A LETTER TO MOTHER

In February 11, 1918, Lieutenant John Madden wrote a letter to his mother, Sarah Jane Fitzpatrick, from his training base at Camp Taylor, Kentucky (now a neighborhood near Louisville).

Dear Mother,

Got your letter yesterday and I’d begun to think you’d all forgotten to write any more. I hardly got a letter all week, 2 or 3 Sunday and Monday. I’m sorry I waited so long without writing, but if I should wait again don’t ever think I’m sick. I’m getting fatter every day. Glad to hear you’re all doing so well. Has Billy grown any? Ruth wrote to me quite a while ago, but I haven’t answered yet. I answered Grace’s letter the same day I wrote to you.

We’re certainly not doing much drilling and I haven’t been doing any. We were in quarantine up till Saturday and as I was going to that Gas and Flame School, I stayed in another barrack, [with] Frank Redolfi, Billy Andreaux, Werner Smith and some more fellows. I never had so much fun since I’ve been in the army. I’m hoping Spring is here to stay. The last week has certainly has been fine. The end here from that wetting snow and ice is 6 inches, deep and slushy as water. This is absolutely the worst place for sticky clay I ever saw.

We’re not supposed to tell away any military news any more I’ve heard; I wasn’t here when the announcement was made. Some of the boys left camp the other day, those from the Reg[iment] went to Texas. I guess they’ll go across pretty soon. None have been transferred from here to France that I knew. There is a brigade of regulars here, the 45th and 46th (Rube Voyles is in the 45th) who are leaving pretty soon for France. I guess you get as much dope about the duration of the war as we do, probably more. A fellow from Staunton got a letter from his bother in France, who said they were betting the war would be over by Feb 15th (this month). There were also bets the war would end in 60 days, by the last of March, and I guess, any way, a fellow wanted to bet. There’s no use figuring on the end, I think, it’s like waiting for a dead man’s shoes.

I haven’t heard from Horace yet; that kid sure writes a good letter. I got a letter the other day. Did I tell you about it? From Larry, with a letter from George Clarke enclosed. I haven’t answered it yet but I’m going to soon. Well, rather I’ll try to never wait so long again before answering your letters, I can imagine you felt worried, but after all there are worse things than going across. We won’t go any place for a long time. I believe we’ll be training camp veterans probably after all this is over. Take good care of yourself and DON”T WORRY. My love to all of you.

Your son,
John

Notes –

1. The references to being “sick” and “quarantine” John refers to is in response to the 1917-1918 Great Influenza epidemic, which killed over 43,000 American soldiers and sailors in the close confines of their training bases and ships.

2. The “Gas and Flame School” taught officers how to employ chemical weapons and flamethrowers in the offense.

3. The war didn’t end in February or March, 1918. It lasted until November 11th.

4. Shortly after this letter was sent, John Madden left Camp Taylor, and deployed to France. He served as an officer in an artillery unit until the war ended, and returned home to Gillespie in early 1919.

Novel Business Idea - Kansas

This was on NPR today. I have been to Preston. It is a typically sad, dying rural Kansas town. But it was this part of the article that caught my eye:

"...he bought the run-down bar and grill on Main Street to turn it into a mortuary and crematorium ."

I'm thinking, hey - what a unique marketing idea. Not a former bar and grill turned into a mortuary and crematorium, but rather - here ya go - a COMBINATION bar and grill and mortuary and crematorium! Imagine the possibilities.

Undertaker Hopes To Revive Kansas Town
by Carla Eckels

December 8, 2009

Ken Stanton and his family are renovating a building on Main Street in Preston, Kan., that will become the Heartland Funeral Home and Crematory.

Many small towns across rural America continue to see population declines as the farming generation dwindles and the younger generation moves to bigger cities. But one small western Kansas town is getting help from an unlikely source: an Arizona undertaker who plans to revive the dying town by catering to the dead.

'Everyone Got Quite Excited'

The tiny town of Preston, Kan., once boasted a very active Main Street with two grocery stores, a post office, a cafe, a drug store and a filling station. But now they are gone — along with the town's high school and church. In fact, only 170 people live here. Boarded-up buildings line either side of Main Street. A City Hall and senior center remain within view of two towering grain elevators.

Ken Stanton plans to change much of that. The 53-year-old mortician with a warm and easy smile has been in the funeral business for 18 years. He is no stranger to Preston. For 35 years, he and his wife, Donna, have come here to visit relatives. Donna Stanton's father dreamed of a revitalized Preston, and Ken Stanton embraced that dream.

"I saw this little town, and I saw some pictures of it back in the early 1900s and saw what it was, and believed that this town could thrive again," he says.

So a year ago, he bought the run-down bar and grill on Main Street to turn it into a mortuary and crematorium. On a recent day, Stanton and brother-in-law Mike Saldan are surveying the gutted 94-year-old brick building. The goal is to complete construction and open the facility by January.

Mayor Wayne Scott, a student in the last graduating class of Preston High School — in 1966 — acknowledges that news of an undertaker investing big time in Preston was at first met with some skepticism.

But Scott says that changed after Stanton attended a City Council meeting and started requesting permits and acquiring properties around town, including on Main Street. "We realized that it could possibly be a reality for us, and then I think everyone got quite excited," Scott says.

A Family Affair

Donna Stanton plans to work alongside her husband in the mortuary and support her son's new business: a 1950s-style restaurant to be built down the street. It's not just Ken and Donna Stanton coming here — it's more than 30 family members and friends.

"My sister from South Carolina is coming in with her husband, and she'll be staying out here; and my other sister came with me; and then, of course, my brother-in-law and my other sister is in Phoenix, so they'll end up here," Donna Stanton says.

Although some Preston residents are welcoming them here, Ken Stanton says others aren't so sure.

"I think there's a group of people that are kind of wondering, 'What are these people trying to do — come in and take over the whole place?' " he says.

Mike Snell, the longtime branch manager of the Cairo Co-Op in Preston, says he hopes the Stanton clan can jump-start the town.

"The city of Preston is just about a dead town," Snell says. "We got the co-op here and a local meat plant, and there's just not a whole lot going on in the town anymore."

Although Preston is tiny, Stanton plans to draw funeral business from a 50-mile radius. He also wants to encourage others to give small towns a second look.

"Metropolitan communities are getting so packed with people," he says. "So many people are out of work. People are starting to gravitate farther out, where housing and things are a little bit less expensive. So I think there's an opportunity for growth and things to happen in small communities and small towns, if people will just be willing to be ready for some change."

And whether Preston lives or dies may rest in part on the success of the funeral business

Book List Entry - The Americans

At yet another estate sale lately, I was rummaging through a shelf loaded with cookbooks (bad ones, unfortunately) when I spied a copy of The Americans: 50 Talks on Our Life and Times by Alistair Cooke. Quite an interesting read. Published in 1979, this was one of Cooke’s many books detailing his career spent observing life in the United States. What is interesting is that his observations were intended for a British audience (the 50 essays are transcripts of his weekly BBC radio show Letter from America). Running from 1969 through 1979, Cooke gives an interesting multi-part running commentary on the Watergate scandal, which, interestingly, he initially poo-poo’d as a tempest in a teapot ginned up by the Democrats (oh, how hindsight works!). Clearly a man of an earlier era, he takes a dim view of the youth culture of the 1960s, the decline of traditional institutions such as marriage, and the U.S. opening of relations with China (which he clearly saw as a Chinese con-job).

After reading this book, I concluded that Cooke was the Craig Ferguson of an earlier generation. He became a U.S. citizen in 1941, but unlike many naturalized citizens, never felt the need to bash neither his native Britain nor his adopted country, the US. Interestingly, he uses the term “us” in referring to people in the US, denoting that he is firmly one of them, when addressing his British audience. He was a keen observer able to see past the chaff on most issues. One thing I found surprising about the book was his willingness, in picking 50 talks out of over 500 in a ten-year period, he chose some that showed that he himself did occasionally get it wrong. Initially, he clearly liked Richard Nixon, and it wasn’t until after five years and the Watergate scandal that he clearly considered him pretty much an immoral scumbag. Among his many interesting observations on life in America, I enjoyed this one in particular:

“…American football is an open-air chess match disguised as warfare.”

Reading this book, I kept drawing mental comparisons to Craig Ferguson and his observations on life in the US and on becoming a citizen. On the whole, I think Cooke would have approved of Ferguson’s comment “If you don’t vote, you’re a moron.” In reverse, I think Ferguson would thoroughly enjoy this book. Perhaps I’ll send it to him.

Oh, final note. At the estate sale. Old book, obviously in good condition and unread. Open cover. Look at flyleaf. There it is. “Alistair Cooke”. Signed by the author. Cool.

Added bonus - Craig Ferguson's rip on Americans who don't vote. Classic. View at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdRVQ4xwwmQ

Recipe List - New Thanksgiving Turkey Idea

The original idea was on Recipezaar or something like that. I can't recall where. It doesn't matter, as the overall concept is not "recipe", but rather "process" related:

East enough. To start, Buy a turkey. Then, thaw it - one day or more.

Boil one large teapot of boiling water. Once boiled, pour boiling water over
the turkey. Frankly, it's pretty damned amazing. You can see the skin before your eyes shrinking and tightening around the carcass. What the boiling water does is tighten the outer skin on the turkey meat, trapping the meat fluid inside the skin as it broils.

I'm not a big stuffing guy. Heck, despite tradition, most people don't like or actually eat bread stuffing. So I stuffed the turkey with orange and apple slices, apricots, raisins, and plums. The sole purpose of the fruit stuffing is to add flavor to the meat, and not to serve as a separate dish (the fruit is too soft and mushy for that). Final touches - I tooth-picked six pieces of raw center-cut bacon on top of the turkey, and poured a 16 oz can of chicken broth on top of the bird while in the broiler.

After the requisite 6-7 hours, I removed the bird from the broiler, removed the bacon from the turkey (but saved for leftover dishes and sandwiches), and left the fruit stuffing to remain inside the carcass. The fruit is eventually discarded with the carcass.

Result - best turkey I've ever made. Very soft and moist, regardless of white meat or dark. This experiment was a complete success. Can't wait to do it again, when at some time turkey is on sale.

Then, straight to the table on a platter. Bottom line - best turkey I've ever made. I will NEVER again another turkey without using the "boiled water" technique. It is flawless. And delicious.

NIU - Still Bowl Watching

OK, NIU lost to Ohio. And then they lost to Central Michigan.

Fair enough. NIU is not the best team in the MAC this year. And not the second best. But after that, I'd put NIU up against all mid-major comers. They finished 7-5 overall, and are still in the hunt for a minor or at-large bowl game. While I certainly respect Notre Dame for saying in advance that, with a 6-6 record, they would turn down a bowl invitation, well - that's Notre Dame. I've got nothing against a Tier 1 school like Notre Dame (except, perhaps that they've managed to turn the entire Chicago Sun Times sports section into their local cheer section, but that's not the school's fault). Hell, NIU isn't Notre Dame, and would never deem to be. But any excuse for a couple thousand NIU alums and students to gather around, down a few Goose Islands, and eat some brats and burgers in advance of even the most insignificant college bowl game (hmm - that would be last year) would be welcome. And a damned good party. Go Red and Black!

For all those bloggers and free-thinkers who opine that, well, anything less than a BCS bowl game is somehow "unworthy" (despite that perhaps 90% of them are not alums from BCS schools), all I can say is, well, f#ck you. It's a game, dammit, not the election of the new President. There are 128 Div-1 schools. There are 32 Div-1 bowl games, which mean exactly 1/2 of all the Div 1 teams get to play one extra game a year. Why are there so many bowl games now? Easy. They make money - big TV money. To assume that it's anything other than financial is foolish.

So a bunch of alums get to travel to a new city, laugh it up with friends, and watch their favorite mid-major team get rare national TV time knowing that their school will rake in some big bucks for a small, underfunded sports program. Don't like it? Too bad. Turn the channel and watch "Desperate Housewives", loser.