I see this board started out as a Howard Forum then became an Elk County Forum. Is there anyone else on this board from Longton ? Or could anyone tell me if Longton has such a board? I really enjoy reading all the stories here (especially the good old days). i'm just not real familiar with the names and places in the Howard area. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Carol (aka Nana 02)
I havent lived in the area since 1980 but was back to visit about 10 years ago when I still had family in Longton & my parents were in Howard for about 2 years before moving back to Pineville, Mo to be closer to all of their childern.
Nana02,
Judy Harder is from Longton. I'm sure she will read your post. I'm sure there are some others, but I can't recall them right now.
The reason you see so much about Howard names is because the research that has been done has been from the old Howard and Severy papers. I'm sure eventually we will get to some Longton, Elk Falls, Grenola, and Moline stuff.
Thanks :)
Seems like I went to school with a girl named Robin Harder any relation??
Nana02,
Go to this post and read about Judy
Re: ROLL CALL TO ALL MEMBERS !!!!
« Reply #108
Hi, "Nana 02." (You're going to hearing from Judy soon, I just know that!)
I used to live in Longton, and still go back there a lot and have a genuine interest in the people, the town and all that goes on there. It's pretty much a "life-time" connection, I guess you'd say. My husband and I both graduated from Longton High School, as did our three children, my two sisters and my brother.
Since you were in school when Robin was, you are younger than our children.
Stay tuned in!
here I am!
sorry, I almost didn't come in here before I shut the computer down for the evening.
Yes, my daughter is Robyn Harder. She graduated in 82 I believe.
Don't quote me......but that has to be it......cause my oldest son graduated in 81 and youngest graduated in 84.....so that would be it.
Were you in her class? Glad you are on here.
I don't know of any other Longton-ite on here besides Bonnie.....but then I don't know all the nick names, either.
Welcome aboard and if you have questions I will try to answer them.......you may email me if you would like.
Welcome and Hugs to you......God bless.
Judy
My dad's family (the Zollars) was from Longton. We visited there a lot when I was growing up. We visited the cemetery a lot as a BUNCH of my family and ancestors are buried there. This was followed by a visit to the homestead. Last I new there was still a sign over the gate to the place. I think the Persingers own it now. My mom and dad are buried in what I sarcastically call the swamp down on the nw end. We would also visit my cousins the Jones. I have good memories of the pie at the Longton Cafe and the awesome barbecue and bean feeds at the fair. We went every year when I was growing up. I have tried to get back there since we moved back to the area but have never made it.
nana02 ...
Hey, you can be from anyplace on earth and still be a part of this little forum community. Once you get acquainted, you'll be amazed to find that one girl checks in from New Zealand. I live in Caney. I would dare say that a third of us live elsewhere, but all have some connection to Elk County.
Welcome aboard.
Extremely well put, our Rudy.
It's the little things that touch me, like being called "our Rudy" by Janet.
I had to take off my glasses for a moment. Very nice.
Had to scratch your eyes, huh? It's probably some kind of allergen.
< nof, nod >
That's it.
;)
Yes Judy, it must of been 82 I did not stay to graduate but I would of in 82. Seems like she was just there just a year or two before I left. Seems like maybe she became the step sister??? of Terry Croney? Please correct me if I am wrong. I also have family buried in Longton, my Grandma and my Uncle. Also my G-Mas 1st. husband is buried in Oak Valley. So nice to hear from some of you from the Longton area !
Oh I just went and read the roll call post that someone has suggested, and she is who I remembered ! Now I cant wait to go back to roll call and do alot of reading and catching up! I also remember that where you guys lived at the time (and maybe still do ?) we used to live in that house. It was about a block off of main street and just a few houses down from what i remember being the old Pickett House,( the big white house on the corner with a white board fence around it) I am now back in contact with Darlia Pickett she has moved about 10 miles from where I live now! I know for sure Robyn would remember her!
Hi Nana, I would love to tell Robyn I share the forum with you.........(and others) but, don't remember seeing your name to tell her who you are.
I remember Darla well............they lived almost on the corner.
Yes we were Terry Croney's step-mother and step-sister I also have two boys you might have known too. Bob was a year older than Terry and Robyn and David was almost 2 years behind them.
Had 4 teenagers and boy did they keep me jumping.
Were did you live while here. You know we all remember places by the people who lived in them.
We have the Old Bell place, the house the judge lived in.........well, that is the way it goes.
Tell me more about you when you were here and I will share with Robyn when I talk to her.
Glad you are here.
Hugs and God bless
My name is Carol was Fox is now Baughman I dont remember any street names but when your heading down Main St. you would turn right at( the old Kirtpatrick station ??) we lived about 2 blocks down on the right in the big yellow 2 story house (my Dad painted it that color) I think it was the Berrys that built a brick house just accross the street from it??
Hi Carol.
If you lived where I think you did, the house is empty and the next door neighbor, (Dan Ferguson) uses it for storage.
I didn't know it had been yellow. Now is white.
Seems each day goes by another piece of property goes down here. There are a few nice homes......but just as many that need lots and lots of work.
Still a very nice place to live. If you don't mind slow.........I love slow......LOL.
Glad to have you here.
Judy
I have pictures of it we took 10-12 years ago while we were there it was still yellow then. Maybe I will try to scan them and send it to you. I also went to school with Dan Fergeson & his sister Becky was a grade ahead of me. The house was just this side of what used to be the HUGE pink house that at the time the Kaminskas lived in. It was on same side of street and if you were coming from the gas station it was the one before you got to the HUGE pink one!! It sat right on the corner. Oh landmarks! LOL
I think the huge house that you are talking about is what us kids called the "Gone with the Wind Mansion." My Aunt Alice Busby told me one time that she cleaned that house when she was younger. It had a gorgeous staircase in it. My dad said the hotel that I think just got tore down was quite the thing for awhile. I also remember that where the convenience store is on the highway used to be Roy Crawford's station. He was friends with my dad. We always seemed to have to gas up there.
Carol.. The pink house that use to be the Kaminska's house has been painted white.
Richard and Avanel Rankin own it now. It does look like a "Gone with the Wind" house.
As for your house, it has been a rental for some time now. One time, I looked at the house to rent.
It wasn't in too good of shape then.......and with each renter it just got poorer and poorer.
As for the Mini-Mart........that is Kirk's (Kirkpatrick's) now, but it use to be Crawfords.
I can just hear the older Longtonites reading this ready to tell us what they remember.
Dan and Robyn were good friends and still are.
if I can answer any more questions, let me know.
Judy
I also remember when it was Crawfords station. And yes the house had a beautiful staircase in it. I shouldnt tell this but here goes... LOL I remember when I was probably 5th or 6th grade and that house was empty for a time me & Darlia snuck in it because we always wondered what it looked like inside!! I remember the old Hotel on main street too, such a shame if its been torn down. I also remember the lumber yard when it was owned by I believe Roy Crawfords brother who lived just a few houses behind it. Like I said I have many fond memories of Longton and you guys just keep me remembering more THANKS!! So Judy where at in Longton do you live now?
Carol,
I live at the Longton Housing. Which is apartments for low-income and or disabled people.
When the kids graduated they moved out of the area...........Boy did they move out of the area.
Bob and Robyn enlisted in the army and when they got out....Bob stayed in the Fort Bragg area of North Carolina and Robyn went to Wisconsin with the husband she met in the service.....she has 2 boys 22 and 15.
David, well lets just say he married, his and his wife (who was Lisa Judd) had a little girl...Tosha Rene (23) and they moved to Austin.......They divorced and he wound up in Jacksonville, Florida with a son who should be around 17 now.......but haven't any idea where he or his mother are....I think near there.....but that is another story...
I stayed here and keep up with the town news and attend church and almost all the fair stuff.......and as Arthritic as I am most of the time, I stay quiet.......LOL.....yep I can hear people....just how quiet I am......depends on whether I know you or not........must keep them entertained.........
I haven't much to say about Terry.......He lives up around Kansas City somewhere. His dad and I didn't make it and Terry followed a job.. He has 2 kids, boy and a girl.......and has a second wife.
As for the hotel.........it is falling down........and not fit for humans......no way no how can it be repaired...I think (maybe) this month they will get it condemned and hopefully we can finally get it torn down.
It is now a cat/rat/squirrel and whatever kind of varmits HOTEL.........Yes, it is sad to lose a land mark.....but people must take care or that happens all over.
I keep thinking there are other Longton people reading this forum and maybe after the fair, which is this weekend, they may have time to get on here.
Keep posting.......nice to read about what you all did........(my kids still won't tell me a lot of stuff that they did I didn't know about) probably a good thing, I would most likely have a heart attack.
I did learn something about David a few years ago.
If you were here long enough you most likely got involved with the parties that went on at the Elk Falls, water falls.
One of his friends let it out that at one of those parties he walked across (I mean the very tip top,) of the bridge....Not the railing the iron bars that hold the bridge together.................That is high and believe me when I go over there.........all I can say is "HE DID WHAT??????"
He has always been a monkey and still loves to be on a roof.......
Not me, I want one foot on the ground.........
Oh the joys of mother-hood..I wonder how MY mother survived ME......LOL.
Hugs and God bless........
Judy
I believe that David was a few years younger than me and was in the same class as my sister Mary. I didnt go to any parties at the Falls in Elk Falls. Done all that kinda stuff around Longton running up & down the back roads ! LOL My Aunt was living in the Longton Housing. I think she moved back to Iowa sometime within maybe the past 6 months. You know we all have that "Family" that we have not or choose not to see but once every 20 years or so! So with that said I will tell you her name ... Darlene Gilbert. Also I am related to The Shields, same way as with my Aunt Darlene, they are my Dads sisters. Thom Shields also graduated the class of 82. This is so much fun "catching up" keep it coming everyone I look forward to it!!
Carol, I do know your family........well parts of it.
The neighbors just across the alley is Mrs. Gilberts son and his family....Steve and Della
and when I moved here in 92 the apartment was the one that Mrs Gilbert and her husband had just moved out of.
I really liked Thom Shield.......I am not sure if he was Davids or just between him and Robyn......but I called him one of my boys. Last I heard of him, was probably 15 years ago.
He was a single father.......seems I use to know his wifes name, too, but at the moment my brain is on leave........LOL....really late in the day and it is time to shut my brain down for awhile.
I am heading to a book as soon as I get through reading on the forum..........I just got the last Harry Potter from the library yesterday and will jump into it and hopefully it won't keep me up all night............I may have to read it in one setting.............NOT!!!! I know better not only would my siatica pay me back but the rest of the body wouldn't like it either..LOL.
this is fun...........I just need to figure out when to stop talking........get run away fingers.....if in person it would be run away mouth...LOL....count your blessings..
Hugs and God bless
Me, Thom & Robyn were all in the same class. Yes Thom got a divorce and raised his 3 girls alone up until they were almost teenagers, he then remarried.I think his wifes name was Ruth. His oldest daughter is in the service and has made him a grandparent. The other 2 live some where close to where he is. He has been in Douglas, GA for several years now. He lost his Mom (my Aunt Mary) about 3 years ago. Yes I knew Steve still lived in Longton but...... Yes this is so much fun! Anymore Longton people on here?? ::)
Tongiht I attended the Longton Fair Barbeque and Bean Feed. It was very delicious and all the workers and organizers need to be complimented greatly! It was a lot of fun to listen to the food auction that followed that raises money for the fair association.
But one of the neatest things is that as I was walking through the crowd to my chair--I heard someone say "emptynest". Then it was repeated a little louder and I turned to look. I recognized a lady in our congregation from Longton, and she reached out her hand to say hello.
About that time, I was asked by a lady sitting beside her, if I was " emptynest" on the Elk County Forum and I said yes. It was Judy Harder from Longton!! It was so neat to meet someone I otherwise might not have know. We visited briefly and once again, I thought how
wonderful to have a new circle of friends and acquaintances.
Thank you for speaking up, Judy. and introducing yourself. It's a small world.
That is just an excellent experience! Thanks for sharing it, emptynest, and thanks to Judy for making it possible. What great unexpected fun!
:)
Susan, you are welcome............I too liked meeting someone who shared a
piece of the world with me. It was a good time last night. I ate until I thought I would
burst..(Didn't!) but I didn't eat my ice cream of the night, either...it was all very good.
Again nice to meet you too, Susan......hope we can chat again.
Hugs and God bless.
Buddy Boy, you mentioned that you remember the pie from the Longton Cafe. Was that the one on the east side of the street and then later moved to the west side? My aunt Hope Green Franks Hayden had a cafe there for several years and she made some really great pies!
My aunt Hope Green Franks Hayden had a cafe
I'm sure that Jo and I remember Hope's pies, from restaurants on both side of the streets. Bess (help me out Jo?) and Laura Nichols, and many others also made the most wonderful pies. We were trying to write down how many owners of the "Longton Cafe" we can remember, there have been a lot of them. Longton is very fortunate to have a good Cafe, and a Kindergarten through the 12th grade school system. Brad Kill also has serves food in his bar, and there's a Pizza place, so, we can almost always find something to eat at Longton. Of course, Kay Claytor's Pickle & Pimento lunch meat is my favorite, (from the Longton Grocery Store) so you can tell, we do love to eat! And, if all of those places are closed, Kirk's Mini-Mart is open 7 days a week! (We know those things!)
I keep in touch with Lenora, Hope's daughter. We saw her in Longton over Memorial week-end.
The cafe I remember was on the west side of the street near the grocery store. The other restaurant I remember on our trips was the Wig Wam. I think the people that owned the restaurant at Elk Falls right after the curve had it too. They were the ones that introduced me to chef salads. I used to get so car sick my parents didn't want to feed me much. I guess they figured less input equaled less output. HA! The chef salads seemed to sit better than hamburgers and I felt so grown up not eating hamburgers like a child. Yeah right.
The first owners of the cafe on the west side that I remember the best was Hook and Bonnie Allen...and when Fred and I got married in May of 1947 we left the Longton area but we didn't have enough money to eat anywhere but home.
I would insert a LOL but believe me --- that was not a funny, it was sad and serious.
Hope Green Franks Hayden is Myrna Winn's aunt. This I will tell about Hope and Louie Franks --- we lived just about 3/4 of a mile east of the Greens' farm. I was 5 and Helen was 3 and Hope and Louie got married and ask Mama and Daddy permission to - get this - TAKE HELEN WITH THEM ON THEIR HONEYMOON -- And they did. I have thought of this so often, but Helen was an adorable child [then lol ] and they both just loved her. If my memory serves me right she got homesick and cried quite a lot. Jack and I didn't get asked to go, and I remember that my nose was a little out of joint over that. Helen still keeps in touch with Hope. Now back to the business at hand....I can't be of much help, Bonnie, because as I said, I didn't get to eat out very often and my brain cells have got a bit rusty.
Lots of fond memories of Longton though.
Jo, I've never heard that story before! I'll have to ask Mother about that. Aunt Hope had the cafe (s) probably late 1950's and into the 1960's. After she married Max Hayden, they moved to La Fountain for several years and then to Rose Hill. After he passed away, Lenora moved her to Oxford. She turned 93 this past May. She has been in a nursing home for a number of years and unfortunately, doesn't seem to know us. I still send her goodies at special times during the year and cards, and Mary takes Mother to visit her. Sad isn't it?
Jo, I had never heard the story that Helen went on their honeymoon with them, either! What a deal! And, by the way, it was Bess Harris I was trying to recall who had the cafe in Longton, and was also a good pie maker. If only Virgil Allen was still alive, he could tell us everything about everything, he had a brilliant knack for remembering events and names.
And, by the way, I didn't win the quilt that Velva Hoyt made as a fundraiser for the Fair Association in Longton. Jack wrote and said that Rose Puckett was the lucky winner. Rose is Elmer Cooks daughter, she would be Gladys Jones's granddaughter. Lucky girl!
I remember the Cafe when it was owned by the Nicholes. I remember we used to go in there and get the soft serve icecream.
I also remember the Wig Wam, we put alot of quarters in the juke box and pool table there, oh the Pac-Man too!! I always remembered the grocery store being owned by the Troutmans and the Crowells had one for a short time too.