Peter Lewans Family in 1947

Larry found this photo at the

Grand Coteau Heritage and Cultural Centre website 

at least 2 years ago.   I think I've published it before here, 

but it's more relevant now ☺.  

Dad and the Future

Whenever I see this photo, (the original snapshot is about 2" X 3") I  think, yup, that's Curly. There's nothing written on the back, of course, so I'm not positive.

  The fields behind him look like the Janson fields west of the farm yard, and that means this was 1947 or 48.  

He was home from the war, where he'd been a mechanic.  He was newly married and realized Dimey and Queenie, his team of horses, was being replaced by tractors, starting with this one.  At least temporarily, he had good soil to work with before they moved to the sandy Mayhew Lake farm.  He looks like he has the world by the tail, don't you think?

Who was that man?

For years, I Thought I knew who all three of these people were.  The photo was taken in September 1947, the day dad's sister Fronie Hesch married Leo Karasch.  I've always imagined the wedding reception was held at the Karasch farm by the river, where Aunt Fronie and Uncle Leo lived all the years they were married, but it was more likely held at her parents' farm, east of Royalton.  (Maybe someone will let me know).  
The man on the left is my mom's dad, Anton Janson.  He would have been there as a relative by marriage.  
I thought the man in the middle might have been Anton's brother Wendelin, or maybe Sebastian, but my Janson relatives don't think so. 
Might he have been Leo's relative?  Mike Karasch (Leo's dad) had died the summer before, in 1946, so it's not him, either.


Any educated guesses?

The 1947 Morrison County Fair

My mother detested a certain kind of music because of the Morrison County Fair in the summer of 1947.  If you're familiar with how Little Falls was set up in those years, you know that the fair grounds were just east of St Gabriels Hospital.  Mom was there having Lois, and the smell of fried food and the incessant carnival music right outside her open window nearly drove her nuts, she said...lol  CLICK HERE for a sample.


(Not to worry--the fairgrounds have moved east of town, and the hospital has air conditioning now ☺)

"Comes the dawn"!

Flipping thru those recently scanned photos again... It's a real advantage to see them enlarged on the screen here, because the originals are so small. This way, details show up!


This photo was certainly taken the day Lois was baptized in 1947...the kneeling woman is Marie Wintermeyer, and Gramma Lizzy Hesch is behind her in the hat and white apron.  Irene Kulig is farther back, between the cars.  The house is the Janson farm house, and the drama in the pic concerns the little boy, who'd been sitting on that potty only moments before.   Mom wrote on the back that "the little boy wouldn't stay on the potty long enough to take a picture" ☺.

Who were these people?

At Aunt Eileens party, I brought a copy of this pic, and she knew WHO the mystery people were.
Left to right: (adults) Vernie (Sand) Wintermeyer, Anton Hesch,  Irene (Hesch) Kulig, Elizabeth (Sand) Hesch (in back, with the hat), Eileen (Muyers) Hesch, Henry Hesch, Matt Hesch, Mike Hesch, Marie Wintermeyer, John Wintermeyer, and Anton Janson.
The girls are Bev and Carol Hesch, and the boy is probably Irene's son.
TaaDaa!  One more photo, ID'd!

Aunt Eileen

My sister Lois was baptized in August, 1947, and these are her godparents pictured that day: dad's brother Matt and his wife Eileen (Muyres) Hesch.  Matt died in 1984, but Aunt Eileen will celebrate her 90th birthday on Sunday.  It's a SURPRIZE party, so if you call her, don't blow it!

O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O

It was a GREAT party--and a total surprise. 

Happy 90th to a pretty wonderful aunt!