James, Edna and their four young children moved from a farm near Viroqua, WI to a farm near Fountain City, WI. in November 1948. Recently a photo of the farm house and another photo of the barn as they looked in 1948 have been located and are shared here. Though our parents, James and Edna Groves are no longer living, their five children are all still alive and are sharing thoughts and memories about these photos.
Jim says: "MAN!! Some of these photos are more than 70 years old!!"
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Groves Family Farm Barn as it looked in 1948. Linda notices the hog shelter, no silo, no electricol poles or wires, no flag pole. Can't tell what is on the far left where there was a chicken coop which maybe that is but not sure what that is.
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Backside of the above barn photo. One of the very faint things you can read on the back of the barn photo is: 74 x 34, that's the dimensions of the barn in feet. It also says 'drinking cups' below the dimensions.
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Milk House designed by Dad being added in 1957 with help of Ludvick Matson, Mom's father.
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Jim: "Sometime later I will talk about the two old photos of the barn; one
with the new milk house and one without. I remember well when grandpa
Matson stayed at our place for several weeks one fall to help dad build
the milk house onto the barn. Dad was
always so grateful that it was a late, dry fall that year so they had
good weather and the time needed to finish the construction before
winter set in."
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Barn as it looked after James and Edna retired and sold the farm in 1978.
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Jim: "Some of the pictures of the barn and house must have been during the time that the Frieds lived there after Mom and Dad sold it and moved. I never saw the place when it looked like that with that huge lean-to added to the side of the barn..." |
House in 1948
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Backside of 1948 house photo. Not sure who the people are in the front yard.
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Jim:"...and the tall arbor vitae out in front of the house with the concrete steps all breaking apart. Wow!"
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| Jim: "When I have more time, I will talk about noon-hour shenanigans taking long hikes down into Lemmer's woods, even all the way over into Duehlman's woods and fields, only to hear the school bell ring a mile away across the wooded valleys! Boy, we were in big trouble!" Cross Ridge School being used as Township Meeting Hall
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Cross Ridge School with bell tower and 4 windows on this side.
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Linda: "This is a photo of Mrs. Marvin Deurkop who was my first and second grade teacher at Cross Ridge School. She resigned after that year because she was pregnant and had her first child - a baby boy. I have a very wonderful memory of the piece of Fondant candy she put into the box of Christmas candy each student received each year. I thought it was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted." |
This Merry-Go-Round was on the playground of Cross Ridge School before the school closed in 1959. This Merry-Go-Round is now in a park in Fountain City, WI at the South/East end of town. Having fun there are Linda, Jamie and Sarah Worden in the mid 80's.
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Cross Ridge School in 2016
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Margelyn Groves Berndt, Linda Groves Worden, Sarah Worden in 2016. Notice that the windows on this side of the building have been removed and a wall constructed in their place.
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Jim: "Ahh, memories of the past. Isn't the human brain an
amazing invention!! Just think of the incredible mental pictures of
objects,sights, sounds, smells, etc. we experience with memories. Speaking of smells, do you remember the smell of winter boots drying
on the furnace radiator in the center of the schoolhouse?"
Linda: "My memory is more about our mittens drying on that wood burning furnace radiator and how warm they would be when we put them back on later. But I don't think we were allowed to cover up the register with too many items."
