A Stilson Update

So many of us have been wondering about Bill and Kay so...

I finally called Kay to find out how Bill was doing and got Bill! Kay gave him the cell phone so she could call him from their landline. I didn't have that number so Bill gave it to me. Bill is in rehab and they are keeping him busy! He sounded good and positive about going home next Friday. So then I talked to Kay and she said Bill was doing well. She has things all packed up and ready to go as soon as she gets her car back from the repair shop. On top of everything else, Kay had a fender bender a couple of weeks ago. The car has been a bigger delay than Bill's health. She has hopes to be home by the 2nd week in May. Their son Craig will be coming down to help them get home.
If Kay or anyone else start feeling overwhelmed on keeping everyone informed of a condition or situation feel free to send one email to Deon or me and we will post it. We do care about our Magnolia family no matter the miles between us.

Warren Stoner Obituary

Warren Stoner, 74, of rural Mount Vernon, died Tuesday, April 23, 2019, at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics after a courageous year-long battle with cancer. Funeral Service: 10:30 a.m. Monday, April 29, 2019, at Stewart Baxter Funeral & Memorial Services, Mount Vernon. Visitation: 2-4 p.m. Sunday, April 28, 2019, at the funeral home. Private Family Burial: Mt. Zion Cemetery, rural Mount Vernon.

Survivors include his wife, Margaret; daughter, Carmen (Ron) Sealock; step-sons, Shannon (Stephanie) Duffy and Erik (Rayme) Duffy; grandchildren, Garrett and Hannah Sealock, Gray Duffy and Alena and Wyatt Duffy; brothers, Ray (Ann), David (JoAnn), and Dan (Catherine) Stoner; twelve nieces and nephews; and many extended family members and cherished friends.

Warren William Stoner was born October 16, 1944, in Cedar Rapids, to Virgil and Jean (Minish) Stoner. He attended Mount Vernon High School. Activities he enjoyed included football, band, 4-H, and he loved showing cattle. He graduated in 1963, then attended Iowa State University for two years. He married Suzanne Roberts on October 7, 1967, and joined the Navy that December. Carmen joined their lives in October of 1977. After over 45 years of marriage, Suzanne passed away in 2013.

Warren began farming and raising Columbia sheep with his family. He then branched off to farm on his own. In the 1990’s he co-founded Cedar Valley Steel. Warren enjoyed the work he did creating buildings and structures and would often point out the many job sites he had helped to complete, including parts of Coral Ridge Mall and the Tree of Five Seasons in Cedar Rapids. He belonged to the Local 89 Ironworkers Union.

Warren was an active man, and couldn’t seem to sit still. When he wasn’t working, he enjoyed traveling, RV camping, mushroom hunting, and fishing, all while enjoying a good Budweiser. His favorite place on earth was the Iowa State Fair. He was passionate about showing livestock and made many lifelong friends who would reunite every year at the fair.

He married Margaret (Ellison) Duffy in Denver, Colorado, on September 17, 2016. They enjoyed visiting their condo in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they met many wonderful people from all over. Warren was a kind, reliable, generous, and overall good man. He will be missed by all who knew and loved him.

Warren was preceded in death by his parents; first wife, Suzanne; and brother, John Stoner.

Memorials may be directed to the Mount Vernon Alumni Association, the Iowa State Fair Blue Ribbon Foundation, or the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa.

Warren and his wife Suzanne spent a few seasons in Magnolia Park.

Updated Map with Mobile Locations

My thanks to Carolyn Murray for providing the locations of the mobiles that have been brought in so far. There are now 23 of them and the last ones went in on Cummings. They are located behind Gail Lubinsky, Mike & Patti Reddick, and Ron & Chris Pearce. There is also one on the old Voss place on the corner of Lime and Center. I think I had mentioned the other new ones previously.

This and That

Don and Marty Harper have finally made it home and everyone is glad to be back in Iowa, I think maybe especially the pets!

As far as I know there are only two or three Winter Texans in Magnolia yet and I may not be up-to-date on that. I think everyone has made it home safely as I have not heard otherwise. I am watching the weather forecast for Central Wisconsin, parts of Minnesota and I'm not sure about Iowa but they are now predicting a pretty good chance of accumulating snow for this weekend. Whoopie!! We have been home about a month and have had snow a couple of times including one big one. Just imagine how long the winter has been for those who have been "up north" the entire season. As I've said before, enough already.

We have our 2016 front living room 5th wheel up for sale as we are getting something else. It is in excellent condition and towable with a 3/4 ton truck. Contact me if you are interested.

More Facebook Hoaxes Popping Up and Other Info.

Just a quick note, there are more Facebook hoaxes popping up and before you forward any message that you may receive, do a quick Google or Bing search to see what you can find. Snopes is a good trustworthy resource and there are many others.

I wish I had more information for you regarding the exact number of mobiles that have been brought in and where they have been placed. I have heard various numbers of mobiles ranging from 21 to 24 and I've also been told that nine more are going to be brought in. As I understand it, Pecos Street is pretty much full, and I also know that one was placed on Willow on Lot #340 which would be next to David Helton. Unfortunately the tree with the pretty purple flowers in the spring had to be cut down to accommodate this mobile. I also believe that one was placed on lot #343 on Fir which would be next to Kathy Gonzales and Vladimer Swirynsky. That would be two spots to the east of Kenton and Polly.

There are now people living in some of the vacant units that the park has bought over the years but I don't really have details and even if I did, it would seem to be pointless to start giving you names because until everyone gets back next season, names mean nothing.

If any of you folks who are living in Magnolia full time have information you would like to share, feel free to send it to my email address which is in the directory. Otherwise, stay tuned, as the old saying goes.

Facebook Hoax

It would appear that there is another Facebook Hoax going around. If you receive a message asking you to hold your finger on the message and send it to all your contacts, DO NOT DO THAT! It is just a hoax and by forwarding it you are just passing it on.

This and That

I've been told that George Meirhofer fell and broke his hip. I'm not sure if he is home or still in a medical facility.  Pecan Bill (Stilson) is still in the hospital (I think). Bill and thus Kay have had a tough winter as he has been hospitalized several times and certainly not had an easy time of it. I believe Cathy Nagle had a knee replaced but to be honest I'm not sure about that. I need to pay better attention when someone tells me something but I think that is correct.

Almost all of the Winter Texans are gone with only a few remaining and I imagine they will be on their way north in not too long a time. Hopefully by that time, Spring will have arrived in earnest. It is certainly taking a long time to get here. Today, here in central Wisconsin, it was cold and cloudy. Yesterday it rained most of the day but tomorrow and Saturday are supposed to be great. Our current temperature is 42 degrees but it is supposed to be near 70 in the next couple of days.

As I understand it, there are 23 or 24 new mobiles that have been moved into the park. I have lost track of where they have been placed. I do know that Maryanne Warner's unit went out of the park this week so possibly another one will go there although I'm not sure how big her spot is. It's hard to remember even though we haven't been gone quite a month.

If anyone has any news they would like put on the blog, my email address is in the directory and feel free to send me whatever you'd like to share.

Happy Easter to Everyone!!

Flowers & Homegrown Pineapple

Cindy Peterson sent me photos of the flowers and pineapple that she and Walt have planted by their house on Cottonwood. It looks like her flowers are doing really well. Geraniums are always so pretty. Up here we plant them because supposedly they are deer resistant. I planted some last years for the containers at the cemetery but unfortunately the deer didn't know that they weren't supposed to like them. They chomped them off right down to the soil, then they would grow back a little bit and the deer would strike again. I guess this year it is back to Marigolds as they really don't like those, at least not thus far.

More Mobiles and Info about Facebook Messenger

I just want to mention that if you use Facebook Messenger to send someone a  message and you are not already a Facebook Friend, there is every probability that they will not see that message. I have done that one or two times in the past and never got a response. I'm quite sure that the people I sent it to did not see it. It happened to me today and just luckily I did notice up on the notification bar on my phone that I had a message. Quite often I clear those notifications without really looking at them. Just something to keep in mind.

I have a few more photos of some of the mobiles to share with you. Now that most Winter Texans are back home some of them are sharing their photos with me so I can share them with you. I believe this one is on Pecos.  Two spots down is another one.

These are two views of the same one. It is located right behind Chet & Irma on Cottonwood and right next to what used to be French's.

This next one is on Betty Lewis's spot on Cottonwood.

I think this one is next to Thelma on Cottonwood but I could be mistaken. You can see the Pool Hall in the background.

Potlucks

Here is a photo from the March 14 potluck held in Allen Hall. There were 42 people there.

The ones below were from tonight's potluck held in Little Hall. There were only 12 there as most Winter Texans have left for the season.

New Mobiles on Lime

 This was taken on Lime. The trailer next to the big tree is #11 that some of us have called the Red, White and Blue. It was owned by Connie this season. That gives you an idea of how and where some of the new ones are placed. They are BIG but they are nice looking, with a variety in the color. I especially like the red one, but then I like red!

Update

Chet and Irma are on their way home so my "informant" is no longer in the park to tell me what is happening. I do know that at least one more mobile was brought in last Friday and as of this morning when the Johnsons left, it had not yet been parked so I can't tell you where it is going. That makes a total of at least 13. I need to find someone else to keep me posted so that I can keep you posted. I also know that several of the older vacant units that are park owned have been rented and at least some of them have youngsters residing in them. I have no idea if the children are temporary or permanent residents of the park. Time will tell.

When talking to Irma this evening she said the Bluebonnets are still blooming so if you are heading north soon, keep a watch out for them as well as the other wildflowers that we saw on our journey. They really were spectacular. Even Jim who is quite color blind thought they were nice. For some reason he was able to pick out the blue and purple blooms that we saw sporadically as we headed north.

Up here in Wisconsin and also Minnesota and most likely at least part of Iowa we are getting ready to "hunker down" for the next winter storm that is on its way. I think here in central Wisconsin it will be a wintery mix as the weather people call it but they actually don't know for sure yet. Last night it shifted some so the heaviest stuff will be northwest of us which is just fine as far as we are concerned.

It's funny, when we are in Texas, even though this past season didn't have the best weather, it was hard to remember it really was winter. Now, it's not at all hard to remember that even though the calendar says Spring, today it felt more winter-like and that is just a taste of what's coming. Yesterday was beautiful, high was 71. Today it was in the upper 40's and then this afternoon the wind shifted to out of the north and it had a real bite to it as the temperature fell. For the next three days, mid 30's is all it's going to be.

We are going to think positive as this too will pass!

Map of New Mobiles

Here is a map showing where the new mobiles are being placed. If you look back at your 2018 directory you can see who used to be on these sites. They are all in red. Hopefully I have them in the right spots.  

Mobiles Moving In

It's somewhat hard to post when we are not in the park but I know some of you who don't have an "informant" in the park are wondering what's happening.

As of today ten mobiles have been brought in. I think most, if not all, are three bedroom units. From what I understand, they are big! There are now seven on Pecos, two on Cottonwood and one on Lime (where the Knorr's 5th wheel was). It's very hard to keep track of where they are and I guess I should write it down so I don't have to figure it out each time. The next time I post I will have figured out the addresses so you can look at the map in the directory if you are interested.

If anyone has any information they would like to share, feel free to send it to me. I know more of you are on the road so safe travels to everyone!