Sunday Drive: Spearfish, South Dakota - 1953

The caption on this slide in Dad's handwriting reads "at Florence's Spearfish S.Dak. 53" so have all the information we need.

[From my personal collection]

Florence Christine Weisman (1900-1985) married Mother's older brother Gilbert Grenfell (1901-1928) in 1924 and the couple had a son Milton (1925-2003) and a daughter Joyce who died as an infant in 1926.

[From my personal collection]

Gilbert was killed in 1928 when the tractor he was driving overturned.

Florence became the wife of Ralph B. Courtney (1903-1956) in 1932 becoming the stepmother to his two children by his first wife.

She's buried in Little Dane Cemetery, Saint Onge, Lawrence County, South Dakota along with both of her husbands, her son and his wife, and her stepson.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Vern Poff Rowing

Vern Wesley Poff, one of my distant Worden cousins*, was a native of Washington State. This photo was posted by her granddaughter Suzanne Koch, who is on my Ancestry.com DNA match list (5th - 8th cousin).

[Vern Poff rowing, Chelan County, WA-undated, courtesy of Suzanne Koch]

Here's our relationship:

[Ancestry.com]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Jesse Rowe Persinger Hibbs & Daughter

The note on this photo, attached to Jesse's profile in an Ancestry.com by egodwin17, says only "aunt jess." I believe the child is her oldest daughter, another Jesse Persinger, who was born in 1921.* Unfortunately I don't know anything about the airplane she's standing in front of.

[Courtesy of egodwin17]

Here's the newspaper announcement of her marriage to Dr. Henry H. Hibbs, Jr. in 1918.

[8 June 1918, Page 4 - The Albany-Decatur Daily at Newspapers.com]

Jesse is one of my paternal 4th cousins (from my Freeman line):

[Ancestry.com]

*Her younger daughter Mary Sue Hibbs was born in 1925.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: First Time Down in Mexico - Thanksgiving Day, 1924

The people in this photo are Dad (Delbert A. Currey, 1869-1954), Mother (Ethel Viola Plank Currey, 1882-1961), Junior (Harold D. Currey, Jr., 1923-1945), Marguerite (M. H. Currey, 1913-1999), Min (Bernice E. Grenfell Currey, 1902-1980).

[From my personal collection]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: 1927 Chevrolet Coupe Found in Lake Huron Shipwreck

Apparently it's in great shape, except for some invasive mussels:

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Postman's Scooter, Monaco - 2018

This is perfect for those narrow streets...

[From my personal collection]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Paris Scenes,1896 - 1900

I found this YouTube video uploaded by guy jones. Here's his description :

A collection of high quality remastered prints from the dawn of film taken in Belle Époque-era Paris, France from 1896-1900.  Slowed down footage to a natural rate and added in sound for ambiance.*  These films were taken by the Lumière company.

You can find a list of the locations of each film including the length of each bit and the date of its creation by clicking on SHOW MORE when you view the video.


*I though the added sound was unnecessary and turned it off.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Anciennes voitures françaises - Old French Cars

Given my current location in not far from Avignon, this subject seems appropriate.

Here's the short version:

And if that wasn't enough, here's a much longer one.

One thing to remember--none of these cars had air conditioning.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Marseille Harbor - October 21, 2018

On our way to the Fort Saint-Jean which overlooks the old port of Marseille, we passed this sail boat named for the city.

[From my personal collection]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive - Automobile Club de Côte D’Azuré, October 14, 2018

 During our walk through old Nice today we happened on a car show being held next to the beach sponsored by the local auto club. Here are some of the cars we saw.

[From my personal collection]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Reuben H. Avery & Family - Walker County, Alabama

Reuben (1874-1914) is one of my paternal second cousins, three times removed. As far as I can tell he seems to have lived in Walker County, Alabama, his whole life. Standing next to him is his wife Catherine Kiker (1859-1961) and their children Laird, Gordon, Clara and Patsy. They all look like they're ready for a drive in the carriage. (The mules look resigned.)

[Undated photo posted to her Ancestry.com family tree by gbush6]

Note that only the adults are wearing shoes.


Here's the connection between Reuben and me:

[Ancestry.com]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Vera on Tricycle with Cat - 1928

Another photo of Vera Aretta Thomas, one of my maternal fourth cousins, once removed, that was shared by VickieHill56 to her Ancestry.com family tree. 

["Vera on tricycle with cat about 1928" from the collection of VickieHill56]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Mary Elizabeth Thomas - "Sis & Beauty" - 1919

Here's another picture of this maternal fourth cousin, once removed, that was taken on her grandparents' farm in Cheshire, Gallia County, Ohio. 

[Photo posted on her Ancestry.com family tree by VickieHill56

(who doesn't appear on my DNA match list).]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: George Wesley Thomas on His Horse - 1934

George, the grandson of Ashtabula Lyle Thomas, is one of my maternal fourth cousins, once removed. The notes tell us that this was taken outside their house in N.E. Washington D.C. in about 1934.

[Found on VickieHill56's Ancestry.com family]

I've really been enjoying the family photos posted to her Ancestry.com family tree by VickieHill56 (who is not on my DNA match list, although I'm sure we're related somehow).

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Cheshire, Gallia County, Ohio - About 1918

These two people are Mary Elizabeth Thomas, one of my maternal fourth cousins, once removed,* and her mother Fredah Irene (Jacobs) Thomas. The snapshot was taken during a visit to Fridah's parents whose farm was located in Cheshire Township in Gallia County, Ohio.

["Freda and daughter Mary E at Grandparents Jacobs farm." Photo posted on her Ancestry.com family tree by VickieHill56

(who doesn't appear on my DNA match list).]

I wonder what's in the trailer?

*As you can see, Mary Elizabeth is one of Ashtabula Lyle's granddaughters.

[Ancestry.com]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Stroll: Paris-Plages - August, 2007

Every summer since 2002 the City of Paris has brought in sand, palm trees and deck chairs to place alongside the Seine so that those of its citizens who haven't gone on vacation can have a beachy experience.*

These photos were taken at the beginning of my first visit to Paris in 2007.

It was hot the day we visited the site and the mist machine set up at this location was very welcome.

[From my personal collection]

 *But no swimming is allowed in the Seine because it's too polluted.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: San Diego - Circa 1920

Although the only person I recognize in this snapshot is Bernice Grenfell (the mother who raised me), I have reason to believe that this is a gathering of some of the "Encanto Crowd"* somewhere in San Diego County. Unfortunately Dad neglected to add any note to the it when he pasted it in his photo album.

[From my personal collection]

*I've posted a photo of a group that Dad (Harold D. Currey) identified by that name here.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Atascadero Lake Park - Summer 1955

After all their years of camping around the West, Mother and Dad had a mental list of a succession of free places to stay up and down the length of California. The oak-shaded parking lot of the Atascadero Lake Park was a favorite.

[From my personal collection]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Mules at the Starting Point - Grand Canyon - June 1951

This is as close as we got to the mules as the Dad wasn't up for the experience.* (He later shared how he had watched some brave souls dismount after their trip and commented on how stiff and sore they all appeared to be.)

[From my personal collection]

Nowadays a visitor to the Grand Canyon has a number of ways to view its wonders.


*I was only four so I couldn't have gone anyway.





© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Whiskey Run, Oregon Coast - Summer, 1955

This sheltered campsite, far enough back from the beach to be comparatively warm, was one of our favorite places to stay. (And true my parents' frugal habits, it was free.)

In those days the road to Whiskey Run wasn't paved.

 And in one area there were several choices, so Dad always checked out the route on foot to see which one appeared to be the best. We never got stuck in the sand.

Here's a photo of me on my way down to the beach in search of agates and petrified wood which was the attraction this area had for us.

[All photos from my personal collection]

Whiskey Run's history dates back to the early 1850s when gold was discovered in its black sands.


TripAdvisor rates this beach at 4.5--you can see current photos of it here.



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.