I was a member of the Loyal Workers 4-H Club. My projects were sewing and cooking — I didn’t excel at either. But I was a pretty good member, and mostly I enjoyed the camaraderie, the fairs, the EXTRA things! My parents, particularly my mom, would have liked it if I just limited my interests to youth events organized by our church.
But I branched out — I found friends at the Baptist Church, and joined their group — that group knew how to combine a little bit of religion with a whole lot of fun. Our meetings would include activities where girls were included, particularly playing softball. And our 4-H Club was the same.
I was in 8th grade when “the Valentine event” occurred. I can’t remember who drove the tractor pulling the hay wagon — it was probably Ambrose Wilhelm, our leader.
We met on a frigid February evening, The only warmth was the hay bales scattered around the floor decking, plus the few blankets some of us brought. My brother Paul was with me and soon we were having fun. Duane Jorgensen, my classmate, was sitting next to me. Duane and I had a hate/love relationship — he was my neighbor, and I suppose because of our ages we sort of had fun together, but we also had plenty of arguments.
As our ride came to an end, Duane leaned over and said something to me and handed me a brown paper sack. I was taken aback. I can’t remember how I responded. Brother Paul had observed the episode, so when we got home, we opened the sack to find not one, but two boxes of chocolate-covered cherries. I was shocked as well as embarrassed. There was NO WAY I wanted to be Duane’s girlfriend.
I swore my brother to silence, prodded him with “you can have all the chocolate-covered cherries you want, but you have to keep this secret.” We hid the goodies in my closet—I don’t think either of us to this day ever tasted another!
I saw Duane at a school reunion in 2012… we had fun remembering!
