For your reading enjoyment, we continue to publish Rambling Vines by the late Marylea Vines as she re-calls events and names of Corning folks from many years ago. We are currently in the year 1992

I have in my possession a plastic business card advertising Browns’ Esso Servicecenter, Highway 62 and 67, Corning (Arvel Brown). Jerry Arnold found the white card, with red and blue ink, while breaking his garden out East of town, near Black River, over the past weekend. The card, although buried in the dirt, still looks new even though the calendar on the back is for the year 1957. Since I collect business cards, I consider this one a “great find.” Finally heard from friends Dolpher and Mary Tranthan, Winter Haven, Florida. I was beginning to wonder about them, it had been so long. They sent along a recipe which they recommend as a dessert or as a salad served on a bed of lettuce. It is: One Number Two can crushed pineapple, one eight-ounce can of low-fat sour cream, one eight ounce can of plain yogurt, one package pistachio pudding mix. Just mix it all together and that’s all there is to it. Keeps well refrigerated without becoming watery.

Tranthan writes that they are not far from Orlando, but missed the two-foot hailstorm, adding, “I can imagine what that would do to an old-style straw hat!”

We’ve got two fish fries coming up that deserve the support of all of us… On Saturday, April 4, the AAL of St. Matthew Lutheran Church will be serving catfish and all the trimmings in the church fellowship hall. Hours will be 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. All profits from this annual project will go to the Corning Police Association for use in civic improvements from which all will benefit.

Then, the next Saturday, April 11, is date for the annual Corning Volunteer Firemen’s fish fry to be held in the Senior Citizens Center, First Street. They will be serving hot catfish and all the trimmings at noon, then shut down for a few hours before starting again to serve those who had rather eat fish in the evening.

I see where Mrs. Eunice Davis celebrated her recent 90th birth anniversary. Mrs. Davis used to be known to our family as the “Iris lady of Datto” and welcomed visitors who wanted to start and iris garden… but only after they sat on the screened-in porch, enjoyed a refreshing glass of lemonade, and chatted with her! My mom and I used to drop in on her occasionally and always were greeted with the same cordial welcome… and left with a clump of irises with planting instructions. Mrs. Davis resides in the Randolph County Nursing Home, Pocahontas.

There are some more folks at Datto who know their irises and how to raise them… that’s Len and Trellis Dockins. They used to have a whole field of them, but they aren’t that involved with flowers anymore. At their farm home located a short distance out of Datto, they used to have a little bit of everything, including peacocks. They were always a joy to visit and would just turn us loose to roam around among all the gorgeous iris blooms, to select anything we wanted.

Not at all like this place in a neighboring state we visited one time to view and select irises. I think we were purposely misled because all four of us wouldn’t have misunderstood. See, we were invited to visit the garden while the irises were in bloom, then leave name and address and list of the ones we wanted a start of. When we went back at the proper planting time, the same person took our list. As he walked around, he was calling each plant by name and quoting prices like $1,00 each, $3.50 each, etc. That’s when the bad news first came, he dug up a clump and said $20.00! I knew right then that I was about to get “took” but there was no way that I was going to let on, no siree, I paid him $20.00 for a clump of irises without even so much as batting an eye. We had to come straight home because we were broke… We talked all the way home about how dumb we were to let that fellow push that $20.00 iris off on us… The disgust came later when the moles got into the iris bed and ate up all them after only one blooming season.

The closer I get to my birthday, the more popular I get with folks who are trying to sell something… like insurance! The latest, however, caused the greatest amount of teasing by friends, it was an invitation to join up with a Singles Club! Now, don’t that just beat all?

Mrs. Mayme Dove, Knobel, was 100 years old on March 19. Since she has not been well for the past few years, no celebration was held.

Four old-time photos which were acquired by George and Karla Neff were handed to me last week. Two of the pictures were made in a logging camp and have the name of a Detroit, Michigan studio stamped on the back side. One picture features a young man in work clothing and the other shows a truck which is surrounded by logs; another is a group of young men, one of them holding a flat iron. The fourth picture looks like it could have been made inside a typing classroom with three of the typewriters placed on one long table, the typists to sit on a backless bench. The halltree is made of a tree limb with branches sawed off to stubs to hold coats and hats. There is a woodburning heating stove in the center of the room, a magazine display rack, a newspaper display rack and a bookcase, among other pieces of furniture all of which look homemade. The wood floors have no coverings, and the lighting is from five bare bulbs in fixtures attached to the ceiling. The Neffs would like to return these pictures to the rightful owner.