8/30/2022

Who are the best cooks in your family?

Mary, Tim, and Vicki are all good cooks.

Mary learned from her mother, and little from her father. Her father's job was primarily cooking. We lived in Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Hammond, Indiana, but her father worked and lived in California. She worked in restaurants. She had friends who were good cooks. Mary Polk is just one example. She worked and cooked at a Kroger store in Houston, Texas. She was a waitress at Foley's Department store in Houston. She  was a hostess at Zuider Zee seafood restaurant. She worked in a rehabilitation center, which served food, in Harmarville, Pennsylvania.

Tim went to high school in a school which taught food preparation. The name of the school was Batey. It was near Pittsburgh, Pa. He has over forty five years of cooking experience. He cooks regularly for himself, Mary and I. His meals are very flavorful and tasty. We had breaded tender pork chops. He makes his own french fries, his mashed potatoes are yummy, and he makes sweet potatoes. He has an oven and equipment to use to prepare food.

Vicki has over forty five years cooking experience. She learned from her mother Mary, but she does things on her own. Her husband, Danny, is a good cook also. So, she learned from him as well. Boiled eggs and spinach are a favorite of hers. We went to many holiday dinners at Vicki's house, when we were in Pennsylvania; Vicki did most of the cooking.


What things are you proudest of in your life?

 High school
     I was offered and accepted a teacher job after graduating from high school.

US Army

     The USA means a lot to me.

     Capitalism, Conservative, Believer, Constitutionalist

College

     Michigan State University
     Bachelor of Arts Degree
     Business Administration

 Graduated in the top 14 of 4,000

     Invited lifetime member of Phi Kappa Phi

     Invited lifetime member of Beta Gamma Sigma 


Owner-operator

     I have owned three trucks at different times over several years

This truck belonged to Angelo Fonzi. I drove it several years between Gary, In through Canada, to Buffalo, NY. It was one of three rigs that were the same. James Farler and Jerrold Luipold drove the other two.
Volvo truck with 400 horsepower Volvo engine. Double pay; this truck earned twice as much as an eighteen wheeler. This truck can be backed up hooked up. Fortyeight wheelers have to be unhooked and trailers backed separately to load.

Don Wolfrum, August 30, 2022





8/29/2022

Royal Botanic Gardens | Hamilton, Ontario

 Don, what is one of the most beautiful places you have ever been?

The Royal Botanical Gardens, near Hamilton, Ontario. It’s in Burlington, Ontario.


By Leonora (Ellie) Enking from East Preston, United Kingdom - African Marigolds, CC BY-SA 2.0,

HTTPS://COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG/W/INDEX.PHP?CURID=79870014 '

Link to Royal Botanicanl Gardens images page.

HTTPS://WWW.GOOGLE.COM/SEARCH?Q=ROYAL+BOTANICAL+GARDENS+HAMILTON,+ONTARIO&NEWWINDOW=1&SXSRF=ALICZSYOJ9DNPOOKRRUY7OINYW2F4ELFXW:1661706890218&SOURCE=LNMS&TBM=ISCH&SA=X&VED=2AHUKEWI82QXHHOR5AHW5DEQIHSYODRIQ_AUOANOECAIQBA&BIW=1396&BIH=656&DPR=1.38

Don Wolfrum, August 28, 2022

What’s in bloom at the garden

HTTPS://WWW.RBG.CA/GARDENS-TRAILS/BY-EXPERIENCE/WHATS-IN-BLOOM/#SEASON

Don Wolfrum, August 28, 2022

Iris
HTTPS://WWW.RBG.CA/GARDENS-TRAILS/BY-EXPERIENCE/WHATS-IN-BLOOM/IRIS/

Don Wolfrum, August 28, 2022

Horticulture and Collections
HTTPS://WWW.RBG.CA/PLANTS-CONSERVATION/HORTICULTURE-COLLECTIONS/

Browse all collections here.

Don Wolfrum, August 28, 2022

Rose Garden
HTTPS://WWW.RBG.CA/GARDENS-TRAILS/BY-EXPERIENCE/WHATS-IN-BLOOM/ROSE-GARDEN/

Don Wolfrum, August 28, 2022

Weddings
HTTPS://WWW.RBG.CA/VENUES-RENTALS/WEDDINGS/
There are other events
Children’s birthday parties
Corporate events, etc.

Don Wolfrum, August 28, 2022


Nancy has thanked you for this story. This story has also been seen by Vicki and Dave.

8/28/2022

Did you walk or talk in your sleep?

 Do I walk or talk in my sleep?

I don't walk in my sleep.

My wife says that I moan, groan, and holler, and say stuff that don' make sense.

8/22/2022

Steve Martin and Kermit the Frog in "Dueling Banjos"

What is the funniest thing you ever did?
I posted this on Twitter
People liked it!





Ray Stevens - "The Mississippi Squirrel Revival" (Music Video)






Ray Stevens - The Streak (with lyrics)


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CVZaBUkSwRI" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

What is the funniest thing you have ever done?

 What is the funniest thing you have ever done?

I posted Steve Martin and Kermit the Frog on Twitter

People liked it

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5gNuj8UkyC4" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Funny also

The Mississippi Squirrel Revival

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K16fG1sDagU" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Ray Stevens Streak

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CVZaBUkSwRI" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>


8/17/2022

 


Did you have any nicknames as a child? How did you feel about them?

My uncle Ralph, who was more like a brother, had a thing about calling people Henry. I was included. It didn't bother me at all. He was the way he was, and I accepted it. I think he might have thought that he was being funny.


Ralph upper left

 


8/15/2022

Which people have been the kindest to you in life?

 Which people have been the kindest to you in life?


My wife, grandparents, and two others.

Joseph D. Gezienski, who lives in Curtisville, Pennsylvania is one. My truck broke down near the Route 8 Exit on the Pennsylvania turnpike. I discovered that the truckstop had put gasoline in my diesel truck. My wife was living in Houston, Texas. I put my truck in the repair shop, and that’s where I met Joseph. He owned trucks, and he offered me a job. He was also involved in many other businesses. I started driving, and Joe suggested that I buy a truck from him. I did, and bought another truck from him several years later. My wife moved from Houston, Texas, and we bought a house in Curtisville, Pa. My daughter Vicki was 12 years old at the time.

I quit driving my own truck, and went to work for Angelo Fonzi. He had quite a few trucks of his own, and owned a company, which had hundreds of owner operators. I was top revenue man for about 15 years. My wife, Mary, worked for Fonzi too. We worked in Hammond, In. I drove a 34 wheel rig from Hammond, In to Buffalo, NY. The route was through Canada. The route was from Gary, In to Detroit. The route went from Detroit, through London, Hamilton, and Niagara to Buffalo, NY,

My wife lived in Curtisville, Pa the first years of driving from Gary, In to Buffalo NY. I had a 400 mile commute. On Friday night I took a cab to the train station in Gary, In. I would get on the train bound for Pittsburgh, Pa. The train had a delicacy; boiled shrimp sandwiches. I slept in the seats. One of the main stops was Cleveland, Oh. Saturday morning I would arrive in Pittsburgh. We would go home, and I would leave Pittsburgh around noon Sunday. Monday morning I would be back in Gary, In in the truck.

The house pictures are our home in Curtisville, Pa.

We had a hot tub and a pool table.

My wife has been very kind for 69 years.


Mary Wolfrum purchased this rock
It is at Vicki Callender’s house in Pennsylvania currently







 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 



What is your idea of perfect happiness?

 My idea of happiness is having a good feeling about my life. My life has not been perfect. I would have had one job in a perfect world. I was able to manage my finances. My wife and I have enough money to last the rest of our lives. I wouldn’t have moved south in a perfect world. I spent thirteen years in Texas. I was more productive in the northern part of the country. I do have a good feeling about my life overall. I have a good feeling about our finances. My wife contributed to our finances. I feel good about having one wife. (Willie Nelson had several wives.) We worked together. We shared the same ideas.

Don Wolfrum, August 14, 2022

8/14/2022

Ronald L. Wolfrum

 Ronald L. Wolfrum's grave is in 

National Cemetery of the Alleghenies

https://goo.gl/maps/6BhrVQtSaE1XQK9z9  
There are photos in the left frame at the bottom.
I watched the birth of Ronald, September 13, 1954.
Ronald died from cancer.
He had a tumor as large as three softballs, which prevented food from entering his stomach.
Ronnie died in 2017.
He died on his birthday September 13, 2017.
He came to visit his parents before he went to the VA hospice.
He knew he would die in the hospice.

A vehicle came to transport him to the hospice.
I'll never forget the horrified look on his face as he boarded the vehicle.
I felt his warm body after his death.


What was your mom like when you were a child?

My mother was concerned about my health and education. She helped me to learn my abc's and counting to 100. She got some cod liver oil, and had me swallow little tablets.


I remember getting my butt beat with a switch, but I don't remember what for.

My mother was the bread winner. One of her first jobs was selling shoes at the Charles store in Defiance. I was about a second grader then. She was a cashier in the General Motors Central Foundry cafeteria. That was one of her last jobs.

She had a picture of me in my ROTC uniform on a table in her house, which was when I was fourteen.

8/07/2022

Where did you go on vacations as a child?


i w

We lived in Defiance, Ohio and Toledo was 60 miles away.
I rode the merry-go-round.
If you could catch a brass ring, it was good to get a free ride. I didn't catch one.
I'm guessing that I was in the first or second grade at the time.
Don Wolfrum, August 06, 2022
  •  Mom took me there also and to Indian Lake amusement park! She would work all night and take us in the morning bless her!
Nancy Rupp, August 07, 2022

8/04/2022

Can you tell us about Grandpa Andy and his wife, child, and farmland?

Can you tell us about Grandpa Andy and his wife, child, and farmland?
Grandpa Andy was born the son of a shoemaker. Cholera epidemics existed at the time of his birth. He had a sister, Eliza. He had two brothers, who I’m aware of; Adam and Jake. Adam was a farm owner; his farm was near Ayersville, Ohio. Jake was another brother. Jake worked at the Defiance County road department. Andy married Catherine Kaestner, who was a neighbor. Andy’s ancestors lived in Germany, and his wife’s ancestors lived in Germany. Andy had six children; three boys and three girls. Andy built a home. Andy owned the farmland, which the home was on. Andy had income from milk, eggs, and produce. Andy raised fields of tomatoes, and housing for tomatoe laborers were on his farm. He raised and roasted peanuts. Andy made applebutter in two ten gallon pots. Andy buried produce to preserve vegetables. Andy’s youngest son, Ralph, inherited Andy’s farm. Ralph’s daughter Brenda has a home on Andy’s farm, Jonathon and Michael; Ralph’s sons are active on Andy’s farm

Can you tell us about Grandpa Andy and his wife, child, and farmland?

Andy and Grandma Wolfrum had an upright piano in their home.

They also had a Victrola.  https://www.google.com/search?q=victrola&oq=Victrola&aqs=chrome.0.0i433i512l3j0i512l7.7609j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 

Andy and Grandma had catalpa trees in their yard.

 https://youtu.be/BQHsAvhwCz8 

8/03/2022

What was your first big trip?


 

 

I was a hitchhiker when I was in high school. David Whithans and Daniel Welp were two of my classmates at Concordia, Ft. Wayne, Indiana. David Whithans lived in Chicago, and Daniel Welp lived in St. Louis, Missouri. I hitchhiked about 140 miles to David Whithans home in Chicago, and I hitchhiked about 340 miles to Daniel Welp’s home in St Louis, Missouri. David Whithans lived on South Halsted Street in Chicago, and gangs were present in the area. Any action in David’s area had to take the gangs into consideration. Daniel Welp’s father was in charge of a children’s home. I participated in washing and drying of clothing during my visit.
 


Attribution:
Kevin William KellyCC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

8/02/2022

Henry McCarty

 



These are pictures of Henry when he was a baby.
He has been diagnosed with leukemia. He is my grandson, and he'll be four years old in July 2022. He is doing well as of August 14, 2022

Henry's car