August 3-6, 2022 Aberdeen, SD and Roth family reunion

8-3 I was able to get an appointment with the doctor that did my knee replacements in 2018 for a 3 year check up (1 year in 2019, now 3 year).  Our plan was to visit my niece, Heidi Crawford, and family,  But some of them were out of town.  So we had a nice relaxing few days to Janice and Jim’s before going to a Roth family reunion near Sisseton, SD.  

checking Janice's garden

We spent the day cleaning out our car and sorting through our belongings.  We had an oil change (much cheaper here than in Georgia), washed and vacuumed our car before repacking it.  We found out today that my Aunt Julie Bower from Faulkton, SD had passed away.  She was my mother’s last living sibling.  We have on aunt-in-law in Miller, SD, MayLou Schaefer Oakley.  If the funeral is before we leave for Dave’s family reunion, we wanted to attend.  Faulkton is about an hour’s drive from Aberdeen.  
8-4 Thursday Claire Crawford, Heidi’s daughter, was golfing in a tournament in Aberdeen, so we walked to course with Heidi and enjoyed watching her play.  He took 2nd place.  We went to Crawford’s farm that afternoon to enjoy their swimming pool.  We had pizza for dinner with the whole family.  Glen’s mother and Aunt, Marie and Doris, joined us.  I taught them how to play the card game 7’s.  Fun day with family!

Dave really wanted a seed corn hat.  Our great nephew,  Garrett, gave this to Dave

8-5 Friday I had coffee that morning with a grade school/high school classmate that lived in Aberdeen, Nancy Augspurger Carlson, at her home.  One of those friends that you feel like you never left.  We found out that Julie Bowar’s funeral was going to be on Monday, so we planned to go to Dave’s family reunion and return to Aberdeen for the funeral.  My brother, Jerry, from Minneapolis and cousins Vern and Ruth Schaefer from Maple Lake, MN planned to stay at Janice and Jim’s for the funeral.  Since J&J were in Sturgis, I washed bedding and towels to prepare for guests.  In the afternoon, Dave and I drove to Claire City, SD about 2 hours away, to join his family.   His mom Alice, brother Dean, sister Debbie and her “so” Randy were all staying at the Red Side Inn, as were we.  We all had dinner together at the only restaurant in town, Deano’s, which was very good.  

8-6 On Saturday, we all drove to New Effington for the reunion.  They have it every 3 years at the 4H building.  The last one we attended was when Pete was a little boy and Dave’s dad was still alive, around 1990.  They start with coffee and rolls about 9:30am.  There was lots of reacquainting and reminiscing.  There were about 40 people in attendance.  The lunch was prepared by several of the local relatives.  A donation is accepted to cover the cost, but they also hold a silent auction to cover expenses.  My Sturgis Rally t-shirt was a hit.  All of Dave’s aunts and uncles have passed away.  Alice, being an ex wife, was the only one in attendance from that generation.  She had spent many years with their family and enjoyed seeing everyone again, and they enjoyed seeing her.  Alice, Dean, Debbie and Randy have attended several of these reunions over the years.  We headed back to Claire City by late afternoon.  

Dean brought the cake

Marlys Roth Brooks, Alice, Dave Roth, Peggy Roth ..., , Debbie Roth Heise, Dean Roth

Dave and Alice saying goodbye

These next photos are from the last time we attended the Roth reunion.  Must have been 1988

Dave, Pete and Mary

siblings, Carl Roth, Dolly Roth Foster, Lyle "Bud" Roth, Dave's dad

Debbie, Dean, Bud and Dave

These were old family photos

Car, Kenneth, Joe Roth, Ina Roth, Dolly, Bud

Alice is standing back left, Bud seated with Dean on his lap, Dave on floor right side with Debbie in the middle on the floor

 I decided to drive to Sisseton for church on Saturday night.  It was about a 20 minute drive and I arrived at 5:25 to an empty parking lot.  The Saturday evening mass was in Rosholt, not Sisseton.  So I took off for Rosholt and arrived at 5:45.  Everyone stared at me because I was a stranger AND I  walked in 15 minutes late, but they were very welcoming.  Back in Claire City, we all went to Dean’s for dinner again.