Love - The Odessa Record "By Your Relative"

Hi, here I am again.

Just prior to hibernation, we had completed our review of the first 50 years of the L-B-D. During the review, I mentioned that when you investigate the L-B-D, you would discover three schools (Janke, Lauer & Batum), you would discover the tennis court/barn/softball field at Batum School, the Hoffnungsbergh church & cemetery, the missile base, the grain facilities at Lauer & Batum, the railroad tracks.

By 1950, all the above listed were no longer a part of the district except the grain facilities, railroad tracks, and cemetery. The missile base had not been started yet.

The 50s started out with a bang. 18 below zero on January 2. Two children froze to death on Friday the 13th blizzard, but life continued on. A new generation of farmers had taken over the land. All the children in the district were attending Odessa schools and upon graduation, most went on to college. Almost every farm had a car. Most animals had vanished except dogs, cats, a few chickens and occasional cow. Living conditions had improved but still no one was listed in the “Fortune 500.” Income had increased but so had expenses. Winters were cold, snowy, summers were hot, dusty. Trees and shrubbery planted by the homesteaders had grown larger, up and out. More regulatory regulations were affecting farming. Land ownership continued to change. As previously stated, farms were getting larger, with fewer and fewer farming more and more.

Also, it was in the 50s when I discovered Odessa, when I met Joyce Kiesz, when she became Joyce Kiesz Fisher and ceased being her sister’s relative.

Then it happened … something that would affect forever, 280 acres of land in the L-B-D. This happening occurred because of the “cold war” between the United States and Russia. It was the Titan missile base.

Until next time.

Your Relative, Spokane