348 Ravens

Dorothy Marie Bair

2011-02-22T23:45:00.002-06:00

I found this on Sunday night while looking for Bair's and Edwards' listed in cemeteries around Decatur.

Birth: Apr. 18, 1905
Death: Apr. 22, 1908

Dorothy Marie Blair (Bair) died at 3 o'clock Wednesday afternoon at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Bair, six miles west of Decatur. She was 3 years old. Her death was caused by spinal meningitis. Besides her parents she leaves two brothers, Harold and Dean Bair.

The Decatur Review (Decatur, IL), Thursday Evening, April 23, 1908

Burial:
Sharon Cemetery
Decatur
Macon County
Illinois, USA

All information taken from Find A Grave

Harold Jerome Bair

2011-02-21T23:45:00.000-06:00

Here is more information about Harold J Bair, who shares a gravestone with his sister Dorothy. I believe Harold is the little guy in this picture:

Birth: Jul. 25, 1903
Death: Jun. 6, 1916

Harold Jerome Bair, little son of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel E. Bair, living six miles west of Decatur, died at 6 0'clock Tuesday morning at the Decatur and Macon County hospital. He was thirteen years old. The boy was brought to the hospital Monday suffering from appendicitis. An operation was performed in the hope of saving his life, but peritonitis had set in and the operation came too late.Harold attended the Union school. He was an unusually bright boy and had just been promoted this spring to the ninth grade. He was fond of reading and always saved his books. Besides his parents he leaves four brothers, Dean, Frank, Willard and Carl Bair.The body was removed to the Brintlinger & Sons undertaking establishment and prepared for burial and later taken to the residence west of Decatur, where the funeral will be held at 3 o'clock Wednesday afternoon. The interment will be in the Wykles cemetery.

The Decatur Review (Decatur, IL), Tuesday Evening, Jun 6, 1916

Burial:
Sharon Cemetery (formerly named Wykles)
Decatur
Macon County
Illinois, USA

All information taken from Find A Grave...

Charles Wesley Bair

2009-06-09T01:34:00.003-05:00

I was exploring the Illinois Gen Web site for Macon county tonight to see what they had. Some of these sites are kept up like Manitowoc, WI but others haven't been done in a while (Marinette, WI is a good example). I took a chance going through the obits and found this:

BAIR, Charles Wesley
BURIAL OF C.W. BAIR

Services Conducted by Rev. C.F. McKown

Burial in Charge of Dunham Post G.A.R.

From the Daily of Monday - Funeral services over the remains of the late Charles W. Bair were held at the residence, six miles west of the city a 10 oclock Sunday morning. The Rev. C. F. McKown, pastor of the M.E. Church at Harristown, conducted the services at the house. During the service Rev. McKown read the following touching on the life of the deceased.

Charles Wesley Bair was born March 1, 1849. Married to Susan Walker, January 1, 1867. Born of this union 12 children, 11 of whom still survive, one John, having departed this life August 19, 1897. The rest of the children living are Mrs Ella Wray, Frank, Willis, Samuel, Ira, Wis___, Luther, Cora, Emma, Perry and Ida Bair. Mr. Bair departed this life December 17, 1897 aged 55 years, nine months and 16 days.

He was a member of Dunham Post No 141 G. A. R. and served three years during the was in the 106th Illinois Infantry. He was a good citizen and a friendly neighbor and a kind husband and father. After an illness of many weeks he died in peace. A number of members of Dunham Post attended the funeral going out in a sled. The Post furnished the pallbearers and preformed the G.A.R. burial service at the grave. The burial was in the Wyckles cemetery, four mile west of the city. The members of Dunham Post in attendance were Commander W. F. Calhoun, Tom Postwell, acting chaplain, I. N. Martin Sr., George V. Loring, W. C. Martin, Peter Hoffman, R. H. Johnson, D. B. Laud__nad and Florence McCarty.

Decatur Weekly Republican, Decatur, Illinois, Thursday, 23 Dec 1897, pg. 7

Note: Wyckles Cemetery AKA Sharon Cemetery

Charles is my great great grandfather. The year of birth in the article is wrong and the article gives the correct age of when he died. It should say 1842, not 1849; 1849 would have made him 48 when he died, not 55.

Not bad for a little web surfing.

New pictures!

2009-06-02T21:11:00.004-05:00

England

Ziemer

Lucy and Santa

2009-01-13T21:12:00.002-06:00

Introducing Mr & Mrs Paul England

2008-10-11T14:00:00.005-05:00

Many more pictures available by clicking on the pictures below:

Lucy and the mouse

2008-08-04T22:44:00.003-05:00

Please welcome the new member of our family: Lucy!

2008-08-03T23:09:00.006-05:00

We adopted this little chihuahua/Italian greyhound mix from Animal Education and Rescue (AEAR). AEAR is the charity Lorrie added as one of our gift options. AEAR was having an adoption event at the Libertyville Farmers Market and their booth was next to the area where Libertyville Toyota had their display. Lorrie has to be on hand during these events ever since she pointed out that at a previous Farmers Market the truck was wide open with no one around. Lucy was one of the dogs they had on hand at this adoption event though at that time her name was Vixen. In fact, Vixen is mentioned in this article about the AEAR being at the Farmers Market.

Lucy was rescued from a house in Pleasant Prairie that had more than 60 dogs in horrible conditions. She responded to foster care quite well. She is under 5 pounds and maybe 8 inches at the shoulders. She is actually smaller than our cats.

Today was the first day we had her. She is getting used to her surroundings right now and is very skittish. We set up her kennel in the office and now that is her homebase as she explores the rest of the house. Gradually she is moving farther and farther away from it on her own but she will follow Lorrie all over the house. She attached herself to Lorrie right away. I, on the other hand, being the big, scary, bearded man still get the occasional growl. So far there has been no real drama between her and the cats which was a relief to both Lorrie and I.

Heritage Hill State Park

2008-04-03T22:49:00.008-05:00

We chose the Moravian church at Heritage Hill State Historical Park for the location of our ceremony. Elegant in its simplicity, this beautiful little church appealed to us like no other and being part of a history park added to the charm. The Moravian church, listed on the National Register of Historical Places since 1983, is Greek Revival in style and was built in 1851-52. Wisconsin has the most Moravian churches in the United States behind North Carolina and Pennsylvania and the early Moravian settlers played an important part in the history of the northeastern part of the state.

The church is located in the Growing Community section of Heritage Hill which represents the period between 1850 and 1900. Other buildings the Growing Community section contains is a fire house from 1887, a Greek Revival law office from 1835, a blacksmith shop from 1897, and several recreations from the era.

The church has four sets of pews with a divider down the middle and two aisles. The lights are brass fixtures but the room will really be lit by the eight 15-foot windows. The pulpit and altar furniture is from the time period. In the bottom picture you can see the pump organ and there is a baby grand piano near the altar. The object hanging over the altar in the above picture is the Moravian Star.

The park hours in October will be 10:00AM-4:30PM Monday through Friday. During that time you can stroll through the park or stop at their unique gift shop for a souvenir of your trip.

On October 11th, the park will not be open and guests are asked not to wander outside of the area of the church. The park entrance is through the education center at 2640 South Webster Ave (directions). The church is on the north side of the park and plainly visible when you step outside of the education center.
All images are from the Heritage Hill State Historical Park website. Please check it out; it is one of the better websites I've seen.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

2008-03-17T00:37:00.003-05:00

Save The Date!

2008-01-14T23:46:00.000-06:00

October 11th, 2008

We will be celebrating the marriage of Paul England and Lorrie Brown.

The ceremony will be held at the historic Moravian church on the grounds of Heritage Hill State Park in Green Bay.

The reception will follow at SC Grand afterwards.

Updates, more details about the wedding, and more information about the area will be posted on our blog, 348 Ravens.

She said yes!

2007-12-03T01:13:00.001-06:00

I proposed to Lorrie this weekend and she said yes!

Her birthday was on Friday and for it I gave her this scrapbook page with the proposal. I put it inside a frame so one, she really had to guess what her birthday gift was and two, she could then display it. The background is a page that contains various love quotes and the flowers are ribbon roses.

I had here open the card first and there was a little 'Yes' sticker glued inside. She asked why it was there and I just told her it was part of her gift.

The idea was she could give her answer by placing the sticker on the page. I did not provide a 'No' sticker and we didn't need it.

We're engaged!

Trick or Treat?

2007-10-31T06:00:00.000-05:00

Lorrie: "Wait! Gia, where are you going?"

Lorrie: "Wilson!"

Lorrie: "No! Camera's over there!"

Lorrie: "Where'd Wilson go?"

Paul: "Shoot! That wasn't centered."

Lorrie: "Does this look forced?"

Lorrie: "Just take it..."

Happy Halloween!

Halloween

2007-10-30T23:00:00.000-05:00

We've been riding around at night; amazed at all of the people who have decorated - and gone all out - for Halloween. These are some of our favorites.

And this dog didn't know what to make of the strange people taking pictures from their car...

I forgot the "off" setting

2007-08-29T00:15:00.000-05:00

I've had this picture for a while, I just never shared it. So here it is.

And yes, Gia is celebrating.

Fainting Goats

2007-08-23T21:35:00.000-05:00

Frankenmuth

2007-08-11T00:52:00.000-05:00

Lorrie and I spent the day in Frankenmuth while on vacation at her parent's. I've talked about it before, and we looked forward to going back. We started with lunch at the Bavarian Inn. I once again tried some of their German specialties and beer while Lorrie had the Wunderbar Pretzel Sandwich.

We walked along the shops of the downtown area, touring the shops and checking out the sights. Being a history buff, I thought this was pretty cool.

The historical society there has created a series of pictures commemorating the town's history, surrounded by a flower garden. The pictures are "Coming To America", "Settling The Community", and "Remembering The Past." "Coming To America" highlights the journey of the Franconians. This is where the "Franken" part of the name comes from. "Settling The Community" shows the homesteaders clearing the forest and raising the first buildings. "Remembering The Past" shows the original buildings of many of the current tourist draws like Bronner's.

Speaking of Bronner's, we did go but the thrill of going to the largest Christmas store had worn off.

Vacation fun!

2007-08-11T00:42:00.000-05:00

Happy Easter!

2007-04-08T01:46:00.000-05:00

Changes over at Just Baking

2007-01-30T00:12:00.000-06:00

As of this past weekend, I have taken over editorial duties at Just Baking. I'm looking forward to the task ahead. That said, things shouldn't change much here or there. So c'mon by and check things out!

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T23:30:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year! Lorrie and I just returned from spending the weekend at a B&B up in Door County. We love it up there and go back whenever we can. The bed and breakfast we stayed at is the Inn at Cedar Crossing in Sturgeon Bay. The room was the Anniversary Room and it was really nice. The restaurant is excellent and we ate there both nights. I had elk the first night and Filet Mignon the second; Lorrie had chicken risotto the first night and halibut the second.

Basically, this was a chance to relax after a very busy December. We checked out a couple of shops but most were closed on Sunday and then again for the holiday on Monday. Monday was a gorgeous, blue-sky day and we took advantage of that by driving back along the lake.

My first post at Just Baking

2006-12-05T23:35:00.000-06:00

Stollen is a traditional German fruitcake made to celebrate the Christmas season. Although many recipes exist, the most famous is the Dresden Stollen ("Dresdner Weihnachtsstollen" in German). The city of Dresden is also where Stollen was first created in the 15th century and sold at the Striezelmarkt Christmas market. Originally called Striezel, the once folded over shape of the Stollen was meant to represent the baby Jesus in swaddling clothes. Later miners renamed it because they thought it looked like the opening to a mine or Stollen.

Continue reading at Just Baking...

Sources I used are available at Cookies and et cetera...

Happy Birthday Lorrie!

2006-11-30T08:30:00.000-06:00

Happy birthday!

Other people born this day:
Kaley Cuoco - 1985 - John Ritter's TV daughter on sitcom "8 Simple Rules"

Elisha Cuthbert - 1982 - Played the daughter of agent Jack Bauer on TV's "24"

Clay Aiken - 1978 - "American Idol 2" finalist adored by eager Claymates

Ben Stiller - 1965 - "Meet the Parents" star, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara's son

Bo Jackson - 1962 - Athlete played two pro sports--football and baseball

Billy Idol - 1955 - British punk rocker hit #1 with "Mony Mony" (1987)

Shuggie Otis - 1953 - Blues guitarist son of "Hand Jive" singer Johnny Otis

Mandy Patinkin - 1952 - Actor on stage ("Evita") and screen ("Chicago Hope")

David Mamet - 1947 - Playwright/director of "The Postman Always Rings Twice"

Abbie Hoffman - 1936 - Chicago Seven radical upset 1968 Democrat convention

G. Gordon Liddy - 1930 - Watergate conspirator became a radio talk show gadfly

Dick Clark - 1929 - Host of "American Bandstand" and New Year's Eve shows

Robert Guillaume - 1927 - Emmy-winning actor on "Benson" and "Sports Night"

Richard Crenna - 1926 - Popular actor from "Our Miss Brooks" to "The Real McCoys"

Shirley Chisholm - 1924 - First black U.S. congresswoman ran for president, 1972

Efrem Zimbalist Jr - 1923 - Best known as Inspector Lewis Erskine on TV's "The F.B.I."

Gordon Parks - 1912 - African-American photographer directed "Shaft" (1971)

Winston Churchill - 1874 - British prime minister inspired courage in World War II

Mark Twain - 1835 - American icon wrote "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn"

Jonathan Swift - 1667 - Irish author of satirical adventure "Gulliver's Travels"

How I spent my Thanksgiving vacation by Paul

2006-11-25T11:53:00.000-06:00

I was fortunate enough this year to spend Thanksgiving with my family in Florida. I flew down on Tuesday and Tori and I had dinner at Raglan Road™ Irish Pub and then hung out at Jellyrolls. Wednesday we made Thanksgiving dinner for the family and celebrated my dad's 60th birthday. Thursday we spent the day at Epcot in Walt Disney World. All in all, a lot of fun.

This was my second time at Epcot. This time I did go on Spaceship Earth. It definitely had some 'Small World' qualities about it. My favorite was the World Showcase, specifically Norway, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

More pictures of my trip are available here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-22T08:29:00.000-06:00

This picture was taken in 2002 by Del Merritt while on a golf trip. We were playing Peninsula State Park Golf Course when this picture was taken.