Gene Bay oral history interview, part 1.

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    Jeanne Bay
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    thank you very much for agreeing
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    to doing an interview for
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    P.H. US Prestatyn Historical
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    Society.
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    I'm going to probably do most
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    of the interviewing in a chronological
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    fashion but that doesn't mean that
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    we can't go in other directions at any time
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    they the. We want to
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    salary to start.
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    Tell me about your family
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    and about growing up on a dairy farm in
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    Maryland.
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    Well.
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    My father and mother of course
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    had one brother older
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    four years older than.
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    Me.
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    And my
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    recollections of my childhood are
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    very happy ones.
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    My parents were really
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    great parents.
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    My mother was a little bit strict
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    but very loving
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    my father and mother had purchased
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    a corner of my grandfather's
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    farm and built their homes there
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    and built it in the.
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    Depression era.
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    1930s or so.
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    And then sometime
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    early on when I was a child
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    they say purchased the
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    farm from my grandfather so then
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    my parents
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    owned the farm.
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    But my father originally had a
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    business milk transportation.
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    He had a truck which he
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    big truck he ran around
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    and gathered up all the milk cans from
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    all dairy farmers
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    and took them into the dairy
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    in Baltimore.
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    He actually had two trucks he had
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    and another one that somebody else
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    around.
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    So his
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    day started early in the morning
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    and he would then
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    get home mid
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    afternoon or so so we had a
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    tenant farmer who actually did
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    most of the work although once
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    my father got home he would be going off
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    and pitching well
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    my mother was a homemaker.
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    Entire life after
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    she married she worked for
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    and long before she married
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    and I
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    remember her as
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    we always had a big garden
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    grow our own food.
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    And we had
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    hogs and beef cattle on
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    the farm as well as the dairy so we
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    practically everything
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    except something she had to
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    buy a store big
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    huge garden
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    and as a child
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    I always remember I was
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    always dragooned into
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    helping hold the peas
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    and the volume of beans.
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    I hated that sort of stuff.
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    So I I couldn't wait to
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    get old enough I could actually begin
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    to help out on the farm.
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    And my earliest recollections
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    of that were back in the days when we
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    still had threshing machines
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    and my grandfather
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    would would
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    run the horses pull
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    the Puli on this thing
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    and I would trade traipse
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    along behind him
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    and carry the single trees
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    back when it come back.
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    That was my earliest recollection
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    of that
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    and then gradually
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    I began to assume some
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    small possibilities on the farm.
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    I remember
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    we had mules recently
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    before we had a tractor
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    and I remember driving
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    the mules to break hay
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    and that sort of thing.
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    And gradually as I got older when
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    we've got more modern equipment
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    tractor combine baler
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    had tractors and John Deere
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    one of the early John Deere two cylinders.
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    Moline Illinois.
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    Yes
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    and remember our neighbors all made
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    fun of us because they all had farm halls
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    which are four
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    cylinders or more
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    and old to somebody would putt putt
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    putt putt putt and a half it's
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    fun and it's funny today
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    is that John Deere is the only company that
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    I think is now left
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    a those companies.
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    So for
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    H Club was a was a big
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    factor in my
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    life.
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    More important than the church actually
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    as I was growing up.
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    So I became a for each at age 10
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    which is one year. I think you could become
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    a four inch from my first project was
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    chickens and.
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    And then
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    and then
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    and next year I think we
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    got into I
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    had my first calf
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    exhibit at the fair
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    not very successfully the animal
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    wasn't a very good animal actually.
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    And I remember
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    our veterinarian told my father
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    you've got to get you've got to get Eugene
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    a decent animal to take.
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    To show
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    and so that's when it started.
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    Tonight we've got
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    bigger animals and.
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    A big factor maybe jumping
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    ahead too much Bill here
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    but
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    back in those days.
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    Dairy judging.
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    Was important.
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    This was before
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    the era of DNA
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    and gene manipulation
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    and all that kind of thing so
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    judging animals had a practical
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    aspect to it
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    to determine both.
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    The quality of production
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    and longevity
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    and.
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    Maryland had a great tradition
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    of dairy judging teams
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    forage judging teams so
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    I got involved in that
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    over the years gradually
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    learn what it was all about
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    and eventually by the time I was
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    a senior in high school like
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    I had been on the county
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    team that won the state
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    contest
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    and then there were 10 of us who.
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    Were.
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    Engaged in a week long
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    practice
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    four of whom would be
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    chosen to be on the Maryland State
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    team to go to the national show in
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    Iowa.
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    I was selected as one of the four
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    and we went to Iowa
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    and we won the contest there which
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    enabled us to win
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    the trip to England to
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    participate in the Royal Show
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    in an international contest.
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    I'm telling you this is
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    as part of the
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    of the experience you had
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    to not only that you had
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    a class of four animals
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    and you would have to rank them as
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    which was better than expected so
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    forth.
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    But you normally have to do that.
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    You had to stand before.
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    Judges who were the experts
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    and you had to tell them why
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    you did this.
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    And in about two minutes
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    time
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    either that or you had to write it.
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    Sometimes they were written reasons sometimes
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    there are.
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    And I really credit that
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    experience for teaching
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    me to say things
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    concisely
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    and to know what I want to say
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    and get it said that
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    and then be done
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    with it.
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    And there were
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    times when I would have it
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    all wrong
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    and so gruff old man
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    who has had to sit
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    there and stare at us
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    and actually listen to me he'd say.
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    Well now go back
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    and look at that class of cows again
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    and come back and tell me what you see.
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    So it was
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    but it was a great experience
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    for each was
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    an enormous part of my growing up
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    where it was in England
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    with England where Newcastle
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    Newcastle the Royal
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    Show.
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    The tradition in those years was the Royal
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    Show moved every year
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    so that in his lifetime
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    a farmer would have the ability
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    to walk to the shop was
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    what was said.
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    I
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    think that's no longer the case
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    but that was true then
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    that was as I recall Newcastle's
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    coal country is night
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    and it is this
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    that was really exciting most exciting
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    because it was probably the first time that
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    with the possibility of care that you've been out of country
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    first time first time on an aeroplane
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    in 1956 1957
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    and as a result you are winning
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    the international contest.
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    We received that trophy from the queen
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    mother and Margaret
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    Princess Margaret
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    probably one of the series.
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    Well let me take let me take you back
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    a little bit.
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    Let me ask you first about your herd.
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    Was it heritage or.
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    Your father's dairy herd.
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    Was it with Holsteins
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    or Gert's.
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    It was it was mixed
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    but we were we were trending toward
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    a pure bred heirship
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    herd
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    and I would say about half
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    of our herd was purebred Archer
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    or a mixture guernseys
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    and Holsteins.
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    So
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    and how large was it.
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    We had about 50
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    max 50 milking
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    cows
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    and so were you
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    involved with.
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    We were you involved basically
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    with the transition.
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    I mean with your father having been in the
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    milk business literally cottage
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    business you going
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    from looking by hand to
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    the parlour.
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    What did that happen.
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    I mean I can't tell you that
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    Bill I my recollection
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    I do remember
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    my grandfather milking by hand
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    but pretty early
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    on we had milking machines
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    and so you you have
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    the parlor and then you've got another
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    part. We had
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    the animals were all in
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    a stanchions standing alone
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    and we just moved the
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    milk.
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    Container from one to the other
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    and poured out the milk in
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    it and there it was put into a
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    tanks takes as it was still
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    no cancelling can.
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    Yeah okay.
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    Still can't see us
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    and we.
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    During my my life
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    on the farm.
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    We never did go to bulk
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    tank.
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    In fact that was what
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    drove my father out of the transportation
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    business. He was in his
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    early mid 50s I guess
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    and farmers were all going
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    to tanks
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    and he said I've got to go buy this
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    new tank truck
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    and I'm not gonna get my money back
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    I'm just going to get out of the business so we
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    get the business at that point.
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    Now you are what 37
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    37 37 OK so
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    so
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    what county in Maryland Baltimore
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    Baltimore Baltimore.
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    The city is
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    not too far in
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    the northern part.
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    We were only three miles south of the Mason-Dixon
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    line.
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    But early on when
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    I was really before I began
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    to work on the farm I would often times
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    especially on Saturdays
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    and go
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    with my father like ride in the
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    truck into the
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    into the dairy when he delivered the milking.
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    And there was this.
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    I can't remember.
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    That's OK.
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    Maybe a day.
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    Yeah.
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    But it's what I
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    remember is good.
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    There was always free chocolate milk
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    free chocolate milk
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    and then when I went I got big
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    enough to do it and that wasn't very long.
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    Really.
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    I could I could help my father
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    on the way back by
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    getting in the back of the truck
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    and taking the empty cans out
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    and re delivering
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    them to the farm.
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    Did you market any in Pennsylvania.
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    No we don't.
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    So let me say this and I was like
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    yeah.
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    Siblings how
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    many just one brother.
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    Four years older.
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    Four years older.
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    We.
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    We were terribly close.
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    Of course he was 4 years old
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    or so all his friends were I
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    mean all of them mine.
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    There are times that you wanted to tag along
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    with him and he didn't want you.
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    Yeah there was.
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    There were those times
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    and they weren't. I mean we we did
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    some things together mean we
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    were both engaged in some sports
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    activities and we did that
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    we both for a time belong to the demon
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    lay organization
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    and
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    the best thing about that was we had a good softball
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    team and it was play going on
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    that same time.
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    But he you know he was he was always
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    ahead of me and I was still in
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    junior high. He was in high school
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    and then.
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    He was off to college in the military.
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    Actually where
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    do you go to college.
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    He went to the University of Maryland
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    College Park College Park
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    and have
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    majored in.
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    Something in our culture I don't think it
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    was dairy husbandry
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    but anyway isn't
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    he at school.
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    Did your parents ever compare you
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    with him in any way.
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    Because he wasn't a
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    his name was Walter.
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    My mother was Walter.
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    Carol she called him until her dying
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    day.
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    He soon wanted to be called Walt
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    which he was
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    and which I later called him.
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    Been I would say no.
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    If anything in later
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    years my mother would compare him
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    unfavorably with me
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    because I was more attentive to her.
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    Yes.
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    So where did you go to school
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    with your kids you 12
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    right.
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    Consolidated School.
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    Marilyn had consolidated schools.
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    All white all
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    waspish.
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    I don't remember ever knowing
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    a Jewish person
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    or any African-American
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    children.
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    We had we had one
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    African-American man who
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    did some work for us on the farm
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    and
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    I'm ashamed to say it was
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    you know south of the Mason-Dixon line
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    and I remember very well
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    that he did not eat at
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    the same table that we
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    that my mother fed
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    him at the kitchen table for lunch.
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    But I was always instructed to call
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    him Mr. Cordray.
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    So I went to the Seventh
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    District consolidated school.
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    Through
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    seventh or eighth grade
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    and then
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    I went to Sparks High School for
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    one year until the new
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    Hereford High School was built
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    which was really
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    a school that serviced
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    a large part of the northern part
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    of Baltimore County.
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    And
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    my memories of that are
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    good.
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    You know I'm not sure that it was a first
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    rate education
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    but teachers who.
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    Cared.
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    And who obviously knew
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    all of us me our class
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    size was pretty small I think our
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    graduating high school class was only
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    85 or 90.
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    So teachers knew everybody.
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    And I had some I had some very
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    fine teachers especially in high school.
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    Do you remember what were your favorite subjects.
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    Well I always gravitated
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    was okayed in math early on
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    after I got to the
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    trigonometry and calculus that was
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    I wasn't very good at math
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    but more the
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    social sciences.
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    I mean I ended up majoring in history in college.
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    So I was always interested
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    in history geography
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    that sort of thing.
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    Let
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    me go back a little bit.
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    You see all of this periodically.
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    You talked about your mother being
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    very strict in some ways
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    what weighs
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    oh she was very traditional
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    in terms of
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    alcohol for example.
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    My father smoked like a chimney.
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    Ultimately killed him.
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    But you know it was just it was
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    you were expected to behave in certain
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    ways you are expected to be
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    respectful of adults
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    I would have gotten
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    I would have gotten a whipping had she heard
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    me curse
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    and
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    I got a few of those over the over the
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    years especially
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    when I was caught smoking as a
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    kid.
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    I hope.
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    So but I would say a fairly
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    traditional my mother
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    or father were both very
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    involved in the church.
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    The church
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    was about 15 miles from where
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    we lived
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    and it's much closer
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    to where my father had grown up.
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    And so he and his family
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    had long been associated
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    with the church. So there was never any question
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    I think that we were going to be members
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    of that Presbyterian Church.
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    But it meant that I didn't
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    participate at all
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    in youth activities because there was always
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    that 15 mile drive
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    on Sunday evenings
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    and we had the farm chores
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    and that sort of thing
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    with the kids going to school
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    with either. No that's right.
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    There was a different different group.
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    But every Sunday was we were
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    in worship every Sunday.
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    Now my father wasn't always
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    because he was working.
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    But when he was off which he
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    was occasionally why he was in church
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    when he was a crusty Hogger
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    my mother was an elder.
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    So in
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    Sunday school teacher she was
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    she said something scoopers
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    so she was playing a major role
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    in church she did yeah.
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    She oh
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    you mentioned
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    that in this interview
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    but your your brother was never really
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    lavish praise
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    or affection.
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    But there was no doubt we were loved
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    cared for
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    and we were made news.
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    Now you know there is always
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    there is always food on
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    the table. There was always
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    she expected us to do
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    well in school.
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    She read to us as children.
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    And she knew she was there she was there
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    all the time she was there.
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    You also said she was really
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    great cook. Yeah you are
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    lovely. What were your favorite dishes
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    that you.
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    Oh that ones I remember I think
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    particularly on Sundays usually it was
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    fried chicken
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    but everything was good
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    and you know
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    breakfast was always
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    and it wasn't cereal it was
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    something to cook breakfast every morning
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    before we went to school.
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    See the pancakes
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    or eggs
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    or whatever
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    but it wasn't just cereal
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    yeah you had a hot breakfast.
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    Yeah yeah yeah.
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    Yeah.
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    In terms of the relationship between your
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    mother and father who ran the household.
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    That's a good question.
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    Well I think my mother did
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    in some ways my father didn't
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    some I think financially
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    I think my father did all of
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    that.
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    I don't remember my mother
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    at that time writing checks
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    or any of doing any.
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    She did grocery shopping Nacho.
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    Yes she did.
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    Yeah it was you go to do that.
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    Well I'm one of them.
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    One of the local stores when
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    when we needed to shop I mean most.
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    You know a lot of her stuff she can't.
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    And then later on when freezer's
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    came into being we had a
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    huge freezer so
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    it wasn't my recollection is
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    there wasn't a lot of grocery shopping
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    but there was there was a store.
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    A small grocery store only
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    about a mile or so from our
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    place.
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    How could they.
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    How would you characterize your father's
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    personality.
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    He was
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    he was quiet.
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    Had a great wit
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    who loved to tease
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    but very
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    a very
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    caring person
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    and someone that people
  • speaker
    looked up to a lot.
  • speaker
    One of my early childhood memories is
  • speaker
    when one of our our elderly
  • speaker
    neighbors
  • speaker
    was missing.
  • speaker
    And I remember
  • speaker
    my father
  • speaker
    being part of the search
  • speaker
    team that went out looking for
  • speaker
    him finally found him.
  • speaker
    He had hung himself actually
  • speaker
    but I remember seeing my father.
  • speaker
    Come back
  • speaker
    and put his arms around the children
  • speaker
    and just kind of
  • speaker
    take charge
  • speaker
    and console them
  • speaker
    so he I mean he
  • speaker
    he he he he never
  • speaker
    graduated high school.
  • speaker
    He left high
  • speaker
    school.
  • speaker
    He said he had to do it to earn money for his
  • speaker
    family which we always
  • speaker
    questioned whether that was true
  • speaker
    or not.
  • speaker
    But
  • speaker
    but he was a pretty smart guy
  • speaker
    and you know he is pretty shrewd
  • speaker
    business person.
  • speaker
    That's also a period of time
  • speaker
    when many people
  • speaker
    with the cause. That's right.
  • speaker
    And there are a lot of people who are
  • speaker
    very smart that go right
  • speaker
    one way or the other doesn't matter what gender no
  • speaker
    straight and
  • speaker
    but there was an expectation
  • speaker
    early on that both of
  • speaker
    those boys were going to go to college.
  • speaker
    When you were taking
  • speaker
    out for entertainment you did something really fun
  • speaker
    vacations.
  • speaker
    Would that be work
  • speaker
    or just something simple we
  • speaker
    and get ice cream. What kinds of things
  • speaker
    did you look forward to.
  • speaker
    Go to the movies
  • speaker
    occasionally
  • speaker
    and
  • speaker
    with the days when movies as
  • speaker
    often had cereals.
  • speaker
    One kind or another just crab
  • speaker
    whatever it.
  • speaker
    And it would test
  • speaker
    my parents to say oh we got to go back next
  • speaker
    week which isn't always deliver.
  • speaker
    But go to the movies.
  • speaker
    The big thing family.
  • speaker
    Family was a big thing.
  • speaker
    A lot of our family live close by.
  • speaker
    Both sets of grandparents
  • speaker
    were within one
  • speaker
    live right next door
  • speaker
    and the other one was maybe five
  • speaker
    or six miles away.
  • speaker
    So I grew up knowing
  • speaker
    and being loved by
  • speaker
    all of my grandparents.
  • speaker
    But there are also abundant
  • speaker
    aunts and uncles
  • speaker
    and cousins around something
  • speaker
    that you know isn't the case to take
  • speaker
    all.
  • speaker
    So there were there were family gatherings
  • speaker
    always Thanksgiving
  • speaker
    Christmas New Year's
  • speaker
    but also in the summertime.
  • speaker
    So I think that's what
  • speaker
    I remember more in terms of entertaining
  • speaker
    just be family times
  • speaker
    and games that would be
  • speaker
    played with we had.
  • speaker
    We had a big front lawn which lent
  • speaker
    itself to all kinds of
  • speaker
    kids games.
  • speaker
    The is the neighbor we
  • speaker
    did.
  • speaker
    We did.
  • speaker
    And a number
  • speaker
    of them were
  • speaker
    were poor children from
  • speaker
    either working on some
  • speaker
    of the farms nearby.
  • speaker
    I remember when we
  • speaker
    we didn't often get big snowstorms
  • speaker
    but occasionally would
  • speaker
    and the kids had
  • speaker
    had sleds
  • speaker
    and some of the neighbor kids would
  • speaker
    come with an old piece of
  • speaker
    roofing tin
  • speaker
    but their roofing tin.
  • speaker
    Went faster than our sled.
  • speaker
    So
  • speaker
    then there was like a dog.
  • speaker
    Can we use your picture
  • speaker
    for your piece that you could have
  • speaker
    actually you know kind of thing.
  • speaker
    Forth.
  • speaker
    You said you said that
  • speaker
    you really would you rather play
  • speaker
    the softball team.
  • speaker
    How about other kinds of sports.
  • speaker
    I played I played varsity
  • speaker
    basketball in high school
  • speaker
    position.
  • speaker
    I was a guard. I wasn't I wasn't very good.
  • speaker
    I was kind of a sixth man
  • speaker
    is still today the two unshod
  • speaker
    know not so much
  • speaker
    yeah one shot.
  • speaker
    So I did that
  • speaker
    and I didn't
  • speaker
    play soccer
  • speaker
    or baseball because
  • speaker
    again part of that part of
  • speaker
    the deal was there were farmwork
  • speaker
    to do when you got home
  • speaker
    and
  • speaker
    also part of my recollection Bill is
  • speaker
    always that long bus rides
  • speaker
    high school I had an hour bus ride
  • speaker
    to and from school
  • speaker
    a lot. So later on when all
  • speaker
    the busing controversy occurred.
  • speaker
    I didn't have a lot of sympathy for people
  • speaker
    who were grousing about
  • speaker
    the kids busing across town.
  • speaker
    So yeah that's
  • speaker
    that was pretty much it
  • speaker
    did.
  • speaker
    Did you did you
  • speaker
    did your parents your have particular take
  • speaker
    you to any professional sport.
  • speaker
    Yes. Which ones.
  • speaker
    Well early on Baltimore
  • speaker
    had a triple AA
  • speaker
    baseball team
  • speaker
    and National League International League.
  • speaker
    And we would go that
  • speaker
    he would take me to those
  • speaker
    games.
  • speaker
    And I remember even one
  • speaker
    year there was an exhibition game
  • speaker
    with the Brooklyn Dodgers before spring
  • speaker
    and spring training.
  • speaker
    I remember seeing Jackie
  • speaker
    Robinson play
  • speaker
    that is about it my grandfather
  • speaker
    Bay there
  • speaker
    was like a
  • speaker
    I don't know him whether it was a class D
  • speaker
    baseball team in Jarrett's
  • speaker
    field which was near where
  • speaker
    he lived.
  • speaker
    He would occasionally take me to.
  • speaker
    To see those
  • speaker
    and then there was a there was a pretty good
  • speaker
    softball men's softball
  • speaker
    league
  • speaker
    that I would go to occasionally
  • speaker
    in Japan
  • speaker
    with my father.
  • speaker
    But I just find myself
  • speaker
    getting there and enjoying that a lot.
  • speaker
    So I would do that kind of thing.
  • speaker
    The Orioles came to
  • speaker
    Vollmar 54 54.
  • speaker
    Right.
  • speaker
    So
  • speaker
    of course the Colts came from Texas
  • speaker
    earlier than that.
  • speaker
    Not much. Right.
  • speaker
    And then maybe a year earlier.
  • speaker
    Did you get to Washington to see the
  • speaker
    horrible senators.
  • speaker
    Yes and the Redskins yes
  • speaker
    not the Redskins.
  • speaker
    But the senators
  • speaker
    and I think that may have been connected
  • speaker
    with the annual
  • speaker
    for each.
  • speaker
    There was a big gathering of four
  • speaker
    teachers at College Park every year.
  • speaker
    And I think a year
  • speaker
    or so we may have combined that
  • speaker
    with going into the Senators game somehow
  • speaker
    did it.
  • speaker
    Do you recall your
  • speaker
    we all would have been it would have been in
  • speaker
    the 50s.
  • speaker
    So there were people like
  • speaker
    and Mickey Vernon
  • speaker
    and people like that.
  • speaker
    Yes.
  • speaker
    Yeah.
  • speaker
    Yes.
  • speaker
    Yeah.
  • speaker
    So
  • speaker
    the first time you went into
  • speaker
    a stadium like that
  • speaker
    and just live the field
  • speaker
    to think like London
  • speaker
    that's just curious of.
  • speaker
    Radio-Television would
  • speaker
    be your first.
  • speaker
    I think probably.
  • speaker
    The first thing you would probably read have
  • speaker
    with the radio.
  • speaker
    Oh yeah well we
  • speaker
    didn't have tell my mother father didn't
  • speaker
    buy television until I left for college.
  • speaker
    My mother was insistent that it was going to
  • speaker
    interfere with school work
  • speaker
    so she's got it right.
  • speaker
    So I went to college Jean
  • speaker
    in 55
  • speaker
    and there was no television in our home.
  • speaker
    And part of that
  • speaker
    was radio
  • speaker
    and I yeah I remember all
  • speaker
    the
  • speaker
    15 minute shows
  • speaker
    that came on around four
  • speaker
    and to have to come home from school
  • speaker
    and listen to.
  • speaker
    These various shows.
  • speaker
    You know gave all of you
  • speaker
    here.
  • speaker
    Yeah.
  • speaker
    LONE RANGER Yeah yeah.
  • speaker
    RANGER Yeah.
  • speaker
    And that was sort of a family
  • speaker
    activity. I mean that's.
  • speaker
    Did you remember your parents sitting was
  • speaker
    you got some.
  • speaker
    Yes oh yes definitely.
  • speaker
    Is there a third hour before
  • speaker
    or after dinner.
  • speaker
    Well I don't remember that exactly.
  • speaker
    I remember that before
  • speaker
    dinner hour was these 15 minute
  • speaker
    kind of shows.
  • speaker
    One after another.
  • speaker
    And so it must have been
  • speaker
    I suspect it was after dinner that
  • speaker
    the news broadcasts around
  • speaker
    the advertisers thinking
  • speaker
    oh some of it some of the jingles
  • speaker
    that I can't remember I can't recall any
  • speaker
    downgrade.
  • speaker
    I mean things like silver dust
  • speaker
    really just
  • speaker
    period. It's kind of interesting
  • speaker
    so you really were
  • speaker
    not influenced by television at all
  • speaker
    you know until you went off to
  • speaker
    Twitter right.
  • speaker
    Yeah.
  • speaker
    How old were you when you learn how to drive.
  • speaker
    Oh probably 14
  • speaker
    or 15.
  • speaker
    I'm doing driving the track.
  • speaker
    I was right on track before that.
  • speaker
    Right.
  • speaker
    And so you did the beginning of the
  • speaker
    rant.
  • speaker
    The idea pretty well
  • speaker
    when you first started
  • speaker
    retractor
  • speaker
    I would guess 13
  • speaker
    or 14 something like that.
  • speaker
    Yeah
  • speaker
    that would just be the whole thing is there.
  • speaker
    Oh I.
  • speaker
    As I say especially as I grew
  • speaker
    into high school on Saturdays
  • speaker
    I would be
  • speaker
    taking them and Hershberger out spreading
  • speaker
    the manure
  • speaker
    and
  • speaker
    but I would.
  • speaker
    I would.
  • speaker
    I would do things like
  • speaker
    Heru the ground
  • speaker
    and cultivate
  • speaker
    the young corn you know
  • speaker
    you of the plowing
  • speaker
    and just getting. I didn't.
  • speaker
    I don't recall doing any plowing
  • speaker
    but skiing
  • speaker
    and harrowing
  • speaker
    and cultivating
  • speaker
    corn.
  • speaker
    I remember doing two things
  • speaker
    I mean you have hayfields.
  • speaker
    Oh yes.
  • speaker
    I'm interested how many times
  • speaker
    in a year you get a really good year when
  • speaker
    you cut 3 3
  • speaker
    3. That will be a wet summer right.
  • speaker
    Three cuttings of alfalfa.
  • speaker
    Only two of clover
  • speaker
    clover
  • speaker
    and
  • speaker
    yeah.
  • speaker
    Usually you know cut to
  • speaker
    jobs of stacking
  • speaker
    the hay bales on the wagon
  • speaker
    and then into the mouth
  • speaker
    and so forth although I remember
  • speaker
    months before we had bales that
  • speaker
    I remember doing the loose hay that
  • speaker
    big tongs
  • speaker
    that take it off the road.
  • speaker
    So you'd be playing what was the cornfields
  • speaker
    or what would you be planning
  • speaker
    well we had we had corn barley
  • speaker
    wheat oats
  • speaker
    Felfe alfalfa
  • speaker
    soybeans were not.
  • speaker
    No no this was
  • speaker
    mostly it was feed for the
  • speaker
    cattle to keep
  • speaker
    the
  • speaker
    the animals right.
  • speaker
    Yeah. Yeah.
  • speaker
    Yeah. Support
  • speaker
    with her
  • speaker
    and the times that were
  • speaker
    rehears
  • speaker
    years that you remember where did rain a lot
  • speaker
    or
  • speaker
    when the price of milk was not
  • speaker
    good er you know
  • speaker
    also in the early fifties when the margin
  • speaker
    folks came in
  • speaker
    and you know I'm
  • speaker
    sure you're I suspect
  • speaker
    these your parents if your father complained
  • speaker
    about you know
  • speaker
    you had a cold and didn't mind the colour of the margarine
  • speaker
    and
  • speaker
    well I do remember that I remember
  • speaker
    the colours in the margin
  • speaker
    margarine.
  • speaker
    I I don't remember Bill what
  • speaker
    happened to that particular issue for us
  • speaker
    call that.
  • speaker
    No I mean it is always
  • speaker
    it's. Always sort of a trick
  • speaker
    to monitor the weather
  • speaker
    and know when to cut the hay so it wouldn't
  • speaker
    get rained on and sit out in the field
  • speaker
    and mould red sort of thing.
  • speaker
    But that's that's
  • speaker
    kind of what I remember
  • speaker
    what what kind of cars did you have.
  • speaker
    Makes Pontiacs
  • speaker
    and Buicks.
  • speaker
    See you give it away.
  • speaker
    Yeah.
  • speaker
    Yeah.
  • speaker
    My father's trucks were international
  • speaker
    those Chicago
  • speaker
    could have been rich.
  • speaker
    Right.
  • speaker
    So you've been
  • speaker
    taking any long trips that
  • speaker
    are only our only vacations
  • speaker
    were occasional
  • speaker
    one day excursion to the
  • speaker
    Chesapeake Bay
  • speaker
    when we would leave in the middle
  • speaker
    of the night.
  • speaker
    And drive to the Chesapeake Bay
  • speaker
    and we would
  • speaker
    have a boat to take us out for
  • speaker
    holiday fishing trip.
  • speaker
    So did you do a lot of fishing
  • speaker
    at home. No mosquitoes no.
  • speaker
    So this is this was really this was
  • speaker
    so this will be the time
  • speaker
    and you have seafood
  • speaker
    well we won't have seafood.
  • speaker
    You're still pretty close.
  • speaker
    Yeah. No we wouldn't we would have
  • speaker
    seafood.
  • speaker
    Mother would make crab cakes
  • speaker
    and imperial crab
  • speaker
    and I didn't eat
  • speaker
    oysters at the time
  • speaker
    but my I've with my father
  • speaker
    and mother had oysters
  • speaker
    up as a special occasion that would
  • speaker
    be Thanksgiving as an appetizer
  • speaker
    or something like that.
  • speaker
    And fish that
  • speaker
    are ready for this escalation of
  • speaker
    maybe 40 miles
  • speaker
    I guess
  • speaker
    of
  • speaker
    so I salute
  • speaker
    you did not record until
  • speaker
    after college after college.
  • speaker
    Yeah is like television that would
  • speaker
    interfere with reputation.
  • speaker
    Well in those days was to permit
  • speaker
    students to have hours on campus
  • speaker
    unless you had a special need
  • speaker
    which I didn't have
  • speaker
    was it that you said he was
  • speaker
    14 or 15 when you first learned
  • speaker
    to drive actually have a car.
  • speaker
    What did you do July 16.
  • speaker
    SIXTEEN.
  • speaker
    So.
  • speaker
    Was that a big deal.
  • speaker
    In what ways.
  • speaker
    Oh I was just you know coming of age
  • speaker
    and freedom freedom
  • speaker
    and having yeah right.
  • speaker
    And although it was it
  • speaker
    was a family car so
  • speaker
    you know it's hard to stay.
  • speaker
    Well let me ask you some other questions
  • speaker
    of what
  • speaker
    was going on around you.
  • speaker
    You
  • speaker
    are a child of the Depression
  • speaker
    and in the sense that you were born during the latter
  • speaker
    part of the Depression.
  • speaker
    Where are your parents
  • speaker
    particularly influenced by that depression
  • speaker
    era.
  • speaker
    Can you see that
  • speaker
    and how they
  • speaker
    how they acted in
  • speaker
    them about their opinions
  • speaker
    and so forth.
  • speaker
    Well I certainly know that they were not
  • speaker
    big spenders.
  • speaker
    I mean they were very careful
  • speaker
    in terms of.
  • speaker
    We did not spend money unnecessarily.
  • speaker
    I mean what was bought
  • speaker
    with what was needed clothes we wore
  • speaker
    the gadgets we had.
  • speaker
    And that sort of things.
  • speaker
    So in that sense
  • speaker
    yes.
  • speaker
    What was what was
  • speaker
    remarkable and I never remember talking
  • speaker
    to my parents about this
  • speaker
    but they built this homes
  • speaker
    and I grew up in a
  • speaker
    two story brick home
  • speaker
    with four bedrooms on the second floor
  • speaker
    and
  • speaker
    it was a pretty substantial
  • speaker
    house they built that during
  • speaker
    the Depression.
  • speaker
    So I had assumed that that
  • speaker
    my father's
  • speaker
    milk transportation business was
  • speaker
    sufficient enough that they had
  • speaker
    the income to do that.
  • speaker
    And then I remember in World War Two
  • speaker
    because of his business he had
  • speaker
    one of those stickers that allowed
  • speaker
    him to buy gas every day because
  • speaker
    he had to fill up the truck every
  • speaker
    day.
  • speaker
    And I think he had a
  • speaker
    tier in gas
  • speaker
    or something like that.
  • speaker
    The man who knows what
  • speaker
    he do.
  • speaker
    So I remember
  • speaker
    that
  • speaker
    and I think they were just
  • speaker
    they were just they
  • speaker
    were mindful of dollar

In collections

Details
Title

Gene Bay oral history interview, part 1.

Creator

Marshall, William J. (interviewer)
Bay, Eugene Cooper, 1937- (interviewee)

Date

2018
January 23-24, 2018

Type of resource

sound recording-nonmusical

Genre

interviews
oral histories
sound recordings

Form

born digital

Extent

0.415 GB (1 WAV file)

Language

English

Subject names

Bay, Eugene Cooper, 1937-

Geographic subjects

North and Central America--United States--Pennsylvania----Delaware----Newtown Square

Rights status

Contact repository for more information

Note

Recorded on January 23-24 at Gene Bay's residence in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

Physical location

ARCHIVES 18-0209; Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, PA

Related item

Gene Bay oral history interview, 2018.--http://prestohost68.inmagic.com/Presto/content/Detail.aspx?ctID=Y2RiNWNk...

Identifier (local)

DR-100_0002-01

PID (Persistent Identifier)

islandora:116237

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