 | Faye Graves, a native Wichitan, attended school at Friends and Wichita State, concluding at Midwestern Theological Seminary. He has been active in media for many years with Channel 12, KIRL, KFDI, KOOO AM & FM (Omaha), KFRM & KICT 95, as an owner, manager, producer, director and announcer. He has served as President of the Haysville Board of Education. He has also served on several national boards of the Southern Baptist Convention. Faye currently serves as Executive Pastor and Director of Administration and Education at Immanuel Baptist Church, 1415 S. Topeka, Wichita. You may contact Faye by e-mail fmgraves@amenibc.org, or by phone at (316) 262-1452. |
Nostalgia
2006-10-01 10:27:00
Fun memories
QUESTION: How about some old Labor Day memories?
ANSWER: Hey, let me tell you. I had a great deal of living this past month over Labor Day. You see…my father’s family consisted of 15 children. They have all grown up and had children. Their children have had children. When the Graves family has a reunion, there are 100 plus folks in attendance.
We used to have the reunion at my grandparent’s farm. Their wheat farm is located in the Danville-Freeport area of Kansas. When I was a boy it was a big thrill to get in my dad’s 1940 Hudson and load up all the food and presents that we would take to our get together. The family auto would head south on highway 81, which by the way was only two lanes at the time and actually had no speed limit! My dad always wanted to show the speed of his new car and would sometimes get up to 80 mph. He also enjoyed showing off the overdrive on the powerful car.
We would go through Wellington and turn west on 160 and go to the farm. Once there I would see all my cousins, uncles, aunts, distant relatives…and my grandpa and grandma. The food was abundant as all of those farm ladies were fantastic cooks. They would bring their best recipes. My uncles would be pitching horseshoes outside, no matter the weather.
Everyone would show off their new cars, and then all would take a ride around the section in the country. I remember going over a spring-fed creek that flowed under a broken cement bridge on the dirt road in front of the house.
Well here it is 2006. My cousin Peggy had contacted a lot of family for another get together. We had a great day. She showed us my grandpa’s old rusty implements, now useless, but setting all around the exterior of the house. The one that I personally enjoyed seeing was his milk cart. He had a dairy, just like the man in the musical “Fiddler on the Roof.” It had a hitch that grandpa walked in…and pulled the cart manually with a big metal circle in the rear, where the container that held the milk would set. He actually would dip the portions out for each house on his route.
The food was as good as it ever was and the visiting was tremendous. Relatives from all over were in attendance. Many memories came back and new ones formed… during Labor Day at grandpa’s house.
Have a great fall!
