The
peepers are sounding a little raspy. The weeds are all brown, dragged out, and
dying. Thunder rumbled a few times this week, but no rain
fell. We’ve had cobalt blue skies, the
grass on our rock is like cut hay, and the ants have become increasingly
persistent as they look for moisture and shade. There were those who were mighty glad to have such a pleasant,
even reasonably cool weekend, though.
At Midriver Farm, with the large family gathered to celebrate Freddy’s
eightieth birthday, no one was wishing for rain. And wherever there was a
family reunion or a celebration (August
birthdays fill the calendars of a lot of Grindstone houses) the good weather
has added pleasures to the joy of being together. Boats have plied up and down even this north side of Grindstone
all week, and jet skis have jumped up
and down on the waves.
But
the regular, scheduled activities
continued in spite of the lure of the beach. Robert Bikwemu reports once more
on the weekly Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning classes at both the
Grindstone schoolhouse and the carriage house:
“We
did have a speaker on Tuesday at the Schoolhouse. She was Urch’s niece. She is a member of one of the many Native
American tribes. She talked of their
tribal beliefs about how the world became like it is today. She told us about this person who lived in
the spirit world and her husband who
was a keeper of the big tree. It grew all fruits, vegetables, and any kind of
growing food. One day when she had a
baby, she was so hungry that she wanted
the roots of the tree, but her husband would not allow her to eat them because
she was bearing a child. So she dug a hole to get at the roots, and fell
through the ground into the water.
Birds swept down and saved her.
Then they called a turtle so she could rest on its back. And the story goes on and on. We asked questions
about
all of these happenings.
“At
Wonderful Wednesdays, in the church carriage house, we were making stars to
remind us about the three wisemen
following the star to Jesus and also about Abraham who got a message from God
that the number of stars in the sky would
be the number of his descendants. Stars
are
really hard to make. Even the adults
could not get it at first. I threw mine away because it did not look like
a star.
“At
arts and crafts, Thursday, at the schoolhouse, we made T-shirts and necklaces
for the concerts next Wednesday and Friday.
We made the T-shirts to symbolize where we live on Grindstone Island and
the necklaces to show that the people on the island come from one clan. We also practiced songs that we are going to
perform to get ready for the concerts.”
On
Thursday afternoon, John Marks talked about the development of the Grindstone
Church from a mission church established by the circuit rider, Alexander
Shorts, in 1883, to the present active church today. He called our attention to
the short tenures of most ministers, one or two years, and wondered how the
island had been able to support them.
Reminding us of the value of records of birthdays, weddings,
anniversaries, deaths and burials, and of church policy, he pointed out the
need for church records to be written regularly and stored safely. It makes a
world of difference, John said, when pastors serve the congregation for several
years and can establish some continuity of
worship and activity, as Robert Smith did, and Dick Petry has. Elaine
Brooks thought we surely could establish a way to keep the records safe from
year to year, and that in itself would
be some insurance of that continuity. (This
weekly history program is at the schoolhouse)
On Saturday, we all began to run, run, run, as the
wildebeasts did in the Sunday Sermon Pastor Petry preached. But enough of the runners managed to keep
cool heads so the weekend sped on to a happy conclusion. Up at Midriver Farm, a
group of sailing skiff owners gathered with their crews and their faithful
onlookers for the annual Harold Herrick Memorial Skiff Race. These sailing skiffs are the pretty little
boats I talk about every year. Without
rudders, the narrow mahogany crafts are steered only by the set of the sail and
the distribution of weight. The crews get a lot of exercise, therefore,
shifting themselves about in the boats! The short course is laid out to keep
the delicate boats safely out of the way of speeding motor boats while still challenging the skippers’ ability to get them close
around each buoy, without one colliding with another, and without losing the
wind, to cross the final winner’s line.
On Saturday, the wind was otherwise-minded, and it took some clever
sailing to catch it and go whipping in
the direction the sailors wished. I
don’t think either the Ellis or the Cherokee races were run because there was
no wind on the earlier scheduled days.
Here is a report of this year’s race written by
Cleveland Dodge Rueckert: “ The Harold Herrick Skiff Races were held on
Saturday at Mid River Point. Six St.
Lawrence sailing skiffs participated in the day’s three races. Quentin Rueckert and Ashley Knight were
victorious with finishes of first, second, and third. They were followed closely by defending champion Morgan Rueckert
with his brother Theron as crew. Bill and
Fleur Rueckert “snuck” in a first in the third race only to finish third overall. Rounding out the field were Peter Moore with
his young son Ian, Caroline and Anna
Larson, and Clee Dodge with Eliza Moore crewing. All tied for fourth place. The races took place just off the dock at
Mid River and there was a large and enthusiastic crowd supporting the racers.”
After the skiff races, a few of us, driven by Erma
Slate, came on down to the church where the Barnyard Olympics were in full
sway, with children trying their skills in the various games invented by
various and sundry church members and parents.
Chet Taylor ran rides for happy
kids around and around the grounds in the
little hay filled trailor he hitched to his fourwheeler.
And the climax of that event was the ice cream
social. The ice cream was well frozen
and rich, the chocolate and strawberry sauces, sprinkles and nuts, M&M’s,
and whatevers were much desired, and sent everyone home contented, to get ready for the dance that would start
about 9:30 p.m. in Dodge Memorial Hall
across the road from the church.
At the dance, the four Bandits, a rather mellow
group, sang everyone’s favorite songs, and Bubby Bazinet called a few squares
(sometime after midnight, according to Debby Smith’s report) (certainly
after the old folks, John and I, had
trudged down the hill to fall gratefully into bed.) By then a good crowd had
come in from the beaches and the boats to join the party and the hall had
cooled a bit from the heat of the day, so there were four circles dancing the
quadrilles.
On Sunday morning we were all at church listening to
a different music. Eliza Moore sang Bist
Du Bei Mir, a lovely Bach aria, Joan Flint and Anna Larson played their
flutes in duet, and the church choir sang a hymn new to the congregation. What
more could we ask of a beautiful blue-sky day?
But there was more. After the
service, the whole congregation gathered for a pot luck lunch in the carriage
house to celebrate the fiftieth wedding anniversaries of Andy and Beverly Davison and Aminta and John
Marks. Kitty Paxton , saying she is
usually paid not to speak, congratulated the celebrants with her wonderful
good-natured wit, and Dick Petry read a long poem congratulating the two
couples’ long and happy marriages. There were presents and cards and hugs and
kisses and all sorts of good wishes given --and received with gratitude for the
wondrous generosity of all of these good friends on Grindstone Island.
But there will be more wonders next week!
On Tuesday, August 14th, there is to be a
rehearsal at the Squash Court. Everyone
who is to perform in the week’s concerts should be there at 3:00p.m.
On Wednesday, August 15th, at 7:00 p.m.,
the first performance of a concert
prepared as the culmination of the Grindstone schoolhouse summer music program will be given in the Opera House in Clayton. It promises to be wonderful, well worth the
fee of $6.00.
The proceeds from that performance will go to the
support of the opera house.
On Friday, August 17th, the same concert
will be presented in the Squash Court at the head of Grindstone Island at 7:00,
p.m. There, there will be a pot luck
desert afterward, and a free will offering to help support future schoolhouse
programs. Eliza Moore, her mother
Celina Moore, and Sean Brabant are among those who will sing in both concerts, and the children of
Grindstone have prepared some wonderful
music of their own. The whole
performance has been written and directed by Eliza who is directing the
summer’s program at the schoolhouse to study the history of music in the islands. We all look forward to
a real treat on both evenings.
August 18th, there will be a spaghetti
supper to support Dodge Memorial Hall at 5:00 p.m. The Marras stand among the best of Italian cooks!
August
19th, Pancake Breakfast at 8:30 a.m. This before church “feast”
brings fellowship, and conversation, as well as pancakes, sausage, juice and
coffee, all for a free will offering.
At 10:30 a.m. the Church Service and
Sunday School begin.
August
19th, Sunday, the annual Charge Conference. (The date has been changed to this coming Sunday
because of a conflict in dates at the Methodist Church Center.) After the
church service and Sunday School, we will gather in the sanctuary for the
annual church business meeting that is chaired by our St. Lawrence district
superintendent, Wendy Rhodehamel. At this meeting we will discuss what we want
to do about repairing or rebuilding the Carriage House behind the church. There are copies of a report and a
recommendation from the church council about the state of the carriage house
that people interested in the project can pick up any time this week in the
entrance hall of the church sanctuary. It also states the options for making it
both more useful and more sturdy. The congregation will discuss this project at
the Charge Conference this Sunday. So it is.
Aminta
Marks