Helping Hands Award

2012 Helping Hands Award

Last Sunday afternoon the Marthas and Marys 2012 Helping Hands Award Ceremony was held at First Baptist Church of Glenville.  The gathering was to honor a Gilmer County woman who uses her talents and skills to enrich and better the lives of others.  Fran also received a silver engraved necklace to commemorate her honor.

Frances Myers Schmetzer  is receiving the award from Marthas and Marys Moderator Judy Meads.

Maxine Smith, Past Moderator of Marthas and Marys, and Olive Myers Wolters with her sister, Fran.

Thank you to Glenda Schimmel for making this beautiful and delicious cake.

Pastor Kenny Fisher and Jim Bailey are looking forward to the refreshments.  Thanks to Kenny and wife Jeane for making us welcome at the Baptist Church.  Thanks to Jim, a frequent runner of races, for reminding the audience that Fran entered and placed in a race when she was past 70.

Judy and Jim Meads are grateful for the friendship and wisdom of Fran.

Back row - Judy Meads, Debbie and Bruce Farmer, Liz Conrad, and Olive Myers Wolters
Front row - Jim Meads and Fran Schmetzer

June Nonnenberg, Pat Stump, Maxine Clark, Wilda Kuhl, Betty White, and Yvonne King enjoy some refreshments and conversation.

Annette Bame, Debbie Farmer, Sue Edwards, and Jeane Fisher are full of smiles.

Fran, we love you and hope you enjoyed your party!  Thank you to all who came to celebrate with her.

On the way back to the Dutch Host Inn, Judy and I decided to pursue one more adventure before getting ready to go home on Friday.  We pulled up to the Rolling Ridge Animal Park.

The ranch features over 500 animals & birds & over 100 species from around the world. Safari through natural woods and gently sloping pasture land. 

We checked out the petting zoo which had this really cute baby camel.

Miss Judy was ready to see the critters.  We climbed aboard a horse drawn wagon.

Our guide was Ruben who along with his brother owns the ranch.  Ruben gave us buckets of alfalfa pellets to feed the critters.  Do you know how long a water buffaloes tongue is?  Impressive!

 We found the African  Ankole-Watusi to be most interesting.   Its large, distinctive horns, that can reach up to 8 feet (2.4 m) from tip to tip, are used for defense. Ankole-Watusis weigh from 900 to 1,600 pounds (410 to 730 kg). Living in the savannas and open grasslands, their diet consists of grass and leaves.


Ankole-Watusi have played a pivotal role in the lives of various African tribes – Tutsi, Ankole, Bahima, Bashi, Bakiga, and the Kivu -  although the Tutsi are most often associated with the breed. The cattle provided food, currency, and tribal status. In Rwanda, where the Tutsi ruled, Watusi were known as Insanga, "the ones which were found" and Inyambo, "the cows with long, long horns". Those with the largest and longest horns belonged to the king and were considered sacred, with some individuals having horns that measure 12 feet (3.7 m) from tip to tip. The breed is often referred to as the "Cattle of Kings".

Watusi first arrived in America in the 1960s when Walter Schultz imported two bulls from Scandinavia and a female from Europe. Thanks to the efforts of private breeders, zoos, and associations, this animal is no longer endangered

The Texas Longhorns were mingling among the Watsui.  These cattle are  known for their characteristic horns, which can extend to 7 feet (2.1 m) tip to tip for steers and exceptional cows, and 36 to 80 inches (0.91 to 2.0 m) tip to tip for bulls. Horns can have a slight upward turn at their tips or even triple twist. Texas Longhorns are known for their diverse coloring.

Many flightless birds are on the ranch.  The emus, rheas, and this ostrich knew Judy had food (as did all the other animals).

The American elk along with the Siberian elks ran to meet our wagon.

Here is Ruben feeding a wonderful Dromedary Camel.

The Brahman or Brahma is a breed of Zebu cattle  (Bos primigenius indicus), later exported from India  to the rest of the world.

The zebras were amazingly tame.

Here is Judy with her Mammoth Mule.  This critter found Judy to be most tasty.  It confused her arm with the feed bucket and bit her on the forearm.  OUCH!

Here is a bit of trivia about American Mammoth Mule (Jackstock). The breed is said to have been created by George Washington, using large European donkey breeds, including the rare Poitou donkey from France. He wanted a large donkey to breed with draft mares to create a draft mule strong enough to plow the tough soils of Virginia.

I love tortoises and the Rolling Ridge Ranch had two wonderful examples of a Sulcata Tortoise (African Spurred Tortoise) which can get up to 80-100 pounds.

We had a great time at the ranch.  It was a wonderful climax to our Amish adventure.

We arrived back in Glenville around 7 P.M. on Friday.  Judy's table was ceremonially placed by her side of the couch.  All was well with the world!

Lehmanns

After our successful trip to Schlabach's, we stopped by Lehmanns Hardware in Kidron.  What sights a guy can see here!  Last Thursday the Kidron Stock Auction, which is the oldest in Ohio, was going full force.  The Amish folks were out trading horses and other livestock.  The auction is directly beside of Lehmanns.

Lehmanns has become the world's largest purveyor of historical technology.

 

Lehmanns ships old-fashioned, non-electric merchandise all over the world through its catalogs and website. Their diverse customer base includes missionaries and doctors working in developing countries; homesteaders and environmentalists living in remote areas; people with unreliable electricity living on islands and mountains; second home owners, hunters, fishers and cabin dwellers; the 'chronically nostalgic,' and even Hollywood set designers looking for historically accurate period pieces.

 

It was past lunch so Judy and I ate in the Iron Skillet grill located within the store.  The brats with sauerkraut were yummy.

The store is filled with interesting antiques.  Check out this oak lined bathtub.  It contained pillows for sale.

You have to love a washing machine from the 1920's that will not only wash your clothes, but grind your meat!  This is a Maytag Model 80 (Serial number 403651) which was manufactured in September 1924.

On our way from Kidron, we stopped in Winesburg to see what treasures the good wife could uncover.  She did not disappoint me!

Tomorrow - Danger - Mammoth Mule.

 Schlabach Furniture

We found Schlabach Furniture to be an amazing place.  The 10,000 square foot facility is lit by solar tubes and gas lights.  Daniel Schlabach and his wife Linda were so helpful.

Founder Jonas Schlabach keeps the tradition of having every product handcrafted in Holmes or Wayne County, and displaying as much as possible in their showroom. 

Miss Judy selected this quarter sawed mission style oak table.  She asked Daniel if a lamp could be placed on the top.  In a matter of minutes the lad had drilled a hole and mounted the lamp onto the table.  My queen was happy!

Daniel wraps our table with plastic and gets it ready to load into the van.  We paid with a Visa card.  Daniel had to start the generator in order to power the credit card machine.  Oh, the simple life!

Here is a photo of the table in its new home.

 Sugarcreek, Ohio

On Wednesday afternoon we left Glenville and headed to Sugarcreek, Ohio, to visit the Amish craftsmen of that area.  Yes, my good wife wanted an oak table with pole lamp for her side of the couch.  (I still have to use a candle on my side!)  

We checked in at the Dutch Host Inn around 7 P.M.  The motel is the first place we stayed when we first visited this area over 35 years ago.  It has many memories.  We often took Mom and Dad Musgrave and Mom and Dad Meads to this area and used this motel as our base for exploring this region.  During the next several days I shall relate to you our adventures in this area.

Food is an important aspect of Holmes County and one of our favorite eateries has to be the Der Dutchman!

On Thursday morning, we were off to find Schlabach Furniture.  This is located out in the country not far from Kidron.  Well, our map was not a very detailed critter.  Do you know how many little country roads there are in Holmes County?  What should have taken us less than an hour from our motel, turned into an over two hour experience.

Finally we arrived at our destination and we were not disappointed.

 A Few

Here on this Saturday are a few of Sarah's photos of soccer and T-ball.  Enjoy!