"BUT AS MANY AS RECEIVED HIM, TO THEM
GAVE HE POWER TO BECOME SONS OF GOD,
EVEN TO THEM THAT BELIEVE ON HIS NAME."
.......JOHN 1:12 KJV
************************
I will always have a special place in my heart
for the Ranchvale Baptist Church folks and
all the farmers I knew who lived out in
that rural community (area).
Some of the best people I have ever known
lived out there. Most of them have gone
on to "farm" forever in Beulah Land ...
"I look away across the sea
where mansions are
prepared for me
and view the shining
glory shore...my heav'n
my home, forevermore."
We had a farm out there...a nice section
of wheat land, one mile east of
the little country church. Our farming
days (my dad and brother and I) began
in August 1945, on just about the same
day of the Japanese surrender.
Dad had owned and run single-handedly
the Magic Steam Laundry down on West
Grand in Clovis, all through the "Big One,"
WWII, keeping the airmen at CAAFB in
spiffy starched uniforms.
It was time for a change of occupations
and Ranchvale farming was his choice.
We continued to live in town. RV was
seven miles NW, as a crow flies.
In those days, the wheat crops on each
farmer's "place," and on which they
depended for a year's income---began
to mature and need harvesting---all within
days of each other.
Thus groups of farmers worked together
on cutting and hauling, for each other,
moving from one farm to another, and
often working until midnight.
Many times have I seen on a hot June
evening on someone's wheat field, the
farmer's wives drive up to the combines,
trucks, and tractors and bring out
old-fashioned dish pans full of Kerr quart
jars, full of iced tea or "sweet milk" and
ice cubes, the lids screwed on tightly.
trucks, and tractors and bring out
old-fashioned dish pans full of Kerr quart
jars, full of iced tea or "sweet milk" and
ice cubes, the lids screwed on tightly.
Then there might be fried chicken and
mashed potatoes, veggies....or maybe
sandwiches galore with iced soda pop
bottles.
The weather could "turn off bad" at any
time and ruin the ripened crop with a
hail storm..or heavy rain.
We eventually got another section over
across Running Water Draw, five
or six miles NW of Ranchvale. This meant
that we had to drive our big orange Case
Wheatland tractors from one farm to
another, oft with the 22 1/2 foot One-Way
plow rigged for "trailing."
This meant going by the RV church, turning
north and heading toward the dry draw
where there was no bridge.
It also meant going thru the village, by the
school, the Methodist Church, and stopping
at Herb's nice little country store on the
northern edge of town.
To a sunburned, dusty, tired, teenager of
about 15 years, the store was a cooling,
welcome place, where you could load
up on snacks and sodas...and visit a
minute with Herb.
So yes, I loved everything about RV,
its people, and I passed the little
country church many times over.
I knew Herbert Bergstrom when he was
a young pastor out there...and in later
years Tom Sumrall, also a pastor.
Little did I realize in those "halcyon" days
of the forties, when the whole world was
young----that someday I would
study voice for more than four
years and would become a Gospel Singer.
After graduating from CHS, I went off to
school and never returned but once
or twice to the old farm---once about 1969
to take pictures.
Then I was invited to lead the music at RVBC
for a week's revival.
After singing in sixty-three or more revivals,
and some Cowboy Camp Meetings, I have
little recollection of what songs I sang where.
and some Cowboy Camp Meetings, I have
little recollection of what songs I sang where.
But there was one special night when working
in the revival meeting at Ranchvale---that I
especially remember...Dad and a bunch of
men from the Central Baptist Church Men's
Brotherhood came to visit the service...and
I do remember what I sang as a solo:
It was a gospel song of testimony about
what Jesus did for us...why He came to
earth....
"In loving kindness, Jesus came
My soul in mercy to reclaim;
And from the depths of sin and shame,
Through grace He lifted me.
From sinking sand, He lifted me
With tender hand He lifted me;
From shades of night
To plains of light
O praise His name, He lifted me."
Some great and fine Christian men
came out there to hear me sing...
and I can only try to remember
who...
Mr. Hudnall, Mr. Joplin, Mr.Vaughn,
Mr. Bender, Mr. Comer, Mr. Boney,
Mr. Wayne...two rows of men...in suits..
and Dad.
Mr. Bender, Mr. Comer, Mr. Boney,
Mr. Wayne...two rows of men...in suits..
and Dad.
The old rural church has today a rather
mod look. But great memories still
remain with me...
How can one ever forget the people
of that day...or the kinship you
develop with the land ...and even the
smell of the soil.
One mile east of the RVBC and
the village...our land is still there...
it is no longer "ours," except in our
hearts...and Dad's gone on to Beulah
Land.
The remains of our brand new 1947
GMC wheat truck have been hauled
away and Bobby Joe tells me: "The
windmill at your old home place is
gone..."
Ah, is nothing permanent...in life?
Yes.
""In loving kindness Jesus came,
our souls in mercy
to reclaim."
Bury my heart at Ranchvale.
-----------------
BY MIL
19 May 2018
