Whereas some people can be thoughtless and cruel, others can be so compassionate and kind. I received a phone call from Jill Cord concerning my recent dissertation on being treated unkindly for not having a family. We had a wonderful conversation and I was truly touched by her compassion and concern. She is currently trying to gain support to save the old high school and better utilize the existing space available. Thank you Jill for taking the time to reach out to me and bless me with your kindness!
Speaking of special ladies, Leah Jones turned 83 years “young” on June 30th! Happy Belated Birthday, Leah Jones!
By now the 2017 Patriot 4th of July Parade and Festivities are history. If you attended and enjoyed yourself or if you were somehow disappointed, please feel free to share your experience: Kay Cook (812) 594-2281 or Linda Fisk (812) 594-2243. Your input is always welcome. We are the only incorporated town in the United States with the name of Patriot so our parade is considered to be a step above.
Besides parades, Patriot is now known for the catfish you can catch off our Town Dock beside Town Hall. Thanks to Raymond Clayton for catching the huge blue catfish measuring a full 34 inches and allowing me to share the photo with the newspaper. I actually gave Raymond my newspaper the other night because he had not as yet seen the photo. Needless to say, he is no longer the only person utilizing that dock. The night I saw him, he was one of seven.
Tuesday I attended the Switzerland County Book Club at the Library and the book for discussion was an interesting one: ‘What the River Keeps’ by Gregg Schwipps. A Hoosier, Schwipps announces in his prologue that the story occurs in and about a little town very similar to Milan, Indiana, and the characters are quite realistic for the late 1970’s, early 1980’s. For the most part, those of us in the Book Club enjoyed it. Of course what we do is read and analyze so it’s only natural that we would find something wrong with it. I have to admit though when you add fishing and a dog to southeastern Indiana, it does appeal to quite a few.
My apologies to Jo Anne Hon, for misspelling her name last week! Sorry!
Wednesday started with the Patriotic Rosary at the Most Sorrowful Mother of God Catholic Church at 10:15 a.m., followed with a visit with Tonya Krall at Swiss Alps Printing and Office Supplies and still another meal with Wendy at AJ’s.
I sold 4th of July Parade shirts both Friday and Saturday in front of the Patriot Baptist Church on Highway 156. Friday was a short day for me because of the heat. Saturday was much better but I decided that it’s just too hot for me to sit outside. My dermatologist will not be happy when I go for my check up this month as I am sporting a fairly decent tan. Not what my doctor ordered! Despite my cute little fishy umbrella topping off my lawn chair, I still got burnt. So the Bargain Alley will be closed now until September! The few special things I have will probably be posted on Facebook instead: e.g., a free-standing metal clothes closet, a fiberglass marine storage chest, my favorite floating chair, some SWAT boots and a few Betty Boop goodies.
Kathy Turner came to visit me as I sat in the street both days and I loved to watch her interact with the people stopping for the Parade shirts. She is such an outgoing person and she personally invited each and every one to come back for the Parade! She was busy sprucing up the flowers in front of the Patriot Fire Department and was taking advantage of the leftover mulch from the Memorial Park that I have located both on my river bank and in the alley beside my garage. It’s free to all Patriot residents! We replaced the mulch at Memorial Park with permanent red Pennsylvania rock and it looks so much better!
Jeff Brackett, new owner of Norm Peters’ place, stopped by and Kathy and I double teamed him on the Parade, the Museum in Town Hall and all of the 4th of July Festivities. Kathy introduced me to Matt Robinson, Bobby Lynn’s son who is now running the campground. Marilyn Cook stopped by and seems to be doing very well after her surgery. Also stopping by to visit and purchasing their shirts were Dwight Murdock and Peggy Pearce.
In the “Lessons Learned” category, maybe the bells I bragged about last week that I have attached to my two Terrible Twin Tomcats aren’t that great after all. My theory behind the bells on the cats was to 1) give the birds a chance to survive and 2) assist in locating their black bodies even at night. Well as of 8:30AM on Sunday, the birds are not safe with or without the bells! Very Special Agent Leroy Gibbs was so very proud of his live trophy starling that he decided to bring it into my house and share it with me. Thank heavens, it jumped into a trash can trying to avoid Gibbs and I was able to remove both the can and the bird from the premises. Gibbs was not happy. He hunted for his pride and joy forever inside the house while the poor thing was trying to gather it’s wits outside in the yard on the other side of the fence.
The rest of my Sunday was far more enjoyable. It included meeting and having lunch with Teri Waltz who by the way does a great job with making engraved plaques on walnut as Waltz Wood Working and Engraving. Armed with coupons, I went shopping for shoes! The excuse, of course, was the recent injury to my left foot – sounded good anyway! Then later, Jerry and Lisa Fisher hosted the Republican float decoration project on their Posey farm. Lary Jones was “The Man with a Plan” and assisted by Ken Byars, they did most of the work. Offering moral support were Mike Bear and I. Actually helping with the decorations were Sarah Wolfe, Sam and Steve Jones-Ellard, Itsy Jones, Lisa Fisher and Kirk Works. Sylvia Byars was the official photographer and Joe and Joan Baker from Anderson acted as advisors.
The regularly scheduled July Patriot Town Board meeting will be held on Monday, July 10th and starting at 6 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. The Patriot Town Hall is located at 352 3rd Street in Patriot. All are welcome to attend. This is a change due to the Holiday.
Our next Red HOT Hatters meetings are scheduled as follows:
• Wednesday, July 12th, 11 a.m. at Roxano’s in Vevay.
• Monday, August 15th, 11 a.m. at Crossroads in Versailles.
• Wednesday, September 13th at ‘Beef N Boards’ Dinner Theater in Indianapolis.
And, no, Helen West! You do not have to wear a red hat or any hat at all to come and join us!
This will be the second year for the Red HOT Hatters to attend the “Beef N Boards Dinner Theater” and this time to see the musical production of ‘West Side Story’ on Wednesday, September 13th for the 1 p.m. matinee. The play will cost a total of $34 each and includes the buffet before as well as the production. Taxes and gratuities included. This will be an all day affair as the doors open at 11 a.m., the buffet runs from 11:30AM to 12:30PM with the production beginning at 1PM. There will be carpooling again this year and we will probably leave Vevay around 8:45 AM. EVERYONE is invited! This event is open to the public! Husbands, boyfriends, etc. included! Call Kay Cook at (812) 594-2281 for any additional information.
This recipe originally was published in the November 17th, 2011 edition of this newspaper and is listed as coming from Tasty Treasures, a cookbook of handed-down recipes published by the Switzerland County Historical Society in 2011. I was fortunate enough to have been friends with Dorothy Burley and this is her recipe from her mother, Bertha Martin:
FRENCH CREAM PIE
(Submitted by Dorothy Burley)
2 eggs, separated
1 pint sweet milk
5 T. sugar, divided
1 T. flour
1 lump butter, size of a walnut
1 baked 9″ crust
Mix egg yolks, milk, 2 T. sugar and flour in small saucepan. Cook until thick like custard.
Pour into baked crust. Beat egg whites, while gradually adding 3 T. sugar, until stiff.
Spread over pie filling and brown in oven.
You may contact me several ways: by leaving a note of message inside the cat mailbox in front of 1995 Front Street in Patriot; or by calling my home at (812) 594-2281; or dropping me a note at P.O. Box #01, Patriot, Indiana, 47038. In addition, contact KAY E COOK on Facebook or online at PatriotNews1995@gmail.com. If you have anything for me to include in this article, please send it to me. Information can be received any day of the week but normally my deadline is Sunday at noon for that week’s issue of the paper. Any news received later will appear in the following week’s article. If you need something in on a particular date be sure and give it to me early. Thank you for sending me what you do every week – I couldn’t do this without you!