We have had a busy day here at our museum, with not much time to devote to a blog. So here is a quick story which brings a smile to my face.
Gerard Fiehler was looking through some old files a few days ago and found this item:
It shows the program for a play, “That Crazy Smith Family” which was presented by Trinity Lutheran Church’s Young Peoples Society (Walther League) in Altenburg in 1948. What makes me giggle is that the actor playing leading male part in this play was Robert Fiehler, Gerard’s dad. And the actress playing his sweetheart was Lillian Schilling, my cousin.
By the time that this play was presented, Robert had fought in World War II. He was a part of a tank crew that had participated in the Battle of the Bulge in 1944-1945. This is a photo of a tank like the one Robert was on (It is not Robert in the photo).
Lillian has told us that when this play was presented, she and Robert were already courting. It wasn’t long after the play that these two were getting married at Trinity Lutheran Church.
This couple went on to have five children. That Crazy Smith Family!
To find more info about this family, read Lillian the Great.
In 1953 Wanda Pierson and I played Ma and Pa Smith as Juniors in Greenleaf Academy, Idaho. One year later we started dating and four years later we became that crazy Beebe family, that eventually produced three kids, ten grandkids, and ten great grandkids (so far)!
And also in a leading role in that play, your museum’s benefactor Vernon Myer, whom I remember in about that time period as Circuit President of the Walther League.