What were your favorite toys as a child?

I can think of several. My favorite toy was a metal pony cart, which had one shaft broken off. I would use a string and put in a plastic pony so I could push it around in my play area. But my favorite toy was a real pony, which my father borrowed from a neighbor. I was allowed to ride it, and I did - alot. I usually used the pony to go and fetch the cows. But I was stopped from using that pony so much because one day, while running as fast as a pony could run, he stopped and turned 90 degrees into the opening for a gate. But I kept going forward and landed on my shoulder and face and got scratched up. My mother was not very happy about it. It was a good lesson and I had many more enjoyable times with that pony. The biggest problem I had with that pony was that my best friend who was an amish boy who lived next door was envious of my having a pony and he did not. He asked his parents to speak to my father to see if he could have it to play with on certain days, and my father agreed. That caused considerable contention in our frinedship. He was an only child and I was one of eight. I remained friends with that young man and the last time I saw him he was about 30 years old, living on Rt 120 with his family north of Shipshewana.

Which sports did you play in high school?

In my freshman year of high school, the coach said to all the boys, you’ve got to get a physical by a doctor, and get it signed by your parents. I knew that my parents would not allow me to join a sports team, so i told my coach that they had said no. He said, well we need a signed certificate from your parents. I asked my pearents why they would not allow me to play. My mother said it was immoral for me to paly in shorts where all the people are watching. My father said, I need you to come home and help with the farm chores. We lived one mile from the school, if you ran diagonally across the fields, and that is what I decided to do. I made up my mind that I was going to disobey my parents. i knew how to write my father’s signature, so i signed his signature and nothing bad happened, so i did it all four years of high school.

My name appeared in the paper as a basketball player for Shipshewana high school, and I was severely reprimanded by my parents and they inquired how that happened. I knew I needed help, so I went to my high principal who was Perry j. Miller. I went to him because he was a member of our church. One of my best friends, Terry Yoder, went to that church and his father also approached my father about letting me play because we played well together and i could help the team. The coach’s arguments were, i was the tallest and maybe the strongest boy in my classs and he need someone like that to play center on the basketball team. My parents did not really like the idea at all, but with other adults helping me, I was allowed to play.

(I was the last child, my other brother was four years older so when they left i was the only helper. My older brothers had not been allowed to play either.)

We had a good team at our high school. three of us from my class, Doug Nelson, Terry Yoder, and myself played all of our sophomore, junior and senior year on the varsity. During four years in high school we won the county championship in basketball two times and were runners up two times. I also played varsity softball and ran track for the high school.

Farms Can Be Dangerous Places

I was the youngest child which had 4 boys and 4 girls in it. Being the youngest had both some advantages and some disadvantages. All of my siblings had the upper hand when it came to competing for position or posession of most things like getting food or getting to ride the bicycle, etc. However my mother was a bit of a protector at certain times. She also was the most demanding as to doing chores or not being in the way of activities which were required to be performed on our or anybodies farm. Our farm was located near Shipshewana, Indiana. It resided in between The village of Shipshwana and Shipshewana Lake. In the summers this mile was a severe temptation to my self and I’m sure my sibilings because activities such as cultivating corn with horse drawn cultivators was rather quiet. This allowed us to hear the crowd at the beaches to be heard on all nice days. This situation occurred when we were shocking oats, wheat or rye. To make it worse some of my friends would ride their bikes past our farm while we were working with big smiles on their faces knowing I could not go with them. I asked my parents if I could go to the lake for a swim after evening chores. NO WAY! The people at the lake are town kids and worse many were strangers. I knew argueing was futile but I did find some ways to go. The first thing I did was watch my older siblings. I learned how to climb up the trellis to the second floor window. Go barefooted up the stairs. I devised some ways to find my riding horse in a dark pasture by tempting him with an ear of corn, etc. I spent many evenings riding horeback on the gravel roads in our neighborhood. I discovered a well trained saddle horse was a bigger attraction to some young ladies than an expensive car.

Our family farm was unique in that my father always had I or 2 Stallions in a special breeding barn which were used a great deal by the Amish that lived in our neighborhood. These horese, usually a Standardbred which was too old to race anymore were kept for the Amish. They enjoyed getting these lively colts to pull their buggies a little faster than their neighbor. (Remember the movie Friendly Persuasion)

My father always had a registered Belgian Stallions as well. Better blood lines enable their horses to pull farm machinery faster and longer. I rember one stallion my father brought home from an auction. This horse was called Govenor. After the Second World war 10 men put together a syndicate to buy the reigning Dutch Belgian Show Champion. They shipped him to NY on a boat. He apparantly was well cared for, or maybe pampered, Because he put on his body an extra 500 lbs. He was put in a breeding barn, but could not get any mares PG. Subsquently he was sold and a second group tried the same, no PGS. My father bought him with same results. So my dad in anger decided to teach this horse to work in the fields in order to eat like he liked to. After 9 mo. and a loss of 600 lbs. he tried him again in the breeding shed. He successfully impregnated 12 mares that season. Word got out and my dad made a nice profit on him. These Stallions were all housed in the same barn and therefore were not friends. I was at that time in upper middle school and not asked to handle them. One of the difficulties was the fact we did not have drinking water in this Stallion barn. So we would allow the horses to run across the road to the large watering tank at least one time a day. I was supposedly on our house front lawn behind a 2 ft. hedge. I remember my mother yelling at me to get back. But sometimes these animals would not go where they were supposed to go. My brother Howard (8yrs older) would tease the Standardbred by putting a mickey mouse on his withers. The stud would rear up and try to get away. My Brother had a very strong Leather and steel lead and could usually control him. On this day I was watching from about 25 ft. away, behind the Shrubbery when the horse reared into my brother with his shoulder knocking him down The horse took a bite out of his rear picking him up and shaking him like a dog would shake a rat or a snake. I of course ran yelling for help. About 4 people came running getting the attention of the horse so he dropped him in the dirt. Fortunately my bro had on bluejeans so it did not sever very deep. After the Doctor put in a few stiches in my Brother bottom, my father’s comment was It serves him Right. Lesson Learned: Don’t tease the animals.

On another day when everyone except my mother and I were home I noticed the Belgian Stallion chasing the Standardbred stallion around the ouside of barn in this 3 acre paddock. The Standardbred could outmanuever The heavier Belgian. But it took my brother 20 minutes to arrive. Anyway because of fatigue or missjudging a turn the standardbred caught his front foot in the wire fence and went down. He was badly stomped. The vet came and put him a sling but he died in 2 days. In spite of my mothers concerns I became a competent rider. Unfortunately, not many in my family enjoy horses as I did.

Sports Post High School

Terry Yoder and myself were members of the Forks Mennonite church. we both had good grades and played ball well together. roman Gingerich, the Athletic Director at Goshen College, was aware of us, because he came to watch us play one time and talked to us about coming to Goshen College and playing there. This was a hardship for my dad to provide tuition, and in those days scholarships were not offered. I was fortunate in that Ora A Yoder, a teacher in our high school and a local business man offered me a $300 loan (I had to borrow the additional $300 from the bank) to make it thorugh my freshamn year. tuition was always a problem. I worked every summer, largely in house construction jobs to earn as much as I could to keep the borrowing at a minimum. At the same time, Leland Weldy, from Wakarusa High School, was given an invitation to go play basketball at Ball State University. His father said he would not pay any tuition to any college that was not a Mennonite College. Therefore, Leland came to Goshen College and he and Terry and myself were the nucleus of the Goshen College varsity basketball team for four years. Terry had a 19 point per game average for four year, Leland had a 22 point average. (My biggest contribution was rebounding and defense.) Leland and I played a double post a lot of the time. Our main scheme of basketball was Indiana fast break. I would get the rebound and outlet it to Terry. If you got the ball anywhere near him, he would catch it. I could always throw it to someboday at the half court line. One year there was a freshman there who was good enough to be one of the five starting players. He realized that this fast break basketball suited him very well, because he loved to make layups, but he did very little in the way of defense or rebounding. we discussed this with him, but he didn’t hear us. So one game it was decided by the other four starters, that we would not be able to see him. Although, we were ahead, the coach was fed up and called a time out and asked us what the problem was. And we told him. He doesn’t help on the total game. We went back to play and he continued to look for the outlet pass to make an easy basket. Soon,the coach subbed him out and miraculously the fast breaks began to work again. End of story.

Goshen College was not part of any conference so there was not tournament at the end of the season. this upset some of the players, so we found and industrial league in south Bend and entered their tournament. There were some good players in that tournament: Bob Leonard, a guard at Indiana University for four years, and Karl McNulty a 6’ 7” forward who played for Purdue three years. I had the privilege of trying to stop this player. He was both too tall and too fast for me to be efficient against him. Needless to say, his team put us out of the tournament. The person I remember the best from this tournamtn was a high school graduate from South Bend high School with a scholarship to IU. He was only 6‘4” but could leap very well. I had the task of guarding him also. he had the nasty habit of putting his hand on my shoulder to give himself an additional lift. I warned him after the second time to not do that again, but he did not listen. So, the next time, I did not jump, and when he came down, he met my elbow pretty deeply into his belly. End of problem. Miraculously, I won the good sportsmanship award for this tournament.

When in Kenya, in 1964, we persuaded a French highway crew to build us a 60 by 20 foot highway on our basketball court, so that it was no longer grass. this provided the best court in Kenya. We played basketball tennis, and volleyball on it. The country of Kenya held an annual basketball torunament in Kijabi Secondary School which was 30 miles north of Nairobi. After asking our headmaster for the use of our Landrover to go there, we started to put together a team. Since it was at my school, and my court, i was the gamesmaster at Chavakali shcool, I begame the captain, the coach and the point guard for the team. But I had help. Bob Maxon was a recruit for Duke Uiversity but he never played for Duke because a car accident broke his leg. Another player was named Henry Hamburger, a jewish boy who learned his basketball on the streets of New york City. He was 6‘2” and very quick. The three of us all over 6 foot made a formidable rebounding trio. The rest of the team were some older teachers, a 16 year old boy, and several of my students who i had taught to run if we get the rebound and expect the ball to make a layup. We won the tournament, beating the American Embassy in the finals. The kenya Army team, which had several large Scandinavian players contacted me several weeks after the tournament asking if they could come to our shcool and scrimmage against our team. again, consulting our Quaker Headmaster, and getting his permission, because they were coming fully equipped to camp and Bivouac on our soccer field. We scrimmaged and defeated them three times. But they went away smiling.

Our team was contacted by the Kenya national Basketball Team. they challenged us to a game in Kisumu. The organizers developed a basketball pitch made out of muram, which is mostly sand and red clay. We were unable to defeat this group of young men. they were tall, and jumped very high and ran very fast. Most of them were from the Kalenji Tribe, who were know for their running abilities. The attached picture shows myself and the mayor being introduced to both team. We had one difficulty in that not everybody we had played with before were still in the area. Therefore, we had to use other players who were not as good.

How did the two of you meet? How did Ralph propose to Carol?

Carol tells the story:

Ralph was teaching in New Carlisle, IN and looking for a church. He eventually found 1st South Bend Church of the Brethren. where Carol attended. We had a young adult Sunday School class. We did some fun things with other young adults in the Northern Indiana Church of the Brethren area. Early in the fall we had a roller skating party some place several miles away — I think Syracuse or New Paris. Ralph invited me to go home with him. (It’s a hidden piece of information that I made sure I went to the skating party with someone else doing the driving.) That was our first date and we did several things in the South Bend/Mishawaka area after that. I remember going to some high school basketball games with him. I also remember going with him to watch him play in a YMCA league game. My comment was “you play rough!” High school kids are not allowed to be that rough. I had gone to a lot of high school games from the time I was in elementary school. ( Dad sold tickets for Mishawaka High School basketball games just as he did football games. The Mishawaka Cavemen played the South Bend Schools as well others in the area. Central High School was one of the well known schools in the area and had done very well in basketball, So Ralph and I had some common basketball experiences to talk about. He started coming to South Bend Ch of the B and we dated regularly, I think it was on Valentines day that he actually proposed. He came to see me pretty late in the evening and I was somewhat upset — thinking he was not coming at all. All was forgiven when he showed up. (He had some excuse for where he had been.) We decided an engagement ring was not necessary. I think he formally asked my dad to permission to marry me. We did not announce anything publicly for a couple of months. Another teacher at Twin Branch where I was teaching at the time was dating someone regularly and expected to get married the next year. That relationship fell apart and I felt bad for her and tried not to talk too much about my plans.

Ralph adds:

I would only add to this story that I am six ft. one inch and Carol is only 5 ft. 2 inches tall. I weigh about twice as much as she does. Although she aggressively set up this social encounter on roller skates that evening, When it came time to skate, my size and athletic experience allowed me to take charge of the skating. We both had a great time.

Characters and Events We Observed While in Kenya (1960's)

Here are some characters and events from our time in Africa:

What is your favorite Christmas song and why?

I like the Carol “Silent Night”. I learned it in SS when I was 8 years old. I have sung it many times serenading older people at Christmas time. I can recall three different occasions it left an impression on me. As the story goes during WWI the Germans and the Allied troops stopped shooting on a Chtistmas Eve and sang christmas Carols for an hour. The first one Sung was ” Silent Night” who’s tune was universal throughout much of the world. The second time was at Ijogi, Kenya at an Early Christmas party at the Catholic nuns house a few days before dismissing for Christmas vacation. The Mother Superior called for the singing of Carols during our party time. The First Song was Silent Night. I sang a learned Bass In a group of 13. The other men were 2 catholic priests, One lutheran and one Methodist Man. At the end of this Beautiful Carol all was silent and I was Quizzed about singing Acappela Bass. I explained We sang Acappela with all our hymns. As my voice changed I learned to sing Bass in all our religious Songs. The third occassion I recall attending a TAP Retreat in Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania. Someone suggested we visit this Island just 30 Miles East of DAR in the Indian Ocean. One lady, a Canadian by the Name of Mary Groh hired an Ararabian Dhow to get there. The rest of us flew 30 miles over the water. Four things I remember: 1. The entire Inland smelled of Cloves. 2. I was impressed with men who climbed the coconut trees using only a belt in climbing. 3. The sharp ornamental Decorations on all large doors with kept the elephants from pushing them in to eat whatever they found. 4. We 13 bought our evening meal in a bar-restaurant. When finished eating someone suggested we sing Christmas Carols (We were at a corner table).Some of the townsfolk and tourists did not understand our 4 part harmony and applauded instead of singing. They asked us who was our sponsor. The truth was various Mennonite colleges. It was enjoyable singing.

Are you still friends with any of your friends from college? How did you get started going to Little Eden with your college friends?

Carol and I discussed what we should do for a vacation the entire family could enjoy together. This was 1971. Since we were both teaching in public school we agreed that it must be in the summertime. This was the first year since our return from Kenya 1n 1969. We agreed to attempt a weeks stay at Little eden camp in Onekama, Michigan.

The first year Carol and I rented a 4 person crank up camper. Parked it beside a creek and proceeded to let the mosquitos bite our children. Fortunately there was a new family camp week being formed. The doctors in camp at Little Eden rebelled at being the camp doctor in whatever week they were in. Therefore they all joined together in this new week so they could have a vacation also. Lucky for us the were some cabins available in that week for the next year which we quickly signed up for. This started a fifty year L.E. experience. I personally knew many of these people. We were athletic, sang together (Little Brown Church, etc.)Played games, cards and ate sweet cherries. One of the benefits Was the programing and the security since we took care of each other including the Children. The younger people always seemed to have something going on Through the years many of these ended up in the same colleges. Sometimes the younger people even got married. Our own son-in-law was persuaded to join. He soon discovered many activities like tennis, fishing, boating, eating, Snack shop, etc that were entertaining.

Four of the starters on GC BB team (1957) were part of the camp. The brothers Lavon and Dean Mann With which I played golf with had maybe 35 total kids, grkids, in-laws. All athletic. Lee Weldy our center At GC BB stayed with us one year. Ed Yoder was also on that BB team. In Baseball he was the catcher and I his backup. We’re still friends. We are losing a few people from the past 50 years, but it was still a good Idea to join many of our friends at L.E.

This experience at Little Eden was a good one. We are planning to go again (God Willing) this year (2022). We are learning of the passing of our former friends as we age. In the Spring addition of the GC Alumni Bulletin I discovered 5 fellow classmates had passed away. They were 2 of my best friends while at GC. They were Dr. Aaron Longacre, My physics lab partner, and Leland Weldy who together we played a double Post on the GC Varsity BB team for 4 years. We used our LE experience as our annual Reunion time for our family. Some things have changed for us as I’m sure for many others. I now ride a small battery operated scooter to some. parts of the camp. Works great as long as I stay out of the sand. I can’t compete with many in my family in sporting events. Oh well. its good to see my family developing in all aspects of life.

My Last Saddle

I obtained this saddle quite by accident. A man I knew slightly came to fish in the pond behind our house. I approached him he asked if it was OK for him to fish there. Our conversation continued forward concerning a neighbor of his who wanted to sell some Standardbred race horses. Since we had three horses in a nearby pasture he thought I might know someone who would buy them. His neighbor called me to come and see them, I really had no interest in buying anything, but went at 9:00 PM to see them. They were a sight. They were housed on the bottom floor of an old tumble down barn in filthy and wet conditions. They were all underweight and quite skittish. The owner of the horses thought they would make great racehorse trotters. But I saw right away they were not suitable until they had a lot of training and gentleing. The saddle lying in the hay looked interesting. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to deal with this man however since he had a 0ne inch circular indentation above his left eye. He said he acquired it in a fight on a construction job. This made me a bit uneasy. Anyway I paid hin $10 for the saddle and took it home with me. I spent considerable elbow grease, saddle soap, replaced the girth, bought a saddle blanket and put it on the Morgan horse and away we went!

Last Sunday Tara Steiner, Denver’s wife gave a moment in Mission talk at church entitled ” Stirrup Courage”. She has started a Program using her 2 horses and a pony to help handicapped chidren gain confdence thru the act of horse care and riding. She did this partly because They adopted a handicapped child, age 3 yrs. I had lent this saddle to use about ten years ago. So she knew what it was like. I looked in Amazon what a new one like this would cost today. Somewhere between $350 &700. Since I cannot ride any more I gave it to her. She said several people are giving or loaning their horses and she needs more equipment. I hope they enjoy it.

Squirrels

This writing was inspired by a one page on squirrels written by the Editor of Sojourners Magazine by Julie Potter the Editor for the month of Jan. 2022. I did not request permission to use it. I live in a country setting and have considerable wildlife visiting my property. I was inspired to mention several Types of wildlife which we enjoy watching and sometimes interacting with. We had a Dogwood tree behind our house. As the tree was dying, I decided to make a birding station out of it. This worked quite well except it attracted many other critters as well. Among these were Opossums, skunks, racoons, squirrels, chipmunks, and a multitude of birds. We were trying to attract the colorful songbird groups. We succeeded but soon learned these species hierarchy was pretty much decided by size, strength and the temperment of its specie. Two groups which were overwhelming at time were the sparrows and finches, and the general grouping called the Blackbirds.

Thanksgiving Traditions

In 2016 we decided to invite our Chinese student boarders to our Thanksgiving dinner at our home along with our daughter and family who lived across the road. Our daughter and husband Joel both taught at Central Christain HS, at that time. The Boarding students and friends were somewhat curious about this Traditional US Holiday. On Thanksgiving we had a traditional turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy plus all the side dishes like veggiies, cranberries and desserts. Joining us were 3 Chinese and one S. Korean. We and they ate well on that occasion. The next day when discussing this event they were a bit disappointed because there was no rice in the Menu. When I asked how they would celebrate an important holiday in China, they replied: ” let us show you”. I agreed to let them prepare a meal the following Sunday for all of us. I knew I was not taking a chance because they had cooked using our kitchen before. They prepared a traditional Chinese Hotpot meal with two kinds of cooked rice with it. A hot pot meal is prepared using a special cooking utensil. It is a round stainless steel cooking Vessel which is rounded and holds about 2 gallons of fluid. One half is only water the other half is filled with Olive Oil. Both sides have electric heat controls. The Chinese students felt they needed to purchase 6 or 8 different vegetables found only at a Chinese Market. So a trip was taken to the C. M. located near the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland. Although all of these foods were named and explained to me I cannot recall any names at this time. Maybe you can recognize them in the pictures. While at the market we took time to have a meal at a nearby Chinese Restaurant. The food was different as expepected in a different Culture. The biggest impression was the foot of the chicken was considered a delicacy. In general these young men were excellent cooks. Bob Lin’s Uncle owned and operated a Hot Pot featured Restaurant in Shengeng, China.

A Day at a Dairy Farm

I landed in Physical therapy following a total hip replacement in 2017 performed at the Crystal Clinic in Akron, Oh. After two years I found myself in water therapy at the Orrville YMCA. I met Carlton Steiner in the same class at the YMCA. He was in this therapy because he had 3 minor strokes in the last 2 years. We discovered some mutual experiences in our work history. Carlton was an owner of Lowe & Young farm implement Company and I Worked in the office of Mast Lepley Silo. These two Companies were located 3 miles apart and aggressive competitors. Carlton was the major salesman of Large farm equipment and I worked in the offices of the silo C. I was responsible for answering the phone, scheduling our contruction crews each week, Keeping the parts in supply, billing finished silo projects, selling some farm vehicles like hay & silage wagons, etc. Carltom and I would go to lunch together. I supplied the transportation and he often bought the lunches and I left the tip.

His money along with some inherited farmland was used to produce a Large Dairy farm called Steinhurst Farms. They bought additional land making a total of 600 acres. They additionally rented another 600 acres in the area just to produce feed for all their stock. They improved this farm by considerable tiling. Then also demolished some older buildings replacing them with more modern dairy set up. The management of this farm is now in the hands of Carlton’s nephew Kurt. Two years ago Earic Steiner, Kurt’s Younger brother, who was a key Helper died of surgical complications. To replace him Kurt’s son was graduating from OSU with a Masters degree in Agr. Kurt has also relied on the Purina feed co. for the latest in Ag dairy scienc. Along with the farm Veternarian this team is recognized as a top of the line Dairy Operation.

After several visits to the farm I was invited to come and see the harvesting and storage of the Corn Silage.

Sports in my Elder Years

As I grew older I needed to change my sports selection. After we went to East Africa the oportunities to play the same team sports changed. Instead of playing BB I joined the Kisumu Rugby Club. There were some skill carryovers from both basketball and flag football which I had played in College. I particularly enjoy the part of the Rugby game which was called the line out. The rebounding skills in basketball were a great help. My strength was also useful in the scrum. The best part of Rugby was the 30 minute soaking in our bathtub after a vigorous match. I also enjoyed improving my game of golf. The African Golf Courses were mowed by a lawnmower pulled by 2 Oxen. I one time hit one of the cows bringing it to its knees for a few seconds. Sorry! When we arrived at the 1st tee a small group of young men would be waiting. The leader designated who would work for each golfer. The price was 10 shillings per nine holes ($1.35). We often hired two apiece. One to carry our clubs and the other as a scout 150 yds down the fairway. We always had a good second shot and never lost any balls.