Carly Compass's Blog

Unfortunately, previous post Johns Hopskin University could not be verified so the information has been deleted.

Sheltering in place is our best defense. Here are some tips to stay active during the next 30 days.

This is the best time to take care of all of those projects you have been meaning to get to. Get started today!

It is important to stay active, get dressed everyday as you normally would, keeping up appearances, keeps you in the proper mindset to get things done.

Make a list of all the projects you have been meaning to get to. Once your list is complete prioritize the list in matter of importance.

If you are like most of us, you have always wondered; “if you had the time to…?” imagine the things you could get accomplished.

It is easy to get fearful and become depressed during this crisis so try and look at “the shelter in place” as an opportunity to get things done.

Challenge yourself everyday with at least ten things that you want to complete. Make a list and check off the accomplishments at the end of each day!

Sample ideas:

Stay fit, tone muscles, get in shape, build a strong body or make your body stronger!

Catch up on all those books you have been meaning to read.

Learn a new language.

Delve into that subject that you always wished you could learn more about.

Take an online course to enhance your work skills.

Learn to cook some new dishes to broaden your horizon and taste pallet. Learn about nutrition to make every meal nutritious not just delicious!

Tend to your garden.

Catch up on house repairs.

Organize your house one room per day.

Do some craft projects.

Pamper yourself, this is the perfect time to be good to yourself.

Paint, draw, read, write…whatever you do get creative.

We are very fortunate to experience this quarantine when we have so much information at our fingertips. Lets see how much we can get done in the next 30 days.

Keep me posted by commenting on this post. I’ll be checking it each and everyday.

Stay safe and lets see how we can take advantage of this situation to improve our lives.

The post #covid19 appeared first on CCWriter.

At Wildman White Water Adventure Resort!



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I’ll never forget the first time I went to Wildman White Water Ranch in 1998! It was the first time that I left my husband and four children for a weekend getaway since our marriage in 1984. A childhood friend, who belonged to a group called Parents Without Partners, invited me and a few other friends to join them on their weekend excursion.

My children were, 13, 11, 9 and 4 years-old, in 1998. I was nervous about leaving them, and considering my recent diagnosis of Systemic Sclerosis three years previously, with a prognosis of 3-5 years to live, I felt I had to stop putting off what I wanted to do in life and just start living!

A Chicago native, born and bred, I hadn’t been up to the north woods of Wisconsin in over 20 years. I used to stay at a primitive cabin on Little Lake Newton, in Athelstane, Wisconsin when I was just a kid. By primitive, I mean, it had an out house and a hand cranked water pump in the kitchen sink. Yes, there was electricity, but no indoor plumbing or heating and air conditioning. My best friend’s family owned the fifty-year-old log cabin and used it as a summer get away.

When I heard that Wildman White Water Ranch was located in Athelstane, Wisconsin, childhood memories flooded my mind. The beautiful green pine forest of the north woods beckoned me forward.

It was with great apprehension that I loaded up my van and picked up the rest of the group, consisting of three other women for our 350-mile journey north. It would become my great adventure of facing my fears.

The drive to the north woods was full of female bonding, but I was anxious about the whole trip. Concerned about leaving my children for the first time, and the physical challenge of white water rafting on the Peshtigo River, coupled with my diagnosis, of systemic scleroisis I also have, Raynaud’s Phenomena, a condition that shrinks the capillaries stopping blood flow to your hands and feet under stress or cold which if injured could lead to amputation.

I was starting to feel stressed as I realized that I had very little in common with my companions as the main topic of conversation was sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. I was primarily a mother and my life revolved around my children.

My mind kept vacilating from the cold turbulent water of the river, to my lack of experience as I had never gone white water rafting previously. My experience amounted to a few rides in a row boat. I didn’t know what to expect, but I fought to keep those negative thoughts in the background and enjoy the trip.

We arrived in the blackness of night, a canopy of stars surrounding a full moon filtered through the ancient hemlocks blowing through the summer breeze that created a lacy movement lighting the way to our cabin. We settled in the 12’X12’ cabin with two windows and two sets of bunkbeds, and went out to a local bar to have dinner. We ended up eating the only thing on the menu, frozen pizza heated in the oven.

We headed back to the ranch welcomed by people gathered around a communal bonfire. DJ introduced himself as the head honcho, wearing a ten-gallon-white-cowboy-hat, vest, levis and black leather cow-boy boots. After brief introductions, he strummed a few tunes on his acoustic guitar accompanied by his rich deep singing voice.  It was a great welcoming into the experience of the ranch, sitting by the campfire, enjoying a few songs, while staring up at the starry sky. 30 minutes later we decided that we were bushed from our long drive and settled into the bunk beds of our cabin and enjoyed a good night sleep in the cool crisp Wisconsin night air.

After a quick shower in the communal bath house we went out to breakfast and came back to receive our instructions for our white-water rafting trip. The instructor stood before us in the big barn, I caught sight of DJ standing up in the hayloft purveying the thrill seekers from on high.

The river was low that year and we were to ride single person “thrill cats”. My apprehension was mounting as I kept asking myself why I decided to take this trip? What was I thinking? I was scared, but didn’t want to let on. There is something that happens to you when you become a mother.

Mothers look at any situation and see the dangers that might possibly happen. A mother’s job is to preempt all possible dangers to protect her children. I was seeing about twenty different scenarios simultaneously, everything from freezing, drowning to amputation! There is the expression, white knuckling it, by this time my hands and feet were both white and numb from lack of circulation, fear and stress gripped me and took control of my psyche, but I forged ahead.

We put on life vests and helmets checked by the instructors for proper fit and boarded a bus with a trailer hitch holding all the red and blue thrill cats. After a ten-minute ride, we debussed with a few more instructions about how to handle the thrill cats and we were on our own, each one of us in our own thrill cat which is like an open rubber canoe or kayak. Not sure exactly how, but I found myself completely alone on the river, couldn’t see anyone ahead or behind as I paddled forward. I was in control, out there on the river, by myself being carried along by the current steering my way out of trouble.

I rode out two 5 foot falls before coming to a pocket where the water was so low I had to get out to pull the boat along. I tried to mark the journey, enjoy the scenery with thick pine forest on either side of the river as hawks and eagles flew overhead.

I was doing it! I was enjoying it and trying to mark each leg of the journey into my memory.  I journeyed through another couple of falls and reached an area about an hour later, where I saw DJ standing next to two large silver basins full of ice and cans of Miller beer.

I was never a fan of beer, didn’t like the taste, but I gladly took the beer offered and drank it down. It was the best beer I ever had in my life and I now understood the advertisement, “It’s Miller Time”!

I felt an exhilaration that I had never experienced before. I came and I conquered, not just the river, but more importantly my fears. All that worry and stress was for nothing. I carried that new realization with me for a long time afterwards, taking on new challenges knowing that I could get through things that seemed insurmountable. I had a new confidence, a strong sense of accomplishment and a new autonomy that I am capable and that I can still live and experience life to the fullest!

The following year, my husband and I took the kids to the north woods, this time meeting  with my childhood best friend’s family. We stayed at, Bublitz, a little resort across the street from Little Lake Newton.

The primitive log cabin that I stayed at in my youth was gone now, replaced by a modern cabin with plumbing and electricity.

I took my husband on the white-water rafting trip while the kids enjoyed the beach of Little Lake Newton with our friends.

This time the water was higher! We still rode the thrill cats! On this trip, I lost my oar on one of the falls and had to follow it as it floated down river until it got caught in a pocket of still water by the bank. Again, I was alone as my husband was far ahead. I kept calm and was confident that I could swim holding the boat maneuvering the huge boulders and retrieve the oar. I did it! Again, the trip was exhilarating!

Flash forward twenty years, my children are now adults, my daughter eloped to Costa Rica and I posted that adventure in a four-part series, Pura Vida.

While planning that trip, out of necessity to meet our new son in law I came across a horse ranch that provided rides along the beach at sunset with an age cut-off of 60-years-old! This realization hit me hard as my husband is now 61 and I am 55 years old, that the time for having adventures is ending. Soon we will be too old to ride the rapids, horseback ride, snorkel or go zip-lining!

I survived my original prognosis of 3-5 years by 24 years now. I did it by avoiding western medicine. Early on, I did research and learned about nutrition. I changed my diet, eating whole and non-GMO organic foods. I learn to avoid stress via meditation and breathing exercises and removed toxic people from my life. I learned to say yes to the things I wanted to do and no to obligatory things that I did not want to do. I tried to stay healthy and fit with exercise via long hikes and bike riding Chicago’s lakefront. I am by no means perfect, but I listen to my body and act accordingly with a lot of help from my chiropractor too.

When we got back from Costa Rica, I wanted to keep the momentum going. I knew that the north woods had a heavy snow fall (winter, 2018-19). And that means the waters would be higher than ever with the snow melt, so I booked a trip to Wildman Adventure Resorts, now under new management and expanded, for Memorial Day Weekend!

I was looking forward to getting back on that thrill cat and riding the rapids again! I couldn’t believe 20 years passed since our last visit and considered there was no time like the present! I could picture the resort in my mind’s eye and didn’t want to stay in bunk beds, so Dan, the booking agent and tour guide suggested the yurt!

An artist should experience everything at least once and I had never stayed in a yurt, so I booked the yurt and the white-water rafting trip for the next day. Considering the 4-6-hour drive from Chicago, I decided to visit my cousins that I met on Ancestry, that I wrote about in my Four-Part Series, Honoring Our Ancestors, October 2018, for the following four days.

On the drive-up, I didn’t feel the slightest bit of apprehension. My husband and I found the ranch without a hitch and settled into our charming yurt built above a babbling brook, with the soothing sound of gurgling water cascading beneath us.

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We met up with Dan, once we settled into the yurt. I didn’t recognize the place and couldn’t figure out which cabin I stayed in originally. One thing I knew for sure was that there were huge boulders sticking up in the middle of the river at the resort site and now I couldn’t see a single one! The water was so high! The sound of rushing water was ever present throughout the camp ground. The hemlock trees, like guardians of the land still stand. But up north in zone 2 spring is just arriving, on Memorial Day weekend the crab apple, and lilac are just starting to bloom so the weather is still chilly and the water hadn’t warmed up that much.

[image error]The Peshtigo River from Wildman White Water Adventure resort, huge boulders covered in high rushing water!



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Of course, before we built that fire we went out to dinner at the Waubee Lodge. I definitely want to book my next stay at this fine establishment.

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The next morning we drove 12 miles into the next town (the nearest location that was open) to have breakfast at the Four Seasons, a restaurant located in a repurposed church. The food was good and the service was excellent. Luckily I brought my checkbook because they don’t take credit cards. 

We went back to the ranch and spoke with Dan our tour guide a bit. He told us that we would definitely use the larger ten person+ boats because the water was too high and dangerous for the thrill cats.

My husband and I had to check out at noon. So we packed up all of our camping gear into the trunk and checked out. I tried to imagine the trip over twenty years ago when I last stayed at the ranch. The original owners of Wildman White Water Ranch had sold it about ten years ago and it was now Wildman Adventure Resort, they added another resort in Menomonie and ziplining to the resort roster.

I shared my apprehension with my husband over lunch at Jungle Jim’s Pub and Grub. My mind was reeling over putting my life in the hands of strangers! Or being responsible for the lives of strangers on this white water adventure. Mainly I was worried about the cold water, getting wet and freezing. I suggested we cancel the rafting because it was too cold, citing the dangers of the high waters. But my husband wouldn’t hear of it. He was resolved that we were going to take the trip. 

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The photos above are the interior of Jungle Jim’s Grub Hub. The owners are a family of hunters that travel the world for game. I had never seen so many different types of deers or moose so close up that you could clearly see that they have black lips. Or noticed all the different types of caribou with the only distinction being the shape of their horns. The northwoods is definitely, ATV, hunting, boating and fishing country! It is so different from the atmosphere of my town, Lombard, Illinois. That is why it makes such a great get away, in a few hours drive you have entered a different world.

[image error]ATV Country!

After lunch, we arrived back at the ranch. To my great relief, everyone was getting suited up in wetsuits provided by the ranch. I didn’t know that they were going to supply wet suits and figured I would freeze out there. Once we were all suited up and our helmets and life vests were checked, we board a bus to the launch site. 

When you are by yourself on a thrill cat, there is such a strong feeling of control. When you are riding with others you have to take a blind leap of faith and trust perfect strangers. Dan, the senior instructor gave us tips if we fell out of the boat, citing that you have to get into a sitting position of nose and toes, where your feet are out in front of you so that they don’t get caught in the rocks below. 

He explained how we need to hold on to our oars and keep our feet tucked under the seat in front of us and that we needed to sit out on the edge of the boat and paddle through the rapids so that it will help to keep us in the boat. The more he talked the more nervous I became, I actually asked him how many people fall out of the boats on these trips! I didn’t feel like he gave me a definitive answer, at least not one that gave me any comfort! I hid my fear and trepidation as best I could and started to regret my lunch of Jerk Chicken at Jungle Jim’s because it was causing a bit of indigestion.

Pictured above from the left, Dan our guide and four other riders joining us on our journey.



Setting out on our journey

I was fearful, but in this instance, I wanted to be able to keep up with my young crew. We paddled through the falls and had great success. No man over board. An experience like white water rafting keeps you right in the moment. There is no past or future worries, there is just the present! Dan was a very experienced guide and got us through it with his strick commands! The resort photographer did a great job of capturing our jouney. 

on to the next run

I am so glad to have been able to experience white water rafting in three different seasons, at three different levels. We all got through the trip unscathed and had a great time as is evident from the pictures above. 

One tip I have for you when booking your trip is to not leave the campsite without picking up your USB of the pictures from your trip, otherwise you will have a tough time retriving them afterwards. 

It was dinnertime by the time we dried off and changed clothes. I planned to meet my cousins in Three Lakes for dinner. I had miscalculated the drive time between Athelstane and Three Lakes and my husband and I didn’t want to go to bed without dinner and didn’t know if there would be anywhere to eat dinner on the way as our phone service with T-mobile was completely out in the northwoods!

We rushed over to Waubee’s Lodge to find a long line of people waiting on Friday night, so it is important to book dinner reservations in advance on Friday and weekends as there are not a lot of restaurants in the area. 

Also, in hindsight I would have booked two nights at the ranch so that we could have just relaxed after our rafting trip and not have the stress of driving late at night after such a big day.

We made it to my cousin’s house at about 9:00 p.m. which was kind of late but everything worked out in the end.

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We enjoyed the next two days going out on the largest chain of lakes in the world and visiting with some of the nicest people I have ever known, my cousins Ed and Karen and their 23 year old parrot, Midas!

Karen gave me a special gift, because I met her on Ancestry and because I started her out on her own journey, that led her to discover that she is a Daughter of the Revolutionary War (DAR), she embroidered two beautiful hand towel that I will always cherish. 

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On Monday morning we headed out to another cousins house in Minocqua, where we went to an escape room and did some antiquing in Minocqua’s adorable 140 year old downtown area.

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My cousin Sue, picture above was my guide to finding my Wisconsin roots! She is the third generation to live in her newly refurbished house on lake Minocqua and the fifth generation to live in Wisconsin. She has remained close to all her family roots and gifted me a bottle of syrup from our cousins Maple tree farm in Wisconsin, Skibbies Little Paradise.

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And so you know it is never too late to make your dreams come true we did manage to go horse back riding for my husband’s 61st birthday.

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Publishing this post was almost as daunting as white water rafting as word press updates cause everything to go into chaos. First I couldn’t update my wordpress until I updated my PHP and then I could update my PHP until I deleted out of date plugins.

All of this activity has cause me to lose social share buttons, photos and a host of other issues, so please be patient with me as I work my way through these issues in the next few month.

As a self published author, I am on my own. I don’t have an IT expert at the ready, nor can I afford one at this time. I appreciate all of you baring with me and continuing to support me through it all. 

Stay tuned for, The Ivory Tower coming out over the summer! 

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About the author:

[image error]Carly Compass has a Bachelor’s Degree in Writing and English from Elmhurst College. She is an avid reader, reviewer on Goodreads and Amazon, as well as a member in good standing of Phi Theta Kappa and Sigma Tau Delta International Honors Societies. 

Find her poetry and prose published in: The Prairie Light Review, Black Widows, Web of Poetry, and the Middle Western Voice.

Her first series, Electric, published in the fall of 2014 received critical acclaim and five star reviews across the board for all three books. 

She became a best-selling author on Amazon when Book 4 came out to the waiting arms of her readers in April of 2015. 

Electric, The Beginning Book 1 is available for a free download.  

Books 1, 2, 3 and books 4, 5 & 6, are available in a discounted combination set. All books read well as stand alone, but you’ll want to read every word and leave no page unturned. 

New in 2018: About Life, About Love, About Family, A Collection of Short Stories and coming soon, Rituals Lost, A Pagan/Wiccan tale, Books 1, 2, and 3!

Pick up your free copy today and let the world know what you think by leaving a review! 

Carly loves hearing from her readers, feel free to connect across the board on all social media.

The post White Water Rafting appeared first on CCWriter.

Last month my daughter came in for a visit from California with her little dog, Asha. 

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On a five-mile bike ride to Lombard’s downtown my daughter said, “Lombard is really starting to remind me of Stars Hollow.”

Stars Hollow is the fictional setting for the popular television series, The Gilmore Girls. Although Lombard does not have a Lorelei and Luke, we do have a cute ambience and history that I want to share with you during Lombard’s sesquicentennial/150thAnniversary and the month of May that is Lilac time here in Lombard.

[image error]Lilacia Park in full bloom during the month of May.

You might ask yourself, how did Lombard, Illinois become known as The Lilac Village?

The answer is as quaint as a Hallmark Movie, it all started with Colonel and Mrs. Plum.

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I moved to Lombard in July 1989, with my husband and three children under five years of age. We bought a starter home and figured we would stay for a year or two. The following spring I became ennamoured with all the blooming trees and spring flowers in the area. I was amazed by the: magnolias, redbuds, crabapple, pear and soon the forsythia, azalea, daffodils, hydrangas with tons of multi colored tulips and lilacs, as I drove through the area. I still find this town beautiful in spring time.

I went to the Helen Plum Memorial library and signed the children up for every class I could. That year they had a program where the children received a passport and would get a special stamp for every historical museum that we visited in DuPage county. If you filled in the whole passport by visiting every museum you got a free Sundae at the local Dairy Queen. 

I wanted to learn and teach my children all I could and soon I was hooked and came to love this little town.

 

First, a Little History

The area was originally part of the Potawatomi Native American Heritage. Frink & Walker set up a stage coach line along the Indian Boundary Line established by the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. European descendants settled the area in the 1830s. Among the first settlers were two brothers, Ralph and Morgan Babcock that settled in a grove of trees along the DuPage River. The area became known as Babcock’s Grove, located where Churchill Woods stands today, later to become Glen Ellyn to the west and Lombard to the east. Frink & Walker Stage Coach Line ran through the area from Rockford to Chicago. At this time it would take one day to travel 20 miles by horse.

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The area was very attractive because of the DuPage river, fertile farm land and timber. Sheldon a traveling primitive portraitist and wife Harriet Peck bought an 80-acre parcel of land in 1837. They built their home that still stands and is part of the Lombard Historical Society Museum at 355 Parkside. The home is part of the Network to Freedom, a list of verified stops on the underground railroad. They also opened their home to local children as the first school. To learn more, visit the museum and click here – scroll down the website to see a brief film featuring Kenneth B. Morris the 3rdGGrandson of Fredrick Douglas and 2ndGGrandson of Booker T. Washington.

[image error]Sheldon and Harriet Peck.

In 1848 the Galena and Chicago Union railroad came through the area and commercial buildings started to sprout up. Soon a Post Office, General Store and Hotel were built.

Dietirch Klusmeyer purchased land in 1857 and built the Babcock Grove House of hand-hewn limestone one foot thick. “Rumor has it,” that he built the hotel to accommodate the 1860 Republican convention held in Chicago where Abraham Lincoln would become our 16thpresident (1861 until his assassination in 1865). The Babcock house is now the oldest commercial structure still standing in Lombard. An entire history of the building can be found on the second floor landing on panels written by Brain Failing.

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Thanks to Tom and Margret Smith, who restored the building in 2012 it now holds thriving businesses and is the anchor to a burgeoning downtown area.

Steven and Dana Moreau have opened an amazing thriving restaurant, Babcocks Grove House in keeping with Lombard’s history and an intriguing cocktail lounge, The Lilac League next door. www.babcocksgrove.com

[image error][image error]East view Lilac League[image error]Original entrance bricked

The second floor holds office space and the third floor holds a Yoga Studio in the hotel’s former Ball Room. info@yogaayourvedacenter.com www.yogaayurvedacenter.com and Message Therapist. Katie Van Eynde KatieLoveslife.com

[image error]Side entrance off Park and Smith Family dedication[image error]The old ball room restored and converted into a yoga studio[image error]yoga studio[image error]Massage Therapist Katie Van Eynde[image error]Original railings from the top of the building known as the widows walk



back to the history

Although the above rumor is unsubstantiated, the railroad did bring a new crowd of people. Instead of farmers, now lawyers and business professionals working in Chicago’s downtown area were looking for locations to settle down and commute to work via the railroad.

“Josiah Lombard, a Chicago Banker, bought 227 acres of land in 1868 (for residential development) and headed a group of capitalists who registered the first plat and spearheaded the incorporation of Lombard in 1869.” Encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org. And that is how Lombard got it’s name, from Josiah Lombard the Chicago Banker and developer.

Fascinated with the telegraph and seeing the need, William Plum signed up for active duty during the civil war as part of U.S. Military Telegraph Corps at 16 years of age. After serving in the Civil War as a telegraph specialist,  William Plum attended and graduated from Yale Law. In 1867 he married Helen Maria Williams. They moved to Chicago where he hoped to practice law and, eventually settled in Lombard where they “…built a stately New England Colonial…with wide veranda, spacious entry hall and inviting open staircase…in 1869.” (lib.niu.edu Hubert E. Mogle, 1958.) on the corner of Park Avenue and Maple Street. 

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copyright © William P. Thayer

The First Church of Lombard, dedicated on May 29th1870 served as the first Library of Lombard, thanks to the collection of 3,000 books bestowed by Josiah Torrey Reade, housed in a room in the church known as the Reade Room. The belfry spire, known as Congregational Tower,  that serves as a backdrop in many of my photos, called the area to Sunday worship and alerted the volunteer fire department when fires broke.

[image error]Colonel Plum helped to build and Col. and Helen Plum faithfully attended, “…First Church Congregational tower, which has been a Village landmark for over 100 years. This was where the Plums attended church. His pew has been reserved one Sunday each year of the Lilac Festival and a large bouquet of lilacs placed in it.”By HUBERT E. MOGLE, Secretary, Lombard Park District 1958




[image error]Josiah Torrey Reade[image error]

In 1881 a prominent Doctor LeRoy, who specialized in making artificial limbs for the veterans of the civil war built an Italianate style mansion at 119 N. Main Street, which in the next century would be known as The Little Orphan Annie house!

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Soon, Victorian houses were lining Main Street. Newell Matson built a Victorian Cottage as a rental property in 1883. The Lombard Historical Society has restored it to a beautiful, pristine example of what life was like in that period at 23 West Maple Avenue.

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The town continued growing and during the 1891 election, an attorney, Ellen A Martin with a group of women demanded the right to vote, sighting that they only needed to be a resident to have the right to vote. The stunned election judges gave in and allowed the women to cast their votes even though it was against the law. The 19th amendment passed in 1920 which allowed woman to vote. Ellen A. Martin became the first woman to vote in the state of Illinois. April 6th is now Ellen Martin Day!

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[image error]First telephones came in 1898!

In 1910 the Plums visited Victor Lemoine in Nancy, France and purchased two Lilac bushes from him. Victor Lemoine was a celebrated and prolific horticulturist of his time and created many of today’s lilac varieties, especial the double-headed Lilacs that he became known for.

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In 1914 war broke out in Europe (1914-1918). Colonel Plum was very regimented on his Memorial Day Rememberance. 

From, The Legacy of William R. Plum, by Gerry Rader Watts:

“A group of children is clustered on the wooden sidewalk along the Maple Street in Lombard, Illinois. It is shortly before 11:00 a.m. and, despite the childlike fidgeting and jostling, one hears nothing save the shuffling of feet on the boards. Occassionally, a child whispers something into the ear of another, but there are no giggles, no audible sounds.

“A screen door creaks as it opens at the back of the house nearby, and a formally dressed, white haired man with mutton-chop sideburns and mustache emerges. Instantly, the whispering and squirming stop as the children quietly fall into step behind the old gent who walks — no, marches — to the flagpole. Slowly, almost reverently, he lowers the flag to half-staff. With one step backwards, he salutes the flag; the children do likewise before turning to follow the old gentleman, in his annual Decoration Day trek to the village cemetery. Leading this little process is William R. Plum, who lives in the big house on the knoll at Park Avenue and Maple Street, and who has made it an annual ritual. Others — children and adults alike  — will be joining the group along the way or already may be waiting for them at the cemetery. This man, more than anyone else is responsible for the Memorial Day tradition in this little town. The walk to the cemetary, the speeches there, including a very long one by Plum himself, are meant to remind all of their dear, departed loved ones and especially of those lost in battle. Plum sees to it that his many friends and neighbors in Lombard never forget those who have fallen in defense of their country….”

[image error]Lists fallen soldiers going back to The Civil War, Spanish American War, WW1, WW2, and Vietnam located at the Lombard Commons.



[image error]and still celebrated today in this community.

The Plums tended their garden in the following years adding new varieties. Colonel Plum liked trading and built up his garden by trading with other gardeners across the country. Today the park host 1,200 lilac bushes, of over 200 different varieties. That is why people say that Lilacia park is the closest you can come to springtime in Paris in the Midwest region.

Sadly, Mrs. Helen Plum passed away on March 25th1924 and the Colonel followed just three years later, on April 28th1927.

Colonel Plum generously bequeathed his home to the town of Lombard for a Library in memory of his late wife Helen and his acreage to become the first park district. The residences of Lombard accepted the gift via a referendum and The Park District established on September 26th1927.

read the will

In 1924, Harold Gray set up a studio at 119 N. Main Street. Harold Gray was the creator of Little Orphan Annie comic strip that ran in the Chicago Tribune. He used his house in the cartoon strip. Gray was the first to use a cartoon strip to voice political philosophy. (I read on a few websites that Harold Gray founded the Lombard Chapter of the Free Masons. In the History of Lombard Lodge 1098, no evidence of this exists. Although I did discover that Col Plum was a member). Harold Gray  moved to New York in 1929. His comic strip inspired a radio show sponsored by Ovaltine, film adaptations by RKO in 1932 and Paramount in 1938, and a Broadway Musical in 1977. The series cancelled in 2010. And that is how Dr. LeRoy’s house became known as, The Little Orphan Annie house.

[image error]The Ovaltine factory was one town east, in Villa Park. Children would listen to the radio show and buy ovaltine to get the special decorder ring!



[image error]A replica of the Little Orphan Annie House originally stood in the Library is now in the Historical Museum coach house.



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In 1926, the former home and gardens of Chicago Tribune Film Critic, Mae Tinee, (pseudonym for Mrs. Elkins) located at 109 S. Main Street was purchased and destroyed when the current owner, Mr. Roath, spread ten gallons of Kerosene and lit the house on fire to make way to build a theatre! The fire department came out to protect neighboring buildings and the town was saddened by the loss of the great estate. One thing did survive and currently resides at Lilacia Park. Click link to read article

[image error]Rastus was a lawn decoration at the Elkin Estate and it originally had horns.

In the roaring 20’s, Hollywood Film producers were encouraging small towns across the country to build movie houses where their films could be viewed by the public. Architect R. G. Wolff of Rapp & Rapp Architect Firm of Chicago, Illinois designed the theater after the Aragon Ball Room in Chicago that was inspired by John Eberson who was the premier designer of Atmospheric Theaters of the time.

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The $300,000.00, 1,400 capacity Fischer Deluxe Theater with attached shops and office space, completed and opened to the public on July 26th1928. Decorative terra Cotta tiles adorned the front façade, an ornate free-standing ticket booth stood in the grand entranceway with terrazzo marble floors. The promenade lobby had ornate renaissance side panels but the real gem of this theater was the auditorium. Set to look and feel like you just entered a Spanish Style Court Yard, the surrounding façade with archways housed tiffany styled stain glass lamps in the shapes of bells, stars, and globes with a backdrop of nature settings wrapped around the auditorium and the retractable screen. An orchestra pit below the screen housed the musicians accompanied by a built-in pipe organ that played music along with the featured film streamed out through ornate floor to ceiling panels on either side of the stage. The ceiling mimicked the night sky with twinkling stars and a moon that would travel across the sky while viewers watched the movie. Unfortunately the stock market crash of 1929 forced the original owner to sell the theatre. It changed ownership a great deal over the years. The Theatre was Registered as a National Landmark of Historic Places in 1987, but sadly and despite the effort of many of the residents including my entire family to save the theatre, it was met with the wrecking ball in 2007. To learn more click here. http://coololdthings.com/dupage_theatre.html

All that remains of the theatre is found in an exhibit inside the Coach House of the Historical Museum.

[image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error]Still a vacant lot where the DuPage Theater Once stood.

I found this left in the comments on the site to save the DuPage Theatre. It is an elegant example of home town life and why we need to cherish our heritage and revitalize our downtown areas to create civic pride.

Save `The Dupe’ … … and save those memories of Main Street

(July 29, 2005, by John McCarron, who teaches, consults and writes on urban affairs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Remember?

Remember the scary sword fight between Sinbad the Sailor and the skeleton man? Or Sinbad’s face-off with the cyclops on the island of Colossa, where he had to go to break the spell cast over his beloved princess Parisa, who had been reduced to the size of a pocket knife by the evil sorcerer Sokurah?

I didn’t think so. Neither did I before I tweaked my memory on the Internet. What I do remember, like it was yesterday, is that sweet feeling of independence, walking down Main Street, Lombard, with my 12-year-old buddies, chores finished, fancy-free on a Saturday afternoon, off to see “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” at the DuPage Theatre.

As always, the 1959 action movie was only part of the show at “The Dupe.” Some of my older classmates had begun to hang out with (groan) girls, so first we’d cruise the balcony to see who was necking with whom. Next we’d go down to the long, glassy candy counter for an obligatory box of Milk Duds, maybe even a roll of caramel bull’s-eyes—if the lawn-mowing money held up. Then it was time to settle into the red velour seats, under a fake black sky with twinkling stars, and trip away with Sinbad, or Hercules or Jason and the Argonauts. Loved those sandal flicks.

Ah, The Dupe. Say it ain’t so. Say they’re not going to tear her down.

They can’t tear her down. Not after more than a decade of civic efforts to save her. Not after those efforts secured charitable contributions, plus federal and state pledges, worth $5.5 million. Not after one of the nation’s top restoration architects—Daniel P. Coffey, the guy who helped restore the Chicago and the Oriental and the Palace theaters in the North Loop—has drawn up a sensational plan, not just to save the old theater as a performing arts center, but to infuse Lombard’s anemic downtown with a $30 million wrap-around development of luxury condos and lively storefronts.

Most curious of all, how can they knock down The Dupe when powerful DuPage County politicians are pleading with the Lombard Village Board to give preservation one last chance? U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), state Sen. Dan Cronin (R-Elmhurst) and former Illinois Senate President James “Pate” Philip (R-Wood Dale)—none previously known as gargoyle-hugging preservationists—are urging the Village Board to reconsider its June vote authorizing demolition.

In some ways you can’t blame the Village Board for losing patience with the project. Ten years ago the volunteer Friends of the DuPage Theatre said a developer was lined up to convert the building into offices and a studio for making educational videos. When that deal fell through the village took title to the 77-year-old theater and its attached offices and storefronts. In 2001 the board appointed a blue-ribbon committee to come up with a plan, but it was slow going.

Seems the “new urbanism” that has inspired towns like Elmhurst, Downers Grove and Arlington Heights to rejuvenate downtowns around restored train stations and theaters has been, well, slow to catch on in the lilac village. It’s still tough to compete there with the big-box discounters on Roosevelt Road and the 18-screen cinema at the Yorktown mall. And public-private partnerships of the kind needed to save The Dupe remain a tough sell politically. It’s still a tax-a-phobic town, even if the John Birch Society long ago closed its anti-communist “library” off St. Charles Road.

Still, there was excitement earlier this year with the unveiling of Coffey’s plan for preservation and redevelopment. His client, developer Richard Curto of RSC & Associates, would restore the theater’s “Spanish courtyard” interior a la the 1928 design by Rapp & Rapp, including those twinkling stars of my youth. In the parking lot south of the theater would rise a five-story condo-over-stores structure of compatible design (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text). Behind the stores, out of sight under the condos, would be two levels of parking for 237 cars, including spaces set aside on weekdays for commuters using the Metra station across the street.

In short, the project would catapult Lombard into the forefront of new urbanism and transit-oriented design. Who knows, the town might even snag a Starbucks. Best of all, contends Coffey, the property and sales taxes from the development, plus the state and federal grants already pledged, would cover the $8.5 million cost of restoring the theater.

But it may not happen. There is bad blood between preservationists and certain members of the Village Board. Deadlines have been missed. Harsh words have been exchanged in public. Other condo developers likely are standing by to pay Lombard serious money for the site—so long as they don’t have to save the theater. Why take a chance on preservation?

“It seems to have come down to plain old personality problems,” said Coffey.

That may be. But for this son of Lombard, this long-ago marcher in the Lilac Parade, it’s also about memories. And the faint hope that some Saturday afternoon in the not too distant future, a 12-year-old and his buddies will be able to walk, not ride, down Main Street, buy some Milk Duds and slip into another world—to the island of Colossa, perhaps—under the stars at the good old Dupe.”

12 years later the lot remains vacant, not even paved for a parking lot.

 

back to history

In 1929 the old two and half story frame Jerkinhead style surrey and horse barn built into the side of a hill of the Plum Estate was restored for $4,500.00 and housed the Board of Park District Commissioners, headed by William Ralph Plum the Newphew of Col. Plum.

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 Today the old Surrey and Horse Barn known as the Coach House is a quaint little shop where visitors can buy items made by local talented artist, Kathy Plumb (82) who has been painting in the docorative style since 1976. A member of the Illinois Prairie Painter a Chapter of the Society of Decorative Painters.

Between 1927-1929 an additional 5 acres of land were purchased for $67,000 the original post office and general store that stood on the property were knocked down.

Jens Jensen renowned landscape architect was hired for $600.00 plus living accomodations for he and his wife Anna Marie at the Plum House. Anna Marie worked to organize the books and open the library for two hours a day, four days a week. For further information and pictures of Jensen’s original design click here.

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The first Lilac festival held in May of 1930, orchestrated by local Author of, Green Valley (1919), and Willow Creek (1924) and founder of Lombard’s first Newspaper “The Lombard Breeze” (1912), Kathy Reynolds created elaborately costumed play with wandering minstrels, Robin hood, archers, clowns, equestrians, and costumed school children, Directed by Harriet Taylor.

Five Lilac Princesses where chosen, Adeline Fleege daughter of the local, Fleege Grocery Store, emerged as Queen in an elaborate ceremony held in the park.

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The first crown was made from the donations of local women’s silver spoons and created by Christia Reade (age 70) when she made the crown, exhibited her work at the Columbian World’s Fair (1893), daughter of aforemented Josiah and Christia Reade.

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The Lilac League formed and the festivities continued until 1936. Perhaps the depression and the impending war put a cabash on the tradition until it was picked up again in 1947 by the local camera club that reinstated the Lilac Princesses and Queen coronation. The parade didn’t start up again until 1957. The Lilac Ball was created and instated in 1959 by the Lombard Chamber of Commerce

[image error]Article explaining the cardboard crown

Today the Village of Lombard is 10.5 square miles with 42,000+ residences. The Lombard Park district has grown and holds 353.92 acres of land throughout the area. The parks have changed so much since I first moved to Lombard 30 years ago, as I have discovered on my walks with Asha whom is now staying with us until July!

Female Lombard Residents between the ages of 16 to 21 years of age are eligible to enter the Lilac Princess Contest sponsored by the Lombard Junior Woman’s Club.  lombardjrs.club/lilac_princess

Lilac Princess Crowning is held the first Saturday in May. https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20190504/grateful-lilac-queen-crowned-saturday-in-lombard

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The historical Society and Museum holds tours of the park throughout the three week period. Lilac Time

The Lombard Garden Club holds an annual lilac bush and plant sale. http://www.lombardgardenclub.org

There is an Annual Mother’s Day Concert, brunch, and Annual Beer Tasting, Wine Tasting, Annual Mut Strut, Pancake Breakfast all colminating with The Annual Lilac Parade held the third Sunday in May, that can be viewed on the local Cable Channel. For further information click park district.

The parade committee works tirelessly all year holding fundraisers and reaching out to the community. Local Businesses sponser floats for community leaders and philanthropic organazations. School District’s, marching bands, baton twirlers, and gymnastic teams all join in. The fire and police departments from the surrounding area, are not only on standby but join in the festivities.  For further information.

[image error]A Special Thank You to: (pictured above left) Yvonne Invergo, President and CEO, of the Lombard Chamber of Commerce.
The Lombard Chamber of Commerce holds an annual Arts and Craft Fair the first Sunday in May.




[image error] And the Lilac Ball the second Friday in May.
For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/LombardChamber/
or https://www.lombardchamber.com

I would also like to extend a special thank you to, Sarah Richardt, Excutive Director, of the Lombard Historical Society whose professionalism and eagerness to help is very much appreciated.  

As Memorial Day weekend approaches, I am struck not only by the veterans that gave their lives for our country, but also thinking about all those that came before us. 

It is important to have civic pride to know where you came from and to have pride in the area you live in. With all the large corporations infiltrating the small towns of America it is difficult to find originality. Therefore I am grateful to small towns that keep to local businesses that make their town unique.

My daughter was right, in many respects, Lombard is like Stars Hollow. The following is a list of small businesses in our downtown area. 

 

Shop Downtown Lombard



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Praga/Boton Restaurant
located at 229 W. St Charles Rd. Lombard, Il 60148 (630) 495-0470
https://www.facebook.com/PragaBonton-Restaurant-and-Bar-229665294432/




[image error]The Corner House, Coffee Shop, located right across the street from the Babcock House on St. Charles Road, serves delicious coffee. Local Artist’s works adorn the walls and are available for purchase.



[image error]Pet Store.

https://www.rufflifechicago.com



[image error]Woman’s Boutique Paradiso
http://www.shopparadisoboutique.com



[image error]http://www.drytini.com



[image error]https://brickswoodfiredpizza.com/locations.html



[image error]http://shannonsdeli.com



[image error]http://www.balkanbakerycafe.com
https://www.hairexperts.us
https://www.marquettekitchenandtap.com





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[image error]http://www.fairy-tales-inc.com



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[image error]https://www.fringeoflombard.com



[image error]https://www.luisarturodance.com



[image error]http://www.mensesquire.com



[image error]Tuck to the Left of Marquettes Kitchen and Tap is 40 West Wine.



[image error]https://skycenters.com



[image error]Punky’s Irish Pub



[image error]https://www.claudiojamessalon.com



[image error]http://www.sweetstreetcandies.com



[image error]http://www.smileydyes.com



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[image error]Main Street Cafe
Located on the corner of St. Charles and Main Street.
http://www.mainstreetcafelombard.com/breakfast-menu.html

I hope you enjoyed discovering Lombard with me. I am off to go white water rafting up in the North Woods of Wisconsin. Have a safe Memorial Day Weekend and be sure to shop small business all through the year. 

About the author:

[image error]Carly Compass has a Bachelor’s Degree in Writing and English from Elmhurst College. She is an avid reader, reviewer on Goodreads and Amazon, as well as a member in good standing of Phi Theta Kappa and Sigma Tau Delta International Honors Societies. 

Find her poetry and prose published in: The Prairie Light Review, Black Widows, Web of Poetry, and the Middle Western Voice.

Her first series, Electric, published in the fall of 2014 received critical acclaim and five star reviews across the board for all three books. 

She became a best-selling author on Amazon when Book 4 came out to the waiting arms of her readers in April of 2015. 

Electric, The Beginning Book 1 is available for a free download.  

Books 1, 2, 3 and books 4, 5, & 6 are also available in a discounted combination set. All books read well as stand alone, but you’ll want to read every word and leave no page unturned. 

New in 2018: About Life, About Love, About Family, A Collection of Short Stories and coming soon, Rituals Lost, A Pagan/Wiccan tale, Books 1, 2, and 3!

Pick up your free copy today and let the world know what you think by leaving a review! 

Carly loves hearing from her readers, feel free to connect across the board on all social media.

On the last day of our journey we packed up our belongings and headed out to my daughter’s apartment for lunch. After lunch we said our goodbyes and headed to downtown San Jose. 

[image error]There is a strong colonial influence in the architecture of ,San Jose.



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[image error]The front of the National Museum in San Jose, where you can find artifacts from 12,000 years BCE up into the Spanish Arrival of 1500 CE to present day.



[image error]Side view near the back of the museum. Originally used as a military barracks built in 1887, specifically used during the 1948 civil war in which Costa Rica abolished its military and is now celebrating 70 years without a military.



[image error]Back Alley of the Museum



[image error]Back courtyard inside the museum



[image error]A beautiful patina has developed on the fort.



[image error]Picture of the Bellevista Fortress in 1922.



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[image error]A gun hole from inside the fortress



[image error]Just outside the front entrance of the museum one of the mysterious balls known as Las Bolos that literally translates to, The Balls.



[image error]The Jaguar played an important role in PreColumbian history.



[image error]Unfortunately, no one has spotted a jaguar in Costa Rica in many years and it seems they have vanished from the area.



[image error]Ceiling tile in the fortress.



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[image error]Could the birds on the side of this be a way that the primitive people were trying to show flight?



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[image error]Interesting that this person has something over their face and a pack at the waistline as if it might be a breathing apparatus.



[image error]In this picture, the person is upside down and it clearly looks like they are wearing a helmet.

Unfortunately, most of the Pre Columbian culture is lost as there is no written record.

Obviously, I am a fan of the show, Ancient Aliens, having read Von Daniken’s, Chariots of the Gods, when I was 14 years old. I discovered the mysterious spheres on one of the episodes and was looking forward to seeing them while in Costa Rica.

There are over 300 stone spheres located in Diquis Delta and on the Isla Del Cano from the Aguas Buenas peroid 300 – 800 CE and the Chiriqui Period from 800 – 1500 CE. The culture that created them disappeared during the Spanish Conquest.

The size of the spheres range from a few centimetres to over 2 metres in diameter and weigh up to 15 tons sculpted from grabbro, a phaneretic (coarse grain) bassalt, mafic intrusive igneous rock consisting of magnesium and iron, or volcanic rock. 

One might think that the spheres were naturally occuring, but there are unfinished spheres in the hills where they were created. The spheres are made of different materials, a dozen from shell rich limestone, a dozen from sandstone and others are made of volcanic rock. 

The archaeological site of Palmar Sur is located in the southwestern portion of Costa Rica known as the Diquis Delta, the sourthern most point of Puntarenas Province. 

The spheres were first discovered in the 1930s while clearing the land for banana plantations.  Unfortunately, the spheres were bulldozed during the excavation and some of the workmen believed they might be filled with gold.  They used drills and dynamite to discover what was inside them. Some of the dynamited spheres were reassembled and brought to the National Museum.

The first scientific studies of the spheres were conducted by Doris Stone, the daughter of one of the United Fruit Companies excutives and published in 1943 in American Antiquity, attracting the attention of Samuel Kirkland Lothrop of the Peabody Museum at Harvard University. In 1948, he and his wife attempted to delve further, but were thwarted by the civil unrest. They later worked with Doris Stone and Lothrop published Archaelogy of the Diquis Delta, Costa Rica 1963.

For the next fifty years nothing was done until the 1990s when Claude Baudez and a team of researchers set out to establish a ceramic chronology of the region.

Later, Ifigenia Quintanilla researched the environmental impact of the banana plantations from 1991-1996 under a project titled “Man and Environment in Sierpe-Terraba,” focusing on settlement patterns, occupational sequences and resources utilized in the region.

In 2002,  Corrales and Badilla produced a booklet entitled, El Paisaje cultural del Delta, which provides a quick overview of the history of the Diquis Delta and the United Fruit Company, the natural environment, archaeological sites and the importance of the Diquis region. 

In June 2014, the Precolumbian Chiefdom Settlements with Stone Spheres of the Diquis was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

[image error]After over 1000 years the huge spheres are barely noticeable in the landscape, one can imagine the farmers clearing the land for the banana plantations, destroying the alignment and significance of that alignment. One wonders with a little more digging what else might be found in this region.



[image error]Petroglyph on a sphere



[image error]Notice the black spot in the middle of the sphere.



[image error]Somehow, a black stone is embedded in the sphere.



[image error]Museum Display of the stone spheres.



[image error]In the courtyard of the National Museum.



[image error]Giving an idea of the size and shape of the spheres.

We walked through the entire museum, but of course there is still so much to discover. After the museum, we walked around the downtown area and visited some of the shops. We decided to check out the Hard Rock Cafe located near the hotel and airport. On the drive we were greeted by a rainbow. 

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[image error]The Hard Rock Cafe in San Jose, Stevie Nick’s dress on the right.

I am still in the throes of research for Rituals Lost, and in the process of making my previously published Electric and About Series into paperback.

In keeping with the travel blog, I have decided to write about my little town of Lombard, IL for next months issue. Until next time, Pura Vida!

Special prayers out to the people of Sri Lanka; May they find peace in light of the recent devastation. 

About the Author:

[image error]Carly Compass has a Bachelor’s Degree in Writing and English from Elmhurst College. She is an avid reader, reviewer on Goodreads and Amazon, as well as a member in good standing of Phi Theta Kappa and Sigma Tau Delta International Honors Societies. 

Find her poetry and prose published in: The Prairie Light Review, Black Widows, Web of Poetry, and the Middle Western Voice.

Her first series, Electric, published in the fall of 2014 received critical acclaim and five star reviews across the board for all three books. 

She became a best-selling author on Amazon when Book 4 came out to the waiting arms of her readers in April of 2015. 

Electric, The Beginning Book 1 is available for a free download.  

Books 1, 2, 3  and books 4, 5 & 6 are also available in a discounted combination set. All books read well as stand alone, but you’ll want to read every word and leave no page unturned. 

New in 2018: About Life, About Love, About Family, A Collection of Short Stories and coming soon, Rituals Lost, A Pagan/Wiccan tale, Books 1, 2, and 3!

Pick up your free copy today and let the world know what you think by leaving a review! 

Carly loves hearing from her readers, feel free to connect across the board on all social media.

Tacos in Jaco



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On Wednesday we decided to take a drive to the Pacific Western Coast and check out Jaco located in the Central Province of Puntarenas. We met a man on our flight in to San Jose, who plans on developing a business for coin operated lockers on the beach front in Jaco. He told us how much he and his partner loved the area so we were excited to see it.  On our zip lining trip we met a native that had recommended a taco joint, in Jaco, so we knew where to stop for a bite to eat. Also, I had read a lot about the town so it was worth investigating. 

We notice the foliage change the further northwest we drove. I was concerned for the rainforest. I never heard of the dry rain forest. 

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Luckily, you can google to learn about everything and it turns out that Costa Rica has the only protected dry rainforest in the world. A rainforest generally gets about 3 meters of rain annually whereas a dry rainforest gets only 1 meter of rain annual. So the vegetation goes through a resting period much like our fall and winter in the states. 

I am sure you can imagine how shocking it was to leave the lush jungles of the rainforest in Braulio Carrillo the day before and be confronted with a completely different landscape only a few miles away. 

On highway 34 we noticed a bunch of people standing on the bridge. Curiosity got the better of us so we pulled over on the north side of the bridge and parked the car. We found out that the people were staring down at crocodiles.

Turns out this was the famous crocodile bridge over the Tarcoles River on the Costanera Highway 34.

[image error]Crocodiles in the Tarcoles River, in Costa Rica.



[image error]Crocodile Bridge

We snapped a few pictures and proceeded on our journey.

Our friends from the zip lining trip told us to go to the Taco Bar in Jaco and as luck would have it we found it just in time for lunch.

[image error]Amazing large portions and a wide variety to choose from at the Taco Bar. I took this picture from a swing! This taco bar has rope swings instead of bar stools adding to the fun.



[image error]Of course, no meal in the tropics would be complete without the addition of a Pina Colada! Notice the ropes in the background holding wood plank seats.

After Lunch we asked the manager for the best place to park to go to the beach and he told us that we could just leave our car there and walk over. There are many hotels on Pastor Diaz Avenue and unfortunately they block access to the beach. We had to find an avenue that would lead us to the beach. Luckily we found a street about a block from the Taco Bar and made our way through.

[image error]Hotels and developers cannot encroach on the beachfront. There are no developments for the first 300 meters of lake fronts. This allows everyone to enjoy the beach, one simply cannot walk through their properties and must walk around.



[image error]Black sand volcanic beaches. The sand turns white with age.





[image error]This beach is popular with surfers! We spoke to a few from Australia, but on this day the waters were calm.

We went shopping in Jaco’s downtown area after a few hours of enjoying the beach and the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Jaco has a cute and vibrant downtown area that I hear, has a great night life too. 

We knew we had to get up early for our snorkeling trip the next morning and wanted to check out the dinner buffet, that was only held on Wednesday evening, at our hotel so we figured we can check out the night life on our next visit.

Calypso Cruises



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[image error]I love these satellite images and I don’t have to worry about copyright infringement.



[image error]Tortuga Islands are located at the south east tip the Gulf of Nicoya.



[image error]This Map shows the entire journey, including Jaco, Puntarenas and the Tortuga Islands so you get an idea of the boat route from Puntarenas north of Jaco.

We were instructed to meet in the lobby at 6:00 a.m. on Thursday morning December 20th 2018. Unfortunately, breakfast starts at 6:00 a.m., so we bypassed the breakfast buffet and waited patiently in the lobby of the Double Tree Hotel.

I expected that there would be someone there to organize the group.  Since there was no one there, we figured we might be the only guest going on the trip. My husband and I waited and watched as people got on various buses for other groups and destinations and weren’t entirely sure which bus we were taking.

The bus arrived 45 minutes later. We boarded with a large group from the hotel. I learned that it was a large family celebrating a 50th Wedding Anniversary,  consisting of the Parents, two daughters with their husbands and five grandchildren between them. The parents had planned all sort of adventures around Costa Rica. This snorkeling tour adventure was just the first leg of their journey. 

On the bus we were greeted by our informative, biligual, tour guide, Celiece. Celiece had a voice like Jenifer Lopez (J-Lo) and said everything twice, once in Spanish and then in English.  Finally, my husband and I were sitting back and relaxing while we learned about Costa Rica during the drive to Puntarenas just north of Jaco. It was such a relief not to drive or stare at the GPS on the journey.

There was one story that she told us as we were pulling up to the Calypso restaurant to disembark for our journey that I have not been able to verify. It was the story of  how Puntarenas got the name, The Pearl of the Pacific. According to the legend;. Back around the turn of the century in the early 1900s there was a Panomanian Madam who had set up a brothel that was very famous with the seamen who always made a stop on their voyage. A bustling business grew up around this phenomena because the shipmen needed to eat, get gas and other amenities and that is how Puntarenas got its name, The Pearl of the Pacific. She also stated that the American Embassy was located there at the same time.  

I wasn’t able to get a picture of the now privately owned building that once housed the American Embassy. I only got a corner of the roof from the dock where we boarded the catamaran. 

[image error]The Old American Embassy far left top with the red roof.



[image error]My Husband did manage to get the front of the Old American Embassy, located in Puntarenas, the new American Embassy is now located in San Jose.



[image error]the dock[image error]breakfast before boarding[image error]outside patio[image error]the cruise photographer caught many scenes and posted them on Facebook

We boarded the catamaran after enjoying a nice breakfast with plenty of Costa Rican Coffee.

[image error]the catamaran that took us to Tortuga Island



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I was surprised that people seemed to be enjoying cocktails so early in the morning. My husband and I wanted to keep our heads clear so that we would be sharp to go snorkeling. We arrived at the island an hour later. 

[image error]A trio greeted the arriving guests with sounds of the tropics!

The crew unloaded and took pictures of every one as they disembarked. They set up a delicous lunch, replete with unbrellas, table clothes, cooking equipment and dishes! 

[image error][image error][image error][image error]An amazing amount of work to set this up and break it down! A great job by the crew.

We went snorkeling after lunch. We got back on the boat and road out about 1/2 a mile and were given life vests, face masks, but no swim fins!

 

[image error]The current was so strong that without swim fins it was difficult to fight the current. The small boat in the distance kept retreiving those that went out of bounds. In the picture my husband is swimming back.



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After snorkeling, we hung out at the beach and had a few drinks. There were a family of wild boars, and some interesting chickens roaming around the private island.  Everyone has to the leave the island at 5:00 p.m. and head back to Puntarenas.

[image error][image error][image error][image error]There are a lot of islands in the Gulf of Nicoya.

There were a lot of boats, jet skis. etc…  swirling around the bay off shore and I notice a lot of broken coral had washed up on the beach. Although this is a private island, I don’t think much is being done to protect the coral reef. Perhaps the stong current is responsible for breaking the coral? 

I found myself swimming as hard as I could just to remain in place, and the water was merky due to the rough waters raising up all the silt from the ocean floor.

It was a nice trip, but I don’t recommend it as a snokeling trip. Although, I have seen some great pictures of snokelers here at Tortuga Island, it may just be that the current was too turmulturous due to the full moon that day.

When my husband and I snorkeled in the Florida Keys we had clear water and calm seas and saw amazing fish and reefs. I suggest learning about Ocean currents and the best time to snorkel before booking a trip to Tortuga.

[image error][image error][image error][image error]Turkey Vultures

The crew efficiently loaded everything back on the catamaran and we all bid fairwell to the island and started our journey back to Puntarenas.

We learned that most of the people on the trip, aside from the family celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary, were on a Company outing and Kenny, the tour coordinator that we met and spoke with on the island, kept buying us drinks on the way back to shore.  

[image error]Thank you, Kenny! We hope to see you when you visit Chicago.



[image error]Kenny company coordinator.



[image error]We enjoyed a full moon on the ride back to Puntarenas! It might have been the full moon that was causing the ocean currents to be so choppy. We slept on the bus ride back.

Stay tuned for next month’s post, Pura Vida, Part 4 and The Mysterious Los Bolos, the last day of our journey. I have some great pictures of The Costa Rican National Musuem in Downtown San Jose that houses many beautiful precolumbian artifacts and of course Los Bolos! 

[image error]Strange shares made of volcanic rock, naturally occurring or not?

About The Author:

[image error]Carly Compass has a Bachelor’s Degree in Writing and English from Elmhurst College. She is an avid reader, reviewer on Goodreads and Amazon, as well as a member in good standing of Phi Theta Kappa and Sigma Tau Delta International Honors Societies. 

Find her poetry and prose published in: The Prairie Light Review, Black Widows, Web of Poetry, and the Middle Western Voice.

Her first series, Electric, published in the fall of 2014 received critical acclaim and five star reviews across the board for all three books. 

She became a best-selling author on Amazon when Book 4 came out to the waiting arms of her readers in April of 2015. 

Electric, The Beginning Book 1 is available for a free download.  

Books 1, 2, 3 are also available in a discounted combination set, available around the world. Find your link here.

All books read well as stand alone, but you’ll want to read every word and leave no page unturned. 

New in 2018: About Life, About Love, About Family, A Collection of Short Stories and coming soon, Rituals Lost, A Pagan/Wiccan tale, Books 1, 2, and 3!

Pick up your free copy today and let the world know what you think by leaving a review! 

Carly loves hearing from her readers, feel free to connect across the board on all social media.

 

Part Two



Of My Costa Rica Adventure

Pura Vida: Adj. (slang) Literally means “Pure Life”, fine, cool, very well or everything is okay. It can be used as a greeting, farewell, to express satisfaction or wellness! It is a term used throughout Costa Rica, much like Hawaii’s, Aloha. Costa Rica is very much like Hawaii at a fraction of the price, in my humble opinion.

On Monday, the fifth day of our adventure, my husband and I hung out by the pool. The DoubleTree has beautiful landscape, so we were able to bird watch while we planned the rest of our ten day stay. We booked a 6-1 tour with Rainforest Adventures located in Braulio Carrillo National Park for Tuesday and although I prefer to book straight with the organization, we caved to the convenience of booking our snorkeling trip with the hotel’s tour guide for Thursday. My daughter wanted us to go exploring on our own and planned to have us over for lunch on Friday. Of course, no trip to Costa Rica would be complete without seeing Los Bolas, the mysterious Balls found in the Disquis Delta and Isla Del Cano. Our schedule filled up fast as our flight to Fort Lauderdale was scheduled for 2:00 a.m. early Saturday morning.

Zip Lining in Braulio Carrillo National Park.

[image error]Braulio Carrillo National Park!

Tuesday morning we set out on our adventure to go Ziplining in the Braulio Carrillo National Park. We drove through the scenic landscape and the masterfully engineered Zurqui Tunnel.

There are over 40 national parks in Costa Rica. Over one million hectares or one quarter of the country’s land is dedicated to natural reserves.

Braulio Carrillo National Park is named after Costa Rica’s third president to honor his proposal for the development of the Guapiles Highway from San Jose to the Carribean in the mid 1800s.

The Guapiles highway was needed to make shipping coffee easier. Without the highway, shippers would have to travel all the way around South America to deliver coffee to Europe. Environmentalist fought to protect the forest before construction began. In order to build the road they had to tunnel through the mountain. Construction of the 12 meters wide, 10 meters tall, and 600 meters long, Zurqui Tunnel began in March of 1983 and was completed in September of 1984. All the land around the highway and tunnel are protected.

Today Braulio Carrillo National Park is 183 square miles, or 108,970 acres, located in the volcanic Cordillera Central mountain range, just east of San Jose. There are 6000 identified species of plant life, 450 species of birds, 150 species of mammals catalogued within the park. Many are in danger of extinction.

[image error]I only wish that I caught sight of this Margay, slightly bigger than a house cat and in danger of extinction.



[image error]Located one hour from our hotel, the Braulio Carrillo National Park is shaded in green.

The Rainforest adventure 6 in 1 tour consists of Aerial Tram, Zip line Tour, Adrena-line, Butterfly, Hummingbird and orchid garden and terrarium.

As soon as we arrived at the park we checked in at the front gate and boarded a bus that took us deeper into the jungle.

We got off the bus with a group of people and were immediately suited in our harnesses as the guides explained the equipment. We signed our waivers and were ready for instructions.

One of the guides did a demonstration to teach us how to stop, turn and sit in order to have a safe zip lining experience.

[image error]Showing us the map of our journey.



[image error]Adventurers slowly advance starting with short runs working their way up to the adrena line that is 700 meters long, just 300 meters short of a kilometer!



[image error]Each run builds upon the other until you are speeding over the terrain.

Along with zip lining, we hiked to get from one platform to the other and along the way we saw a couple different snakes, leaf cutter ant trails busily working, tree sloths and toucans flying about with their mates.

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[image error]With the safety of the harness one can let go and enjoy the adventure.

After Ziplining we had a delicious lunch while bird watching and then took a walking tour of the grounds and visited the Butterfly garden.

[image error]Morpho Butterfly taken in the butterfly garden at Braulio Carrillo National Park.

[image error]I saw these butterflies while hiking but they were always too quick for me to capture.

Unfortunately, we didn’t see any hummingbirds, but we did learn a lot from our informative, congenial guide.

[image error]Blood of Christ Plant.



[image error]Here we can see the many stages of the morpho butterfly.



[image error]The red eye tree frog is nocturnal so this is what it looks like in the daytime.

Our last adventure was the 30 minute tram ride, a silent running ski lift that takes you though another section of the park.

[image error]It is amazing, the eco system within one tall tree, housing a multitude of life.



[image error]My favorite shot from the tram ride.

We finished our adventure at the gift shop and another day was complete.

Look out for my next installment, Taco’s in Jaco and Calypso Cruise Snorkeling tour. 

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Until next time, Pura Vida!

About the author:

[image error]Carly Compass has a Bachelor’s Degree in Writing and English from Elmhurst College. She is an avid reader, reviewer on Goodreads and Amazon, as well as a member in good standing of Phi Theta Kappa and Sigma Tau Delta International Honors Societies. 

 

Find her poetry and prose published in: The Prairie Light Review, Black Widows, Web of Poetry, and the Middle Western Voice.

Her first series, Electric, published in the fall of 2014 received critical acclaim and five star reviews across the board for all three books. 

She became a best-selling author on Amazon when Book 4 came out to the waiting arms of her readers in April of 2015. 

Electric, The Beginning Book 1 is available for a free download.  

Books 1, 2, 3  and 4, 5 & 6 are also available in a discounted combination set. All books read well as stand alone, but you’ll want to read every word and leave no page unturned. 

New in 2018: About Life, About Love, About Family, A Collection of Short Stories and coming soon, The Ivory Tower and Rituals Lost, A Pagan/Wiccan tale, Books 1, 2, and 3!

Pick up your free copy today and let the world know what you think by leaving a review! 

Carly loves hearing from her readers, feel free to connect across the board on all social media.

 

 

Happy New Year!

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I hope everyone survived the holidays unscathed and are ready for a New Year filled with possibilities! If you were to tell me last year at this time that I would end up going on an adventure that rivals the CBS, television series, The Amazing Race, I never would have believed it.

Like you, I find the end of year a time for reflection. I objectively review the previous year for accomplishments and adjust in the form of New Year’s resolutions.

Last year, my goals were to publish the About Series and Rituals Lost. But like you, I don’t always achieve my goals in the timeframe established.

At the beginning of the year, I was on schedule, publishing The About Series consecutively within the parameters of my goal, but as the year progressed things changed and I found I had to rearrange my schedule.

In August my daughter eloped to Costa Rica and without our passports my husband and I were at a loss to attend the gala and celebrate this happy event. Here is where we need to take stock and realize that the one constant in life is change. Sometimes you need a little push to motivate you to get you in gear to accomplish something you have been putting off.

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My daughter’s marriage finally forced us to get our passport and plan a trip to Costa Rica to meet our new son in love!

Using the formula I created last summer for my six part series, Vacationing Within a 50 Mile Radius, on my Facebook Page, I planned our ten-day trip that includes, hiking, Ziplining, snorkeling, and visiting both the Caribbean and Pacific Coasts of Costa Rica using San Jose as our base because that is where the newlyweds are currently living.

[image error]We booked our flight on Spirit Airlines and found that we had to add exponentially for our seats and luggage, but it still worked out to be very economical.

We planned one day for traveling as there are no direct flights from Chicago to Costa Rica and had a layover in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Luckily, our flight was not delayed because of the December 12th, 2018 eruption of Turrialba Volcano in Cartago, that sent ash flying into the atmosphere delaying some flights in the early morning hours. We arrived in Costa Rica at 1:00 p.m. as scheduled.

[image error]We picked up a Costa Rican SUV, Telios 4X4 by Daitsuh, because I read about rough roads that we would encounter on our visit.

Driving in Costa Rica is different because of the mountains and rainy season. The roads are bordered by deep ravines for drainage that could leave you stuck in a ditch if you swerve or make a wrong turn. Traffic in San Jose is chaotic and frenzied, with motorcycles jogging in and out or driving in between lanes. There is no way around a traffic jam unless you are riding a motorcycle because there are no shoulders on most of the roads. Traffic jams are something to expect in the City.

[image error]We checked into the Double Tree in San Jose, near the airport as our home base and unpacked and went down to  have a delicious meal.

The open air architecture is amazing, the lobby, restaurant and halls are all out in the open sheltered only by roofs with abundant tropical foliage.

 

[image error]I spent a lot of time researching the country and making plans to see as much as we could in the timeframe established. Every morning we started our day with a sumptuous breakfast buffet included in our hotel package with delicious fresh picked fruit, juices and a wide array of local cuisine. We enjoyed breakfast every morning of our trip. It is wonderful to taste fresh picked, watermelon, pineapple, and papaya, especially in December.

[image error]Our first day we got lost many times, even with GPS, there was a lot of recalculating.

Most homes in San Jose are built in the adobe style to accommodate 400+ annual tremors and earthquakes brought about by over 60+ volcanoes in the region.

 

 

[image error]Our daughter treated us to a Britt Coffee Tour. It was interesting to learn that coffee like all life originated in Africa and took close to 1,000 years to reach Central America.

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All coffee beans in Costa Rica are hand-picked because they can’t get huge machinery through the mountainous terrain. One 30 lbs basket of coffee beans yields 3 lbs of coffee. It seem we in the states need to appreciate the work that goes into that cup of coffee we drink every morning.

[image error]Coffee beans are red and ripe for picking in December, much like the holly berries in the north. Coffee has taken over a great deal of the natural landscape throughout Central and South America.

 

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After the tour we stopped off at the gift shop and bought some coffee to take home and enjoyed a delicious lunch provided with the tour.  We viewed the butterfly garden before driving back to downtown San Jose to pick up a few things and take in the culture before picking up our son in love in Cartago where he is currently working as an electrician for a Burger King in the Mall Paseo Metropoli.

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Luckily there is ample transportation available in San Jose via buses so that you can avoid driving in the traffic.

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At the Mall Paseo Metropoli waiting for Leslis to get off work, with the active, Turriabla Volcano spewing smoke in the distance.

[image error]With the newlyweds at the rooftop cafe atop the Presidente Hotel in Downtown San Jose. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step and this was the reason for our trip. [image error]

 

 

 

With Day One completed, we dropped off the couple and headed back to the hotel, ready for some much-needed rest.

[image error]The next morning we headed out alone to see the tallest waterfall in Costa Rica. The Catarata Del Toro Waterfall is 270 feet tall and is sourced from a dormant volcano. Although this drive didn’t involve traffic, it was challenging because of hazardous terrain. Like driving up into the rocky mountains the views were breath-taking and the road was fierce.

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Pictures cannot do this justice! Once you reach the cloud level, the atmosphere is moist and the silence is all-encompassing. I am sorry to say, I didn’t catch more pictures, rounding curves and reaching higher and higher altitudes. We found at one bend beautiful cattle lowing and goats climbing. At another bend construction equipment for a resort or private residence.

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This is the breath-taking view at the beginning of our hike down some 400+ steps equaling 32 flights.

This waterfall is privately owned by a couple that charges US $14.00 or ¢8,400 Colonas per person. I was looking forward to having lunch after our long drive and hike, but the kitchen was closed because we were the only visitors that day. I sure would have enjoyed sitting down with the owners over a meal to talk more about this wonderous place.

[image error]One thing I was thinking while working my way down these stairs was that I would eventually have to work my way up.

Luckily, because of our frequent hikes to Starved Rock State Park in Illinois and swimming all summer in our pool, we were in great shape to take on this hike.

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These blue falls are too tumultuous for swimming and lead to blue rivers. The blue color comes from the mineral in the rivers combining with the volcanic minerals in the falls. I believe you can take many trips to Costa Rica and still discover something new.

 

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There are many nice benches to sit on along the way down this steep cliff.  You can take your time and enjoy the pristine beauty of this sacred place.

If you look behind my husband you can see stairs built into the landscape and also get a feeling for the depth of this canyon.

 

The drive home was much quicker until we reached 10 minutes away from our destination on our GPS, when the traffic came to a stand still. We decided to get off the highway and have the GPS recalculate our journey only to be caught in a circle. We like many other drivers got off the highway and were stuck in the worst traffic jam I have ever experienced. Like the movie, Crash, this traffic jam created many fender benders as the angry motorist were stuck in a claustrophobic storm of standing still.

We circled around to find our only option was to get back on the highway to a standstill. We circled round like this for an hour. On our last time getting back on the highway we saw an ambulance well behind us. Luckily, some EMTs and police started to direct traffic and clear the right lane that we were in, to let the ambulance through. Finally we arrived at the accident ahead of the ambulance and saw the wreckage of gnarled steel. I later learned to my great sorrow that four people died in this accident.

The next day we picked up the newlyweds for an overnight stay in Cahuita! Cahuita National Park established in the 1970s has the largest  coral reef in the country. There are also pristine protected beaches for turtles bordering the tropical Jungle. We stopped off at a Soda, which is another name for restaurant and I have to say that I was happy to see that there was not a lot of Corporate America scaring the landscape. Although in San Jose there was a Dennys, a Walmart, Burger King,  McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken…okay there is a lot of Corporate America in San Jose…but not along the country roads in Costa Rica. We stayed close to the culture to support the locals. And although I didn’t get a picture of the Soda Hermanos Segura, the food, service and atmosphere was warm and welcoming. One day someone will have to explain to me why some of the ladies washrooms have latch locks on the outside? I have to admit that I would be leery going into these bathrooms if I was traveling alone…

[image error]On the drive down to Cahuita from Cartago we saw that the volcano was still smoking four days into our visit.

Again we drove through some beautiful countryside, but I had a Ferngully moment when we reached closer to Limon as the freight car yards loomed on either side of us. Delmont, Chiquita etc…Costa Rica exports $2.4 billion dollars of produce annually with 1.09 billion going straight to the United State via ships through the Caribbean.

[image error]We arrived safely at 3Bamboo AirBNB. We had a lovely two-floor house that we stayed in giving the master suite to our newlyweds.  We quickly changed and went out to the pool where we found a lot of frogs at the water’s edge. The water was beautiful as we took a swim to unwind when we were greeted by the newlyweds.

 

[image error]We left them to enjoy the pool by themselves. Within minutes of reaching the porch we were greeted by a refreshing tropical rain. My husband and I sat and enjoyed the sound of the rain hitting the corrugated roof of the porch wondering what happened to the newlyweds. It turns out they weren’t going to let a little rain interrupt their late night swim.

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The grounds are beautiful in this secluded Eco-lodge where you can spend hours bird watching.

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My husband and I woke early to the sound of tropical birds cawing and roosters crowing. We made a pot of coffee and headed out to pursue the grounds and found this little poison dart frog on our path.

 

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I found the newlyweds relaxing  the next morning before we were to head out to Cahuita National Park. I definitely recommend this AirBNB if you are looking for a place to stay  near Cahuita.

 

 

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The newlyweds body surfing off the shoreline of Cahuita National reserve.

 

 

 

 

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Taking a break to wave to us on the shore line. The water was warm and wonderful.

 

 

 

 

[image error]We found a passerby to snap this photo of the four of us before we began our hike through the jungle.

 

[image error]Tree sloths, squirrel monkeys, racoons, iguana, and sea turtles are just a small sampling of the wild life you can encounter at Cahuita National Park.

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A bunch of squirrel monkey came to play with us.

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We stopped off at Vista Del Mar for lunch and I had the house speciality drink with a new discovery, soursop! Made from the Guanabana Fruit, (sour sop) a lactose intolerant’s dream come true as it is much like ice cream without the side effects associated with dairy products.

 

 

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On our drive back, you can see the bananas are wrapped in blue bags to protect them from the tree sap until ready for harvesting.

 

 

 

 

We took the scenic route back through the Braulio Carrillo National Park which is a beautiful drive and where we later went Ziplining. I will include, Ziplining, Jaco, snorkeling off Tortuga and the National Musuem in San Jose in part 2 of this post as there is too much to cover in just one post.

My point at long last is be flexible and open to the possibilities that lay before you; so I didn’t meet all my goals in 2018, I did meet and gain a new member of my family and that is better than any accomplishment I can think of.  I will get to putting the finishing touches on, The Ivory Tower and publish, Rituals Lost in my new time frame. Remember it is never too late to change the road your on it just takes a little recalculating, the important thing is to enjoy the journey. Until next time, I’ll be thinking of my new year’s resolutions and how to accomplish my new goals. What goals have you set for 2019?

Did you miss any of your goals for 2018?

Don’t waste time lamenting, make changes today that will have you taking that first step in your journey of 1,000 miles.

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About the Author:

[image error]Carly Compass has a Bachelor’s Degree in Writing and English from Elmhurst College. She is an avid reader, reviewer  on Goodreads and Amazon, as well as a member in good standing of Phi Theta Kappa and Sigma Tau Delta International Honors Societies.

Find her poetry and prose published in: The Prairie Light Review, Black Widows, Web of Poetry, and the Middle Western Voice.

Her first series, Electric, published in the fall of 2014 met critical acclaim and five-star reviews across the board for all three books.

She became a best-selling author on Amazon when Book 4 came out to the waiting arms of her readers in April of 2015.

Electric, The Beginning Book 1 is available for a free download.

Books 1, 2, 3, and Books 4, 5, and 6 are also available in a discounted combination set. All books read well as stand alone, but you’ll want to read every word and leave no page unturned.

New in 2018: About Life, About Love, About Family, A Collection of Short Stories and coming soon, Rituals Lost, A Pagan/Wiccan tale, Books 1, 2, and 3!

Pick up your free copy today and let the world know what you think by leaving a review!

Carly loves hearing from her readers, feel free to connect across the board on all social media.

 

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From my house to yours, I want to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Honoring Our Ancestors
Part 4

The Family Farm up in Wisconsin:

Did my grandfather travel with Houdini?

UPDATE: My Aunt Bal seems to be doing well. A simple prayer for a complete recovery is appreciated. Thank you. And now for the fourth and final part of Honoring Our Ancestors:

In Part One of this series I described each post in detail so here is a recap about my grandfather as told by my  aunt Bal: She told me that her father, my grandfather, Edward Balke was the second born, first son of 17 children! He was raised on a 500 acre, family owned farm in Wisconsin, where Steven’s Point University stands today.  She said he was German and Welsh and might be a descendent of Captain Blood? His mother’s name was Roselin Schultz and came from Boston.

She mentioned that she went up to Wisconsin to look up records and that there was a fire and most of the records were burned and so there was no way of knowing anything further. She had said that my grandfather was given over to the Franciscan Fathers to be raised as a priest. That the first-born son is always given to the church. Since Edward didn’t want to be a priest he left home, built roads across the country and traveled with Houdini for a time and entertained audiences in a pre show. She said he was a hansom cab driver and finally ended up in Chicago where he applied for work at my grandmother’s restaurant as a dishwasher. She also told me that his parents sold the farm in Wisconsin and retired in Bakersfield, California.

My aunt is full of cute euphemisms, saying that my grandfather often refered to himself as my grandmother’s, pearl diver, another word for dishwasher as my grandmother valued her dishes like precious pearls.  He was born in 1896, and my grandmother was born in 1888. My grandmother  was a ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ of her time, a business owner, marrying a man 8 years younger than her in the 1920’s! (end recap)

She had also mentioned that Edward Balke was related to the Brunswick-Balke-Collander Company. I have yet to find a connection, but the company slowly changed hands until it is now only Brunswick. I did find that the Julius Balke, in this company  might be a distant cousin.

The Balke name makes newspaper research near impossible when entering, Houdini/Balke because, Brunswick-Balke-Collander was advertising in all the newspapers, while Houdini was thrilling his audiences in the early 20th century.

Even though I get a tremendous amount of articles, when I click the link, I find an article about Houdini and an advertisement about Brunswick-Balke-Collander. I haven’t given up hope yet.  I am still looking to find proof.

I will have to create a family tree for Julius Balke to find the connection between Julius Balke and the family up in Wisconsin, it will probably go back to Germany, in the early 1800’s depending how common the name Balke was in Germany at that time.

The odd thing about doing research and looking at census records from the 1800 and early 1900’s is the spelling of names. It appears that the record keepers weren’t accurate as I have stated in the previous posts.

In 2015, after meeting my cousin, Diana Whyte, and exploring my Scottish and Irish heritage, Diana put me in touch with what she found on Ancestry. She had discovered and introduced me to a different spelling of the name Balke as Belka and found another family, Szulczewski, tightly connected to the name. Soon I was pulling up family photos and meeting new people.

In order to find records, one must include all spellings of the name as you can see below.

When Adolph Behlke/Belka/Balke was born on February 25, 1835, in Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, his father, Adolph, was 25 and his mother, Anna, was 25. He married Josephine Schriever Schriewer on February 26, 1862, in Stezyca, Pomerania, Poland. They had 11 children in 19 years. He died on October 22, 1889, in Portage, Wisconsin, at the age of 54. (from ancestry . com)

Behlke is the original spelling of the name that has been change over the decades to different forms, as Balke, Belka. You can see by the entry above that there are many spelling of the name and I am afraid it only gets worse.

When searching old Europen records the Behlke spelling must be used and when searching American records, the Balke, Belka spelling must be used and the same principle is applied when searching all the other names.

Adolph married Josephine Schriever:

When Josephine Schriever Schriewer was born in 1836 in Poland, her father, Martin, was 27, and her mother, Marianna, was 31. She married Adolph Behlke/Belka/Balke on February 26, 1862, in Stezyca, Pomerania, Poland. They had 11 children in 19 years. She died on April 15, 1902, in Eau Pleine, Wisconsin, at the age of 66. (from Ancestry)

All of these records where popping up for me due to another cousin I met on ancestry. Sue Meyer, my 3rd cousin,  had the Behlke tree done going back to 1810. Her great-grandmother, Julia and my great-grandfather Alexander Behlke were siblings.  I told her my stories and soon we were making discoveries together. We are not sure of the birth year of Adolph’s parents or if Adolph had siblings, this might be the connection to the Balke, of the Brunswick-Balke-Collander. In time we may learn the answers to that mystery too.

Adolph and Josephine had 11 children in 19 years and one was my great-grandfather, Alexander:

When Alexander Martin Belka/Balke/Belke/Behlke was born on November 5, 1864, his father, Adolph, was 29 and his mother, Josephine, was 28. He married Rosalia Marie Szulczewski/Schoultz/Schultz-Belka on November 13, 1891, in Portage, Wisconsin. They had 15 children in 22 years. He died on November 1, 1956, in Princeton, Wisconsin, at the age of 93, and was buried in Plainfield, Wisconsin. (from ancestry . com)

My Great Grandfather, Alexander Behlke married Rosalia Marie Szulczewski, (Pronounced Schul-ches-ki).

Brenda, widow of my 2nd cousin 1x removed, Richard, who was born in the same year as me, unfortunately, now passed, had completed the Szulczewski tree going back to 1807.

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The picture on the left is, The Szulczewski Family, (circa 1909). My GGrandmother Rosalia Marie Sculczewski is standing at the far left. Although this picture is a bit fuzzy,  my mother bares a striking resembalance to the grandmother she never knew. I am sure you can imagine the pure joy of seeing my great-grandmother, and great-great-grandparents, Thomas Szulczewski, and Barbra Kalka for the first time.

As I proceeded to learn more I discovered that I was not German/Welsh or related to Captain Blood, but I am actually Polish, something I heard and denied my entire life. Everyone had always commented on my Eastern European looks and thought I was Polish, but I figured that came from my father’s Austrian side.

So the Roselin Schultz from Boston was actually, Rosalia Sculczewski from Poland. Unfortunately, the Szulczewski family descendents started to change the spelling of their name as well, here we find the name changed to Schoultz and Schultz which sounds more German than Polish.

When Rosalia Marie Szulczewski/Schoultz/Schultz-Belka was born on August 15, 1871, her father, Thomas, was 39, and her mother, Barbara, was 31. She married Alexander Martin Belka/Balke/Belke/Behlke and they had 15 children together. She died on June 10, 1951, in Bancroft, Wisconsin, at the age of 79, and was buried in Plainfield, Wisconsin. (from ancestry)

At this point all of Rosalia’s children were spelling their sir name, Belka, except for my grandfather whom spelled his name Balke. Although, my aunt told me my grandfather was the second born son of 17 children, she was close as there were 15 children born. My grandfather’s aunt and Rosalia’s sister did actually have 17 children before her demise at the age of 42.

My GGGrandfather, Thomas Szulczewski, married Barbra Kalka and lived in Wisconsin. I discovered another Szulczewski that married a Kalka and settled in Indiana, but we haven’t been able to link if they were two brothers marrying two sisters, although the people up in Wisconsin spell their Szulzcewski’s mother’s maiden name Nowicka, the people in Indiana spell her name, Nowicki. So you can see how easily things get lost in translation, and for every answer you find, another question pops up.

When Marianne Nowicka (Nowicki) was born on December 2, 1814, her father, Andrzej, was 25, and her mother, Ewa, was 24. She married Bartholonaeus Barney Szulczewski and they had seven children together. She then married Maciej Grzybowski in 1837 in Kazmierz, Wielkopolskie, Poland. She died on August 9, 1905, at the impressive age of 90, and was buried in Duncan, Nebraska. (from ancestry)

Her son and my GGgrandfather, Thomas Szulczewski, lived to 102 years of age.

 

[image error]I found newspaper records in which the Balke spelling is used as you can see in the highlighted section on the left, my GGrandfather Alex sold his 80 acre farm for $2,100.00.

 

 

 

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If you can read the document to the left, you will see that Adolph Belki (should be, Behlke) is applying for citizenship and signs his name Adolph Boelke…just to add to the confusion. Afterall, what is the difference between a, e, i, o and u any way, especially, when you speak three languages?

 

 

The Belka and Szulczewski family is huge as almost every child, married and had ten or more children of their own. My grandfather, Edward Balke, lived in an area filled with family and chose to leave and go off on his own. The question is why? I wonder what could have happened to make him never want to return to a place so rich in family history?

In 2016 I decided to take a drive up to Wisconsin to meet some cousins that I had met online.

Our first stop was Door County because I had heard so much about this peninsula. I figured we could check it out on our way to  our first stop on our journey to meet my grandfather’s family descendants in Plainfield, Wisconsin.

While I was in Door County we decided to take a ferry up to the northern most tip, Washington Island, and as fate would have it, they had a settler encampment, people who reenact what it was like to live in the mid to late 19th century, on the Historic Farm Museum.

I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to be able to experience what it must have been like for my GGgrandparent who came through Castle Gardens in New York in 1871 and traveled across the country to Wisconsin and had to clear the land and build a house for their family.

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Imagine having to live in primitive structures, like this  tent in the picture on the left, while clearing the land in the brisk Wisconsin weather.

 

 

 

 

 

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Or having to forage and cook with primitive utensils over an open fire, after a hard day of laboring on the farm, and taking care of the live stock.

This was not an easy life.

 

 

 

 

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Imagine building your own home  with the lumber you chopped down without modern tools, roofing tiles or insulation against the cold Wisconsin winters.

 

 

 

 

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I imagine this was much like the family home up in Wisconsin in the early 1870s. There was no plumbing, electricity, or running water. You would have to first find water on the land to create a well. Then anytime you needed water you would have to go out to a well and pump your water, build a fire to cook your food and use an outhouse. There were no convenient shops to go grocery shopping, you had to grow and butcher your own food.

 

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Using the address and google maps, I was able to get a picture of the farm were Adolph and Josephine Behlke lived and raised their family until that day that Adolph went into town to pick up some furniture that was a wedding gift for his daughter Olga.

 

 

 

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Satellite image of the Behlke family farm in 2017. I am sure the house has changed a great deal since 1889, when my great-great-grandparents, Adolph and Josephine Schriever-Behlke lived there with their children. Having a sense of place gives me a great idea of what life was like for them in the late 1800s and a new appreciation for the sacrifices they made.

 

 

Going from what my aunt Bal, told me, my grandfather was raised on a family, owned farm, the location is just slightly off. This goes back to that granular of truth in family histories. Stories passed down in the verbal tradition get a little changed over time. I am glad to live in a day and age where I can get concrete proof and know exactly where I came from and how my ancestors lived.

Considering that the family was very Catholic, Rosalia and Alexander may have wanted their first-born son to become a priest. I may never have the answer to that. What I do know is that my grandfather ran away never to return and was all but forgotten by his family.

I am glad to have the opportunity to unite them once again here and on ancestry and to meet the descendants and relatives of my grandfather.

[image error]Obituary about the fatal accident, Adolph Behlke had on October 22, 1889 that created a lawsuit against the city of Steven’s Point.

 

My cousin, Sue Meyer was able to go to Steven’s Point and make copies of the 100 page trial transcripts from the lawsuit that ensued as the family tried to get compensation for the death of 54-year-old, Adolph Behlke, the age I am writing these posts.  Sue emailed me copies that I painstakingly read.

 

 

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This is the type of carriage used to travel in the late 1800s. There would have been a wagon attached to carry the bedroom set, that Adolph had purchased for his daughter, Olga’s wedding. The court document talk about Adolph’s team of horses and whether they were attached correctly. Obviously the design must have been slightly different as three people were sitting on the front bench when the accident occurred.

 

Adolph was a founder or Charter member of St. Bartholomew’s Church. He helped build the church that his children, and grandchildren were baptised and married. He was a supervisor of his town and a strong community leader. He spoke three languages, Polish, German and English. He traveled across the world bought and cleared the land, built a house and established a farm where he raised 9 healthy children that went on to have families of their own.

Naturally, the city tried to fight the case and found witnesses to say that Adolph had been drinking in town the day he went to pick up the furniture with his daughter’s, Olga and Julia. The day his wagon wheel hit a large stump in the road the overturned his cart causing the furniture to fall upon him.

Living in the primitive conditions of Wisconsin in the late 1800’s his children did not receive formal educations and interpreters were needed to speak Polish for his two daughters who witnessed the accident. The language used in cross-examination hints at prejudice against Polish people.

In the end the family won a small settlement, but I was shocked how Adolph’s neighbors and fellow church members willingly came out to disparage his name during the court proceedings. This poor widow, Josephine is trying to survive and neighbors are coming forward to speak against her husband! Luckily there were just as many that came out to speak highly of Adolph’s character.

There are many things that influence people; jealousy, slights and grudges, make people bear false witness. One can only imagine how the controversy spread in a small town where news of the world would take months to reach. It was a simpler time, when there were no telephones, radios, televisions, cars or airplanes to distract people from what was going on locally. People had little to entertain themselves and I imagine a lawsuit and court case like this spread like wild-fire among the bored and restless.

I grew up in Chicago and remember in the 1970s, how different families had either good or bad reputations. Children grow up hearing their parent’s  talk and are influenced by what they hear, and will carry  a grudge without even knowing the specifics of why they are doing it. I imagine that this case had far-reaching consequences for the family. Reputations influence how people treat you, mere reputation alone can make or break you in a community.

My grandfather, Edward Balke, was born in 1896, five years after that trial. He was the first-born son of Alexander and Rosalia Szulczewski-Balke. He shows up in the 1900 census and the 1910 census and disappears after that.

Edward is not mentioned in either of his parents obituaries as a son, and he is not mentioned at their 50th wedding anniversary celebration that list their children! What happened?  He was 14 years old in the 1910 census and disappeared within a year.

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Rose and Alex Belka on their 50th wedding anniversary in front of their house in Plainfield, Wisconsin. It turns out they didn’t retire in Bakersfield, California.

 

 

 

 

 

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My GGrandparent’s celebration was held at St. Paul’s Church, as the newspaper clipping to the left list their children omitting my grandfather.

 

 

 

 

Which brings me to our second stop on our (2016 Wisconsin Journey) to meet the relatives of my grandfather. We met in a restaurant in Plainfield and then drove past the house pictured above, behind my Great Grandparents, and then to St. Paul’s Church to view records.   I was able to see my great grandparents signature in a book entering the marriage of one of their children. The orignal church gone, but they save the stained glass windows of the old church and kept the name plates of the donors.

 

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This is a picture of the St Paul’s Church in Plainfield, Wisconsin where my GGrandparents Celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary.

While up in Plainfield, I met my mother’s first cousin. He is the youngest of his generation. He said, “I remember my dad telling me about a brother who disappeared one night never to be seen again.” Ironically, his father, Adolph, married in Chicago in 1948, right in the city that Edward was living.

[image error]This is St. Paul’s Church today.
[image error]They manage to save the windows from the original church. This window was donated by Peter Szulczewski, my great-grandmother’s brother.

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After viewing the records and visiting St. Paul’s Church, we went to St. Paul’s Cemetery where the Belkas and Szulczewskis are interred.

[image error]Belka family plot
[image error]Szulczewski Family plot and my great great-grandparent’s grave.

 

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The only thing I can find on Edward Balke in the missing years of 1910 -1940 is this draft card.

 

Transcribed: Edward Balke, 21 years of age, 306 4th Avenue N. E. Minot, North Dakota. Date of birth, January 3rd, 1896, Native born in Steven Point, Wisconsin. Present trade occupation or office: Teamster Helper, employed by Hodgins TFr Company. He is single and has no dependents. On the next page he is listed as Tall, with a medium build, blue eyes, dark hair, not bald, no disabilities. It looks like it was signed in 1919, but going by the age of my grandfather, perhaps it was signed in 1916. Hodgins TFr, is another clue and place to look for more information, for future reference.

It is important to note that my grandfather died years before I was born. As a matter of fact, his mother, Rosalia, died in 1951, Edward died in 1952 and his father, Alexander, died in 1956. They all died within years of each other.

I grew up in my grandmother’s house later purchased by my father. Signs of my grandfather were everywhere in the circa 1913 home in Chicago.

My Grandfather, did carpentry, electrical and plumbing in that house. He did extensive remodel as well as building a two car garage. He enclosed the two level back porch with windows and built broom closets in the hollow walls in the stair case.

He opened the roof and installed dormers on both sides of the barn styled brick bungalow, and made the attic into a quaint two bedroom apartment with a kitchen and full bath, when his daughter married.

He laid a foundation and porch slab and built the two car garage out back and included cute flower boxes in the windows. He also built a special canning room in the unfinished basement for my grandmother’s preserves and sauces. The door to the room had a four pane glass window and was quite charming. His wife, my grandmother as previously stated, was a cook and own a restaurant where they met. She canned and made sauces and stored them in this 6’x6′ room that had a step up and 4 levels of shelves,  a foot deep, lining the walls all around.

I had a lot of fun playing down there as a kid because the room reminded me of a ranch house/general store, from an old western movie. There was a wood burning, black cast iron stove connected to the chimney that actually worked, just outside the canning room, that you could cook on or use for heat.

Our home housed four generations of family between (abt) 1920ish to 1985. One day, circa 1970 something, when I was snooping around in the basement, I found tucked into shelves that lined the whole south wall of the basement, a strange board mixed in with books and magazines.

I pulled it out and discovered it was a type of Ouija Board, made by Lee Industry in Chicago. It was a half inch thick and a bit warped from the humidity of the basement.

I called my aunt to ask her about it. She told my it was my grandfather’s board! I was surprised that someone raised by the Franciscan Fathers would have such a thing. She told me how  her father traveled with Houdini, performing in his opening act. She said he did card tricks to warm up the audience in a pre show before Houdini came out to perform.

It is well-known that long before Houdini was an escape artist, he started out his career by performing card tricks. Houdini also was born in Wisconsin and traveled the Midwest during my Grandfather’s missing years. I am  not sure how an Ouija board fits in with Houdini, but of course as a teenager, I had to try it.

The board had red lettering on it and instead of GoodBye it said Finis. Other than that, it had the alphabet, numbers 0-9, yes and no and the manufacturer printed on the board. Lee Industries, Chicago, Illinois. I have search the internet to find a duplicate but have been unable to find a picture of the exact one.

It didn’t have a planchette used as a letter indicator and the board was very thick, unlike the streamline Parker Bros. version that everyone is familiar with. The board was unusable, but, of course I went out and bought the Parker Bros board to put over my grandfather’s board.

I was about 13 years of age at the time and played with that board with many of my friends over my teenage years.  We had some very strange and spooky experiences, but I will save those stories that I am including in my new (WIP), Rituals  Lost, due out October, 2019. Be sure to pick up a copy when the book comes out.

It seems in genealogy research that for every question answered five or six new questions pop up. Genealogy is not for the impatient types who are looking for absolute answers immediately. It takes a lot of patience and careful research to find answers. Some pop up before your eyes while others require a lot of digging.

I couldn’t leave Central Wisconsin without trying to locate my Great-Great-Grandparent’s, Adolph and Josephine’s  graves.

[image error]It seems every time I go to a cemetery and take pictures it is a cloudy dark day. But while visiting Wisconsin I stopped by Saint Michael Cemetery in Junction City, to visit with my GGgrandparents, Adolph and Josepine Schriever- Belka. I couldn’t get answers as to a the exact section or plot numbers as there is a shortage of priests working in rural Wisconsin. My husband and I read every tombstone in that small quaint cemetery and couldn’t find either one of them. It could be that they are in unmarked graves.

 

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Or it could be that the ravage of time has worn the marker so badly that it is no longer legible, considering the headstone would be from 1889. In any case I was there, I said a prayer and hope they are resting peacefully.

 

My husband and I drove up to Steven’s point and roamed around, we drove over the bridge and found the spot that my GGgrandfather had his accident and proceeded farther north to meet some more cousins from the other line of the family in Three Lakes Wisconsin.  All in all it was a somber and enlightening journey.

In honoring our ancestors we learn about ourselves. I am grateful to my ancestors for their sacrifices and their lives! I am grateful to have met cousins who helped me along the way to discover who I am and where I came from. I am grateful for these new relationships that I have generated through my genealogical search that appear to grow stronger with each year that passes.

More about Houdini:

I may never find out if my grandfather did in fact travel with Houdini, but it is interesting to note that people still hold seances to this very day; trying to make contact with Houdini on Halloween or all hallows eve, where it is said that the veil between the living and the dead are thinnest and contact is possible.

At the turn of the century there was a great spiritual movement that reached its height in the 1920s because so many people had lost loved ones in WWI and to the Spanish-Flu pandemic. People were desperate to contact their dearly departed.

When Houdini’s beloved mother died in 1920, he turned to the psychic mediums of the day to find answers. He ended up canceling shows, he became so obsessed.

Scientific American Magazine, organized a distinguished panel of Harvard graduates et. al. and held a contest offering a $2,500.00 prize to anyone who could prove psychic ability.

It came down to Mina Crandon, wife of a surgeon, Dr. Le Roi Crandon, in Boston, known as Margery, the Blonde Witch of  Lime Street, who convinced, author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that she was the real deal, during a séance she held in his house.

Supposedly, Mina Crandon channeled her brother, Walter’s spirit who was said to be an angry entity. In July of 1924, Houdini and the panel from Scientific American Magazine, went to Mina Crandon’s fourth floor flat on Lime Street, in Boston and conducted a séance. Houdini was said to disprove, and discovered her every trick created! Houdini actually spoofed it in his act, angering the spirit Walter who supposedly predicted Houdini’s death on Halloween.

Before Houdini died, he made a pact with his wife that if it was possible to communicate with the living after death he would come to her on Halloween. He gave her a special message that only they shared. Mrs. Houdini tried for ten years after Houdini’s death and no psychic was ever able to bring the special message through.

I wonder if that is why my grandfather had that  Spirit Board? Maybe he was trying to communicate with Houdini.  Like you, I don’t know what happens after we pass, but I would like to think that their spirits are with us and that the Behlke and Szulczewski families are happy that they are finally united with their missing one, and that my grandfather spirit is united with his parents and family’s spirit in the great unknown.

As a writer, I find great pleasure in taking these snippets of information and expounding upon them to create an entertaining and enlightening read, that I hope you will enjoy in my new novel, Rituals Lost.

Thank you, for your time and attention. I hope you enjoyed the series of, Honoring Our Ancestors and that this Halloween you make a special effort to honor those who came before you. That is how Halloween was celebrated years ago, known as Samhain, and yet another Ritual Lost! 

Fairy/Mermaid Jars

 

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Thank you to all of those who responded to the fairy/mermaid jars. There is still room for more beta readers. If you are interested in receiving a free jar, email me at carly.compass@gmail.com with Fairy Jar in the subject heading.

I will send you the manuscript of, Rituals Lost in June of 2019, for you to read for free. You will have three months to read the manuscript and write an honest review before it is released in October 2019. I am asking that you write one review and post it on three websites, Goodread.com, Amazon.com and Smashwords.com. Once that is accomplished I will send you,  The $30.00 retail value jar, free as a thank you for writing the review and posting it.

Be On The Look Out:

 

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My new release, The Ivory Tower, (a collegiate experience) parts previously published in the About Series, has been developed into a full length novel and scheduled for release on November 20th 2018.

 

 

Honoring Our Ancestors
Part 3
The Mysteries of My Grandmother with the Glass Eye

 

UPDATE: As I have been writing this series, my 92 year-old aunt, suffered a stroke and is recuperating in a rehabilitation center. She is doing well and seems to have suffered no permanent damage. Prayers are sent out to this matriarch of my family.

Here is a recap from Part 1 in this series as told by my aunt:

My grandmother, Balbina was born in Chicago in 1888. Her father Martin from Ireland and her mother Agnes from Scotland met and fell in love on the boat to America. There they met a wealthy woman who would become their patron, and wanted to adopt their daughter because she had no children of her own. Martin and Agnes named their first-born daughter, my grandmother, after Balbina Morrison a rich hotelier, married to a sea-captain.

When my grandmother was very young she had an accident where she lost her right eye. She tripped on the boardwalk where an exposed nail entered her eye socket, damaging her eye beyond repair.  When considering the medical treatment in or around 1890, I am glad my grandmother survived the incident. My grandmother had a glass eye from that point forward. She also had another accident that my aunt only recently mentioned where a meat truck ran over her leg leaving one leg shorter than the other, my grandmother was handicapped and disfigured as a direct result.

My grandmother owned a restaurant in Chicago on 5th Avenue and Cicero with her uncle Duncan. She hired my grandfather as a dishwasher and married him shortly afterwards. She sold the restaurant after she married Edward and they owned a candy and cigar store for a time where they lived in the back of the store. When my mother was born, they made a crib by opening a drawer and filling it with blankets for my mother to sleep in those first few months before they sold the candy store and bought the house in Chicago, that I eventually grew up in. (end recap)

As I started my genealogy search I found my grandmother’s birth certificate with no name on it. Unfortunately, the names on the  census records are constantly misspelled. So, it appears that my grandmother is missing from the 1920 and 1930 census records.

My aunt couldn’t remember the name of the restaurant or candy store so that was a dead-end too.

I couldn’t pull up her marriage license or death certificate so that was a dead-end. Although, I went to the county court-house and ordered both, neither have arrived yet.

The 1920 census lists a Bernice, age 28 which would make her birth year, 1892. I couldn’t find a birth record for a Bernice in 1892. It could be that the name and age were incorrect on the census. At that time Bernice (age 28) was a clerk in a tea store. My grandmother, Balbina would have been 32.

In the 1930 census we find her mother, Agnes Small Cottingham a widow, who owned the home I later grew up in, living with her three daughters, Agnes, age 38, single, working as a restaurant manager,  Margret (34) unemployed and Isabel (31) clerk.

In 1930 my grandmother would have been, 42, married with two daughters ages 5 and 4, but no one is showing up on any census record. Both my mother and aunt have birth records in Chicago, Cook county, but there is no address as to where they were living other than city and county.

After exhausting that search I decided to look up the Balbina Morrison to see what I could learn about her. I found a few newspaper articles about a scandalous lawsuit involving Edward Morrison, her husband, trying to recoup his fortune that Balbina Morrison had gifted away to a crippled boy and his sister months before her death in 1909.

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In my search I also learned that my great grand parents arrived at different times on different boats. The one commonality is their street address found in local directories living in different dwellings on Sabor Street. Sadly, Sabor Street no longer exists cut out for railroad and highway development.  I also found the Morrison’s Mansion, also gone now, was in close proximity to Sabor Street and that must be how everyone  met.

[image error]My father gave me two items that he said belonged to my grandmother. One was an ornamental egg used as a container to hold small items. This egg was dated 1884 with the initials BM.






My aunt later told me that Balbina Morrison had made the dishes.  She gave them to my great grandparents as a wedding gift in 1887 and that the egg was a part of the set. Balbina Morrison had carved her initials into the egg. Sadly, my aunt, didn’t want to store the dishes and threw them out years ago. So, the egg gives a bit of provenance to the story as well as a bowl that my father had given me.

 

[image error]BM 1884 I store my mother’s peach rose earring in the egg.
[image error]view inside the egg reveals a little hand painted butterfly

Such a shame that these dishes were thrown away without any thought to provenance and history.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I remember that this bowl had a very large pedestal made of the same material and color, but I wasn’t sure what the bowl was used for. It looks a little fancy and awkward to use for potato salad on a buffet. So I took it to an antique dealer who held it under a black light.

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He dated the bowl, circa 1880 and said that it was a bridal/wedding bowl  that sometimes had a metal sheath and handle, used to hold the envelopes that guests brought to the wedding for the bride and groom.

I guess the pedestal broke years ago and I was unable to find any others like it in my searches. This might have been a custom-made piece and a gift from the benevolent, Balbina Morrison.

Sadly, the Morrison family came to tragic ends as I found another newspaper clipping about her husband Edward in 1916:

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Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States of America) · 25 Aug 1916, Fri · Page 2Downloaded on Oct 11, 2018

Edward Morrison, Chicago Tribune 25 August 25th 1916

Copyright © 2018 Newspapers.com. All Rights Reserved.

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It appears in the article Edward Morrison was in poor health and mind and couldn’t seem to answer basic questions. He had lost millions and could not account for it. So the mysteries of my grandmother reaches far and wide to the mysteries of the Morrison Family.

I followed up the story and found that there were a few people who claimed to be his children upon his death and it appears the estate was squandered away.

While doing my genealogy searches I usually have a few tabs opened at the same time. On one particular day, my great grandfather’s Last Will and Testament popped up. I was able to authenticate it by using the passengers list and then almost miraculously his grave and cemetery plot also came up.



[image error]So, now I had information on the deaths and burial of many relatives that evoked a few new questions.






Who is Michael Sweeny who also appears on the 1910 census living with the Cottingham family on 36 Ashland Street, Chicago, Illinois, and why is he buried here with the family and who are the Border children included in the burial plot?

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William Cottingham’s Last Will and Testament circa 1907. [image error]I have transcribed the three page document below. I used a different color font in case you want to skip reading the entire document, but have highlighted a few names of interest, because it reveals more mysteries.

The Last Will And Testament

Of William Cottingham

 

I William Cottingham of the City of Chicago, County of Cook, and State of Illinois, being of sound and disposing mind and memory, do here by revoke all former Wills by me made at any time heretofore and do make publish and declare this to be my Last Will and Testament as follows to wit.

I give, devise and bequeath to my son John Cottingham the sum of Seven Hundred ($700.00) Dollars, and in case he should die before my decease then the sum so bequeathed to him shall go to his son William Cottingham.

All the rest residue and remainder of my said property after paying all my just debts and funeral expenses I give devise and bequeath to my following named children in the following proportions to each.

To my son Martin, to my son William J. and to my son Michael each 7/33s parts thereof.

To my daughter Delia Gannon, and to my daughter Mary Border each 5/33’s parts thereof.

To my granddaughter Bridget daughter of my son Martin 2/33’s part thereof.

The said bequests however, so made to the last named six beneficiaries are to be held in trust by my son John Cottingham whom I constitute and appoint trustee for that purpose with full power to dispose of the share of each in his best judgement deem proper and just and upon the death of my said trustee then the several shares so provided for said six beneficiaries shall immediately vest in them and be turned over to them and should any of said beneficiaries die before the decease of my said trustee then the share of the one so doing shall go to his children in equal parts and shall immediately be turn over to them.

If any of said beneficiaries however, die without leaving any children then the share provided for the one so dying shall go and be added to the share of the survivors of the said named six beneficiaries.

I desire that my said trustee shall invest the principal herein devised and bequeathed to said above name beneficiaries so that the same may yield the largest income possible and that he shall pay the said income as the same shall accrue to the said named beneficiaries or his or her children as he shall deem proper in the proportions above specified.

In determining whether the income be derived from said principle so invested shall be paid to the beneficiaries named or to his or her children my said trustee shall be left to his own good judgement and discretion in the matter.

I hereby make and appoint my son John Cottingham executor of this my Last Will and Testament and request that no bond be required of him as such executor or as trustee.

In Testimony Whereof, I, the said William Cottingham have to this my Last Will and Testament, consisting of three pages or sheets of paper and to every sheet thereof subscribed my name and to this the last sheet thereof subscribed my name and affixed my seal this First Day of August A.D. 1907. William Cottingham Seal

The above written instrument consisting of three pages or sheets of paper was published and declared by the said William Cottingham on the first August AD. 1907 as and for his Last Will and Testament and he in the presence of us subscribed his name to each and every page of sheet thereof and to this the last page or sheet his name and affixed his seal, and we his presence and in the presence of each other have subscribed our names hereto us witnesses thereof and written opposite our names, our respective place of residence, all on the day above written. etc. (witnesses names and addresses as on the first sheet in the photo above)

Will proved and admitted to record in open court this 19 day of Nov. A.D. 1907 Charles S. Cutting Probate Judge.

William wrote the will on August 1st and died November 1909. It is obvious from this will that my  GGGrandfather, William Cottingham was a very detail oriented and educated man.

At this point I didn’t have any record of Delia Gannon as part of the family or that Mary had married Border. Now I knew that the children in the grave were hers, but even more mysterious was the entry: “To my granddaughter Bridget, daughter of my son, Martin 2/33’s part thereof.”

I have no record of Martin having a daughter Bridget. Could this be why my grandmother’s birth certificate didn’t have a name on it?

My Great-Grandfather Martin wanted to name his daughter Bridget and my Great-Grandmother Agnes wanted to name her Balbina and so the certificate remained nameless.

In further searches I found that William Cottingham was involved in a lawsuit in 1891, where his son John (15) was injured in a railway accident, in 1889, involving West & North Chicago Street Railroad for a sum of $15,000. The case got notoriety because a jury member tried to get paid by the railroad company to influence the jury in the railway company’s favor.

Considering that William Cottingham was no stranger to lawyers, and lawsuits, wouldn’t there be a case involving a young girl who lost her eye from a nail sticking out of a board walk? I am positive that my GGGrandfather William would have filed suit against the city and or any meat truck that ran over her leg. There is no evidence of this.

Obviously, William included  only one granddaughter in his will, the question is why? I think that possibly it is because she was injured and he wanted to see that she was cared for.

Unfortunately, the Last Will doesn’t mention the total of his estate that was divided up into 33rds. I did find that he owned a home on a little strip of Polk Street, that runs north and south, now gone and replaced by a shopping mall downtown.

 

 

[image error]I could say that he spared no expense on his wife’s marble headstone when she died in 1895. My husband stands 5’8″ next to the headstone that appears to be over seven feet tall.  As you can see by the picture this cemetery is prime real estate. Located across the street from Lake Michigan, now apartment buildings are built right up to the cemetery property line.




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The head stone reads:
Margaret wife of
WM Cottingham
Native of Co. Galway
Ireland
Died May 2, 1895
Aged 57 years
May her soul rest in peace
until she is
Greeted by her husband

[image error]If my GGGrandfather didn’t purchase such a big tombstone, this grave would have been pushed aside. If you were able to see around the base of this headstone, there are flat grave markers for all the people who have been buried over or around the family plot for the last 20+ years after this grave reached its 100th year in 1995. Actually the dates seemed to be as early as 1960. Perhaps, since no one inquired about the grave site, they started moving people in sooner?

In searching for answers of the mysteries about my grandmother, I met my GGGrandparents. From all the documentation I could find, I could write a character profile.  They were obviously educated and had means. My grandfather loved his wife and family very deeply and took care to see that their needs were met to the best of his ability.

Both my GGGrandfather and GGrandfather were listed as “Night Watchmen” on their death certificates. I only recently learned that is the name used for policemen at the time of their demise in the early 20th century.

Four generations later William and Margret Cottingham were forgotten. No one in my family, not even their great grand-daughter, my aunt Bal, knew where they lived and died. I am still working on a calculation as to how many living descendants these two have to date and the number reaches well over 80+. 80 people living across the USA that don’t even know where they came from. Luckily, I just met a descendant of Mary Cottingham Border on the ancestry website so I shall have a more accurate number soon.

While honoring our ancestors it is important to contemplate how and if you will be remembered. Do you know what kind of legacy will remain after you are gone?

I am grateful to my ancestors for braving the boat passage to America. They suffered greatly and their boldness has brought many generations into existence.

In the Day of the Dead, celebrated on October 31 thru November 2, in the Mexican Culture, it is believed that if your ancestors are forgotten, their spirit dies! I would like to think that my GGGrandparents have been with me throughout my life and gave me that miraculous nudge to find them.

I may never find out what happened to my grandmother, but I learned a great deal about her husband that I will share in the fourth and final part in this series, Honoring Our Ancestors, The Family Farm in Wisconsin. This story involves a rumor that my grandfather traveled with Houdini, a mysterious story I was told by my aunt, after finding his Ouija board in the basement of our four generation family home in Chicago!

Thank you for your time and attention. I hope you enjoyed this third installation. Obviously, I have only grazed the surface of my ancestor’s stories, but learning about my ancestors has whet my desire to learn more. I can easily connect and love filling in the blanks which is the catalyst of my new series, Rituals Lost, release date, October 2019.

Fairy/Mermaid Jars.

[image error]There is still time to sign up for your free jar. All I ask is that you read the free manuscript of my new WIP, Rituals Lost, and post a review before the release date of October 2019. Write one review and post it to three websites. If you are interested send me an email with Fairy Jars in the subject heading at:  carly.compass@gmail.com




Stay on the Look out

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Watch out for my #newrelease The Ivory Tower, (A Collegiate Experience), due out November 20th 2019! Portions previously published in the, About Series, now developed into a full length novel.