'valley' (i.e. home) were already starting to top the 100 degree mark.  We saw many mountain climbers working their ways up the side of the mountain, natural wild flowers in bloom, and water falls trickling down the sides of the mountains.

Now that we are in Arizona we plan on day trips/or overnights to such beautiful places as Sedona, Flagstaff, Williams (where there's a train trip one can take to the Grand Canyon, with the option of spending the night and coming back the next day).  We've also got the 'white mountains' just east of us ....just as pretty in different ways, plenty of camping and a tad bit closer.

I pray these lands will still be around for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren to enjoy with their children.

The pictures below were taken at Zion, from the deck of our room...as the sun rose over the mountain.

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved, Mary Post Warren

Fearless Females: Right to Vote

In honor of Woman's History month I post the below.  I did not write it...I do not know who wrote it. I originally received it via e-mail just before the 2008 presidential election.  I've checked on snopes.com and it's all true. 

Seems like many have an excuse for not voting - 'my candidate is not winning in the polls, so why bother?', 'no one stands for all the issues that I feel are important, so I'll not vote', 'my vote doesn't really count, the decision is made before I even have a chance to get to the polls!'  There are MANY excuses for NOT voting but lets all remember what our ancestors before us did to make voting a RIGHT, not an option or a chore as so many make it today....especially the woman's right to vote.

This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers; many of them lived less than a hundred years ago.

Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.

The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote.

And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of 'Obstructing Sidewalk Traffic.'


They beat Lucy Burns (right), chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air.

They hurled Dora Lewis (left) into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cell mate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.

Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' - November 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. 

For weeks, the women only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms.

When one of the leaders, Alice Paul (right), embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/prisoners.pdf

So, refresh my memory. Some women (and men) won't vote because- -why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? We have other things to do? It's raining? 

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved, Mary Post Warren

Thankful Thursday - Spring

After a very cold and wet winter in Phoenix, and for most other parts of the country, I am very thankful for spring, which is finally springing.  We've had awesome weather this past week with the temperatures in the mid 70's to mid 80's.  Technically spring is still a couple days away (officially Saturday, March 20) but I'm starting early this year!

Don't get me wrong, I love sitting by roaring fire in the fireplace having hot chocolate and popcorn, the winter holidays, and family all around.  Nothing beats spring though and I'm ready to sit on the patio, sipping ice tea while reading a good book; barbecue; and, watch the flowers bloom.

The flowers posted here are from our backyard when we lived in Nevada. My mother was the gardener in our family, my flowers in my yard were left over from the previous owners and just seemed to keep on blooming. I just may try to plant something this year.

O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.  Psalm 104:24  KJV 

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Wordless Wednesday

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Sunrise-Sunset

Remember the song 'Sunrise - Sunset' from the movie "Fiddler on the Roof"?   Born out of the early 70's (1971), before that it opened on Broadway in 1964, it was nominated for 10 Tony Awards and several Acadamy Awards.


The story centers on Tevye, the father of five daughters, and his attempts to maintain his family and religious traditions while outside influences encroach upon their lives. He must cope with both the strong-willed actions of his three older daughters—each daughter's choice of husband moves progressively further away from established customs—and with the edict of the Tsar that evicts the Jews from their village. (from Wikipedia).

We actually saw an intersection sign similar to the one above in our travels during the last 44 years.  I do not remember where or when - and I'm hoping maybe someone out there can help me place it.  I remember there was a church near this intersection and I remember thinking how appropriate that was because of the theme of the movie.

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Happy Birthday Girl Scouts!

Kim receives her 'Silver' Award



Today is the day when Juliette Gordon Low officially registered the organization's first members (18 girls) in Savannah, Georgia. As of today there are over 3.5 million people involved in the Girl Scouts of America.

As a Girl Scout for several years I remember over-nighters, camping trips, visiting the elderly, selling girl scout cookies, and other things to support my community. My girl scout leader was fairly close in age to us (maybe 10-12 years older) and was a real 'trooper' when it came to putting up with 10-12 pre-adolescent and adolescent girls.  She was also LONG TIME member of the Girl Scouts of America.  I believe her example led me to be a leader for my daughter's troop for several years.  She was a girl scout for many of her elementary and junior high years. I also received a 10 year pin for my time with girl scouts.

It's been fun reconnecting on facebook with many of the girls from those days.  So Girl Scouts of America as you celebrate 98 years of  scouting - here's to the next 98 years! 


Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Thankful Thursday - My Mother's 'Junk'

Today I'm feeling most thankful for my mother's junk!  Margaret Troyer was one of those who seemed to keep everything - I have scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about people I've never heard about (mostly from Goshen, Indiana).  I have pictures of long lost relatives, friends she went to high school with, and unidentified people (at least a couple hundred).  There were graduation cards, birthday cards and corsages.   As frustrating as it can be to identify some items I'm very grateful for my mother's keeping them all - they link me to a time before I was.

My sister was here for a visit last weekend and we went through most of  mom's photos and scrapbooks.  We identified some pictures and items but the majority remain unidentified.

In our 'lookings' we came across this postcard which was mailed to my Grandmother Mary Motzko Troyer. The postmark looks like 1914 and Woodland California.  It's signed by Eloise, Eleanor, Elaine, or ?

Another thought - AMAZING the postage was only 1¢

On the picture side of the postcard I'm curious to know what the 2057 after the city means?  When I first looked at it I thought it was a year - but I told myself  'wait, that can't be a year it's only 2010!'  Then I thought a zip code but they didn't have zip codes in those days.

 

Col. 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Wordless Wednesday

Hays and Margaret Post

James, Mary, Martha, Chris, Susie

approximately 1955

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved, Mary Post Warren

Tuesday Talkings

Busy time this past weekend!  My sister Martha and hubby Gerry were here from California visiting and we had an AWESOME time.  Eating out at Red Robin on Friday night, eating out Saturday noon at Mimi's Cafe with our 1st cousin, once removed.  Bernie is not only a great cousin to meet and eat with and she's a really nice person too!  Plus she's BEAUTIFUL as you can tell by the picture.  She is the 3rd child of Leo and Hilary....Hilary being my 1st cousin and the daughter of Bill and Dorothy Haines.

After catching up on each other we said our goodbyes/see-you-laters to Bernie; Howard, Gerry, Martha and I were all off to Kim and John's housewarming party.  And then back to our house for some going through and helping to identify old pictures party, and eating again....this time pizza!  Kim and John showed up later and we all sat and talked about life in general, and how things were going....fun stuff.

Sunday was more eating, this time at Jason's Deli....personally I'm STUFFED, tired, and overall pooped-out!.  I got a lot of pictures ID'd with Martha's help so it was a very productive  but tiring weekend in which I ate too much food, and had way more fun than I've had in a LONG time! 

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Memory Monday - Thanksgiving Weekend 1977

It was Thanksgiving weekend 1977 - the kids had a 4 day weekend from school and Howard had 4 days off from work...lets do something nontraditional for a change - the weather was awesome as it often is in southern California so we decided 'what the heck, let's go camping' - now where to go - up Pacific Coast Highway our little van ran onward to McGrath State Beach in Ventura County.  Ah, the beauty of the beach campgrounds, not a lot of people this late in the year...my parents joined us.

I don't remember what we did for thanksgiving dinner - maybe we roasted a turkey over the campfire, maybe we went out to eat.  Maybe my kids remember and will post a comment here.  Whatever we did I'm sure it was fun and unconventional.

Poor kids - the weather was awesome but the ocean was cold.  I wanted to take a picture of them in the water so we could prove to friends and relatives in the mid-west and on the east coast that one does go into the water this late in the year!  So away they went - off into the water and then back again before they froze!  Just for mom, and her camera. But I did get a great picture (above) eh?!?

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Unidentified Picture

I have this very large picture in my collection.  The picture originally was 16x16 but is broken in half.  It is embedded into heavy cardboard.  I have a couple other old pictures that were printed the same way (but are not the same people and have been id'd).  I took it to Fed Ex/Kinkos the other day and had it printed the largest they could (so this is from an 11x17 copy).

I'm looking into having the picture restored and would love to hang it on my wall someday.  I don't know who these people are though...I suspect they are family related and rather than being from the Post/Coulter/Hays side of the family I tend to think (no specific reason) that they are from the Post/Troyer/Schrock side.

What do you glean from this?

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved, Mary Post Warren

Thankful Thursday - Family Close By

We  recently moved back to Phoenix.  We are enjoying being close to family again.  Our daughter and her husband live here also. I'm thankful for the times we send together as 'friends' instead of parent/child. 

Last week Kim and I went to get pedicures....the next day we celebrated her birthday with John's family by going to dinner at 'Tee-Pee's' (a Mexican restaurant).  Some weeks we go shopping together.

Kim and her dad go to spring training ball games, movies, etc together.  Howard goes over and helps them with yard work. 

     This weekend Kim and John are holding an 'open house' to show off the home they just purchased to family and friends.  My sister and her husband are coming from California.

Life is good....we didn't realize how much we had missed this part of family.




Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Knotts Berry Farm Pictures - 23 Years Later

Living in southern California most of my life a trip to Knotts Berry Farm was something fairly common and no big deal.  Knotts Berry Farm has changed A LOT since this picture was taken in 1946.  It use to be just shops, a couple of eating places, a picnic area, and maybe a couple of kids rides.  I'd put the kids in strollers and just wander through the shops.

Recently I've been scanning all family photos - I'm done with the pictures of our kids and us (46 years worth) and now I've started on pictures of me growing up with my brothers and sisters.  When done with these I've got a photo album of my moms...and a couple from my dads younger days.

It was really fun when I came across this picture of my brother (Jim) and me at Knotts Berry Farm (stamped on the back it said 'reprints 15¢, 2 for 25¢').  As I was scanning it I remembered scanning one a couple months previously of two of our children in this same setting.  I found it - filed neatly in my 1969 folder in "My Picture" section of the computer.  Love having these organized like this.

The one on the right was taken in July of 1969.  That's my Billy and Kimi!  I wonder if it's the exact same wagon that Jim and I sat on 23 years previously.  I wonder too if this same picture setting is available today.   I'm amazed at the difference in the quality of the picture.

I had a really hard time scanning the second picture.  I kept getting an error message saying that I did not have enough memory (now I know my memory is dying with age but come on, how did my scanner know that?).  Seriously, I closed all programs, I rebooted my computer, I did everything I could think of but 'no dice'.  I took it to Kinkos today and they refused to scan it saying that it was copyrighted.  So I brought it home and tried it one last time on my scanner and it worked!  Amazing - I did nothing different!  Anyone know why this would happen?  And how long does a copyright last? I also took another picture that was taken in 1920s/1930s and they would not scan it either, same reason.




Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

A Tuesday Treasure

This book has been passed down to me from my grandfather Troyer's side of the family. The print date is 1758.  It is written in German.  It's not in the best of shape - would you be if you were 252 years old?  I don't even want to think of that possibility!

According to Wikipedia:

Menno Simons (1496 – 31 January 1561) was a Dutch Anabaptist religious leader from the Friesland region of the Low Countries. Simons was a contemporary of the Protestant Reformers and his followers became known as Mennonites.  (Note from me: Mennonites were a religious or church group in eastern United States (Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, etc) - they are related to the Amish.  My grandfather Elmer Troyer and his ancestors were Mennonites)

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved, Mary Post Warren

Before coming to me it was in the possession of my mother Margaret Troyer, her aunt Edith (Edie) Troyer Hatfied (Edie was my grandfather Elmer Troyer's sister), and Joseph and Elizabeth Troyer.  Elizabeth Troyer's parents were Yost and Elizabeth Schrock.