FromMarlene Lilleby-Palmquist/Larsen (53):

Gary

Your E-mail letters are most interesting and I look forward to reading them each day.  Although

my family moved to Wash. State when I was going into 7th grade  (1947) It’s still amazing how many people I recognize  that drop you notes.  The Leonard’s were cousins and I have a lot of memories of my Aunt Edna and most of the family. My parents were Louis and Margaret Lilleby and another Aunt and Uncle were Arnold and Hattie Lilleby- I still remember when my Uncle Arnold let me set pins at the bowling alley to be able to have some free games. Lois’s daughter Cami and her family live in the same town as we do (Ephrata, Wa.) She came just out of college to be a deaf Ed. teacher and met her husband who is a dairy farmer there.

The Burchams were also relatives on my mothers side and after Don Burcham passed away , his wife Betty Smith Burcham (who now lives in Kennewick Wa. near her daughter Cindy), and I have taken several cruises together. I have taken the Alaska inside passage 2 times and it is a wonderful trip. You will all have a great time.

My brother Ray and his wife live in Issaquah, Wa. He is retired and she is still working at Fred Hutchinson Cancer research center.  My sister Judy and her husband have the Holiday Express hotel in Moses Lake, Wa.

I retired from selling Real Estate a few years ago and now my husband Arlan Larsen and I live in Ephrata 1/2 of the year and the other 1/2 in Yuma Az.

The best of both worlds!

Your notes bring back so many memories of Dunseith. Hosmers great store and Shelvers Drug store with the good ole fountain. The Red Owl and Casey Simes store.  Our neighbors on the farm ,The Richards and Cooney McKays and Simon Grieners (sorry if I miss spelled your name),the ride to Russell school on a horse pulled wagon.  Wow—does that go back a long way.

& how  great it was to move into town to the new house (with a real bathroom!!!!)

Thanks again for including us in your newsy letter each day and

Happy Holidays  and many blessings to all my old friends and family

from Dunseith.

Marlene Lilleby-Palmquist/Larsen

Folks, with personal correspondence with Marlene, she told me she did not receive the message I put out several days ago announcing the “Dunseith Alumni Reunion” in Seattle.  It appears that message and the Seattle hotel accommodation message did not get delivered to all the recipients.  Please let me know if you did not receive either of those two messages. I feel it’s important that everyone be informed of this event so that all Dunseith folks, everywhere, have the opportunity to participate if they so wish.

Reply from Bill Hosmer (48): 

Gary, Dick and Dunseith People.   The year was 1961, Dick.  And we were in Florida doing air shows when the Cuban Crisis was in 62.  I believe Gary Morgan thought it was 62.  Dick, I’ve always felt bad about the fear factor which some of our friends experienced.  There were several. Bill Hosmer

Reply from Dick Johnson (68): 

Gary and Friends,

Bill Grimme, I do remember the blow tube shooters you mentioned. And
your mention of being the only kid ‘dumb’ enough to fall for a
trick—not! One of the older Boguslawski boys, Tom or Phillip maybe,
was sitting on the heater in the grade school, holding a big picture
book of some kind. He said, “Hey come here, did you ever see anything
like this”? I was in about the 5th grade and went over and stood right
in front of him and looked at the book. He had his other hand under the
book—with a squirt gun–and soaked the whole front of my pants, before
I felt anything. He and his buddies had a big laugh, but for me it was
an emotional disaster. I told what happened, but everyone said, “Oh
yeah, right, ha ha ha”!  It was definitely a turning point in my
education–as in, don’t trust older guys not to pull  crap  on you!

One spring when the squirt guns became the rage, things began to
‘escalate’. Bigger squirt guns, then bigger, then dish soap bottles,
water balloons, and finally bread sacks full of water and tied to the
end of a rope so they could be swung in a circle and thrown! It was all
it fun–cars full of kids with every kind of water device pulling up
along side another car and blasting everyone at once! We were all in
John Hill’s new 1966 Chevy pickup, with Tim at the wheel, when some kid
let fly with a bread sack on a rope—and busted the windshield in
pieces–bad deal!

Another time just a few years ago, I was circle track racing at Thunder
Mountain Speedway, north of Bottineau when we were bunched up for the
start of a race and coming into turn four and the green flag–all at
once liquid sprayed across my face shield and on my fire suit. There is
NOTHING more dangerous to a race car driver than fire, and the first
thing that crossed my mind was GAS! I couldn’t bail out because I was
penned in the inside lane–then it happened again, and I looked to my
right and saw one of my race buddies squirting me with a squirt gun and
laughing his butt off! He knew I was in a near panic!! Thanks Gary!

Dick

Reply from Sybil Johnson: 

Yes, I remember those pea shooters. My brothers use to play with them and I felt those peas, personally. Sybil Johnson