As the year comes to a close, I thought it would be interesting to take a glimpse of life in Rogers during its infancy. Here are some of those memories:
In conjunction with the start of the new school year, the Rogers Historical Museum has a "Back to School" exhibit (Aug. 27-Oct. 29) that looks at ways families prepared for their children to go to school at the turn of the 20th century, told via guided tours of the 1895 Hawkins House. This exhibit inspired me to review the memories of Grace Hill, an educator who began teaching in 1946 and continued until she retired from the Rogers school system in 1981. Hill spoke at the Rogers History Club on May 19, 2011, and recounted flawlessly the history and expansion of Rogers schools during her lifetime. All of the meetings of the Rogers History Club from its beginning until today were audio recorded by the museum. I listened to her amazing memories and thought how fortunate we were to have this living encyclopedia of information about our schools. Hill was introduced by one of her former students, John Wayne Ford. Here are excerpts from that talk:
Rogers has a rich history of great contributions by folks with strong religious convictions, and I thought it would be interesting and informative to continue a review of the origins of a few of the congregations and where they are today.
Rogers has a rich history of great contributions by folks with strong religious convictions, and I thought it would be interesting and informative to review the origins of a few of the congregations and where they are today.
The story of Pel-Freez began in 1911 with Herman Pelphrey and a small, home based, rabbit business in Inglewood, Calif. By 1918, the growing business needed a new processing plant, which was opened in Los Angeles. In 1936, Pelphrey's son, Dave, entered the rabbit business and shortly thereafter a partnership was formed. In 1937, Bob Dubbell married Dave's sister, Josephine, and also joined the business. In 1939, H.F. Pelphrey & Sons began to quick-freeze and package frozen rabbit meat for the first time in the industry, hence the origin of the company and trademarked name, Pel-Freez. Previously, all rabbit meat was fresh dressed and packed in ice.