Dick and I have know the Hamlins since our boys were in grade school. I worked at the Eudora Post Office for 23 years so really got to know Bill from that experience. He was always a joker and had something to say to make us all laugh. He was known for coming in to check his mailbox when we were not open and hollar and demand he be allowed to have home service (see note below). That was not going to happen in Eudora, Ks. The real classic thing was that we had acquired the "she-boss from hell" which no one liked. One day Bill came in and demanded he have the delivery at his house. We all knew the act but "she" didn't. No one bothered to explain it to her. She was ready to call the cops. After she found out the deal, she mellowed a bit but it didn't last long. We were always happy to see Mr. Bill come in. On the other hand, Mary Lou is one of my best "shopping pals"! We have done a lot of things together, such as Red Hat Society, water exercise, stained glass, and just shopping. Dick and have had so many ups and downs in our life and Mary Lou has been one of the people who have always been there for us. She is a joy to be around. I am thinking she deserves a medal, trophy or something of that sort for putting in 50 years with "Mr. Bill". Just kiddin. Bill and Mary Lou are a great couple and hope they have many more good years together. Sorry we can't be at the anniversary celebration. We will be at our school reunion for the week-end. Bill and Mary Lou, love you both. Dick and Kathleen Brown, Eudora, Ks.
Note from Kim: When we moved to Eudora in 1972, the postal service had already started to scale back postal delivery in residental areas. They designated specific areas were mailboxes were to be posted together so that the mailman could handle several homes with just one stop. The place where the postal service said that we could put our mailbox was several blocks from our house...about the same distance that the post office was from our house. Mom and Dad decided not to put up a mailbox and instead rented a post office box. Somebody walked down to the post office every day to pick up the mail...I still remember the combination and I bet my brothers and sister do too. When Dad went to get the mail, there was always shouting...well that is Kathleen's story.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Summertime
ML's brother Jim writes...
We went to Tug Lake one nice sunny day for a picnic. We alway grilled our food on these days. We had brats this day. All the kids were playing and running around while Bill and I cooked the brats. Mary Lou and Jan (Jim's wife) kept an eye on the kids. Eeverything was going fine until Bill and I got distracted for some good reason. In the mean time something was going wrong with our grill --it was catching on fire. When we look back it was really smoking and the flames were quite high. Seeing this was the only food we had ,we had to rescue the brats. The brats were a little black (all the way through). They didn't taste to bad for Bill and I because we made them, but the kids and women didn't think so.
We went to Tug Lake one nice sunny day for a picnic. We alway grilled our food on these days. We had brats this day. All the kids were playing and running around while Bill and I cooked the brats. Mary Lou and Jan (Jim's wife) kept an eye on the kids. Eeverything was going fine until Bill and I got distracted for some good reason. In the mean time something was going wrong with our grill --it was catching on fire. When we look back it was really smoking and the flames were quite high. Seeing this was the only food we had ,we had to rescue the brats. The brats were a little black (all the way through). They didn't taste to bad for Bill and I because we made them, but the kids and women didn't think so.
In Awe
ML's brother Jim writes...
We lived in Jersey City suburb of Tomahawk across a railroad track. People were aways hitting our mailbox and driving off so my dad had put telephone poles pretty deep in the ground. That way if they hit them again they would not drive off.
I had just gotten to know Bill from playing football and he gave me a ride home.
As we came over the track Bill forgot he was driving and just stared "WHO IS THAT GIRL ON THE PORCH" was all he said. We were headed right for the telephone pole mailbox post while Bill ogled the girl on the proch. I told him to watch out for the Mailbox which broke him ogling and there was no car wreck that day.
I told him then the girl on the porch was my sister.
We lived in Jersey City suburb of Tomahawk across a railroad track. People were aways hitting our mailbox and driving off so my dad had put telephone poles pretty deep in the ground. That way if they hit them again they would not drive off.
I had just gotten to know Bill from playing football and he gave me a ride home.
As we came over the track Bill forgot he was driving and just stared "WHO IS THAT GIRL ON THE PORCH" was all he said. We were headed right for the telephone pole mailbox post while Bill ogled the girl on the proch. I told him to watch out for the Mailbox which broke him ogling and there was no car wreck that day.
I told him then the girl on the porch was my sister.
Muted
ML's brother Jim writes...
Bert and I didn't know about this for a few years later (quite a few actually) .
We had been hunting all day and Bill never would stand that day. He made all the drives [He was never the guy waiting for the deer to be driven towards him.] (You never knew what he was doing any way so we thought nothing of it). Then the truth came out. I don't know if it was a slip of the tongue of guilty conscience.
HE FORGOT HIS SHELLS AT HOME AND HUNTED ALL DAY [WITHOUT BULLETS]
Bert and I didn't know about this for a few years later (quite a few actually) .
We had been hunting all day and Bill never would stand that day. He made all the drives [He was never the guy waiting for the deer to be driven towards him.] (You never knew what he was doing any way so we thought nothing of it). Then the truth came out. I don't know if it was a slip of the tongue of guilty conscience.
HE FORGOT HIS SHELLS AT HOME AND HUNTED ALL DAY [WITHOUT BULLETS]
Blue Air
ML's brother Jim writes...
We had just made a long drive (deer hunting) and in Harrison there are a few hills. I was standing on the bottom of a hill on the highline talking to a hunter that wasn't one of our gang. Bill was coming down off the hill. He was about half way down and I told him to go back up because we were driving to the Pine Hill--which was over some more hills. He proceeded telling me &$#@%@@:"$@ no. Then he saw that it was a lady I was talking to and almost ran back up the hill. Turns out he had to come back down because we weren't making that [next] drive.
We had just made a long drive (deer hunting) and in Harrison there are a few hills. I was standing on the bottom of a hill on the highline talking to a hunter that wasn't one of our gang. Bill was coming down off the hill. He was about half way down and I told him to go back up because we were driving to the Pine Hill--which was over some more hills. He proceeded telling me &$#@%@@:"$@ no. Then he saw that it was a lady I was talking to and almost ran back up the hill. Turns out he had to come back down because we weren't making that [next] drive.
Trapped in the Back Seat.
ML's brother Jim writes...
It was very cold and the highways were in winter driving condition. All the pot holes and cracks were filled and the surface was smooth. Solid ice actually. (Jim's Brother-In-Law) Carl and I picked up Marylou and Bill in Merrill and were bringing them to Tomahawk. We drove our regular speed 60 or 70 and thought nothing of it. We were told later Mary Lou was very scared and cried most of the way home. I think she was pregnant with Scot at that time. Carl and I still feel badly about that because we did not know and we were driving nomally.
It was very cold and the highways were in winter driving condition. All the pot holes and cracks were filled and the surface was smooth. Solid ice actually. (Jim's Brother-In-Law) Carl and I picked up Marylou and Bill in Merrill and were bringing them to Tomahawk. We drove our regular speed 60 or 70 and thought nothing of it. We were told later Mary Lou was very scared and cried most of the way home. I think she was pregnant with Scot at that time. Carl and I still feel badly about that because we did not know and we were driving nomally.
Harrison Extended Family
Cousin Phil (Punky) Lemmens writes...
Hi from Door County county,Wisconsin
Growing up in Harrison on the mail route road, the eldest child in my family, it was my good fortune to have Mary Lou as my "big sister." Memories are a little foggy now from those early days but just thinking about it brings pleasant feelings and a smile to my face. Later memories are the wedding dances. Bill and mary Lou were "hoofers". They know how to enjoy and it is infectious. Bills humor has always made us laugh. May your next 50 years be full of more dancing and laughter.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Without a Trace
ML's brother Bert writes....
It was a nice day to be in the woods. Sunny, warm and deer season. All one could ask for. I was to meet Bill and Jim in early afternoon. I would wait at the "telephone pole" for them. It was called the telephone pole for reasons I never knew. I never saw telephone poles or wire there. Oh well let us move on.
I was waiting at the telephone pole. Soon the others came. Hunting could begin. As I moved to meet them, some movement to my right caught my eye. Deer! Several of them! Some had horns! Great!!!! Jim saw me react, but not shoot. I told them what I had just seen. The following plan to acquire some venison went into operation.
I would return to the pole [and wait-- taking the "stand" as hunters call it]. They would go around and try to bring the deer back. If you were ever the one who was on a stand you know what it is to be bored. After what seemed like three hours twelve minutes and thirty seven seconds movement caught my eyes. The deer were returning. The plan was pure genius. Before me were the deer.
I would hear noise to my right front and the deer would move left. I would then hear noise to my left front and the deer would move right. Always moving closer to me. Then the moment of truth. Just in front of me, perhaps thirty five yards, were five, yes FIVE bucks. Taking careful aim I proceeded to empty my rifle. The deer moved to the right. Five shots rang out [from a distance]. The deer were headed back at me. I am reloaded and ready. Three more shots but the deer keep going.
I would learn that Jim was to my right front and Bill to my left. Bill had fired the five shots. Jim, being the demanding person he is, made us check to see that we were as bad as we looked [that we really had missed all those deer with all those shots], and we almost were. This is where our tale begins.
It seems that in front of Bill was an unseen doe and he got it. While missing the bucks he had seen, he had still not been skunked after all [Bill had another not exactly legal deer]. We dressed out the deer. Bill was acting as if he had just robbed the bank and had the feds after him. He said he would take it out and we should get away. We made a compromise. He would take the deer to the highline and I would meet him there with the car.
It had snowed the night before and the ground was covered. Nothing had yet disturbed it. I backed the car into the highline to meet Bill. I did not see him yet. I got out and went to the trunk to open it. Placing the key in the lock I turned it. I looked up to see Bill at the north side of the highline, I was on the south side. Before the lid was all the way up a deer landed in the trunk and the lid was on its way back down. Bill was standing next to me.
As I looked to the north side of the highline I got the surprise of the day. The new snow was unmarked. He had not only crossed the highline in less time than it took to open a spring loaded trunk lid, he had done it without leaving a mark in the new snow. There were no footprints or drag marks in the new snow. It all happened so quickly that I had missed what had to have been one of the most amazing feats in human history. [how do you] move fifty yards down hill dragging a deer and not disturb the new fallen snow. I still am in awe.
It was a nice day to be in the woods. Sunny, warm and deer season. All one could ask for. I was to meet Bill and Jim in early afternoon. I would wait at the "telephone pole" for them. It was called the telephone pole for reasons I never knew. I never saw telephone poles or wire there. Oh well let us move on.
I was waiting at the telephone pole. Soon the others came. Hunting could begin. As I moved to meet them, some movement to my right caught my eye. Deer! Several of them! Some had horns! Great!!!! Jim saw me react, but not shoot. I told them what I had just seen. The following plan to acquire some venison went into operation.
I would return to the pole [and wait-- taking the "stand" as hunters call it]. They would go around and try to bring the deer back. If you were ever the one who was on a stand you know what it is to be bored. After what seemed like three hours twelve minutes and thirty seven seconds movement caught my eyes. The deer were returning. The plan was pure genius. Before me were the deer.
I would hear noise to my right front and the deer would move left. I would then hear noise to my left front and the deer would move right. Always moving closer to me. Then the moment of truth. Just in front of me, perhaps thirty five yards, were five, yes FIVE bucks. Taking careful aim I proceeded to empty my rifle. The deer moved to the right. Five shots rang out [from a distance]. The deer were headed back at me. I am reloaded and ready. Three more shots but the deer keep going.
I would learn that Jim was to my right front and Bill to my left. Bill had fired the five shots. Jim, being the demanding person he is, made us check to see that we were as bad as we looked [that we really had missed all those deer with all those shots], and we almost were. This is where our tale begins.
It seems that in front of Bill was an unseen doe and he got it. While missing the bucks he had seen, he had still not been skunked after all [Bill had another not exactly legal deer]. We dressed out the deer. Bill was acting as if he had just robbed the bank and had the feds after him. He said he would take it out and we should get away. We made a compromise. He would take the deer to the highline and I would meet him there with the car.
It had snowed the night before and the ground was covered. Nothing had yet disturbed it. I backed the car into the highline to meet Bill. I did not see him yet. I got out and went to the trunk to open it. Placing the key in the lock I turned it. I looked up to see Bill at the north side of the highline, I was on the south side. Before the lid was all the way up a deer landed in the trunk and the lid was on its way back down. Bill was standing next to me.
As I looked to the north side of the highline I got the surprise of the day. The new snow was unmarked. He had not only crossed the highline in less time than it took to open a spring loaded trunk lid, he had done it without leaving a mark in the new snow. There were no footprints or drag marks in the new snow. It all happened so quickly that I had missed what had to have been one of the most amazing feats in human history. [how do you] move fifty yards down hill dragging a deer and not disturb the new fallen snow. I still am in awe.
The Shot
ML's brother Bert writes...
The day’s hunt was over and we were on our way to Eddy’s. Bill, Uncle Ed and I had been out this afternoon. Jim had gone to work at noon. It was in the days of the party permit. This was when four hunters got together and got a doe permit [for the group]. [under the party permit] the shooter was required to wear an armband when they shot the deer. This was a rule we always took to heart. [If you shot a deer without a license or the party permit, you were legally a poacher].
As we came around the corner by the dam road there were two deer on the west side of the road. Bill hadn't yet shot a deer so I thought...if I could block them, Bill could get a shot at one. The first problem was to let Bill know what I had in mind since we were in two [separate] cars [and couldn't easily talk to each other].
We got one deer blocked but we were now by Swans house. I told Bill to get out and shoot it. The deer was somewhat cooperating with us. It gave him time to load his gun. The deer then thought better of what was going on and headed for the hills.
If you have ever seen a deer flat out run, with no bounding, you know what speed is. It was going at about 60 degrees to us and 125 to 150 yards out when Bill shot. It looked like a snow blower was turned on as the deer went down. [It was] one heck of a shot.
Then we heard someone behind us. There, in Swans yard, were six people watching us. But Bill was not wearing the arm band. I quickly told him to get it on. One problem, he didn't have it--it seems Jim had taken it with him when he went to work. We sent Uncle Ed to Jim's to get the armband [so we could tag the deer and take it home]
We pulled off the road and unloaded the snowmobile to go get the deer. Before we got going one of the people watching came over to talk to Bill. It seemed that one of them was a reporter for the paper in Rheinlander. He thought that he had just seen the best shot ever and wanted the name of the shooter to write about it. At least it wasn’t a [game] warden watching.
We went out and got the deer. It was placed on the trailer next to the snowmobile and we went to the bar to await Uncle Ed. When he got there Bill put on the armband and I tagged the deer. We were no longer poachers.
The day’s hunt was over and we were on our way to Eddy’s. Bill, Uncle Ed and I had been out this afternoon. Jim had gone to work at noon. It was in the days of the party permit. This was when four hunters got together and got a doe permit [for the group]. [under the party permit] the shooter was required to wear an armband when they shot the deer. This was a rule we always took to heart. [If you shot a deer without a license or the party permit, you were legally a poacher].
As we came around the corner by the dam road there were two deer on the west side of the road. Bill hadn't yet shot a deer so I thought...if I could block them, Bill could get a shot at one. The first problem was to let Bill know what I had in mind since we were in two [separate] cars [and couldn't easily talk to each other].
We got one deer blocked but we were now by Swans house. I told Bill to get out and shoot it. The deer was somewhat cooperating with us. It gave him time to load his gun. The deer then thought better of what was going on and headed for the hills.
If you have ever seen a deer flat out run, with no bounding, you know what speed is. It was going at about 60 degrees to us and 125 to 150 yards out when Bill shot. It looked like a snow blower was turned on as the deer went down. [It was] one heck of a shot.
Then we heard someone behind us. There, in Swans yard, were six people watching us. But Bill was not wearing the arm band. I quickly told him to get it on. One problem, he didn't have it--it seems Jim had taken it with him when he went to work. We sent Uncle Ed to Jim's to get the armband [so we could tag the deer and take it home]
We pulled off the road and unloaded the snowmobile to go get the deer. Before we got going one of the people watching came over to talk to Bill. It seemed that one of them was a reporter for the paper in Rheinlander. He thought that he had just seen the best shot ever and wanted the name of the shooter to write about it. At least it wasn’t a [game] warden watching.
We went out and got the deer. It was placed on the trailer next to the snowmobile and we went to the bar to await Uncle Ed. When he got there Bill put on the armband and I tagged the deer. We were no longer poachers.
New Year's Eve 1957/58
ML's brother Bert writes...
Mom and Dad (Mary and Earl) will be gone for the night so it is time to party. It is known that they will not be home until at least 3:00 am so the party can go till one. That leaves time to clean the house and be gone to other parties before they got home. That was the party plan. The party went on and when the time came, as people left each was given a bag of empty beer cans to take with them. Only a few were left when we cleaned the house. All had gone well. The party was over. And things had gone as planned.
That is..
Mom and Dad (Mary and Earl) will be gone for the night so it is time to party. It is known that they will not be home until at least 3:00 am so the party can go till one. That leaves time to clean the house and be gone to other parties before they got home. That was the party plan. The party went on and when the time came, as people left each was given a bag of empty beer cans to take with them. Only a few were left when we cleaned the house. All had gone well. The party was over. And things had gone as planned.
That is..
- if we had planned on Mike Morris getting into a fight and knocking the Christmas tree over.
- if we had planned for Frank to sat in his window and watch all the girls running back and forth to the outhouse.
- if we had planned for someone to steal Joann’s bank
- if we had planned for everyone that took beer cans to dump them only 200 yards from the house.
- if we had planned for Mom to get sick.
Because that is what really happened. Mom (Mary) got sick and she and Dad had come home at about 11:00. Upon seeing all the cars at the house they went to Mike’s and watched it all go on.
All is well that ends well with parents who understand it.The Note
ML's brother Bert writes...
There was this one time that there might have been a hunting accident in a bar. The hunter Me, the victim, my sister's husband. This alone prevented it.
I should start at the beginning.
On a cold and raining day we were hunting east of the mail route. There was just Bill and me. We were not in the woods when I lost track of Bill. He had hunted for some time and this was no real concern. I would hunt as planned and we would meet at the truck later.
Mid afternoon I get back at the truck and there is no sign of Bill. I wait. I call and blow the horn and still no Bill. There is only one thing to do, go back in [the woods] and find him.
I am in the woods till dark and still no sign of him. [This has gone on long enough and ] I now decide I must get back and get help. I return to the truck and try to decide what to do next.
Just then my eyes fall on a strange piece of paper on the dash. The paper is about the size of a square of toilet paper and looked like it may have been used for that. On the underside of it were three words, “Went to Eddy’s”.
I would, in time, empty the gun before getting to "Eddy's" (a local bar). My mind cleared as I drove over. As it turns out, (cousin) Bud had come out early that afternoon. He and Bill had decided it was too wet to hunt so they went to the bar.
To this day I don’t know what was the worst thing that happened that day. Was it thinking Bill was lost, or missing out on a afternoon at the bar? I often think [it was] the latter.
There was this one time that there might have been a hunting accident in a bar. The hunter Me, the victim, my sister's husband. This alone prevented it.
I should start at the beginning.
On a cold and raining day we were hunting east of the mail route. There was just Bill and me. We were not in the woods when I lost track of Bill. He had hunted for some time and this was no real concern. I would hunt as planned and we would meet at the truck later.
Mid afternoon I get back at the truck and there is no sign of Bill. I wait. I call and blow the horn and still no Bill. There is only one thing to do, go back in [the woods] and find him.
I am in the woods till dark and still no sign of him. [This has gone on long enough and ] I now decide I must get back and get help. I return to the truck and try to decide what to do next.
Just then my eyes fall on a strange piece of paper on the dash. The paper is about the size of a square of toilet paper and looked like it may have been used for that. On the underside of it were three words, “Went to Eddy’s”.
I would, in time, empty the gun before getting to "Eddy's" (a local bar). My mind cleared as I drove over. As it turns out, (cousin) Bud had come out early that afternoon. He and Bill had decided it was too wet to hunt so they went to the bar.
To this day I don’t know what was the worst thing that happened that day. Was it thinking Bill was lost, or missing out on a afternoon at the bar? I often think [it was] the latter.
Spook night
ML's brother Bert writes...
It was march and spring was coming fast. Bill, M.L. and I were going for what could well be our last snowmobile ride of the season. Things went well as we stopped at several watering holes throughout the evening. It was now time to go home. We were north of highway 8 when we started home.
The weather decided to turn to spring. The sky opened up and the rain came down as if to see how brave we were. We were in the middle of a thunder storm. This time of the year there are no leaves on the trees so they take on a look of skeletons, the night is at its darkest due to the cloud cover, the trails are narrow--an elbow stuck out may well connect with a tree, and the ground is still covered with snow.
We enter these woods to go home. The setting would have been ideal in a horror movie.
The darkness was so intense the headlights could hardly shine through it. Then the lightening would flash across the sky. The snow would appeared to turn blue. The trees appeared as black as skeletons with their shadows dancing on the snow.
This was the world we traveled through on our way home. The only change being when we went from hardwood to evergreen trees and back.
This was a night I will never forget. I am glad I was out to see it that night, but I hope to never repeat that night.
It was march and spring was coming fast. Bill, M.L. and I were going for what could well be our last snowmobile ride of the season. Things went well as we stopped at several watering holes throughout the evening. It was now time to go home. We were north of highway 8 when we started home.
The weather decided to turn to spring. The sky opened up and the rain came down as if to see how brave we were. We were in the middle of a thunder storm. This time of the year there are no leaves on the trees so they take on a look of skeletons, the night is at its darkest due to the cloud cover, the trails are narrow--an elbow stuck out may well connect with a tree, and the ground is still covered with snow.
We enter these woods to go home. The setting would have been ideal in a horror movie.
The darkness was so intense the headlights could hardly shine through it. Then the lightening would flash across the sky. The snow would appeared to turn blue. The trees appeared as black as skeletons with their shadows dancing on the snow.
This was the world we traveled through on our way home. The only change being when we went from hardwood to evergreen trees and back.
This was a night I will never forget. I am glad I was out to see it that night, but I hope to never repeat that night.
Oops.
ML's brother Bert writes...
Bill and I had been doing things around the yard and decided we were hungry and would like a hamburger. Being the caring people we are, we went in and asked M.L. if she and the kids wanted to go along to get a burger. She said no. So off we went.
A few hours later when we got back she wanted to know what had taken so long. That was when things took a bad turn. I explained that the closest McDonalds was in Wausau and it took time to go that far. Her answer to that was if she had known [the whole plan], she and the kids would have gone along.
[ I now cross my fingers and place my hand behind my back ]. The fact that we were going to McDonalds was not left out on purpose so you wouldn't want to go along....no matter what you thought and sugggested at the time.
Bill and I had been doing things around the yard and decided we were hungry and would like a hamburger. Being the caring people we are, we went in and asked M.L. if she and the kids wanted to go along to get a burger. She said no. So off we went.
A few hours later when we got back she wanted to know what had taken so long. That was when things took a bad turn. I explained that the closest McDonalds was in Wausau and it took time to go that far. Her answer to that was if she had known [the whole plan], she and the kids would have gone along.
[ I now cross my fingers and place my hand behind my back ]. The fact that we were going to McDonalds was not left out on purpose so you wouldn't want to go along....no matter what you thought and sugggested at the time.
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