I often remember my childhood days and the many wonderful times I spent as a child at the home of my beloved Aunt and Uncle, Paul and Hazel (McLain) Swart.  I can remember as if it were yesterday, the times spent in Oakshade, Fulton County, Ohio.  I can remember how excited I would get the closer we got to Aunt Bun's house. 
(Aunt Bun was the name I affectionately called Hazel ) When we entered the driveway of  the home on route 108, out of the car I would fly and tumble up the back cement steps that led into the enclosed back porch.  By that time Aunt Bun would be there to greet us, and we would go through the swinging door which led into the kitchen. I can still hear the noise the swinging door would make as it opened and closed.

   Aunt Bun's kitchen always smelled so good!  Cinnamon smells especially remind me of her kitchen.  Inside the door to the left was a big porcelain sink.  I often took baths in this sink when I was little and when I became bigger a large galvanized tub would be brought into the kitchen from the back porch and filled with warm water poured into the tub from the tea kettle.  I would be put into the tub for a good scrubbing.  All my cousins would eventually endure this    experience!  Later there was a shower in the basement we would get under and I can still remember the sound of the pump going which supplied the water.  Washing clothes in that basement and putting them through the wringer into wash tubs containing rinse water to me was an enjoyable chore.  We would then put the clothes into clothes baskets and take them upstairs, out through the cellar door and hang the clothes on the line.  Aunt Bun always had a certain way she hung the clothes on the line to make them look especially neat.  Then a long pole would go under the line and lift the clothes up high to wave in the wind.  When we took them down they always smelled so fresh and clean.  She had this ironer.  I can remember on occasion I would get to sit and iron flat things like tablecloths and pillowcases.  I thought the ironer was great!  The kitchen also had this old hoosier cabinet at one end of the kitchen by the door which led into the dining room.  It was filled with all kinds of good things, I recall especially that Aunt Bun's Watkins products were kept in there.  The bottles that held all the different liquid flavorings would make the yummiest of drinks, like orange, strawberry, and grape and I would often get to choose which one to fix.  Uncle Paul loved ice cream that would be made in ice cube trays and it seems he always had a bowl of ice cream before the evening was over.  The Fiesta Ware was also a memory I hold dear.  The different bright colored plates and bowls made a pretty place to have meals on their white table and chair set in the kitchen.  My favorite color of plate was the blue one and I always set it at my place when I was there.  It was special to gather around the table with Dick and Les.  We would take turns saying grace to give thanks to our Lord for our food and our family.  One time though, I got the chicken pox while at Aunt Bun's and I can remember sitting at that table and being teased by the boys about my spots and I remember crying.  In that kitchen at the end by the door , which led outside onto the front porch, was another white cabinet.  She stored her dishes in it.  I can remember a little blue owl that she kept change in and those Ohio tax stamps which we did not have in Indiana.  I can also remember when I was real small, a stove which I think had upside down containers of fuel to start the burners going.  I am told it was an old kerosene cook stove.  Later on it was replaced with a more modern stove to cook on.  The chrome toaster, which  after you put the bread into, it automatically went down is another memory.  In the summer, Aunt Bun would prepare fruit in that kitchen to freeze along with canning all kinds of vegetables from their garden.

   Gardens, what wonderful gardens they used to have! 
I am sure they were a lot of work, but I never heard them complain about that.  Both Aunt Bun and Uncle Paul had a way of working the soil as if it were sacred ground.  Speaking of the ground, I remember the special place I had behind the old brooder coup,where I could dig and play in the dirt.  The soil was rather sandy in that part of the county.  It's as if I can still feel the coarseness and coolness of the sand between my toes and in my hands. I loved to take my little bucket and sand shovel and play there hours on end.  In the summers, the Swart's raised gladiolus of every color and hue, which they would cut and sell to florists.  I was shown the special way they were to be cut on an angle and how they were to be held  in my arms  as not to damage the delicate blooms.  They were then taken to the cellar and sorted and placed in water until delivery to the many florists in the area.

   They also belonged to the Grange, which was in a building next to the Chesterfield-Dover High School (many members of our family attended and graduated from this school).  I went to Grange meetings with Aunt Bun and Uncle Paul when I would visit for the summer.  Aunt Bun also belonged to the garden club. How special it was when I would go to their house at Fulton County Fair time, and help make floral arrangements to enter in the fair.  I can remember an arrangement in a small blue cow pitcher and it won a blue ribbon.  They were always winning blue ribbons for their flowers and vegetables at the fair.  Today, our family always plans to gather in the floral building, when we go to the Fulton County Fair where we had all those special memories.  I also recall the Swart's many dahlias which grew so tall, they had to be staked.  Aunt Bun was especially proud of them!  Some of them used to grow as big around as plates!  I have so many outdoor memories of the homestead in Oakshade.  The way the family would gather in the yard for a game of croquet, the times a chicken would be caught and taken to the stump by the bam and be beheaded to become the meal of the day.  I can still remember how grotesque I thought it was to do that and then hang the poor thing on the clothes line upside down till it quit flopping, and the smell of feathers as it was put into hot water before plucking the feathers.  This usually became my job.  Yuk!  Enough of this memory.

    I can still see Uncle Paul riding the green John Deere tractor.  I can remember being lifted onto his lap as he took me for a ride.  What fun!  Uncle Paul also had a job at Willy's Overland in Toledo, and every evening before supper time, his ride would let him out in front of the house like clockwork.  I can still see him getting out of the car.  I would watch for him from the kitchen window.  It seemed to me as though he always wore gray shirts and pants.  Uncle Paul had this long chicken coop in which he raised chickens.  He would get them as baby chicks (they were cute and I loved to cuddle them) but when they became grown into fryers I hated to go into that chicken coup because I was afraid I would get pecked ! Isn't it funny what one can remember?

    A special Christmas was when one of the large pine trees that grew in their "grove" was cut down and placed in the living room.  I can remember it was decorated with all white balls and stars and I thought it was the most spectacular Christmas tree I had ever seen.  Many wonderful family gatherings were always held at the Swart home.  I can still see the dining room table dressed for company.  The buffet which held many delightful dishes.  I can remember filling the water glasses.  They had white lily of the valley flowers on them, and to this day I continue to look for glasses like them in antique stores.  Aunt Bun (Hazel) and Uncle Paul were very special to all of us and whenever they would visit they would always come with flowers or fruits and vegetables from their garden for us.

   There is a small high-chair in the log cabin at the Fulton County Fair grounds (the Historical Society of Fulton County displays many items which have been donated).  This high-chair is from the Swart home.  When I go to the Fulton County Fair, I always have to go and touch the smooth worn wood where I sat in  the Swart family kitchen when I was a child.  The home in Oakshade has now been tom down, and in its place is a flag pole which flies our country's flag.  And surrounding this flag pole are many beautiful flowers, so fitting to the memory of our beloved family.

 Precious Memories
My heart stands still!

 Dedicated to the memory of my beloved 
Aunt Hazel (McLain) and Uncle Paul Swart. 
Fulton County, Ohio

Karen S. Ramsey-Bookout