by Elaine Thomas | Nov 4, 2022 | Old Times, Saving Stories, World War II
On Nov. 11, please join me in paying tribute to World War II veteran Audrey Beyer Jones of Corpus Christi, Texas. This 101-year-old native of Madison, Wisconsin, stepped on France soil as a nurse with the 12th Evacuation Hospital about eight weeks after D-Day on June...
by Elaine Thomas | Oct 21, 2022 | Old Times, Rural Life, Rural Texas, Saving Stories
Cypress, Texas, reviewer K Leonard calls Stories I’ve Been Told – Volume 2 inspiring. She writes, “Masterful storyteller Elaine Thomas leaves you feeling like you have been sitting on the front porch or at the kitchen table hearing firsthand the life stories of...
by Elaine Thomas | Sep 16, 2022 | Old Times, Rural Texas, Saving Stories
An old Victorian-style house at 259 North Main in La Grange, Texas, is holding its breath. Since it was built in 1908, two prominent families have called this impressive residence home. In decidedly different eras, the Kruschels and Rombergs have shaped the civic and...
by Elaine Thomas | Sep 2, 2022 | Old Times, Rural Life, Saving Stories, Western Canada
Charlie Brunt, who attended Ballyhamage, a one-room school south of Calgary, in the late 1930s and 1940s, didn’t mean to get into mischief. Sometimes, though, he couldn’t resist. That’s what happened the day Charlie, pictured above, observed how much the tail of the...
by Elaine Thomas | Aug 19, 2022 | Family, Old Times, Rural Life, Saving Stories, Western Canada
Over a pot of tea many years ago, Mom shared memories of Ballyhamage, the one-room school she attended from 1920 to 1925. The little white frame building had no electricity, indoor plumbing, telephone, water well or running water. Built on top of a ridge of hills with...
by Elaine Thomas | Aug 5, 2022 | Family, Old Times, Saving Stories, Western Canada
A faded cover. A ragged spine. Well-thumbed pages. These are not flaws, but evidence of this vintage Blue Ribbon Cook Book’s untold tales. I treasure this little volume dedicated to the ‘women of Canada’ more than a century ago. The engraved image of the Blue Ribbon...