HAVE A NICE THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

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We hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!

Was your stuffing tasty? And your turkey plump?
Hope your potatoes and gravy, had nary a lump.
Were your yams delicious and did your pies take the prize?
Now . . . if only the thanksgiving dinner will stay off from your thighs.

Thanksgiving day is everyday

Thanks in my heart and on my lips to God

Humbly having a thankful attitude...

Acknowledging Him for all He has done and is

Never losing the spirit of heartfelt gratitude.

Knowing and telling Him of my appreciation

Shedding all self-reliance, pride, and self-sufficiency...

Giving God all of the glory, honor, and praise

Igniting the soul from the blaze of His grace and generosity.

Voicing my thanks and love of God to Him and to man

Identifying Him as the One from whom all blessings flow....

Nurturing the seed of thanksgiving in my heart

Generating thankfulness in others as I go.

A BEAUTIFUL HOUSE GOING DOWN THE HIGHWAY

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John and Doris Harrell's home

was moved from Paradise to Russell

The house was moved in 1984

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Highway 281 was shut down during the days for about a week.

Then, the house set "somewhere" for several days due to rain.
John and Doris lived in a motel for about a month.

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From Devin . . . . .
"I had told you earlier that I had some pictures for you, and I finally got them scanned in today. These are pics of the Harrell House which used to be up by the Nazarene church, which they moved to Russell when I was pretty young. I don't even know who's house exactly it was, but I'm sure you do. I think the name was John Harrell? As I said, I was very young, but I do remember seeing this happen and I was sad at the time that someone would want to leave Paradise so bad that they would move their entire house with them!!! Also I thought it was such a nice house, I was sad that it would not be in Paradise anymore. But, I definitely thought - now there's something you don't see everyday! A house going down the highway in Kansas! So, here you go. I think my dad took these pics. Have a good weekend! Devin

John & Doris Harrell

1941
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3Doris Harrell 1965
Guess who's wedding!

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6Helen Burger & John Harrell
Late 1990's

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This is one of the cutest photo's

of all of our relatives.

I did this without permission.

(And . . . furthermore, I'm not taking
a chance to ask for permission. Ha!)

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MORE MEMORIES OF THE PAST

Some of these photo's have been on before

but these have names to go with them.

Thanks Devin!

Devin said . . . .

"This picture of the Paradise Cafe is interesting because this was when it was undergoing renovations before opening as the Downtown Diner back in 2001. This building has lots of significance for my family, as it was my aunt Sharon's beauty salon when I was growing up, and before that my uncle Ronnie played here with his band Paradise, which included Gene Angel and Danny Hoisington. Unfortunately the cafe is no longer open.

Devin . . . . .

"Here is another pic of the Paradise Hotel.L to R: Fannie (Benwell) Saum, wife of Walter Jessie Saum, son of Randolph & Mary Saum. In front of Fannie, young Claude Hendershott (later to be known as Kenneth James Marshall) next to grandmother, Mary (Talbert) Saum holding baby brother Everett Winton Hendershott (child behind Mary not identified on photo), Ida May (Saum) & George Edmond Hendershott, parents of Claude & Everett."

"Here is another pic of the Paradise Hotel with other people."

Names? I will get them from Devin.

YOURS TRULY

Our Grandchildren had Grandparents Day

at each of their schools.

This is "Me" from our 3 year old Granddaughter

Do you remember?

When I put the photo's on this blog after the Paradise Reunion

I wrote that in two more years I was going to have to wear darker make-up.

Our Granddaughter has solved the problem.

At least I'm not "bleached out". Right?

And . . . . what an easy "hair-do".
(Cotton balls - fluffy ones at that.)

I think I look rather "chipper".

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Hmmmpphhhhh! I received an e-mail from Dan Hoisington . . . . .

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"I looked at your picture and you sure have gone down hill since I last saw you! Maybe it was the election???

MORE MEMORIES OF PARADISE by DEVIN

I should have found this for a Halloween posting, but I didn't find it until today, while I was reading Devin's blog. Well . . . . at least it isn't Thanksgiving yet.

"My memories of childhood Halloweens are all very fond. Some general things I always remember are going trick-or-treat at my grandparents farm before we would go anywhere else; the smell of candles burning inside jack-o-lanterns, popcorn balls (oh how the old people loved to give those out!), chili, John Angel's birthday, soaping windows, and those yucky wax lips - what were those all about?!?!
Yes, my childhood was quite idyllic and at times even Rockwellian.
As I got older, making the transition from "treat" to "trick" was something I went hog wild with. Paradise may have been a small town, but you could always count on some type of mischief going on in the wee hours of the night on Halloween. It was usually wreaked by an unlikely combination of older kids, a handful of younger ones who had either snuck out or convinced their parents they were simply going out for candy, an old codger or two, and some of the housewives and moms who were bored after their children were in bed. It was always a really fun time and one tradition we always tried to uphold was blocking main street off by hauling so much junk into the middle of the street that people had to take a detour. One time the morning after, people driving down main street were surprised to see a camper that had been pushed out into the middle of the street surrounded by various "junk" items like tires, barrels, and big old pieces of wood.There was always some point in the night when we either became convinced that a Russell County Sheriff was on his way to town, or we were calling them to try and get them to come out! And sometimes they even did.
One year, I had put together a whole bag of junk that I thought I could use for my trickery. Many of the items were unusable, but unfortunately I had brought some Elmer's glue and a lighter. For some reason, I - or perhaps one of my cohorts - decided it was a good idea to glue pieces of tissue to the windows at school, then light them on fire! It was thrilling at the time, but not so fun the next Monday at school when my friends and I had to clean all the windows with putty knives and ammonia, in front of every one's parents (it was a parent-teacher conference day).
Paradise was a really fun town to celebrate Halloween in. Sometimes just for fun, I try to go back and remember all the houses we would go to, and what we would usually receive from the residents of those houses. Halloween was the only time when you got to go around to every one's house and see inside. There were a lot of old people there, and they seemed to love seeing our costumes. They always knew who I was much more then I knew of them."

PHOTO'S OF YESTERYEARS

1st and 2nd Grades
1937-38

Pat said . . . . .

"This is a good pic and has a date by brother Delphan and sister Velma Hoopes is in this picture."








Pat thinks that one of these guys is Joe Kvasnicka.
Any help from someone else?

















Pat said . . . . .

"Vada Dwinelle, Pat Hoopes,
top is Linda Hoopes
two boys ? ? Sue Thompson,
Neva Bartlett, Dennis Albrect
bottom row is Sharon Dwinelle
and Elaine Brown"

The old Church steps.
I think it was Bible school time and don't know the year.
Found this in my box of pictures... Interesting !


PHS girls
Maggie Pooley, Marie Hoskins, Ilah Eden, Louise Dwinelle (my Mother), Nillie Stielow
Alice Hoopes (my Aunt ) Ruth Chesney, Carol Wilcox, Esther Bourn, (became my Aunt who later married Uncle Jim Dwinelle) Edna Brown, Lydia Bartlett,Margaret Marlo , Edith Mellan


This was taken at the Grade school building in Paradise. Don't know the year

Vada (Dwinelle) Krumwiede,
Patty (Hoopes) Preston,
Reva (Bear) Grant,
Dorene (Reich) Chrisler,
Alice (Pfortmiller) Wiggs,
Sundra (Marcotte) Clark

MORE FROM PAT

Pat wrote . . . . .
I know some of these but not all you might not want to use this?

3My sis third one from the left and Sharon Dwinelle second and I think the Houser boy--
Iva, Angela Krob, Diane Anschutz, Lois Runkles, Sue Pfortmiller Rosemary Bashner, Mary lou Miller,----?(Karen Hudnall Heitschmidt Jakub), Sharon Miller, ?, Norma Hutchcraft
Boys-- Jackie Marqotte, Doug Roda, ? Boedecker, Ronnie Thompson, Marvin Runkles, Dennis Albrecht, Alex Thacker, ? Thacker, Thacker, ? Houser. ? and Gail Houser. There is a lot of ? but just can't remember. Pat

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Back row- Marjorie Hoopes ( my Sister) Shirley Cronn, Donna Bear,? Harber. Janith Rodgers, Norma Finch, Mary Pfortmiller ,Thelma Pfortmiller, Harold Eluert,
Front row ? , Ameila Schneider, Betty Dwinelle, Mary Strecker, Carolyn Oswald, Donnie Bridgewater, Forrest White, Glen Hoopes.
Three on the bottom is Wanda Strecker, Rita Bartlett, Shirley ( I think Montgomery) I am sure that's spell wrong..

The little girl on second row first one was from Fairport and for the life of me can not put a name to her. (Miriam Beller) This pic does not have a year either so your guess is good as mine because I have a sis , Brother, and cousin Betty in it and don't know if it is a pep squad or what we didn't have them but don't know what it is ... Pat

VETERANS DAY

November 11, 2008

Will you give this to my Daddy?

I received this
in an e-mail . . . . . . .

Last week I was in Atlanta, Georgia attending a conference. While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen. Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camos. As they began heading to their gate, everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering. When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for, it hit me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only red-blooded American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families. Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal. Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our service men and women, a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and said 'hi.'The little girl then asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her.The young soldier, who didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would try and what did she want to give to her Daddy.. Then suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek. The mother of the little girl, who said her daughter's name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months now. As the mom was explaining how much her daughter Courtney missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up.When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military-looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it. After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney, bent down and said this to her, 'I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you.' He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying 'your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon.'The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet, he saluted Courtney and her mom. I was standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event. As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around, there were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act of selflessness, turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek. We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's good to be an American.

PARADISE DINNER AND BAZAAR

?

I haven't heard from ANYONE since the Paradise Bazaar.
Did anyone take pictures??????

I received an e-mail from Dan Hoisington today . . . . . . .(Nov. 10th).

"You have not received any pics of the Bazaar because there were only 2 people that showed up. They ate 10 turkeys, 15 gallons of green beans, 30# of mashed potatoes and 12 gallons of cranberry fluff. After eating they both went to the bathroom and have not yet emerged.

I could not take pics as I was the designated food transporter from the church to the auditoriam. The Russell paper took several pics and published them."

We do not receive the Russell paper and I can not seem to log on to it for whatever date it was in the paper. Could anyone scan and e-mail or send the photo's from the paper?

HELLO FROM GARY AND JUDY MILLER

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Gary and Judy Miller

2007

We received an email from Gary & Judy Miller in Jan. - 2008.

Actually it was from Judy.

Judy said . . . .

"You have my permission to post the website from Israel giving the explanation that we enjoyed our eleven day trip to Israel in November, 2007. Thank you."

Here is their trip. Enjoy! http://picasaweb.google.com/heir2joy

PHOTOS FROM THE PAST

Paradise High School Football Team

This photo was sent to me from Devin Strecker . . . . . . .

"The pic of the Paradise Football team is sent by my mom's cousin, Bobbie Harrison, who's father was Claude Hendershott. She says: 'Because this photo was among my uncle, Everett Hendershott's collection, I feel that he must be one of the young men in this photo of the school football team. The question is, which one? I haven't been able to recognize him.' Did Paradise High School have yearbooks back then & if so, does anyone have access to them? Devin"

From Vada . . . . .
Picture was taken in the 20's or 30's.
Ray Dwinelle is in the front row, holding the football.
Other players are possibly . . . . . .
Leo Dwinelle; Norman Hutchcraft, Glen Booth, Earl Dodson, Ernest Strecker, Ewing Hutchcraft, Joe Kvasnicka, Dean Miller, Hubert Pfortmiller, George Morrill, and Ronald Hockett.
Perhaps someone else can come up with more names and put them in order??

SPORTS DAY DAY BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

6Dec. 1957 - basketball tournament at Fort Hays State College.
They won top honors.

Front row
Neva Barlett, Alice Pfortmiller,
Reva Bear, Linda Hoopes,
Sharon Dwinelle.
Back row
Creta Spencer,
Sue Pfortmiller, Lois Runkles,
Pat Hoopes, Vada Dwinelle,
Eva Lou Sire

Paradise - 1st place
Russell - 2nd
Great Bend - 3rd
Lyons - 4th

ANOTHER AMAZING PHOTO

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The Year?

Around 1906?

Thank You Pat!

FROSTY WHITE'S DAUGHTER

OK! Since the election is over, I'm posting this.

The girl on the right is Stasha Case.... she is the daughter of Frosty White. Stasha lives in KC and has all her life.

Her cousin, Michele Peterka (Janette's daughter) sent this to me. I got a kick out of it.

Enjoy! Thanks Michele.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCQN9ClIZVM

PODUNK

According to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Main Entry: Po·dunk
Pronunciation: \ˈpō-ˌdəŋk\
Function: noun
Etymology: Podunk - village or locality

: a small, unimportant, and isolated town

http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=266639

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So . . . . Paradise is listed in epodunk.com

They can't tell me that Paradise is a small, unimportant and an isolated town.

No! No! No!

Paradise IS small and a little isolated, but unimportant?

No! No! No!

OUR CHALLENGE

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“We can work arm in arm without seeing eye to eye.”
(Ricky Skaggs on the Mike Huckabee Show)

VOTE - NOV 4TH

I just can not resist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svhq4C9HhUg

Be sure and watch it all the way through - to the end - to the very end.

We hope that each one of you took advantage of your US Citizenship and voted.
We should Vote for the principles that we stand for - for our future, for the future of our loved ones, extended family, for our friends and Vote for OUR COUNTRY.
Vote with your conscience and Vote with conviction.

ELAINE BROWN JACKSON

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Hi, Elaine,
I have been wondering how you have been doing since your accident. I imagine others are wondering also. May I suggest you write an update for the Paradise Educated blog. I'm sure seeing your picture published with various men's quartets will jog people's memories. I hope you have been able to resume your playing.

Your cousin and former music student,
Norma

I am glad Norma sent this. I was thinking about it too after posting the names on the Boys Quartet's photos. Elaine, we do need an update from you. OK?

By the way . . . . as I was going through the yearbooks I was looking at the photo's of the girls ensembles too. I saw two of our blog contributors in several of the photos. Pat and Norma were among others in the ensembles. Pictures will be on the blog at a later time.

GREETINGS FROM WALDO, KS

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Another Neat E-mail

this one from

Carolyn (Finkenbinder) Schultz

Greetings to the Harrell's from a former Waldo resident and a 1960 graduate of Waldo High School. Just found the website and it is absolutely wonderful. Saw lots of familiar faces. Will be a regular viewer.

Who could ever forget THE Paradise quartet of Millard H., Randell W., Van H. and Forrest W. I think my memory is right but then age does have it's drawbacks.

In case you are interested you may want to check out
http://skyways.lib.ks.us/towns/Waldo/

We started the Heritage Room in the Waldo Senior Center (the old school house) about two years ago. At first we simply wanted a place to safely store the school memorabilia but it has grown to the point we are making plans to remove a wall and enlarge the room. Lots of items were donated and/or loaned for display from former businesses and organizations. Many of the items are being displayed in cases and wall units from the former Mitchell Drug Store which closed in 1970. They had been stored in a building south of Lindsborg since the store closed. We have also started a genealogy file which includes obituaries, family, business and organization histories. The main goal is to make sure nobody asks, "Where's Waldo". When you are back in the area give me a call (or e-mail) and I'd be thrilled to meet you in Waldo to open the room.

Again, thanks for a great website. Take care and stay safe.

Carolyn (Finkenbinder) Schultz
Lucas, KS
785-525-6427

Thank You for your e-mail Carolyn. I love to get e-mails like this.
Since you mentioned boys quartets, I decided to find photos of the boys quartets in the Yearbooks that we have. For some reason, we don't have the yearbooks for 55 and 57.
Or . . . . if we do, I can't find them. Does anyone have yearbooks for those years? If so, could you scan the boys quartet photos and send them to me? Thanks!



3Boys Quartet 1959

Arlin Chesney (bass)
Gene Eulert (first tenor)
Eric Harberer (baritone)
Millard Harrell (second tenor)
Elaine Brown (accompanist)



3Boys Quartet 1958

Randall Weller (bass)
Jon Anderson (baritone)
Millard Harrell (second tenor)
Van Hoisington (first tenor)
Elaine Brown (accompanist)








3Boys Quartet 1956

Forrest White (first tenor)
Van Hoisington (second tenor)
Harold Eulert (baritone)
Randall Weller (bass)
Elaine Brown (accompanist)

3Boys Quartet 1954

Ben Howe (Bass)
Harold Eulert (Baritone)
Vernon White (Second Tenor)
Forrest White (First Tenor)






Girls - I will do a series of photo's of you too. These were because of Carolyn's memories.