A Promise Fulfilled

St. Germanus Catholic Church

Arapahoe, Nebraska

It wasn't so much the shrine itself but the story behind it that brought me to Arapahoe.

During World War II, Fr. Henry Denis, a Polish army chaplain was imprisoned by the Nazis at Buchenwald and Dachau.  The day his number was called for "extermination" he was silently praying the rosary and never heard the call.  His failure to respond was miraculously overlooked.  That is when he promised God that if he survived the "death camps" he would build a shrine to Our Lady.  After the war Fr. Denis was sent to the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska to pastor the churches in Oxford and Arapahoe.  With the help of friends, parishioners, and many members of the community, the Shrine to Our Lady of Fatima was completed in 1956.  Fr. Denis intended that the shrine be a place of healing and peace for those who had endured the hardships of war.

How Do They Know?

Waynesville, North Carolina

Near here was fired the last shot of the Civil War between the States.

The monument was on one person's property while you parked on the neighbor's property.  The street was very narrow (wish I had taken a photo looking down the road) and while there the local water meter guy came buy.  He'd park his car on the road blocking traffic so as to get out and read the water meter. It was a quick back up cut the wheels and gas it for the Little House on the Highway to get out of there.

I am still wondering how they came to think that was the last shot of the war?

Hope he missed.

A Master Woodworker

Harlem, Georgia

I said at the beginning of this Laurel & Hardy Museum series how I was fortunate to find the museum had opened early as the caretaker said he didn't have anything else to do.  That cannot be a correct statement as you shall see.  His name was Gary Russeth and he was an extremely friendly fellow, full of information and loved talking about the museum and much more.  While I had the museum all to myself, eventually another visitor came in.  Surprisingly he was from California also, and even more surprising lived in Berkeley less than an hour from where I live.  A conversation ensued between the three of us which is another whole story in itself, but in the end the three of us wound up going to Gary's house about a mile away from the museum.  While we were there for another purpose, Gary shared his hobby with us.  He is a woodworker on another whole level.  What you see below, are all entirely made from wood (except for the glass and leather upholstery), hand crafted and painted by Gary himself.

As before, these were done with my iPhone which I need to learn to hold more steady in low-light situations.

Yep, he made the pin-ball machines.  I just noticed the still in the background.  Didn't see it at the time.

Laurel & Hardy and those tires are wood too.

Gary's wife Jean.

My fellow Californian with the Albert Einstein hair,  and he so happened to be some mathematician professor or something or other who had an appointment that same morning for a tour of a nearby nuclear facility.  I asked if this tour was at one of those power plants like we have in California.  "No, this is where they make bombs."  

Okay.

Gary with this three dimensional framed piece.  The detailing was incredible.  He wasn't too shy to tell me that someone had written a book about him (copies were for sale back at the museum) "...but I've never read it."  I said he ought to read it and make sure the guy had all the facts straight.  Gary told me that he had never read a book in his life.

Okay.

He did have this honest-to-goodness real metal car that ran and had been used in a couple of movies.

When we returned to the museum, the third visitor for the day arrived.  Care to guess where he was from?  Yep, only in the southern half near Los Angeles.

You can read a bit more about Gary at this site I found on the Internet.  http://www.laurelandhardy.org/harlem.html  Click here for an instant link-up.

Oliver Hardy's Home

Harlem, Georgia

I so wanted to see Oliver Hardy's home but I soon learned it is no longer there.  The local police station takes up the space, which is sort of ironic considering how often Laurel and Hardy got into trouble with the police.  Anyway, here is where the home once stood, behind the police station as indicated by the stone marker (looks like a tree stump) to the left of the Little House on the Highway.

Oliver's father died of a heart attack three days before Thanksgiving when Ollie was but ten months old.  His mother Emily moved the family several times during the next ten years finally settling in Milledgeville, Georgia. The house in Harlem was torn down after they left.  I was 121 years too late.

Emily managed the Baldwin Hotel in Milledgeville and visiting vaudeville troops would stay at the hotel.  Being around these performers is what tweaked Oliver's interest in the business.  In 1918 he left for Hollywood, worked for various studios, met Stan Laurel and the rest is history as one of the greatest comedy teams there ever was making 106 movies together.

Plaque on the side of the police station.  

So little Harlem is making the best of that brief ten months just as even smaller Piqua, Kansas is with Buster Keaton being born there while his parent's travelling vaudeville team passed through town.  And how did the Buster Keaton museum turn out?  I think the ladies did a fine job.

As I look over this picture I instantly see that on just these two walls alone they have more photographs Buster than the much larger Laurel and Hardy museum had of the pair.
But then again, there was so much "stuff".
When I pulled up to the Water Works Department in Piqua, nothing had changed since I was there last, seven months ago.  The lady got up from her desk when she heard the bell on the door tinkle as I opened it.    I thought to myself  Is she one of the ladies who I met back then?  She came forward and immediately said "Oh you were here before."
I'm just one of those unforgettable people...or they just don't get that many visitors.

The Laurel and Hardy Museum

Harlem, Georgia

I had this one picked out from last year so was quite excited when the day arrived that we would be in little Harlem, Georgia.  I arrived a bit early before opening time (well, I was excited remember) and good fortune smiled upon me - it was open.  The gentleman caretaker who was on duty for the day didn't have anything else to do that morning.

Unlike the Buster Keaton museum I saw last fall (you can see that post here at the bottom) this one held a lot of promise judging by the building itself.

Inside I was overwhelmed with vast amount of Laurel and Hardy stuff.  But once looking at it more closely the bulk of it was memorabilia that once was for sale in stores and the like.  Collectibles, figurines, dolls, toys, games, comic books, magazine articles, newspaper clippings, you name it.  Not really that much that was the actual property of the two comedians, or if it was there it was lost to me among all the "stuff".  Another odd feature were the amount of "pictures" which were drawings or paintings done by various artists.

These interior shots were done by my iPhone which I was still struggling to learn how to use correctly.

So like with the Buster Keaton museum, everything that there was to see was in this one room.  Only the room was many times larger and filled with tons more "stuff".  There was an adjoining room which was their theater where they would gladly run any short or movie that you would like to see.  I didn't ask for a private showing as I have many of their short films at home and once started, well I would probably still be there watching them.

Tomorrow we will visit where Oliver Hardy was born.  Also, I stopped by even littler Piqua, Kansas to see how the Buster Keaton museum came out.  

Billie Joe's Bridge?

I was driving along a back road in Mississippi when I found us crossing the Tallahatchie River.  Oh! That could have been the bridge Billie Joe jumped from. (in the Bobbie Gentry song Ode to Billie Joe)  I parked and went back and saw the bridge was not that high.  Kind of hard to end your life here.

Well I did my research and the bridge in the song was at Money, Mississippi.  I was 8 miles north of Money at Philipp.  Also the Money bridge collapsed in 1972 and has since been replaced.

 

And besides, it is just a song.  Here is a picture of Bobbie Gentry on the bridge taken in 1967.

Monday Mural in Oklahoma

Okemah, Oklahoma

I came home with many murals from the South and I didn't know which one to show for Monday Mural.  Having just recently displayed Woody Guthrie Park it seemed only natural to choose the murals at the park. You can see the Woody park post here.

(Well, that was easy)  

On the opposite wall was this mural.  At first I had trouble with those clouds as they looked like something a first grader would have done.  But the more I look at it, well, it kind of grows on you.
The whole mural is sort of amateurish compared to the first one but I like it, clouds and all.

For more murals on Monday Mural go to Oakland Daily Photo

Sunday Signs

Amarillo, Texas

I plan a new segment to my blog, every Sunday show a sign I photographed while touring the South.

Since I did another post of the Cadillac Ranch yesterday, it was only fitting to show this sign situated where you parked your car off the frontage road before hiking in onto the farmer's field.  I thought it amusing a couple individuals went to a lot of effort to tag the sign considering how high it is from the ground.  No doubt a previous sign at a normal level was obliterated in a short time.  And please notice the icicles, I suffered greatly in bringing this to you.  

The sign reminded me of these pictures I had taken while in the field by the Cadillacs.  

I had forgotten about them.   

Yeah, so when you empty your can of spray paint on a Cadillac, just toss your can into the field.  

Everyone does.

I just stood there amazed.  Just what is going through these people's minds anyway?

Cadillac Ranch part 2

Amarillo, Texas

You may recall my post from the road after seeing the "famous" Cadillac Ranch and the disappointment of it all for me (you can see that post here).  Well the fact that it was freezing-ass cold didn't help my disposition at the time any.

 We stayed at the nearby Oasis RV Park where plugged into the electricity I ran the tar out of my heater.  Nice and toasty warm the next morning I fully appreciated the park's take upon the theme.

Well done!

The Smallest City Block in the World

Dothan, Alabama

I am not sure what is needed to qualify as a city block but in this case it seems that a stop sign, two street signs on one post and a yield sign is enough.

Plus room to place a granite marker to signify the fact.

It was a long drive down to the southeast corner of the state to get this one but it was okay as I was trying to out-run a severe thunderstorm threat at the time.  Dothan held a surprise treat for me though, this delightful bronze sculpture a stone's throw from the smallest city block.

Birds disrespectfully pooped on Mrs. Glover's head so I worked on taking a close-up giving Mrs. Glover a better image.  Notice the cat in her lap.  Mr. Glover is showing his wife something from New Gifts for the Garden magazine.  The detail is this piece is amazing.

A Cute Name For a Cute Town

Pine Apple, Alabama

There wasn't much of anything (nothing) on the agenda for the next Town Hall meeting.  

Although the building is small I suspect half the population could attend a meeting.

About the same size (population: 132)  as yesterday's Willington, South Carolina, Pine Apple looked to be in better shape, although I still saw no businesses in operation, only an art studio.  They have Front Porch Tour in the spring taking visitors back to the day when front porches were for socializing and visiting with friends and neighbors. Contrast that with a Hunter Appreciation Day in November.

The hardware was not open and hadn't been for some time.

I could well imagine some of the fine foods that were once served in this cafe,

if this fine signage is any indication.  But that lock had been there for awhile it appeared.

Neat pair of doors.

While there taking this picture, standing off to the side to avoid the selfie image that was all too distracting, I could only think how could a motorcycle shop have prospered here?  Only when doing this post did it dawn on me that it is two separate words for completely different products.  Oh well, I like the name and design anyway.  I see too that I should have done a close-up of the nicely rusted door handle contrasting with the chrome lock.  

Guess I will have to go back and do that.

Sadly, The Sign of These Times

Willington, South Carolina

This was it.  

Up that side street were a few homes and trailers, but that was all that was left of Willington.

This was a common sight in most of all the small towns we passed through.  

If the town was too small for a McDonalds, Walgreen or Dollar General it still was not safe from businesses closing their doors for good.

It seemed like the last business left standing would be a small grocery store (only if the town was remote enough from any larger town) and hair salons.  Ladies always have to have their hair done.

This Park is Your Park, Woody Guthrie

Okemah, Oklahoma

The little town of Okemah had a small park devoted to Woody Guthrie set between two tall buildings.  I was disappointed the light wasn't good for photos but I wasn't about to wait till noon for the sun to shine down upon Woody.  I mean, there wasn't anything at all to do in Okemah, believe me.

Every July the town holds the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival.  

I bet there is a lot to do then.

You too can donate and have your name on a brick of Woody's pedestal.  I never saw Woody perform.  In fact I would not have known about Woody if I hadn't been a Bob Dylan fan.  Maybe in time I would have because of his son Arlo Guthrie.  See his name in with the rest of the Guthrie family?  I did see Arlo perform.  It happened to be the one time he chose not to do his Alice's Restaurant Massacree song.  Was I ever disappointed?  You don't have to ask.

There was this bronze plaque all about Woody set high upon another piece of brickwork.  It was difficult to get a photo of it without it looking like you are reading the opening story line to Star Wars.