Claire Janaro
4-1-78
Hi Ranch folks!
It’s me again! Yes with pen in hand I am writing! It is beautiful here as always, we are planting hundreds of fruit trees, pineapples and acres of sweet potatoes, cassava, peanuts, and sorrel (it makes a good punch drink or soda). We hope to get a dairy going here soon, that will be great! We are having beautiful weather here, sunny & clear. Land is always being cleared for more crops & what we can produce is endless. You must have heard about the log cabin smokehouse we built. That fish tastes soooo good! We like shark the best, it tastes like a steak and no bones, thank Dad! All things are provided here, great chicken too, and can they make good pork fried rice! Ellen [Klingman] cooks great cheese sticks, cinnamon rolls and doughnuts & other delights that keep people’s mouth watering. The bakery has been expanded & really produces. Jeff [Wheeler] & Joe [Wilson] work there some nights & Saturdays as a special project, they love mixing all that dough! Mauri [Janaro] & Marvin [Sellers] & Chris [Kice] work there on different nights too. Marvin also works with Dr. [Larry] Schacht, he wants to be a doctor & assists on minor treatments. Jeff wants to be an orthopedic doctor & has been looking up details of bone diseases, etc.. He will eventually ask to work some with Dr. Schacht maybe in a year or so. Jeff is getting along really well with Ron T. [Talley] & they’re palling around together, I’m glad of that. Darius [Wheeler] is really growing up & happy as a lark. Dad always tells him he has eyes as blue as the sky, he just grins from ear to ear. He is doing really well in school, loves his math & does well in reading. He’s just neat, of course I’m very objective. Ha ha. Well, Mauri & Daren [Janaro] are very happy, just saw two pictures they had taken, really cute! You should get those soon. Daren’s hair is long, he wants me to cut it & I will soon. He is well-liked by his teachers because he’s bright, quick & cooperative. Seems real happy in school, smiles a lot, talks more & is more mature. He gave a report on the eagle in front of the entire group several weeks ago and was very confident. Mauri gave a small animal report also and was very firm & aggressive, was real proud of her. She didn’t hesitate a second & answered questions also. She is blossoming but isn’t too interested in boys yet, so relax, Claire, you’ll probably be here by then, she just loves animals alot [a lot]. They have quite a variety now and if she wants to go on to veterinary school she’ll have the opportunity. Don’t see much of Richard [Janaro], was here several weeks ago for a few days & looked real good & spent time with the children. Danny B. [Beck] is one of Pat G. [Grunnet] model examples of improvement in her class, is really coming along, maybe I can get a picture taken of him to send back. Bonnie [Stahl] is doing fine. She does very well in school, of course, said she was going to write to Carol [Stahl] soon, keep those cards & letters coming! Pam [Bradshaw] & Ken [Norton, aka Richard Grubbs] just got here last week and are doing fine, it was nice to see them again, Tom [Grubbs] was sure glad to see Ken, to say the least! Everybody here is being very productive in helping the community grow. We have agricultural meetings where we discuss all planting, animals & gardening production. It’s very educational & extremely interesting. Our S. [socialism] classes are really enlightening. I had Jan G. [Jann Gurvich] for a teacher & now have Harriet [Tropp], two really good teachers, I really lucked out. All teachers are good though, but they have a lot of other background that’s interesting. The crates came in a couple weeks ago and glory, a ton of books! Teresa [King] is the librarian. We have more books, thanks to Dad, then [that] we could read in a lifetime! It was like Christmas opening crates & there’s many more to come!
We have student apprenticeships now where students learn certain aspects of agriculture, insects, workshop, electrical, sewing etc. Women are studying in all areas. Preston [Wade] is Cleve Swinney’s apprentice & Cleve really appreciates him. He is a loyal, hard worker, very dependable. Heard Kim [Dutra] was able to talk to Bev [Livingston] & him the other night, that’s great! Bev was grinning from ear to ear the next day! Oh, you folks could bring your long sleeved tops & not go wrong. I think I’ve told you in past letters the most important things to bring. If people can procure lots of green khaki pants & shirts, they are the best for the weather here, small sizes are needed too.
Well, I hope everyone writes, I appreciated your letter, Jakela [Debbie Sines] & Curtis, I know how writing is though and I’ll try to get letters off more often. Hear the program there is really detailed & everyone’s learning a lot. I could use any charts or papers on it to study, as I like to learn more about it myself. A big hello to everyone there, we know you all look forward to coming & were working toward that end. Dad’s always thinking of you.
With principle we win,
Marlene