Rosie the Riveter at Yankee Air Museum

Just inside the Yankee Air Museum is a gift shop. I was delighted to see many Rosie the Riveter items: red and white polka dot bandanas/headbands; tank tops; mugs and thermal glasses; book bags; patches; magnets; lunch boxes; books, DVD's, and posters; and even Rosie action figures.  No tea or teapots though.  I could have spent lots of money - particularly on books and DVD's.

In the end my purchase was a $30 cookbook filled with wartime recipes and lots of great pictures.

The hallway to the museum [beyond the gift shop] is dedicated to Rosie.  If you live anywhere near Belleville, MI and are a Rosie fan, the Yankee Air Museum is a must see. Admission is $8 for children, seniors, and veterans, and $12 for adults over 18.  It's open Tues. - Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., and Sunday 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

I was born after the war, so I didn't develop an appreciation for everything 'Rosies' did to help win WWII until a couple of years ago.  My mom never talked about having a war time job after my dad was deployed to the South Pacific, and she's deceased now so I'll never know.  I found her wartime rationing book when I went through her things after her death.  

There's a huge Rosie the Riveter Honor Roll.

Below is an enlargement of what's in the center of the Honor Roll.

[Click on it to enlarge to read.]

Below is Governor Rick Snyder's 2014 Proclamation declaring March 29th as Rosie the Riveter Day in Michigan.  

A plaque inducting Michigan Rosies into Michigan Women's Hall of Fame as honorary members.

Pictures of Rosie gatherings at the Bomber plant in 2014, 2015, and 2017 when they took the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of Rosies and 'tribute Rosie' [younger, non-WWII women, dressed as Rosies].

There's a spirited rivalry between Rosies who also gather at the WWII Homefront National Historical Park in Richmond, California [on the site of WWII Kaiser shipyards].  In 2016, they took the Guinness World Record with 2,200 Rosies.  And Willow Run took it back in 2017 with 3,755 Rosies [which included 57 original Rosies].

The California Rosie reunion will be in five days [August 11th], and they will probably reclaim the record.  Original Rosies are becoming fewer and fewer, but there are still some living because child labor laws were suspended during the war and millions of children were employed as young as 12 years of age.  I was amazed to have four Rosies at my assisted living presentation a couple of weeks ago.

A painting of Naomi Parker Fraley hangs in the hallway.  Naomi worked at the Naval Air Station in Alameda, California.  Her picture was taken by a United Press photographer [left below], and became the inspiration for graphic artist, J. Howard Miller, when he painted what later became the famous Westinghouse Electric poster bearing the slogan, "We Can Do It!"  

Naomi passed away in January of this year at 96 years of age.

[Internet Photo]

There were several other pictures honoring Rosies in the entrance hallway.

[Apologies for the reflection in the photo below - there was a large glass window behind me.]

Once inside the museum there was also a section devoted to some real-life Rosies:  Vina Greer, who came from Louisiana to work at the Willow Run plant.  [Click on article to enlarge]

A B-24 bomber wooden tool box used by Freda Head.

Riveting gun and airplane part to be riveted.

Notice the Rosie the Riveter sign behind the mannequin [above], and the close up below.  I tried to photograph each section for you to read.  I missed a couple sections, but got most of them.

Starting with the narrow left section first.  [Click on picture to enlarge.]

~ Center Section ~

I'll complete the right section tomorrow, as well as finishing up the rest of the Rosie area of the museum.  I'll also share WWII tea rationing.

I have great admiration for WWII Rosies.  The factories were hot, dirty, noisy, strenuous, and dangerous, and many of the women had never worked outside the home before, but they stepped up to the challenge.  Their patriotism and loyalty definitely merits recognition.

Do any of you have a mother, grandmothers, or aunts who were Rosies?

A Great Day of Celebration!

It was a giant leap of faith when our son, Steve, gave up a secure youth ministry position to plant a new church in Macomb County, MI in December 2004, but God never asks you to do anything without His provision.  Services were held in homes in the early days, and when the congregation grew large enough we moved into an elementary school.

We purchased 24 acres of prime property and worked diligently to pay it off so we could begin saving to build our sanctuary.  There's been many bumps in the road, but construction will begin this year, and we celebrated our groundbreaking service today.

Jerry and our grandson, Landon, went out to the property yesterday morning [Saturday] to help set-up chairs and tables in the huge tent.

~ Landon ~

When they were done setting up, they formed a circle and held hands asking God's blessings upon today's service.

At the far end of the tent, tables were set up for dinner on the grounds following the service.  

Below is the groundbreaking shovel.  Steve opted for a working man's shovel from Home Depot rather than an expensive gold or chrome ceremonial shovel.

This is what a 212 lb. pig looked like at the beginning of roasting last night.

This is what it looked like today before they took it off the grill to cut and shred it for our dinner.  

Granddaughter Brooke had fun shuttling people from their cars to the tent.  On the golf cart seat with her [photo below] are granddaughters Izzy and Ellie.

The big tent was full.  It was a hot 91 degree day, but a breeze blew across the vacant land and thru the tent to keep us comfortable.  We prayed that Mother Nature wouldn't send any rain, and she didn't.

All of our family were there for the long awaited service - daughter Lori, daughter-in-law Samantha, and son Jeremy.

One of the charter members of the church prayed over Pastor Steve and Sharon at the conclusion of the service before they turned the first shovel of dirt.

Pastor Steve and Sharon overturning the first shovel of earth where the new sanctuary will be located.  It's hard to see in the photo, but they spray painted an outline of where the sanctuary will be on the grass with orange paint, and Steve is digging on that line.  

After the staff, city official, and contractor/general manager turned their shovel of dirt, any member or guest present had the opportunity to turn a shovel of dirt too.  Jerry and I took our turn.  It was a wonderful day.  To God be the glory!

Landon's Turn

Landon came for his summer visit yesterday.  Today's been a full day.  After breakfast Papa took him shopping for his school supplies, and he chose a Nike backpack [different from Izzy's Under Armour backpack].

Then we headed off to the Willow Run Airport / Yankee Air Museum near Belleville, MI.

Jerry is an Air Force veteran [Crew Chief on a KC135 - air-refueling tanker] so the planes were of great interest to him, and he enjoyed explaining them to Landon.

Landon's sitting in a KC-135 cockpit.

Both air bases where Jerry was stationed were SAC [Strategic Air Command] bases so I had to get a picture of the SAC emblem [far left].  It seems like it was in another life now.

Aside from taking the above pictures, I spent my time in the Rosie the Riveter area.  It was SO interesting.  I took several pictures and will save them for a separate post.

After the museum it was time for an ice cream.

Then we hurried home to catch the 4:15 matinee showing of Christopher Robin.  It was a cute movie, and even has a couple of tea scenes!  ;-)

Now we're home relaxing - or at least I am.  Landon still has energy to spare.  Tomorrow will be another day...

Harney Tea

I ordered a tin of Harney & Sons Murder on the Orient Express tea, because I've decided to make the Orient Express the theme of the next program at the assisted living tea. Harney Teas has free shipping on all domestic orders right now, so if you're thinking about placing an order now's the time to do it.

Harney's always includes samples with an order, and this order included a packet of Pomegranate Oolong fresh brew iced tea.  I was anxious to try it.  Directions were to steep the tea packet in 2 cups of boiled water and allow it to steep for 15 minutes.

Then pour 6 cups of cold water over the steeped tea.  It's refreshingly delicious!  Because it's an oolong, it has a greenish yellow color instead of black tea's brown color.  This is not a requested review, but because the tea is so good I wanted to make you aware of it.

While at Harney's website I discovered two grandsons have made a series of six podcasts titled As the Tea Steeps - How tea shaped the Harney family and how the Harney family shaped tea in 21st century America. 

The first episode is titled Memories of a Matriarch in which they interview their 86-year-old grandmother, Elyse Harney, as she tells how she and John [founder of Harney teas] met and married, as well as other memories.  The podcast is 18 minutes long and well-worth the time.

[Photo of John and Elyse Harney courtesy of Harney & Sons website]

The second podcast is Memories of a Tea Connoisseur in which Norwood Pratt is interviewed along with Elyse.  Norwood states that as recently as 1980 there were only about six specialty tea businesses offering teas that weren't cheap tea bag fannings in the United States.  Hardly anyone in our country was educated about tea back then, but by 1992 specialty tea businesses were increasing and tea knowledge was on the rise.   

I've listened to three podcasts so far with three more to go.  To access the podcasts Google 'Harney & Sons As the Tea Steeps Podcasts', or go directly to Harney & Sons website to listen to it by Libsyn if you don't have iTunes or Google Play.  

As a update on last Sunday's Rosie the Riveter presentation, it was well attended with 20 residents and guests.  I was delighted to have four 'real' Rosies in attendance who shared their memories.

Grandson Landon comes to spend a few days tomorrow [Thursday] and a visit to the restored WWII Willow Run Bomber Plant Museum is on the agenda.  He and his papa will enjoy the airplanes and I'll enjoy seeing the section devoted to Rosie the Riveter.  I'll be sure to blog about it.

I'm thinking Disney's Christopher Robin [son of A.A. Milne, creator of Winnie-the-Pooh stories] might be on the agenda while Landon is here too.

Happy August 1st!

[Internet/Twitter Photo]