Frozen in Time

     I made three trips to Ohio while my Grandpa and Grandma Armstrong were alive.  Pictures prove that I was there in 1946, as toddler, although I don't remember that trip.   

Christmas - 1946 
That is me on the far right.

     We went as a family in 1955.  This picture was taken on July 4, 1955 at the reunion.

Family Reunion - July 1955
That's me in the middle row, second form the left.

     In 1966, I traveled east just before my senior year of college. We played a lot of cards and visited relatives.  Grandma passed away in 1967.

Trip during the summer of 1966
Notice the 1955 Reunion picture on the wall.

     In addition to those trips east, my grandparents made a few trips out to California.  
     But in all the pictures my grandfather look remarkably the same. Grandma looks a little older in the 1966.  
     I don't think they aged that much.  But they were getting older.  Grandma passed away a year later and Grandpa passed away in 1971, just prior to my marriage.  I wish my wife and sons could have met them.  But their image is frozen in my mind.

Quite the Host

     On the society page of the Denver Post on Tuesday, February 22, 1910 an article shows Elmer J. Armstrong (my grandfather) as one of the members of the Leisure Hour Club who had been responsible of a party on the previous Saturday evening.  The event could have been in honor of George Washington's birthday which was celebrated on Feb 22.  Elmer J. Armstrong was not an officer yet so the enlisted men had probably been put in charge of the event.
     I don't know exactly when Elmer met Mary Blandford but she lived in the area at that time. The following is a picture of them on an outing but the date was either 1910 or 1911. If they had known each other at the time of the party would Mary Catherine have helped with the plans?  I know that if I was in charge of a party I would have gotten help from Jayme.

Rear left to right: Mary Catherine Blandford, Elmer J. Armstrong, Maud Blandford, Milby Hayes
Front: Bess, Ella B.

     Maud Blandford was Mary Catherine's younger sister.  Milby Hayes was in the Hospital Corps with Elmer.  Milby was another soldier listed in the article above.  Milby Hayes was also a witness at the marriage of Elmer and Mary Catherine in April 23, 1911.  Bess and Ella B. were nieces of Mary Catherine and Maud.
     The article mentions that they served ices.  While trying to figure out what ices were, I found a book online: Ices, And How To Make Them: A Popular Treatise (1900). The overview says  On Cream, Water And Fancy Dessert Ices, Ice Puddings, Mousses, Parfait, Granites, Cooling Cups, Punches.  One can buy the book online, but I don't think I need that book in my collection.  I would guess ices are like ice cream.