Constancy of Home

Manassa is a small community just one mile square. Growing up in Manassa was wonderful because our ward was something I could count on. The church was a place I went to worship together with my family, but it was also someplace that we went to enjoy our extended family and our neighbors. Fast Sunday, we would gather fast offerings. We attended Primary, Sunday School, Mutual, and Scouts together.

The old two story chapel is the backdrop for our family picture that appears on the Dunn BLOG. I remember how the basement would fill with water in the summer when the irrigation water was brought into town and the surface water level would rise. That chapel wasn't big enough to hold all of the church activities so we also had a Relief Society building, an opera building, a scout building and a Bishop's building. Eventually, we got a new building and we worked together as a ward and community to raise the funds and to build the building.

It wasn't the buildings that held the ward together, it was the people. The Bishop that I associate with my childhood is Donald J. Jarvies. His counselors that I remember were Boyd Brady and Tommy Rogers. They were all kind men. Don Knight was our scout master. I don't believe we appreciated him as we should have. He put a lot of effort into teaching us and preparing us for manhood. Cletus Gilleland was the bishop when I was getting ready to go on a mission. Denny Harmsen was my seminary teacher. Marilyn Harmsen and Lena Sowards were my piano teachers.

Neighbors in Manassa had a part in supporting each other in raising children. I remember milking cows for Dorothy and Shelton Sowards. We were grateful for that opportunity. The neighbors helped us put siding and roofing on our home in Manassa before Mom and Dad returned from their mission. When Dad passed away, Dion Jarvies called me and gave me the news and consoled me. I knew without a doubt that she cared for our family.

More than anything, I am grateful for the extended family in Manassa. The aunts, Elma, Doris, Hazel, Ethtel, Ruth, and Frances were all available to help us. Uncles Elmer and Edgar Dunn were my home teaching companions. They both set wonderful examples for me. I grew up with cousins that I loved and respected. Jack, Laraine, Pat and Mary Lyne were good friends.

The roots that I put down in Manassa are strong roots. I am grateful for my home town, my home ward and for the foundation built there for me.

Bread and Milk

When in my youth I liked one of the simple things in life -- bread and milk. We lived in a rural area where some of the people in our immediate vicinity kept milk cows. The Haslett family had some dairy cows. The Sowards family also had milk cows. Grandpa Dunn had milk cows too.

We would receive milk that we purchased or milk where traded labor instead of money. Kent and Donnie were the ones that did the work the most when we bartered labor for milk. I do remember distinctly having warm milk just after it had come from the cow. A pail of milk would be extracted from the cow and we could keep a portion of the milk. The milk would be strained through a linen cloth. If cream was desired then we would depend on gravity separation of the milk. The milk would be placed in the refrigerator and then the cream would be skimmed from the top.



Baked bread is something that is not done in our home much. When I was younger I remember having fresh home baked bread. My favorite type of bread was a fairly heavy bread. Warm bread with butter and jelly was delicious.



I have had many glasses of milk and bread topped with a bit of sugar. The ritual was to take slices of bread (fresh bread was the best), and break them into bite size morsels. The bread was placed piece by piece into a tall tumbler. On top of the broken bread was placed a spoonful of sugar. The last ingredient was the milk, which was poured into the tumbler until the milk was just at the brim. A long handle spoon was used to extract the savory morsels of sweetened bread. I have not had this for decades, but I still cherish the thought of when we had a ready supply of milk from the cows and fresh baked bread. Now I settle for milk from a plastic jug and cookies that are prepared in a factory in some far away city.

Grandpa Bingham--62 years ago

Today is the 62nd anniversary of the day my dad died. It is really hard for me to even think of that time. In June Arlo and I drove him to Alamosa to enter the hospital as he was having surgery the next morning to repair a hernia.

We went to Ruth and Bill's and had supper and then went to a movie. He had the surgery and there were complications. He had pains from adhesions from a former surgery. They operated to remove the scars, but that was not successful either. He developed a bowel obstruction and it progressed to the point that it burst.

The day he died, Keith sent a telegram that he had been released from the Navy and was on his way home. We tried to find him, but were not successful. Some of the aunts and uncles met every bus and train that came into Alamosa. He was home in time to go to the funeral.

We no longer had a home and Keith wanted to buy back the farm and take the four (Leon, Barbara, LaRue and Doris Faye), to raise them. He didn''t have the means to do that. After the funeral, Leon went to Farmington, New Mexico, Barbara went with Ethel and Don, to California, LaRue stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Dunn. Doris Faye went home with Arlo and me. Keith went to Los Alamos, New Mexico and lived with his friend Bud Richarson. He found work and remained there to marry Erma Rae and to raise his family.

The years go by, but the facts don't change that there was no place to go home again. After a year Leon went to Grandma and Grandpa Dunn's home. After 6 years Doris Faye also went to Grandma and Grandpa's home. Barbara was the last one to go to Grandma and Grandpa's home. All of them graduated from Manassa High School. I will forever be thankful to Grandma and Grandpa Dunn. They were a great blessing to us.

Establishing a Home

When Arlo and I got married, we didn't have a home. For a time we were here and there. We lived in a little 3 room house of Isabel's. Then we moved in with Grandma Vance. We live in a room of Charles and June Vance. That is where we lived when Dad died and Doris Faye came to live with us.

Then he got a job with Ed Guymon and we lived there until Don, Kent and Bonnie were born. Arlo quit his job with Ed and we moved in with Grandma Vance again for a season. We then moved to a farm between Sanford and Bountiful. Arlo worked for a Gyling. We lived there for one year.

The next year we moved to the house North West of Romeo. That is where Larry was born. That year there were a lot of things. Donnie had rheumatic fever, Arlo had a bad disc in his back and was in the hospital in Grand Junction for about a month, then was moved to Denver where he had back surgery.

While he was in the hospital, I moved us to manassa. We lived in Lucille Jackson's house, a block West of Grandma Dunn. We lived there until we bought our first home of our own. That was the one across the street from Maggie Weston.

From there we bought the house on 3rd street. That was our final home. We lived there until after Arlo died and I moved to Mesa. Things were never the same after that. There didn't seem to be a gathering place for all of us again. Eventho I own a home now, it doesn't seem to be a gathering place as I would like it to be.

Bonnie Lynn

When Bonnie was born, we still lived at Guymon's place. I went from the hospital to Grandma Dunn's for a few days. I told Grandma that Bonnie had red hair, but she didn't think so. It took a while for it to show, but it was surely red. We were so happy to get a girl to go with our two sons. She has always been a very pleasant and loving person. She is a great blessing for me.