Open Session: What readers think
An old friend - I just wanted to tell you how CAPPER'S has become a part of my life again. My mother was a subscriber when I was growing up in the 1940s and '50s on our family farm. After I was married, I subscribed for several years, but I let my subscription run out when I was busy raising my family and working outside of the home.
In May 2004, my mother was very ill, and I decided to order a subscription because I seemed to have a lot of 'sitting' hours to fill. My mother became much worse, and in the process of caring for her, I had forgotten about this subscription. She passed away on July 6. The next day, there in my mailbox I found my first copy of CAPPER'S - dated July 6. An old 'friend' had come to help me through this time in my life.
I am enjoying this publication once again, and I look forward to each copy.
Marilyn Sargent Haffner
Enjoys changes - I wanted to tell you that I enjoyed that you printed my letter about the motto that our high-school principal so often reminded us of ('Open Session,' May 24).
I want you to know that I just love the new look of CAPPER'S. It's neat and attractive. I've always loved this paper - I read it from front to back. Thank you.
Ida Mae Tait
Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Quite a record - The McPherson (Kan.) High School class of 1935 is planning a reunion in August 2005. After their graduation some 70 years ago, eight girls began a round robin letter that traveled from coast to coast every six weeks or so.
Only five members remain, but the robin still flies - to three towns in Kansas, one in Colorado and one in Pennsylvania. I think that is quite a record.
Asta Ostlind Chase
I prefer volcanoes - I read the Heart of the Home submission about the married couple who owned a cabin near the base of Mount St. Helens when it erupted ('Volcano eruption surprised residents' April 12).
The onset of this eruption began with activity around Mount Baker, located near Bellingham, Wash. I was taking a refresher course in college at the time. Volcanology is one of my favorite subjects.
During a break in class, we were guessing the date that Mount Baker would erupt. An eruption was overdue. Our professor surprised us by telling us that Mount St. Helens would erupt sooner. Just about two months later, on May 18, 1980, it did. To date, Baker hasn't.
Volcanoes are not destructive per se. They don't trespass on people - people trespass on volcanoes.
Once the dust settled around Mount St. Helens, some farms and orchards in the area had the best crops in ages. Farmers resettled on Mount Etna in Italy and around volcanoes in Alaska and Hawaii. That's because volcanoes recycle the earth, bringing up new nutriments, those things that nourish growth. A year after Mount St. Helens erupted, I visited and found that new plant life was evident everywhere.
I prefer a good volcano - creating new trees, shrubs, plants and grasses that nourish the populations of deer, elk, bear and other mammals and birds - to other hazards.
J.C. Antonia Thomas
Enjoys editor's column - I have become a fan of Andrea Skalland's Editor's Notebook columns. I especially liked her writing about her husband's beekeeping hobby ('Bees … what bees?' April 26) and about being a backseat driver ('Simply a driver's aide,' May 10) - boy, did I identify with that.
My favorite story, however, was her story about the rug - a less-than-attractive welcome mat - that she and her brother send back and forth. I got a good laugh out of the story. Keep us informed, Andrea, on the ongoing events of that rug. I have a feeling that your brother is going to think up a really good one to get it back to you.
Little Brown Church - I just read the article about the Little Brown Church in the Vale, located near Nashua, Iowa ('Historic church with connection to song celebrates 150 years,' June 7). We live about seven miles south of the church. We enjoy taking friends and relatives to see it.
Your paper is full of interesting articles, and I read it from cover to cover. Thanks for some wonderful reading.
Recipe gone awry - About 25 years ago, my son was in college. We made cookies from a Monster Cookie recipe in CAPPER'S. We made them even though they wouldn't hold together.
The next issue of CAPPER'S told us why they wouldn't hold together. We needed 4 cups of peanut butter, which was omitted from the recipe.
Siblings - I enjoyed reading stories about siblings in CAPPER'S (Heart of the Home, April 26). There were nine siblings in my family, and five of us are still living.
Here is a photograph of the five of us, taken on my oldest sister's 100th birthday, March 13. It is rather unusual that five 'old' people are still living.
All of my siblings were born on a farm southwest of Oxford, Kan. In the back row are, from left, LoRee Goodrum, of Mayfield, Kan., and Gladys Armstrong and myself, of Wellington, Kan. In the front row are Margaret Evans, 100, and Leslie A. Brown, both of Wellington.
New graduate - In this photograph, our youngest grandson, Lucas Holdread, holds his nephew Bryce while his niece Savannah hugs him. Holdread, 19, had just graduated from Marine training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot at San Diego, Calif., May 13. Lucas had 10 days at home, and he is now back in infantry training at Camp Pendleton in California.