Forest Grove Trailer Park Ontario. N. Y. 14519
The month of August has always held great interest for me. It was always a vacation month during school days; now it is a slack time before the heavy schedule of work starts for me in the fall. It is one of the warmest months and usually the weather is at its best.
Of special meaning to me is the fact that it is both Paul’s and my birthday. Indeed we both have the same birth date (the 13th) but in different years. I think this alone is unusual, although my parents have birthdays a day apart.
I have found some interesting facts about the month of August. It was named after the Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar. It first had 30 days, but the Emperor took one day away from February and added it to August, making 31 days.
Some famous people have been born in this month, including three Presidents: Benjamin Harrison, Herbert Hoover and L. R. Johnson. Also born in August were Napoleon, Sir Walter Scott, Bernard M. Baruch, Izaak Walton, Davy Crockett, Marshall Field and many others.
In August: Columbus set foot on the continent of North America: in 1790 the first American census was taken; in 1831 the first steam railroad went into operation; in 1806 the first coal was mined in the United States; in 1807 the Steamer Clermont sailed on the Hudson River; in 1875 the first express office was opened in Omaha, Nebraska; in 1859 oil was discovered in Titusville. Pa.; in 1896 the Alaska Gold Rush was on; in 1934 Hitler took over Germany; in 1935 Will Rogers and Wiley Post lost their lives in an airplane crash; in 1944 the allies liberated Paris and V-J day when Japan surrendered was in 1945.
The August birthstones are the Sardonyx and the Peridot. The August flowers are the Poppy and the Gladiolus, the last of which is a favorite of mine.
6 Hp. Eaton, owned and restored by Bob Randall, Milton, Ontario, Canada. This was one of about 60 gas engines at Steam-Era ’66.
Paul has finally selected and bought his new garden tractor. It is a 6 H.P. Gravely with self starter. He says ‘it is the ultimate in tractors.’ It has a sulky for riding or it can be used as a walking tractor. He has been busy drawing dirt and gravel here in the Park. In the fall, he will get the snow blower and be all set for the winter.
I am attempting to make an old fashioned long dress and sun-bonnet to wear to the Reunion. Don’t know how successful I will be as I am unable to find a pattern to suit me, so am doing a little improvising. I hope some of the other ladies will dress in costume too, as it will provide atmosphere and be in keeping with the old time ways we are re-creating.
Now is the time for ‘Gas-ups’ and ‘Steam-ups’. We have attended four in the last four weeks. It is good to meet and visit with our old friends and to make new ones. The men folk sure enjoy themselves and wish for such get-togethers every week. (That would be a little too much!) The big Annual Reunions start around here in July and August. There is much work to be done in preparation for them, but the satisfaction of a job well done makes it all worth while.
If any of you visit our Reunion, The Pioneer Gas Engine Ass’n., Inc. at Fairville, N. Y., be sure to come to headquarters, introduce yourself and sign our guest register.
I have another reciepe to share with you. It is one of Paul’s favorites and carries very well in a lunch box.
MOLASSES CAKE
Cream together ? cup sugar, 4 tablespoons shortening, 1 cup molasses. Add 2 cups sifted flour, 1 teaspoon soda, ? teaspoon salt, ? tsp. cloves, 1 tsp. cinnamon and 1 cup boiling water. Mix will be very thin. Bake in 2 layer pans or 9′ square pan about 30 min. in 350° oven.
This cake is very good made with whole wheat flour and unsulphured molasses, which may be bought at the Agway stores.
All of you have a good time at the various Reunions. I am sure that I will. Here is a thought to close with. ‘A man should always consider how much more he has than he needs, and how much more unhappy he might be than he really is.’ from GOOD OLD DAYS.
WANTED — GREAT GAMBLERS
John 19:24 ‘Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it.’
This is the story of the soldiers gambling at the foot of the cross. The robe Jesus wore was seamless and of no account divided. Lloyd Douglas made this story popular by the book called ‘The Robe’. It is the story of crude, cruel, and heartless Roman soldiers. Somebody wrote, ‘While they played with dice, He made his sacrifice.’
You can never destroy the gambling instinct in man without destroying his soul. There are no bad instincts. Just as there are no bad notes on the piano, just bad players. God has set man down in the world of uncertainty. We walk day by day in uncertainty. We must take risks to our lives. The Bible puts it, ‘Where he must live by faith.’
The Hebrews were great gamblers. By faith Abraham went out. By faith Moses chose to be an Israelite. It is the ordinary folks who make the world fit to live in. Ordinary folks taking a risk with God. It is security we want –‘Lord, make me comfortable.’ The American Revolution was a gamble. It had an ideal that benefited the world. Jesus staked his life on, and God wants us to take a risk for truth and righteousness. We think it isn’t practical to be truthful. The Communists are sure we cannot win with truth. They have adopted the lie as their great weapon. God wants folks who will gamble that the world was made by God and run by him.
Christ died for the brotherhood of man. Men gambling at the foot of the cross reveal the worst side of human nature, and Christ was staking his life on the best side of human nature. I never liked the idea that to think highly of God we must think meanly of the humans he created. Jesus believed in us. That is what the cross means. He treated every person, even Zaccheus and the sinful woman, as a great creature, The story is told of an old sailor telling the rough side of sailor life. The young men were challenged and went to the sea. Paul was challenged by Christ’s way of life. Jesus gave twelve men a cross and they changed the world. Are we cheating ourselves by not believing in Jesus? By believing too little in ourselves? GOD NEEDS GREAT GAMBLERS.
This is an old Economy gasoline engine made by Sears Roebuck Company. It is a 12 H.P. and is 300 R.P.M. It is owned by my uncle, Gerald Babcock. This picture was taken in August 1965 at Saginaw Valley Live Steam Asso.
