A Parting of Ways
This story is dedicated to the
memory of Emil Koller, who, had he lived only 7 more months would have
been 103 years old on May 7th. Hardly a day goes by that I don't
think of him. I hope he has found plenty of shade to rest in and
has many heavenly companions to share his stories with. This was
the last story that Emil told me, just a few days before he collapsed on
his porch from a heart attack, His memory was still very sharp right
up to the end for when he was telling this story it was as if it had happened
just last week in the town of Morrison.
Emil told me that there
were these three brothers living in Morrison by the name of George, Lewis
and Frank Sklenar. They each had their own house with their parents
living on a farm just east of Morrison across the Long Branch Creek.
The parents had raised cotton out there on that bottom land and Emil said
that they did quite well if their crops didn't flood.
This event occur
long before the flood control dams slowed down the frequency and severity
of the flooding of the Black Bear and Long Branch Creek. Nowadays
you don't hear, "the Bear's out" or "Long Branch is out" as often as you
used to. Back then the creeks overflowed their banks often and would
cover the roads for days, sometimes weeks, at a time.
Such a flood had occur
in early August, 1911. The three Sklenar brothers thought they would
take a walk down to the Long Branch Creek bridge and check on the water
level. The water level had receded enough that the road was clear
to their parents house across the creek. So there the 3 brothers
talked, watching the water and spending the late part of the afternoon.
As sundown was nearing they decided to part. They each had good walk
to go to get back to their separate homes. Emil said that the youngest
brother Frank was single and "thought quite a bit of himself." It
was assumed that Frank was going to cross the bridge and spend the night
with his parents. Because he was single it was something he did from
time to time to "keep the folks company." It was assumed that was
where he was going but they can't be for sure because when they parted,
they never looked back. It was getting dark and they were walking
in different directions soon to be out of sight even if they had looked
back, but they didn't. When the younger brother Frank didn't show
up in town the next day there was no concern. After all, at the bridge
he was already more than half way to his parent's farm and that's probably
where he spent the night they reasoned.
But their reasoning
was wrong. A few days later the water had gone down enough in the
creek to reveal the body of Frank. Alone and in the dark muddy waters
of the Long Branch Creek, Frank Sklenar, age 36, drowned as his two brothers
were walking away and not looking back. I asked Emil where is the
rest of the family now. He replied, "All underground."
Emil told me
that Frank was buried in the southeast corner of the Morrison cemetery.
I didn't find Frank Sklenar's grave until after Emil himself was underground
less than a week after he told me this story. One evening I
decided to visit Emil's grave and to also look for Frank Sklenar's grave
again. I found the grave in southeast corner of the cemetery with
a tree next to the tall tombstone. I look around for his brothers.
I didn't find them. I look for his parents or for any grave with
that same last name. I found none. I wondered if after Frank's death
the family had all moved away and are now buried somewhere else.
I wished that I could ask Emil. He would have known. I wanted to
continue my search but it was starting to get dark and I had to part.
(see related story, next column)----------->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> |
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Waiting on One Another
The previous story reminds me
of a little habit that Morrison teenagers had some years ago. It
happened when a group of us would hang out at the school parking lot late
at night, maybe after a ball game or perhaps a Saturday night after we
had dropped off our dates. We would sit around in our cars or, usually
on top of them or lending on them talking, bragging, carrying on like a
bunch of teenagers that we were. Now when these meeting started it
was already late, sometimes after midnight or later. Finally, when there
were only a couple of cars left, they would decide that the morning sun
or sleep was soon to overtake them and it was time to go. So as one
car started, he wouldn't leave until the other car started. Really,
it was just an act of simple courtesy that most people probably don't think
is necessary anymore with better running cars then we had back then.
I mean some of our cars were junkers and we were pretty hard on them. Still
even a new car can have a dead battery after playing the 8-track tape deck
all night in the school parking lot. No one wanted to be that last
person to leave only to find out that their car wouldn't start..
So when there was that final parting of the ways the last few would at
least look back, just to make sure everyone got going safely, so as not
to be left alone in a dark empty space.
Be sure to visit Dr. Benes's Murder
Mystery home page.
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CATHIE BENES HITS THE
BIG 50
SURPRISE!
Cathie Benes, wife of Kelley
Benes was surprised when friends and family gathered at the Mule Deer Lodge
in Perry to throw her a birthday party. (Note: Some people call the
place the Elk's lodge) Entertainment was provided by the Benes Brothers
Trio until the Kareaokee people asked them to take a break from what they
were calling singing and dancing. Kaitleen Helm would do most of
the dancing that evening and that's not bad considering she is only about
3 years old.
Dozens of people were
there and refreshments and cake was served under the nose of the Mule deer
that the editor beamed his head on trying to retrieve his 4th helpings.
DENNIS MITTASCH'S POTATO CHIP
FACTORY PLAN FAILS
Dennis Mittasch thought
he had a great plan to make a fortune. He accidentally developed
a recipe for potato chips and was looking for investors for a potato chip
factory. The idea came to him on Palm Sunday this year when he was
supposed to be watching the potato casserole for the after church dinner
at the Morrison Christian Church. His wife Glenda should have known
better than to leave Dennis, a man known to have burnt water while trying
to boil it, in charge of a simple cooking task. The color of the
casserole went from a golden brown to an ebony black before being removed
from the oven. Only the sanctity of the occasion saved Dennis from
a worse "chewing out" than what he got. In his defense Dennis pointed
out that the casserole was being eaten in large quantities at the dinner.
However, Glenda was not impressed. "The only person that will eat
your casserole is Clarance Benes and everyone knows that he will eat anything."
Apparently this consumer testing of Dennis's potato casserole/pototo chips
didn't impress potential investors either. Dennis was left with no
choice but to give his special recipe to JOE SINDELAR.
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"Committed
to Reporting MORE than just the Truth!"