With Memorial Day just passing my thoughts returned to the forties and fifties when it was known as Decoration Day. My Aunts FAYE DELK YORK, OLGA DELK , LEXIE PILE DELK and Granny DELK would gather at my Aunt EFFIE DELK LEFFEW's home and make hundreds of beautiful flowers to decorate the graves. They seemed to have an assembly line where one would cut petals and leaves, one would shape them. Then they would sit and put the flowers together. After all were made they would dip them in paraffin so they would hold their shape. They would shape them in cross forms or others. Then the Decoration Day came. We rode on a flat bed truck to the Wolf River Cemetery and place them upon the graves of our ancestors. Wonder we didn't fall off cause there was no side panels..It was fun. The cemetery was across the road from the church. We went to the service and then a big huge dinner. I loved that day it was the beginning of the summer and I also got new clothes which was a rareity.......Oh such sweet memories of days gone by. Milly WARD Piros My Mind is Like Lightning.... One Brilliant Flash and It's Gone.......

Milly and all, Good memories indeed! I've actually participated in making those flowers as a boy myself. Fact is, we always went to at least three "decorations with dinner on the ground." They were Davidson Cemetery, Upchurch Cemetery and Wolf River Cemetery. Always loved that food! Still do - and it shows. My "new" shoes was a pair of used slippers that was usually bought at the Barlow Rains store in Cedar Grove for either $.50 or $1. And sometimes a bright shiny new pair of "blue" blue jeans. Whatever happened to blue blue jeans? I think they fell out of popularity with the hippy generation and were replaced with faded, worn out and ripped up jeans that looked more like the one's we wore in the tobacco and hay field. Anyway, thanks for the memories. Willie ----- Original Message ----- From: <MPiros1120@aol.com> To: <TNFENTRE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, June 01, 2006 11:07 AM Subject: [TNFENTRE-L] Decoration Day a.k.a Memorial Day > With Memorial Day just passing my thoughts returned to the forties and > fifties when it was known as Decoration Day. My Aunts FAYE DELK YORK, OLGA > DELK , > LEXIE PILE DELK and Granny DELK would gather at my Aunt EFFIE DELK > LEFFEW's home > and make hundreds of beautiful flowers to decorate the graves. They seemed > to > have an assembly line where one would cut petals and leaves, one would > shape > them. Then they would sit and put the flowers together. After all were > made > they would dip them in paraffin so they would hold their shape. They would > shape them in cross forms or others. Then the Decoration Day came. We rode > on a > flat bed truck to the Wolf River Cemetery and place them upon the graves > of our > ancestors. Wonder we didn't fall off cause there was no side panels..It > was > fun. > The cemetery was across the road from the church. We went to the service > and > then a big huge dinner. I loved that day it was the beginning of the > summer > and I also got new clothes which was a rareity.......Oh such sweet > memories of > days gone by. > > Milly WARD Piros > > My Mind is Like Lightning.... > One Brilliant Flash and It's Gone....... > > > ==== TNFENTRE Mailing List ==== > Fentress County, Tennesee USGenWeb Page > http://www.rootsweb.com/~tnfentre/fent.htm > To See Previous Posts http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/tnfentre > >

Does anyone remember the boxes live flowers use to be placed in during those old decoration days? Those boxes kept them fresh longer and the colors brighter. I saw one of those boxes the other day at the Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Wayne County. That was the first one I have seen in many, many years. That brought back old memories for sure. Gary D. Norris > From: MPiros1120@aol.com > Reply-To: TNFENTRE-L@rootsweb.com > Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2006 12:07:11 EDT > To: TNFENTRE-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: [TNFENTRE-L] Decoration Day a.k.a Memorial Day > Resent-From: TNFENTRE-L@rootsweb.com > Resent-Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2006 10:07:23 -0600 > > With Memorial Day just passing my thoughts returned to the forties and > fifties when it was known as Decoration Day. My Aunts FAYE DELK YORK, OLGA > DELK , > LEXIE PILE DELK and Granny DELK would gather at my Aunt EFFIE DELK LEFFEW's > home > and make hundreds of beautiful flowers to decorate the graves. They seemed to > have an assembly line where one would cut petals and leaves, one would shape > them. Then they would sit and put the flowers together. After all were made > they would dip them in paraffin so they would hold their shape. They would > shape them in cross forms or others. Then the Decoration Day came. We rode on > a > flat bed truck to the Wolf River Cemetery and place them upon the graves of > our > ancestors. Wonder we didn't fall off cause there was no side panels..It was > fun. > The cemetery was across the road from the church. We went to the service and > then a big huge dinner. I loved that day it was the beginning of the summer > and I also got new clothes which was a rareity.......Oh such sweet memories of > days gone by. > > Milly WARD Piros > > My Mind is Like Lightning.... > One Brilliant Flash and It's Gone....... > > > ==== TNFENTRE Mailing List ==== > Fentress County, Tennesee USGenWeb Page > http://www.rootsweb.com/~tnfentre/fent.htm > To See Previous Posts http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/tnfentre >