The Williamsons Prepare to Feast. A Thanksgiving Day Photo Bonanza. Trip to the Black Hills June 1996. Christmas Eve Family Party 2001.

Thanksgiving at the Mattson Home in Spearfish 1957. The Williamson's first Thanksgiving. Kim
is down for a nap and I'm enjoying the meal from the inside if you catch my meaning.
Grandma Elda, Luella, Charles sit on the far side of the table

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Happy Thanksgiving!

     It's 9:47 A.M. here at the Fortress. Janice is getting ready to go with Jilane to prep Ashley and Mike's home for the Family Thanksgiving Extravaganza Eat Until You Drop Buffet.  Jilane has been out running, thinking an hour on the trail will allow for that extra piece of pumpkin pie.  I'm at my desk scanning photos for today's photo dump into the blog.  I don't have many unencumbered days, so I take advantage when the opportunity presents itself. 

Luella feeling a bit tipsy with her Coke Zero with that special something added to help her through the day.
Thanksgiving 2011

     Prepping for a Williamson family All You Can Eat involves several rolls of plastic wrap. Think Dexter. The floor, walls, and ceiling must be covered; If not, repainting is the only known way to completely eliminate evidence of the clan gathering. 
     To help steady nerves, a special room is reserved for decompressing, especially needed today.  Both the right and left wing of the family will be under the same roof; not to mention the High Mormons, Middle Way Mormons, and those who avoid the topic all together.

Enoch upset in Time Out for fingering every pie on the dessert table

Enoch pouted while his naughtier cousins found other ways to protest their confinement in Time Out. 

     

     At such gatherings it is important we remind ourselves that we are a loving family that respects and cherishes diversity because diverse is what this family is, like so many others in our modern world.  I also take a moment to remind the political active that NO political discussions are allowed around Great Grandma Luella. Failure to comply will result in banishment from the dessert table."  Because of the recent passage of the marijuana proposition, I was thinking of putting up a sign banning discussions of medical marijuana but decided against it after a few discussions with the family elders. It seems the Williamson's aren't as divided on the subject as I thought.

Luella about to tuck in and clean that Thanksgiving plate in record speed.

Kim was asked to eat by herself after having pretty much offended everyone.
Thanksgiving 2011

     This year's Decompression Room will be the Costa's rarely used living room just off the family room. Diffusers will scent the room in a special DoTerra blend of fragrances tailored for family events like today's; think a green pasture surrounded by Ponderosa Pines with just a wisp of sunshine lingering in the air to help you ease quickly into your happy place.  Candles will decorate the room in dancing light. Music will tug at the ear with celestial melodies selected from tracks recorded by the Sisters of the Abbey of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. 

     We didn't have a Decompression Room last year.  It made for a tough afternoon, leaving only the bathrooms or the cars as places of refuge. 

    

Sometimes only a good wash with the garden hose will clean one of the little ones.
We focused on table manners and etiquette this year with the little ones.

       

     This year we're taking a risk and letting the family choose where they sit to eat.  Normally we separate based on several factors. Conspiracy theorists, High Mormons, and those with an open mind usually make for good table fellows.  Democrats, Middle of the Way Mormons and the unaffiliated are good together.  The little ones have their own table but tend to ignore the plates their mother's prepared. They find their way to the dessert table once the adults have their noses squarely in the trough.

JD is stationed in the kitchen during Thanksgiving ensuring only the finest dishes brought to the gathering are
sent out for consumption.  Those dishes that fail the JD test find their way to the disposal when no one is looking.

Enoch, Jace, and Foxton, happy after four trips to the dessert table. Enoch looks like he's about to lose it.

     Today's choose where you want to sit approach will test the family's civility.  The standard used to judge whether the seating decision was a wise one or not will be based upon who is not speaking to Whom at the end of the day. I'm looking forward to today's circus.
     And now, the photo dump.

Victor

A Few Pictures from Our Short Trip to the Black Hills.  June 1996

     Luella Williamson is always excited to see the Black Hills.  I caught her in a reminiscence with this candid photo.   

     Stopping to pay our respects to the first home I remember is a must on any trip to Rapid City.
     We lived here at 39 East Signal Drive until we moved just before my 8th birthday in 1966.  The place is a bit of an eye sore today but just seeing it brings back many happy memories. 

 

     Our tour of the Williamson family homesteads always involves a driveby of our home at 210 N. 42nd Street.  We lived here from 1966 to 1968.  

     Uncle Marv ran this Jerky stand outside of Hill City back in the day. 

     Uncle Marv, Cindy, Luke and Haley.  

     Luella with Haley and Luke at Mt. Rushmore.  Who is that peering over the wall?  It couldn't be Charles in a playful mood.  

Kim DelGrosso. Don't know how this got into this mix of photos, but we'll enjoy it nevertheless.  June 2000

Celebrating My Birthday at Jilane's Home.  June 1998

     A little bit of this and a little bit of that is what you get when you do a photo dump.  Forest DelGrosso and Lisa Williamson Coronato in Jilane's kitchen. Lisa is pregnant with Adia.  She's going to hate me for posting these two photos but such is the burden one carries when recording family history.    

The Williamsons Gather for Christmas Eve Festivities.  December 24, 2001

Christmas Eve 2001

          

   

The Vercellino Family History. Great Grandfather John Vercellino (Grandma Elda's dad) Passport Application to Return to the United States from South Africa.

Great Grandparents Marie and John Vercellion

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello All,
     I spent several hours today researching the Vercellino family lines.  In the search I came across our Great Grandfather John Vercellino's passport application filled out in South Africa for his return trip to the United States where he eventually settled in Lead.  

     I found several interesting things worthy of more research.  First we note that John and Marie have one child, Raymond (Remi).  John and Marie took a trip to Italy where their son Raymond was born. They left Illinois and moved to Cape Town South Africa.  Great Grandfather John worked in a diamond mine.  His intention was to stay no longer than 2 years.  They didn't.       Now I can give the exact length of their stay. They arrived in Cape Town in February 1903 and returned to the United States in December 1903; a short stay of 10 months.
John Vercellino was a guard in the diamond mine. Only blacks could work in the mine because of the heat. His job as a guard was  to search the miners when they'd come up form the mine to be sure they weren't stealing diamonds. 
     Great Grandmother Marie was the primary cause for the move back to the United States according to family stories.  Marie was so frightened of the native South Africans that John bought her a pistol with these instructions, "When someone comes and knocks on the door, NEVER open the door. Look out the peephole first."  One night a black man knocked on the door. She was frightened wondering why a black man would be on her doorstep. She took her pistol, no questions asked, and shot him through the door. She looked again and saw him running away. This incident lead to a quick return to the United States on the St.Louis.  It is also interesting to note that Raymond's real name is Remeigo.

     They moved straight away to Lead, South Dakota where Grandma Elda was born in 1905.  John's brother Fred was already living in Lead and had been for several years. He owned the Christoforo Columbo Saloon and was known for his excellent homemade wines. The family stayed in Lead where both John and Marie died.    

From the Vercellino Line: Robert Hastie Our Distinguished World War II Bomber Pilot.

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello All,
     Today I want to highlight the work of our cousin, Robert Hastie in World War II.  Robert was the son of Mabel Vercellino, daughter of Fidele Vercellion, Grandma Elda's uncle.  Fidele was the owner of the saloon / bar that we visit quite often in Lead.   

     First Lieutenant Robert B. Hastie was born in Lead, South Dakota Apr. 24, 1924 and moved to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he graduated from high school and enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet. During WWII, he served as a B-17 pilot in the 95th Bomb Group 334th Squadron flying 35 missions over occupied Europe, the only group in Eighth Air Force to earn three Distinguished Unit Citations.^[3] He then transitioned into Mosquitos and flew reconnaissance with the 25th Bomb Group 654th Squadron.  He returned to the U.S. in 1945 on the Queen Mary.

Relationship Chart

After service in WWII, Hastie went to Northwestern University on the GI Bill and graduated with a degree in engineering and was in the Pi Tau Sigma International Mechanical Engineering Honor Society. He married the former Bette Lu Haake, also of Kenosha Wisconsin who was a registered nurse during the war. They moved to Dallas, Texas where he worked as a pipeline engineer for Atlantic Pipeline Co.

His High School Yearbook photo

In 1955 he flew to London with his wife and two children on a Stratocruiser to help rebuild Europe with the Joint Construction Agency. They returned to Texas where they had a third child. He continued in pipeline engineering with the Atlantic Pipeline compant as it merged and combined eventually becoming ARCO. His proudest work and most technically challenging position was designing and becoming Project Manager for the Trans Alaska Pipeline. He made many trips to Alaska to prepare and build the pipeline and insure it was operational, and became a Vice President of ARCO Transportation in Los Angles CA area, where he retired in 1985 and still resides.

In retirement, he flew light aircraft with friends on trips around the country and went sailing in Southern California and charters around the world.

Robert went to Horham, England, in 2005 to take one last flight over the home of the 95th BG(H) during the European Air Offensive of WWII. Friends in Horham provided flights for the air crews, including letting Robert take the controls of the aircraft for the symbolic flight.

Robert’s decorations include: Pilot Wings, European-Africa-ME Campaign Medal (with 5 Bronze Stars), Air Medal (with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters), AAF Presidential Unit Citation (with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster), Russian Commemorative Medal (The 50th Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War) 1994, Polish Uprising Cross 2004, Polish Merit for Warsaw 2004, and the French Knight of the Legion of Honor 2014. He resides with his wife in Huntington Beach, CA.

Military Service Details: USAAF WWII service 19 Nov 42 to 1 Nov 45; 30 Jan 1943 basic training at George Field, Illinois; 1 Mar 43 flight training; 20 Feb 44 Student Officer B-17s; 9 Apr 44 advanced crew training Rapid City, South Dakota Air Base Class of 44B RTU; 4 Jul 44 transferred overseas ETO, 8th AF [Kearney NB-Bangor, Maine-Gandor-Prestwick Scotland on 9 July 1944]; 11 Jul 44 95th BG(H) 334th Sqdn Horham, UK, 13th Combat Wing/ 3rd Air Division/ 8th AF (flew 35 combat missions over occupied Europe in B-17Gs thru 6 Jan 1945); 4 Feb 44 25th BG 654th Sqdn Watton UK (flew reconnaissance missions in B-26s and Mosquito MK IIIs); Jun 45/ 2 Aug 1945 returned to USA on Queen Mary; Reserve Status Camp McCoy 1 Nov 45 to Apr 53; honorably discharged

Campaigns: Air Offensive Europe, Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes-Alsace

Operations: Frantic; Market Garden; Warsaw Uprising; Battle of the Bulge

From Wikipedia:

The 334th began strategic bombing operations in July and continued until flying its last operation on 20 April 1945. Its targets included harbors, marshalling yards and other industrial targets along with attacks on cities. The squadron received its first Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) during an attack on an aircraft factory at Regensburg, Germany on 17 August 1943 when it maintained its defensive formation despite severe attacks by enemy interceptor aircraft.^[4]

B-17 "The Thomper" (BG-X) of the squadron under attack^{[a 2]}

On 10 October, during an attack on marshalling yards at Münster, Germany, the squadron was subjected to concentrated fighter attacks on the approach to the target and intense flak over the objective.^[4] Despite these obstacles, the formation's bombs were clustered close to the target.^[9] It was awarded a second DUC for withstanding these attacks to bomb its objective. From 20 to 25 February 1944 the squadron participated in the Big Week offensive against the German aircraft manufacturing industry. A few days later, on 4 March, the squadron attacked Berlin despite adverse weather that led other units to either abandon the operation or attack secondary targets. Despite snowstorms and heavy cloud cover, the unit struck its target while under attack from enemy fighters,^[4] although the cloud cover required the group to rely on a pathfinder from the 482d Bombardment Group to determine the release point.^[10] It received its third DUC for this operation.^[4] This mission was the first time any unit from Eighth Air Force had bombed Berlin.^[3]

95th Bomb Group Boeing B-17Gs in combat formation

The squadron was diverted to bombing priority tactical targets during the preparation for and execution of Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy in June 1944, attacking communications and coastal defenses. It hit enemy troop concentrations to facilitate the Allied breakout at Saint-Lô. The 334th attacked enemy troop concentrations during the Battle of the Bulge from December 1944 to January 1945 and bombed airfields to support Operation Varsity, the airborne assault across the Rhine in March.^[4]

One of the unit's more unusual missions was flown on 18 September 1944, when the 95th group led the 13th Combat Bombardment Wing^[11] to Warsaw to drop ammunition, food and medical supplies to Polish resistance forcesfighting against German occupation forces,^[4] landing at bases in the Soviet Union. The squadron had previously participated in shuttle missions to the Soviet Union.^[12]

The unit flew its last mission on 20 April 1945, when it attacked marshalling yards near Oranienburg. In the first week of May, it airdropped food to Dutch citizens in Operation Chow Hound. From V-E Day until departing the theater in June, it transported liberated prisoners of war and displaced persons.^[4][13] The air echelon flew their planes back to Bradley Field, Connecticut, while the ground echelon sailed once more on the Queen Elizabeth.^[3] The squadron was reunited at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, where it was inactivated on 28 August 1945.^[4]

Charles Williamson's Home Movies: 1958-1959

Charles Williamson's Home Movies:  1958-1959

Luella Doesn't Like her DNA Results and Seeks Second Opinion on Her Sami Origins.

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Luella Williamson Doubts DNA Results from Ancestry and Seeks Second Opinion from 23andMe.

     "Can you help me with this?" Luella asked.  I had stopped by to say hello one evening. It was after another long day in the classroom and starship simulator. I was tired, grumpy and suffering from extreme teacher exhaustion; the kind that comes from eleven hours of non-stop talking. By this time of night I'm easily drawn to nausea from hearing my own voice or the voice of anyone else with a set of vocal cords. The cure is a simple supper in a quiet room illuminated by one heavily shaded 60 watt bulb enjoyed in the company of my 75 inch ultra wide screen Jupiter 5000 television with multiscan gadgets incorporated into micro circuits and diodes of some kind or another.  I knew I was in trouble when Luella asked her question. "Can you help me with this?" could be anything from screwing down her toilet seat which seems to have been 3D printed in North Korea to helping her understand her Dish Network remote.  I cringed as she reached down to retrieve something from under the brown skirting of her Komatsu power chair (advertised with atomic hydraulics for the lifting of the elderly from a relaxed reclined position into a proper upright stance for forward motion) would determine whether or not I was to enjoy my next hour or so.
     She held out a small white box with gray lettering which spelt "Welcome to You!"  "What is it?" I asked, genuinely curious.  
     "It's to test my DNA," she replied sheepishly knowing full well what my reaction would be. 
     "You've already done that?" I reminded her. "You and Dad did the Ancestry DNA test."  
     She settled herself for a protracted debate. "Well, I didn't think it was right.  I know I'm more Finnish than it said.  I feel the mystical call of my Sami ancestors calling to me across the eons of time, across the evergreen Lapland forests brushed by the northern lights.  So, I want another test." 

3 Sami Women. Luella feels strongly drawn to the one on the right

     I was speechless, which is unusual for me. "So let me get this straight, you're unhappy with your DNA test so you'd like to get a second opinion from 23andMe?  Am I summing this up properly?"
     "Well, the TV said this test is better because it looks at more of the DNA and sees more things."

Is it the clothing or a fondness for reindeer?

     I thought for a moment and came upon another course of action to meet her needs. "We could hire a hypnotist to come out and put you through a series of hypnotic regressions to find your Sami self from a previous life. That way you'd learn more than just a series of suggestions of migration patterns and percentages of ancestry."  
     She held out the box. "It's time to spit."
     

Luella gathering another load of precious Sami DNA 

She dribbles what little her 79 year old salivary glands can muster into the Tube of Dreams

Queasy with effort, feeling a brush of lightheadedness, she pauses to recharge.  It was dreadful to watch.

     I think I'll send a note and a $100 bill with the collection tube back to 23andMe asking them to fudge a bit on her results. "Please 23andMe, my 79 year old mother is on her second attempt to find her Finnish, Lapland, Sami roots.  Watching her fill another spittube is more than a Christian soul can bare.  Please take the money and do a faithful son a favor by adding several more dots to the map above the 65 Degree N. Latitude line running along the Swedish / Finnish border.  I'll be forever in your debt."

Victor

Christmas Eve 1986 at the Family Homestead in South Dakota. Bitter Cold on the Outside, Kerosene Fumes on the Inside. Good Memories (At Least As Seen in the Rear View Mirror).

From the Fortress of Solitude

Pleasant Grove

Hello All,

In today's digital reunion I'm going to repost several pictures from the family's Christmas Eve celebration circa 1986.  I rescanned the slides using a different scanner than the one I originally used when I first posted these photos in 2012.  Still, the photos are far from perfect, but it was the best I could do back in the day of film cameras and unreliable flashbulbs. 

I begin with a darling photo of my two grandmothers.  They found a bit of quiet for a nice gossip in our small kitchen at 2214 38th Street, Rapid City, South Dakota.  The kitchen was an add-on to the house built before we called it home in 1968.  Because it was added to the house, it had a natural gas wall heater of its own positioned behind Grandma Liessman. It was a miserly heater, keeping most of whatever heat it generated to itself.  The pilot light was ever a martyr to the slightest gust of wind.  

The living room carpet paid the ultimate price for our frigid kitchen.  Eight kids, freezing South Dakota dark winter morning and icebox kitchen; where would you eat your Malt O Meal cereal?  Precisely, in the living room as close to the one heating vent as possible. 

Grandma Mattson was always too warm.  We kept her internal temperature down by keeping her well supplied with cold tap water (on pain of death, we had to "let the water run" before filling the glass). For some reason, we didn't seem to know the purpose for making ice in the fridge. Why would you when the streets were covered with a foot or more of the stuff.  Grandma Leissman, on the other hand, was inexorably cold, as seen in the photo below.  Her sweaters added a bit of substance to her diminutive frame. She knew her son was a Scrooge when it came to burning money up the chimney.

Our Grandmas give Christmas its nostalgic charm; weren't they, after all, the same age as Santa? Perhaps they went to the same school. 

Just look at these two Grandams. How proud they would be of this American dynasty they forged!

Grandma's Mattson (Luella's mother) and Liessman (Charles' mother) in our small kitchen on Christmas Eve 1986. Two of a Kind. Both lovely ladies, even on their bad days.  You can tell it's Christmas by the spread. See the grapes?  Fresh fruit was a Christmas treat for us. Tinned fruit cocktail in heavy syrup was the norm for the rest of the year.  It was the poor man's fruit.

Two Of A Kind

From a Poem by  Julie B. Bradstreet

Two funny beautiful ladies

That mean so much to me

May be gone from the land of the living

But with me they will always be

Because my memory holds them dearly

And my pen recalls their ways

And most of all I love them

A love that always stays

It stays inside my memory

And is often on my mind

Because ladies like my grandmas

Are rare and hard to find.

Grandma Mattson at the Piano

Uncle Marvin (ghostified by my enthusiastic flash) with Grandma Mattson tickling the ivory on her old piano. I still hear her singing.

That was the piano Kim and I learned to play on. It was grandma's piano from the ranch. Never in tune (I think it and the kitchen's heater were in a relationship), its innards held a collection of dead moths and forgotten tunes.  No one could coerce a singable melody from its strings like Grandma. It knew to behave when Violet stroked its keys.  Grandma's quivering voice singing those old Montana tunes gave our Christmas Eves a magic we only realize now that we're older.      

Luella with the Grandmas preparing the Christmas Eve party snacks

Meanwhile in the living room....

Luke Mattson with his dad Marvin Mattson, then Lisa Williamson and Cindy Mattson.

Baby Hallie Mattson plays on the floor.  Lisa is in her bare feet meaning she had no intention of entering the kitchen.  She, like dad, had her goodies served to her.  Annette did most of the waitressing if memory serves me correctly.

There, in the photo above, for the world to see is our kerosene portable heater (the blurry object in front of Luke).  We risked death, or at least brain damage, every time we used the thing.  It was Dad's way of keeping a lid on the gas bill. Why turn up the furnace when we could heat the house the old fashion way! It's a wonder any of us survived those winters without constant and reoccurring carbon monoxide poisoning :)

(Maybe we didn't.  The brain damage and memory loss we suspect in each other could well be the result of that heater!)

 Uncle Marvin Mattson with son Luke.  Marvin was my mother's youngest sibling

There is no doubt about it.  Luke and Hallie were the darlings of that Christmas Eve gathering. Lisa and Annette graciously surrendered the title after realizing believers always trump non-believers at Christmas time.

Cindy Mattson with daughter Hallie

Hallie and Luke.

Luke's had enough of all of us, and he wasn't the only one......

I'm wondering if the carpet came that way, or the result of eight kids and hundreds of meals?

Yes indeed, Grandma and Grandpa Liessman joined Luke in a short mid-party nap. It was

either Grandma Mattson's singing or the kerosene fumes that got to them.  I remember they did seem a bit loopy when it was time to wake them up and send them on to their motel.  I worried about Grandpa Leissman driving under the influence of Kerosene, but considering how he drove when he was sober, perhaps the fumes would help.  

Dad (Charles) with the youngest in the family and Grandpa Liessman. I may be mistaken, but there is definitely someone needing his two front teeth for Christmas 1986.  I think Annette was trying to get away while Dad was doing his best to keep her there.  She was acting as a buffer between himself and his stepfather.  We had strict orders NOT to leave him alone with Grandpa Leissman.  Grandpa had a way of droning on with the same stories year after year. It was amazing how long he could pontificate without coming up for air. With Annette between them, Dad could escape to the bathroom (he never went into the kitchen - another story for another time) the moment Grandpa's attention shifted to Annette.    

And so we bid farewell to Christmas Eve 1986.  I was home for the holiday enjoying some family time. It was my fourth year teaching at Central Elementary School in Pleasant Grove, Utah. 

Are your grandparents still alive?  If so, never miss an opportunity to talk to them about their lives.  Ask about their childhood. All they want is a bit of your time.  It would mean so much to them.  I promise you won't regret it when you get older.  

Simply,

Victor