TLC #132  May 26, 2011

Dear Hearts & Gentle People:

 

Heavy hearts exist in western Missouri as our neighbors to the south begin the impossible-looking cleanup and re-building of their devastated town, Joplin. I'm proud to say that Lexington jumped right in to help, courtesy of Randy Small. Randy Small Transportation is filling (at least) one school bus tomorrow to take to Joplin with supplies the rest of us have gathered. It's hard to think of something the folks down there do not need.

Courtesy of Bill '56 Tempel, just look at this incredible post:

Shirley Briggle '53 Miller commented on our website receiving a lot of hits from Israel:

I'm not too surprised that the most interest in our TLC would come from Israel.  I spent 10 days in Israel once, my favorite foreign country, and the Israelis are interested in everything.

Al McCormick thinks this is an odd request, but I don't:

You are going to think I have lost my mind but, do you have any information about the history of the Duck Pond? Interesting request, huh?

Well, Al, as you now know, it is the Goose Pond. And yessiree, we have plenty of info about the Goosepond....and about all manner of Things Lexington.The Downtown History Project committee is hard at work gathering information to answer questions exactly like this. We are researching and recording the history of each building.

 

Ifthe TLC family has anything that would be of interest, please send it along. Our ultimate goal is to have these histories framed and on display during the big 150th observation in September. Here, for your reading pleasure, is our record of the Goosepond (or Goose Pond). I will ask the webmaster to post the photos that we have. This will give you an idea of what we're up to.

 

 

The Goose Pond

 

Local historian B. M. Little, Jr., wrote, “Goose Pond Hollow was an unearthly tangle of thicket, undergrowth and nondescript trees…A number of side gullies fed into the main hollow, and in summertime were spawned amazing quantities of mosquitoes in stagnant pools of water.”

 

A public plan to reclaim that wasteland was proposed in the fall of 1912 and about 4 and 1/2 acres were purchased that winter.  Seven houses around the area were purchased, six were demolished and one was moved to Franklin Avenue.  Funds were raised with the promise that the newly created playing field would be donated to the public school district.  Since all the donated funds had been expended, volunteer workers were needed.

 

On October 6, 1913, Mayor Albert Taubman announced that he “set apart…October the 14th and 15th, to be observed as Park Days, and call(ed) upon all the able bodied citizens to lend aid with teams, tools, and the work of their hands, to the end that this playground may be a monument to the public spirit of our people…”

 

Six hundred people responded on the first of several work days!  As many as 60 teams of horses and mules worked on the project.  Long wooden tables were set up along the south rim of the area with a cook tent.  The women of Lexington furnished desserts, and grocery stores were asked to donate food; a group of male “chefs” prepared the food.  Mid-afternoon snacks of cookies and lemonade were provided by Lexington High School girls.  There was even a hospital tent with a uniformed nurse to treat the blisters, cuts, and scratches.

 

In the fall of 1913 a minstrel show under the direction of B. M. Little, Sr., began to help raise money for the project.  Known as the Goose Pond Minstrels, prominent local leaders continued to perform these shows until World War II to raise money for community projects.

         

The new playing field was turned over to the school district in March of 1914, and a community swimming pool was soon added in the northeastern area just behind the new Lexington High School which was built in 1927.  For many years the Goose Pond served as the schools’ football field and track.  During the Great Depression, the WPA built concrete bleachers along the south side.  In later years it was mainly used for physical education classes but, since the closing and demolition of what became the Lexington Middle School in the 1990’s, it has become a community baseball field.

Speaking of the Battle of Lexington anniversary, Valerie Wood (’73) Hellyer  sent a compliment and an interesting site to visit:

When you "hand it over,"  I don't think it would be the same, and the next generation after we are gone wouldn't really care and they will never know the freedoms we enjoyed.  This is "our time."  I think that answers the question as to why outsiders find TLC interesting.  Those are the "good ole days" that kids or other generations today cannot duplicate.  And you know these will remain with us all through eternity.  Everything except the tears.  It does say, "He will wipe away every tear." Heaven, "the next frontier."    

When I get some time, I'll dig out some pics for "who is this person."  Might be fun. 

I am hoping Wayne follows through on this, since it fits into my current project and our long-running walks down Memory Lane in TLC. But, Wayne, I must disagree that ours were the "good old days." They were, certainly, but we have a lot of younger readers who consider their growing up in Lexington the "good ole days" too.

Jim O'Malley picked up the vibes about Lexington's buildings:

I've been wondering about the Eagle Building in Lexington; about the date of its building and about the Eagle Lodge that built it.  I looked up the Fraternal Order of Eagles on Google and found the name of Chuck Cunningham who's the Corresponding Secretary for the Order.   I've included his reply.  Hope you find this interesting and useful.  

Mr. O'Malley,

 

This is the first I have heard of the present church partially burning, unless you are referring to the AME. I was away at college when lightning struck the AME steeple and set it afire.  Might have been in the early 1950s.  I did see the result once when home on vacation, but the fire damage seemed confined to the steeple.  It was quickly rebuilt, somewhat shorter than it had been originally.  The church might still have an 8 x 11 pencil sketch I made of the exterior as seen from our front porch across the street, which would show how it originally looked.  My dad thought it a good rendering and offered it to one of our neighbors who attended the church.

As for the Catholic Church, none of our family ever mentioned such a thing happening there.  I've always found that old building remarkably well preserved for its age (I've known it personally since the mid-40s).  Monsignor Dibbins had the interior wonderfully frescoed in the 50s/60s, and very recently Father Hansen had a more thorough renovation done after some of the ceiling plaster peeled.  The appearance today is the best I ever recall it.

If some fire damage occurred there in the 20s, somebody would have to sift through old copies of the Lex. paper to find the reference since any witnesses would no longer be with us.

As for the 14 Stations, I never had a glimpse inside the AME church.  I do remember that our church had a sizeable set of beautiful stations when I was a boy. I never knew how long they had been there, or where they came from.  I think they might have been replaced in the simplification of church furnishings carried out by a series of pastors in the years following Vatican II (70s, when the school closed).  I would suppose that they would have been stored in case of future use in the church basement, and it could be that they were given or sold at a modest charge to the AME upon request.  I think I would recognize them if I saw a photo.  Each was surmounted by a triangular rise in the burnt-gold frame with wooden cross on top.  Each station looked like a full-color original rendering of the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) scene depicted.  I confess that I never inspected them up close.  I'm glad to hear they are being restored, if they are the ones I recall. 

You might want to consult the present pastor, whom I've copied, because he might know how to find answers to your questions in the church records. I also copy Mike McDonald, my contemporary in elementary school, who might well have a clearer recollection of these matters.

In a recent issue, Bette Phipps '59 Thomas inquired about Linda Kerbrat. We received the following response:

I am Janice Elsea Lohoefener, and I have an answer for Bette Phipps Thomas about Linda Kerbrat. This question was passed along to me by a church member who uses this site.   Linda is now Linda Owens.  She married Steve Owens from Napoleon and has lived in Manhattan, Kansas for over 40 years. She is my aunt, and you can find her on facebook.

 

 

 

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