April 7, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

April 7, 1963

Sunday, fair but cool 40.  Girls and I went to church and Sunday school in am. LaVerne and Roberta came in pm and we went for a ride down Windham Mt. and back up Palenville Mt.   Got home 6:30. Gerald and Mary Ann were here.

Comment:  Probably a gorgeous day to drop down off the mountains into the Hudson River Valley then return up the Palenville Mountain road with all its switchbacks and breathtaking views.   They would have driven to Prattsville from Leonard Hill State Forest (Hubbard Hill)  and taken 23 to 32, and returned up 23A.   Here is a map of the drive.  At the bottom is a link to View Larger Map that you can click to follow their route from Hubbard Hill, (miss-named Leonard Hill by the state). Dad would often load up the car with all us kids and take that drive, usually on a Sunday, and we would stop at Point Lookout on the way where you were supposed to be able to see seven states.  I never did figure out what seven states they were talking about.  Sure miss those wonderful Catskills.....
  
View Larger Map

April 6, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

April 6, 1963

Saturday. Mostly fair but cool.  I cleaned up the house for the weekend. Sue took her music lesson in the pm. Clifton the girls and I went to Schoharie at night to music festival.  David went out and didn’t get home until night.  He and Kip ? went to Syracuse.  Lorraine,  Howard and Marsha left for Florida. Had a letter from Marilyn.  Jim had quite his job and was working for a contractor and they moved this weekend.

Comment: Lot's of stuff going on, David on the prowl, changes for Marilyn and Jim.

Lorraine was Dad's sister born May 11, 1912 and died May 2, 1991.  She was married twice, the last time to Howard Vaughn and had two children with him, Marsha and Roger.

I've heard that, after being married for only a short time, her first husband began to hit her and she went home to the hill where her family protected her.  Marsha lives in Tennessee and travels with sister Marilyn.  Roger is deceased.  Here is a picture that includes them:  From left to right:  Uncle Merel, Unknown Kid, Uncle Rudy, Howard Vaughn, (Obscured Unknown might be Willard Palmer, Doris Ellis's husband), Glendon Ellis, Lorraine Hubbard Vaughn.  Picture is from Betty Hubbard and is Christmas, 1954...I was fourteen.....

April 5, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

April 5, 1963

Friday. Cold and clear, windy 32 hi. Clifton did work on wall behind the stove.  I papered most of the living room.  Went to business meeting at church at night.  Billie called again and said Aunt Pearl had a cerebral hemorrhage and was real bad.  Mother called later and she was doing their living room.

Comment:  Aunt Pearl Laraway was Grandma Bessie's and Billie's sister, born September 22, 1884 in the town of Bern and died, apparently from the stroke, on June 27, 1963 or, about a month and a half after this post.  She was about 79 years old and had lived through the Spanish Flu Pandemic of the early 1920's as relatively young adult in her mid thirties.  I remember her as always richly dressed and coiffed with lots of perfume.  I think she might have been pretty well-to-do.  I do not remember any of her family.
Dad, Mom and Bessie are apparently deep in the throes of "spring cleaning" which seemed to happen just about every year as the nice weather rejuvenated their spirits.

April 4, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

April 4, 1963

Thursday, partly cloudy in am, 45 and turning colder. In pm, dreadful wind and snow squalls, 16. Ceiling paper came in and I did most of the dining room. Did mending in am. Billie called.

Comment:  I remember Mom and the Hubbard aunt's "papering" the house while I ran around as a very little boy playing with the remnants of the paper and crawling around underneath the "paper boards", large flat surfaces they used to apply the adhesives to the backside of the paper.  Until I tried it, I really did not understand how much skill and effort it took to "paper" especially the ceilings.  Mom casually mentions she papered most of the dining room ceiling as if it was nothing and maybe to her it was.  If you google "papering a ceiling" the results mostly show it was a two-person job.  I remember Mom doing it by herself........and she also "did the mending" before she "papered".......Here is a picture of the dining room with a bunch of picture albums on the table.  One of our pastimes when we visited was to pore through the many albums and reminisce....

April 3, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

April 3, 1963

Wednesday, sunny in am becoming cloudy in pm, 68. I did a big wash and they all dried well. Clifton and I went to Grand Gorge after feed in pm. Stopped at Mayos and bought 1/2 a gallon of maple syrup. We were both awful tired.

Comment:  Weather warming up. Sounds like the trip to NJ and Dad not feeling well coupled with the chores of washing, caring for the livestock and the general upkeep of the farm knocked them out.

The cold nights and warm days would get the sap in the maple trees running well.  Nothing like Mom's pancakes, eggs, and bacon, ham, or ham tenderloin smothered in maple syrup...here is a remembrance of it:  

In the fall we’d often kill a pig and hang it from a tripod rig and gut it out to take inside to treat.
When mom would cook the tenderloin with homemade pancakes we’d all join in dining on a meal called “ fit to eat”.
And the rhythm of the family filled our veins,
And the autumn breezes hummed in soft refrain.
Then we laid on the grassy lawn to look at stars until we’d yawn then go to sleep and start it all again.

April 2, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

April 2, 1963

Tuesday, here up in the ’60s.  Cloudy in the am in New Jersey.  Clifton was taken sick about 4 am we were still at Ella Mae’s. Had a Dr. for him at about 7:30.  We left for home at 9:35 am and arrived at Cobleskill at 12:20. Came up the thruway.  Got home at 2 pm. LaVerne and Roberta were up at night. Clifton slept all afternoon and felt some better.

Comment: They had to leave rather quickly that day after the doctor came because Dad had to sign up for unemployment in Cobleskill on Tuesdays.  Probably got off the Thruway at the Catskill exit and drove on to Cobleskill.  Dad must have been pretty sick because doctors were not called very often in our family.  Doctor contacts were usually limited to accidents and prolonged illnesses that did not go away by themselves.  The doctors we went to were Doc Tepfer from Grand Gorge, Doc Lyons from Middleburg, Doc Parsons from Lexington and that's all I remember.  Doc Tepfer treated Patty Russell when she broke her neck and probably caused her more injury by loading her in the back seat of the car without any neck bracing or splints of any kind.  Doc Parsons treated my finger that was hanging by a shred of skin after Merel Jr hit it with an ax by setting it back on top of my finger and wrapping it in adhesive tape, again no splints or attempt to make it heal straight.  I think Doc Lyons treated Paul Ellis when he was kicked through a barn window by a cow.    I guess the good thing is that life can become easy when you accept that it's hard.

April 1, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

April 1, 1963

Monday, cloudy and cool. Still in Jersey. I washed windows outside and did blinds on porch. Clifton raked the lawn. We went shopping for Ella Mae at Pompton Lakes toward night. Got her sheets, pillow case etc. Wrote to Marilyn in afternoon and Doug at night.

Comment:  Ella Mae could be considered my mother's step-mother after a fashion, because she was once married to Norman Van Tassell, the man Mom's mother Bessie married after her divorce from Mom's father, Clarence Barber, who then married Bessie's sister, Margaret, or Billie.  Kinda like "I'm My Own Grandpa" but not quite....  Apparently Ella Mae's condition is not that great because of the chores my folks are doing for her.  Here is how Mom and Dad might have look as they kinda gussied up for their weekend just outside "The City" (New York) in New Jersey.

March 31, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 31, 1963

Sunday, beautiful sunny day 72.  We were in N.J. Clifton and I went to church in am. Clifton filed points on car and it ran better.

Comment:  Minor repairs to car.  We were constantly working on the cars, trucks, tractors and other farm equipment we had.  Most of the stuff was second-hand and wasn't in that good shape when we bought it.  Dad usually looked for stuff that was slightly broken because he knew he could usually fix it.   So regardless of what the day's work project was, we would usually spend an hour or so getting the stuff operable.  This would involve getting engines gassed up and started, lubricating  many grease fittings, adjusting baler knotters and mowing machine cutter bars, inflating tires and adjusting drive chains and belts.  Usually by then,  we were gas-stained and grease covered.  Here is a picture of  Dad working on a '36 Packard Clipper, probably changing head gaskets because that damn car always overheated.  When we took it out, we always took along a jug of water to refill the radiator.  In the left background is a make-shift pen of metal roofing that we made to house the current crop of baby chicks.

March 30, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 30, 1963

Saturday. Cloudy and rain 50’s. Clifton and I left for New Jersey about 10 am and arrived there about 2:30 took Rt 9W instead of the Thruway as the car wasn't running too good. Wayne took the girls to LaVerne's in am.

Comment:  This is about the only trip Mom and Dad took that I remember other than trips to California to see Marilyn.  They were going to see Ella Mae Laraway, a relative of Bessie, Mom's mother.  They took 9W because if you broke down on the New York State Truway, you had to use the Thruway towing and repair services which were very expensive compared to services off the toll road.   Dad always took tools with him to do minor repairs and I think the habit rubbed off on me and some of the other boys.  I always have a toolbox in my car, although with all the computerized stuff in the cars now, I probably could not do much.  Back then, one could do ignition, fuel line and other mechanical repairs with common tools.....

9W ran down the west side of the Hudson River with beautiful views of the mountains, the river and West Point.......I used to drive it with an 18 wheeler a short way hauling milk from Prospect Dairy in Stamford to Poughkeepsie and Peekskill, NY.

March 29 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 29, 1963

Friday. Rain in am and 23, light cloudiness in pm 50. I ironed and got ready to go to New Jersey Clifton and I went to Grand Gorge after feed.

Comment:  It was a big deal when my folks went anywhere to stay for a couple of days.  I do not remember any time when I was with the family that we did so.  It seemed like we always had to be back to milk the damn cows or somebody had to.  As a kid, a trip to the feed store was a big deal also.  The sounds and smells around a feed store are very unique, reeking with molasses and the various grains they mixed into the various feeds.  They also had white salt blocks for cattle around and I always surreptitiously took a couple of licks to taste the salt.  Not sure why, but licking a salt block would cause one's tongue to break out in small, painful, blood-filled pimples. 

I would also grab a fist-full of dairy ration and lick the feed that extended from the top of my fist like an ice cream cone.  The molasses content made it semi-sweet, crunchy, and fibrous and it was almost like candy.  Probably all the rat and bird feces in it contributed to our immune systems.  "Have to eat a peck of dirt before you die" and all that....Here is a picture of what a typical feed store looked like.

March 28 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 28, 1963

Thursday, windy 42. I did a big wash with the easy washer in the wood house.  Dried everything outside. Cleaned up the house for prayer meeting at night. Mr. Bohlen was here and said Mrs. Bohlen was in the Hospital.

Comment:  The Bohlen family lived almost directly south of us, essentially one farm away.  We shared a fence line with them through the woods across the road from our house.  They had two beautiful daughters, were of German descent and were very cultured and nice; obviously well educated.  Dad and I helped them butcher a yearling steer one time  and I served as the executioner with a .22 hollow point between the eyes.  

So along with church and Sunday school on Sunday, Mom and the girls usually went to prayer meeting on Thursday nights, the girls also went to Awana, and I also remember Young People's Meetings and events.  The Flat Creek Baptist Church was a large part of Mom's life.  Here is a picture of most of the family in front of that church.  Not sure what the year was......

March 27 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 27, 1963

Wednesday, cooler, cloudy, and rain in am, 40’s.  Clearing and windy in pm. Cleaned up the house and wood house a little. Little Larry Van Allen, 2 yr old son of Donna Laraway, was missing and believed to have drowned in the Schoharie Creek.  Still searching for him.  Ella Mae called and wanted us to come down for the weekend.

Comment:  Another tragedy unfolding.  The creeks could be killers when in flood stage and were really dangerous beyond our comprehension.  Below is a picture of Wayne on the Gilboa Bridge while the Schoharie Creek was flooding.  Lots of kids were injured or killed in farming areas and I talk about some of the things in blogs on this site:

The Party Line

March 26, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 26, 1963

Tuesday. Another beautiful day 64. Sue still home. Wayne drove to school so he could come at noon and take Clifton to Cobleskill as I had a headache. LaVerne and Roberta were up here at night. Rain in the night. Boys brought washer up from barn. Barry and Bev had a boy, David Mark.

Comment:  James Barry Taylor and wife Beverly have their first child.  Might be named after the infant "blue baby" that Evelyn and Clifford lost in 1955.  Here is Barry, Glenn and I sitting in some sort of a wagon a long time ago.  See below for a comment from Mark David, not David Mark.....

March 25, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 25, 1963

Monday, beautiful day mostly sunny 60. Sue was home with a cold. I took Clifton to Schoharie in am to have a tooth out. Started to wash when we got home.  Had about 1/2 done and plunger broke. Hung everything out. Snow going fast. Cabbage seeds up already. Had a letter from Dougie.

Comment:  Weather breaking, some mechanical difficulties, but the views could always lift one's mood......Spring view toward South Mountain from the tower....before everything turned green....

March 24, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 24, 1963

Sunday, beautiful sunny day warm 52.  Snow is melting, can begin to see some bare ground again. Girls and I went to Church and Sunday School. Boys went out in afternoon. Clifton still sick. Mother called in am. Gerald called at night.

Comment: Spring is "springing" finally, and probably lifting everyone's mood..the number one song on March 24, 1963 was "He's So Fine" by the Chiffons.   If kids were lucky, they could listen to songs on the early transistor radios.  I don't remember any transistor radios on the farm so we either listened to music on truck stop or saloon juke boxes or on the car radios.  The family stayed in pretty good touch by telephone most of the time.....
Here is a picture of an early transistor radio.  Tough to match the Fifties Rock And Roll Cool

March 23, 1963, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 23, 1963

Saturday, Partly cloudy 35 hi windy. LaVerne and Roberta up at night. Girls went to AWANA. Wayne cut wood. David worked 1/2 day.  He and Roberta took motor down to Dwayne Palmer. Had a letter from Marilyn. Roy Mauer died.

Comment:  So to get things into an approximate age perspective:  Dad is 55, Mom is 50, LaVerne is 29, I am 25, Marilyn is 27, Doug is 21, David is 19, Wayne is 17, Carol is 13, and Susan is 11.  That means that my Dad was 32 years younger than I am right now....The whole family seems so young at this point and much younger than most of the first and second cousins now reading this...time sure flies when you're having fun......

Here is a picture where everybody is a little older:


Wayne, Carol, Mom, Susan, David  

March 22, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 22, 1963

Friday, bright sunny day hi 30.  I called Ella Mae in am and told her we couldn’t come, but they had the flu and she was going to call me and tell us not to come.  Lavilla, Mrs. Mayo and I went to school in the afternoon to school to gym recess. Clifton still sick.  He wrote to Marilyn. Sowed tomato, cabbage and million seed.

Comment:  I think she sowed the seed in window boxes for later transplanting to the garden in the warmer weather.  It seemed like there was always tomatoes ripening or some sort of plant growing in pots or water on the kitchen window sill or kitchen table.  Dad did not write very many letters.  I don't remember ever getting a card or letter from him individually.  Mom always wrote and signed any mail that I received.  

March 21, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 21, 1963

Thursday. Cloudy 6-8 inches of new snow,  20’s. Clifton didn’t feel so good, more cold. I wrote to Dougie and Gerald.  David had to be to work 7 am. Girls and I went to prayer meeting at parsonage. Federal tax came $339.00.

Comment:  The tax refund would be worth $3603, not too bad.  First day of spring..Dad still sick.  The news of the day:  The federal prison on Alcatraz Island was closed. The Rock, as the island became known, is probably the most famous prison in the US federal system and remains today, more than fifty-eight years after its closing, the stuff of legend.  


President John F Kennedy also announced economic sanctions against Cuba.  This followed the Cuban Missile Crises of the previous October when we all came within a hair's breadth of nuclear war.  In reflecting on the time, these issues were discussed somewhat but never seemed to affect us directly.....

March 20, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 20, 1963

Wednesday.  Light snow in am. Heavy snow in pm. I washed. Billie called in am. Mrs. Mayo called about girls singing Sunday.

Comment:  Billie, (Margaret Laraway),  was my Mother's aunt, my Grandmother Bessie's sister. Here is what Susan has to say about the relationships in my mother's family: 


"Mom’s parents divorced when she was 16 – a scandal it was – her father Clarence marrying her mother Bessie’s younger sister Mildred Laraway, (Billie) and her mother Bessie Claressa Laraway marrying Norman Van Tassel, another farmer and friend of the family, who had once been married to Bessie’s cousin. All four persons accompanied each other to Las Vegas for the divorce and remarriage of the new couples. 

In later years, after Mom had a child or two of her own, along came a half-sister, Judith Barber, whom Mom also loved, but with whom never established a close relationship, as she had her own family to tend to. 

The Laraway sisters kept a close bind with each other despite the scandal, and with the rest of their brothers and sisters, and their friendships and relationships continued the rest of their lives. Their lives had changed, but they still were accepted by each other. 

But, for Mom, although she visited with her family back and forth as though all was well, she was wounded from the shame and embarrassment it had caused her at the tender age of 16, and I don’t believe she ever really recovered from that fully."

Here is a link the full version of Susan's Memories Of Her Mother and also to the news paper coverage of Mom's sixteenth birthday:

http://gerryhubbard.blogspot.com/2005/06/susans-memories-of-her-mother_25.html

http://gerryhubbard.blogspot.com/2005/07/moms-sixteenth-birthday-party.html

Below is a picture of Grandma Bessie, her sister "Billie" and Billie's daughter Judith at the 1978 family reunion...

March 19, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 19, 1963

Tuesday, Fair 30’s. We went to Cobleskill in pm. Had a letter from Doug and wrote to him and Marilyn. Earl stopped while we were eating dinner. David worked overtime got home 6:30.

Comment:  Afternoon unemployment sign up in Cobleskill.  I wonder if David got time and a half for his overtime...probably not....since this was a non-union job.  In my experiences, non-union companies would want you to work overtime but not put it on the books so they would not have to pay the higher rate.  They would usually offer compensatory time off or ignore the overtime altogether.  Kinda like Wal Mart in Oregon when they lost a lawsuit to the tune of $35 million in back overtime pay: 

"The lawsuit claimed managers got employees to work off the clock by asking them to clean up the store after they had clocked out and by deleting hours from time records.

It also said Wal-Mart reprimanded employees who claimed overtime. Workers felt forced to work after clocking out because managers assigned them more work than they could complete in a regular shift, the plaintiffs said...CBS News.....".  So first line supervisors faked the real work situation because they did not want to upset upper management and the lowest level people who did the actual work got screwed...this is the only "trickle-down" theory that really works.......

March 18, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 18, 1963

Monday, Cloudy,  windy, cold 25 hi. David and Sue both came home with flu. Clifton still didn’t feel good. I wrote to Marilyn and Doug. Had a letter from Doug.

Comment: Monday, Monday, can't trust that day.......from the Internet

Monday has often been called a blue day. There is considerable speculation as to why this might be so. One theory runs that Monday (before the advent of the washing machine) was the usual day for washing and a blue dye was frequently used to keep clothes from yellowing. Blue is also frequently associated with depression. Since Monday is typically the first workday of the week and workers must look over a long depressing stretch of time until their next day-long break it has often been refered to as a blue day.

Many cultures see Monday also as an unlucky day, even as a day when people become insane. This may have something to do with the day's association with the moon. The moon has been called inconstant, due to its tendency to wax and wane. The Latin word for moon comes even into our own language to designate lunacy.

Sunday March 17, 1963, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Sunday March 17, 1963, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Sunday. Beautiful in pm. Cloudy in am clearing in pm 50 no wind snow melting fast but ground nearly covered yet. Carol and I went to church, but didn't stay for Sunday school. Clifton didn’t feel a bit good. David and Sue some better. Bob and Bill here at night a few minutes.

Comment:  Not sure who Bob and Bill are...weather seems to be clearing, here is a previous post about the seasons on the Hill.....


And the seasons would come and the seasons would go
And our whole world would change with the flow,
As the sharp verdant springtime resolved in soft focus
And the hills drowned in summer's warm glow.

In Autumn, the mountains were like purple haze that muted fall colors soaked through,
Then winter's keen breath brought the snow and  white frost...
And another new year to us, too.

March 16, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 16, 1963

Saturday: Bright sunny day 30’s. David didn’t go to work,  he had a bad cold. Wayne washed car at Schermerhorns. Clifton, David and Sue all sick with flu. Boys didn’t go out at night. LaVerne and Roberta here 1/2 hour at night. Carol went to AWANA.

Comment:  Sickness persists, Saturday night and the boys did not go out, must be pretty sick.  Wayne washed the car at Schermerhorns probably because they had some hoses and warm water.  I don't remember us ever having a hose that we used to wash cars.  We would just get buckets of water from the milk house.  Probably because the water supply from the well and "Spring Lot" spring was always a little questionable.

March 15, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 15, 1963

Friday, Sunny, windy 20’s. Sue and Clifton sick with flu. I washed in am.  Kennedy’s came to look at Geralds car but didn’t want it. Mother called to see how we were she had a cold too. Had a letter from Marilyn. I sent for Seward paper. Boys went to school dance.

Comment:  The car I bought for $10 and fixed up never did sell.  Another entrepreneurial dream gone bad..David and Wayne go to Friday school dance.....not sure why she sent for the Seward paper....here is picture of five generations on my mother's side:  Grandma Bessie in front, then left to right, Kristen Ford, Marna Ford, Marilyn, Frances.....from the 1978 Hubbard Family Reunion

March 14, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 14, 1963

Thurs. Cloudy in am clearing in pm 25. Sue and Wayne home with the flu. I had more cold, did very little,  wrote to Doug and Marilyn. Clifton cut wood. David received $215.00 compensation check in the mail.

Comment:  Adjusted for inflation, David got $2292 and I think it was an injury compensation check for when he got his fingers caught in a charcoal press at Timberland.  This is from a previous post..."Timberland was the charcoal plant in Stamford where LaVerne was the general manager.  David worked there for a while and got his hand caught in a briquet press and injured it pretty bad.  His hand was caught until LaVerne went into the control panel and re-wired it to reverse the press."

And.." the road goes on forever and the party never ends" when it comes to cutting wood...Dad's at it again....

March 13, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 13, 1963

Wed. Cloudy 40 thunder showers. Carol and Sue went to school. I didn’t feel good so didn’t do much only got meals and kept the house done up.

Comment:  Very short entry, Mom sick. Kids better.  Of course, keeping the house "done up" might be a little more complicated than it sounds when you're talking about six people living in a small house but still, "didn't do much" probably was stated from a perspective of having 10 people living in the same space when the kids were younger and all there...and here are all the kids in 1954

March 12, 1963, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 12, 1963

Tuesday. Cloudy, a foggy spell and rain, 35. Kids all home sick. Wayne Dan’s(?) when Clifton went to Cobleskill. Girls and I stayed home. I was sick all day with a headache and flu. David still working in Albany. His car was done at night. Ella and Merle came home from the hospital.

Comment:  All kids home sick, the flu spreads, unemployment sign up, David still unloading rail car of charcoal, Merel and Ella home from hospital...Aunt Ella And Uncle Merel with grandchildren in the Sixties

March 11, 1963, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 11, 1963

Mon. 0 to 35. Clear in the am becoming cloudy in pm rain and sleet at night. Carol was home yet with cold. I had a sore throat and cold. I washed in the am. Clifton cut wood. David drove our car to work,  he had to be there at 6:30am to go to Albany.  Had a long letter from Doug and picture cards of the base. David worked in Albany moving charcoal from rail car to warehouse.

Comment: Doug's writing a lot of letters from Navy boot camp, persistent sickness.  If you ever want a sinking feeling in your stomach, open up the doors of a freight car packed with bags of charcoal and know that you have to move every damned one of them into a semi-trailer, drive to the warehouse and unload them all, then drive back to the freight car and do it again, maybe for the next 2 days.  At days end, your clothes and skin are completely black with the dust.

It's Wayne's birthday, March 11, 1946 on this date in 1963 he is 17 years old with about 42 years left to live.....he was born 80 years ago today and I remember clearly when Mom brought him home from the hospital...

In Memoriam: Wayne Maurice Hubbard

Wayne Maurice Hubbard
Born March 11, 1946, Died December 3. 2005 


November 22, 2005
Warrington, VA

Dear Wayne:

I want you to know that it has been an honor and privilege to grow up with and know you for all these years.

You should know that the kindness, warmth and wit that is Wayne Maurice Hubbard will long live in the memories of those fortunate enough to know you and also in the lives of your fine children.

We love you bro'.

Gerry Hubbard.


November 22, 2005
Warrington, VA

March 10 , 1963, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 10, 1963

Sunday, Mostly cloudy windy few snow flurries 30’s. Clifton took Susan, Donna and Janette to church. I didn’t feel like going had a cold in my chest and slight headache. Carol still didn’t feel good, had a bad cold in her head. David took his car to Raymonds to have it fixed.

Comment:  Mom getting sick, David still struggling with his car.  Raymond Brown's garage probably was the only place he could take it on a Sunday because of the prevailing Blue Laws in effect at the time.  Most businesses were closed on Sunday which is a far cry from today with most large businesses open 24/7.  Not sure if the repeal of the laws was good or bad but it certainly significanlty changed our life-style.  

A blue law is a type of law, typically found in the United States and Canada, designed to enforce religious standards, particularly the observance of Sunday as a day of worship or rest, and a restriction on Sunday shopping. Most have been repealed, have been declared unconstitutional, or are simply unenforced, although prohibitions on the sale of alcoholic beverages, and occasionally almost all commerce, on Sundays are still enforced in many areas. Blue laws often prohibit an activity only during certain hours and there are usually exceptions to the prohibition of commerce, like grocery and drug stores. In some places blue laws may be enforced due to religious principles, but others are retained as a matter of tradition or out of convenience.^[1]

Laws of this type are also found in religious cultures such as Israel, where the day concerned is Saturday rather than Sunday, and most countries with Muslim majority, where the month of Ramadan is involved.^[2]

March 9, 1963, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 9, 1963

Sat. 30’s. Started to snow 4 pm. I baked in the am and took a pie and other things down to Merles. Ella went to hospital, no one was there when we went there. Cleaned up the house in the pm. Clifton,Wayne and Susan went to city to look at cars in pm. Carol was home sick, worse than Friday. Wayne went to Linda's at night and had to come home by Gilboa because of snow. Dougie called at 7 pm. Merle and Ella both in hospital at Margaretville. David's car boiled antifreeze out.

Comment:  Lots of folks sick or getting sick, heavy snow. Merle and Ella must have been very sick for them to go to the hospital.   Mom was known for her pies and Aunt Ella was known for her chocolate cake.  Not sure how Mom did it so well on the wood stove that Mom used.  Ella was  little better off, I remember a gas stove in her kitchen but the skill was probably learned with a wood stove.  They also seemed to do it so effortlessly.  Mom would be working outside and the next moment whipping up an apple, current or sour cream pie.  Anytime we went to Aunt Ella's she would offer us a piece of cake with a glass of milk. Ella and Mom were very good friends and talked to each other most every day.  Not sure when this picture was taken of them both: