then and now
blogged for all eternity on 27 July 2010 | 9 very cool people left comments
*Remember to comment on my post today or any Wednesday post of mine this month (see this post for details), and visit the featured blog over on Lynnette’s “Getting To Know YOU” for extra entries/chances to win the giveaways Lynnette and I are co-hosting for this month! My prize is the Scrapbook MAX! Digital Scrapbooking Software and Lynnette’s prize is a Cuisinart Custom 14-Cup Food Processor! ENTRIES ACCEPTED UNTIL MIDNIGHT THIS COMING SATURDAY, JULY 31, 2010! (If you don’t want to be entered, just say so in your comment.) And don’t forget my other giveaway celebrating my 100th post! Time’s a-runnin’ out!
This post is linked to Wednesday’s Walk. Click the link to join in with your own walk down memory lane.
Last week I promised I would do a “then and now” post with a few of the photos from my Dad’s albums. I had found three that had subjects in them that still exist today.
This first photo is the grain elevator over on East Broadway Street (center of town)… the left is 1930s, the right is now. I showed a gentleman at the elevator my Dad’s photo and he assured me it’s the same grain elevator, just with several building changes over time. I couldn’t get the photo taken at the same angle as Dad’s due to lots of trees in the way!
Across the street (behind me as I took the grain elevator photo), is the grounds of the Newton Public Library. On the south side of the library is a Civil War cannon and cannon balls. Here are two “then” photos of those with some of Dad’s pals from the 1940s being goofy. Notice the homes and trees in the background.
And here is the “now” photo of the cannon and balls. You can see the library replaced all the trees and homes that used to be in the area.
There is a plaque that was placed with the cannon in 1922 by the local historical society (photo below). It reads:
“Coastal Defense Cannon. A Civil War Memorial. This cannon used in coastal defense during the Civil War was secured through the efforts of Judson Kilpatrick Post No. 36, G. A. R. and Congressman Chester I. Long. Presented to Mayor George W. Young for City of Newton by Hon. J. G. Wood, Topeka, on behalf of Post No. 36 on Oct. 4, 1899. At this ceremony “East Park” was rededicated “Military Park” and is so known today. On Oct. 5, 1899, a city wide celebration and parade were held by the citizens of Newton in honor of the dedication of this Civil War Memorial. Harvey County Historical Society. 1922.”
And lastly, the photo on the left below shows a couple fellows playing in Sand Creek in the late 1930s, long before the city of Newton reconstructed the whole creek corridor from north to south in 2008, which is the photo on the right. Everyone in town knows this as the First Street Bridge. I’m standing on the bike/walking path in Athletic Park to take the photo.
Hope you’re enjoying these photos as much as I enjoy sharing them with you! And I do still have plenty more for future posts. Later, kids!
my 100th blog post! and something special ;-)
blogged for all eternity on 26 July 2010 | 24 very cool people left comments
This is my 100th blog post! Yippeeeeeeee! Hurraaaaaaay! Bells, whistles, confetti!
And to celebrate, I’m going to thank one of my readers with a lovely gift package of goodies from right here in the heart of Kansas! That’s right! I’m putting together a package of goodies to say thank you for making this all worthwhile. All the items I will be including are from me… the companies did not provide them to me. These items are chosen especially for one lucky reader! There will be one or two goodies from here [that's a link, click to see]…. and here [also a link]…. and a few other places in my area.
So, here are the ways you can enter for a chance to receive this thank you package — you can do one or all, whichever is more convenient for you:
1. Follow me on my Google Friend Connect in the sidebar and let me know in your comment that you did or already do. [1 entry] [note: this is not required.... I missed removing the word "mandatory" when someone sent me the copy for doing this, sorry for any mixup]
2. In a separate comment, tell me which flavor of Granny’s Homemade Mustard you would choose for yourself. Check them out here. [use that link to see the mustard flavors] [1 entry]
3. Follow me on Twitter: @knzus, then come back here and let me know in a separate comment that you did or already do. [1 entry]
4. Tweet about this giveaway, then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment… you can by copy/paste the following in your Twitter: RT @knzus ‘s 100th blog post! Enter to #win reader thank you package http://bit.ly/djrdO6 #giveaway ends 7/31
OPEN TO U.S. ENTRIES. Entries accepted until midnight my time (CDST in Kansas), this Saturday, July 31, 2010. That’s just five (5) four (4) three (3) two (2) days from now tonight! NO COMMENTS TIMESTAMPED AFTER MIDNIGHT THAT DAY WILL BE COUNTED. No ifs, ands, or but-ter-me-ups. The winner will be chosen by random drawing on Sunday (August 1, 2010) and the results will be posted later that day or sometime on Monday (August 2, 2010).
And don’t forget my other giveaway that celebrates my whole blog-aversary month of July — it ends this week, also!
And THANK YOU for visiting and commenting! My blog isn’t anything big or fancy, but it’s home to me and I just as surely enjoy your company. 
the day i saw the mountains
blogged for all eternity on 25 July 2010 | 2 very cool people left comments
Pssst, this is my 99th post! Watch for my 100th — I’ll be doing something special!
Back in March, I wrote this post for our 15th anniversary and included a photo of Jerry standing on the Royal Gorge Bridge at the Kansas plaque…
“This man… held tightly to my hand, talking to me, the whole way across the Royal Gorge Bridge, because he knows I am deathly afraid of heights, knowing I wanted to face that fear and see the wonder and beauty of God’s handiwork.”
At the time of the post, I was unable to find the photo of me standing by the plaque. I looked through all of our photos in the keepsake boxes. I thumbed through each photo album. I investigated every nook and cranny where I thought I might have put that photo.
But I happened upon it in a whole different spot.
Last week when I was down at my parents’ visiting with Dad about the photos from his albums, I looked over at the piano and lying there was a small stack of color photos. I walked over, picked them up and gasped. There it was! In with a handful of photos taken those few days in 1994. Second copies I’d had made and mailed to Mom and Dad. Talk about serendipitous!
That photo, and one other of me, brought back a flood of memories of that day in 1994 when I saw the mountains for the first time in my life. I was awestruck by the grandeur of what God has created with the things of this earth.
The first photo is me with the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains. You can’t see it in this photo (I can see it in the real one), but there’s a snow-capped Pike’s Peak directly above my head (waaaaaay behind the closer, darker peaks). We had been camping overnight at Lake Pueblo State Park — I’d just climbed out of the tent and scrambled to the highest point on the hill behind our campground. It was early morning, very chilly for June and somewhat overcast, but most of the distant mountains could be seen clearly. I do have a set of 5 photos I took in panoramic style but the details are hard to pick out now that the photos are so faded.
The better photo is me on the Royal Gorge Bridge at the Kansas plaque. The mountains are easily seen in this view.
Standing there, I caught glimpses of the sparkling Arkansas River between the wooden planks of the bridge and could detect it in my peripheral vision… at that point 1,053 feet below.
Have I mentioned “…I am deathly afraid of heights…”
But the fear in my mind of the height was nothing compared to seeing what God has created. And with the Lord, and Jerry, both holding my hand, I knew I was fine.
Even though I was quaking in my sneakers. And trembling a bit from the chill of the day.
There were still tears in my eyes and thankfulness in my heart for being allowed to witness God’s beauty firsthand.
I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you—the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. [Psalm 121 - NIV]
