Hello all, I’m sorry it took so long to get this note to you. For the second time in the 19 years we’ve been gathering for Sisters Day we did not meet this month. The first time was during Covid. This time it was a lot of family episodes all at once. Some were trivial and some were disastrous. Everything is settling back into place and we will be meeting again in June.
Times like these bring back many memories of past Sisters Days. Some were spent sitting in the hostess’s house and visiting. Many times, the breakfast table turned into a game table. We’ve played greed and pass the pot; both dice games. Card games are favorites, too. We’ve played Kings and Mexican Train and a card game called Golf. We really miss Sister Katie when we play games.
We’ve done many crafts over the years. We made Christmas tree skirts, aprons, necklaces, snowflakes, etc. We’ve tact many quilts especially back in the beginning.
Remember the day at Venis when we skipped rocks and Leo came down and built a campfire to roast hotdogs which he did for us.
I got a tram to take us on a tour of Jefferson City. We saw lots of things and places I missed just driving around town.
Once we toured the Capitol gardens and the Governor’s mansion.
We even brown bagged it to the park and toured the Catholic churches in Jeff.
Remember when the white limousine rolled into Vienna. It came to a stop in front of Katie Risse’s house on main street. All the sisters loaded up and rode in style to Rolla. One of Katie’s daughters fixed us a wonderful meal with several courses each paired with the appropriate wine. What a wonderful day. We were delivered back to Vienna in a black limousine.
Of course, you can’t have Sisters Day without food. Ninety-eight percent of it was excellent. I’m leaving off 2 percent because at one time or another we have all made a dish we thought failed. My favorite meals were the ones when Leo fried fish or barbecued for us. Who can forget Miss Katie’s culinary skills. Both these are all the more wonderful because we know we will never get to eat them again. At least not on this side of Heaven.
Hopefully, things will be back to normal, and we will have a normal Sisters Day in June. God bless you all, and if you pray keep us in yours.
Thought: Not everyone gets to grow old, so appreciate and thank God for every day of your life.
Fun Fact: Frank Rocky Fiegel was born in Poland on January 27, 1868. He immigrated to America with his family where he joined the Navy. When the creator of Popeye met him, he was a retired sailor contracted by Wiebush’s Tavern in Chester, Illinois, to clean and keep order. He had a reputation to be involved in fighting, so he had a deformed eye: a pop-eye.
He had demonstrated his strength in so many fights he became a local legend. He aways smoked his pipe, so he spoke with the side of his mouth. When he spoke to the children, he held his pipe with the corner of his mouth as he told them the antics of his youth, often boasting of his physical strength and loudly boasting that spinach was the food that made him invincible.
Popeye’s character creator Elzier Crisler Segar, born in Chester, was one of the children who had the privilege of hearing ‘live’ the stories of the sailor.
