Stella Sardeson

"Grandma recalls the depression years of the 30's as terribly dry years, with many dust storms.  Most of the houses they lived in had wooden floors which Grandma scrubbed until they were white.  Water was carried in from the well and the cellar was used as a refrigerator.  Electric lights came to the farms in the 30's.  Grandma got the first new refrigerator that came to Blanchardville [off the train] after World War II, which she still has today [1984; however, by the late 1990s or so the refrigerator was with Thomas Duane Sardeson, and it operated until recent years!]. Grandma and Grandpa attended Trinity Lutheran church in Blanchardville, which was founded on the site of the former United Brethren Church, where Grandpa worshipped as a child.  Grandma tells that when they farmed, each farmer did not have his own machinery.  Threshing machines and shredders came to do the grain and corn to fill the silos.  Fifteen to tweny neighbors would exchange work.  Big meals were shared, and the families were close."  -- Jennifer McCoppin Robison