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Showing posts with label Kansas State Fair. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kansas State Fair. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Ah, Daddy is off drunk some where and here comes the cyclone!

I do not know how long we lived on the Ailmore place, but I do not think it was very long.  My most vivid memory was one afternoon when Jake decided to work on a  car that was in the front yard. Cars were simple back in those days and if you had any mechanical abilities at all and could think of the concept of a motor, you could be a mechanic.  He was pretty sure that the gas line was plugged so he unhooked some line and told Donna to watch the other end and he would blow through it and she should let him know if air came through.  So she had it up close to her eye and he blew and gas shot out into her eye!  Oh, Lordy, there was more catawaulling going on than you could believe!  And guess what Jake got?  You are right!  A licking!  There was talk that Donna might lose her eye sight, but I guess they washed it out with something and she was fine.
Roy Keating lived very close there to us.  He raised pigs and those things were huge!  It seems like I was told that a pig will keep growing as long as it is alive and that is why they get so big.  Does not mean that is true, just means that is what I was told.  Dad was Mr. Keating's chore man which meant when Mr. Keating was not home that dad took care of the place.  That meant I had to go and gather eggs while dad "slopped the hogs."  Side note here...back in those days farmers kept "slop buckets" which held garbage, leftover or sour milk, and anything edible except bones. The bucket was carried out to the pigs every morning.  I was scared shitless of those big pigs.  And of course there was always the tale of a farmer or his child falling in the pig pen and the pigs eating the hapless person.  That rather kept my paranoia fueled!
The floods, the bull frog, the Barthold sisters, Mr. Keatings giant pigs, coal oil lamps, and I never remember snow or being cold there, so we may not have wintered over at the Ailmore place.  I do recall my dad taking us all to the Kansas State Fair once.  Maybe not all of us, but me, Jake and probably Josephine.  I recall the ride there.  We parked and entered the grounds.  We walked down the midway with the promise from dad that we could ride the ferris wheel later, but first he needed a beer.  We were not allowed in the hall and had to set on a bench outside the door.  It was hot and dusty, but ever the dutiful father, dad finally came out.   He got us an ice cream cone for our one treat on the way to the car to head home.  I can still taste that ice cream.  It was horrible and must have been something like pineapple sherbert.  When we got home mother greeted us at the door and that man got hollered at and screamed at the rest of the night for taking those innocent babies into a den of iniquity.  When he explained that we sat outside in the hot sun, that was more fuel for the fire.  Kansas State Fair does not hold any fond memories for me!
It was a few days later and dad was once more gone, God only knew where, but we were sure he would come home "plastered"  since that was what he did.  Nickerson had no beer joints so he had to go into Hutchinson which was 11 miles away.  It was one of those hot, sultry days for which  Central Kansas is so famous.  The phone rang and Queen Josephine answered.  Very quickly she ended the conversation and turned to us.  "Mother is on her way home.  A big storm is coming.  Get the tank pumped full fast."  Jake and I ran for the back door and the pump house. The sky did look terrible.  Soon a car pulled into the drive and mother jumped out and ran for the house.  Ed Crissman followed her.  She apparently had started for home and he picked her up.  The wind was picking up and it was a sure thing that no one was going anywhere  until this was over.  Mother called us inside and just as we reached the safety of the house, the pump house collapsed.
We covered the windows with blankets in case the hail broke the windows.  We all huddled in the center of the house while the wind blew, the rain fell, and we prayed that the house did not lift up off the foundation.  I do not know how long the storm took, but it finally subsided.  Like little forest creatures we opened the door and peered outside.  Ed's car was still there, but had lots of hail damage.  The haystack was gone.  All the buildings were gone.  Trees were uprooted.  The fences were gone and the livestock wandered the yard.   Dead chickens were all over the yard.  It looked like a war zone.  Ed Crissman decided to walk home since the creek was now flooded.  And then it was night.
Dad came home sometime in the night.  It was a somber little group of people that stood in the yard the next morning wondering where to begin.  There seemed to be no place to start.  We had caught the livestock and tied them  to a fence post where they stayed the night.  But now what?  The roof of the house was not going to keep out the next rain.  And there was my father.  The pillar of the family.  Hung over, sick, sorry, and all the other things that they sing about in country western songs.  And my mother, a beaten woman.  She had worked all her life to feed a nest full of kids and then  lost the nest.  It was devastating.  She still had the kids.  We still needed to eat and we had to have a roof over our heads.  And she looked at my father, and all she said was "Well, Rueben, I hope you have an idea, because I am done."
I found an article that mother had saved from the paper back then.  They called it a cyclone.  Cyclone is also described as a tornado.  I didn't figure it made a lot of difference what it was called, the results were the same.  Mother could have given up at that point and no one would have faulted her.  But I have found since then that there is really nothing to give up to.  There have been times in my life when I have felt like there just was not enough gumption left in  me to take that next step.  When I looked at my kids and thought this was as far as I could go.  When that happened I thought back to that ragged bunch standing in that yard and heard my mother say, "Well, Rueben...." I had no Rueben, but I did have a mother and my mother had a daughter that learned her lessons of survial from a very strong woman.  A woman who knew how to wring every bit of life out of the worst situations.  A pioneer woman who did not give up and stuck with her husband and knew when to tell him it was his turn and he knew she meant it.
Next time I show up here we are going to be on the move again!!  Get ready world, the Bartholomew family is about to be land owners!

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Skaets Steak Shop, Hutchinson, Kansas and Tom devouring the Moon Burger!

No trip back east is ever complete without a stop at Skaet's Steak Shop.  It is a family tradition for many people and especially for me!  When I was 17 years old, I decided to strike out on my own since I was almost an adult.  This entailed a job and I lucked into a very good job.  Now I look back and think perhaps it was not the brilliant future I first thought it to be, but at that time, washing dishes at Skaet's Steak Shop was my pinnacle to success!  I will not go into all the history of this place at this time only tell you that at that time it was owned by Norman Duschene and his wife.

Skaet's Steak Shop is located on the front entrance to the Kansas State Fair grounds in Hutchinson, Kansas at 23rd and Main.  This is not the original store front.  When I worked there the windows were from ceiling to floor and you could literally freeze to death waiting for your food.  That is a lie!  But you could really feel the cold.  Over the years it has been remodeled by various owners until it stands as you see it today.  It is currently owned by Karen Leshure and Donna Bartholomew, and therein lies my story.  You see, Donna is my sister!  Yes, I was originally Louella Bartholomew.  Ah, now there is also another story.  But I digress.  This is about Skaet's Steak Shop and the conception of The Moon Burger!

Enter in the front door of Skaet's Steak Shop and you are greeted by the sight of the counter and the grill.  All the food is cooked right in front of the customers, which has always been a draw.  No wondering what goes on here that you don't see because you see it all.  Karen is a stickler for cleanliness and the crew does their best to please her.

Now see that guy right there in the shirt that says "Tan Naked"?  In all fairness I did not notice him until just this moment.  He does have a very good idea there, although I am a pansy little white girl and was taught early in life to keep my clothes on unless in the act of procreating, which I have done very prolifically and there I digress again!  What I am trying to tell you is to look at the back splash on that grill!  Man could shave in that!

Now here is what we came to see!  Many years ago, when man first walked on the moon, it was decided that it should be commemorated some how by Skaet's.  Thus was born the mighty Moon Burger!  The Moon Burger is now a tradition in Hutchinson, Kansas at the Steak Shop.  They are known for good lean meat in their hamburgers and this is no exception.  First comes the lightly toasted bun, then the lean hamburger patty, a slice of premium cheese, then not one, but 2 slices of crisp bacon, followed by lettuce, onion, tomato and pickles, and the final generous dollop of mayonnaise.  Perfection in a bun!  The plate is then garnished with an overly generous serving of french fries or hash browns, your choice.


The Moon Burger is such a tradition that when my brother in law, Tommy Shea passed  (God only remembers how many years ago.) the entourage to the cemetery had to stop in front of Skaet's Steak Shop for a moment of silence.  And you know what?  I think I actually heard Tommy sigh!


Now, see that guy eating that Moon Burger or rather, wanting to eat that Moon Burger?  Notice the strong jaw line as he poses with the burger right there, ready to be devoured.  Notice the glint in his eye as he is determined not to bite until Aunt Lou says it is alright.  What a fine picture or restraint! 

That is my nephew, Tom Bartholomew.  He is Donna Bartholomew's only son.  His wife, Alina, is over on my left holding the new 3 day old baby who is Donna's only grand daughter.  Again, I digress.  What I want to tell you is I took many pictures of this Moon Burger on it's way to Tommy's mouth so I could show it to my son, who was heart broken that I did not bring him back a Moon Burger!  See, you can get Bacon Cheeseburgers all over the country, but only at Skaet's Steak Shop can you partake of the Moon Burger.

If you ever get down in the vicinity of Hutchinson, Kansas, be sure to stop in and see Karen and Donna. Tell them Lou sent you and I am sure someone will actually acknowledge that they know me or at least heard of me at some time or another.  I make it down a couple times a year.  Maybe I could meet up with you there!!

Another year down the tubes!

Counting today, there are only 5 days left in this year.    Momma nailed it when she said "When you are over the hill you pick up speed...