I FORGOT MRS.GUNN

     Last edition we mentioned some piano teachers we remembered but we knew there were more.
     JonWilson, BHS-62, wrote, "Mrs. Gunn taught piano in the basement of the church across from the library. I have forgotten the church name....maybe Central Christian Church? My mother wanted me to play the piano but I have NO aptitude for it. All I remember was her striking her cane on the floor to try and teach me tempo or something. All it did was make me nervous. All I can play is the radio." 
     The Kornerman says, "the Presbyterian Church is across from the Library. The Central Christian is a block north of that."
     In the same edition the Kornerman remembered Wally Pratt, BHS-55, as a fine organist.
     To that, Loren Frazier, BHS-58, replied, "As you indicated, Wally Pratt did play piano at a restaurant in  the Okoboji area. I  don't know how long he worked there but I do know that he worked at Red's restaurant in Arnolds Park during the summer of 1958 as I also worked at Arnolds Park that summer, at Fillenwarth Beach Resort. In fact, Wally and I both "boarded" at a ladies home in Arnolds Park that summer. I got a bed, on a small, enclosed front porch, and breakfast for $7.00 a week. That was quite a bargain as I made the grand amount of $1.00 an hour, working a 44 hour week at the resort. My 1958 classmate and current Boone historian, Ed Mondt, also worked at Reds that summer."
K-----K
     Curtis Dale Cox, BHS-63, says, "vaping back in my day was.........Vicks VapoRub."
K-----K
     The Kornerman received a letter all the way from California......Riverside to be exact.
     Max Moore, BHS-46, enclosed a clipping from the Los Angeles Times newspaper.
     There was one huge picture and two smaller ones contained in a very nice story titled, "Still planting seeds, 119 years later" and a sub-head, "Iowans in Long Beach seek out other transplants to keep annual picnic going."
      The Kornerman says, "many times in the Korner we've written about the Boone celebration in California and the annual Iowa celebration in California."
      The story Max sent has a big picture of a gentleman taking a picture of a friend beside a replica of "American Gothic" on the main deck of the battleship Iowa where the Iowa celebration took place. The smaller pictures were of a lady singing the "Iowa Corn Song" with a group and a former Iowa resident pointing out his Hawkeye state hometown on a map.
     That latest Iowa celebration in California took place August 17.
     Despite the fact the celebration, which attracted tens of thousands every year through the first half of the 20th century, has struggled to draw crowds the last 35 years it has continued. There were just over 150 attendees this year and one lady helping boil corn on the cob commented, "there's too many of us here to let it just disappear. It'll go on forever."
     The five-hour event featured a blues band and barbecue luncheon and "lots of visiting about "back home.""
     One attendee said, "I had no idea why so many drivers kept blasting their horn at me when I first visited Long Beach in 1968. I finally figured it out. Those honkers were fellow Iowans who noticed the Hawkeye State license plate on my Volkswagen Bug."
     So many Iowans located in the Long Beach area over the years that eventually it was called,"Iowa by the Sea."
K-----K
     BOONE CONNECTED DEATHS: Elsie Kirkendall DeMouth, 95, Des Moines. Born in Ogden. Grew up in Boone. Married Wayne DeMouth in 1943. Survivors include a daughter and two sisters-in-law including Doris Wickman of Boone.........Viola Williams, 86, Boone. Born in Ogden. Married Loyde Williams in Boone in 1950. Was a homemaker and also did maintenance work at the Adobe and Munson taverns in Boone. Survivors include two daughters, Ruby Elsberry and Marcella Pennington, of Boone, a son, four sisters, daughter-in-law, Linda Williams, and sister-in-law Janice Earll both of Ogden.........LaVerne "Vernie" Holmberg, 77, Boone. Born in Boone. BHS-60. Married Barbra Mudge in 1965. Worked at Quinn's for 38 years. Survivors include his wife and brothers, Marvin and Melvin Holmberg, all of Boone. Two daughters, Deb Thornburg of Boone and Doreen Munson of Ogden, also survive as do his sister-in-law Pat Ellsbury and brother-in-law, Ron Mudge.........Dwight Hollingsworth, 66, Woodward. Boone survivor is a daughter, Rachel Beckett..........Timothy Johnson, 73, Formerly of Boone and Ogden. Born in Ogden. Graduated from Wentworth Military Academy in 1964. Spent 11 years as an Iowa National Guardsman. Farmed but then moved to Texas and was an insurance agent until retirement. Married Eileen Portwood in 2000. After retirement, did some remodeling of hotel rooms for Hilton Inns, worked at Ball Plastics in Ames and owned and operated E.J. Cleaning and Painting. Survivors include his wife, Eileen, of Ames, a son and two daughters, Lisa Porter of Boone and Joan Lingren of Ogden...........Owen Kliegl, 97, Madrid.
K-----K
     Worldwide Korner headquarters are located at 928 South Jackson, Boone, Iowa 50036-4932. Phone number is 515-432-1530. To email your stories/memories/comments........
kelleyskorner1@gmail.com.