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.

Called Mrs. Lula Bullington, Knobel, the other day to wish her a happy birthday and, as I expected, had an enjoyable chat… we do that ever so often. Anyway, in talking mostly about pecans and pecan trees, she told me that she had always heard that if it rains on the 4th day of June the pecans won’t be any good, they will be full of water. My Uncle Bert used to say that all the faulty pecans would fall from the tree before the end of August and after that what remained would be the crop for the year. I don’t know about either of those things, but I do know that I could do pretty good squirrel hunting in my own backyard these days.

Had a surprise telephone call from Freda Woolard Shelton Bannister last Sunday night. She wanted to tell me about her close friendship with Helen Rhea McBride who went to school at the same time we did (we were all in the same class) and about meeting up with Mrs. Marshall and her daughter, Bonnie, who are also former Corning residents. Seems as though Helen belongs to a Senior Citizens Band with her church, and they went to visit the Senior Citizens at Freda’s church. Bonnie Marshall is not a member of either of the two churches, but she plays the piano for Helen’s group and she and her mother, who is 95 years old, got to know Freda again. They all live in the St. Louis area, and she said it is like Old Home Week when they get together. The Marshalls lived in a long, framed house on the corner of Arnold and Third street, right where my house is now. Freda also had a lot of nice things to say about The Courier and the folks in Corning. My neighbor Miss Pearl Long remembers the Marshalls, as they were her next-door neighbors, and they all attended the same church. I must really be slipping because I not only can’t remember the Marshalls, I don’t even remember the house… and I lived within a few blocks of it for quite some time.

As usual, I could hardly wait to get out to Park School last Monday morning to visit the kindergarten rooms… that’s one of my favorite days seeing how these youngsters react. There’s one of every kind and size, but most of them seemed to be happy. One little girl was wearing a new dress and when I whispered to her that her dress was pretty, she whispered back, “We got it out of layaway yesterday.” One little girl kept wanting to know “When do we eat?” and another was upset because recess had ended, and she had to go back into the classroom. I believe that the little girls were more prepared for school than the boys, and there seemed to be more girls this year. One little girl was a bit unhappy, and her eyes were red from crying but she “took up” with me after I told her that I remember when her daddy was in kindergarten and her grandmother and grandaddy were in Elementary school. Only one child, a boy, flatly refused to sit with classmates for a picture, all he could say was “I want my daddy.” There were lots of new shoes, shirts and dresses, and a great many of the little girls have pierced ears.

A co-worker who accompanied me to the school was delighted to see Mrs. Donna Neidermeier, K-D, who had been her Kindergarten teacher a few years ago at Knobel.

School had been going on about three days when I saw a warning on television about head lice and how to get rid of them… I could pass along some information on that problem. Being the youngest of the family, I had all the things like measles, mumps and chickenpox carried in too me before I was school age, but I managed to get things like head lice and itch on my own.

Folks from out of town should mark the Harvest Festival date on their calendar and begin making plans to be here on Saturday, October 24. A big day is planned with lots of free entertainment as well as antique car show, a fun run, games for youngsters, and a free rice-tasting luncheon served at noon.