Time Out: Jennifer Takes a Stand

A very important event took place 30 years ago this Sunday. Jennifer Campbell Hughes was born. In honor of her birthday I will share with you a "new" Jennifer story I'll title "Jennifer Takes a Stand".

It was the night of the Raytown South Middle School Orchestra Concert. All of the Orchestras from middle school would be playing, including the 4th Grade Orchestra. Jennifer was a proud member of this group, came home after school and informed me that she needed a music stand. With so many students/groups performing the school did not have enough music stands for everyone. So, Jennifer and I went to School Music Service, across the street from FBC Raytown, to get her a music stand. Our budget would not allow for a sturdy, expensive Manhasset stand so we looked at the inexpensive wire stands. Jennifer made a selection and we returned home to prepare for the concert.

Miss Holiday, the Orchestra teacher, introduced the 4th Grade Orchestra and they played their first selection. We noticed that some of the students were standing. After the applause, Miss Holiday told us that students who had memorized the song were allowed to stand since they didn't need to look at the music. As the concert progressed we noticed that Jennifer continued to stand and by the time 4th Grade Orchestra was finished, Jennifer had stood for every song. She had the whole concert memorized. Did she need a music stand? You bet! Happy Birthday Jennifer. -30-

The Campbell Place, Part 2

One of the decisions in writing this blog is whether or not to write chronologically or topically. Since I'm writing about the farm, this would probably be the time to write about the years my Dad owned the farm. After Grandpa Campbell (Walt) died my Dad and Mom bought the farm. I'm not sure exactly when it was but it was after your mom and I were married.
While I was in college Dad began a venture of raising cattle. He raised Herefords which are the red cow with a white face. He began with five cows and kept them on land he rented from Frank Wright. The Wright's had lived on land behind our house, about 5 acres. They had moved out west of Lebanon but still owned the land. Today the Nazarene Church is on that property. When I was home from college Dad would call from work about 3:00 in the afternoon and want me or one of my brothers to look out the back window and see if the cows were in sight. It was kind of funny, cause he used to call us at home before he got the cows and ask how we were. Over time Dad moved the cattle to another piece of property north of Lebanon, I'm not sure why, but by then his "herd" was a little larger. He had also acquired a pickup truck with "bald" tires. I remember once that Dad drove around the field in winter while one of my brothers threw hay out the truck while I jumped up and down in the bed of the truck to give added traction so we wouldn't get stuck in the snow. Eventually he and mom bought the farm in Strafford from Grandma Campbell but she could stay there at the house if she wanted. Dad had the old barn torn down and replaced it. Seems like he kept a tractor and other farm things in it. I remember going with him one saturday in winter to check on the cows, visit Grandma and in general check on the farm. There was snow/ice in the farmyard and it seems like we spent most of our time getting the "bald" pickup truck out of the snow/ice. I think Dad finally ended up with a herd of about 20-30 cows.
-30-

The Campbell Place

I guess if you've never been to Grandpa & Grandma Campbell's farm, you're probably not sure exactly where it is or how to get there. It depends on what age you might be and what direction you were coming from. Dad, Mom and I lived in Springfield after Dad finished his service in the Marine Corps. That would make it about 1954. Our house was on Della Street that was one block north of Kearney and about 4 blocks north of Grandpa and Grandma Bear who lived on the corner of Missouri and Turner street. When going to the farm we would travel on Route 66 from Springfield, heading west on Kearney, to Strafford. In those days, Interstate 44 was in the process of being built but not yet complete. From Strafford we headed north on highway 125 until we came to what is now E Farm Road 80. I don't remember the name from back then, but remember a farm house on the right hand corner that told me this was the road. We headed east about a mile until we came to Uncle Bob and Aunt Wilmas house on the left and the Jim Dishman residence on the right side of the road opposite the lane to "the farm". The lane was about a 1/4 mile long and anyone at the house could see us coming. Dogs would bark, cousins would run out to the farmyard where cars were parked; all in all it was quite a welcome. To the east of my Grandparents farm was the farm of Uncle Bill and Aunt Lottie. Uncle Bill was Grandma's brother. Occasionally they would come for sunday gatherings but were less frequent when Aunt Lottie wasn't feeling well. If you continued east on the farm road it made a "T" with N Farm Road 243. A left turn took you to Mr. & Mrs. Rule's farm. This was a place that Dad had lived with his family when growing up. We went there once or twice and Dad showed me a rock in the front yard where he and Aunt Wilma had chiseled their initials.
Remember, Dad always said they had lived in every house in Strafford. Well, there weren't many houses in Strafford in the mid 50's, but I do remember Hokinson's General Store. Dad had gone to school with J.D. Hokinson (son) so we had occassion to visit there a little longer when we went to get any needed groceries. It was a big, old white building with a large porch, wooden floors inside and not very well lit.
When growing up Dad said he shared a bed with his two older brother, Donald and Ronald. Being the youngest brother Dad had to sleep in the middle of the bed in summer time. In the winter he slept on the outside. Of course Dad talked about walking to school but then most children from that generation did. When you look at the picture of Daisy and Dolly you notice my Dad and his brothers. Dad is in the back sitting on the white horse, Dolly. Uncle Don is in front with the dog and Uncle Ron is on Daisy.
At family gatherings on the farm everyone would refer to farms, homes, etc as "The old Dishman place" (example) It was a way everyone knew the place being talked about. Maybe someone new had bought the farm in the last 5 or 10 years and Campbell family members who had moved away still knew it as the Dishman place even though the Dishman's no longer lived there. I remember how funny I thought that was. To the best of my knowledge "the farm" is still there. A new house has replaced the one Grandpa and Grandma lived in. The old barns and out buildings are also gone, but I wonder if there are any oldtimers around Strafford who refer to it as "The Campbell" place?

Family Tree: Part 1

Walter and Maggie Campbell were the parents of seven children, one of which was my dad, James Glenn Campbell. The Senior part of his name was added when I was born as Junior. Grandpa, or Walter Barb Campbell, lived from October 23, 1895 until May 9, 1975. Grandma, Mary Magadalene West Campbell, was born July 28, 1899 and lived until December 1, 1985. She went by the name Maggie and I always thought it was short for Margaret. It wasn't until after her death and I visited her grave I discovered her real name. They are both buried in a church cemetery north of Strafford, Missouri on highway 125, just south of Fair Grove.
James Glenn Campbell was born July 24, 1931 and died August 13, 1978. Dad commented once about his middle name being Glenn. Both of his Grandfathers had the name James Franklin, Campbell and West. He was the fifth of seven children. His brothers and sisters in order are Virginia McNabb, Ailene Gray, Donald Campbell, Ronald Campbell, my Dad, Wilma Bumgarner and Barbara Westerhouse. My own children would know more about Uncle Don since he is the father of my cousin Mike. Mike and his family would come through Missouri on their way from South Dakota to visit his mom, Aunt Colean in Georgia. I think on some occassions Grandma Campbell got to be around Jennifer and Susan attended a family reunion back in 2001. Of the brothers and sisters only Aunt Virginia, Aunt Ailene and Aunt "Bobby" are still alive.
My Grandparents lived on a farm about 5 miles north of Strafford. It is the only place I knew them to live even though Dad commented they had lived in every house in Strafford. When I was a young child we lived in Springfield and Sunday afternoons were spent at the farm along with any aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. who came to visit. Grandma held court in the kitchen fixing sunday dinners that stir wonderful memories of home cooking; fried chicken, corn-on-the- cob, okra, tomatoes, rolls, blackberry cobbler and sweet tea. Grandpa always cut his corn off the cob and mixed it with sorghum and butter. After dinner cousins would play outside, men would sit under the tree, (Grandpa talked about swapping knives) and the women would clean up in the kitchen. Memories of the farm bring to mind the story of Daisy and Dolly. Daisy and Dolly were Grandpa's team of horses. Daisy was a white, almost gray horse and Dolly was black. Grandpa would always check on them while we were there. He would stand at the gate of the farm pasture and call them up. "Whooop Da-zee! Whooop Dol-lee!" Many times they were at the far end of the pasture or even in the "back-forty". His voice would resonate through the woods and in no time at all his team of horses would slowly work their way toward the barn and Grandpa. He would sometimes brush them, maybe feed them something special and tend to any scars they might have as a result of the harness rubbing their coats. Many times my cousins and I would try to imitate Grandpa's voice but the horses never paid any attention to us.
Over time Grandpa eventually traded Daisy and Dolly for a team of mules. They didn't have specific names but Grandpa would still call them up hollering "Whuuuup Mules!" Grandpa was proud of his horses and proud of his mules. I don't recall seeing him work with them that much since we were mainly around on Sunday, but he did hitch up the mules one time to take us grandchildren for a wagon ride.
When Grandpa died in 1975 Grandma had to get rid of the mules. There was no way she could take care of them. I remember Dad telling me how much it hurt Grandma and that she cried a lot when the mules were taken away. It seems those mules had been Grandpa's prize posession. -30-

Gotta Start Somewhere

In the summer of 1978 I was attending summer school at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO. LaDonna and I were living in Linn, MO at the time and both of us were teaching school, me at Linn R-2 and LaDonna at the local Catholic School. Sometime near the end of June we found out that we might be expecting our first child. At that time there were no home pregnanacy tests, etc. So one day on my drive to summer school I carried and delivered a urine specimen to a medical lab in Jefferson City. Needless to say I felt a little awkward: "No Officer, I haven't been drinking,". I delivered it to the Lab and by the time I returned home that afternoon I found out that we were indeed parents to be.
As prospective parents of the first grandchild on both sides of the family we decided not to announce our news right away and be "fussed over" for a lengthy amount of time. We decided to announce our news on LaDonna's birthday, Aug. 19, when we met my parents for a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game.
Early in August LaDonna and I served as Counselors at Dixon Baptist Association Youth Camp. Our emphasis for the week was the youth musical "Tell It Like It Is". I was the music director and we had a pretty good choir of about 30, with some drama and a musical combo of piano, guitar and drums. It was a great week, a fun performance and a good crowd attended, especially being out in the middle of nowhere.
We returned home to Linn on friday night and on Saturday my dad called to say that Mom had gone to Hot Springs, Arkansas to check on her mom (Grandma Bear). Grandma had gone to visit my aunt Anita in Hot Springs and was taken to the hospital for an anurism. Dad invited us to the annual Central Bank picnic that was being held at the Lake of the Ozarks on Sunday. We visited a little and I said that after a week of youth camp we would probably stay home and rest. We would see them next Saturday in Lebanon to go to the baseball game. On Sunday afternoon I was at a meeting at Church when LaDonna called, told Pastor Richard Hurtgen, who told me that my Dad had died. To make a long story short, we went to Lebanon, family, visitation, funeral, etc. On Saturday we told my Mom we were expecting , she would soon be a grandma and went to St. Louis for the baseball game.
The expectation of a grandchild gave mom something to look forward to and that was good. What made it even better is the fact Jennifer Suzanne Campbell was born March 1. (My moms birthday is March 5) My mom and dad always wanted a girl but had five boys, so mom got a grandaughter. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him" Romans 8:28
-30-

Why This Title?

Okay, this is the second try and this. I'll get it down eventually. So, maybe you're asking why title my blog "The Old Peanut Bag". Several years ago I typed an article via e-mail by this title reporting on Matthew's baseball games at Raytown South High School. It was a way to inform family and friends of games outcomes, especially relating to Matthews activities and performances in the game. By his senior year the article had taken on a different feel, reporting about the team and its accomplishments in addition to what Matthew was doing as part of the team.
In writing this blog I hope to cover some new ground. Primarily it will be an opportunity to share information about my Dad with my three children; Jennifer, Susan, Matthew and their families. The story will begin in 1979 and work its way back in time. Hopefully I will be able to stay regular with it and share with you lots of information, good stories and yes, humor.
Jim/James/Grandpa -30-