I wanted to include this post on my blog even though it will not be in chronological order. With health issues I have faced and not having access to my blog for a period of time I am playing catch up. This is a letter I wrote to my family after the Panaca Sesquicentennial Celebration.
Each day since we came home from our family reunion in Caliente and Panaca, I have said,
"Get your letters written Ina", and before I know it, the day is done and the letters aren't.
We had a wonderful time. It was a special time for our family. I wish Craig's family could have been with us, but we were blessed the rest of us could be together.
Young's RV Park in Caliente was a perfect place to stay. It had all of the amenities with full hook ups on spacious sites. It was wonderful that we could all be together surrounding our own little lawn. It was clean and quiet. The restrooms were convenient and clean. A large grassy area was a good area for Ethan, Brexton, Spur and Muggles to run and play. Our little girls, Ryann, Nixin, Presley, Montana, and Harlee, liked it too. Deer came twice a day and we enjoyed seeing a train go by several times each day. Our food was excellent and tasty and everyone did a fantastic job with their contributions. I relished every bite of it.
And then Panaca,what can I say? It was an amazing celebration. It was so well done. Panaca looked beautiful. The Spring looked better than I have seen it look for a long time. It was so much fun having the great grandchildren do the same things my dad did as a child, that my siblings and I did as children, and then we took our children and they took their children (our grandchildren), and they took their children (our great grandchildren), six generations of children swimming in the Spring,climbing the Court Rock, watching the Pioneer Day Parade and eating a delicious breakfast and dinner cooked by townspeople and boy scouts.
Speaking of the parade, this was Panaca's best parade for 50 years, since their 100th birthday parade in 1964. What child doesn't like a parade they can watch up close and personal, especially when everyone who goes by throws them candy and the end has fire engines with flashing lights and screaming sirens?
The statue is beautiful and I was touched by the words inscribed on a plaque describing the strength,courage,sacrifice, and faith, of our Mormon Pioneer Ancestors. Our family brick is great. It was wonderful seeing the Wadsworth name inscribed on a special plaque listing the names of Panaca's early settlers. I loved being honored with a special pin as a living descendant of Panaca's first settlers. The down side of receiving it, I had to be over 80, the up side, I was still here to receive it. However, since I wasn't able to hear what they were saying, thank you Paul and Rhonda for making sure I raised my hand.
The N.J. Wadsworth & Son's General Mercantile Store, now the Panaca Heritage Center, looks fantastic. There is a lot of history in that little store. The collage of pictures Rhonda and I did of my parents,your Granny and Granddad, looks perfect where it is hanging. You immediately see it when you step into the store. That is only fitting as Dad/Granddad ran the store longer than any of the other proprietors. He loved it and I loved it while I was growing up,and I still do. It had to be fun for you to see your Granny's red and white kitchen cabinet there. I could picture in my mind it being covered with donuts rising and waiting to be cooked and I am sure the grandchildren had the same picture in their minds.
The little kids loved playing at Pete and Delores's, so many fun things to do. It is another tradition for them to follow. It was wonderful seeing family and renewing old friendships, with lots of laughs and a few tears shed (happy ones). Traditions are wonderful and I was thinking the only bad thing about staying in Caliente was that we missed hearing the 6:00 A.M. dynamite call on the 24th.
Thank you to the moms, dads, grandmothers, and great grandchildren, for tie dying shirts to wear in Panaca. Great idea, Rhonda, and I appreciate the fact you said you did it for me. The shirts are fantastic, the kids and moms looked adorable (yes,even moms can look adorable). Everyone loved them.
Speaking of shirts, thank you Justin, for buying me my Panaca Sesquicentennial shirt. It is a very special gift. I am glad you heard me say I wanted one. I still have the shirt I got at Panaca's Centennial Celebration.
George and I have the most wonderful, beautiful, amazing, loving, funny, and often weird family we could ever have hoped for. We thank each one of you for making this reunion trip to Panaca the answer to our prayers. It means so much to us that Chris, Allison, and Jenna, love Panaca. We know our little ones do, too.
Thank you for all you did to make it so special for two old folks. You took such good care of us, watched over us, made it easy for us, and shared it with us. You even had a picnic for us at the Spring. We are blessed. We love you so much.
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