Dec 07

Advent–The Christmas Program

Three Wise Men, Christmas program, c2008.

The children’s Christmas program is an annual event at our church. It is a time of pride for parents and grandparents as they get to see their little ones dressed in special Christmas clothes, nervously saying their “pieces” and singing in front of the congregation.

When I was a child our Christmas pageants were usually held on Sunday morning or Sunday evening. We had a rehearsal on the Saturday before the performance. There was a big party in the church basement after the rehearsal and we had food and a gift exchange. It was a lot of fun.

The first Christmas program that I remember participating in was held in our church basement. It may not have been the Christmas program, but it was an event of some sort held during the Advent season. I was about five years old and I sang the 1950s hit, All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth.

I was scared to death to sing in front of people and would never have gotten through that song had it not been for the beautiful pink and blue Teddy bear that our neighbor Cindy had set on top of the upright piano. I focused on that bear and I somehow knew that he would be mine if I could finish the song. I did finish the song and I did get the bear. “Smiley” was my cuddly companion for many years after that.

Memorizing and reciting a Christmas piece has always been a part of our Christmas programs. I was never good at memorizing and worried about saying my verse correctly. I don’t think most children are good at memorizing their pieces. The little ones get a lot of prompting from the Sunday School teachers and the older kids usually just read their parts.

Most Christmas programs include a live nativity (sans animals) and the children play the parts of Mary, Joseph, angels, shepherds and the wise men. The role of Baby Jesus is usually played by a doll baby. I never had the major role of Mary in any of our programs. I was usually just in the background chorus. A few years ago my husband and two other men played the roles of the three wise men. My husband got to wear a fancy robe and crown and carried a gift for Baby Jesus. It was a proud moment for our family to have one of our very own cast in a major Nativity role. [And, yes, I have heard all those “wise men” jokes and chose not to go there.]

Joe as a Wise Man, Christmas Pageant, c2008.

I guess I have always been a Nervous Nellie. When I was young I was anxious about my part in the Christmas program and later I was nervous about our son’s part in the program. He was a spirited, independent and strong-willed little boy and we never knew what he would do in front of a crowd. It did not matter that the crowd was our church family. He had no shame as he rolled around on the floor or ran around the manger. We held our breath until the program was over. Why are the antics of little ones always more amusing when they are not your own children?

When all the characters of the Nativity are all in place the rest of the children usually sing Away In a Manger and Silent Night. The program concludes and the costumes are put away for another year.

 

 

 

 

 

Dec 04

Tombstone Tuesday–Leonard Laverne Kallenberger

Leonard Laverne Kallenberger, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio.

This is the tombstone of Leonard Laverne Kallenberger, located in row 8 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

Leonard Laverne
Son of John & Margra
KALLENBERGER
Sept. 12-Oct. 6, 1944

Leonard Laverne, son of John and Margra (Burkhart) Kallenberger, was born prematurely on 12 September 1944. According to Zion’s church records Leonard was baptized on 13 September 1944 by Agnes Nelson at the Decatur Hospital in Decatur, Indiana. A baptism can be performed by a lay person if an infant is born prematurely and death seems likely. Leonard’s death on 6 October 1944 was due to his premature birth, bowel problems and indigestion. Survivors included his parents, a brother Leon and a sister Anna. He was buried on 8 October.

Obituary:
Hold Services for Infant Son

Funeral services were held Sunday afternoon for the infant son of John A. Kallenberger, at the home, with committal and interment at Zion Lutheran Cemetery immediately afterward. Child was born Sept. 12, and died Oct. 6. Name Leonard Laverne. [1]

 

[1] The Daily Standard, Celina, Ohio, 10 Oct 1944, p.1

 

Nov 30

Plate Charger

Thanksgiving 2012

Charger is a word used for many things. A charger can be:

  • A San Diego football player
  • A Dodge car
  • A battery charger
  • The fictional Transformer named Charger
  • A Prototype light attack and observation aircraft (Convair Charger)
  • An Australian rugby team (Gold Coast Chargers)
  • A medieval war horse
  • A  British term for a clip used in reloading firearms
  • A character in the Left 4 Dead 2 game
  • Me, when I’m shopping with my credit card!
  • Or the large decorative plate supporting the dinner plate that our son Jeff wanted to heap with Thanksgiving Day food.

Wikipedia defines a plate charger as a decorative plate used to fancify a place setting, used for special events. Thanksgiving Day was a special event but I use chargers with my table settings most of the time.

After our Thanksgiving dinner our son wondered why we hadn’t eaten from the nice large plate on the bottom of the place setting. I told him that it was just for decoration and that it was called a charger. He had never heard of a plate called a charger before. I guess I must have started using chargers under my dinner plates after he left home.

The above photo is what my table looked like for last week’s Thanksgiving Day dinner. I keep both of our tables set at all times and I change the place settings with the seasons. This works for us because we hardly ever eat at the table, but usually eat at our breakfast counter instead.

Besides having nice looking tables there is another reason I keep both our tables set, appearing as though we are ready for company at all times.

Both our dinette and dining room tables used to attract stuff. A lot of stuff. Mail, my purse, magazines, books, papers and a lot of other clutter used to pile up on those tables. They were a mess all the time and I just could not keep things from piling up.

Then I got the brilliant idea to keep the tables set at all time. If the tables are set I don’t put stuff on them. Both tables are completely set with chargers, salad and regular plates, silverware, glasses and a centerpiece. The tables no longer provide horizontal storage for our stuff and they look great. It is also fun to collect decorative plates and change them with the seasons.

Christmas 2012 with charger.

Charger plates, sometimes called underplates or chop plates, have been around since the 1800s but became popular again in the 1990s. They are strictly decorative and not meant to eat food from. My Thanksgiving chargers had a label on the back that cautioned against eating from them. That was what caught our son’s eye and made him wonder why such a nice large plate was on the table, yet could not be used to eat off of.

The word charger comes from the 13th century word chargeur, something whose role is to load. Chargers were once large platters or shallow plates for liquids. They were also used to protect the hands and tablecloth from a hot plate. One would hold the charger instead of the hot plate.

Chargers now come in a variety of materials, colors and prices. Most of my chargers are plastic but they are also available in wood, metal, glass, leather, wicker and other materials. Chargers can be made from toxic substances since food is not eaten from them.

The charger plate should complement the dinner plate and is usually 2-3 inches larger than the dinner plate. I like the layered look that I get by using a charger.

Charger etiquette says that chargers should be on the table when guests are seated. The chargers can remain on the table throughout all the courses, as a base for the various bowls and plates used for each course. But the charger should be removed for the dessert course.

My bad. I did not realize that on Thanksgiving Day and put the pumpkin pie plate directly on the charger. I’ll know better than to do that ever again.

This blog post, telling the history of the plate charger, is for you, Jeff. Now you know what a plate charger is and how it got its name.

This year’s Thanksgiving dinner was special because it included our future daughter-in-law. Jeff and Erin will be married tomorrow. I wish the best for both of you.

 

Source of information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charger_%28table_setting%29

 

Nov 27

Tombstone Tuesday–Margra E. & John Kallenberger

Margra & John Kallenberger, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio.

This is the tombstone of John and Margra Kallenberger, located in row 7 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

KALLENBERGER
Margra E.
1910-1983
John
1910-1995

According to the records of Zion Lutheran Church, Chattanooga, Johann Andres Kallenberger was born 5 October 1910 to Michael and Maggie (Rueck Miller) Kallenberger. He was baptized 6 November 1910 and his sponsors were his maternal aunt and uncle, Johann and Carolina Müller/Miller. He was confirmed at Zion on 5 April 1925 by Rev. J.E. Albrecht.

John married Margra Esther Burkhart at Zion on 25 August 1936 with Clara Fern Caffee and Paul Eugene Caffee as witnesses. Their marriage record states that John was from Willshire and Margra was from Monroe, Indiana. Note that the church records give a different marriage date than John’s obituary. John died 18 May 1995 and Margra died 8 May 1983.

John Kallenberger confirmation, 1925.

Obituaries:

Willshire Woman Dies
Margra E. Kallenberger, 73, R. 1, Willshire, died Sunday morning at Bradley Memorial Hospital, Cleveland, Tenn.

She was born March 18, 1910, in Adams County, Ind., the daughter of Edward and Georgie (Martin) Burkhart. She was married to John Kallenberger, who survives.

Also surviving are three sons, Leon A., Vancouver, Wash., Waldo, Cincinnati, and Jerome L., R. 1, Willshire; a daughter, Mrs. Paul (Anna Louise) Smeltzer, Cleveland, Tenn.; a sister, Mrs. Bessie Myers, R. 2, Ohio City; a brother, Donald Burkhart, Geneva, Ind.; and 14 grandchildren.

Three sisters and four brothers are deceased.

Mrs. Kallenberger at one time had been employed at the former Smith Nursing Home, Rockford. She was a member of St. John Lutheran Church, Hopewell Township.

Services will be held Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Zwick-Boltz & John Funeral Home, Decatur, Ind. The Rev. Robert Carter will officiate and burial will be in Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga.

Friends may call at the funeral home after 2 p.m. Tuesday.  All aforementioned times are Indiana time. [1]

John Kallenberger
John A. Kallenberger, 84, Willshire, died at 1:20 p.m. Thursday at Van Wert Manor Nursing Home, where he had been a patient for two weeks.

He was born Oct. 5, 1910, in Mercer County, to Michael J. and Margaret (Miller) Kallenberger. On Aug. 11, 1975, [sic] [should be 1936] he married Margra E. Burkhart, who died May 8, 1983.

Survivors are a daughter, Anna Louise Smeltzer, Cleveland, Tenn.; three sons, Leon A., Vancouver, Wash., Waldo, Cincinnati, and Jerome L., Mendon; 14 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.

Deceased are a brother and a sister.

Mr. Kallenberger retired in 1936 [sic] [should be 1975] after working 22 years at Central Soya. He was a member of St. John Lutheran Church in Hopewell Township.

Private family services will be held at a later date.

Zwick-Sefton & Jahn Funeral Home, Decatur, Ind., is handling arrangements. [2] 

 

[1] The Daily Standard, Celina, Ohio, 9 May 1983, p.3.
[2] The Daily Standard, Celina, Ohio, 19 May 1995, p. 5A.

 

Nov 23

My Genealogy Wish List

I hope all of you had a nice Thanksgiving Day with your families. We have so much to be thankful for.

We had a nice dinner with my mom, our son and his very soon-to-be bride. It was our first Thanksgiving without my dad and we miss him.

The Bennett Thanksgiving dinner will be tomorrow. They combine the Thanksgiving feast with Ohio State football and tomorrow’s game with Michigan is probably the biggest game of the season. Go Bucks!

According to the big stack of store ads that came with Wednesday’s newspaper, we have now moved to next phase of the holiday season–Black Friday Christmas shopping. This year several stores started their sales early, on Thanksgiving Day.

We went shopping on Black Friday twice, as Joe would say–the first and last time. There usually isn’t anything we want bad enough to fight the crowds and this year is no exception. We are staying home to work around the house and prepare for tomorrow’s family dinner.

But I have been thinking about my Christmas shopping. I have already started asking family members for gift ideas and wish lists.

I have my own ongoing wish list. This list isn’t a Christmas list and it doesn’t involve acquiring things. It centers around discovering certain facts about my family history. It is My Genealogy Wish List. The list really hasn’t changed much over the years and I don’t know if I will ever get all answers.

On My Genealogy Wish List I would like to discover:

  • When Isaac Huey died and where he is buried.
  • Who were Jackson and Mary Ann (Martin) Brewster’s parents.
  • Who were Nicholas Headington’s parents.
  • When did Louis Breuninger immigrate.
  • Why did Louis Breuninger move to Atlanta for a couple years right after the Civil War.
  • Who were Maria Sekel’s parents.
  • When did the Ruecks immigrate.

I could make the list longer, but these are the questions for which I would most like to find answers. I’ll keep plugging away and maybe someday the questions on My Genealogy Wish List will be answered.