Nevada Trip Journal November 22-Dec 12, 2015 (Part 3)

Dec 5, 2015  Henley Cousins Meetup, Lord George’s, 2nd Street, San Francisco

Spent a wonderful afternoon in San Francisco meeting up with some second cousins on the Henley side of my family.  That was my grandmother's maiden name.  Her father (my great grandfather) was an attorney, judge and legislator in Nevada.  Interestingly two of the cousins are also lawyers - Victoria Henley and David Wilbur.

  

Lord George Restaurant, San Francisco

 

Claudia Wilbur Myers, Carol Henley Meredith, David Wilbur

 

Robin Barnett and Victoria Henley

 

Robin Barnett, Victoria Henley, Claudia Wilbur Myers, Carol Henley Meredith, David Wilbur, Dan Barnett

 

Dan Barnett, Chere Barnett Brown, Carol Henley Meredith,  David Wilbur, Victoria Henley,  Claudia Wilbur Myers, Robin Barnett,

Carol Henley Meredith, Dan Barnett, Claudia Wilbur Myers, Victoria Henley, David Wilbur, Robin Barnett,

Nevada Trip Journal: Sunday 15, 2015 Incline Village, NV

Nevada Trip Journal: Sunday 15, 2015  Incline Village, NV

Enjoyed a relaxing “snow day” at my brother Dan’s home in Incline Village.  I needed the rest.  This is the first snow I have seen in Nevada in several years.  I always loved the way the snow looks at Lake Tahoe,  It actually snowed in Fort Worth, TX last year. Hoping the roads are clear to drive to Yerington tomorrow.

Oh look it’s snowing! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

I think I’ll just praise the Lord for the snow.  “Thank you, Jesus!”

Robin making fun of my winter attire. Dan on the inside background.  I was out on their deck taking pictures of the snow when Robin says, “You’re the picture, Chere!” and so took a few pictures of me.

The deck on the back of the house.

Snow view from the deck

Snow view of backyard

Ice Inspection At Perk’s Slough

Ice Inspection At Perk’s Slough

The most exciting word in high school was “party”.  Yes, this word would send a buzz like a lose bee down the halls of our school. The excitement built as it traveled in a humming hush which the adults must not overhear.  “Where will it be, who will be there, how can I get there,  what will I wear?”  Now, two of the biggest

Sue & Danny Acting Out

party animals I knew were my younger brother, Danny, and my best friend, Sue “Hot Lips” Hatton.  So at noon time one February 1965 day, just as I was hanging up my waitress apron at John’s Cafe (where I worked during lunch hour) in preparation of returning to school, Danny came to me.  He was all excited and demanded, “Chere, take me out to Perk’s Slough.”  Why?”  I inquired. “I need to inspect the ice to see if it is hard enough to have an ice skating party tonight”  Oops, there was that word “party”!  Sue who had been waiting to walk with me back to school was all over it now.  “Yeah, Chere, take him.  I want to go with you guys.”

I did not have a car in high school, but I would often “steal” my mother’s Chrysler

Newport station wagon when she was out of town on business.  This happened to be one of those times and Danny knew it.  If I didn’t do as he asked, he could tell on me when she got back.  I questioned further.  “We’ll miss class.  What will we tell them?”  Danny rationalized, “We’ll just be a little late, Chere.  It’s only fifteen minutes out and fifteen minutes back.  We’ll only be late for one class.”  “Yeah, come on Chere, let’s go!” Sue pipes in.

So we pile into the wagon, Sue and I in the front seat and Danny in the back.

 There was no room in the front seat for Danny because the middle was taken up our purses and by my rolls of toilet paper.  I had a terrible cold.  I had never been to Perk’s Slough, but my brother obviously had.  He knew exactly where we were going. (the little party animal that he was).  Mom’s blue battleship floated down the highway, sailing along to discover new lands.  Sue was singing the latest hit to the radio, Dan was pointing out directions and I was blowing my nose almost non-stop.

Perk’s slough was out on the Mason Valley Wildlife Refuge.  In other words out in

the sticks.  As we approached the slough from the back seat, Danny yelled “Stop!”.  “”Why, I don’t see the slough.” I questioned as I pulled to a stop at the top of a little knoll.  Danny flings open the back door and commanded me.  “Stay here, I want to make sure the ground is hard enough for the car.” Sue and I watch him walk quite a ways towards the slough.  Then we looked at each other and I said, “I’m not walking that far to see the slough are you?”  “Hell no!” she exclaimed.

With that, I revved up the wagon and gunned it.  At the sound of the car reve, Danny turned around and like an airplane flagman began waving his arms frantically and yelling, “NO, NO, NOOOOO!” Too late, the car sunk into the mud spinning wheels and all.  Danny came running back to the car in a rage. He

rounded the car in an Indian war dance, yelling and cursing me out.  Finally, he decided to try and push us out.  No luck.  I decided I would try and help him push.  I could barely get the door open we had sunk so far in the mud.  When I stepped out, I sunk down to my knees.  The mud oozed into my pantyhose (we wore dresses to school back then).  Sue sat with pursed up lips and refused my pleas to help push.  She wasn’t going to get dirty and besides it was too cold.

When Dan and my energy was well spent to no avail, Danny decided he would be the hero of the situation and run back to town to get some help.  I was worried about him as the afternoon wind was getting colder and he only had a light jacket on.  His hands were freezing from trying to push the car.  I decided that I would wrap his hands in toilet paper to try and keep them warm.  And so off he ran in his TP mittens.  I figured it would take him a few hours to get to help if a bobcat or wolf pack didn’t eat him.

It was freezing, so I would turn the heater on for a few minutes at a time to conserve gas as it was getting low.  My muddy nylons dried and caked to my legs as my nose continued to run which I wiped on my coat sleeve.  I looked like hell, but my “best” friend did not have a hair out of place.  She sat like a princess on her thrown commanding when to turn the heat back on.  My resentments were growing with each sniffle.  After about 20 minutes, I looked in the rearview mirror and saw a jeep coming.  I jumped out to try and flag it down.  To my surprise and relief Danny jumped out with discarded toilet paper mittens.  He had run into the game warden.  Fortunately, his jeep had a hoist and was able to pull us out of the mud.

We hurried back to Yerington, washed the car down and rushed back to school just in time for last period. I forget what excuse we gave for our tardiness because

I had another crisis.  I needed to raise some money for gas as the car was almost empty and when Mom go home she would surely notice.  I decided to panhandle my classmates for “a worthy cause.”  I did not dare tell them why as in a small town word spreads like wildfire and my mom could know before she even got back home.  When I finally reached $2.50, I put ten gallons of gas in Mom’s car and parked it in her driveway.  My mother was none the wiser and I felt I had gotten away with murder.

Thirty years later while Dan & I were reminiscing with my mother about Yerington days.  I decided to come clean on this story and tell her.  “Oh, you stinkers,” she exclaimed.  “I chewed the mechanic out for always blaming you kids for all my car problems.  I had to have the power steering repaired and he said, ‘But Mrs. Barnett the whole under carriage is encrusted in mud.’  I just figured he didn’t want to do the repair.”

(Note:  I never did party at Perk’s Slough or see Perk’s Sough.  Now I hear that Perk’s Slough is no longer there.  I do have it on the greatest authority of YHS partiers that Perk’s Slough did exist and was a great party spot.)

The Yellow Box

The Yellow Box

Brothers -- I had two.  They were as different as salt and pepper. No they were not black and white, but in flavor they were distinctively unique.  The room they shared illustrates their differences. One side was very neat.  The bed was made neatly.  All the clothes were picked up and hung in the closet or folded perfectly in his dresser drawers.  This side belonged to my brother Dan. Dan was eighteen months younger than me and eighteen months older than our youngest brother.  He was a perfectionist from birth and would go bonkers when things were out of place.  That is why sharing a room with his younger brother was pure torture for him.  On the other side of the room was an unmade bed, covers tossed on the floor.  Dirty clothes lay everywhere. Books and a half filled glass of kool-aid and partially eaten ketchup sandwich covered the bed stand.  This side was my brother David’s.

At one end of their bedroom was a large four drawer dresser.  The top two drawers were Dan’s and the bottom two belonged to David.  A peek inside their drawers revealed the same differences.  Everything in Dan’s was perfectly folded and categorized.  David’s on the other hand were partially bare, because most of his clothes were on the floor or under his bed, unless I had just finished washing and had replenished them.

Their personalities and temperament were also at opposite poles. Both were middle children.  Middle children either learn to negotiate well or become the “lost child” who can never find their place.  Dan had learned to be a great negotiator.  He was industrious and at times a clown depending on the need.  He was popular and was very in tune to the latest fads.  Overall he was pleasant to be around unless you pissed him off.  He had quite a temper.  A temper that would not leave, until pay back had been accomplished.  He was patient in his revenge.  He could wait weeks to

get you back.  He’d wait so long that you would have to ask him “Why did you do that?” and he with great satisfaction would reply, “You remember when,,,?”

David, on the other hand, was a tease, but he didn't know how to stop, so would irritate people.  He was also passive aggressive.  As the “lost child” his response to anger was to shrug you off, ignore you and go about his merry way.  He hated to be “nagged” and the more you did, the more he would continue what ever behavior you were addressing. Of course he did this while smiling and displaying his cute dimples.

With these two personalities in mind I shall continue my story.

When Dan was in high school he was still small for his age.  He eventually grew to over six feet, but at the time of my story he was short and skinny.  This really bothered him, because all the popular kids were on the football team, which he tried out for, but was too small in size and weight.  He was not, however, small in spirit.  He had read the Atlas Body Building ads that were run in all the comic books of our time.  He sent off for this course and someone gave him a set of weights.  He was determined.  True to his nature, he kept these weights neatly in a homemade yellow box that he kept by the side of the dresser.  Dan was somewhat possessive about his stuff and threatened to kill anyone who went in that box or touched his weights.

One evening as I was preparing to cook dinner, Dan came stomping furiously into the kitchen fists clenched and red-faced yelling, “He put a snake in my yellow box.  You had better make him get it out of there, or I am going to kill him”.  “What!” I exclaimed.  “Show me.” I did not want to believe this.  We snuck upon the yellow box in terror.  Dan slowly lifted the lid a crack.  I was expecting a large rattlesnake to strike us, but instead I quickly glanced at a garden snake before Dan shut the lid to prevent its escape.  Now I was mad.  I hated snakes.  “Damn that David!” I exclaimed.  

David had not yet come home from his after school activities.  I returned to the kitchen.  As I pulled out the flour to bread the pork chops I was going to cook for dinner, I was trying to figure out how best to handle this situation.  I knew Dan was going to seriously hurt David, if he didn't get that snake out fast.  Yet, I knew if I asked David more than once, he would consider it nagging and wouldn’t do anything.  About this time David comes bouncing into the kitchen with his dimpled little smile.  As calmly as I could, I said. “David, Dan says if you don’t get that snake out of his yellow box he is going to kill you!”  David’s comeback was, “I can’t. I don’t have anyplace to keep it.”  My response was “Well, you’ll have to let it go then.  You can’t keep it in the house.”  David did his little shrug thing.  A sign that he was going to blow me off.  Now I was pissed off and started yelling, “If you don’t get that snake out of this house NOW, I am going to kill you.”  He looked at me surprised that I had turned into Dan and he was outnumbered and replied simply, ”Fine”.

With that he turned and headed to his room.  I set the cast iron skillet on a hot burner to meld the grease for the pork chops. As I was continued flouring the chops, I saw David with the snake around his arm walking down the hall to the front door.  His jaw was set in anger.  I breathed a sigh of relief.

A few minutes passed and as I lifted the first chop to drop in the frying pan, David startled me.  He was standing directly behind me and when I looked back to see him, he dropped his dead garden snake into my skillet.  I screamed and he laughed hysterically.  With a twinkle in his eye, he said. “If I can’t keep it, I’ll just eat it.”  I was beside myself.  I knew he was punishing me for siding with Dan.  He knew I would feel badly about the poor snake sizzling in my frying pan.  He had won!  No, I couldn’t let him win.  I screamed at him, “You are going to eat it!.  You won’t get any dinner until you do.”  As usual, he just shrugged, “I will!”.

and stormed out of the kitchen.

I fried his snake until it was a nice golden brown and put it on a plate while I cleaned out the pan and finished the pork chops.  When dinner was complete I called everyone to the table.  I served up the plates and set them before my brother Dan and my sister, Lexie.  Our mother was seldom home at dinner time as she worked.  To David, I served his snake.  Everyone looked at me like I was crazy, including David.  “You said you would eat that snake, now eat it” I snarled at him as Lexie gagged and Dan’s eyes bugged out.  In defiance, David cut a piece off the snake and took a bite.  He then got up and carried the fried snake outside to the garbage.  Before he returned from the garbage, I place his pork chop dinner at his place.  The dinner conversation was about how a snake tasted.  By the time dinner ended all tempers had ceased.

Yes, brothers --  I had two!

 

Lexie (age 3), David (age 5), Danny (age 7) & Chere (age 8)

Picture taken in 1956, Yerington, Nevada

Story occurred in 1964

Shannon's Story: Shannon's Obituary

Shannon Ivy Brown

September 14, 1968 – December 19, 2009

Shannon Ivy Brown died December 19, 2009 after thirty years of serious health conditions starting with a brain tumor at age 11. She died in Richmond, California due to a septic blood infection. She was 41 years old.

Shannon Ivy Brown was born September 14, 1968 to Daryl Thomas Brown and Chere Lynn Brown (Barnett) in Seattle, Washington. Shannon has lived with her mother in Washington, California, Nevada, Tennessee and Vermont. She has been a resident of Richmond for 11 years. She had a wonderful sense of humor. Shannon’s greatest attritubues were her simple faith, her loving heart, her patience and her endurance. She became know to her family as the “Comeback Queen” because, despite many near death experiences over the years, she always pulled through.

Shannon is survived by her mother, Chere L. Brown of Richmond, CA; her father, Daryl T. Brown of Tucson, AZ, her grandmother, Beverely Brown of Yerington, NV, her uncle Daniel C. Barnett of Incline Village, NV. Many cousins around the country also survive her.

A memorial service will be held for Shannon at 2PM on Saturday, January 16, 2010 at Central City Christian Fellowship, 1230 Bissell Avenue, Richmond, CA. There will be a reception in community room of the church following the service. For additional information call 510-407-1525.

Shannon’s urn will be buried next to her grandmother, Clara M. Barnett in Yerington, NV.

Driving Directions

From Vallejo

Merge onto I-80 W toward SAN FRANCISCO.

Take the SAN PABLO AVE exit toward BARRETT AVE.

Turn RIGHT onto BARRETT AVE.

Turn LEFT onto MARINA WAY.

Turn RIGHT onto BISSELL AVE.

End at 1230 Bissell Ave Richmond, CA 94801-3137

From Oakland

Merge onto I-80 W toward Richmond

Merge onto I-580 W toward Richmond

Take the HARBOUR WAY NORTH exit, EXIT 9B.

Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto HARBOUR WAY S.

Turn RIGHT onto BISSELL AVE.

End at 1230 Bissell Ave Richmond, CA 94801-3137

What Great Dads!

"A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society." 
-- Billy Graham

As I was looking over the family websites, with all their wonderful pictures, I could not help but think, “What great dads this Barnett family has!”  This is encouraging, because growing up; we did not have a father present.  My parents divorced when I was three, and my father died when I was thirteen. My brothers and I did not have a father figure to show us the way.  Father’s Day was not a holiday in our house.  As a matter of fact, I don’t think I even knew there was such a thing as Father’s Day until I got married and had my daughter, Shannon.

Great Dad, Dan Barnett

Despite this my brother, Dan, works had at being a good Dad. A proud father, Dan, gave all his sons the middle name of Danielson. His four children are all grown up now, but they spend a lot of time together even still. His daughter Jodi is an interior architect. His son Scott is an ex-Iraq Vet Marine, taking pre-med at the University Of Nevada. His son Patrick is currently in the Army. His son Jacob is a student at the University of Oregon. With all these college students, I bet Dan received many letters from college over the years similar to this:

Dear Dad,

$chool i$ really great. I am making lot$ of friend$ and $tudying very hard. With all my $tuff, I $imply can't think of anything I need, $o if you would like, you can ju$t $end me a card, a$ I would love to hear from you.

Love, 
Your $on


The Reply:(to the above)

Dear Son,

I kNOw that astroNOmy, ecoNOmics, and oceaNOgraphy are eNOugh to keep even an hoNOr student busy. Do NOt forget that the pursuit of kNOwledge is a NOble task, and you can never study eNOugh.

Dad

Of course Dan had a lot of help from his wife, Robin.  This letter from a daughter might rightfully explain it:

One evening a little girl and her parents were sitting around the table eating supper. The little girl said, "Daddy, you're the boss, aren't you?" Her Daddy smiled, pleased, and said yes. The little girl continued "That's because Mummy put you in charge, right?"

Below are some recent photos of Dan & his Family.

Happy Father’s Day, Dan.  I think you ARE a GREAT Dad!

Great Dad, Christopher Barnett

My nephew, Christopher’s father passed away when he was only seven years old.  He had a great dad, my brother Don.  Don’s grandmother raised him, after his mother’s death.  Don absolutely loved and adored his six children. It is hard to lose a father. Don understood that, and would not have wanted that for his children, but cancer won its battle. I admire how Christopher is fathering his own children, and I think his father would be very proud of him. Christopher recently graduated from Oxford with a doctor’s degree in Divinity.  Both Christopher and his dad, raised family’s while working their way towards their doctorates.  Don had a doctorate in Aeronautical Engineering.  Life father, like son.    Christopher has a wonderful wife, Stacy. They have three sons, Luke, Caleb, and Paul.  I have just recently reconnected with Don’s children, as thousands of miles and many years have separated us. I am so excited to see how well they are doing. Below are some pictures of Christopher’s Family:

  

 

After looking over the Stacy’s web site, full of their family pictures, this little cartoon seems to echo Christopher son’s concept of their dad.

Happy Father’s Day, Christopher.  I think you ARE a GREAT Dad!

Great Dad, Bert Newton

My niece, Joanna, is Christopher’s little sister. She was only three when her father passed away. She married this wonderful man, Bert Newton, and he is another great father. I was privileged to attend their wedding several years ago, but I do not know either of them very well.  However, after looking over their family web site, I can tell that Bert is a great father. Bert is a high school coach.  Joanna & Bert have two children, Reese and Owen.  Owen is named after my brother, Don, whose middle name was Owen.  Below are some pictures of the Newson family.

 

Happy Father’s Day, Bert.  I think you ARE a GREAT Dad!