Social Gatherings With Family and Friends

The Glassnaps enjoyed many good times together with friends and family through the years.  Here are a few pictures of some of these gatherings.

TOP:  Looks like a picnic at Pamperin Park; (L. to R.) front row: Unknown, Carol Verhagen, unknown and Darlene Verhagen;  2nd row: (sitting) Estella Glassnap with Jeanie Stranen, Albert Glassnap with daughter Joyce, Del and Cecil (Aldrich) Vieau; (standing) George and Alma Verhagen, Annie McGinnis;  clockwise from 7 o’clock: Merlin and Wilbert Verhagen, Eugene and Melvin McGillis, Herb and Leona Stranen (with heads cut off), Melvin Verhagen; an unidentified couple behind George and Alma.  Taken about 1937.  The park is off Hwy. 29, NW of Green Bay.  It was a favorite place for summer picnics where the kids could swim and romp together.  We had such good times there.

UPPER MIDDLE:  The road crossed right through Duck Creek in Pamperin Park.  Poor Estella had a fit every time we crossed it in the car.  She was so afraid of the water.  There was a small dam that created the swimming hole.  Joyce is in her sun suit out in the middle.  That’s why she was such a mess in the top picture.  Wet but happy!

LOWER MIDDLE:  A gathering of friends and family at the Glassnap home on Wisconsin Avenue in Appleton, Wisconsin.  About 1938 or 1939.  (L. to R.) Seated: Jeanie Stranen, Darlene Verhagen and Joyce Glassnap;  Standing: Eugene and Annie McGinnis, Leona and Herb Stranen, Albert and Estella Glassnap.  Alma Verhagen probably took the picture.

BOTTOM:  (L. to R.) Cecil Aldrich, Audrey DeWilde and Carol Verhagen take a dip in an old, abandoned rock quarry outside of De Pere, Wisconsin.  Old quarries made good swimming holes when filled with water.  Not always too clean, but wet and fun anyway.  Sometimes all of the swimmers among the family and friends would drive out there and take a dip.  The first time Carol saw her cousin, Joyce, swim across it she said, “My gosh! She can swim like a fish”. 

The Verhagen’s home on Oak Street was a natural gathering place for family and friends.  There were many impromptu activities in the summer on their shady side-lawn.  It was very pleasant, bordered by Uncle George’s well-kept vegetable garden and Aunt Alma’s beautiful flower garden.  Sometimes the men sat and talked while the children played games.  Albert often gave the kids a few pointers on their tumbling.  He also knew jujitsu throws that got everybody’s attention.  He’d take someone’s hand like he was going to shake it, and before you knew what was happening, you’d be flat on your back on the ground.  He’d somersault right through and end up standing on his feet.  He knew just how to do it so nobody’d get hurt.  In the winter, the kids would often gather around him in the house to listen to his stories.  He’d improvise, putting two or three fairy tales together and nobody ever knew how it was going to come out.  If we didn’t like one ending, he’d make up another one.  Unfortunately, if you wanted him to tell the same story another day, he couldn’t do it.  He couldn’t remember how he told it the last time, so he’d just make up a new one.

TOP:  (L. to R.)  Adults: Emma Aldrich, Estella and Al Glassnap with George Verhagen behind, a friend of Cecil’s next to Cecil Aldrich with Wil Verhagen behind, Eunice Verhagen and Beans (Gene) Duprey.  Children: Joyce Glassnap, Carol and Kenny Verhagen and Audrey DeWilde.  About 1942.

UPPER MIDDLE:  (L. to R.) Joyce Glassnap, Darlene, Carol and little Kenny Verhagen.  Dar’s hair is cut.  About 1944.

LOWER MIDDLE:  Alma, Eunice and Darlene Verhagen and Estella Glassnap with Joyce in front of Eunice, all standing in front of Glassnap’s Dodge.  About 1943.

BOTTOM: Jeanie Stranon (left) and Joyce Glassnap practicing with their batons at the Glassnap home on Wisconsin Avenue in Appleton.  This was probably a year or so after Jeanie’s dad, Herb Stranon, was tragically killed in a work accident in 1944.  Jeanie visited for a few days or a week and the girls had so much fun.  The window above Joyce’s head is the one she fell through and received a compression fracture of her 5th cervical.