Haddock and Dill: October 23, 1954 The ISNU Homecoming Events, The Busy Week and Remembering Japanese Painting

Dear Mother & Daddy,

"This must be the noisiest place in Illinois tonight. Homecoming celebrations began tonight and the streets are full of cars, record and radios are playing and people are everywhere. Students always decorate their rooming houses and the University gives prizes to the best ones. After supper we rode around and looked at the houses and then went over to the big bonfire. The band plays, there are some speeches and some singing. Tomorrow will be the big parade, a band contest and the football game. All graduates always come back for the affairs. B goes to a luncheon at noon and is speaking to a geography group after a dinner tomorrow night. I am going to that and then we'll go to the play afterwards.

Next week will be busy. B has a speech Tuesday afternoon and I have one Thursday night. There is a supper at school Thursday night too and I have to help serve food besides contribute food. I also promised to send Halloween treats to the first grade and I guess that is next week too.

We got the kids some beds fixed up this week. Since we came home they have slept on the studio couch. It was too narrow and not a very good bed. Bob kept falling off. We bought steel frames and gave them our springs and mattresses. They make nice Hollywood beds and we can put headboards on them if we ever want to.

We got box springs and foam rubber mattresses for our bed. They sure are nice. We ordered them from Wards because Consumer Reports said they were the best and were cheaper than any of the other brands.

Bobby seems to want to take the piano lessons and I hope it doesn't wear off before January. The piano was in good shape when we got back. The people were musicians who lived here.

I haven't had time to do a bit of painting since we came home. Maybe one of these days I'll get caught up. I don't want to forget how I did the Japanese painting."