The Adventures Of My Mother Kathryn

          When Mother was in her twenties, in the early 1930's; she decided to take her friend Fanny on an afternoon adventure at Warren Airport.  The airport used to be in the spot today where Betts Field is.

          Mother found out that the Warren Airport was having airplane rides. In those days, the planes looked like Charles Lindburg's, "The Spirit of St. Louis."  The pilot that gave the rides that day, was Slip King.  He didn't have ear protectors for Mother and Fanny, nor helmets.  Fanny was afraid to go up in the plane, but Mother thought it was that more exciting!  They took off from the ground, and Warren began to look to Mother like a miniature model of the town below them.  Slip King made the open cockpit plane soar high.  Mother tried to talk to Fanny and Mr. King, but neither one of them could hear her, nor she could hear them.  The wind blew in her face, and all she could hear was the roaring of the propellers.  Mother felt like her ear drum would burst.  After Slip King landed, Mother and Fanny tried to talk, but their ears were ringing.  Mother read Fanny's lips as best she could.  Then after a while, the ringing in Mother's ears stopped and she was back to normal.  Mother told Fanny she was never going to ride in a plane that Slip King would pilot.  Mother felt that Slip King was careless with the safety of his passengers.

     Mother was not afraid of water either.  One day her friends wanted her to go to the Brokenstraw Creek, six miles from Warren; it was an old fashioned swimming hole.  All the Warrenites in Warren, PA, would gather together and enjoy the waters of the Brokenstraw on a Saturday afternoon.  Mother pretended to be a swimmer, and one of her friends dared her to dive of the diving board.  Mother accepted her friends challenge and  thought she would come up to the water's surface.  Mother dove in the creek.  She found herself struggling and coming up for the third time.  She yelled....."Help!...Help!, Help!....  One of her friends, Frankie, realized that she was not fooling.  Frankie dove in the creek and pulled Mother out to safety.  She told Frankie and her friends that she was truly sorry, and she had learned her lesson.

     When Papa, Mom and my Sister would go to the beach, Mom would always recall that story.  Mom told my sister and I not to pretend to others that we could swim when we couldn't.  Mother also liked being splashed and waded in the shallow part of the water.