My Uncle Cal's headstone is now in place at theSaturday, June 6, 2009
Sergeant Cal Steunenberg, 40th Infantry Division, 185th Infantry, 2nd Battalion
Monday, May 25, 2009
"CQ,CQ,CQ, this is W6WFV....William 6, William, Frank, Victor...CQ, CQ, CQ" ...Memorial Day 2009...and "dits" and "dahs"
Friday, May 22, 2009
More pics moved up from the unarchived depths of the blog.The Egyptian Theatre Marquee.
These pics probably look familiar, as I am moving some items up from the lower picture section. This way they can be be archived, save some download time and space and be available for easier viewing. These were taken during our special visit to the Idaho Pen on the day following the premiere of Assassination: Idaho's Trial of the Century.
then please let me know. Click images to enlarge.............................. (cont. from above)
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| Back Row: Abdou Oumar, Aisha Abdou, Jamal Abdou, Davis Crookham, Kirsti Hammer, Jakob Hammer, Taylor Kimpton, Austin Kimpton, Jordan Kimpton, Kathryn Crookham, Grace Crookham, John McClain, Cindy McClain, Tracy Roche, Doug McClain, Donna Dempster-McClain Middle Row: Bill Crookham, Karin Krueger, Mary Crookham, Brandon Hammer, Jerid Hammer, Elizabeth ____?___, Kevin Kimpton, Shelly Kimpton, Judy Krueger, George Crookham, Keri Crookham Front Row: Malcolm McClain, Berit Crookham, Kris Crookham, Bob Eggiman, Linda Eggiman, Wade Crookham, Frank Crookham, Carl Crookham, Jill Crookham, Norine Crookham, Alison (Kim) McClain, Krista McClain-Rocha, Amy Roche, Krystynne Crookham, Jordyn Crookham. |
remember having a drawer full of hankies in the 1950's/60's and often kept one in my back pocket (the habit of keeping it regularly laundered and neatly ironed probably didn't apply in my case). I am guessing that the governor kept one in his back pocket too. It seems today, with all the emphasis on using less trees, paper products and energy, that a lot of Kleenex and the boxes it comes in could be saved by merely having a few more hankies.
Here is the first envelope I have seen with a photograph of the Caldwell Bank & Trust (for a short period called the Caldwell Commercial Bank). Unfortunately, there are no interesting postmarks or any address so I believe it is classified as just a plain old envelope. If it had stamps, postmarks, etc. then it would become a "cover." If I have that wrong, then undoubtedly Mark Metkin from the Idaho State Postal History Registry will appear again to straighten me out.
To read more information and see pictures of the bank (or any other topic), use the blog search tool in the very top left margin of this blog page. Or, click here on "Caldwell Bank", as I did the same search and this is the link.
The photo below is one seen elsewhere on this blog and is from my postcard collection. It shows the bank during roughly the same time period as depicted on this envelope and before the building was extended to the left to form the Steunenberg block.
You can use by footnote.com viewer to read page one of this article below left from the 6/6/1907 Washington Post (far right column) and then click on the picture of Harry Orchard below to be taken to page two and the rest of the article.
This is such a way cool picture of my Uncle, Sergeant Cal Steunenberg in the South Pacific, circa 1943, that I had to share it. My Cousin Roy (sadly Cousin Roy passed away the following year) has this wonderful original photograph and shared it with his daughter, Sheri Beersman Steunenberg, during the recent services honoring his father. Sheri sent a scan to me along with other pictures and mementos from the memorial and military burial service (see recent blog posts). Thank you Cousin Roy for sharing it. I love the grin on Uncle Cal's face despite being where he is at the time and the conditions under which he is living. Be sure to click on the picture to view the enlarged version.
Cal A. Steunenberg May 19, 1913 - May 21, 2009
past week our family lost 96 year old Army Sergeant Cal A. Steunenberg—my Uncle Cal. See previous blog post. The scrapbook pages shown here come courtesy of Sheri Steunenberg Beersman, Cal's granddaughter.
Growing up as a kid, I have many fond memories of visits with my Uncle Cal. Some of those took place at family gatherings during the holidays, others at visits to the home of my grandparents Julian and Francis Steunenberg or when Uncle Cal was out and about and made a trip to our various homes over the years. He sure liked to jaw with by dad (that sometimes got a bit boring for a kid!), always loved his little sister (my mother Brenda) and her home cooking, and enjoyed hanging out to watch Sunday afternoon football games. However, nothing could match my fascination with his passion for ham radio. I have faint memories of those very early ham radio stations he had at his home—the cool radio room with all kinds of interesting equipment and a giant antenna in the back yard. Listening in to the world on his receiver was a pretty amazing thing for a kid as was hearing him chattering in ham lingo with fellow operators around the state, country and world. It is where I first heard Uncle Cal uttering "CQ,CQ,CQ, this is W6WFV."
n and would be a real antique today. Wish I still had it. Of course I never had much of an antenna but strung up some wire and could still pull in broadcasts from around the world. The constant “dit” and “dah” of Morse code still rings in my ears and is forever etched in a deep fissure of my brain. I use to keep a log book of all the different countries that I tuned in—of course I wasn't a real Ham but Uncle Cal kept a log book so I did too. Over time I added a copy of the Ham’s bible, The Radio Amateur's Handbook, and other books on radio. Uncle Cal gave me some guide books on licensing and Morse code along with an old straight key for code practice—and always words of encouragement.
hat interest Uncle Cal had sparked, I took several electronics courses in high school, learned the basics, built a few projects and always had a fascination with old radios—still do. My copy of The Radio Amateur's Handbook remained a handy reference and I still kept that old receiver out in the garage but never got a ham license. Many years later, by own two boys would take up an interest in amateur radio to go along with their expertise and careers in the computer technology field. Both of them got their technician licenses not long ago. Joe’s call sign is KI6MVD and Josh’s KG6CYK—but old dad continues to lag in that regard. I was always scared off by that code requirement—all those dits and dahs again. They tell me code is not required these days but Uncle Cal was always fast on the key. He had to be as a radio operator during WWII. He served his country honorably in the Pacific as a Sergeant is the U.S. Army Signal Corp. I am sure he probably thought ending the code requirement a few years back was making it too easy for the ham radio newbie’s. I can hear him now—scoffing loudly at such a thing. He was an original, a real purist when it came to ham radio.
n his pickup truck with a camper on the back. He always raved about that Swan 350 rig. During visits to Los Osos, CA, my oldest son Josh would sit with him in the truck and learn about amateur radio just as I did as kid. The old truck got a lot of miles put on it and the Swan a lot of airtime. Just thinking about Uncle Cal has sparked my electronic interests again. Maybe I need to start looking at those license requirements and shopping for radio equipment with my boys. They have small hand held units and haven’t gotten into the bigger rigs yet.
I know Uncle Cal would razz me a bit but I would probably be forgiven if I skipped trying to learn Morse code. However, he sparked an interest that remains today and I know he was happy to hear my sons had taken up the reins of ham radio. I will always love and remember who it was that first taught me about “dits” and “dahs.”
