Tuesday, June 30, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 30, 1964
Tuesday, hot and humid, 89 windy. I washed early before DVBS.  Gerald and David left midnight for Massachusetts.
Comment: Another charcoal run into Boston. We ran Route 20 rather than the Mass Pike to save on tolls. It was dangerous as hell with many intersections and small hilly towns with narrow streets and bridges. I think I had just returned from another 20 hour trip about four hours before and after some sleep deprived hallucinations, I had to let David drive. We were blasting through some small town when he saw a narrow railroad overpass that he thought was too low for the trailer to go through and locked up the brakes to avoid it. I was startled from sleep as the truck swerved, tires burned and brakes screamed. He got it stopped and we inched through the over pass with about six inches to spare. I'll never forget the panic and disorientation as I was startled from a death-like sleep by the abrupt noise, motion and vibrations..........whenever you see the long skid marks at most heavily trafficked intersections, that means some truck driver narrowly missed disaster......

Monday, June 29, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 29, 1964
Monday, beautiful day, upper 70's, very dry.  Girls and I went to DVBS.  Joan and Pearl Hallock and children here a few minutes in evening.  Gerald, David went to Syracuse for Joe Gallo, left 1:30 am.  Bonded called 3 times for Gerald.

Comment: David and I hauling charcoal for Timberland. Joe Gallo handled all their trucking at the time. Bonded had not called me for about a week so I gave up on them and started driving again for Timberland...less money, non-union, not happy.....not sure why we left at 130am unless had to get there when the warehouse opened....Here is an ad for Timberland Brix that we probably hauled. The ad is from 1969.....

Sunday June 28, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 28, 1964
Sunday, beautiful day.  Mother, Norm, LaVerne, Roberta and Mary Ann here for dinner.  They all went to Roxbury (young folks) to play golf in pm.  Mother and I picked a few berries.  No church in pm.  Girls and I went in the morning.

Norm, Bessie, Mom, Dad Probably in 1963

Comment: Dinner was the noon meal so we played golf in the afternoon. here is a picture of the family in 1963.....

Saturday, June 27, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 27, 1964
Saturday, beautiful day, 70's I baked in am.  Girls and I cleaned the house and washed slip covers.  Wayne worked at LaVerne's. The cesspool backed up.  Men worked at that in pm and got it opened.  Hallocks started haying here.

Comment: The "Men" were Dad and probably Wayne, David and LaVerne.

Friday, June 26, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 26, 1964
Friday, hot and humid but clear, 78.  I washed early and went to BDVS.  Girls, Liz and I went to Middleburgh shopping in pm.
Comment: Not much to say....

Thursday, June 25, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 25, 1964
Thursday, cool and partly cloudy, 45 - 58.  Rode with Madelyn to DVBS.  Went to prayer meetings at night.  Three Reynolds and Liz Warner candidates for baptism.

Comment: Baptism will be full immersion for the candidates. I was baptized in Halleck's pond when I was about eight years old and remember it well....I also remember a baptism tank underneath the stage of the church where the podium stood, wonder if it's still there.....see Sister Sue's comment below

Wednesday, June 24, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 24, 1964
Wednesday, nice day, cool.  Went to DVBS. I wrote to Marilyn.  Had rain at night, much cooler.

Comment: Not much happening......Rainy day.....

Tuesday, June 23, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 23, 1964
Tuesday, nice day but becoming cloudy toward night.  I washed before we went to DVBS.  Picked up Paker kids with Gerald's car.  David got back from NY about 6 pm.  Gerald still wasn't working.  Paul Churchill and Wayne were at Roxbury all day, they were here for supper.

Comment: The car I had at the time was a Simca hard-top convertible much like the one in the picture. It was pretty cool. The seats would totally recline and I would sometimes sleep in the car in the truck terminal parking lot after a long trip before either taking another run or going home. David working, I'm not. My pocketbook can't stand that for long.....

Monday, June 22, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 22, 1964
Monday, clear, sunny and hot, 82.  Girls and I went to Vacation bible School.  Had letter from Marilyn.  Gerald wasn't working.  Wayne worked for LaVerne.  David went to NYC with Tommy Renz, left 12:30 at night.

Comment: The charcoal is flowing but the asphalt is not...after training for the asphalt job, I did not get a call for a couple of days. I think I quit about a week later or so... The Bible school was held at Ferris Camp, owned by Louise Ferris Hubbard, married to Elmer, our grandfather. Here is a picture of the facility from 2011 Hubbard Hill with the fire tower is in the background.

Sunday, June 21, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 21, 1964
Sunday, cloudy and cooler toward night.  Sunny, warm, 85.  Girls and I went to church and Sunday school, they sang.  Gerald went to MaryAnn' s.  LaVerne and Roberta here for dinner and brought Clifton a nice knit shirt for Fathers Day.  The girls went with them in the afternoon.  Clifton and I went over to see Grandpa, he came home from the hospital at noon.  We helped and got him up for a while.  3 boys and 3 girls took Doug to Kingston.

View To South Mountain From Back 20 Acre Lot

Comment: Not sure who the 3 boys and girls are who took Doug to Kingston....

Saturday, June 20, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 20, 1964
Saturday, lovely day but hot and humid, 80's.  I washed again for Doug and Gerald.  Mrs. Mayo came at night and brought Sunday School book for Louise's classes.  Called Marilyn, at night we took Mary (O'Hara) home in afternoon.

Due West From Top Of Hubbard Hill Near The Tower

Comment: The longest day of the year. Today is the oldest you've ever been and the youngest you'll ever be, so enjoy it....

Friday, June 19, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 19, 1964
Friday, lovely, warm day, 70's.  Wayne worked for LaVerne.  Betty O'Hara brought Mary over in pm and the girls and Becky and I went to Cobleskill with David's car.  Got Dad a watch for Fathers Day.  Boys went to Kingston after Doug, got home 8 pm.  Gerald came at night, had a bad cold.  LaVerne and Roberta were up at night.

The Mountain From The Cross Road

Comment:  Father's day weekend gathering.....

Thursday, June 18, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 18, 1964
Thursday, warmer, I washed and picked strawberries in am.  Wayne went to school in pm.  Girls cleaned up the house.  We went to prayer meeting and planned the Daily Vacation Bible School. Wayne brought 2 boys and girls home from Roxbury at night.

Sunset On Hubbard Hill..

Wednesday, June 17, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 17, 1964
Wednesday, cool and windy.  I finished ironing and picked strawberries. Wrote to Marilyn.  Grandpa the same.  Last day of school for Sue, home at noon.  Gerald called at night saying he was staying in East Greenbush.

Comment: I got a cheap hotel room so did not have to do the two-hour round trip to the Bonded terminal. Still not sure what was wrong with Elmer. This is what was going on up there with Jeff, Elizabeth, Frances, and Wyatt on June 17, 2012.

Tuesday, June 16, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 16, 1964
Tuesday, 35, clear, fair, cold.  David got home from Massachusetts about 7:30 am.  I wrote to Marilyn and Doug.  Did some more ironing.  Sue went to school 1/2 day.  Gerald was called to work at 5 am.  David went to NY with Tommy Renz.
Comment: David gone all night on a charcoal run, him and I off again today...early.....I hope we're making good money....here is my memories of Truck Driving.....performed by David Hubbard.....

Truck Driving

I’ve hauled bark for Timberland to make charcoal briquettes

Getting paid 8 cents a mile, I took all I could get.

Brockway diesels , Screaming Jimmies, Mack B63’s

Concrete batch truck, Andrews Air Base, Washington DC

I drove to put  myself through school, just trying to change my luck

Off the farm then just discharged I drove those damned old trucks.

I’ve  hauled clinker, ice and milk and charcoal by the ton 

Double clutching, jamming gears  making midnight  runs.

Quarts of Pepsi with no food kept me tightly wired

Sleep deprived hallucinations, always over tired

Triplex, Duplex, straight 5-speeds with vacuum  shift rear ends

5 speed mains -auxiliary 3’s, combos with out  end

I  always got them figured out sometimes while on the road

And I always drove those damned old trucks, as fast as they would go

I’ve left smoking strips of rubber and watched those big duals burn

When I locked them up to miss a car as they made a no-left turn

I’ve endured  the deadly boredom then the special thrill

When I blew the air brake diaphragms at the top of a steep hill

I’ve passed semis 3 abreast on  narrow 2 lane roads

Trying to keep momentum up with twenty  five ton loads

I’ve seen my trailer in my mirrors skid and come around

And damn near jack knife tires sliding on the icy ground

I’ve rolled backwards down a hill in a state of abject terror

When I missed a shift and stalled it out and my trailer brakes lost air

I got it started, revved it up and jammed it  into low

The tractor reared high in the air when I popped the clutch to go

So when I’m on an the interstate and see a big rig roll

I want to be there in that  seat but I guess now I’m too old

I know I’ll probably never get to go back to those times

But  sometimes just before I sleep I hear a diesel whine

And I feel the  deep vibrations of a big rig in my bones

And I drive a midnight highway, fast and young and wild,  alone.

And I feel the  deep vibrations of a big rig in my bones

And I drive a midnight highway, fast and young and wild,  alone.

Monday, June 15, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 15, 1964 
Monday, cloudy, rain in pm.  I washed and finished drying some clothes upstairs.  I ironed in pm.  Gerald came home 4:15 pm.

Comment: I had left the previous midnight, so for me, a sixteen hour day delivering asphalt. Probably not a lot of fun.....

Sunday, June 14, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaires

June 14, 1964
Sunday, sunny, nice day.  Girls and I went to church and Sunday School.  Gil preached.  We went to LaVerne's and Mother's in pm, home at 6.  Liz Warner came with us and girls and I went to  baccalaureate  at school at night.  Gerald left 12 midnight to go to work and David left at 11 to go to Massachusetts with Tommy Renz.  Grandpa was taken to Ellis Hospital.

Comment:  I left to get to the Albany port to pick up a load of asphalt for Bonded and deliver it early morning somewhere.  David left with Tommy to deliver a load of Timberland Charcoal somewhere in New England.  Grandpa still having pretty severe troubles.  Here is Elmer and I at some occasion in 1954...from Betty O'Hara..... 

Saturday, June 13, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 13, 1964
Saturday cloudy and rain in am.  Roger Cohn here for dinner.  Clifton got water running from barn and fixed stove.  Clifton went to Dr. Lyons in pm and we stopped to see Grandpa on way home, he was quite a bit better. 
Comment:  I met Roger the first week at Cobleskill Ag & Tech.  He was a paratrooper vet and we would wind up spending a lot of time together as well as roommates in a travel trailer (Uncle Earl's) when we both attended SUNY@Albany.  I took him on several truck runs delivering milk down along the Hudson to Peekskill. He became a Town Of Cobleskill Supervisor....Here he is with former wife Maureen just before me and Mary Ann's wedding in 1965...

Friday, June 12, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 12, 1964
Friday, beautiful day, 70's, clear.  I washed in am and Evelyn and I went to Middleburgh.  I did some ironing in pm.  Clifton was home early and he and I went over to see Grandpa in the evening, he was some better.  Ina Belle came.  Vadna Buell had serious operation at Cooperstown.

Comment: Vadna and Bruce Buel were the landlords when Dad and Mom first got married and rented from them in Gilboa. The house they rented was the Gilboa Post Office when Uncle Merel was the Post Master for the town.....

Thursday, June 11, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 11, 1964

Thursday, lovely, clear day but cool, 60''s.  I had a Missionary meeting, 10 of us.  Grandpa had a shock. We went over to see him in the evening.
Comment: Not sure if Grandpa had a stroke or a shock. Since I don't remember any lasting effects of a stroke, I think Grandpa got an electrical shock somehow, maybe trying to wire something. That generation was pretty fast and loose about electricity. I remember my Dad checking a spark plug with his thumbnail and that's not the most comfortable way to do it.....

Wednesday, June 10, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 10, 1964
Wednesday, 70's hot, humid and windy, thunder showers around noon, becoming less humid, sunny in pm.  I wrote to Marilyn. I cleaned upstairs and baked cookies.  Gerald and David took T.V. to be fixed in pm.

Comment:  I have no recollection of taking the T.V. to be fixed.  Here are some of the shows we were watching back then and I think the picture is the exact TV we watched them on:  

• The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968)
• The Avengers, UK (1961–1969)
• Ben Casey (1961–1966)
• The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–1966)
• The Mike Douglas Show (1961–1981)
• Mister Ed (1961–1966)
• Wide World of Sports (1961–1997)
• The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971)
• Combat! (1962–1967)
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)
• Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom (1963–1988, 2002–present)

Tuesday, June 9, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 9, 1964
Tuesday warm and humid 70's.  I did a big wash and  went to Louvilla's after plants she kept for me.  David and Gerald went job hunting.  Gerald got one with Bonded. I set out tomato plants.

Comment:  The job was delivering hot asphalt to various roofing and paving companies around the Capitol District area of New York.  I drove a White tractor with Road Ranger Transmission pulling a 7000 gallon tanker.  The trailer had propane heating equipment to keep the asphalt hot enough to pump out to the holding tanks for the companies.  After riding with experienced drivers for a couple of days, I took my first solo trip and promptly got hopelessly lost on some hilly, narrow streets in Schenectady.  By the time I had delivered all the asphalt, I had a blister the size of a golf ball on the palm of my right hand from shifting the transmission so much...it was not a lot of fun.  Sickening fumes, sticky, hot asphalt that would leave blisters at a touch, and lots of high pressure connections, that if not totally secure, could spew asphalt for yards around.  All the delivery points were splattered and blackened with spilled asphalt.....

Monday, June 8, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 8, 1964
Monday, cloudy in am, 70's.  Clearing in pm.  I did some house cleaning.  Had a letter from Marilyn.

Looking West Down Hubbard Road,
House on the right, garage on the left.  The gap in the
tree is to allow for electrical wires.....

Comment:  Quiet Monday, sounds like a nice day on the hill...

Sunday, June 7, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 7, 1964
Sunday, 60's, cloudy, showers in the pm.  Sue and I went to church and Sunday School.  Carol went to Kingsley's.  Clifton, girls and I went to Sandy Bennels (?) wedding and reception at Alton's after girls and I went to church at night.  Boys took Doug to Kingston about 6 am.

Comment:  Doug back to duty.  Alton is Alton Kinglsey.  Not sure who Sandy Bennels is...wonder if they are still married..From Susan:  I think the wedding was Sandy Kingsley and Benny Benjamin. Susan

Saturday, June 6, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 6, 1964
Saturday, nice day, warmer.  Boys painted on the house.  Clifton, the girls and I went to Middleburgh in pm.  Girls had hair done for wedding.  We called on Papa and Billie.  Went to church at night to rally and saw City of the Bells.  Betty Lossee's funeral.
Comment:  No mention of D Day and not sure whose wedding it is.

Barry (James) Taylor called and told me Betty Lossee was the daughter of Clarence Lossee who owned a general store and gas station in Livingstonville and I think Dad and Mom stayed in one of his houses just after they were married.  The Lossees were also relatives of Clifford Taylor, Barry's father, married to Evelyn.  

Friday, June 5, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 5, 1964
Friday, clear,  frost.  Washed in am and sewed on girl's dresses.  We went to talent show at Grand Gorge at night, real good.  Doug came home.

Comment:  Wow, frost in June.  Carol, Sue and Wayne singing at the talent show.  They probably performed Wings Of A Dove.  Sue told me that Carol and Wayne sang the melody in unison and she harmonized.  Not sure if Doug saw the show.  Here they are on stage at the show...I heard them do it a couple of times and it really was very good. The song was very popular in the early sixties.  It was Number 1 on the country charts for 10 weeks in 1960. It still is covered by lots of artists.  See below for more information about the song....
Doug on pass or leave from Navy.  I'm kicking myself for not making that show and that weekend....don't remember what I was doing that took precedent over this....no video or audio recordings of it either....Below is a link to Ferlin Husky  doing the song.  He does it almost as good as they did..

Wings Of  A Dove: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wings_of_a_Dove_(Bob_Ferguson_song)

Thursday, June 4, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 4, 1964
Thursday, clear and windy, cool, 50's.  I sewed on Sue's dress.  Betty Losee was killed at Central Bridge in a wreck.  I went to prayer meeting.  Kids went to Grand Gorge for practice.  David worked for Earl in am.

Comment: The Losees, if I have the name right, were distant relatives on my mom's side but I'm having trouble remembering anything about them. If I remember the accident correctly, she pulled onto Route 7 from Route 30 in front of a tractor-trailer coming down the hill from Cobleskill and was annihilated. She probably thought the rig could brake like a car (as a lot of people do) and was fatally mistaken... Kids getting ready for the Fair which starts in August. I somehow missed this whole thing. I was in my last year at SUNY@Albany and must have been very busy....

Wednesday, June 3, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 3, 1964
Wednesday, cloudy, cool.  Rainy in pm.  I wrote to Marilyn and Norma.  Sewed one of Sue's dresses for the talent show and wedding. LaVerne and Roberta were here in evening.

Comment: Wayne, Carol and Susan are getting ready for a talent show that will result in them performing at the 1964 World's Fair in New York...not sure who's wedding they are preparing for...

Tuesday, June 2, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 2, 1964
Tuesday, fair, clear and warmer, 62.  I washed in am and sewed for Sue.  David worked for Earl.  Clifton wrote to Marilyn and sent check for steel bell.
Comment:  Not sure what the steel bell is about....here is a collage of pictures from Susan.....not sure the year....upper left is a house full of grand kids when Marilyn was there, upper right, Mom with Jeffrey, bottom left, Bessie, Mom, Dad, bottom right, Sue, Bessie, Mom.

Monday, June 1, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

June 1, 1964
Monday, cloudy, cool, 50's.  Clifton was home and Wayne the girls and I went to Oneonta in pm.  Got new water pump.  David worked for Earl.  We finished making garden in am.

Comment:  It seemed that we had a constant problem with getting water to the house.  In the winter various pipes would freeze and in all seasons we would be plagued with mechanical problems of one sort or another.   Here is a picture in 1950 of Wayne helping me fix my bike with the concrete well casing in the right back ground.  I bought the bike from Franklin Brown for $10 and it was always a piece of crap, very hard to pedal with no solution that I could find.....