Flu Shot Clinic will be held on Tuesday, 10/21 at City Hall from 2-4 PM.
Insurance and Medicare accepted.
Shots available for all ages.
cover photo – Blake Patterson
Chronicles of The Farm Woman: Henrietta Becker
A local news item states that neighboring farm girl, Henrietta Becker, called her parents from New York City on New Year’s eve and that her voice came in clear on the party line.
Long distance tele-phone calls are common place today. Every day con-nections are made from the east coast to the west coast, to the north and south. In the course of minutes one may be connected with London or Helsinki. But it is still rare enough to be news when a call comes through from Manhattan Island on the party line.
The story behind this telephone call may well be observed and read by all who say there is no oppor-tunity for youth today.
This neighbor girl is an intern in dietetics in Presbyterian Hospital and Medical Center and she got there entirely by her own efforts in the depression thirties. The way has not been easy but the point is she is there and will complete her training in a few months.
This girl taught in country schools for eight years. She hesitated to go to the university because she thought she didn’t have money enough. She decided to try. She found employ-ment, did without many things but earned her bachelor’s degree. With even less money she set out for Iowa State to work toward a master’s degree. While there the dormitory in which she lived, burned. It burned on a rainy Saturday night and the only things she saved were an old dress and shoes and a raincoat. From this experience she learned that it takes grace to receive as well as to give. No one had ever given her anything before, or rather she had never before been placed in a position of needing to depend on someone else for a dry pair of hose and a toothbrush. It was a struggle, she was tempted to come home. It would have been so much easier. Instead she acquired this added grace and finished the term.
The offer of internship in Presbyterian came. She had little money and few clothes, but she accepted the offer. After she had been there a few months a vacancy occurred on the staff and she was asked to supply. For five months she was on the payroll and that was a godsend. She is on the last lap now.
The experiences along the way have been as valuable to this country girl as her academic training. She has pioneered as did her ancestors when they came to this new land from the old country. She has worked hard and has learned to trust in the morrow.
Of course we are proud of Henrietta. She is our neighbor. But what she has done, others with health and determination and a vast capacity for work, can do. Don’t tell us there is no opportunity for youth today.
Dog Food
Tico writes a column for the Citizen’s Gazette of Burnett, Texas, which is amazing because judging by his picture in the paper, Tico is a dog. Tico says there are 100,000 cases of pet poisoning per year and these aren’t homicides… the pets are offing themselves by eating dangerous foods. Tico found a list on the Internet from a web site called Embrace that listed the top 20 foods that dogs, like Tico, shouldn’t eat. They included such things as sugar, macadamia nuts, coffee and corn cobs.
Of all my dogs I’ve ever owned not one had a Starbucks habit or had any use for corn cobs. I only had one dog killed by food and that’s the one who got creamed by a bull while he was gnawing on an old cow chip. But that’s hardly a poisoning. I did know a Lab who was owned by the looniest lady on earth who overdosed on a bag of chocolate eclairs once but it was an attempted suicide. If I had to live with that crazy woman I’d have killed myself too.
I am a firm believer that animals know what’s best for them. The only species that doesn’t apply to is the dog. They are picky eaters… anything they can pick up they will eat. They’ll eat anything with great gusto and enthusiasm! Now that we aren’t killing horses anymore for dog food, the dogs have had to find alternative foodstuffs; like lizards, spiders, rats, mice, bobcats and mountain lions. Although eating cats is VERY dangerous. My Grandma’s Chihuahua named Chiquita tried to eat one of Grandma’s beloved cats and let me tell you, Grandma squashed Chiquita like a banana.
I don’t want to make light of a serious subject so as a public service I’d like to name the rest of the foods dogs shouldn’t eat. First on the list is chocolate. I feel bad about this because we used to feed Tootsie Rolls to a Beagle as a kid and it was actually pretty hilarious. But it didn’t die from eating chocolate. It was a Buick. A 1964 model I believe.
The number two food poison for dogs is raisins and they can cause kidney failure in dogs, although I’m sure they wouldn’t kill the wolves who’ve been eating your lambs and calves. (Wink, wink.)
Mushrooms are next on the list which explains the times you called your dog and it didn’t come. He or she was probably having a psychedelic experience and didn’t want to interrupt. For some dogs that’s the only trip they’ll ever get to take. A sweetener called xylitol is fourth on the list followed by chewing gum, vitamins, and, get this, bones. I don’t agree with the last item because when my wife worked at the grocery store she would frequently bring home big bones for our dog Aussie, and her coat never looked shinier. Although I should warn owners of little dogs, if your dog does choke on a ham hock you may have to perform the ham-lick maneuver.
I’ve already mentioned macadamias, sugar, bread, coffee and corn cobs but we can also add cookie dough and cake, especially birthday cake for any dog past its 20th birthday. A 20 year old dog is living on borrowed time and isn’t going to last much longer anyway, cake or no cake.
I believe the person who came up with this list was a vegetarian because #17 is meat and #18 is rawhide. Are you kidding me? Perhaps they were referring to the lesser meats such as sushi, cod, halibut and salmon (#19 on the list.) They did say that lean meat is okay if it is properly cooked. Heck, I can’t even get that in my house so what chance does a dog have? Dogs are drinking out of the toilet and eating fresh cow pies and the veg heads are worried about a little gristle. What do they think dogs ate before humans started feeding them pureed peas?
Last on the list is avocados. Our dogs Misty and Cindy wouldn’t come within 100 yards of an avocado tree because the overripe ones would splat on the ground and no dog wants it to say on its obituary that it was killed by an avocado.
I think that comes to 19 dangerous foods and I bet you’re wondering, what did I leave off? It was #9: chicken. We had a dog once that ate the neighbors hens and the chicken didn’t kill it. The neighbor did. Take it from my dead dog, eating too much chicken can be deadly. Eat beef.
wwwLeePittsbooks.com
I remember: What we can “discover” about America
By Doris Schroeder
Although there is some discrepancy about the national “Columbus” Day, it does seem it is good to remember all the “good things” about America that each of us have encountered.
Contrary to those who say America is not as good as some say it is, I am proud to be an American and truly appreciate the fact that my ancestors came from other countries in the right way and did their best to get used to and operate in this land where we have the right and freedom to do so. It bothers me when people run our country down and how they advocate to take away our rights to freedom.
I have read about some of the difficulties my great grandparents had as they made the trip to America. It is hard to imagine coming to a foreign land where you cannot understand the language or laws, where the land is still undeveloped and you absolutely start from scratch. They came and looked at the land between Hutch and Buhler and it was still about all in prairie grass, just after the great Grasshopper Plague of 1874. Yet they persevered until they got it right. This they did, even though they lost two sons on the way over to America.
Later, my great grandfather became a minister and an evangelist. His oldest son George, my grandfather, enjoyed the earlier days having the freedom to start many different businesses around Kansas and even a short while in California. As I look back, he must have been like a child in a candy store, enjoying the fact that he had the freedom to do that without too much red tape.
My Dad was the same way. He had enjoyed trying different occupation, school teacher, some preaching, farmer, book keeper, defense plant worker, filling station owner, and other things along the way. He even almost got his college degree through different times of schooling.
Through it all, each one of them loved the fact they lived in America where opportunities abound. They especially appreciated the fact they could worship the one true living God in the way they saw fit. As the years went by they could study the Bible as much as they wanted and learned many new truths from their study. I know I never heard any of them lament the fact they lived in America.
Did they have hardships? You better believe it. First of all, my parents lost all the money they had painstakingly saved when the banks crashed. This was from both teaching school. Then my Dad wanted to attend a seminary but when they got there, he was told that at 32, he was too old. My parents lost their oldest daughter (just out of kindergarten) when a neighbor boy had carried in his Dad’s hunting gun for him and played like he was going to shoot. Only the gun was still loaded! Since I , at three and a half, observed the whole thing, it started my mind working at an early age. I remember wondering about some of the important things of life. Still, I never heard my parents make any unkind remarks about the one who shot her but they took it as something God would work out.
My Dad would take me to the Hutch Library in the evening after work sometimes and read the Hutch newspaper, which he really enjoyed. I would quietly walk around and look at pictures since I hadn’t yet learned to read.
Both sets of grandparents could barely speak English but they did their best.
I know I felt their love of living in America. They knew, however, from past experience what it was like where you couldn’t do as you believed. They embraced life in their own way. My grandmothers prayed with such compassion to God every day in the German language. When I overheard them I knew they were interceding with their whole heart.
In later years, John and I were in the carpet business and were privileged to go on trips to other countries with other carpet dealers. When we landed back in Kansas City, the first thing we would do was go out and buy a bag of McDonald Hamburgers and we felt like kissing the ground because we were back in the good ole USA!
It hurts to see people take these freedoms for granted, for it is a privilege only we who live in America have. We do have the liberty to worship who and how we please because of our country. We can all discover the good things about America and our right to worship the one true living God!
Doris welcomes your thinking and can be reached at [email protected]
Blueberry apple cobbler with almond topping
It?s almost apple season! Research at Cornell University has brought forth two new apple varieties. They are called SnapDragon and RubyFrost. The SnapDragon apple has a crispy texture and sweet flavor which is great for snacking. The crisp juicy flavor comes from the Honeycrisp variety. It is ready in early September with a long storage life. The RubyFrost apple ripens in late fall. It is like an Empire or Granny Smith apple. It boasts a pretty skin and pleasant balance of sugar and acid that is refreshing.
The new varieties should be in stores by 2015.
So watch for them next year.
Here is a great apple dessert from our winner of the Champion Pie Tart Fruit Dessert, Marrissa Hurst. She is from Burrton and a member of the Lucky 13 4-H Club.
Blueberry Apple Cobbler with Almond Topping
2/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
5 cups blueberries
1 1/4 cups shredded apples
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Biscuit Topping
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold butter cubed
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 teapoon vanilla
Almond Crumble
1/2 cup sliced almonds, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
In a large bowl combine sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the blueberries, apples, and lemon juice. Toss to coat. Transfer to 2 8×8 baking dishes.
For biscuit topping, in a small bowl, combine the almonds, flour, and sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly. Whisk the cream, yogurt, and vanilla, stir into flour mixture just until moistened. Drop by spoonfuls over fruit.
For the almond crumble, in another bowl, combine the almonds, flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over top.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until filling is bubbly and topping is golden brown. Cool on wire rack for 30 minutes before serving.
By: Susan Jackson
