May 1956

May 1

Tuesday.  Entertained Circle #2.  Twenty present.  Preacher & family came.  Served cake – banana bread sandwiches, pecan halves & coffee.

May 2

Wednesday.  Susan and I went to Rena church and helped the ladies quilt.  Clara has been wanting that for a long time.  It was fun.

I used to go with my grandmother to her quilting circle at the Christian Church in Fayetteville, AR - this would have been about 1944-5.  I would sit on the floor under the frame and watch overhead and watch the needles flash in and out as the ladies quilted.

Clara was Clara (Hays) Kilgore, my grandmother's niece.

May 3

Thursday

May 4

Friday.  Attended fellowship coffee at Methodist church.  Mrs. Dollar helped me make pigs in blankets.  66 registered and offering was $40.00.  It was certainly worth a try.

If you don't know - "pigs in a blanket" were small link sausages rolled in biscuit dough, baked and eaten as finger food.  Still working on the debt for the kitchen redo at the church.

May 5

Saturday.  Made plans for Chamber of Commerce banquet.  Borrowed tables from Methodist church.

May 6

Sunday.  Went to Fayetteville to celebrate Cy’s birthday after church.

Cy Carney - married to my granddad's sister Lettie.  His given name was actually Silas - he lived to be age 96.

May 7

Monday

Chamber of Commerce banquet.  230 places.  Gov. guest.  Cleared $137.00 to apply on Kitchen debt.

I'm assuming that was the Governor of Arkansas - that would have been Orval Faubus who was governor of Arkansas from 1955-1967 - six terms, the longest of any Arkansas Governor.

May 8

Tuesday.  Entertained circle #2 in my home.  Jessie Campbell chairman.  17 present.

May 9

Wednesday

May 10

Thursday

May 11

Friday

May 12

Saturday.  Had Mr. Jordan remove dead shrubs from around church.  Mow lawn and general clean up.  JoEllen & family came.

I was probably included - we were getting ready to move from Little Rock back to Springdale about this time.  We had come to spend Mother's Day.

May 13

Sunday.  Mothers Day.  We went to church with JoEllen, Joe and girls.  Went to Grandma’s afternoon.

May 14

Monday.  District CWF workshop at church.  Served 50₵ luncheon.  A big day and a profitable one.

Can you just imagine a lunch for 50 cents!

May 15

Tuesday.  Entertained Circle 1 in my home.  That job is finished.  Now to get to work on strawberries.  14 present.  Served nut bread sandwiches, cake & coffee.

Third time she's had a church circle meeting at her house this month....

May 16

Wednesday.  Wash Day.

May 17

Thursday.  Spent most of P.M. at Cy’s strawberry patch – Kenney, Grace & I.  Minnie bought a crate.  Nora, Maude and Grandma helped get them ready for freezer.

For many years, Mammmaw's dad had a huge strawberry patch outside of Van Buren - the whole family would gather to pick which was all done by hand then.  I tried picking strawberries one summer for pay - 7 cents a basket and a basket probably held 6 quarts or more.  Backbreaking!  I only lasted two days at that job.

May 18

Friday.  A.M. sealed the last of my strawberry preserves.  We drove to Little Rock in afternoon to spend the week end.  Last visit with McKims in L.R.

We never moved that my grandparents did not come to help.  When I was younger and living with my grandparents, Aunt Minnie & Uncle Ira always came to help.  Extra hands to pack and carry.  Of course in this case, Mom had two toddlers and we needed the help!

May 19

Saturday.  Helped JoEllen pack two barrels of dishes.  We met Joe at the airport P.M.

Back in the day, the moving companies had big sturdy round barrels about the size of oil drums for dishes - at some point they must have realized that squares/rectangles packed more efficiently.  Although round dishes packed better in those round barrels.

  

May 20

Sunday.  Kay and JoAnn the only ones to go to Sunday School.  I talked with Pauline and Aura – Both fine.

Pauline and Aura Clark - Pauline was my granddad's youngest sister and they lived in North Little Rock.  They never had any children.

May 21

Monday.  Got home from L.R. two P.M.  Had lunch in Clarksville.  Helped set up tables for Junior-Senior banquet at church.

May 22

Tuesday.  Resting and taking it easy.  Getting ready for big night tomorrow.

May 23

Wednesday.  H. S. Junior-Senior banquet.  Served 237 plates.  I was unable to help much.  Did bake rolls by the hundred.

May 24

Thursday.  Rested about all day.  Feeling quite a bit better.  Cool, cloudy, rainy day.

She never actually mentioned being sick, but obviously she had overdone helping us move and getting ready for the Banquet at church.

May 25

Friday.  Had grandma and Nora over for lunch, and work my dresses over.

May 26

Saturday.  Played pitch with Grace and Doc at night.  T.V. no good.

Grace and Doc Farmer - backyard neighbors

May 27

Sunday.  Had lunch with Grace and Doc after church.  Then took them with us to Uniontown for decoration.

They were still going to cemeteries and decorating the graves on Memorial Day - not done much anymore.

May 28

Monday.  Wash Day.  Worked on CWF records while I watched T.V.

Christian Women's Fellowship.

May 29

Tuesday.  Ironed then had my hair done.  Picked Grandma up for two day stay.  Took her with us to family night supper at church.  Guests from Rena – Clara & Donna Kay sang.  Had Bill McBride open up and oil our attic fan.

Mammaw was about the only person that ever gave Aunt Maude a break from taking care of Grandma and Grandma was her mother-in-law.  The children of Grandma, except for Maude never helped other than financial support, but of course that was necessary.  As I remember each of the living eight children contributed $10 per month to Maude and Grandma.

Clara (Hays) Kilgore & her daughter Donna Kay - all the Hays family sang.

May 30

Wednesday.  Helped Minnie wash two machines of clothes.  Got things ready to go to Springdale tomorrow to see Dr. Applegate.

Dr. Stanley Applegate was the family doctor in Springdale for all of us.  We had just moved into the house on Pleasant Street and he lived on the other corner.  He delivered my firstborn.  Obviously she was still not feeling well.

May 31

Thursday.  We went to K.M’s to spend the week end there and at Jo Ellen’s.  Made appointment with Dr. Applegate.