Best Wishes for the holidays! . . .Greetings of the Christmas season, and best fellowship of the Christmas Season, and best wishes to you and yours. May you enjoy the, love and fellowship of family and friends, and many other blessings both spiritual and material. The bobsled (above) a reminder of bygone times, and of how many good things we enjoy but often take for granted. Next time you set out in your speedy, heated car, remember your ancestors’ slow and cold horse-drawn transportation!

 

Christmas programs at Red Oak Grove Presbyterian Church are recalled by Cecil

Mathias, 90, who joined in 1956. Costumed Sunday school children would present the Christmas Story, and traditional carols would be sung. Then, overseen by the angel atop the Christmas tree, Santa Claus would give each child a bag of candy and an apple or a popcorn ball. If the snow was deep and the roads not well cleared, some families would leave their cars at home and come to the program in old fashioned horse drawn bobsleds.

 

May 17. 2009, is a date to mark on your new calendar: the third annual Red Oak Grove Reunion. The schedule will be the same as in 2007 and 2008. Pastor RonLashmit will officiate at the service, and the Tipton High School Chamber Choir, directed by Thad Wilkins, will sing. Jeff Kaufmann, state legislator from Cedar County, will deliver the message. You’ll receive another reminder in the spring.

 

As the year ends … In December, many people like to review their charitable giving record. Earlier this year, Red Oak Grove Cemetery Association was granted 501(c)3 tax status by the Iowa Secretary of State. This means donations are tax-deductible. Gifts to the church were deductible when it was affiliated with the Presbyterian denomination. However, when church ownership was transferred to the Cemetery Association in 2007, it was necessary to file for exemption as a nonprofit cemetery company. We are grateful to Board members Mark Penningroth and Keith Whitlatch for doing the required paperwork.

 

            Thanks to the generosity of past donors, the Cemetery Association has sufficient assets to generate interest that covers routine expenses. However, Red Oak Grove Church is 87 years old, and it will need substantial repairs in the near future. Perhaps your parents, grandparents, or other relatives belonged to the church or are buried in the cemetery. Making a gift, of any size, would be an opportunity to memorialize them. Gifts, in kind, such as professional services, are also welcome. For details, please call Bob Rickard, (563) 886-6018, or write to him at address given below.

 

Seeking historic recognition . . . The Red Oak, Grove Cemetery Association Board is in the process of nominating both the church and the cemetery for the National Register of Historic Places. We know they are historic-treasures.

 

Robert Cousins remembered . . . The 75th anniversary of the death of Robert Gordon Cousins, a native of the Red Oak Grove community, took place in 2008. Cousins, a gifted orator, served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1893 to 1909. He donated the ornate wrought- iron gate and arch on the east side of Red Oak Grove Cemetery. Mr. Cousins died June 30, 1933, at age 74.

 

Veterans at rest. . . In peaceful Red Oak Grove Cemetery are the graves of 70 veterans. They served in the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War 11, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. One veteran, Robert F. W Ehlers, served in both Korea and Vietnam. We honor their service and sacrifice.

 

Do you have comments, ideas, or suggestions? Do you know someone, who would

like to receive the Red Oak Grove Reporter? If so, contact Bob Rickard, Board president, at P. 0. Box 452, Tipton, IA 52772, or [email protected]. We’d like to hear from you.

 

Published at Tipton, Iowa, December 2008