Winterville (in progress 1-10-25)

In 2004 Lolita and I both got jobs at East Carolina University (ECU) in Greenville NC. After a few months, we found a house in Winterville NC.

 

The area is called East Carolina. About one hour from the coast, its steeped in American and Nautical history, with beautiful mountains to the west, the highest on the East Coast; beautiful rolling plains of the Piedmont area; and the most beautiful and dangerous coastline anywhere in the world.

 

Lolita was faculty in the ECU Lifelong Learning Program.  I started out managing the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN) on the main campus. My job was to provide the technology for international University programs and in many cases, assist professors in creating international programs. ... Today, we are both retired from ECU.

Town of Winterville  

Winterville NC 

Town of Winterville - FB 

 

Fresno (in progress updated 1-10-25)

Fresno was great for us, we both had good jobs, Lolly at Fresno State University and me with the city. Even with house and car payments we were able to furnish our house and save money. While we were there, I finished my bachelor degree in Network Engineering. I was lucky, because Lolly was faculty, I could go to the University for $5 per semester. ... Not a bad deal!  

I don't have a picture of our Fresno house, as soon as I find one I'll get it here.

 

Imperial Beach (in progress updated 1-10-25)

After we got married we lived in Coronado Manor Apartments, very close to Imperial Beach and the border. 

We were there for about 3 years? I was working out in the Mohave Desert and came home on weekends. Lolly taught school at St. Charles Catholic School just around the corner from the apartment. Then she got a great job offer at California State University at Fresno. So, we went there and bought our first house.

San Diego (in progress updated 1-10-25)

 

San Diego was where I was discharged from the Navy. I had a GREAT job lined up a month before I got out. I was living in an apartment at the corner of Mission Gorge Road and Zion Avenue.  I was in an apartment on the opposite side of the front. I was living there when I met Lolly.

 

Across the street on Zion Ave. was a small shopping area. It had a grocery store, small hardware store, a barbershop, tavern and Thrifty drugstore. Across the street on Mission Gorge Rd. was another small shopping area with an IHop restaurant (at that time it was called Sambo's). Today, the whole area is one big shopping mall with a hospital behind it. There wasn't much traffic when I was living there, but it's probably hard to get out of the apartment complex now. I'm glad I'm not there anymore. It's REALLY built up.

My Forever Home

I left for the Navy and the USS Oriskany in 1969. I came back for a short while, about a month, in 1976, after my second enlistment. I had every intention of getting out of the Navy but I could not find a job that paid enough for me to get an apartment and live on my own. So, back I went to the Navy and the USS Longbeach. 

When I decided to go home after my second enlistment, I really didn't know how much I would miss the sea life. It was a hard life, there was danger every where you turned; but I felt I had a purpose, there was a reason for me to be there, I was respected as a part of a team working for all of America. Life in Illinois seemed less fulfilling than the life I had at sea. So, I went back and I have no regrets.  

Most of the places I called "home" in my younger years have changed so much, I probably would not recognize them today and in many of those places, the memories have faded with the changes. When you move around a lot, a move tends to turn a home into just a place you used to live. But there is one "home" that has resisted that change to being just a place, a home that although I miss it, I can never go back to. 

 

That's because it isn't a "place" its a feeling inside of me, a feeling from my soul. That "feeling" is made up of many different things. Its working my butt off for 3 or 4 days with no sleep, when I did sleep it was in my workspace or battle-station in a rickety old chair, kicked back on a workbench with my feet propped up on a stool; it's living on coffee and mid-rats for months at a time; Its bracing for incoming rounds; its standing inspection in the blazing heat on the flight-deck of a carrier; its underway replenishment working parties and 24 hour flight ops; its trying to make your way from one workspace to another during a cat 4 hurricane. Then just when I felt myself wilting to the deck from exhaustion, not caring about anything, a friend shoves a cup of coffee in my hand offers me a cigarette and tells me to take a break on the fantail.  

 

The fantail is a special place on a ship. Especially at night when the stars are out. Its quiet, so quiet you can hear the silence of the sea. The fantail is for thinking and dreaming, sometimes they are both the same. The fantail rejuvenates you like nothing else, after about 10 minutes I was always ready to jump into the chaos of the next catastrophe. 

Shipboard life is different from every thing else, it can't be explained, it can only be experienced and once experienced, it never leaves you. You hate it because of the endless work,  hard and rough times but you also love it with a love that can not be explained, it can only be felt. Sometimes I think that if I was asked, I'd go back but I know that would be wrong. At my age, I would not be able to keep up with the younger sailors, I would be a burden and I just could not do that to a shipmate. Nothing can compare with being on a warship headed for enemy lines. ... And you haven't lived until you've lived through a WestPac Liberty.

 

President John F. Kennedy at the commissioning ceremony of the USS Oriskany said:

"I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction, 'I served in the United States Navy'."

I agree.

New Lenox (in progress updated 1-10-25)

The second house I remember was in New Lenox Illinois. The town was originally named Tracey in honor of the general superintendent of the Rock Island Railroad. Mr. Tracy later requested that the community be renamed New Lenox after the Township which was named after Lenox, New York. The Village of New Lenox wasn't officially created until October 4, 1946. New Lenox is known as "The Home of Proud Americans", which exemplifies the quality of life in the community.

329 Poplar Lane, New Lenox Illinois. It looks a lot different now than when it did when I left. When I left in 1869, the garage wasn't there nor was the connecting structure to the house. Dad built all that. The second garage (far right) wasn't there either. It looks great now.  

I went from 6th grade at Oster-Oakview school through Lincoln-Way High School (now called LW Central...there are 3 LWs now) in this house. I was baptized in the First Baptist Church of New Lenox just after I turned 18.  

I can't say that I did it because of my "beliefs". At that age and during that time I was interested in only 3 things; cars, girls and the Vietnam draft. I was 1A and could not get out of it. So, I enlisted in the Navy. Looking back, I really can't say that I was a "Christian" man, I was just "covering all the bases" with the baptism. 

I loved this house, at the end of a dead-end street. There was a lot of land with it. We grew just about all the fruit and vegetables we needed. Mom canned enough to get us through the winter. We also raised chickens for eggs and meat. At the far end there was a creek running through it. I could have an adventure every day.  

Because the house and the area has changed so much, I don't really think of it as "home" any more.  

Oaklawn (in progress updated 3-10-25)

The first house that I remember living in was at 6828 West 96th Place in Oaklawn Illinois. (I can't believe I still remember the address) My dad built the garage, it was a kit that he had delivered, then he bought extra material and built it 10 feet longer and 10 feet wider than a standard garage back then (1950s). He wanted room for a workshop. I remember he had a pot-bellied wood burning stove in there for the cold winter days. The house had an attached garage but my Dad turned it into a playroom. Behind the house off a little to the right was a Baptist Church that we went to. Donald Smith Memorial Baptist Church. 

 

 

I remember the Pastor was a real short guy. We all called him Dr. Dick.  

 

Now it's St. Mary's Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. It still looks the same as I remember it on the outside but the inside has changed a lot. Like me, it converted. The original Baptist Church was a memorial to a boy who drowned at Fox Lake in a boating accident.  

I went to an elementary school called Dearborn Heights Elementary School, just a few blocks from home. Now it is Kolmar Avenue Elementary School. It's gotten much bigger than it was when I went there. When it was Dearborn Heights, we had a lot of grassy fields around it where we played baseball football and all kinds of other stuff.  

 

 

My older sisters went to Simmons Middle School on 95th Street. It was much smaller back then. 

 

 My Oldest sister graduated from Oak Lawn High School. It is also a lot bigger than I remember.

 

The history of Oak Lawn, Illinois, began in the early 19th century when individuals purchased large tracts of land in the area. The village was incorporated in 1909 and experienced rapid growth in the 1950s and 1970s. Oak Lawn is known for some of its popular attractions, which include: Children's Museum in Oak Lawn. Juicy Luzy Sangria, and the South Side Escape Rooms. If you're interested, you can read more about Oak Lawn's local history at the library.

 

Village of Oak Lawn 

THE DIGITAL RESEARCH LIBRARY OF ILLINOIS HISTORY JOURNAL

Oak Lawn Public Library Local History Collection

Oak Lawn Illinois - Wikipedia  

Chicago (in progress updated 1-10-25)

I was born in Chicago in the old - Cook County Hospital. Chicago, on Lake Michigan in Illinois, is among the largest cities in the U.S. The City of Chicago is located on land that is and has long been a center for Native peoples. The area is the traditional homelands of the Anishinaabe, or the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations. 

 

I don't remember much about Chicago; just going to my Grand Parents apartment, my Uncle Bob's house and my Uncle Charles's house. Uncle Bob had a ton of kids, I remember my Mom telling me he worked on the docks unloading ships from the lakes and that he worked on merchant ships during WWII. Uncle Bob was Mom's brother. Uncle Charles was Dad's brother, he and Dad both worked at Fisher Body Division of General Motors. Dad and Uncle Charles were mechanics working on the big machines that stamped out parts for General Motors cars. 

 

I'm not sure of where we lived when I was born, whether it was somewhere in Chicago or Oaklawn. I have a birth certificate somewhere around here, it might have where we lived on it. As soon as I find it again I'll check.  

 

Famed for its bold architecture, Chicago has a skyline punctuated by skyscrapers such as the iconic John Hancock Center, 1,451-ft. Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) and the Neo-Gothic Tribune Tower. The city is also renowned for its museums, including the Art Institute of Chicago with its noted Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works.  

 

Chicago is also an international hub for finance, culture, commerce, industry, education, technology, telecommunications, and transportation. It has the largest and most diverse finance derivatives market in the world, generating 20% of all volume in commodities and financial futures alone. 

 

Chicago Walking Tour

 

Chicago Travel Guide

Welcome to Illinois

Map of Illinois 

Illinois History 

Illinois Territory 1776-1818 

Early Statehood 1818-1848 

History of Illinois

Visit Chicago

Chicago City Guide 

Things to do in Chicago 

History of Chicago

Smithsonian Chicago History 

Chicago History Magazine 

Chicago History Museum 

Three Fires Council 

Three Fires Confederacy

The Potawatomi Tribe

Potawatomi Beliefs

Potawatomi Cultural Center 

History & Culture of the Ojibwe Tribe 

Ojibwe People

Ojibwe History and Culture 

Ottawa Tribe History 

Ottawa Culture

Ottawa Heritage

Can’t Live Without Coffee? Thank This Pope.

 

I can't live without my coffee. My all-time favorite comes from the Philippines. It's rich, robust and smooth with no acid taste, just coffee taste and smell.

Coffee is one of the most consumed drinks in the world, second only to water, enjoyed by millions every day. The drink was not always so ubiquitous, only becoming popular relatively recently during the 16th century. If you can’t start the day without first having your morning cup of coffee, then you should probably thank Pope Clement VIII.

Coffee was first introduced around the 9th century when Muslim shepherds noticed wild coffee beans were having a stimulant effect on their flocks of sheep. Clerics learned the techniques to cultivate the beans, and the drink quickly spread throughout the Muslim world.

When it inevitably found its way to Europe, the majority of Catholics treated it with a great deal of suspicion because it was the popular beverage of Islam, which Catholicism had been at war with for centuries. Because of its reputation, it gained the moniker “Satan’s drink.”

As the saying goes, all roads lead to Rome, and coffee was first brought to Pope Clement VIII around the year 1600.

Initially, the pope’s closest advisers tried to get him to ban the drink, proclaiming it was “the bitter invention of Satan.” However, the pope wished to try it himself before issuing a papal decision.

After tasting it, the pope enjoyed it so much he declared that “This Satan’s drink is so delicious that it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it. We shall cheat Satan by baptizing it!”

Allegedly, he formally blessed the coffee bean because the drink was deemed less harmful than alcohol. After his blessing, it quickly spread throughout the rest of Europe and eventually the world, becoming a chief crop and the most popular beverage. Next time you enjoy your favorite brew, thank God for Pope Clement VIII.

Kilroy Was Here

 

Kilroy Was Here: The Story Behind the Iconic WWII Graffiti

WHO WAS KILROY?

 

For many, especially those born between 1913 and 1950, the name "Kilroy" brings back a flood of memories. This piece of American history is immortalized in stone at the National War Memorial in Washington, DC, hidden away in a small alcove.

 

So, who was Kilroy?

 

In 1946, the American Transit Association sponsored a nationwide contest through its radio program, "Speak to America," to find the real Kilroy, offering a prize of a real trolley car. Almost 40 men claimed to be the genuine Kilroy, but only James Kilroy from Halifax, Massachusetts, provided the necessary evidence.

 

James Kilroy was a 46-year-old shipyard worker during WWII, employed as a checker at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy. His job involved counting the rivets completed by the riveters, who were paid by the rivet. To prevent double counting, Kilroy marked the inspected rivets with semi-waxed lumber chalk. However, riveters would erase his marks to get paid twice.

 

To combat this, Kilroy began writing "KILROY WAS HERE" in large letters alongside his check-marks, eventually adding a sketch of a chap with a long nose peering over a fence. This made it difficult for the riveters to erase his marks, and soon, his graffiti began appearing on ships leaving the shipyard.

 

With the war in full swing, these ships often went unpainted, leaving Kilroy's markings visible to thousands of servicemen who boarded them. The troops, amused and intrigued by the mysterious graffiti, began spreading the "Kilroy was here" message across Europe and the South Pacific, claiming it was already there when they arrived.

 

Kilroy became a symbol of the U.S. service-men's presence, appearing in unlikely places such as atop Mt. Everest, the Statue of Liberty, the underside of the Arc de Triomphe, and even in the dust on the moon. The legend grew, and it became a challenge for troops to place the logo in the most improbable locations.

 

In 1945, during the Potsdam Conference, Stalin used an outhouse built for Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill. After emerging, he reportedly asked, "Who is Kilroy?"

 

To prove his authenticity in 1946, James Kilroy brought officials from the shipyard and some riveters to the contest. He won the trolley car, which he gifted to his nine children as a Christmas present, setting it up as a playhouse in their yard in Halifax, Massachusetts.

 

And so, the tradition of Kilroy continues, a testament to the spirit and humor of the WWII generation. 

 

The Tradition Continues...Details occurred from Groton historical Society Newsletter

Nuclear Energy - Here's Where it all Started

 

Under the stadium seats at University of Chicago (my hometown!).

Ten intriguing facts you might not know about the world’s first controlled release of nuclear energy:

1. The world's first self-sustaining controlled nuclear chain reactor took place at the University of Chicago on December 2, 1942. 

2. Chicago Pile-1 was the world’s first nuclear reactor to go critical.

3. 49 scientists led by Enrico Fermi, were present for the event. Leona Marshall was the lone female researcher.

4. The reactor was built with graphite blocks, some of which contained small disks of uranium.

5. Scientists monitored the reaction on instruments named after Winnie the Pooh characters—Piglet, Tigger and Pooh.

6. Scientist George Weil withdrew the cadmium-plated control rod unleashing the first controlled chain reaction.

7. The reactor had three sets of control rods. One was automatic and could be controlled from the balcony. Another was an emergency safety rod. The third rod (operated by Weil) actually held the reaction in check until it was withdrawn the proper distance.

8. The group celebrated with a bottle of Chianti that was poured into paper cups. Most of the participants signed the wine bottle’s label. This was the only written record of who had taken part in the experiment.

9. In the lead up to this experiment, a letter from Albert Einstein to President Franklin D. Roosevelt helped lead to the Manhattan Project—a government research project that produced the first atomic bombs. It was also the seed that grew into the modern U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory system.

10. The Energy Department’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory is named in honor of Enrico Fermi for his contributions to nuclear physics and scientific success at nearby University of Chicago.

Links to more information about the birth of nuclear energy:

The first nuclear reactor, explained

Chicago Pile-1

Chicago Pile 1: A bold nuclear physics experiment with enduring impact

Manhattan Project

Chicago Pile-1 - Manhattan Project History

 

 

 

 

 

North Carolina History

 

On April 12, 1776, North Carolina’s Fourth Provincial Congress approves the Halifax Resolves. After the Patriot victory at Moores Creek Bridge, the Fourth North Carolina Provincial Congress met in Halifax, NC. Members unanimously adopted the Halifax Resolves on April 12, 1776. The Resolves were simply entered into the Congressional minutes, and as such, are not "signed" documents. After adoption, the secretary of the Congress, James Green, sent copies of the Resolves to the North Carolina delegation assembled with the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia for execution.The decision was about as close to declaring independence as the state could come without actually doing so.

The colonial assemblies desired self-governing status within the British Empire in early 1776. However, North Carolina was an exception. The Halifax Resolves ordered North Carolina's delegation to the second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, not only to form foreign alliances, but also to seek and vote for independence from Great Britain. This action made North Carolina the first of the colonial governments to call for total independence. As such, it became a factor leading to the writing of the Declaration of Independence, which was adopted on July 4, 1776.

North Carolina’s delegates to the Continental Congress were now authorized to vote for independence!

The state had changed its mind—drastically—in a relatively short period of time. Only seven short months earlier, the state’s Third Provincial Congress had approved a message to British citizens. That letter scorned the concept of independence:

“We have been told that independence is our object,” that Congress wrote, “that we seek to shake off all connection With the Parent State. Cruel suggestion! . . . We again declare, and we invoke that Almighty Being who searches the recesses, of the human heart, and knows our most secret intentions, that it is our most earnest wish and prayer to be restored, with the other United Colonies, to the state in which we and they were placed before the year 1763 . ."

That letter was written in September 1775. But matters moved quickly, and a battle was soon fought early in 1776. The Battle at Moore’s Creek Bridge has been called the “Lexington and Concord of the South.” The story concludes HERE: https://www.taraross.com/post/tdih-halifax-resolves

North Carolina Provincial Congress

The Halifax Resolves

Halifax and the Revolution

Continental Congress

Second Continental Congress

 

The Road to Tennessee Begins with the help of North Carolina  

 

 

On December 22, 1789, North Carolina formally ceded six western counties to the Continental Congress, a pivotal decision that set the stage for the eventual creation of the state of Tennessee.

 

These western lands—once part of North Carolina’s frontier—had a long and complicated history. Settlement in the region began in the late 1700s as pioneers pushed westward into what is now eastern Tennessee and parts of Kentucky. As populations grew, residents sought greater self-governance and protection from Native American resistance, while also feeling increasingly disconnected from North Carolina’s eastern leadership.

Between 1779 and 1784, the North Carolina legislature authorized the creation of six new counties in the western region. Frustrated by political neglect and taxation, settlers went a step further in 1784, organizing a breakaway government known as the State of Franklin, named in honor of Benjamin Franklin, in hopes he would support their admission into the Union.

 

Although Franklin functioned as a de facto state for nearly five years—with its own legislature, courts, and governor (John Sevier)—it was never officially admitted to the Union. The state’s short existence was marked by internal divisions, economic hardship, conflicts with Native American nations, and strained relations with both North Carolina officials and the Continental Congress.

 

By 1788, the Franklin legislature met for the final time. In 1789, the territory was formally returned to North Carolina’s control—only for the state to cede the lands to the federal government later that same year. These lands eventually became part of the Southwest Territory, leading to Tennessee’s admission to the Union in 1796 as the 16th state.

The Lost State of Franklin remains one of the most fascinating “what if” stories in early American and North Carolina history—an early experiment in self-rule that helped shape the nation’s westward expansion.

 

Source: North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources

 

 

After the American Revolution, North Carolina stretched from the eastern seaboard all the way to the Mississippi River. The western part of the state was separated from the eastern part by a mountain range. Especially given the travel difficulties of the day, you can imagine that the westerners felt barely connected to the eastern side of the state—and vice versa.

 

The North Carolina legislature didn’t really want to be responsible for the western lands anymore, but legislators didn’t want to lose an asset, either. The legislature ended up passing an act known as the “Land Grab Act” by which western lands were put on sale. Much of the land was sold to legislators. Hmmm. Let’s just say that some of the sales that resulted probably weren’t entirely above board. Nevertheless, the state legislators passed an act ceding all remaining lands to the federal government. In return, the Confederation Congress was supposed to accept, as valid, all the grants of land that had already been made.

 

The cessation pushed several western counties into action. On August 23, 1784, residents met and declared themselves a new state named Franklin (for Benjamin Franklin). For a time, things seemed to be working. A state constitution was adopted, and John Sevier was elected as the first state governor. But then, unsurprisingly, matters became complicated.

 

For one thing, Americans were in negotiations with the Cherokee to determine who held which territory. Unfortunately, the outcome of these negotiations contradicted the outcome of Franklin’s negotiations. Other clashes occurred between the state and federal governments. Many Franklinites became tired of the situation.

 

In the end, a man named John Tipton became head of a movement to have Franklin reabsorbed back into North Carolina. But Sevier continued to advocate for the State of Franklin. At one point, Sevier even considered getting Spain to annex the state! A skirmish—the Battle of Franklin—brought matters to a head. Sevier was at first arrested for treason, but by early 1789, he had agreed to take an oath of allegiance to North Carolina.

 

After Franklin was dissolved, North Carolina ceded the land to the federal government. A few years later, the new territory became the state of Tennessee. I suppose Sevier got the last laugh?! He was elected as Tennessee’s first governor in 1796.

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copyright © 2013-2025 by Tara Ross.