By Donna Traywick
Mt. Olivet News
Sunday, March 23, was a wonderful-day. After church services with Greg and LaDonna at Black
Jack, Alex at Grays Creek in Nesbit, and I at Mt. Olivet, we had a quiet afternoon celebrating my
88 years.
We had steak and the usual trimmings. Never mind that LaDonna thought I was only 87 and put
the wrong number of candles on the delicious confetti cakes. No, there were not 87 candles.
The cake was not that big. There was one big number.
We had an interesting afternoon of sharing the events of March 23, 1937. I remember one
incident that I vividly recall even today.
When I was four years old on Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, Mama, Daddy and I had walked up the
gravel road to visit with Mr. and Mrs Fredey. They lived approximately three quarters of a mile
away.
I became reckless and whiny. They turned on the radio to quiet me. The immediate broadcast
was that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. I really did not know what that meant, but I
knew it was quiet disturbing to the grown ups.
I learned many years later that was the beginning of the United States entry into the war that
had been raging in Europe since 1939. Both brothers, Eugene and Ellis entered service three
weeks apart in January 1942.
My family was fascinated to learn the cost of things in 1937. A new car cost $750. The most
popular model was Ford. New homes averaged $4,100 and house rent was $26.
Eggs were 36¢ per dozen, a loaf of bread was 9¢ and a pound of hamburger meat was 12¢.
Gas was 10¢ a gallon and tooth paste cost more than any of those at 35¢. Very little could be
bought with an annual salary of $1,780. Henry Ford initiated the 32 hour work week.
On July 2, 1937 Amelia Earnhardt and her copilot Fred Noonan disappeared on an attempt to
circulate the globe. The official explanation is that her plane ran out of fuel and crashed into the
Pacific Ocean.
The great flood of 1937 took place in late January and February with above normal melting
snow and 19 days of heavy rain. Of course, when I was born FDR was president. Roosevelt
was president from 1933-1945. He led the nation through the Great Depression and World War
II.
In 1938 my daddy Jeff Palmertree, bought the 200 acre farm known as the Palmertree Place.
He sustained a meager income living during the Depression with eight kids. I was number seven
of the eight.
I can’t complain about these 88 years. God has blessed me. As I embark on these next years, I
want to do something each day to honor God and help my neighbors.
I have been writing for the Panolian approximately seven years now, only recently have I
skipped several weeks. Whether I continue will be up to you my dear readers. Am I interesting
enough? Am I informative enough?

Tell me.
Contact Donna at: donnatraywickmusic@gmail.com