Saturday, September 10, 2016 – Mary & Max Walton, Carthage Jail Postcards, Jim & Betty Burk

This morning is our P-day but I still cleaned the sidewalks. They always need cleaning after the rain and we had rain overnight. While I was cleaning, the first guests arrived and I got to talk to them for a few minutes.  And, once again, it’s a small world.  They, like we, are from Mesa Arizona. For thirty years they only lived a mile from our home. They have been customers of our family flower shop, Watson’s Flowers. They have many friends in common with us, including Clara Naylor Annis and Marcella Naylor maher who grew up in their home ward. 

While I was cleaning Elder Metcalf showed me some old post cards of the Carthage Jail. He said that he bought two of them on eBay for $3 and $7 after shipping. He said he didn’t buy the third postcard because it sold on eBay for $183.50.

 

One of the more interesting things about the 1953 postcard is the oak tree beside the well. Visitors to the jail ask all the time: How old is the big mature oak tree? Today that majestic giant is 17ft in circumference.  You can see in the 1953 picture it is just a sapling. Now we know how old it is. Coincidently, that big oak tree is my age; in 1953 I was a sapling too.

The big event of the day was the arrival of Sis. Johnson’s mother & father, Jim and Betty Burk.  Their trip has been in the planning for months and they’ve finally arrived. They caught the Amtrak train in Flagstaff Arizona and Sis. Johnson and I picked them up in Ft. Madison, Iowa only 30 miles north of Carthage.

 

It was a long trip for them. They had to be at the train station in Flagstaff at 3:30AM on Friday. They’ve been on the rails for almost two days. They are tired but they handled the trip very well. We are excited to have them with us for the next week.