1956 IN REVIEW
The year started off with lots of family and company combined. Our cousin Frank Caldwell and his Hawaiian wife Emily sent us a Christmas card from nearby and ended up living with us for several months. The high spot of the visit was when Frank drove down to Florida to bring back Emily's daughter Ilima and her three small fry. While Ilima danced hulas with the Ringling circus tour, Mahailani, Kaikili, and Keavi, ranging from 3 l/2 down to l 1/2, kept us busy and amused. Emily and the children were photographed for a Newark newspaper story.
In January, Les had two weeks reserve duty in Ohio at Wright-Patterson AFB. While returning home, a collision in a sleetstorm at Harrisburg mashed up the front of the car and put him to bed for a week of misery. Shortly afterward, a business trip took him to Venezuela for a month
stopping at Aruba enroute. At Easter, he was in the Andes amidst 16,000 ft. glacier capped mountains. It was a wonderful experience.
As school closed and summer approached, all but Les went to Band School in Roselle. He finally got to attend the 25th reunion of his class at Cornell. Next, mother came visiting, and the boys ate pie every day. When she left, she enjoyed her first plane ride. After a few weekend campouts, we had a lightly sprinkled two weeks jaunt among New York and New Jersey campsites. Priscilla Allen Barb and daughter Wendy joined us camping Labor Day weekend. This year we added a dining fly, which was nice, and a new tent that is super. A roof and side curtains on our luggage trailer added a lot to our out-of-doors comforts. Even the hornets at one campsite didn't spoil things. For a while we thought Edward was a permanent 2nd class Scout, but hard work in the woods completed his tests, so a 1st class badge adorns his chest. The Junior High Band includes his trumpet tooting, and after school a paper route pays for his toys and candy bars. He did, however treat himself to an electric blanket . Larry is a Senior at Pingry and Glee Club accompanist...organ and piano. He plays viola in an informal string quartet meeting weekly. AtBand School, he studied bassoon. An instrument has been loaned, and he hopes to be in an orchestra soon. Daniel had Drum at Band School. He now is learning the French horn which seems to come easily for him. His practice begins to sound authentic. While splashing paint on the cellar walls this fall, some got in his eye. It was a bad alkali burn. Both we and the doctor were worried. Our best Thanksgiving word was that his sight was undamaged .
This has been a major appliance year for us. Les and Frank hooked up a new electric stove in January. When Les returned from Venezuela in April there was a Hamilton clothes drier in the
laundry. In August the deep freeze quit. Getting a new one in the cellar was an undertaking!
We had to knock a hole in the rear wall, change the old for the new deep freeze, then restore the wall. To make life interesting, the wash machine got tired too. Now we have a new automatic. Some years you hardly can catch your breath in between times! Right now Les is putting ceiling tile in the cellar. The hard part - moving pipes and wiring is done. Polly stayed out of the hospital this year, much to everyone's delight. Now she is in real estate, and around the clock we hear theword about houses and mortgages. So far, no sales, for her clients all seem to run into a snag getting mortgage money. At least, though, she moved out of the jalopy class. The beaten up 1937 Chevy has been replaced by a nice looking 1953 Plymouth. Mother came down again this fall, but didn't stay long enough. When cold weather approached she began to worry about the furnace back home. When spring comes again, we'll be looking forward to seeing her with us once more.
