The Janesville Fife and Drum - 4th of July Tour - 2015

C119 Nantucket round trip with cockpit video 1987

2008 Stories and Steam Train

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12 Ancestors - #19 Beryl Swanson Welte - Why An Old Trunk Is So Interesting!

A year ago, on May 17, I bought an old trunk at a garage sale. I saw it from the road and I wondered why it was being sold. I thought it was strange because it looked so lonely out there in the driveway, sitting by itself, and probably thinking why it was out there at all, going from one place where it had been to being bought by a stranger. My first thought was whether its owner knew what kind of legacy was being out there on display for everyone to see and whether that really made a difference at any of the family. I couldn't understand how a person could sell part of their own heritage or why someone else in their family was not interested in that kind of immigration history.


I felt that it was very sad that it was being "tossed" out, so to say, without having its story told or remembered. I stood there for quite a while and wondered what stories were hidden in that old trunk. The straps were in disrepair, much less even there at all, but somehow that trunk told a family story that affected many decisions through the years. It probably had contained family possessions, including quilts, bedding, linens, flatware, or perhaps even a wedding dress.

I approached the homeowner and I asked her whose trunk it was that was being sold. She said that it belonged to her family and that she had it in her basement for years, but it was time to move on. I bought it out of concern that someday one of the family members may go looking for it and wonder where it went to. I know I would need to have it my possession because the family members my age are dying off or they really don't care about restoring or reviving long-lost memories or family stories.



Mom next to the trunk that her father, George E. Swanson, used on the railroad

This sale brought to mind the trunk that my mother’s father had used when he was on the railroad during the early part of the 20^th century. My mom and I visited my cousin in Idaho ten years ago and we saw the trunk at his residence. He is taking very good care of it now. When mom opened the trunk, there was an old Chinese Checkers game inside. My mom said she remembered playing the game when she was a child. It was great touching this piece of my family history which dated back over one hundred years ago.

Genealogical Perspectives and The Reason We Search...

Article in the Spring 2015 Community & Continuing Education Catalog
Blackhawk Technical College
Created by Victor Feuerherd, Public Relations Specialist

52 Ancestors: #18 He Could Dance! A Heartfelt Choice Made By Mom - Beryl Swanson Welte

I always wondered why my mom chose my dad as the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. They did a pretty good job of it because they were together for over 56 years. Her immediate answer was that, "He Could Dance!" (Click 'here' to view a song I dedicated to their love of dancing)

She told me that during the war years, she went with several male friends, but she always went back to her favorite guy in uniform, my dad, Irving. He was in the Marine Wing Service Squadron Nine, 9^th MAW, FMF and he was discharged from the Marine Corps on October 15, 1945, one month after World War II ended. This picture was taken in Minneapolis in January of 1945. My mother’s parents really liked my dad and that helped make up her mind as to the person she wanted to marry.

She told me that at least one of the military men she dated went on to become a millionaire in California. However, he, and others that she went out with, were not very good dancers, so she stopped dating them.

Mom and her brother, Wendell
Minneapolis, MN abt. 1944

Another time she told her nephew, John, that she was sick and couldn’t go out with her date that night because she heard that my dad, Irving, was in town. The other gentleman came to the front door with a dozen roses as he was concerned that she was very sick. However, at the same time, Irving rang the doorbell at the back door for their date that night. My mom thought quick and told her nephew to answer the front door and to tell her date that she was too sick to come to the door. Her date gave my nephew the roses and he proceeded to ask her what he should do with the bouquet. She said for him to take them down to the basement! He asked her, “Why are you wanting me to take these beautiful roses down to the basement?” She demanded that he do so and he took the roses down the basement stairs without any more questions.

In the meantime, my dad was at the back door and she was very glad to see him. They went out that night and had a great time dancing! That is why I am here today and why I say, “The rest is history!”

Mom and Dad dancing in Norway
July 1983

52 Ancestors: #17 Our Life's Passion Made Known To Us All

I never went to my high school prom because I was never asked. My mother never went to her senior prom because many of her male friends had already enlisted in World War II by the spring of 1943. School officials thought it would be best not to go through with the prom not only because of the shortage of young men, but also because it was a very sad time with the war effort going on in Europe, Italy, and the South Pacific.



Austin and his Great-Grandmother, Delores

I came across a story on Facebook of a high school senior in Ohio who took his 89-year-old great-grandmother to his senior prom. In the early 1940s, she was not able to go because money was hard to come by. He helped make it a special night for her as they danced to a special song by Frank Sinatra, a song which had been sung to her by her late husband.

The high school senior also remarked:

      “I respect my elders greatly. They have a great influence on my life.
      To be able to sit down and talk to them and learn from them and
      their experiences is a great thing.”

He gave me hope that there are others who feel like we do and the need to glean what we can from the older generation because they, too, will be gone someday. The same thing will happen to us so it is our responsibility to tell our stories and to thank our lucky stars that we are here to help others discover who they are! What a wonderful way to pass on life’s passion for knowing why we are here and who we will affect in our lifetime.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/05/01/teenager-takes-his-great-grandmother-to-prom/