School Fest

April 23, 1931 It was rainy. We planted cabbage. The children were at the school fest.

The four older children, Mary, Jake, Corney, and John, went to the end-of-school picnic at the nearby country school.  Corney (age 15) and John (14) would have been school age, but Mary (19) and Jake (17) were not, but probably older siblings were invited as well.  It would have been great fun for them to bring their picnic lunch along to the school, and there were probably games and contests organized as well.  The Siemens children had only lived in the community since October 1930, so this would have been their first school year in Meade.  Most or all of the children in the school were Mennonites, and all were neighbors, so these children would have been their friends.  This school festival marked the end of studies for the year, but it also meant the beginning of full-time work on the farm until fall.