by jphilo | Jan 15, 2016 | Out and About
State Highway 20 west of Camp Crook, three miles from the Montana border. State Highway 20 west of Camp Crook, three miles from the Montana border.
Iowa’s been in the deep freeze all week. This week’s Fantastic Friday post warmed hearts 3 years ago when this story of a tiny town with a big heart first went live, and I hope it does the same now.
Tiny Town, Gigantic Heart
Long time readers of this blog have been subjected to posts about Camp Crook, SD where the man of steel and I lived from 1978 after we graduated from college to 1985. This post subjects you to another story about Camp Crook. It boasts a population of about 62 and is not far from the McFarthest Spot in the contiguous United States. It is very remote town in one of the most sparsely populated counties in South Dakota. It’s a town full of cowboys and cowgirls, college and professional rodeo stand-outs, and people with gigantic hearts.
How gigantic?
I’m glad you asked. A recent article in the county newspaper, The Nation’s Center News, gives an idea. The article, Julia Davis Benefit Is An Incredible Event, describes a fundraiser held on Friday, December 28, 2012. Julia and her husband ranch about 10 miles south of Camp Crook. She’s also the secretary in Harding County’s State’s Attorney office. Julia has had surgeries throughout her life for a congenital hip defect. In 2012, surgeons in Denver replaced her hip joint with an artificial one. But Julia developed a stubborn bone infection, and the only course of treatment left was amputation of her leg at the hip.
So her friends organized the Julia Davis Benefit to encourage and support her.
The night of the benefit, the streets of tiny Camp Crook were double-lined with 250–350 vehicles. Over 500 people from South and North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming crowded into the Community Center for the pot luck supper and auction. Over 200 items were donated for the silent auction. During the live auction, ten spotters helped the auctioneers keep up with the bidding. The benefit was a tremendous success.
How successful was it?
I’m glad you asked. The people in this tiny town with a gigantic heart–where many of the same people raised $1500 to defray our son’s medical costs, a substantial sum in 1982–outdid themselves in 2012. The big-hearted people in the town we’re proud to have called home for 7 years raised over $73,000 for Julia and her family.
You read that right. $73,000.
I read the article in the paper and told the man of steel about it when he got home from work. His eyes grew large. He thought for a moment and then said, “There’s power in that place.” I nodded in agreement. Neither of us could keep the silly grins off our face during supper. And every time I think about the benefit, the silly grin comes back. But when I think of Julia, who’s leg was amputated on January 14, the grin fades and I begin to pray.
Oh Lord, wrap your arms around Julia and her family as she recovers and learns to walk and cope. May the gigantic hearts in that tiny town lift her up in the months and years to come. May your presence be the power in the place. Amen.
by jphilo | May 21, 2015 | Three Thoughts for Thursday
- The top of my dresser is covered with toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, and coconut shells. Can you guess who is going to receive a cornucopia of craft supplies from his grammy this weekend?
- Our son-in-law received his Masters of Fine Arts in Acting and Directing from the University of Wisconsin, Madison last weekend. Kailen Fleck, we are so proud of you!
- 30 years ago this month we celebrated our little boy’s 3rd birthday just before we moved from Camp Crook, South Dakota to Boone, Iowa. This year I just completed the first draft of a novel set in the tiny town where we used to live…just in time to spend the weekend celebrating our son’s 33rd birthday and our son-in-law’s graduation. The best things in life are worth the wait!
What’s been worth waiting for in your life? Leave a comment.
by jphilo | Mar 6, 2015 | Out and About
This week’s Fantastic Friday post was requested by a rellie. As you will see, the post explains very well why the Man of Steel felt like we lived on the edge of the world during our seven years in northwest South Dakota. BTW Gary, this is one of my favorite posts ever!
A recent entry at Justin Taylor’s blog Between Two Worlds almost blew my socks off. He quoted from a blog entry by Stephen Von Worley. Von Worley was contemplating the McDonaldization of America and decided to locate the farthest point from an Mc Donalds in the contiguous United States. Here’s what he found:
As expected, McDonald’s cluster at the population centers and hug the highway grid. East of the Mississippi, there’s wall-to-wall coverage, except for a handful of meager gaps centered on the Adirondacks, inland Maine, the Everglades, and outlying West Virginia.
For maximum McSparseness, we look westward, towards the deepest, darkest holes in our map: the barren deserts of central Nevada, the arid hills of southeastern Oregon, the rugged wilderness of Idaho’s Salmon River Mountains, and the conspicuous well of blackness on the high plains of northwestern South Dakota. There, in a patch of rolling grassland, loosely hemmed in by Bismarck, Dickinson, Pierre, and the greater Rapid City-Spearfish-Sturgis metropolitan area, we find our answer.Between the tiny Dakotan hamlets of Meadow and Glad Valley lies the McFarthest Spot: 107 miles distant from the nearest McDonald’s, as the crow flies, and 145 miles by car! Suffer a Big Mac Attack out there, and you’re hurtin’ for certain! For a coupla hours, at least, unless graced by the tender blessings of “manna from heaven” – that is, a fast food air drop from the Medi-Copter.
So what’s the big deal? Those “tiny hamlets of Meadow and Glad Valley” were part of our old South Dakota stomping grounds. Our personal hamlet, Camp Crook, was about 75 miles straight west of Meadow, much tinier than the McFarthest spot, and didn’t have nearly as many paved roads.
What were we doing for the first three precarious years of Allen’s life, living so far from civilization? Answer: We didn’t know how bad we had it. Like Stephen Von Worley, we thought the most isolated part of the United States was far, far away in the rugged west, not in our back yard.
If we had known the truth, would we have skedaddled sooner than we did? Maybe, but as Hiram said when he read the report, “There we were on the edge of nowhere and look at the support we received from the people.” Maybe they supported us because they weren’t distracted by civilization – McDonalds and movies and shopping malls and inconsequentials – and had time to prop up two bewildered young parents day after difficult day.
Whatever the reasons, when I think of our seven years near the McFarthest Spot and the way the far flung community rallied round us, the truth is evident. During those years we didn’t leave civilization. We found it.
If you have a favorite post you’d like to see featured on Fantastic Friday, leave a comment in the box below.
by jphilo | Jan 28, 2015 | Recipes
Yes, you read that right. Dairy free, “buttermilk” brownies.
Oxymoronic to be sure.
But it’s true. Thanks to the original Coffee Rich non-dairy coffee creamer, “buttermilk” brownies can now be part of a non-dairy dessert menu.
The original recipe comes from the 1983 Camp Crook Centennial Cookbook and was submitted by Betty Louks, the woman who babysat our son when he was just a baby. The recipe is super easy, as you will see, and it is delicious! The above picture shows a batch and a half because I needed enough for a church fundraiser.
Dairy Free “Buttermilk” Brownies
Bars:
1 cup Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks
1/3 cup cocoa
1 cup water
2 cups unbleached flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon soda
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup soured original Coffee Rich*
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
Frosting:
1/4 cup Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Stick
1/4 cup soured Coffee Rich*
3 tablespoons cocoa
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 375°. In saucepan, combine Earth Balance, cocoa, and water. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, soda, and salt. Stir in eggs, soured Coffee Rich, and vanilla. Add cocoa mixture. Mix till well-blended. Pour into a greased 15 1/2 by 10 1/2 inch baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Immediately pour frosting over bars. Spread evenly. Cool and cut into squares.
In saucepan, mix 1/4 cup Earth Balance, 1/4 cup soured Coffee Rich, and 3 tablespoons cocoa. Cook and stir until boiling. Remove from heat. Beat in powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Pour over bars as soon as they come out of the oven. Sprinkle with chopped nuts, if desired.
*To sour Coffee Rich, put 1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar in a glass measuring cup. Fill cup to the 3/4 cup mark with Coffee Rich. Stir and let sit for 10 minutes before using.
by jphilo | Dec 31, 2013 | Recipes, Top Ten Tuesday
Photo Credit: www.freedigitalphotos.net
We’re home after a long weekend spent with family in the Twin Cities area. Bad roads on the way home Monday made the trip much longer than normal. Hence, no post yesterday and total writer’s block concerning a topic for today’s top ten list.
Until I remembered today is New Year’s Eve, the perfect time for a run down of Gravel Road’s top ten posts of 2013. That said, here goes:
10. Savory Vegetable Strata: First glimmer of 2013 readers looking for non-dairy recipes.
9. Mexican Rice: First glimmer of readers looking for easy recipes.
8. Top Ten Reasons to Look Forward to a Cousin’s Reunion: No glimmer necessary for this one. The pictures tell why this post was so popular. Our family is overflowing with cousins…with almost a dozen more yet to be born at the time these photos were taken!
7. Where Minnesota Farm Girl and Queen Elizabeth Meet: I love that readers loved this post pointing out parallels between the lives of Mom and England’s queen.
6. The Best Non-Dairy Egg Bake Ever: Hmm…is a recipe theme developing?
5. How to Build a Playhouse with Life-Sized Lincoln Logs: The popularity of this post proves that my husband also has a large extended family.
4. Tiny Town, Gigantic Heart: This post puts the tiny town of Camp Crook, South Dakota on the map, as it deserves!
3. Downton Abbey Dairy-Free Scones: Where Masterpiece Theater and dairy allergy sufferers meet!
2. Dairy-Free German Chocolate Cake: Our family’s favorite birthday cake redone for all to enjoy.
1. Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free Apple Crisp: Just goes to show, the more allergies people have, the more interesting and attractive they are to the general public.
Don’t see your favorite post of the year listed in the top ten? Then leave a comment below to give it some air time. Or suggest a topic for the coming year.
