Tuesday, 31 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Tuesday, 31 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Sunny in am, cloudy in pm, 50's.  I washed and did some sewing.  Wayne and Laura here at night. Mother and Barbara Mayo called.  Had letters from Marilyn and Mary Ann.
Comment:  Wayne, Laura, Grandma Bessie, Mom, 1978...and either Tim or Terry....

Monday, 30 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Monday, 30 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Frost in am.  Nice day but cool.  We went to parade in Grand Gorge in am and stopped at LaVerne's for picnic dinner.  Renzes and Strykers were there.
Comment:  Memorial Day 1966.  We were hip deep in Vietnam with 385,300 troops there and in 1966, 6143 US were KIA.  In his Proclamation, President Johnson said "We are totally committed to defeat this aggression" and "We shall see this through"..little did we know...

Sunday, 29 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Sunday, 29 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Lovely day but cool, 40's and 50's, windy.  Girls and I went to church and Sunday School, took picnic lunch and went to Wayne's at Stamford.  Clifton helped them move.  Carol and I went to church at night.  Dan Carpenter preached.
Comment:  View to the house from Doug's, early spring.....

Saturday, 28 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Saturday, 28 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Cloudy, humid, overcast, 60's.  Clifton and I went over Pisca to Lyle Haner's place, stopped and called on Tom Haskins then went to Greenville after steak.  Called on LaVerne and Robert.  Sue came home with us.  Gilbert here in the afternoon.  They went out with Donna a J at night.
Comment:  Sounds like a pleasant Saturday afternoon...here is Tom Haskin on his senior trip in 1954...Hartford Keith on the right......he was a second cousin to me and his father Leonard, was a close friend of my father.  Lyle Haner was also some sort of distant relation or at least a close friend of the Hubbard family.....

Friday, 27 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Friday, 27 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Mostly cloudy 70's.  Roberta and John here all day.  Roberta sewed on a dress.  Sue went home with her and went to Crowning at Grand Gorge.  Carol and I went to Wayne's about 730 and saw their house at South Gilboa.  They came here for evening.  Clifton home late.
Comment:  Guess the "Crowning" was a prom, but not sure.....here are Laura, Craig, Wayne and Doug on the Hill......

Thursday, 26 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Thursday, 26 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Nice day 70's.  Roberta and John went with me to Cobleskill and Mother's.  She went shopping.  LaVerne went to North Carolina, will be gone until Saturday night.
Comment:  LaVerne was working for Timberland Charcoal at the time and was traveling on business......The North Carolina Mountains are very similar to the Catskills because they are in the same mountain range, the Appalachians. so similar in fact, that the latest "Last of The Mohicans" movie was filmed there rather than where the story occurred; in the Catskills and Adirondacks of New York.

Wednesday, 25 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Wednesday, 25 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Cloudy 60's. I ironed, wrote to Marilyn, sent Dean a card and Phyllis too.  She was back in Stamford hospital brought there Monday.  I went to prayer meeting and church and we voted on a pastor Lawrence Thomas to come.  Louise showed slides.  Clifton home 7:20
Comment:  The preacher search is over......Marilyn and Marna.....

Me And Marna Where I Expended Another Of My Nine lives:

https://gerryhubbard.tumblr.com/post/5899627226/me-and-marna-my-own-ballad-of-forty-dollars-from

Tuesday, 24 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Tuesday, 24 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Beautiful sunny day, 78.  I cleaned front room and Carol's room.  Washed blankets and things in am.  David worked overtime and both home late.  Ten motorcycle cops led by a red Plymouth went by here 330 pm.  LaVerne, Roberta and John were here after supper a few minutes; he got David's camera to take to Carolina on Thursday.
Comment:  The cops on motorcycles must have been a big surprise....

Monday, 23 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Monday, 23 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Beautiful sunny day, 70's no wind.  I did big wash in am.  Called Marilyn to see how Dean was. Wrote to Gerald and Mary Ann and Doug.  Took plastic off the windows and washed them in pm.  Hot. David worked late, he drove his car too.
Comment:  Spring is breaking.....Hubbard Hill from the backside......From:
http://ninapaints.blogspot.com/2013/09/a-view-with-golden-opportunity.html 
Nina Larkin Mateyunas "A Painting a Day/Week/Month

Sunday, 22 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Sunday, 22 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Cloudy in am, became fair later and warm, 60's.  Girls and I went to church and Sunday School.  Mr. Carpenter, a candidate, Evelyn, Joyce here for dinner.  Clifton, Sue and I rode over on South Mountain about 6 pm and stopped at LaVernes.  Renzes, Celia, Max and Susan there and we had picnic supper. Carol sat at home.
Comment:  Not sure why Carol was at home.....here is the starting five for Gilboa High basketball in 1955.  Thanks to Clayton Buel for the pix.....

Gerry Hubbard, Forrest Ballard, Charlie Wyckoff, Clayton Buel, Bill Drebricko

Saturday May 21, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Saturday May 21, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Mostly cloudy, 50's.  Clifton and I went to Grand Gorge in am, got some seed potatoes and feed.  Then we went to Mother's for supper.  Sue went too and Carol stayed at LaVerne's.  We got home 730 pm.  Wayne brought Carol over in evening.
Comment:  Getting ready to plant the garden.....

Friday, 20 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Friday, 20 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Mostly sunny, 60's, warm and nice.  I cleaned all through and waited for Doug to call but not a word. Had letter from Marilyn and Gerald and Mary Ann.  Dean had broken his arm.  I went to Roberta's after dinner and picked girls up at school and went to Grand Gorge shopping.  Debbie here 4:30 pm. David had to go to National Guard and stay all weekend.
Comment:  And the weekend begins......another view to the west, Grand Gorge is nestled in the valley between the first two ranges.....

Thursday, 19 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Thursday, 19 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Rainy and warm, 50's.  I had a headache and felt miserable all day.  Went to Missionary Meeting at Marion's with Madelyn.  David home 12:30 because of rain.  Clifton home late.  I didn't go to prayer meeting at night.
Comment:  Apparently a tough day for Mom.....view to South Mountain....below is a story told many times by my Dad and Uncles about one night on the mountain

https://hubbardfamilymusic.tumblr.com/post/4160249423/south-mountain-ghost-story-gerry-hubbard-south

Wednesday 18 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Wednesday 18 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Cloudy, rain in pm, 50's.  Finished ironing in am, did some cleaning.  Made pair of pajamas for Mrs. Mayo and fixed dress.  Wayne's here in the evening.  Tree just starting to show green in places.
Comment:  "Tree" is the one on the front lawn on the left of the house.  A maple transplanted from a rocky spot in woods across the road because Dad said a tree growing on rocks would have the best chance of surviving transplant.  That tree took a lot of abuse from bullets to hatchets and just general beatings with stones and sticks...and it always thrived.  We planted two at the time but the right one never made it.  The kids may have girdled is somehow and killed it, but not sure....you can see the surviving tree with a big notch cut in the branches for the telephone lines.  The view is to the west toward Grand Gorge and Stamford.....Here is a draft of a  songpoemstory I'm trying to write about:  

That Old Tree

In the northwest Catskill mountains there’s a tree upon a lawn

And it must have viewed a million scenes of joy and rights and wrongs

Bore storms of rain and ice and sleet and winds that cut to bone

And all the time surveilled the stead that eight kids called our home

Near eighty years it stands there still, it drew a lot of grief

From kids and cows and cats and dogs that used it for relief

To scratch and mark their turf and climb the shady branches high

To revel in the rustling leaves and sights of endless sky

Thirty-thirty, twenty twos and shotgun slugs galore

Have pierced its hide and left the scars that fingers can explore

Almost girdled several times with axes, saws, and knives

It took it all and stands there tall, a sentinel of our lives

Dad got it from a rocky patch because of country lore

“Sown on stone, thrive in soil, it’s hardy to the core..”

Births and deaths and family rifts, it stood in silent guard

As family worked and wept and wed around and in the yard

Butchered pigs and deer and calves were hung from that old tree

It anchored wagons, cars and trucks and bulls that tried to flee

It shaded picnics, broken hearts and lots of books to read

It stood there silent, statuesque and never seemed to heed

The measles, mumps, and broken bones, pink eye, and ticks, and stings

Bruises, scratches, bumps and cuts, kicks and bites and dings

Eight kids living “country” and growing up real fast

Just working for the future, not caring for the past

Marine Corps, Army, Navy called to get us off the farm

Five kids served and five came home safe and free from harm

Homecomings sweet and shaded all around that battered tree

It stood there silent, watching? I wonder, “Could it see?”

And did it revel in the glee and suffer from the sad

And did it comprehend at all the mere short time we had

While it could live two hundred years, standing tall and straight

The youngest son at fifty-eight passed through that final gate

About a hundred years from now with all great grandkids grown

When all of us and our kids are bare and silent bone

Will they go back up to “The Hill” to smell and feel and see

The wonder and the magic of that dauntless, scarred old tree?

Tuesday, 17 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Tuesday, 17 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Partly cloudy 60's.  I did some ironing in am, was at Louise's for dinner, had good visit.  Called on Mrs. Mayo a minute.  Wrote to Marilyn, sent any anniversary card to them, 10 years.  Had letter from Marilyn.
Comment:  Louise is Louise Ferris Hubbard who married Elmer.  Marilyn, Jim 1963:

David, Dean, Jim, Rifle

Monday 16 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Monday 16 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Cloudy 50's.  I washed, dried good.  David drove to work, had to be there 7 am.  Some rain at night.  Phyliss (Clapper) taken to Albany Medical Center, (worse).  Obstruction of the bowels.  Dean was thrown from pony and had his arm broken.
Comment:  Calamities......

Den, Marna, Patty Christmas 1963

 

Sunday 15 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Sunday 15 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Lovely day, warm 72.  Sue and I went to church and Sunday School.  Carol didn't feel good.  Clifton and I went to Rothers for dinner.  Home 3:30.  LaVerne's and Wayne's here for a while.
Comment:  Rother's were the folks to whom Dad sold 30 some acres of land just under the mountain for, I think about $3000.  And he also built a better access road to the property....the land he sold we used to call "the new place" and I can't remember why exactly.  In the picture, the land behind the tree line to the left is "the new place".....to the right was called "the old place" because that was where Dad's grandmother lived.....

Saturday, 14 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Saturday, 14 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Sunny, warmer, frost in am.  Clifton took the girl and I to Marsha's party at Ina Belle's and had car fixed.  We went to South Jefferson at night.
Comment:  Marsha is Marsha Vaughn, daughter of Lorraine (Hubbard) and Howard Vaughn.  They had two kids Marsha and Roger.  At one time Howard and Lorraine operated a tasty freeze type ice cream store around Latham and damned near killed themselves working at it.  I guess it eventually failed.....  There were five sisters in my Dad's family, here are four of them.  Ina Belle, Evelyn, Lorraine and Winifred.....Aunt Madeline is not present.....

Friday 13 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Friday 13 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Partly cloudy, cool.  I  took Laura and Michelle to Dr. Leaky, Marilyn and Mary went along.  Carol went home with Donna H. and they went out at night with Jay and Gilbert.  Mary and David went to Fort Plain.
Comment:  No mention of the "unlucky" day.  The kids going out....

Thursday 12 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Thursday 12 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Cloudy and cool, 30's and rain mixed with snow.  Carol and I went to Cobleskill shopping in am and got my glasses; took Carol to school at noon.  Clifton and David home early because of rain.  Lyle and Madelyn went to prayer meeting with me at church.
Comment:  Dreary weather continues....brothers and nephews 1976...

Wednesday, 11 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Wednesday, 11 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Sunny in am and becoming cloudy, 25-42.  I kept John, Roberta and her two sisters went to Albany shopping.  Did most of the ironing.  Sue home again.  We went to Wayne's after supper and they came back with us for the evening.
Comment:  Lots of family interaction.....the nephews and one niece..1978

Tuesday, 10 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Tuesday, 10 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Eighteen to 30 degrees, about 3 inches of snow but all melted during the day. Roberta and John here all day and LaVerne came for supper.  I helped her make a dress.  Sue home, cold and ear ache.
Comment:  Just found out from Marilyn that about 20 years prior to this date in 1946, we had the school-closing snow storm during which she fell with both hands onto a hot stove top and burned both hands; the scars remain to this day.  I still vividly remember it.....

Monday, 9 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Monday, 9 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Cloudy, cold, 30-27, freezing rain, sleet and snow and more snow at night.  I washed and hung clothes in attic.  David home 130 pm.  I wrote to Marilyn.
Comment:  Sounds like a bleak Monday....weather was tough on the hill.  I remember once school was canceled because of about 3 feet of now toward the end of May.

Sunday 8 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Sunday 8 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Mother's Day.  Cloudy, cool, some rain, 30-42.  Clifton, the girls and I went to church and Sunday School.  Had another candidate, Lawrence Thomas from BBTL.  Very good.  David went after mother.  Just her, the girls, Clifton and myself here for dinner.  LaVerne's came in pm and left John. Wayne's and Rudy's came later.  We took mother back around 7pm.  Gerald and Mary Ann called in pm.
Comment:  Busy Mother's day.  BBTL must be a bible school from somewhere....

Saturday, 7 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Saturday, 7 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
20-42, cold, windy but sunny.  I baked a pie, went over to Wayne's in am and stopped at LaVerne's a few minutes.  Sandy Berrycnilloi's ? shower but we didn't go.  Clifton, the girls and I went to LaVerne's at night.
Comment:  Lots of drop-ins on family......I think this is LaVerne as a baby.  I seem to remember pictures of him with a big curl on top of his head.....

Friday, 6 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Friday, 6 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Partly cloudy, cool.  I took Marilyn Koerner, Mary and Laura and baby to Dr. Leahy in Albany.  Got home 7 pm.  Sue went to concert at school and I picked her up at 1130 pm.  Carol went to drive-in with Gilbert.  LaVerne, Roberta and John here for supper.
Comment:   Busy day for Mom.....Guess who, GHS Class of 1954....

Thursday, 5 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Thursday, 5 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Sunny, 50's and 60's, lovely day.  Wayne called at 9am and asked me to come over and take Laura and Michelle to Dr. Naso in pm.  Michelle seemed to have a cold and couldn't breathe good.  Lye and Madelyn went to prayer meeting with me at night.   Ella and Barbara Mayo and Marlene here in am.
Comment:  Busy day...here is a picture of the Flat Creek Baptist Church a long time ago......

Wednesday, 4 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Wednesday, 4 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Cold, snowy in am, windy.  I ironed in am.  Sue home.  We took Mr. and Mrs. Enke to Prattsville to meet bus i pm, 1:30.  Stopped at Laura's a few minutes.  Wrote to Doug.  Had letter from Marilyn.
Comment:  Lots of letter writing.  Doug is coming home every weekend and she still writes to him..the Enkes were from NYC and bought my Uncle Earl's farm in the mid fifties and tried to make a go at farming but never could.  They must have been going back to the city....they were good neighbors.  Second grade class Gilboa Central about 1943 or so.  Sister Marilyn in second from right in first row.  

Tuesday 3 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Tuesday, 3 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Fair in am, cloudy in pm, 50's.  I cut out and made blue and white house dress, sowed cabbage and tomato seeds and transplanted some African violets.  Clyda Mace here in pm with a petition and we had a good visit.
Comment:  Clyda Mace was Clyda Bailey who got her first name from her father, Clyde Bailey.  The Mace and Bailey families both lived on Mace Road in Broom Center and Clyda married Stewart Mace.  She has written extensively about life in the Catskills and Stewart and Beatrice Haskin published her writings in date order from May 15, 1986, through December 21, 1994.    It has a complete index of all the people, events, places and events that she wrote about and a very interesting read.  Clyda was the Gilboa High School Salutatorian in 1944.

Monday, 2 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Monday, 2 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Nice day but cold, around 40.  I washed.  Wayne, Laura and Mary here all afternoon. They went to Koerner's for supper and stopped at ??d in evening.
Comment:  Guess Mary must be Mary Briggs but now sure.  Where they stopped in evening is illegible....see for your self.....

Sunday, 1 May, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Sunday, 1 May 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries
Rainy in am, 40's.  Girls and I went to church and Sunday School.  Mr. James a candidate, (for preacher) and Raymond and Lavilla here for dinner.  Clifton and I went to Grand Gorge and met LaVerne's and they went with us to look at lambs in Charlottesville.  Ate supper at LaVerne's. I stopped at church.  Talked over DVBS. (Daily Vacation Bible School).
Comment:  Busy Sunday and May Day and also International Workers Day which commemorates the "Haymarket  Affair or the Haymarket Massacre when workers supported a strike for an 8 hour work day and some idiot threw a dynamite bomb at the police and seven police and four civilians were killed.  Ironic that they are looking at lambs, the symbol for peace and innocence on this day of a massacre.

Take a look:  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_affair