Snow Community News • By Shirley Taylor

Circle March 19th on your calendar as the date to attend the Snow Community Potluck. They will have plenty of yummy food and conversation. We are always tickled to have new people attending. We would like to welcome the Potter family to our small community. Hopefully they will continue to come have dinner with us and share stories.

My older sister shared some fun memories from her youth back in August. Here’s another story that I’d like to share with everyone. She called it the magic of feed bags. The 1930s and 1940s were interesting times, and her memories of growing up during those years are unequaled. Her childhood was spent on a farm about 20 minutes from Stigler, Oklahoma in a small town; Porum. They had several animals on the farm, a dog named Rowdy, several barn cats, cows, pigs and of course chickens. Our dad’s biggest endeavor was raising chickens. Thousands of yellow baby chickens were delivered on a regular basis in large flat boxes with tops on them. About twice a month, we would see a big truck with “Southern States” written on the side come up our bumpy dirt driveway and make its way to the shed that Daddy had built to house feed and supplies for the chickens. The chicken feed came in what we called “fabric feed bags.” My mom owned an old Singer treadle sewing machine. There wasn’t anything she couldn’t make out of those feed bags. From tea towels, pillowcases and sheets for the bed. Some of the bags came with delightful prints, she made kitchen curtains and tops and dresses for her to wear. I’m sure she was the only girl at church we attended who wore feed bag dresses every Sunday. However, she proudly wore the homemade dresses each week because our mother had fashioned them especially for her from

McCall’s’ patterns purchased at the local general store. One summer when she was 8 years old she would spend a few days at our Aunt Bessie’s house. Aunt Bessie’s downstairs had a musty smell, but the second floor, where the bedrooms were, was filled with a sweet aroma from days gone by. I was fortunate to stay in my cousin Debbie’s bedroom. Debbie had grown up, married and moved to Nebraska. She left behind things I could never have afforded but they were fascinating to a young girl her age. She remembered her small trinkets and pieces of jewelry. What intrigued her most were the small bottles of leftover perfumes that she couldn’t’ seem to stop sniffing and putting on her wrists. Of course, there was always trips down the road to the country store on the corner. She was allowed to purchase penny candy and, if lucky, a cup of ice cream with a wooden spoon. She was told that when she returned home after her first visit to Aunt Bessie’s, she made a big deal about the visit and was quoted as remarking, “Aunt Bessie even had store-bought sheets on her beds!” She said, “Now that I think back on it, it’s rather embarrassing. But I have realized how blessed I was to grow up on a farm during those interesting times when dresses could be made from feed bags!” Chicken feed now normally arrive in paper reinforced bags. Nothing in the world came be made from these. My sister also mentioned when visiting our aunt, she always had some sort of cookies in her large cookie jar. One of our favorites is Shortbread Cookies. All you need is 1 cup unsalted butter, room temp to almost melting, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest, 2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt. Plus, 1/2 cup green decorating sugar. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (or aluminum foil). Beat butter until smooth, then while continuing to beat, gradually add sugar, vanilla and lemon zest, until mixture is light and fluffy. On low spread, mix in flour and salt, scraping down sides o bowl as needed. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll out into a 1/4inch thick rectangle, dusting top with flour as needed. Cut out cookies with cutter and place cookie cutouts on prepared baking. sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, switching pans around about halfway through for even baking. Cookies should be light brown around the edges. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with green sugar. Allow to cool completely on the pan. Store in an airtight container.

Keep all our family and friends in your prayers. This season can bring aches and pains and be hard for some to enjoy the time as others. The crazy weather isn’t helping with the temps going from 32 one day and back to72 the very next. Please keep in mind the recycling containers in front of the Snow Community building. The funds taken from these donations are turned back into the building for the upkeep and maintenance. Any and all help with this is appreciated. Please refrain from throwing your trash in the recycle container. There is another trash can to the side of the building that you can use. Also, the Finley Community normally has a lunch on each Friday at noon. Days Finley are not open or only doing take outs will be posted on their Facebook page. Anyone wanting to add to the article please turn them in before Friday at 5 p.m. Additions can be emailed to me at: freylake123@yahoo.com or call me at 580-208-0870, Have a blessed week.