The unrelenting grey skies dampen the spirits of several friends and try to lessen my own, but I persevere. Serving in The Roundhouse at The Park is a great aid in combating the humorless weather.

Yesterday afternoon, I stepped off the bus at Stone Mill & Main streets to cross over to Patterson Blvd just as the sprinkles began. Fortunately, I grabbed my umbrella as I stepped out the door for, by the time I was at the Marriott Hotel, it was a steady rain. I was on the sidewalk alongside the carillon tower when all of a sudden, I saw this white vehicle moving in the grassy parking area toward me. It was Kay Locher, Carillon Historical Park’s Volunteer Coordinator pulling up to offer me a ride up to the main building’s entrance. It was so kind of her and I appreciate the last two or three minutes of walking time cut short to a nice ride beneath the porte cochere.

Friday evening was quite fun and I just realized I forgot to grab a photo of the crew assigned to work with me in The Roundhouse Cafe. I had two first-day workers, each named Anabelle! One is a student at Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School and the other Anabelle goes to Fairmont High School. Nathan from Oakwood, with whom I’ve worked before, headed up the popcorn detail to supply enough large bags of popcorn for not only The Roundhouse, but The Carillon Cafe, The Outpost, and The Museum Store, as well. Sarah Emmons, Carillon Historical Park’s Media Coordinator, also joined our crew since two of the fifteen-year-old workers could only stay (by law) until 7 PM. I had seen Sarah coming and going through The Atrium after joining The Park in October, and I was delighted to get to know Sarah. My fingers are crossed that I shall get to work with her again, tonight.

Before crowds got fully underway, Nancy Caupp, a former fellow band parent when our percussion sons were on cymbal line together, stopped in The Roundhouse Cafe to introduce me to her toddler grandson, Henry, along with her husband, John. It was so great to see Nancy, again, after spending years together watching marching band and winter percussion shows

Tomorrow is the second anniversary of the passing of my great-aunt, Joyce Clary Riser. I don’t believe I have ever missed anyone as much as I miss Aunt Joyce, the younger sister of my grandmother, Donna Clary Barmes. I know my cousins, Aunt Joyce’s daughters, Kim and Debbie, miss her terribly, as do their families. I hope the wonderful soul, now adorned with her much-earned angelic wings, knows just how much she is still loved.

My cousin, Debbie, sent me some photos of the decorations placed on her mother’s grave in the 180 year old Forrestville Cemetery in northern Boone Township, Madison County of Central Indiana where eight generations of our Clary, Jones, Barmes, Greenlee, Ball families are buried. Aunt Joyce is buried between her brother, Ronald Monroe Clary, and her parents, Mary Belle Jones Clary and John William Garrett Clary, with my grandparents, Donna Clary Barmes and Leroy Barmes, in the row behind.

I’ve always loved this quiet setting which is a mile north of the original Vinson-Jones farm, one of five properties, that passed down several generations in the family. The generous acreage of my Ball family’s farm borders the north lines of the cemetery. The trees that long dominated the cemetery, named for the long-deserted hamlet across the road, are mostly gone, giving the area a desolated look, not as beautiful as it once was. Nonetheless, it holds a tender loveliness for those loved ones, known to me and those never met, who rest in the burial field.

It is time to prep my dinner for an afternoon and evening at The Park. The rain backed off shortly before the train rides began last night and while we’ve bee forecast with rain for this evening, it is not showing up on my radar.

Make it a great day!

PHOTOS: Aunt Joyce Riser, Debbie Riser Fox, and myself; Aunt Joyce with her niece, Diana, my mother; Aunt Joyce’s gravestone dressed for Christmas 2022.