The Pipe Line Picnic at Conneaut Lake Park

The following story, “The Pipe Line Picnic at Conneaut Lake Park”, is one of several by LeRoy S. Kuhn, a man I never met and who has no known surviving immediate relatives. As I mentioned in a previous blog post (Are Stories of the Past Worth Preserving?), I believe his stories are worth preserving and sharing.

Why?

Because they serve as important historical records for the area in which he resided and provide a glimpse of what life was like for a polio survivor in small-town America in the mid-twentieth century. His stories are even more poignant to me since I was born and raised in the area of northwestern Pennsylvania, of which he writes.

Note that I have slightly modified his original writing for clarity and ease of reading. In addition, I have incorporated some historical anecdotes and added relevant links to help you learn more about the topics he addresses. You can read the full, unedited manuscript here. Also, the featured image for this article is not a photo of the actual Blue Streak roller coaster Mr. Kuhn mentions in his story; actual images I found became pixelated when enlarged for this blog post.

I hope that you enjoy his story below and I welcome your feedback in the comments.

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The Pipe Line Picnic at Conneaut Lake Park

by LeRoy S. Kuhn

I was scraping the paint on the house next door when mother came out of the house and said, “You’d better quit or you’ll be too tired to enjoy the Pipe Line Picnic tomorrow.”

I had talked all summer of going to the Pipe Line Picnic, and my mother so wanted me to go and be able to enjoy the day, especially since Read More

Holes in Your Story? Here’s How to Fix Them

I recently rediscovered an oval wooden object in the recesses of one of my drawers. My mother-in-law had given it to me years ago, explaining that it was a tool that her mother had used to mend holes in socks.

To be honest, I didn’t understand why she wanted me to have it. I can’t even thread my sewing machine (another gift from her) and I knew I would never bother to mend my socks. Nevertheless, I accepted her gift and promptly forgot about it.

Now, holding the object in my hands once again, I decided it was time to learn more about it.

I discovered that my wooden tool is called a darning egg or a darning mushroom. Having assumed it to be a relic of the past – indeed, some are considered to be collectible (see RubyLane) – I was shocked to learn that many people steadfastly continue to use them to repair the holes in their socks.

Darning Egg

The egg doesn’t do a lot, really – its primary function is to serve as a prop. You insert the egg into the sock so that the hole is exposed, thereby creating a workable area to interlace new material with the old (you can see it done on this YouTube video). Thus, even though the darning egg doesn’t do the mending or stitching itself, the task would be much more difficult without it.

Similarly, there are times when we encounter holes in our story – when we can’t remember the circumstances around or our actions toward a person, place or event…or even the event itself. Read More

Genealogy & Life Story: An Interview with New York Times Bestselling Author Michelle Ule

Genealogy research is distinctly different from life story writing, but genealogists often unearth interesting facts that can shed new light on their own life experiences. I recently interviewed Michelle Ule, a New York Times bestselling author and speaker, who writes inspirational and historical fiction and is currently finalizing the biography Mrs. Oswald Chambers: The Woman behind the World’s Bestselling Devotional, which can be preordered now. She is also a longtime genealogist who self-published a family biography titled Pioneer Stock and is currently editing the life story of her grandfather. I think you’ll find her genealogy tips and surprise findings quite interesting. Prefer to listen to the interview? Click here to access the recording.

Dalene [D]: Welcome, Michelle, and thank you for taking the time to speak with me today.

Michelle[M]: I’m happy to chat with you, Dalene.

D: So with my audience being primarily life story and even family history authors, I thought I’d start out by asking why you think family history and life story writing is important.

M: That’s actually where I began. In my case, the grandfather biography I’m updating was written twenty-seven years ago to celebrate my grandfather’s 100th birthday.

D: Oh, wow!

M: And my end of the celebration was to write his history so I interviewed my aunts, my uncles, my cousins. I had a whole lot of material. I did auxiliary reading to put his life in context. He was an immigrant from Sicily prior to WWI and our family got our citizenship as a result of his service in the Army during WWI. Read More

Freedom through Education: One Woman’s Quest

Author’s Note: Throughout the month of July, I ran a contest called, “Is There a Legacy in Your Midst?” Individuals nominated a friend or family member to receive a complimentary 30-minute interview and document package from Lasting Legacies. Ms. Valya Shapiro was randomly drawn as the winner. She owns and operates Turnkey Living, Inc., an interior design company outside of Boston, Massachusetts. During our interview, I was impressed by her thoughtful responses and her poignant storytelling ability. I think that you will find the following excerpt of her quest to find freedom through education compelling and inspiring.

Dalene Bickel: Valya, I was hoping that you could share about your childhood in Turkey.

Valya Shapiro: I was born in Istanbul to a Jewish family whose ancestors left Spain in 1492 after the Inquisition, so I have an approximate 500-year history in Turkey. It’s a history which, unfortunately when I grew up, was tumultuous for me.

I was a young child during World War II. Even though Turkey ultimately decided not to enter the War, my father was taken to a concentration camp anyway. It began as a tax that was imposed on all Turkish citizens, but the minority groups (there were three small segments of us in Turkey – Greeks, Armenians, and Jews) were taxed beyond what they could afford. If they could not pay the full amount, they were taken away. Read More

Florence, Fashion & Fun – A 1920s Snapshot

My friend Amy recently posted this photo of her great-grandmother, Florence, in the late 1920s at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. I absolutely fell in love with the black-and-white image of this gregarious young lady front and center with the huge dimple and warm smile. You can just tell that she loves life and intends to live it to the fullest.Read More

About Dalene


Dalene Bickel is a personal biographer, book coach and speaker who helps individuals successfully write and self-publish their life stories.

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