A June Wedding!

I received an e-mail from Sue Williams describing the wedding of her niece Laura Fieg on June 23.  The message is below, lightly edited, along with some photos of the ceremony and the program.  Enjoy!

Hi All,
It was one of the most beautiful weddings I have been to in a long time. Very nicely done! Laura made a beautiful bride! I think they are made for each other. Chief is a wonderful addition to our family. Laura's friend, David, did an outstanding job w/the music for the ceremony. He also got the bridal party to do a "flash mob" dance as a surprise for the couple, which was perfect!

Wolf Mt. Vineyards, Halhonga, GA
Standing:  Susan (Fieg) & Ed Williams, Brenna Ferguson,
Richard & Cindy Fieg
Sitting:  Brian & Emily Fieg, Laura (Fieg) & Chief Kasibante

Toward the end of the evening Laura and Chief changed into typical Uganda dress and performed a typical wedding dance that would be done in Uganda. The reception was great, food was good, music fantastic, great wedding cake, great wine (it was at a winery!), great family/friends gathered together. 

Mr. & Mrs. Kasibante in typical African
wedding attire

For the family tree Chief's birthday is 7/17/82. And another note to mention is, just to keep it clear, Chief's "legal" name is Valentino (1st name), Kasibante (last name).  Mr. and Mrs. Kasibante leave for Cancun today [June 25] on their honeymoon. When they return Susan and Jerry [Laura's mom and step-dad] leave for Alaska, so Chief and Laura will "house/dog" sit for 2 weeks. Then I'm not sure what is on their list of things to do. However, Laura said that they will not be in Atlanta for Christmas 2012 because the airfare is too expensive. Only 2 trips per year is in the budget, and they have done those for 2012. Hopefully they will still be in Atlanta when Brian/Emily have their baby so they can meet their new niece/nephew.

Emily held up very well during the wedding. [Laura's sister-in-law Emily was about seven months pregnant at the time!]  She looked tired towards the end of the evening but she has a "mother's glow" about her that is beautiful! Can't wait to meet the next additon into the family!

Love to all........Sister Sue/Bro Ed/Aunt Sue/Uncle Ed/Cuz Sue/Cuz Ed

If you want to see a video of the wedding, just click below:

 www.ustream.tv/channel/heritage-international-school---musical-production#events

A few notes from the program:

The pastor was Daniel Latshaw and Laura's longtime friend Erica Ambrose was maid of honor.  Emily Fieg, wife of Laura's younger brother Brian, was among seven other bridal attendants.  Chief's best man was his good friend Jimmy Kiyimba and Brian Fieg was one of three other groomsmen.

Chief and Laura will reside in Kampala, Uganda where chief will be a pastoral intern and Laura will teach music.  They may be contacted on Facebook or at:  LauraKasibante@gmail,com or KasibanteChief@gmail.com. Letters can be sent to Laura Kasibante, Heritage International School, P.O. Box 7899, Kampala, Uganda.

What a thrill to welcome another member into the Fieg family!

The Autobiography of Aunt Millie Part Eight: Last Chapter

With so much work, they often had a "hired man," at twenty dollars a month. It had to be someone that could handle that team of mules.

The team of horses were called Doll and Major, but became too old to work, so the team of mules was bought from the Otto Ott sale. During 1920, 1921 and 1922, lumber was cut, as they planned to build a barn. When Richard was born a brisk thunderstorm was raging (March 22, 1922) but he arrived safely.... [But the Old Timer contracted] a fever, [and] Dr. Ross reported she was in God's hands for recovery. She survived. At this writing (1980) at 86, still has the pleasure of the palate, but short of breath.

It seems most things happened to Gifford. He was left in charge of his year-old brother while his parents and brothers milked the cows. They waited by the wood stove, on the oven door of that home comfort. Gifford placed his little brother's hand in the stove. What a savage! Most children are! When he was twelve, he and his cousin Chick [Lester] Bonardel took a walk to Ship Rock carrying a .22 [rifle]. Shortly they came back and [Gifford] tearfully confessed, "Pop, we killed a deer!" He expected to be punished, but instead he was praised, the deer was bled and brought to the farm house, so they were happy to have meat on the table! It was strawberry time when venison was at its best!

That no. 4 son, Richard, had one of those many narrow escapes. Gifford, about fourteen, drove the old Dodge truck for a short ride with his cousin Emma Fieg by his side. Richard, in [a] small boy show-off fit, stood in front with feet spread far apart on each front wheel spring. He lost his balance, fell in front of the moving truck, which of course was minus brakes. Gifford was horrified, but was able to stop. Richard was doubled up under the truck, but Gifford was able to drag him out from back of the front wheel in a fetal position. He seemed O.K. with just a bruise or two. Not till long after did they tell their mother!

Another of Gifford's vivid memories: he was told to get some feed for chickens from a bag in the storeroom. As he reached in the bag, a mouse ran up his sleeve [and] ran around his torso several timees under his shirt. At the last step of the Indian war dance it ran down his pants leg. His only peeve was the way his older brothers laughed at him.

One spring day, the Old Timer and her sister Bertha were working in the garden. Her three boys, and the sister's two boys, seven and three, were playing in the attic. The sisters, hard at work, heard a blast from a gun, and turned pale with fright. The boys, also pale, came downstairs and told the tale.

The grandfather (father of Arthur Case) had been in the Civil War and his muzzle-loading gun had been put in the attic for safe keeping. N[umber] one son took the gun, pointed at a window and said, "Watch me shoot!" Expecting to hear a harmless click, he was horrified to hear a loud bang. The relief the two sisters felt when they saw the boys safe was immeasurable.

Near the farm lived a man who was obsessed with hatred for the Roman Catholic church. So when no. 4 son, as so many tried it, went to the outdoor privy with a cigarette and threw it down, the tinder-dry building caught fire, but was quickly seen from the kitchen window and extinguished. So a family saying originated: "The Pope set the toilet on fire."

The boys kept growing, trees were felled to make siding for a new barn and it was completed by 1925. It had stanchions for 10 cows, but work was still hard, and for a while they sold milk by the bottle in the village. After a very dry year, they had a well drilled at the barn's edge, water was reached [at] 117 feet, and they even had drinking cups installed for the cows. They boarded a horse for forty dollars a month, a very substantial help for their finances.

The oldest son bought a car [and] they had a gas tank installed, which calls to mind another Gifford episode. One evening, as his parents were out, Gifford took the pitcher pump (installed instead of an old oaken bucket with a windlass), placed [it] on the gas tank, and pumped out fifteen gallons of gas. So when his parents came home and had a drink of water, they wondered why it tasted like gasoline.

So ends the autobiography of Emilie Roseina Fieg Case.

Sharon Case Hirsch, Millie's first great-grandchild, remembers, "She was so influential to me. I remember visiting with her at the farm. She inspired my progressive political leanings, love of reading and love for nature. She always made me feel very, very special as her first great-grandchild."

 From left to right: (front) Stanley, Millie, Gifford;
(back) Thomas (Tim or Tommy), Arthur (Mike), Richard

Letter From Aunt Dorothy

Steven Fieg forwarded a letter dated July 1, 2000 that he received from his (and my) Aunt Dorothy Fieg Roman in response to questions about her upbringing.  The letter is, of course, well-written and informative, and has that stamp of gentility that was so essentially Dorothy.   Here it is, lightly edited:

Dear Steven and Eleanor:

   First of all thank you for the beautiful birthday card!  Second, I will try to answer some of your questions about myself and the Fieg family.

   I started wearing glasses in 6^th grade, 12 years old.  As I recall, I didn’t like it much.  Those were the days of rimless glasses and you had to be very careful not to break them.

   Mom was a person of great patience and I'd say Dad was also.  I never heard them argue about anything.  As I look back, they sacrificed a lot for all their children.  As you probably know, communication was sparse. You were just supposed to know that they were proud of you.

   [In school] I had to follow brothers and sisters with excellent school records.  If your last name was Fieg, you were expected to be at the top of the list.  My favorite subjects were English, biology, chemistry and geometry.  My least favorites were algebra and Latin.  My dad tried to help me with algebra but I was nearly hopeless.  

    I did go down to Dad’s shop now and then. The smell of new lumber was great. His cabinet maker, can’t remember his name, made a maze for an experiment I was doing with white mice.  I entered it in the science fair and won a year's scholarship to Hartwick College.  I bet you didn’t know that!!

    Of course, Mom’s life revolved around her grandchildren. She knew the birthday of every one of them - quite a feat when you realize she had twenty-five grand-children when she died.

    I only have a few memories of favorite family foods.  A couple of my favorites were roast chicken and meat loaf.  Grandma made delicious pies and strawberry short cakes.  She made jams and jellies every year and I remember her canned peaches were the best I’ve ever eaten.  Dad liked chicken or beef stew with dumplings.  Mom was a died-in-the-wool teetotaler, so if Dad wanted a beer he and Uncle Frank went to the bar that carried Loenbrau, which was my Dad’s favorite brand.

   I can’t imagine Dad without his pipe.  As kids, we give him packages of Granger tobacco which cost ten cents then.  Hey, that ten cents was a lot of money back then!!

   You asked about Uncle Bob, dead for 24 years.  It was almost love at first sight, although I didn’t think we'd be married 4 months later!  We did just seemed to “click.”  He had that wonderful upbeat personality and was always taking all the responsibilities.  If I was ever worried about anything, he’d say “Don’t you worry about it – let me do the worrying!"  I never tired of listening to him playing his sax; he was a fine musician.

   I haven’t answered all your questions but maybe later I can refer to your letter and have more information.

   I'd really love to make a trip to Ste. Genevieve, and to visit Aunt Maxine, before I’m too old to travel. I’m seriously considering it, we’ll see.

   I’m going to Mark and Cyndi’s house in MD very soon.  Can’t wait to see them and their kids.

   I’m enjoying the perfect summer days we are having. Hope you are well and enjoying life.

 

Love,

Aunt Dorothy