Happy Birthday America!

Lots of sun and blue sky up here on Rainier are adding to our celebration of America's 237th year of existence. The forecast for the holiday weekend looks great, and conditions should be great for summit bids. We are expecting a very busy weekend so climbersshouldshow up early at the ranger station to improve chances of getting their preferred camping spot. The popular camps such as Muir, Schurman and Ingraham Flats will be busy places. Climbers are encouraged to have a backup plan since there are many places on Rainier that will not be crowded at all. Looking for moderate routes? Try the Tahoma, the Kautz, the Success Cleaver or Couloirs, or the Wilson Headwall just to suggest just a few. Skiing conditions still seem to be holding strong but some booting is required from most trailheads these days. Check out recent route reports from the DC, The Tahoma Glacier and Ptarmigan Ridge among others.







On this fourth of July remember that you have the freedom to bring celebration items such as watermelon, spareribs, and refreshing drinks into your national park. You even have the freedom to share your goodies with rangers or other people you meet. You do not have the freedom to bring fireworks, explosives, or share your edible goodies with any non-human species such as foxes or marmots.



Come on out and enjoy the natural wonders this country has to offer.

Annette Lake & Silver Peak

It was a warm 4th of July at Annette Lake. We could see trout swimming near the shore.

Tania, Michael, Michelle, Danielle, Becky, Bethany, Tina and Doug.





A gang of bloodthirsty mosquitos chased us up the mountain.





Traversing around the summit block.



Michael, Tania, Danielle, Bethany (and Doug) on top of Silver Peak.

Boot-ski race on the way down.

Fuel for the Soul

The first of the iris started coming out of their 'cocoons' late yesterday afternoon and this morning two of them were in full bloom. They are one of my favorite flowers, so delicate and a bit whimsical. Though pretty they have no scent. They are also not the easiest flower to photograph. There are so many aspects to them and the color changes a little depending upon the light.




I cut one Iris and took it inside to get a full view of it. From the petals tip-to-tip the flower is a little over 8" across. Several of the plants are "twins" with two blooms at the top of the stalk. There are 12 plants and most of them have 3 to 4 blooms coming on. Absolutely Gorgeous! flowers to feed the soul...

Adios, Big Sky Country

And this is why they call it Big Sky Country!
The Crazy Mountains, dwarfed by the sky and clouds.

You may have noticed that things have been rather quiet here at Kinexxions. I've been busy with the photo project, which I'm happy to say has been completed. In the process I was able to free-up over 55gb of hard drive space on the netbook and have sent an external drive with all of the photos to a friend for safekeeping.

The ladies at the library have been very nice, helpful and friendly. The wifi has been wonderful and it is greatly appreciated. I've spent a couple hours there every day that it has been open.

Sadly, I haven't done as much sightseeing here as I would have liked. Which means that I'll probably have to come back... which wouldn't be a bad thing, it has been VERY NICE here. The weather has been pretty good. Most days there has been sunshine. In the evenings it seems to get a little cloudy. There have been a couple of rainy days, but not an all-day rain. Temperatures have been very pleasant – in the upper 70s and lower 80s with a couple of days in the low 90s.

The van has been emptied and cleaned and a few things were discarded giving me a little space for some of the things I'll need for the next portion of the journey. I'll be leaving here Sunday morning and heading North... through Canada and into Alaska!

Yes, Alaska! A place I've wanted to go to for a very long time... my friends Sue and Fred (the same folks who got me down into the Grand Canyon) notified me less than a month ago that they had added Alaska to their fall trip. I took advantage of their generous offer to join them anywhere along their journey so we're going to meet at Denali National Park for several days then go down to the Kenai Peninsula for a few days. I'll be spending additional time in that area while they head on over to the Inner Passage to Haines, Skagway, and Juneau. I'll be going there too, just not at the same time. And so, this is why I haven't done much sightseeing here in Montana! I've been spending a great deal of time at the library looking up information about activities and making reservations. There is so much to see and do! It is overwhelming.

I'm excited but nervous at the same time. It is a long drive but from what I've read, the roads through Canada and into Alaska are similar to our secondary roads here in the lower 48 so I'm not overly concerned about that aspect of the trip. It is just a very, very long ways away...

838 State Street

I don't know exactly what year my grandmother and her family moved to Traverse City, Michigan but they were living there in 1909 and 1910. At some point they moved to a small house at 838 State Street – the 1910 census shows the family residing on State Street. Grandma recalled those days in Traverse City fondly when she wrote her autobiography. They were there only a few years when the family had to return to Indiana in December 1910, due to the death of her father's brother, Hale Brubaker.





Written on the reverse side of this photo, taken about 1950, is “This is the house we lived in – Traverse City, Mich. 40 years later.” The lady standing in front of the house is my grandmother, Hazlette Brubaker Phend.



This week I had the opportunity to pay a brief visit to the house...





The house at 838 State Street as it appeared on July 27, ... The perspective isn't exactly the same but it appears to be the same house as in the previous photo. The front porch has been removed and the roof has been extended over the side porch. And the trees have gotten bigger. And there are more houses in the neighborhood.





The side view.



The red “A” marks the location of 838 State Street, Traverse City, Michigan.



The big purple blob on the right marks the location of Traverse City State Park where I spent the night. The little blue blob is at 838 State Street. I was at a McDonald's on the corner of Front and Hope Street (a block west and north of 838 State Street) when I learned exactly where the house was located!



Once you get off the main road (U.S. 31 aka Front Street) Traverse City is a pretty quiet place. A nice “little town” that I'm sure my grandmother would no longer recognize.

Coming soon

The enigmatic Antoine Moussette.
































Wow! I've been nominated...

Thank you so much to everyone who nominated Kinexxions for the Family Tree Magazine 40 Best Genealogy Blogs (in the Personal/Family Category)! And congratulations go out to all of the other nominees.

The editorial staff of Family Tree Magazine will be selecting 40 blogs in the various categories for an article scheduled to be published in the May .. issue. Blogs were nominated by readers last month and the voting is now open (and will continue to November 5th) to determine the final 80 blogs that will make the cut.

Blogs were grouped into 10 different categories based on the purpose or intent of the blog: All-around, Personal/Family, Local/Regional, Cemetery, Photos/Heirlooms, Heritage, News/Resources, How-to, Genealogy Companies, and Genetic Genealogy. The Genealogy Insider has more information about the categories.


Caution, shameless plug coming. . . I realize that Kinexxions has been a bit preoccupied with some traveling and hasn't posted much content recently that is related to family history but if you'd care to vote for me I'm near the bottom of the list (hopefully that doesn't really mean anything ;-) in the Personal/Family category. And, hey, you can even vote more than once if you'd like to!

Update October 6th:
I've been informed by Bill West (thanks Bill!) that the list of blogs in each category changes each time you view the poll, so you'll just have to look for the blogs for which you want to vote. Also, the illustrious footnoteMaven (who has been nominated in two categories!) has created a list of links to each of the nominated blogs, which is quite helpful in reviewing the nominees prior to voting.

MY “2 PENCE” ON MIDLAYERS

Croz Spur, courtesy of Ben O'Connor Croft

By Dave Searle





When the aim of the game in alpine climbing is to stay warm and dry it's no wonder that we all spend so much time agonizing over our shells without spending much time worrying about mid layers. “What's going to be best today? Softshell, hardshell, wind-shirt, or can I get away with just a mid-layer?” It's inevitable that we get it wrong at some point and will be cursing the Gods as we shiver out a long belay, get a good drenching or feel the sweat run down the small of our backs whilst our mouths dry up as we're sucking in that cold, dry air and remembering the measly amount of water that is left in our bag.....







Something that I have realized over the last few years is that most of our problems run deeper than the shell. Finding a mid-layer system that works well can often be overlooked by most climbers and skiers. My problem is I have slightly ridiculously long arms. This causes me all kinds of problems, things that I never thought about when I was starting out. First off having such long arms means that every time I reach up above my head (which strangely I do quite a lot whilst climbing) my sleeves start to creep up my forearms. Not a big problem you say, well actually it is a massive problem. Something that I have discovered (or maybe no one ever told me) is if my wrists get cold my hands are cold almost instantly afterwards, hardly surprising when you think where the blood that should be keeping your hands warm comes from. For me sleeves either have to be equally as ridiculously long or they need thumb loops. Ideally they should be both because if they aren't long enough but have thumb loops then you get another problem manifesting around the harness area. You'll know what I am talking about if you normally climb in trousers as opposed to salopettes. Being “un-tucked” around the waist can range from a slight draft to full blown harness-hip chaffing. I usually keep my climbers partners updated about this problem during a climb with a simple 1-10 scale. '1' being all tucked and correct, '2' being a slight draft/small patch of skin showing up to '10' being horrendous multiple layers out of the top of the harness with full lead-rack/harness-hip interface. Seriously though, I got my layering system wrong a few times in the last few years and ended up with some seriously rubbed hips to show for it.







There are many different types of mid-layers from the super sleek and thin fleeces such as the Patagonia R1 Hoody and the NWAlpine Spider Light Hoody (I have one of the latter and I'm super impressed with it so far, just need to get out there and give it a good test) all the way up to synthetic or down insulated offerings like the Arc'teryx Atom (a firm favourite of Dane's). I am going to concentrate on the fleece type here as that's what I use most of the time in the Alps. I've only written a few up here but it should give you a good idea of what I look for in a mid layer and how important they are.



(edit by Dane: Just to be clear I don't use the Atom LT as a mid layer as Dave implies here, but as my outer layer/action suit top.A R1 or the other tops Dave is discussing in this review I use as my base layer. More here on how I layer. http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//09/winter-layers.html )



During the day, before myself and Ally headed over over to Grindlewald to climb the '38 route on the north face of the Eiger, I was getting stressed out about what I was going to wear on the climb. All my kit was in order and I was tossing up what I was going to do about my top half insulation. I decided, to calm my nerves, I should take a trip to Snell sports in Chamonix to buy some more energy gels (as you can never have enough, Yum) and check out what was the latest offering was for a mid-layer. I spent some time trying on various brands and settled on one that I liked. I went for the Mammut Yukon hoody and shelled out half a week's wage buying one at full price, hours before we set off (and the other half on energy gels!). That was almost a year ago and I haven't regretted buying it for one minute and it has come with me on nearly every outing into the mountains in the last year.



Golden granite is on theDirect des Capucin courtesy of Gavin Pike

It has everything I was looking for. A light hood that can be worn under a helmet and is also stretchy enough to pull over the top at a belay. Thumb loops and long sleeves keep my wrists warm and hovering between 1-3 on the 'Un-tucked Scale'. The thumb loops are well thought out and comfortable next to the skin and stretchy enough to pull over the top of thin gloves. The main body material is slightly wind-proof without sacrificing any breath-ability and is also very stretchy and hard-wearing. The one small pocket on the chest is big enough for my camera and I like that it doesn't have 'handwarmer pockets' because I never need or use them. If I could change one thing about this I would get rid of the full length zip for a ½ length one to keep things simpler. Apart from this it really is the ideal mid layer fleece.







Like I said I am really looking forward to giving the NWAlpine Spider Light Hoody a run for its money when I get the chance.



http://nwalpine.com/black-spider-light-hoody



It's more of a fitted mid layer that can be worn next to the skin and would be great for really fast paced alpine routes where you might just be wearing a wind-proof or light shell over the top. It's got a ½ length zip that curves to the side to eliminate the dreaded chest bulge that you can get when you raise your arms in some mid layers. The thumb loops feel good, the hood is great for going under a helmet, and it's got a chest pocket too. This is a proper dedicated climbing base/mid layer fleece. I can't imagine it would stand up to granite stemming in the same way that my Yukon did but it's designed to be used under a shell because they have used thinner, more breathable fabric.



When I was given a First Ascent Hangfire Hoody to test I really wanted to like it. I really did. It looked and felt great and seemed to be fairly similar in design and features to my beloved (now slightly worn out) Yukon Hoody.



http://www.eddiebauer.com/EB/First-Ascent/Mens-First-Ascent-Fleece/index.cat



The thing is that it's just not quite right. First of all I was puzzled as to why it hasn't got thumb loops. I know they probably cost a little extra to add to a jacket but for me it not worth having a jacket like this without them. The body fitted me really well and was almost better than my Yukon. Unfortunately the lack of thumb loops and much shorter sleeves on the Hangfire meant that they would ride a few inches up my forearms and pull the bottom out of my harness and the cut around the shoulders means that you get a large chest bulge with your hands above your head. Not ideal if you need to look for that next foothold. Also the hood on the Hangfire is neither stretchy enough to go over a helmet or thin enough to wear underneath, rendering itself slightly pointless. The main body material seems a lot tougher than that on my Yukon and it does shed light precipitation which is a plus on some approaches. This jacket hasn't found its way into my action range because it just not quite dedicated enough. I can see what they've done, I can spot it a mile off. It's a more casual, around town, going cragging hoody.... It's just not trying hard enough to come out with me on a big alpine face I'm afraid, so a Cragging/Pub hoody it will remain. I was hoping to use it as a skiing mid-layer this winter, of which I'm sure it would have been very well suited... unfortunately being British I still haven't learnt how to ski so I thought I would just give this winter a miss and sit about at my mum's house in the UK eating chocolate. :-)

Fun memories.....and the Vuarnet Cateye sun glass

Mugs Stump soloing on Thelay Sagar, 1986. Photoby Micheal Kennedy (courtesy of Patagonia's archives)




I had just returned from the head. There were several tables of us crowded around in the Road House that had just gotten off Denali after a big storm cycle went through. Everyone at the table had beenstuck at 17K for a few days. Mugs and I had dug out each others tents a few times as the clients stayed in doors.We were all happy,hungry and glad to be out of the mountains (at least I was anyway).



I sat back down and found my pork chopmissing along with most of my mashed potatoes. When my jaw dropped opened and my temper started to flare, Mugs and the rest of the table had a deep and well deserved laugh at my expense. Great way to finally relax a bit, get warm and drink a beer or two.



I didn't have enough money in my pocket to buy another dinner.May be an extra beer. Of course they had already ordered and paid for one of both for me. And I quickly realised how much of a dick I was being but not quickly enough. Mugs could be hilarious in a social setting. I eventually had a good laugh as well. Mug's story of the coldon the Moose's Tooth bivy was funny and frightening. He toldus his headwent numb from the cold. Ithad me rolling on the tent floor. "No? Really? Your head hu?"Or maybe it was the whisky. Likely both. Great story either way. I was never sure if he was pulling my leg. But I didn't think so. Damn, that would be really, seriously,COLD ;) Bet he is still laughing about that one! Yep, "my head went numb!" May be it was Bridwell's bivy stash that did that?



Hard for me not to remember Mugs and smile when I see a pair ofVuarnets. Maybe it was the picture above and the Patagonia's Capilinead. It is a picture that still defines alpinism for me even today. And you have to remember Michael Kennedypulled out a camera to get the shot while soloing as well!





We all went over the 'shrund together when Mugs and Paul Aubry did the Moonflower. Brad and I failed on our proposed route. Mugs was wearing Vuarnets in the bright sun that day as well.May, 1981.



Much more about Mugs here:

http://www.thecleanestline.com//02/the-dream-a-journey-of-the-spirit-with-mugs-stump.html



Anyway Vuarnets are a funmemory for me. Mugs and I would see each other on and off in Alaska every season fora few years. He introduced me to Wild Things gearand by example, harder climbingthan I had ever imagined possible.



Now that I think about it, even Doug Klewin had a pair or two of Vuarnets bitd. Doug was wearing blackframed, Cat Eye, Nuatilux lens Vuarnetson the 1st ascent of the North Buttress of Hunter! Hard to believe that tiny bit of important NA mountaineering history (trivia) might have be lost! :)






Doug Klewin racking up mid "Shaft" on the 1st ascent, N. Butt of Hunter, Todd Bilbler photo




Anyway when I was doing the sunglass review earlier two things I found very exciting. The first was my original Vuarnets had lasted 35+ years. They cost$58 at the time, which was a pot full of money for me. My Galibier Mountain glasses had only been $38 a couple of years earlier. So the Vuarnets were a big step up for me. In my mind they were my first pieceof "man jewelry". Gas was .63 centsa gallon in 1978! I havebroken three frames in those 35 years. They are easy enough to replace if you have an oven or even boiling water handy. But my lenses have no scratches and only one tiny pit on one lens from being dropped flat onto fresh pavement from about 6 feet up. They are the only piece of my originalclimbing gear I still use. More importantly one of the few pieces I still really like. They have been "everywhere" with me climbing. I had them on for my first 5.10 lead. And all but one of the walls I did in the Valley. Most every ice climb I had done in Canada up til 1990 as well. And with few limitations theyare as good as any thing available today I think. Fewwould think of a $100 pair of sunglasses as jewelry today.



The second thing I find exciting? I had looked around and saw Vuarnets selling for anywhere between $200+ and $350. Crazy money IMO for a retro pair of glasses no matter how good the lens.

Maybe not so muchcrazy money if I remember how long they have lasted.



But then I found them, where else, but on Ebay. Direct from France in all styles and lenses and at decent prices. Nothing over $150 that I actually wanted and most a few bucks less.



For some reason I kept digging around on the Internet and found a US dealer who specialises in repairing vintage Vuarnets and selling parts as well as complete sunglasses for $105 including the shipping.



On a serious note. The Vaurnet glass lens give excellent sun protection for your eyes. There are multiple lenses available to fit most every one's needs. I can attest thatall theglasslenses are really tough and durable under hard useconditions. The original nylon "cat eye" frames are robust and tough. Most importantly for me is they fold almost flat and are easily carried/stored in a pocket on longmountain trips (like Denali). Same place modern sunglasses can be bulky and hard to pack and fragile while living in the confines of a tent.



"Vuarnet lenses filter out all harmful UVZ, UVB and UVC radiation. Their multi-layered anti-reflective coatings eliminate glare and bounce-back light.




All Vuarnet lenses are made from the finest glass, ground and polished on both sides to ensure distortion free vision, and are heat tempered for impact and scratch resistance.



They meet the most stringent quality control standards and exceed all the performance criteria imposed by European, American and Australian consumer legislation.


















Skilynx Brown Silver Gradient Mineral lenses: PX4000, The Original and Legendary Vuarnet Ski Lens. Amber yellow base, brown & anti-reflective coatings.




Double gradient silver exterior filters to absorb white light glare, especially on or around snow and bright light conditions. Eliminates glare and reflection, enhances contrast and depth of field.




The essential lens for mountains activities and at sea. The Skilynx lens blocks nearly all of the violet and blue light, thus reducing glare and eye strain, while allowing more of the yellow-orange-red end of the spectrum to pass through to the eye, enhancing contrast, depth perception and sharpness of vision, making distant objects visually clearer.



This lens benefits from chemical tempering in order to make it secure. Besides the excellent adherence of surface treatments, it benefits from an outstanding longevity.



Each lens is engraved with the letter , symbol of authenticity Vuarnet."







Here are the links that I found for Vaurnet. I have recentlyordered from both companies and been happy with their service and products. Enjoy!









JMARGIFTS.....a USA based company based in Saint Paul, MN.

Repairs, spare parts, and new sunglasses they can build you to your spec/color/lens on some styles, the Cat Eye in particular. Quick service. $105.00 for a new set of Cat Eye Skilynx (Mugg's choice in the mountains) or Nautiluxincluding the shipping in the US!

http://www.jmargifts.com/index.htm



SHOPEYEWORLD....a French based company in Courbevoie, France

New glasses and spare framesin most every (all?) originalVaurnet styles. Decent prices and free shipping if there are multiple purchases at once. Hit or miss on the speed of delivery though. You'll need to be patient. Typically $150 for the same Cat Eye Skilynx here but frames and some of the other Vuarnet lens tintscan be had cheaper oron sale here occasionally.

http://stores.ebay.com/shopeyeworld





I suspect Mugs would get a laugh out of the fact Vuarnets are still around and that I'm suggesting here they are a good pair of glasses :)But I am not pulling your leg. And I'llremember to hangonto my pork chop!

Got slides you wanta digitize?

If you've been following my blog recently then you are aware that I've been on a digitizing spree. It started in April with scanning a few photos for my mother's 80th birthday and evolved into a project to scan our family's picture albums. That's almost done, just waiting for my niece to get her part of the project completed ;-)

The next phase was started this past week with the purchase of a ScanSnap S300 scanner for digitizing my genealogy documents and correspondence. I really can't say enough about that little scanner. It is amazingly quick with very good quality. I heartily recommend it!

All the while I've been wondering how to digitize my slide collection. I've researched scanning services found online but the cost per slide (anywhere from $.35 to $.65 cents EACH) was prohibitive. Too much money. I tested the slide scanning capability of my flatbed scanner. The results were good but it took several minutes to scan each slide. Too much time. I investigated purchasing a scanner made specifically for digitizing slides. But after reading reviews and blog posts about the process have decided against that method. Too much time and too much money.

The other day a friend and I were discussing our scanning projects. She had purchased a slide scanner but gave up after scanning only a few as it took too much time. Then she mentioned that someone had told her about a place where you could get slides digitized at a very reasonable price. That place? Wal-Mart. Yeah, right. So I stopped by my local Wal-Mart store and found out that they do indeed scan slides to CD. (I don't know if every Wal-Mart has this capability though, you'll have to ask.) Their price? $2.50 for 40 slides. That's only 6.25 CENTS for each slide! To say that I was skeptical would be putting it mildly.

On Thursday, after selecting 80 slides of varying quality and subject matter, I dropped them off for processing. Yesterday I picked up the slides and their accompanying CD. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality. They are NOT high resolution archival images but they will give you a decent 4x6 printed image. And they look good on the computer screen. And, I think for my purposes they will do just fine. Very few of my slides were ever printed. I'm not interested in making large prints or prints of any size for that matter, I just want to be able to view the pictures again and enjoy re-visiting the places I've been.

The old adage "you get what you pay for" definitely applies here. You won't get archival quality images for 6 cents but you will get acceptable images for viewing on-screen. So, as I'm scanning my genealogy documents I'll also be spending some time sorting through my slides selecting those to be digitized. This may not be acceptable to you but I thought I'd present it as an alternative to the higher priced digitizing services. Try it with a selection of 40 slides and see what you think. At worst, you'll only waste $2.50 to find out if it is worthwhile for you.

Yellowstone National Park, July 1979
Copyright © 1979/.. by Rebeckah R. Wiseman

Skyrocket Flower

When I posted a simular photo I said I didn't know the name of this flower. I have found out it is called Skyrocket.

Pink Flower

Can't remember what this pink flower is called. It is the only one that came up from two bags of bulbs that I got from The Dollar Tree Store this spring.

Going Crazy With Scanning...

It has been a month since the last update on my scanning project, and I'm sure y'all are eagerly anticipating this update ;-) At that time I had completed scanning my personal photographs and had a good start on Mom's pictures, which netted a little over 3,800 image files in a three month time period.

The prep work for the most recent group of pictures has taken considerably longer than the actual scanning. I didn't keep track of the time, but it consumed a lot of hours. However, in the past week I've scanned another 845 family pictures! With that, the albums for my two brothers and myself are done! Done, I say! Yay! That's the good news. Bad news is that the pictures for my sister's family still need to be scanned - they are being sorted and organized by my niece. My guess is there is a couple hundred pictures yet to be scanned. Big Sigh. But the end is in sight! At least, for the pictures… genea documents are still waiting.

While sorting the family pictures I came across a bunch of photos from Phend Reunions. Those were pulled out and put with the Reunion albums. Then I organized the Phend Reunion papers from the 1960s through the present day and put them in the albums with their corresponding pictures. Scanning the papers and pictures resulted in 615 image files. (The Phend-Fisher Family Reunion Ledger which covers the early years had been scanned, transcribed, and posted to the blog in the latter part of ...)

Then, as I was rummaging through a box looking for something I came across my grandmother's genealogy "book" and realized that I had never scanned it in its entirety. Most of the pictures had been scanned at one time or another but not all of them, and not the family group sheets. The book has a "post-hole" type of binder that easily comes apart so it wasn't a problem to scan each page individually and then put it back in its proper place. The pages are just a little bit larger than legal size. Placement on the scanner was critical so that no data was lost. There were 90 pages with 116 pictures, ending up with 206 scans for that project. I went ahead and scanned all of the pictures again because I wasn't really happy with the previous scans from several years ago.

And, as reported in my 3rd update for the Genea-Blogger Games, I scanned 74 newspaper clippings on the Phend family that were in the Whitley County Historical Museum's "family clippings" files. I've since created a name index of the clippings for reference purposes.

Image files created from scanning in the past month: 1,611

• 845 family pictures
• 206 pages and pictures in Grandma's Genealogy Book
• 486 Phend Reunion documents (sign-in sheets, announcements, flyers, etc.) and pictures
• 74 Phend Family newspaper clippings

Total number of scanned image files created since mid-April: 5,434

Maude Wise Brubaker Yontz, aka "Mama" or "Grandma Bill", with her grandchildren. About 1933. From the Genealogy "Book" of my grandmother, Hazlette Brubaker Phend, which is now in my possession.

Phend-Fisher Family Reunion Ledger (1933)

Aug 28 - 1933

24th Anual reunion of Phend & Fisher Family was held at home of Henry Phend Aug 28 - 1933 Columbia City Ind

The Oficiers were
Pres Henry Phend
Mrs James Shaw
Sec & Treas. Cecil Phend

A basket dinner was enjoyed by all and after visiting for some time the business of the day was transacted

New officiers Elected were
Pres Henry Phend
Mrs James Shaw
Sec & Treas Cecil Phend

Sec. report was read and approved. The program committee presented the entertains for the after noon
Madyln Phend & Parents sang a song

[page 2]
Keith Phend gave several numbers on his guitar
Mrs Cecil Phend and daughter rendered organ duet
Short talks were given by Rev McCoy & Henry Phend
Playlet was then given "Wife Wanted"

Money left in Treas after expences & Collection
$3.42 in Treasure
1.75 Expences for Cards
1.50 [left in treasury]


The Phend-Fisher families gathered for a reunion in Northern Indiana almost annually from 1909 until 1943. The events of the day were recorded in an old ledger book. Spelling has been retained as it was in the original though some punctuation and paragraph breaks have been added. To view all articles in this series click on the "Phend-Fisher Reunion Ledger" label at the bottom of this post.

It's still ice season here! but for how long?

Went out at the crack of dawn to check conditions. We still have plenty of ice (currently). The next 5 days forcast to be really warm. Not sure if it'll hold to the weekend, but we'll see. If there's ice we'll be climbing. Here's a few photos of our outing this morning.





Sunrise through the forest



Laura ready to hike in, 22° and crust packed snow



Snowshoeing in. Still 3'+ of snow under the packed surface



Walking down into the left wall. Best overall shot we got this am.



Still lots of snow under there as I quickly learned



Please stay in, just a few more days.



Enjoying some "bouldering", couldn't resist!

That's the report on what it looked like today. The past several weeks we've hardly seen any other climbers out despite the great late season conditions. We (L and I) know the end is near, but we'renot ready to give up just yet!

Toour fellowice climbers: we hopeyou got out and enjoyed the great seasonwe've had here this year in SWPA.Laura and Ihad a great timeclimbingwith friends old and new.Thanks everyone for the great sesason and memories! To our ice friends... see you nextwinter! To our rock friends...see you in a few days after we put the ice season to bed!