Thursday, November 7, 2013

February 13, 1959 Swept Away, A Day's Vacation, A Musical Program and A Box of Valentines


Dear Mother & Daddy,

"It is warmer at last and lots of the ice has melted but there is still a lot left.  We'll need a few more warm (above freezing, I mean) days to get it all off and the mud will be with us for weeks.  It rained one afternoon and that softened the ice enough that Bob and I got a path cleared on the sidewalk.

With the thawing the water is running everywhere but the thaw hasn't helped the searchers find little Dennis Johnson.  They think he fell into the creek (it is called Sugar Creek) and was swept away because the water was rolling that afternoon.  The creek runs into some gravel pits which are very deep and they thought they would find the body there.  They dynamited the ice two days & then lifted the chunks of ice (some of them 1,000 lbs.) out with cranes so divers could go into the water.  I just heard over the radio that they didn't find his body and have stopped work at the pits.  The divers came from different parts of the state voluntarily to help.  Parties of men and our students have searched every field and spot near the school.  They waded the creek shoulder to shoulder for miles but found nothing but the child's glove.  It had his name in it and was caught on a bush along the creek bank.  That's why they felt they would find him in the pits.  There is still the possibility that he is caught under the ice someplace.  The water was so dirty and filled with rubbish that it made the diving hard.  The little boy was in my Sunday School class for awhile but they are Methodists and I guess they got started in their own church.  They were riding to church with neighbors who go to our church and that's how they started coming.  There were four little boys--the oldest one was 8 and they all looked alike.

I keep thinking I'll get a letter written to Beulah.  She sent Bob a dollar for his birthday and I haven't thanked her yet.

I have been trying to clean things up a bit but the kids are home today and I can't make much headway.  There is a teachers' meeting this week-end so the kids had a day's vacation.

Bob has been going to Scout meetings and I guess he enjoys it.  It seems like they are always doing things and it looks like he'll be kept busy.  He looks real nice in his uniform.

I poured at a tea last Sunday afternoon and then we went to a musical program at school that night.  Sundays are never days of rest around here.

We were both out a lot this week and when the weather is so bad and I have to take the kids to school so much it seems I'm not home at all.

The kids were happy to get their Valentines.  Ann's room had a party and she brought a box full home.

Hope you both are fine."

                                Lots of love,

                                       Bonnie

NOTE:  I will never forget the tragedy.  All of us kids were shocked to learn that something like that could ever happen.  We all played in the creek and of course never considered it dangerous although I can't remember ever going near it in stormy conditions.  It was rarely full in the summer, but after spring rains and winter thaws, it was always rolling. 

2 comments:

  1. Ann was Dennis Johnson's body ever recovered? Such a tragedy for the family. You know even here in South Australia after very heavy rains our creeks and rivers become very swollen and a potential hazard for people and vehicles.

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  2. Yes,thankfully, and the details will be coming up in the next couple of letters. Sad thoughts of that event stayed with me for a long time even though I did not know the family very well.

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