A Carnival of Wheels
By
Gerry Niskern
How many sets of wheels have you owned? Have you ever counted up the number? I think ours numbered 27, but I’m sure there were more.
Actually, the first set of wheels I was invited to ride on was a super deluxe Schwinn bike. I rode on the crossbar to a Girl Scout square dance. I was thirteen and he was fourteen.
Years later, we honeymooned in a black Ford coupe. Then we bought a brand new black Ford two door sedan. Immediately after we made the last payment he wanted to trade it in for a black and red Ford, a year older! “But honey, it’s unique. No one has one like it,” was the argument. “Absolutely not,” I replied. But that’s when I should have realized I had married a car collector.
We traded the black Ford in for a Ford gold and white Fairlane for me and he had a Ford truck to match. Couple of years later we bought a new Ford Station Wagon. Later we moved to California and I found myself driving a Morris Minor with a stick shift on the freeways. Don’t ask me how it happened, but I did insist that there be a separate bank account to handle the never ending carnival of cars.
Next was a 64 Ford Mustang convertible. We owned another one in 67. Just to name a few, we owned a turquoise Ford Galaxy, a 66 yellow Plymouth. (All three kids learned to drive in that one) There was blue Karmann Gia and a red Sun Beam Tiger. (one two year old grandson used to grab a wrench and slide under the little convertible to “fix it”.)
Another unique purchase was a 59 Mercury Cougar XR7.(one of only 53 made and now very collectible!) I can’t begin to name them all in order. We owned more than one Rover, a Ford van, a gold P 1800, a Cadillac Coupe de Ville, a Dodge Caravan that I drove for 16 years. (all I wanted was something that I could count on to get me there!) After that I made my first vehicle purchase with my own money, a Buick Riveria convertible; white with gold trim and red leather interior. (I drove my little granddaughter and three friends to plays at the Children’s theatre for several years.)
Then in 2006, we both bought our last new cars. Mine was a white Honda CRV that I love to this day and his was a silver Toyota Matrix. (He wanted the Matrix to go to our great-grandson. It carried him thru his last year at NAU, four years at medical school, and on to his Residency in Kentucky.)
Looking back I was sorry that I didn’t share my “collector’s” love of cars. But, I do have to say that nothing was a much fun as that first ride on those wheels of the Schwinn bike.

“THANKSGIVING ROULETTE”
By

Gerry Niskern

Do you have your genealogy research all done in time for your family’s Thanksgiving gathering? Due to Twenty-three and Me, Ancestory and a few more websites, everyone now has a chance to learn about their immigrant ancestors.
Of course, some went into the search with the expectation of find a distant Prussian General, or at least an English duke in the family tree! Most find out they are descendants of hard working immigrants who poured into America in the l800’s and early l900s. Those early relatives learned about Thanksgiving Day gradually, as well as about the laws, taxes and social mores.
My own grandfather, from Austria, was recruited to come work in the coal mines in West Virginia. My mother often told of when she started to first grade grandpa had her sit with him at the kitchen table and help him learn to read the newspaper. He was very anxious to learn about our democracy and how the government worked.
Grandpa had served the required seven years in the army of Emperor Franz Joseph before he was allowed to come to the United States. My mother often told of how, as he learned to read English, he marveled at our freedoms allowed in our constitution. He reminded her siblings to be thankful they were growing up in a country where there was no King or Dictator.
And of course, Thanksgiving was celebrated, but my grandmother refused to buy a turkey when she had lots of chickens, and besides, she always declared, “You don’t just give thanks on one day, You are supposed to give thanks every day!”

Thanksgiving 2021
By
Gerry Niskern
Are you looking forward to Turkey Day this year as much as I am? What’s your favorite part of the day? The turkey, dressing and gravy, or maybe the luscious pies.
Not me. My favorite part of the day and always has been, is the games we played after the feast. Trivia, Taboo, Gestures(a version of Charades) and many more. You name, we played it.
I loved making the dinner for the family for too many years to count. But my reward for the work was the fun time winning at the games. The rule at my house was “no football watching ”on Thanksgiving and believe it or not, the guys in the family joined the games willingly.
Of course, the best Thanksgiving games were the ones that everyone from 8 to 88 could play. It was fun to have the guys versus the gals (the gals always won!)
It’s a new year. The long isolation of last holiday season is over and for that we all should be grateful. Grateful for the opportunity to be vaccinated and now, if caught early enough, the new medications to keep from ending up hospitalized. Grateful to laugh with and enjoy the family members and friends we couldn’t be with last Turkey Day.
So dust off the turkey platter, shine up the silver and break open a new game for a new beginning.