Waukon, part 4 (Prairie LaFayette #3 school)

This is the Prairie LaFayette one room school that dad and his siblings attended near Thompson's Corner, 14 miles east of Waukon. It closed in May of 1939. Ten years later it was sold and moved to Waukon.

This was a picture taken in May, 1939 on the final school day of the final year the school was open. On the left, Uncle Billy, second on the right, Auntie Jean and on the far right, my dad.

Some of dad's memories:

- They had to walk a half-mile to school. No getting dropped off. If it snowed, they would get a ride in a bobsled and a team of horses. Some kids had to walk three miles.

- There was a wood stove to keep them warm. They had to carry wood into the entryway.

- Sometimes in their dinner bucket, they would have soup. That was put on top of the wood stove to heat it up. Also they had 2 or 3 sandwiches for lunch.

- All eight grades were really in one room, with the first graders in the front row and the eighth graders in the back.

- They had 15 minute recesses. A bell would ring when recess was over. They got out of school at 3:30.

- The water cooler was a crock with a spigot. Fresh water was hauled in every day on a wagon.

- There were nearby hills and a frozen pond in the winter that the kids would "belly bump" (sleigh down the hill on their stomach) and slide onto the ice. Once dad hit a stump and split his head open. He doesn't remember going to the doc or if he ever got stitched up. Some were very daring and slid under barb wire fences, with the bottom wire tied up to the second row wire.

- Even in the 30's the girls had a separate outhouse from the boys!

- In an average school year there were about 35 kids in class.

- At one time there were 163 one room schools in Allamakee County. Most were closed by 1960.

I bet that era won't re-appear.

This is how the school house looks today. It has been recently renovated. Dad was given a tour a month ago. It brought back alot of memories.

Waukon, part 3 (St. Pat's)

I know you are wanting to have another history lesson! Right? This one is on St. Patrick's School. I started school here in 5th grade in 1959. I want you to know that I wore a grey....wool....knife pleated skirt, white blouse and black sweater for 8 years! Now I had more than one outfit but I wonder if these young whimper-snappers of today would do that?


St. Patrick's School opened in 1883. It has provided a high quality education for over 125 years. ( I am testimony to that statement!) When the first one opened it was a school and a convent for the Sisters of the Presentation. In 1936 plans began for a new building to include a four year high school, as well as the other grades, because at this time there was only room for 10 grades. The new building to include high school opened in 1939. Additional classrooms were added in 1956. The parish hall and kitchen in the church basement were added for the school lunch program. As numbers grew, a new building opened in 1961 and housed grades one through six, leaving the older building for junior and senior high students.




This is the building where I went to school from 5th through 12th (1967)! It looks the same.


In 1970, St. Patrick High School graduated its last senior class. Grades 10,11 and 12 were discontinued, followed by grades 7, 8 and 9 the following year. In 1999 they decided to add the 7th and 8th grades back. Isn't this kind of wishy-washy thinking?


Anyway, when I was in school, we were the St. Pat's Wildcats! I thought I would add that little tidbit.

This is St. Patrick's Church, immediately across the street from the school. I'm not going to do any history on it. It's a beautiful church and has not changed very much (except the altar) in many moons. AND JB and I were married here 38 yearly moons ago!

I wonder how old that pine tree is.

The end.

Waukon, part 2

JB spent alot of his "spare" time in July scraping paint in the basement and the decades old picnic table, re-painting, fixing misc. stuff, putting on chair rail (yes, there really is such a thing to protect the walls from chairs!), electric issues, installing rolling drawers in a not easily accessible cupboard (I wish I had them!), cleaning carpet and many more tasks too numerous too mention.

I was able to catch this picture of "Juan" trimming the shrubs. That was one of his last duties. Maybe they will not grow much until next year, ya think? I remember this as one of those VERY hot, humid Iowa days that he really loves and never complains about!!!

Mom and dad (and I) thank him for all of the time that he put into making all of these repairs and improvements.


This is my brothers Glen and Paul's Goodyear Tire Center. Both mom and dad also work there.
Remember they are over 80. No sense to cut back on the hours yet!

This display is of my crafts in my sisters Jane and Peg's quilt shop. My stuff is rather out of place in there but I did manage to make a few bucks!

I took another picture of the shop but I did not get it downloaded before I lost the access to our laptop.

So this is a little more about Waukon, Iowa.

Waukon, part 1 (history)

Waukon, Iowa is located in the heart of scenic Allamakee County in northeast Iowa. It sits 17 miles from the Wisconsin border, 18 miles from the Minnesota border and 15 miles from the Mississippi River.


During my research on the history of Waukon, I discovered some discrepancies between information from different websites. I always thought the town was named after Winnebago Indian Chief John Waukon-Decorah. (1780-1868) I confirmed that but also one website noted that John Waukon was a Ho-Chunk leader and grandson of Glory in the Morning, a famous Ho-Chunk. (I don't think I ever learned about that in school.) This is making me think there are two different people. Chief Waukon-Decorah cooperated with whites during the Black Hawk War but his compliance was not rewarded. His people were forced across the Mississippi River into Northesast Iowa and eventually toward Blue Earth, MN. So today, there is Waukon and the town of Decorah, a few miles away, both named in his honor. The mascot for the Waukon school is---guess what?--the Indians!!!


I added this picture on 7-28-10 so I guess this is the proof that his name was John Waukon and he was a Winnebago Indian Chief...and his nickname was "Thunder"!!

The town of Waukon actually began in 1849 when George Shattuck built his family a hay shanty to shelter his family until he could build a log cabin. Wasn't that nice?
The towns of Lansing (a few miles away and on the Mississippi) and Waukon were always fighting to be the county seat. The honor went back and forth several times until Waukon finally thought they won out. The courthouse was built between 1861 and 1863 and cost about $13,000 but Lansing took over again. The building sat empty for many years. The Iowa Supreme Court had to get involved and ruled in 1867 that Waukon was indeed the county seat. Can you imagine all of this mess 150 years ago? Anyway, Waukon has a population of about 4,000 people. There are alot of empty store fronts but alot of friendly people. A nice place to grow up!


This is my mom and dads house, which was built 100 years ago this year. We moved here in 1959, when I was in 5th grade. The tree on the far left and the far right were both in place when the house was built, so says one of the builders who stopped by several years ago!

Here's the three angels!!!


The front steps.

One big honking pine branch!

Here comes 3 troubles!..but they kind of stood still for a few pics.

The HUGE garage, which makes JB very envious. You know...."He does not have a garage"!
This is over 1000 square feet. That is bigger than our first house in Rapid City and it was 3 bedrooms.

Gram's flower garden.

This is the house next door.

So there is your Waukon history lesson.

Quilting and more!

Pretty much everyone knows that I am the only one in my family that does not quilt. Well, that statement now is obsolete, as I can say "that I have quilted". Don't know how much I will do but at least I did my first project.

I wanted to buy a wall hanging that my sister, Peg, had just finished sewing but was not quilted yet. Somehow I got talked into quilting it. Everyone thought that I did an excellent job on my first project and even suspected that I had been quilting on the side...in my spare time!!


Then there is more. I was at my sister's quilt shop for their monthly Thimbleberries get together. There was a Harley dude there to peddle his new found love of machine quilting. He was giving away a few cards with discounts and two free machine quiltings. I drew the last card and won a free quilting. Now, I had to buy a quilt top from my sisters so I could get it quilted FREE! What a deal. I did pick one out that they had put together and got it quilted in time for me to take home with us. Now I just have to hand stitch the binding on so it's not ready to use yet. (With the change in travel plans, I think Beth has the binding on her to-do list!)But the quilt is very nice and will go in our bedroom at home. I can now get rid of the 13 year old Target bedspread!....and maybe do a little painting and re-decorating! I'll put that on my to-do list!

(Picture added on 8-18-10. New curtains and bed skirt but no painting. I had to finish the binding, as Beth didn't get around to it.)

Then there is still more. Beth and I were going to applique some dish towels while we are on the road. Now Beth is going to do all of them by herself. The pieces are all ironed on and ready for the blanket stitch.

P.S. She did not get them done. I had one set to finish. Notice the bite out of the watermelon slice is being carried by the ant in the other towel!!

That's the update on our recent crafting!

Another- Oh, what a week!

Well, Monday, July 19 we were scheduled to leave Waukon after being there a month. Had a planned itinerary along the way to get to Colorado to meet up with Greg and the toy hauler on Saturday. Sunday the Smiths would join the group and head into the REALLY high country for a weeks worth of activities in the Colorado Rockies.

Based on a very abnormal stress test on the previous Friday, mom had a cardiac cath scheduled for Monday but we were optimistic she would just need a simple balloon or stent.

We left at 8:30.

Everyone was ready for send-off. To Infinity and beyond!!!

We got 180 miles south to Newton, IA (home of the Iowa Motor Speedway). Got situated in the rain-soaked park with a huge puddle outside our door.


Then I got the dreaded call that mom needed emergency triple bypass surgery the next day. OK! After a few phone calls, my brother-in-law met us halfway and I went back to Waukon. Jim, Beth and the boys continued on the planned trek.

Tuesday, July 20-Dad and I left Waukon at 4 AM to head for LaCrosse, WI (50 miles) to see mom before she headed for surgery. It was unbelievably foggy but we made it on time. She had 4 blockages and 3 by-pass grafts. The surgery went as planned and she was out of ICU in 24 hours. We were lucky enough to be asked if we wanted to utilize one of the 7 guest rooms for 3 nights free of charge. I was the designated overnighter for the week so this was a wonderful surprise. As we were waiting in the waiting room, the 3 sisters were stitching away

It was dad's 82nd birthday so he was treated to a cupcake in the waiting room.

Saturday, July 24- Flash forward to Saturday. There is no need to document every detail BUT mom was called "Miss Independent". Everyone was amazed at her unbelievably fast recovery. She was a model patient except for one time when she got out of bed by herself and went to the bathroom and then got back into bed. I watched her and was shocked. There was a sign in the room that said CALL- DON'T FALL, meaning you need a nurse every time you get out of bed. She got a lecture over that little shenanigan. I have to give alot of kudos to all of the Gunderson Lutheran hospital staff. They were all very accommodating to all of mom's needs and even gave us the guest room for a 4th night. The coolest amenity for the patient was their system of room service. They have a superb restaurant type menu with items to choose from. The patient or hospital staff call down to the kitchen whenever the patient is ready to eat. The tray comes up usually within 10-15 minutes. The employee announces "room service" when they come in the room. It's pretty cool AND they have a great varied menu. I was impressed.

I also need to add that there was a picture in mom's room that included a quilt with the "Grandmother's flower garden" pattern. Most people will not know what that is but it was most appropriate for a quilter. She even told the surgeon he would not make a good quilter because her incision is not in a straight line! That got a few laughs!

We worked toward a discharge of today with the social worker being able to get approval for mom to get transferred to the Waukon hospital for a few more days of recuperation and therapy. She accomplished getting approval from Medicare, which was a miracle. No one else believed mom would qualify because she was doing so well. When we left at noon the Cardiology PA said mom was "above average and phenomenal". Need I say more?

She'll stay in the Waukon hospital for a few days and we will get her home and back into her routine. I can tell you---it won't take long!

Meantime the rest of the family is ready to hit the high country of Colorado tomorrow.

Oh, what a week!

Oh, what a week around here.

First of all, we got to Waukon on June 18th.

This is where we had Buzz parked at my sister, Marilyn, and her husbands house

on Acreage Hill.

Sunday, July 11-We picked up Beth and the boys in Zumbro Falls, MN at Greg's parents farm. On our way home, we stopped to see Jerry, Dar, and Jeremy Stephan in Plainview. They're friends that met at the RV Park in Arizona. It was good to see them, although it was a short visit.

Monday, July 12- We drove to Galena, IL to meet Jos, her mother and brother. She was home in Rockford visiting. We had lunch and then shopped in the quaint stores. Ended at the local winery for some wine tasting. It was a quick trip but good to see Jos and her family.

Tuesday, July 13- We were on the go again to see my aunt and uncle in Decorah at their country estate. I was re-acquainted with a saw and landscape oil painting that I had painted for them in the early 80's. Even if I have to say so myself, I was pretty impressed with my talent. Tuesday night we ate at Rossville, a very busy country restaurant that my sister, Jane cooks at. Deep fried shrimp is their Tuesday special and I have to say they were HUGE and very tasty. We were done eating and Mr. Dev disappeared. I went looking for him and found him outside trying to open the car door. He had walked out of the dining room, through the bar, out the back door, down the steps, across the parking lot and found the correct car. There were two people smoking on the deck so they were keeping an eye on him. He is one big challenge!

Wednesday, July 14- At 2 a.m. Dev got sick. Beth asked where Greg was, because she does not do vomit very well. (He was back home in AZ.) On top of Dev's sickness, he has accumulated several what we thought were mosquito bites all over his head and neck. They seemed to be getting worse so maybe they weren't bites. We decided to take him to the local ER, as there is no Urgent Care here. Diagnosis- black fly or mosquito bites! Wednesday was a horrible, hot, humid day. The heat index was 105 and was the highest in 5 years. Need I say more?

Thursday, July 15- We took mom to LaCrosse, WI to the Gunderson Clinic (competition to Mayo) for a cardiac stress test. JB dropped us off and he went to Freightliner to pick up an air filter for Buzz. She did not recover as expected from the test, because the result was very abnormal. We have to wait to see when they can get her into for a Cardiology consult. So back home we went. Once we got home, she threw up so now the bug got here. Dil, Logan and Beth were sick sometime yesterday or today, too. We got a call to say that mom could be seen at 10:15 tomorrow. That was a pretty fast appointment. My sister Marilyn and I stayed overnight to make sure mom was OK. (I got to sleep on the floor.) It was either the night before last or this night that it was lightning and Dev said it was a big lightning bug!

Friday, July 16- Today is my birthday....one more year till social security!!! Beth gave me a small digital camera that I can carry in my purse. Right before we were ready to leave for LaCrosse, Dev had another couple bouts of puke. Got that cleaned off of us and headed for LaCrosse. The outcome of mom's test was that she needs to have a cardiac cath to see where the blockage is. That is scheduled for Monday, the day we are to leave Iowa. Friday night we went to a local cousin's restaurant for dinner (supper). Right after we ordered, I felt the bug hitting me. Headed for the one-stall bathroom and got there just in time. There really was no warning. JB took me up to mom and dad's house, which by now we were calling the infirmary. I stayed there all night. Nice birthday!

Saturday, July 17- JB is sick now! He slept all day. Kind of a low key day around here. Went out to my sisters quilt shop and picked up all my crafts that I had displayed for sale and the items that I had purchased during our stay (that will be a separate post). JB stayed at the infirmary and I went back to Buzz to start putting stuff in their places and enjoy some peace and quiet. It was another hot, humid day that brought a huge storm during the night. Guess what? The bug has now hit my sister, Marilyn. Somehow my 82 year old dad has escaped the germs.

Sunday, July 18- Need to clean up the infirmary, wash clothes and pack up Buzz to head out tomorrow morning. The girls will call me about the results from the cardiac cath test and we will go from there.

Oh, what a week!