NEW MUSEUM IN TOWN

The new Collierville Museum had an open house last night. All the town dignitaries were there of course but the most important to me was my mother, Betty JoAnne Rustemeyer Vaughn, daughter of one of the actual ministers at the church when it was a church. Mom told me about all the little details of the building where what was where, this was there, etc. choir loft was here (when there was a choir), the pews were here and they were crescent shaped with an aisle down the center. The program says th

e bells loft has/had an 800# bell-- the largest bell in Shelby county.

Granddaddy Rustemeyer was the Preacher in Collierville from 1937-1944. During that time he lived in the parsonage next to this building but he had services at 4churches-rotating meetings - Pleasants, Kirks, Bethany and Collierville. None of the four congregations were able to support a full time minister so they shared him- like a circuit rider preacher of sort. During this time he was also finishing his Masters Degree @ Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Mom remembers they would take him to and from the bus (he was only home on the weekend for church work and see the family). Granddaddy kept a little (2x3) notebook that survived all these years where he recorded congregation,date,sermon as well as other little books of his weddings and funerals. He was preaching Sunday morning when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor but they wouldn't know about it for some time later. Next Sunday his message was on the attack. Soon after that his plans were laid out to join some of his soldier boys of Bethany, Kirk and Collierville and Join the Army forces as a Chaplain in WWII and serve in Germany.









In 1937 ish when Mom moved to Collierville with the family she was 4-5 ish and remembers the parsonage as HUGE. The Old parsonage is no longer standing but the lot where it was is the SMALL parking lot area......So the old pictures we have added here are of the church in Granddady's day- 1935-40ish , mom playing in the side yard of the church lot and Graddaddy Rusty "Rusty" as Nanee called him and what she has written on the back near his time to go into the Army as Chaplain.

....every 7 years......

Somewhere it is written that every 7 years something happens. Well, we have now proved the theory correct. We have had the fire department @ our house now just a few weeks shy of the 7 year anniversary of the last time.
Here's the story.....let me paint the set-up for you.
Memphis ice storm- not as bad we have had in our bank of experiences. Power stayed on for us to get home from work and have dinner and watch a little TV, had a nice fire in the fire place. The about 10 ish the power goes out. The drill begins of finding the flashlights, then the spare batteries for the flashlights and the candles and JT remembers the kerosene lamps which set off fire detector #1. I have a monster headache and try to go to bed minus my electric blankey but still warm enough. Not quiet enough- you could hear tree limbs cracking and falling outside.
The boys- JT and Jacob decide to go out around town to see what the roads are like and what is open, so near midnight the go outside and before the back out of the driveway the see fire coming from the chimney. OOH, so cancel going out. they come back in and smoke detector #2 goes off which gets me up to see their frantic scramble for water that they pitch into the woodstove causing steam to be everywhere. smoke is filling up living room, which gets my feathers ruffled. I offer to call 911 and am told to not yet it's under control. Fire drill class from grade school comes back to mind--- "leave the fire and call the professionals" before it gets too big.
So on my second offer to call 911, I am told go ahead. 911 boss tells me to get all the people out of the house. I am folding to this authority figure and start determining what to take with me as i abandon the house. They only thing I think to take is my genealogy on jump drive and head outside to our predetermined meeting place. I never even thought about my purse, car keys or medication until it was all over and I came back inside....go figure.
So @ Midnight-ish here comes 3 fire trucks with lights and sirens, 2 police who barricade the street off, fire chief car and firemen and one fire lady with gear and O2 tanks into my house. They check the roof, look up the chimney, check out the attic and find all is well. All clear and after 20 minutes they were gone again to fix their computer problem back at the station house. They had power or generator I guess.
well that's how our night was. Woke up the neighborhood, but everybody and everything is fine. Just to note, we were watched over and protected. Why did the boys want to leave a warm dark house in the middle of an ice storm @ midnight only to discover a chimney fire. ??? Had they not gone out, we would have been unable to act promptly and save the house. And thanks to the fire crew for checking out everything.

Lights and power came back about 3:15 and found us warm and toasty, only mildly inconvenienced.

New Cousin found

I have been doing "in depth" genealogy research for many years now and it is always a special time when new relatives are connected to the tree. Well this past week, one of those few great times happened. Since fall I have had my "tree" on ancestry.com and have been connecting a twig here and a twig there. Well finally connected to a cousin on the Tatum line.
Once upon a time Susie Tatum had a baby sister Jeannette Tatum. Around 1917 their respective families got together and had this picture taken.



Susie is my Great-grandmother. (Her daughter Thelma Bell Rustemeyer- her daughter Betty Rustemeyer Vaughn- her daughter me... ??got it?)

So Jeannette Tatum married Ernest Delk and had one son Ernest. Ernest had a few marriages and children and Jeannette Delk Brighton, named for her grandmother is in contact with me and shared the following pictures in her e-mail today....
I hope to learn more about her and her side of the family and share stories soon.

oh, I am having trouble copying and attaching her pictures......may have to add later. anyway, that's what's new here. Stay warm family.

remember when.........

1964 St. Joseph Missouri--- I seem to remember it this way... we only moved there for us to "pick up" David (he was born in July) and me to get glasses. But I guess a few more things happened there....we only stayed a few months and moved back to Rock Island to the SAME house....deja veux.....




David's sweet little picture as a 3 year old, 1967, Normalville PA. Not many people can say they grew up in Normalville....ask around.....
Oh, by the way, there is a Dollar Tree Store where Bigham's house used to be across from our old house.... That is where we started hunting bottles and going "dumping", we made LOTS of apple cider and homemade vinegar. The barn burned down. A bomb went off, spontaneously. Lots of memories......










The summer of 1991, 3 of us 5 Vaughn kids had sons. This is a picture of them @ Mom and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary, collierville TN. 2001 and they would have been 10.


Had lunch with Mom and Pop today and Dad was checking out the pecan crop as we drove by his best places to pick up nuts...... (check out previous blog about last years' adventure. Well that's all for now.

Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, BUT She DID NOT break anything at all. Last Friday I had a big fall ( from the clutz that I can be at times) and bruised up my left arm really bad. The color changes daily have been pretty dramatic. Anyway EVERYBODY has been on my case to get an XRAY. So after one week I did. and NOTHING is broken, no dent, no hairline crack NOTHING> Just soft tissue contusion and allow one month to get better.........

Mums 2 the RESQ, INC.

I went WAY out of my comfort zone this past weekend to help a friend with her daughter's wedding reception. Mums 2 the RESQ,Inc was born when Dr. Snapp could't find a suitable caterer. So a few of us co-workers mentioned "I could do ..." this or that and it all made sense to carry out the plan. All the lunchtime planning sessions and hours figuring the details came to a wonderful conclusions Saturday. The wedding was out of town so we carried all the food and supplies, decorations, etc from Memphis to Clarksville (3 hours away if you don't get lost like I did twice). JoAnn(former caterer and excellent chef) made the chicken fracais and pasta salad &packed it ready transport. Sarah (with helper Jesse) cut fruit and veggies and picked up JoAnn's prepared things and came up Sat. am. Judy (from Boston) was the professional decorater and etiquette expert and came up with Hubby John Friday nite to be bright eyed ready to go to work with me Sat. 9 am. I was the cook- assigned to make the meat and cheese and shrimp platters and cook/serve meatballs and chicken and keep the buffet line stocked and going. Sarah and Jesse got to be the champagne and wine distribution staff too.All went off well. Pictures of the buffet table, reception room before and after (note flowers flown in from Hawaaii, and our little group of girls- Judy, Dr. Snapp, pat and Sarah. and the mice were so cute... see facebook for more on the wedding------

Memorial Day remember our Brave soldier boys!!!!

Not to be competing with Matt Crain, let's just say "more to the story"..... we have more vets in the family tree.
Grandaddy Rustemeyer served as a chaplain in WWII, the 63rd Infantry division in France and Germany 1944-6. He entered the Army right after Pearl Harbor and enlisted as a 1st LT. and rose to the office as Major (see ID as a Major). He received the Bronze Star for his duty serving and tending the soldiers during one of the major battles, of which there were many. He wouldn't talk about the war when he came home and the rest of his life. He kept a lot of his war correspendence and pictures and I am trying to get in all together for a book. Volunteers welcome.

Grandpa Jack Vaughn served in the Korean War in the 4th Infantry. He was stationed in Germany, protecting the border with Russia. He shot the BIG guns and was known for his great aim!! He tells lots of stories about the days in Germany and how he will never sleep on the ground again....thats where it happened. Ask about it sometime..........