Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - "How Did Your Parents Meet?"

Another great assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings.

Here is my assignment:

1) Do you know how, when and where your parents met?

2) Please tell the family story in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in your own Facebook or Google+ post.
When I put together a family history of my father, William J. Hork's Gleeson line, I sent out questionnaires for my dad, his sisters, and my cousins to fill out. One of the questions was how did you meet your spouse.

He said that he met Lela Nell Johnston at the Walnut Festival. The Walnut Festival was held yearly in Walnut Creek, California in September to celebrate the walnut harvest. A long time ago, a lot of the valley was covered in walnut orchards and Walnut Creek had a walnut packing house, where the trains of the Sacramento Northern would haul them out.

The Walnut Festival was a weekend affair were one could ride on carnival rides, eat great junk food, and play games. And of course it was a place to meet girls (or boys). Here's a history of the Walnut Festival which began in 1911.

I wish I had a photo of my parents from that time. However I have a shot or two of them as they dated.

1952 in Santa Cruz, California

I attended many Walnut Festivals while growing up in Walnut Creek. Corn on the cob prepared by the Lions Club was always my favorite to eat, and the Scrambler was my favorite ride. I remember tossing ping pong balls into glass bowls and winning goldfish, too!

Copyright © 2015 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.