The Ram Rebellion(49)
But, anyway. Beryl will be glad to do it. Please drop her a note when you finally know where it will be held.
Your friend,
Inez McDow
Dear Mary Ellen,
Well, Karen and I got the wool thing all worked out, so I'm including this note with the first batch. I think it's enough to get you started.
Have you noticed the huge response to the idea of the League of Women Voters? It's growing by leaps and bounds, and we haven't had the meeting yet! Speaking of the meeting, I've heard that it's going to be at the middle school cafeteria, instead of at city hall. Do hope we can get the location settled soon. I don't know about you, but I can hardly wait for a taste of that Jell-O salad.
Fran and I both think that Jeannie May Glazer should be nominated treasurer, and of course Veleda should be a shoo-in for the post of president, since it was her idea in the first place.
See you soon,
Flo
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Dear Jewell,
I just wanted to thank you again for the wonderful idea of selling Master Mix as a fundraiser for the Home Ec programs. (I know, it's domestic science, and I'm sorry to offend you, but I just can't call it anything beyond Home Ec.)
Anyway, that Polish wheat really does make a difference. My biscuits are lighter than they've been since I ran out of Martha White flour. Thank you so much. And it's going to such a good cause. I'm glad that you are reworking one of the model kitchens to have an icebox, a cast-iron stove, and a pump. Now that some of those new houses are equipped with these items, it really does help to have the students practice on them.
Lolly told me that this year for the joint eighth-grade science and home ec unit, you covered proteins. She was so proud of students learning to measure gluten content in flour by the water-method. I didn't tell her that I learned that method from my grandmother, who had to leave school before she got through sixth grade. She also told me that in the animal protein area, you showed the difference between animal proteins by making gelatin, and then by making meringue and marshmallows. I understand that the chicken and honey taste of the marshmallows was not nearly as bad as it sounds.
Would you be able to donate some marshmallows to the League of Women Voters Luncheon? It's hard to have Jell-O-and-cottage-cheese salad without marshmallows. I'm sure that Mary Ellen Shaver would appreciate some. I do hope the next meeting will be an evening meeting. One o'clock is right at the start of nap time for the children I'm watching.
Your Friend,
Miriam Aossey
My Dear Mrs. Riddle,
May I have the privilege of informing you that Mr. Agustino Nobili has told Mrs. Vivian Nobili and Mrs. Isabella Nobili that the League of Women Voters is a radical socialist organization.
With my most sincere compliments and best wishes for your further prosperity,
Hannelore (Mrs. Gus) Heinzerling
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My Dear Mrs. Heinzerling,
My husband has known Tino Nobili since he was a boy. Tino thought that the John Birch Society was dangerously liberal.
With best wishes,
Veleda (Mrs. Thomas) Riddle
Dear Linda,
Just out of curiosity, where did Hannelore Heinzerling learn to write English?
Veleda
Dear Veleda,
So you got one too? I think she's using an 1883 "epistolary manual" that she found in the rectory. She even uses the style when she leaves me notes about what hymns the priests want me to practice for Sunday.
The book has all sorts of forms. The writer just has to drop a couple of nouns and verbs into the blanks.
Linda
A Night at the Ballet
Kerryn Offord
Hi, my name is Elizabeth Matowski, but everyone calls me Bitty. It's short for itty-bitty. Just like me. I'm what my loving son Joseph calls "vertically challenged." Only the family knows about the Itty-Bitty, but they aren't telling. I have compromising childhood and baby photographs, and they know I'm prepared to use them. I was born several weeks early. Family legend has it I came out running, and haven't slowed down yet.
Apparently, way back when I was five, Mom and Dad left my big brother Joe baby-sitting while they went out. Needless to say, this didn't go down well with a sixteen-year-old male. His girl friend of the moment wanted to go to a ballet recital in Fairmont, and they ended up dragging me along. Joe claims I was a real pain in the butt, but they finally got me quieted down and concentrating on the performance while they did what teenagers do. I was hooked.
For the next few years, until he enlisted, Joe happily transported me three times a week to after-school ballet lessons in Fairmont. I think Dad paying for the gas and his girlfriend living in Fairmont had a lot to do with his attitude.
From that first exposure to the dance, I progressed through the grades, even being a professional for a few years. I met and married Harvey. Then, just as I was starting to realize I would never be a prima ballerina, and was destined to a career stuck in the corps de ballet, I found out I was pregnant with Joel. I took the pregnancy as a sign. It was time to leave professional dancing and move back to Grantville to be near Harvey's and my families.