Southern 4th of July traditions

This past weekend, I had the privilege of spending some time celebrating the most recent holiday with family in South Carolina. My maternal grandparents came to the cookout that we had to celebrate the Fourth. While visiting with them, my mom asked what a Fourth of July celebration was like when they were young. My grandfather explained his experience, starting by saying that the time around the Fourth of July was a pretty relaxed time on the farm, since the rush and busyness of Spring planting had been completed but the work of harvest had not yet started.

Next he talked about the food at the family's celebration, starting with the kids' job of churning home made ice cream.

"We'd get a piece of ice from the ice house down town and pack it in around the churn. It was the kids' job to churn it. We put some of the sacks for packing cotton in on top of the ice and churn to keep it insulated. One of my most common jobs was to sit on top of it while another kid turned the crank to churn the ice cream."

He also listed some of the things they'd eat to celebrate the Fouth--none of it involving hot dogs or hamburgers, pasta salad or potato chips.

Chicken and dumplings
Fried chicken
Corn on the cob
Fresh vegetables from the garden such as beans, okra, cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes
Watermelon
Pecan pie

Granddad said that there was always a lot of food and he always had a really good time. Grandma added in that her mom always made a coconut cake to go along with the celebrations she experienced growing up. Granddad also got a really big smile on his face when he remembered the pecan pie--it was probably a real treat! Also, I wouldn't be surprised if there was more variety served at their celebration that either I don't remember Granddad mentioning or that he didn't think to list. I'd think corn bread would be a given.

Wouldn't it be fun to try a Fourth of July celebration like this?

Grupenhoff Christmas and entertainment

I asked Granddad Jerry if he recognized the picture of the house on Bouton Avenue that I found in Google Streetview and posted on this blog in the article on Josephine Plogsted. In reply, he told me that he remembered Frank living on Bouton Avenue, but that he'd never been there. I remembered him saying that his family "went to the Grupenhoff's" on Christmas afternoons, so I asked for clarification. I got this wonderful reply:

"To be correct, I should have said "We celebrated with the Grupenhoff family." Initially It rotated between us, Ed & Edna Grupenhoff, Bill & Clara Grupenhoff and Bill & Ceil Barlow. In the early 40's Ed & Family moved to Baltimore. Sometime later both Clara and Bill Barlow. The rotation between the three siblings continued long after your grandmother and I moved away. I remember my Grandfather Frank at some of these Christmases. He was a pinochle player who played most days after he was retired at the firehouse.

"My only cousins were Ed and Edna's children, Dave and the twins Lynn and Lyle. Dave went to the U of Cincinnati where he was one of my apartment roommates and my partner in Badminton in Intramurals. We lost either in the Finals or Semis.

"Dave, who died this year, was far and away my best and most frequent bridge partner. We had a good career with a Sectional Swiss Teams Championship where we defeated the current World Mixed Champions and a 3rd (of 430) at the National Swiss teams. Cousin Lynn was the partner with whom I won the second most Master Points. I also won master points with family Uncle Bill, Aunt Ceil, Mother, Father and your Grandmother (A Sectional Non-Masters Pairs).

"Which all leads up to what happened at the Grupenhoff Christmas. They were all good bridge players. We ate, exchanged presents and played cards. Initially we played Tripoli, than switched to Bridge when I learned to play.

"Last update on Grupenhoff family. Lynn and I are the only ones left from my generation. Lynn is a bridge star. She is annually in top 200-500 players in the US. She is the top woman in MD,DE,WV,VA Region."

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I think it's really neat that my ideal Christmas celebration is almost identical to how the Grupenhoffs celebrated. Eat, exchange presents, and play games (and/or visit) with family members. Perfect!