To understand the “story” better, if you haven’t already read my last post (Grain Elevators and Teenage Dating – Part I), you might want to scroll down and read it and then come back to this post.
From the north end of the loop, looking south along Highway 15 to downtown Rolfe, Iowa. June 2009 (Click photo to enlarge.)
During the summers of Bill’s (now my husband) and my courtship, it was common practice to spend evenings scooping the loop in Rolfe. The official loop started at Beckords’ corner on the north side of Rolfe, went straight south on main street down past the John Deere implement store to the turnaround point at the train depot on the south side of Rolfe. A whole 6/10ths of a mile one way. I was with Bill as we cruised in his green ’65 Mercury Monterey. Repeatedly following this pattern of scooping the loop required some deviation to keep things interesting.
With me at his side in The Merc, Bill pulled up alongside the grain elevator office, probably giving me some story about different things he did during work there and/or giving me an explanation about something related to agriculture in general. We sat in his car for a minute or two while he explained, and then drove off, probably to scoop the loop, and honk at friends doing the same, another few times.
The former Farmers Co-op grain elevator office and scale. This scale was used until 2002 when the new office/scale location across the street was built. The scale dial hung in the window and was used until the early/mid 1980's when it was replaced with a digital readout and printer system. June 2009 (Click photo to enlarge.)
Little did I realize what Bill was up to while we were stopped by the elevator. While he was explaining, he was multi-tasking by focusing on a dial he could see through the large window of the elevator office building.
Where we had been parked was on the scale used to weigh wagons and also trucks hauling grain or livestock or whatever.
As time came to pass, Bill informed me that he had, before our date, driven The Merc onto the scale to determine how much his car weighed. And, then, you guessed it, figured out my weight by driving onto the scale with me being in the car. It made things a little better when he later told me that the scale measured in 20 lb. increments, so the scale would have been able to determine my weight only to the nearest ten pounds. What a rascal!
Marion Gunderson Art (and the Farmer's Daughter) 
June 6, 2009 at 10:04 am |
This is toooooooo funny. What a wascally wabbit indeed!!! Hmmm, did he have any other little tricks?!?
June 6, 2009 at 3:48 pm |
Time will tell!!!!! (But, I certainly was gullible!)
June 6, 2009 at 5:13 pm |
Just think, Louise, I was probably sitting on my front porch wondering why people were just driving back and forth, endlessly. Just kidding, we did the same thing in Boone some years before!! Fun reading ~~ thanks
June 6, 2009 at 6:47 pm |
Thanks for sending news of your blog, Louise. I’m hoping to learn more about other Rolfe natives, including my husband, his sisters, and the other hooligans they ran with. I’ve already heard enough to feel like I knew some of these people myself. Oh wait, some of them I do know, as they still live here! I’d be interested in more stories of Peg and bean walking, as I’ve heard some from Karen and Laurie. I think it involved a car, and possibly an unlicensed driver.
We were priveleged to recently see Chris and Deb (Freeman) Pederson, when they stopped in at Marcie’s graduation party a few weeks ago. A funny story involving Chris and Deb…
We stopped to see them quite a few years ago, on a trip to Colorado when they lived out there. As we sat and talked in their living room, one of our daughters (I think it was Alisa) came to me and asked in a surprised and rather indignant tone, “Why do they have a picture of our bus driver on their mantel?” She thought that was very odd and made Deb’s decorating theme seem very unusual. Like really, who would have a photo of their bus driver framed in their house? I had to laugh, as it was Deb’s dad, Jerry Freeman. He was our kids’ bus driver for many years
Your story of Bill reminds me of a trick played on Gus (and me) by my mom’s cousin. Before we were married, Gus and I went to visit his family on their farm in the Sand Hills near Ericson, NE. Cousin Daryl wanted to show Gus an irrigation pivot in the field. It’s like a huge hose nozzle that pivots around in the field, sending a jet of water over the fields. Daryl planned it perfectly, parking at just the right spot to spend some time dscussing the finer points of irrigation systems to Gus. Fortunately, Gus was sitting by the open pickup window, but I still got a nice shot of water on me, sitting in the middle…and Daryl got the biggest laugh out of it. Naive? Is that a Rolfe thing?
And “Hello” to Emily and Chuck…and it’s not even Christmas! We Gilbert kids also scooped the loop in Ames, since there was even less of anything to scoop in Gilbert. If we were lucky, Ballard kids came up after their games to do the same. Why is it that the guys/gals from the other towns always seemed more interesting than the ones you’d gone to school with since kindergarten. Oh….maybe that’s why. I guess you and Bill wouldn’t know about that.
Hello to all the Gundergals and Shimon daughters. Between all of you, I’m pretty sure Bill doesn’t stand a chance of keeping any secrets. Can he post Far Side comics to this blog, or is that copyrite infringement? We’ll just have to wait until the next Christmas installment. You’re a great sport, Bill. We love you guys.
Nancy Brinkman
June 6, 2009 at 10:24 pm |
“The Least Erotic Calendar of 2007” (a “possibly related post”)?!? You *do* have a little bit of everything in here, Louise! 😉 (Ok, so I know ou have no control over those “possibly relateds.”)
June 6, 2009 at 10:39 pm |
Love it, love it, LOVE IT!!! 🙂 Gosh, I can practically *feel* the memories of scooping the loop, Beckords’ house, the Morris Webb tree down on the other far end, extending that 6/10 mile by driving east of Beckords’ and u-ing at Verna and Marie Ryens’ house . . . again and again and again and again. Yes, the honking at other looping cars, too. Hoping maybe some cute guy would honk back. (Well, of course, you wouldn’t have since you were with Bill. ;-)) Parking my ’57 chevy at the post office and piling into someone else’s car.
Funny, when I read it the first time, I thought I remembered you saying it “required some DEVOTION.” Well, it sort of did! But, you’re right, it also required some DEVIATION, too. DEVIATION from the routine loop. (e.g., down the alley beside the railroad tracks that were behind the Mar-Wil carwash). But also a little DEVIOUSNESS from the likes Mr. Bill! Hahaha! Clever, Bill!
Like the nod, too, to The Merc. Will there be mention ever of The Princess? The car and/or her namesake? No rush. You’ve got years! 🙂
June 7, 2009 at 9:54 pm |
How funny! I’d never heard this story before. Bill was devious even way back then!
June 9, 2009 at 6:38 pm |
Emily, Nancy and Peggy—I’ve been having so much with the blog I haven’t responded very well.
Emily, I didn’t even think about you living “on” the loop! We probably thought we were so cool, not realizing that every generation before us (after cars were common for teenagers to drive) did the same.
Nancy—Such good stories. I can imagine your daughter’s dismay about Jerry Freeman’s photo! Thank you for sharing all that you did.
Peggy–The Morris Webb tree. I remember it having Christmas lights every year. Is it still there? Ryen’s house on the loop–yes! The Princess—I had forgotten all about her. Yes, I think there will need to be post about “her” at some point.