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THE HOUSE WHERE I WAS BORN
INDIANA RETROSPECT

Our visit to my “Indiana roots” and with my kinfolk concluded with a rip roaring 4th of July weekend at the home of nephew, Steve, in Bedford. Most of the second generation nephews and nieces that were available (and even some 3rd) made an appearance for which I was grateful. On July 5, we departed Southern Indiana and after an overnight stop over in Greenwood, for dinner with niece Debbie and her family and saw their new home, we drove to Monticello, Indiana for a visit with my niece, Zoe and her family in their new home. The nephews and nieces all were most generous with their time, their hospitality and their affection for which I am very grateful. I am, indeed, blessed with a loving, caring and loyal family.

A sampling of the highlights of our family visits include breakfast at nephew David’s and wife Becky’s new Pinnick Store in Williams. Niece Katie, a third year bio-chemistry major at Ball State, prepared us an old fashioned down home breakfast. Should academia fail her, Katie has a backup career and a loyal clientele at the ready. After breakfast in Williams, we visited nephew J. D.’s house and “pole barn” that is under construction.
The pole barn is a concept that I am still trying to sort out but in spite of my learning disability related to pole barns, it seems to fulfill the needs of JD and wife Holly. We also enjoyed a visit with Tom and Shirley and admired the recently added new family room. And, of course, we enjoyed and are deeply grateful for the hospitality, patience and kindness of nephew Steve and wife Terri and grand nephew, Kyle. In Greenwood, we had a wonderful dinner and visit with Debbie, Scott and Erin in their new home and enjoyed a Sunday brunch with Zoe, John and their daughter, Rachel and fiancee, Nial. Food was not in short supply during our Indiana visit and every meal is prepared by outstanding cook.


During our visit in the Monticello area we visited the museum where my niece and nephew spend their “retirement” days. They along with others, have done a great job assembling memorabilia of the towns history. At the suggestion of my nephew we took a side trip to the site of the battle of Tippecanoe, which was just a few miles from Monticello. The term Tippecanoe immediately brings to mind the phrase “Tippecanoe and Tyler too” from our history lessons. However, seeing the site first hand was a reminder of the historical consequences of that battle so long ago and an interesting side trip.

On the 12th of July we reluctantly said goodbye to Marian, our “guest” of the past two weeks who was a good sport, first rate companion and wonderful guest. She returned to California with, hopefully, an understanding of the Pinnick pride, ego and character. Granted, there is a bit of “red neck” in many of them but hopefully, she recognized that there is also a loyalty, commitment and love that rises to the occasion and gives me a great appreciation for my family and what they mean to me.
A short three hour drive put us into Kalamazoo, Michigan where we visited with our friend “Corky”, the widow of our friend and Ken’s best man at our wedding, Ray Tripp. We had a wonderful visit with Corky. She joined us as we retraced our memories of Battle Creek and the outlying areas where we spent much of our time during our Battle Creek period. Our last night in Kalamazoo, we met Ray and Corky’s daughter, Susan, and family and shared a simple bbq at the RV resort and exchanged many wonderful memories of time spent with Ray and Corky. Ken and Ray served together in the Army and both were stationed in Battle Creek.

After Kalamazoo, we spent three days in Port Clinton, Ohio where Ken was able to get in a fishing trip He caught several but a walleye was our only dinner sacrifice. Port Clinton is near Cedar Point, Ohio, a major entertainment park where our friends, Bill and Helen Holzaepfel often spent their summers helping Bill’s mother with a cotton candy and candied apple stand. Bill and Helen were both from the general vicinity of nearby Sandusky and, after years of hearing stories of the area, we were delighted to finally get a first hand look at their old “stomping grounds”.

A brief stopover in Meadville, Pa provided Ken with some little known insight about the pioneer founder of that area, David Mead, who was the brother of a grandfather several times removed. Our brief period of acknowledging the location and details of Ken’s kinfolk has underscored the need for us to go back and read more carefully the history of the family, as it exists.


NIAGARA FALLS

Our next stop was in Niagara Falls and the Buffalo area where we were awed with the beauty and the power of the falls. A highlight of our brief visit to this area was attending an outside presentation of the Buffalo Symphony in which Ken’s first cousin, Bill Burns, performs as first chair in the string base section. It had been over 20 years since Ken last saw Bill and it was a wonderful visit and opportunity to reacquaint both cousins with what each have been doing during the interlude between visits.

Cousin Bill

At the conclusion of another week on the road we needed some r&r from all of our r&r. We selected a resort in the Alleghany Mountains of New York for our routine cleanup, cheerup and recharge of our personal psycho batteries. After our routine housecleaning, a few days of recoupment and rest, we spent one day in Warsaw, New York, where Ken’s father was born and did our best to retrace the Burns heritage. Another day was spent in Ellicotville, New York which provided us with a “flavor” of the area. Otherwise it was a laid back quiet week in preparation for our next round of travel and a much anticipated visit with our friends, the Gerstens and Van Horns. That will be included in my next posting.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer.