County lake
By TOOTSIE SNELLING
Marion County Park & Lake reporter
Dale and I attended the Marion County Historical Society dinner June 8. The program was about building Marion County Park and Lake from the beginning, by Marion County residents to the work done by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps). There were pictures and articles about the CCC and WPA projects. Helen Beckham presented the program and slide show and it was very interesting.
The Eastmoor church ladies served the dinner which was very tasty. The dedication of the CCC statue will be Oct. 2. This will be the only statue of this kind in Kansas.
Marge Summervill and I attended a lecture Thursday evening about prairie women on the Santa Fe Trail at Marion City Library. I don't recall the name of the lady who gave the talk but I must say we felt very good driving home in a car and then going to bed in our air-conditioned houses! The women walked most of the trail, gathered buffalo chips or whatever else they could find to build a fire, carried water from the river or creek, cooked the meals, set up tents and took them down, helped with the oxen and horses, and tended to their own family needs. It was not an easy life and most of them, I'm sure, wondered why they ever started out. One pioneer woman wrote about the beautiful sunsets and rainbows after the rains, while another one described the terror of the fierce thunderstorms and the fear of the savage Indians along the way. I guess it depended on how tough you were.
We had a busy weekend with several campers and fishermen out. The north shelter house was rented Friday evening by St. Luke Hospital for a picnic. Saturday evening there was a birthday party in the north shelter house and the east shelter house was rented by Happy Hustlers 4-H Club. Due to the storms and rain they all went home. The north end of the hall was rented Saturday by Lyle Widler for a family reunion and the south end was rented by the Sells family for their reunion. On Sunday the hall was rented by the Williams and Kohlman families.
The storms Saturday night sent most of the tent campers home. We were glad to get the rain and glad we didn't get the tornadoes, hail, and wind they got other places.
Sunday evening we went to Sedgwick for granddaughter, Kiana Lewman's sixth birthday. Others attending were Dan, Tam, Tristen, and Seth Snelling, Dean Snelling, Julie, Madison, and Mercedes, Kim, Chris, and Milanya Hollinger, and Jayden and Jeremy Burkholder.
