Love - The Odessa Record "By Your Relative"

Odessa Record subscriber Larry Fisher of Spokane continues his series of articles on the history of the Batum/Lauer area (where his wife, the former Joyce Kiesz, grew up).

Hi, here I am again.

As I mentioned a few months ago, I first became aware of Odessa in the summer of 1955 because of the railroad.

I didn’t know about the L-B-D until the winter of 1956-57.

After attending the New Year’s Eve dance at the Odessa city hall where everyone was dancing to “swing” type music, we all left the dance and ended up somehow out at Leo and Viola Lobe’s farm at Batum where everyone was going to have breakfast. Boy, what a breakfast it was. Gobs of toast, bacon, ham, eggs, coffee, and sausages of all types. After drinking two or three cups of coffee, I was able to see the food and boy did I make a pig of myself. I remember the Lobes, Lightbodys, Melchers, Specks were really kind to me, a young city-railroad-college type “whipper-snapper.” Maybe having Joyce with me helped out, but I don’t think so. They were all great people. After all it was the L-B-D hospitality.

After our marriage in 1957, until 1961 when we were headed for the east coast and the army, Joyce and I always returned to Odessa for Christmas to be with her parents and on New Year’s Eve we always went to the City Hall and after - sampled the L-B-D hospitality at the Lobes.

It was during this time, that I became intrigued with the L-B-D and the people living in it. If my memory is still working properly, I seem to recall at least fifteen to twenty farm houses, etc. in the L-B-D. One house was the Speck house on the northwest corner where today’s east-west Griffith road connects to north-south Batum road. I remember Joyce telling me about the Specks during her years at Batum while living on the Jacob Raugust farm. People have told me, that John Schillereff built the Speck house and intended it for hotel use. Joyce tells me the house was larger than most houses built during the 1900-1910 time period and that it was at least two stories in height or perhaps higher.

Until next time.

Your Relative,

Spokane