LaVere and Bev Derry hold the Quilt of Valor presented Saturday morning September 26, 2020. The creator of the quilt, Cyndy (Rogers) Grosling of Urbandale presented the quilt to LaVere and spent the day visiting in the Derry home. Others enjoying the morning gathering were the Derry’s daughter, Terri of Ames, LaVere’s brother, Chuck and Bev’s sister and husband, Marilyn and George Millard of Rippey. Neighborhood friends joining the group were Dennis and Sharon Ulrich, along with their son Matt and grandchildren, Eve and Holden of rural Ogden and Jean Borgeson. It was a somewhat breezy morning, but so special to see everyone in person.
After the party, Jean Borgeson, who thought she could send the pictures she took, via e-mail, gave up, copied them on a disk and hand delivered them after lunch. Bev, Terri, Cyndy and Brenda (Fessler) Dobson, who had arrived for an afternoon visit, were on the porch and before I knew it, a couple of hours of listening to the “youngin’s” reminiscing about their childhood and school days had passed. The girls were classmates and by the laughter, I could tell they enjoyed their growing up years together. Cyndy mentioned she belonged to Eastern Star in Urbandale and Bev and I were members at Rippey with Brenda’s grandmother Ferne Holmes and Great Aunt Bernice Cain. Many fond memories of Rainbow and OES were shared. Cyndy also mentioned Grand Chapter and I asked if she knew my cousin Janelle Hammarstedt, who lives north of Woodward. Of course she did and after I got home, I called Janelle and asked if her ears were burning! We caught up on family stuff, as she is the Darling family genealogist, following in her grandmother’s footsteps! She was in the path of the storm, and is still waiting for the hole in her roof to be fixed. It was a great day and I thank Terri for inviting me to share the morning with LaVere.