Category Archives: History

Show and Tell ~ Torch Relay 1984 Olympics

 

Before the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles Dear was chosen by his company to run a leg of the Torch Relay. This was a fun event for our family to experience. He ran his leg of the relay in Ontario, California. We were all there to cheer him on. His company representatives were there too with one of their Cal-Mat Cement trucks on the sidelines. Fun times…

Oh and no we didn’t get to keep the torch. The company has it on display somewhere but they did pay for the photo!

For more Show and Tell Friday go to Kelli’s at There’s no place like home….

Show & Tell Friday ~ Russian Immigrants in the Early 50’s

Show and Tell

From the late 1940’s thru the early 1950’s many of my parents’ family and friends immigrated to the U.S.A. from Iran and settled in the Los Angeles area. Because they were in a new country and didn’t know the English language they spent much of their free time together. There was fun, fellowship, and comfort in socializing with these old friends in a new country.

My dad is sitting on the floor in front with the tie on. My Uncle Paul is standing on the left in the back. I’m going to have to get my family to fill in some of the names of these men. I don’t know who the two standing next to my Uncle are.  2nd row Hamzieff, V. Katkov, A. Menn (the one American born in the group who married a Russian Katkov girl in Iran while serving for the U.S. in WWII) , N. Katkov, C. Titov, ??, A. Katkov.  Who is sitting next to pop? Mr. Law on the arm of the chair. The guy in the back with the funny expression?

Some of the ladies… My mom in the back on the left, Z. Katkov, O. Hamzieff, Aunt Nina, Aunt Anna, P. Katkov, L. Titov

I love the hairdo’s.

For more Show and Tell head on over to There’s No Place Like Home….

Baba and Deda ~ Grandchildren ~ Heritage

On Sunday afternoon my children got a rare treat of being at their Baba and Deda’s all together. My parents have been in their Senior Apartment for one year now and Katie is the only one of my kids that has had a chance to visit them there. We had dessert then 4 more grandchildren arrived and we got to listen to my Pop tell some stories about their time in Russia and Iran before they came to the U.S. The Photo below is of my Pop’s cousin who served in the Russian Army during WWII. The story my dad told us about him is below the photo…

 

This is Feodor Ivanovich Aryeshen. One night during patrol of the trenches, as he walked with his rifle in his hands he came face to face with a Nazi soldier. They faced each-other with their rifles pointed at each other. Then they both turned around and ran for their lives. When he woke up the next morning his hair had turned pure white! They say it was from being so frightened.

My Father told a few more stories about his life that were great for all his grandchildren to hear. What a rich wonderful afternoon we all had with my parents. What a joy to hear how God has kept them safe and close to Him for so many years. We ended our time with my Pop praying for all of us and blessing his grandchildren again…

Photobucket is holding hundreds of my photos hostage and that’s why you don’t see the original photos on this post.

Ventura…Where it all Began, the Bayles/Spiro Friendship and First Hike…

On Sunday Dear and I drove North for a great breakfast at Allison’s Country Cafe in Ventura before we headed to the Ventura Fair Grounds Flea Market. The Flea market was row upon row of stuff,  Antiques, Shabby Chic, New, Old, Furniture, Chotchkies, Jewelery, Treasures and Junk…

The weather was lovely but we got toasted because we forgot our sunblock. Silly Washingtonians in California!

 

But the real fun treat was to see Two Trees. This was the site of our very first Bayles/Spiro Hike way back in early 1985. We know it was before Katie (Katherine) was born so Jamie was a wee babe…

 

I stood at this intersection to take the photo of Two Trees. That was quite the infamous hike with Dave, Jody (who we think had her arm in a cast), Lucy, Bridget, Jamie (a baby then), Dear, Ellen, Josh and Dan. Of course the first thing our boys wanted to do was to climb those two trees. We were never exposed to being outdoor type people till we started our friendship with the Spiro’s. We credit them with dragging us along on their outdoor adventures and teaching us the love of being able to tell the story of survival after the fact… God Bless them dearly!

Click to read more about Two Trees.

Any photos missing from my posts are the result of Photobucket blacking out all my photos that I stored on their site since 2006.

Wedding Customs ~ A Look Back to the late 60’s…

These Photos were taken November 22, 1969. This was the day of my sister Vera’s marriage to Nick. I wanted to show y’all what we used to do to all the cars in the wedding party. We’d make these huge crepe paper flowers and string them together and decorate the cars. We’d use the colors that were going to be used in the wedding. The kids in these photos are my 4 younger brothers and sisters. Tim, Steve, Lana G! and her twin Leonard.

 

Lana G! has curlers in her hair. She and Leonard were the flower girl and ring bearer in the wedding…

One other interesting note was that it was very difficult to get our favorite florist to arrange and deliver flowers on this day because they were USC Alumni and huge fans and this was the day of cross town rival games so USC was playing UCLA.

Big mistake in my photo album experience is using these magnetic layered page albums that were so popular in the 60’s and 70’s that make your pictures impossible to take out and scan today….

 Any photos missing from my posts are the result of Photobucket blacking out all my photos that I stored on their site since 2006.

Awalt Menn (1919 – 2007) ~ A Military Tribute to a Well Loved WWII Veteran

“They have laid aside their armor
For the robe of spotless white;
And with Jesus they are walking
Where the river sparkles bright.
We have labored here together,
We have labored side by side,
Just a little while before me
They have crossed the rolling tide.”

From the Hymn The Lights of Home by Fanny Crosby.

This was a funeral of a friend of ours who was stationed in Iran during WWII and met and married a Russian gal in Iran who was part of our extended family. His wife who has survived him is my cousin’s aunt. In our close Russian community we would call most of these once or twice removed relatives of ours aunts, uncles and cousins…

Any photos missing from my posts are the result of Photobucket blacking out all my photos that I stored on their site since 2006.

Moisi and Nadia ~ Celebrating 64 Years of Marriage!

  Because Thursday is my parents’ 64th wedding anniversary my thankful post is all about them…

Moisi and Nadia Bagdanov

Moisi and Nadia Bagdanov were married on Friday September 13, 1943 in Tehran, Iran.

My parents have been a wonderful Godly example to their children and community. They are still very much in love.  I thank God for bringing them together, giving them the vision to come to the U.S., and for showing me in word and deed what it means to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Today I’m overflowing with thankfulness for God’s gift to me in my dear parents!

A very Happy Anniversary to you Mom and Pop!

I hope to get to some other thankful posts late Thursday night or Friday. To see more thankful posts click on Sting my Heart.

 I’m off early on Thursday to Orange County to take my parents out to breakfast for their anniversary and then we are all headed to a funeral at 1 P.M. for an old family friend. We rejoice with those who rejoice and we weep with those who weep. This really is life on this earth for us. We’re thankful to be able to share the joy in the midst of the sorrow because our friend has laid aside his armor and he is finished with the battle…

Any photos missing from my posts are the result of Photobucket blacking out all my photos that I stored on their site since 2006.

Labor Day ~ Sept. 3, 2007

Happy Labor Day to You All ~

Hoping you find rest today!

Labor Day: How it Came About; What it Means

“Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country,” said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor. “All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man’s prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day…is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation.”

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

To read more go here.

Good News for all those who labor!

Mathew 11: 28-30 ~

” Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

ht: http://www.dol.gov/opa/aboutdol/laborday.htm

The Wonderful Gift of a Letter

I’m reading Pride and Prejudice right now and I am always struck at how important letters were. A different time when this was the best form of communicating when apart. No phones, no email, no instant messaging. Wouldn’t it be fun to receive a good old fashioned letter in the mail. Signed, sealed, and delivered! Here’s some interesting tips from Emily Post.

Emily Post (1873–1960).  Etiquette.  1922.

THE ART of general letter-writing in the present day is shrinking until the letter threatens to become a telegram, a telephone message, a post-card. Since the events of the day are transmitted in newspapers with far greater accuracy, detail, and dispatch than they could be by the single effort of even Voltaire himself, the circulation of general news, which formed the chief reason for letters of the stage-coach and sailing-vessel days, has no part in the correspondence of to-day.

THE LETTER EVERYONE LOVES TO RECEIVE

  The letter we all love to receive is one that carries so much of the writer’s personality that she seems to be sitting beside us, looking at us directly and talking just as she really would, could she have come on a magic carpet, instead of sending her proxy in ink-made characters on mere paper.

Let us suppose we have received one of those perfect letters from Mary, one of those letters that seem almost to have written themselves, so easily do the words flow, so bubbling and effortless is their spontaneity. There is a great deal in the letter about Mary, not only about what she has been doing, but what she has been thinking, or perhaps, feeling. And there is a lot about us in the letter—nice things, that make us feel rather pleased about something that we have done, or are likely to do, or that some one has said about us. We know that all things of concern to us are of equal concern to Mary, and though there will be nothing of it in actual words, we are made to feel that we are just as secure in our corner of Mary’s heart as ever we were. And we finish the letter with a very vivid remembrance of Mary’s sympathy, and a sense of loss in her absence, and a longing for the time when Mary herself may again be sitting on the sofa beside us and telling us all the details her letter can not but leave out.”

20spring.htmlhttp://www.bartleby.com/95/28.html

Weekend Wanderings…

The L. A. Farmers Market

 Farmers Market (no apostrophe!) was created in July 1934.

In July 1934 a contingent of farmers pulled their trucks onto an expanse of empty land at the property known as Gilmore Island at the corner of Third and Fairfax in Los Angeles. They displayed their produce on the tailgates of their vehicles, to their delight, customers quickly arrived and parked their cars on a hastily created dirt parking lot in spaces designated with chalk. They strolled among the trucks purchasing fruit, vegetables and flowers.

The atmosphere was casual, the open air commerce enticing, the goods fresh, and the result remarkable. Farmers Market became an instant institution.

We met our friends from Seattle at the Original Los Angeles Farmers Market for dinner and a stroll. Luke, (one of our former pastors in Seattle), Terri and their two daughters Sophie and Greta are in L.A. for some sight seeing that will include the ultimate first time visit to Disneyland for the girls on Monday and Tuesday!

A very upscale outdoor shopping center, The Grove, has been built right next to the Old Farmers Market. We ended our visit with an elevator ride to the 8th floor of the parking garage at “The Grove” to get an aerial view of this Miracle Mile area of Los Angeles and Hollywood. We were hoping to see the famous Hollywood sign but sad but true it was too “L.A. smoggy hazy” to see it clearly! We were able to see the Griffith Park Observatory.

 View from a trail in Griffith Park from the south, looking north.

On our way home after our visit we were driving through a couple multi-million dollar neighborhoods and were shocked to see this eyesore on one of the street corners. We were amazed and decided to turn back to take some digital shots of this monstrocity. My photos will not give this gaudy display of bad taste justice.

There were over 14 of these statues…

Yikes! This is a beautiful neighborhood of amazingly landscaped and manicured lawns. House after house displays beautiful architecture and upkeep. I can only imagine what the immediate neighbors think. We found out later that there was a lot of TV coverage over this property and a  lawsuit that the neighbors brought to try to get these statues removed. They lost their suit. The bright white wrought iron fence was added after some of the statues were defaced.

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My weekend ended with a 250 mile round-trip out to Nuevo, California for dinner and a church service that my nephews Levi and Caleb were leading worship for (Levi in the red, Caleb in the orange). A nice ending to a busy weekend. Blessings on your week ahead…

Photobucket has blacked out all my photos from their site that I used on my blog since 2007 and I’m working to update my thousands of posts.