Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Back home from Wisconsin trip.

Another trip to Wisconsin done. This one was only 5 days to attend an All School reunion for Dorchester High School. About 200+ people came to the afternoon social time with a very nice sit-down meal at 4 PM.

Saw lots of people I know. Talked to some I hadn't seen in years. Had a really good time.

Also met some of my cousins from the Goessl side of the family on Friday after a mass for their mother at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Medford. Was really nice to visit with Joyce, Betty, Margaret, and Norb for a few hours. It isn't something we get to do very often.

Also visited my aunt Beatrice who is one of only two remaining sisters of my mother. I try to visit her whenever I am in Wisconsin.

I have a “thing” for cemeteries. To me they are pure history. I walked 2 this trip looking for particular people. I was successful on all counts. I love walking the rows, reading names, and remembering something about the people, friends, neighbors, relatives. I take photos of the headstones and eventually these photos will be added to my genealogy files along with photos of the people represented.

On Sunday my sister Judy, husband Art and I were treated to a tour of the Dorchester Historical Center by Jim Jantsch who is the force behind the center. It contains all things Dorchester. All of it donated. I suspect Jim started the center as a place to store all of the things his mother collected. Jim has also written a book called “Dorchester.” It is a complete history of Dorchester and it's people.

Two of the people on the tour were our next door farm neighbors Sharon and Arlene and two neighbors across the highway, Jeanette and Greta. I once worked for Jeanette and Greta's family during the summer and lived in their house. It was good to see them again after all these years.

I drove to Milwaukee on Monday (Labor Day) and had lots of traffic between Wisconsin Dells and Madison. My rental car this time was the same as last month, a Chevy Spark. Blue this time, not yellow. It got 41.5 MPG. Not bad.