Labor Day / Birthday Party

On Labor Day, after our temple shift, we held a big pot-luck dinner on the green area between some apartment buildings.  We have a lot of green areas.  We all brought food, a chair, a drink, and our own plates and utensils.  It's the best kind of dinner to have with a group like this.  The food was wonderful and there was plenty of it.

This is Brother Marshall.  We usually see him in a white suit.  He has a wonderful singing voice and he sang for us.  He gave us a little lesson in classical music and then he sang, "Climb Every Mountain."  We were delighted.

Here we are enjoying the party.

This is President and Sister Condie

 

and then dessert!



Carriage Ride

This is Burt Wasson.  He and his wife, Chris were here last year as temple missionaries.  They came back to the historic mission because the mission needed teamsters and Burt is a teamster.  Our friends,  Jill and Kyle Franklin, arranged a carriage ride for all of us.  We had to go in two shifts and we went after hours, but Burt was willing to take us.  He gave a wonderful narrative of the history of the outlying areas of Nauvoo.  We enjoyed it very much.

It turns out, it was President Condie's birthday.  Jill had a big cake made and we all sang Happy Birthday.  Then President Condie used a paper plate to fan the flames out.  I thought that was a pretty good idea and will remember it.  He entertained us with funny stories about the general authorities he has worked with.

In the middle is Jill.  When we asked how we were to pay for our dinner, she said, "It has already been taken care of."  She and Kyle treated us to a wonderful party.

Dinner

One of the most fun things we are doing in Nauvoo is going out to dinner with friends.  This is Charlie and Duane Ekins.  They are a wonderful couple from Delta, Utah.  Duane loves beef and he loves the rib-eye steak he can get at Napoli's Italian restaurant in Burlington, Iowa.  We have gone to Napoli's several times ourselves.  It looks like a real dive, but the steaks are wonderful and they aren't expensive.  The Ekins are going home this week.  We went to Napoli's two weeks ago because Duane thought it would be his last chance to get a good steak.  There were six couples, including President and Sister Condie.  When we finished dinner, the owner picked up the check.  We were floored.  Duane told a story about President Condie.  The four of them went to Napoli's and as they entered the restaurant, there was a very large man - tattoos, beard, bandana, a real rough-looking character waiting for his dinner.  President Condie, who is about 5'10", wearing a white shirt and tie, stopped at the big man's table, knelt down on one knee and put his arm up, challenging him to arm wrestle.  The minute the man took Condie's hand, Condie smashed his hand to the table.  It happened so fast, the big guy didn't have a chance.

Leila in Sunset - July

The first two pictures are of the Polka number.  The sisters were paired with energetic young performing missionaries.  Their challenge was to keep up with them.  The second two pictures were of a comedy number where the sisters are a temperance group, singing about the horrors of alcohol.

Eric and Emma Anderson Visit - July

The first picture was taken in Carthage.  The second in the Women's Sculpture Garden behind the Visitor's Center, here in Nauvoo.  The third is the Outdoor Stage where we watched Sunset by the Mississippi.

John Deere Pavillion

This is the John Deere Pavillion and Lagomarcino's Restaurant.  We visited the Pavillion where we saw historical farm vehicles, film loops of farm and construction equipment doing their jobs, and a delightful hostess who answered our questions.  We were most impressed with a tree harvester that had six legs instead of wheels or tracks.  It looked like something out of Star Wars.  It works.  It goes into the forest, cuts down a tree, grabs hold of it and takes it to a truck.  They only have one because it is too expensive to build.  We asked where there was a good place to have lunch and our hostess suggested two restaurants nearby then she suggested an "unusual" restaurant that was only two blocks away.  We loved it.  It is very small.  It started out to be a candy store.  They make their own candy and ice cream.  There are tiny tables and it was very noisy, but the food was wonderful.  If you are ever in Moline, go to Lagomarcino's.

John Deere

I learned that the law requires all construction equipment to be painted yellow.  There were hosts and hostesses in all of the locations, who were retired John Deere employees.  Above is a picture of memorabilia collected over the last 100 years.  It is some "shadow box".  It was pretty and interesting to look at.  When we went to the John Deere Store, we learned that John Deere is almost a religion.  Farmers love John Deere.  During the depression, many farmers lost all of their money.  John Deere never repossessed a single piece of equipment.  They said, "We need the food you produce and you need what money you can earn.  Pay us what you can, when you can."  That was the beginning of an extreme loyalty.