Around the Town and in Our Tree

Our town -- just a block or so west of the downtown plaza is a fairly new "trail" created a few years back. I had never taken the time to look at the trail or the "art work" that finds itself along the way. I drive by it all almost every day,  here are some of the sights:

This probably is the most eye catching display along the way and it is quite fascinating. The remaining benches and sculptures I have included in a collage highlighting their unique appeal and utility:

I have to say that the colorful pieces add a lot to the beauty of the area and make a statement. There are many areas of this small town that hopefully I can showcase in the coming posts.

And now to the "tree" part of the post . . . my paternal Grandfather, Lloyd Hampton Hiles Sr had three brothers.
I only met one of those -- Harold. I met Harold when I moved to California in the early 60s and found him to be a vary fascinating person and one who gave me a totally different "take" on my family. The other brothers were Charlie and Otto. I wish that I had met them. On the rare occasion that my father ventured into talking about his family I did hear a few stories about Charlie and Otto -- but very few. Charlie was a successful business man and had lived in Texas. He worked for the Pacific Fruit Express as an executive.

I was left to piece together some of Otto's life. He remained in Wisconsin and had a variety of occupations. One of those was that he managed a theater (or two) one in Neillsville and one in Greenwood. I thought that to be an interesting work -- especially shortly after the turn of the century -- in the 1915 time frame. Going to the movies in those days had to be so different from the way things are today -- no talkies and no color.

Someone sent me a picture of Neillsville taken around 1915 and in the background of the scene there is a theater -- that may be one of the ones that Otto managed. Otto eventually finished his career in farming.



Early in his career he is said to have been an engineer on the Wisconsin Central Railroad. He was an outdoor type person and in retirement he reportedly made fishing flies as a hobby. He married Lilla (Lillie) Bryan and together they had two children -- Gale & Merwyn.  Here is the tree showing Otto:

You may have noticed that I am writing this post one day earlier than usual -- that is because I am attending an all day genealogical seminar tomorrow -- the first one available in our area in a long time. It is sponsored by the Sonoma County Genealogical Society and is being held at the Luther Burbank Center -- I look forward to that. They are covering several topics that will be beneficial I'm sure.

And since it is Friday normally we would be enjoying 'fish-fry" Friday but instead we are having left-over chicken . . . so I look forward to Slider Saturday night . . .

Hopefully there are eggs and chocolate filling your Sunday -- see you in a few!