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Lobby of the Crescent Hotel Eureka Springs, Arkansas (by available light) Click for Larger (800x545) Image

Skipper Family Magazine SITE INDEX

ENGINEERING AND STEM RELATED WEB SITES

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WHAT'S NEW

8/5/13 2013 Grand Canyon Trip - July 2013 we took an Amtrak Train trip to Williams, Arizona, via Los Angeles. The Sunset Limited runs from New Orleans to L.A. and the Southwest Chief runs from L.A. to Chicago. The Grand Canyon Railroad tour package was a 50th Wedding Anniversary gift from our children. Two of our children and my wife's sister went with us. We spent a day and a night at Williams then rode the Grand Canyon Railroad to the Canyon and spent the night. We toured some of the main observation points by free shuttle and hike more than two miles along the rim. We road the train back to Williams for another night and day then caught the Southwest Chief back to L.A. and the Sunset Limited back to Houston. Several pages of photos resulted from this trip and more are being added as I sort out the photos. 1/20/12 Auto Repair Pages - INDEX for 1998 Generation III Plymouth Grand Voyager Expresso Mini-Van Miscellaneous Repairs. Includes Some Repairs for Generation 3 Chrysler Mini-Vans Also. Maybe I'll just lump in other auto repairs, too.
I'm still working on the pages, so only two or three are ready as of 1-20-2012. Most of these repairs will apply to all Generation 3 Plymouth, Dodge, and Chrysler minivans. So the key words are Gen 3, Gen III, Gen Three, Generation Three. Generation III Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth mini-vans were built in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000.
The pages provide help with electric window regulator replacement, headlight assembly replacement, headlight aiming, serpentine belt replacement and tensioning, water pump replacement, and radiator replacement. Not all the pages are ready yet, but I'll keep working on them. 1-20-2012
10/10/09 Wigwam Motel - Holbrook, Arizona - Two years ago this month Ann and I drove Route 66 from Chicago to L.A. ending on the Santa Monica pier. Becky joined us in Tulsa and flew home from Flagstaff. The total trip took ten days averaging almost 250 miles per day. We drove only in daylight so that we wouldn't miss anything. Together we probably took 100 photos each day. I've despaired of selecting the best ten or twelve for each day and so haven't posted any. But today I decided that I wanted to display the photos from the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona, so here they are.
10/2/09 Long Lost Family Photos - Back in 1972 I did a test roll of color negative film in a used Kodak 3-D camera that I was considering buying. However, typical film processors of that time couldn't handle the format for printing and I didn't get it custom printed. The negatives languished in the film sleeves for 37 years until I scanned them yesterday with my new film scanner. This links to the Facebook album I put them in. I think family members will enjoy seeing photos from so long ago. I didn't buy the Kodak 3-D camera, but I do have my uncle's View-Master Stereo Camera. It makes those little tiny images that fit the circular reels for View-Master viewers. There is also a cutter that punches the small images out of the 35mm film to fit the reels. It is somewhat complicated to use. Two images are made at each location; first at the bottom of the film and then by shifting the lenses up, another set is made at the top of the film. Then the wind knob is released to continue to the next film location.
9/20/09 Unique Stories from the Past - Here are some things you probably didn't know about until know. This new pages give a brief version of the story and provides links to web sites or books with further details.
9/12/09 Family Photo Album Index Page - I was running out of room on my main Index Page, so I decided to start this Family Events Index Page.
5/2/08 When I was young in 1954 - This is a page of photos and notes giving a snapshot of my life situation back in May 1954 when I was thirteen and living at home in Cleveland, Arkansas, with my family. Although I originally posted it in 2005, I didn't provide any other links to it and so had forgotten it. I've changed it a little and re-posted it to this newer web host.
1/7/08 1966 Plymouth Barracuda Operating Instructions - I scanned and uploaded selected pages from my owners manual. It explains the typical information that the owner of a new car would be interested in knowing: required maintenance services, break-in period and speeds, how to start a car with a weak battery (and an automatic transmission), how to set the push-button radio, how the air conditioning system should be operated during winter months, and precautions to be taken with trailer towing. It explains all the instruments and controls on the instrument panel, how to operate the A/C and heater controls, door locks, mirror adjustment, window controls, fluid quantities, engine specifications, seat adjustments, jack storage (and I include a copy of the jack instructions from inside the trunk lide), and all the typical instructions for operating the automobile.
11/7/07 Early A-Body Gas Cap - I took parts of the old replacement gas cap, a Stant G27, and combined it with a later model replacement gas cap, a Stant 11811, to make a cap that resembles the original body-color gas cap that came on my 1966 Barracuda. This should also work with other early A-body Chrysler products such as 1960 to 1966 Valiants and Darts.
8/12/07 1966 Skipper Reunion Family - Back in the 60's, the descendents of Dave and Kate Skipper held annual reunions at Burns Park in North Little Rock, Arkansas. These photos from the 1966 gathering show Irving and Thelma Skipper, children of James and Jo Skipper; the Ida Bostian and Annie Evans families, daughters of John Quincy Skipper and Mary Magdaline Sands; Bill Skipper, son of Arthur Skipper, brother to Ida and Annie; Willie Krisell, sister of Jo Skipper, and some of her family; and a few others I can't identify.
7/12/07 Don and Ida Bostian Reunion Photos - Ida Saxton Skipper was the oldest child of John Quincy Skipper and Mary Magdalene Sands. Ida was born March 20, 1900. Her mother died in the 1918 flu epidemic and Ida took over the care of the children who ranged in age from Annie Lee, who was 17 to Winnie Dale, who was two. Ida married Don Taylor Bostian in the early 20s and they had four children: Iris Dalene, Shirley Lee, Muriel Dean, and Ray Don. Dalene's children: Jimmy Surratt, Donnelle, Iris, and Cheryl. Shirley's children: Glenda Whittimore and Vivian Whittimore. Muriel's children; Gayle, Cathy, Roger, and Kelly Bodenheimer and Matthew Bradshaw. Ray Don's children: Rachel, Laura, David, and Ida.
4/17/07 The Sydney Airport Alien Sculpture - In 1988 Ann and I made a trip to Sydney. I was fascinated with this sculpture on the wall of the airport waiting room. This page has been on the web for years, but apparently it wasn't linked to any of my other pages.
4/12/07 The Mormon Temple - This page was posted a year or so ago, but I failed to include it here. Ann and I made a trip to Salt Lake City, Utah, and while she attended a conference, I toured Temple Square and other interesting parts of Salt Lake City. She and I also visited the big island in the Great Salt Lake, but I haven't prepared pages for those other travels yet. This page presents the Temple. The LDS members who took me on tours of their facility were very kind and helpful. I was taken to the top of the business building and I got an excellent view of Temple Square and the rest of the city. The first photo is like an aerial photo of the temple, the tabernacle and all the buildings on the west end of the square. The other photos show the front of the temple with the fountain, the gold plaque on the temple tower, and the statue of Moroni on the peak of the temple tower.
9/12/06 Murrah Federal Building Memorial - Photos from an early Sunday morning visit to the Murrah Federal Building site and memorial in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
9/11/06 The Hickman Woods - Our daughter and her husband bought some wooded acreage and went up to camp overnight. We drove up the following morning to visit them and the kids and took these photos to remind us of the trip.
7/24/06 Lil' Fox and Her Motorcycle - While driving back from Utah, we stopped somewhere in the Texas panhandle to take a break and gas up. Lil' Fox and her friends pulled for a break, too.
3/1/06 San Marcos River Kayak Trip - The Shadycrest Baptist Church organized a kayaking trip on the San Marcos River for the men and boys of the church. We took the TG Canoe Livery's seven-mile trip from the Old City Park just below Aquarena Springs to point a mile below the CR 266 crossing where Canoe Livery has a park with river access. I took my digital camera in a Ziplock bag and, because the river is relatively easy, was able to take a bunch of nice photos without losing the camera or drowning myself.
2/23/06 Louisa Jane Skipper was the first Skipper born in Conway County, Arkansas. She was born in December 1856. Her parents, Joseph and Louisa Skipper, had just moved there from Tennessee where they had lived a few years after their move from North Carolina. They bought property in Conway County and may have received their deed the day Louisa was born. Anyway, her nickname was 'Deed.' At about the age of 15, Deed married David Lawson Rentfro (Renfro, Renfroe) and they had a daughter on October 9, 1872. She was named Louisa Ellen Rentfro. (A Dixon descendent says it was Frances Ellen.) Soon David Rentfro disappeared on a trip to Texas. Louisa married William A. Dixon and had another daughter in 1876. They named her Rebecca Dixon, perhaps after Louisa's grandmother, Rebecca Gornto. William and Louisa had Hugh Dixon and James D. Dixon. William and Louisa were not listed in the 1920 Census. They would have been in their mid-sixties by then.
2/2/06 The "Mockup Lockup" - Fourteen years! It's hard to believe that that much time has passed. One of my biggest tests, though not the most hazardous or most difficult was the "Mockup Lockup" as the ladies called it. They didn't like the official name "Shuttle RCRS Human Rating Test." I planned and managed a 16-day test of the Shuttle Regenerable CO2 Removal System in the NASA Johnson Space Center's Crew and Thermal Systems Divison's Shuttle Environmental Test Article with one crew of seven women and another crew of seven men.
1/20/06 Coin Harvey's Flooded Resort at Monte Ne - My Monte Ne pages are completed with these current photos of the area compared to some of the older photos. Coin Harvey's Amphitheater around the Big Spring at Monte Ne. Harvey planned this to be the foyer for his pyramid or obelisk in which he planned to place a"time capsule" or museum room to hold all the important documents and marvels of civilization. However, that was never to be because he was unable to obtain financing. The photos on these page show the upper parts of the amphitheater now exposed by the dropping waters of Beaver Lake. The south wall may have been the planned entrance to the pyramid and time capsule that Coin Harvey wanted to build. In any case, he probably planned to build the pyramid, or obelisk, on the little hill behind the amphitheater. That little hill is an island when the lake level gets to the 1120 to 1125 range as shown in the photo posted on the previous page. On the side of the hill behind the south wall is a tall retaining wall. The area was so covered in brush in 1961 and I was so hesitant about the possibility of trespassing that I didn't find that wall. There is a paved driveway leading from the east of the amphitheater up to the area above the wall where the railroad depot used to be. There are also panoramice photos of the view from the amphitheater back toward the old Monte Ne town site.
1/10/06 Coin Harvey's Flooded Resort at Monte Ne - There is considerable interest in the old Monte Ne resort area now that the Beaver Lake level has dropped about 15 feet below normal and the upper 8 to 10 feet of the amphitheater is above water again for the first time in about 20 years. I've revised my Monte Ne article to include several large image files of photos of the amphitheater before it was flooded. I've also added a set of current photos of the area that were taken by Lissa Myers, who lives in the Monte Ne area.
9/26/05 Antique Souvenir Photos from Hawaii - Ann's Uncle Willard Hendrick mailed her this little (3x5 inch) set of Hawaiian souvenir photos on May 2, 1945, just a little over 60 years ago. These are actual photographic prints on photographic paper by Fritz Kraft of Honolulu, Hawaii, not reproductions printed in ink.
7/11/05 Old Fryer Bridge in Conway County - Photos of the 115-year-old "iron bridge" on the old road from SH 95 past the Fryer Bluff crossing East Point Remove Creek to Solgohachia. This is one of the historic old bridges in Arkansas. It is still in use. A second page includes photos of Fryer Bluff, a long, high bluff that seems to be made of dried mud.
7/5/05Elderhostel Trip to Mountain View, Arkansas - We joined an Elderhostel trip to the Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View, Arkansas, and had a great week there. One of my second cousins and his wife invited us to join them. We have become close friends since I started my family web site. We heard gool ol' country music (pre-1941), heard several 'living history' presentations which I really enjoyed, took a float trip down the White River, toured Blanchard Springs and Blanchard Springs Caverns, and, of course, got to tour the Folk Center. My goal was to produce a web page for each day of the trip and have it on line by the next day. Thanks to the friendly folks in the Administration Office, I was able to connect to their state-wide circuit and go on line each morning at 7:30 to load the previous day's page. So here you will find a page for each day of our adventure!
6/30/05 The Houston Family - My maternal grandmother was a Houston. Her family sprang from an orphan boy who showed up on a farm in Conway County Arkansas in about 1845. This article features several recently acquired photos of my grandmother when she was a teen and one of Abihu Arnn, one of my early ancestors. Georgina Duncan provided copies of the photos; her grandmother Houston and my grandmother Houston were sisters. She also confirmed and added details to the old Civil War story. (7/18/05 - Only page one is complete.)
5/15/05 Old Liberty Decoration Day - 2005 - I'm calling this a digital scrapbook page of family photos and text. We returned to Cleveland, Arkansas, to meet with our family for the annual Decoration Day at the Old Liberty Cemetery. The photos may not be of general interest, but family and friends will enjoy them.
4/4/05 Enchanted Rock - A few miles north of Fredericksburg, Texas, which is just west of Austin, stands a large pink granite dome called Enchanted Rock. It is at the north end of a series of smaller granite upthrusts in the rugged hill country of west central Texas. Enchanted Rock is the second largest granite dome in the United States after the Great Stone Mountain in Atlanta, Georgia. There is an easy hiking climb up one face of the dome, easy enough for old folks like my wife and me. We made the trip to Fredericksburg and climbed Enchanted Rock Monday, March 14, 2005. This series of pages displays the photos of the area and the view from the top and of features on the top.
3/3/05 My First Decade - I have revised, updated, extended, and relocated the story of my early years. I'm up to 1948.
2/18/05 Cleveland, Arkansas - I selected some of the photos of my home town, Cleveland, from my collection and assembled them on this page. The earliest is one taken perhaps in 1905 and the most recent was taken early in 2005.
2/16/05 Illinois Bayou Bridge - Later we were visiting in the Russelville area and drove through the hills northeast of Dover. We crossed a one-lane bridge over the Illinois Bayou near Scottsville and took these photos of the bayou, the bluff, the bridge, and the curving road approaching the bridge.
2/14/05 Snow in Springdale - It snowed during our recent visit with family in Springdale, Arkansas. I had a few minutes to spare and drove around town to find intersting snow scenes to photograph. Most of the scenes were scenes I had planned to photograph previously, but had just not taken time for. I photographed the depot, downtown on Emma Avenue, the old historic high school building, the Popeye statue, the cemetery, and a house out in the country.
1/20/05 Class of 1959 - This is the Senior Class Photo of the Class of 1959 of Wonderview High School. The Wonderview Consolidated School is in Conway County, Arkasas serving most of the north end of the county not part of the Morrilton School District in the county seat.
8/26/04 Tales My Grandmother Told Me - This page includes Jan Porterfield's brief biography of her great grandparents, Cansada and Moss Miller, and the reminiscences of her Grandmother Carmon Belle Miller Drilling. These stories provide a fascinating snapshot of rural life in Conway County Arkansas early in the Twentieth Century. A beautiful photo of Carmon and other old photos are included.
6/12/04 Palo Duro Canyon - The Palo Duro Canyon drops to a depth of 800 feet below the vast flat plain of the Texas panhandle. These photos my whet your interest in making a visit. You can hike, camp, or just see the performance of the Texas Legacies musical.
6/8/04 Cross of the Plains - Rising 190 feet above the vast Texas panhandle plain east of Amarillo stands a monument to the suffering and sacrifice of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lifesize bronze sculptures depicting the twelve stations of the cross circle the base of the monument.
5/18/04 Mirror Self Portraits - Tips and examples for taking self portraits using a mirror and a digital camera.
5/18/04 Scene Comparison - A photo of a landscape taken with a 640x480 pixel digital camera compared to the same scene photographed on 35mm film. Both are reduced and compressed for display on the web.
5/10/04 Siblings 50 Years Later - I've added a current photo to the siblings page.
5/10/04 50 Years Ago - A snapshot of life in 1954 when I was 13.
5/3/04 The Turkey Shoot - While visiting in Arkansas last year, I went to a Turkey Shoot with my brother-in-law and some of his friends. I won a turkey on my first try! Here are ten photos and some text describing the event.
3/22/04 Barracuda Restoration P. 6 - Page six has a photo of the Barracuda parked out in the driveway on the first day of spring 2004 and closeups of the carburetor as it is installed and the engine compartment with the engine in running configuration. It has been driven about 15 miles since the overhaul. There is a photo of the bottom of the car and of the left rear axle and brake parts with the wheel and brake drum removed.
2/6/04 Coral Castle - The Coral Castle is a small wonderland made of blocks and shaped pieces of coral quarried from beneath the area. A man started a rock garden to occupy himself after he had been jilted by his one true love. He eventually moved his coral sculptures to this location and built them into a walled 'castle.' One of the amazing features is a one ton slab of coral that will pivot easily at a touch. Although he quarried, shaped, and constructed the entire thing by himself using simple homemade tools, people have attributed the work to an anti-gravity machine or help from space aliens.
2/5/04 Fort Jefferson - Ann and I spent a week in the Florida Keys last fall and our trip to Fort Jefferson on the Dry Tortugas Islands was a high point of the trip. These four pages have 28 photos of the fort inside and out and of the ferry ride. The fort is one of the largest Civil War forts and was used as a prison during the war. Dr. Samuel Mudd was emprisoned there after he was convicted of conspiracy in the assasination of President Lincoln.
1/15/04 1930s Department Store Display Windows - I found a little photo booklet with 10 high resolution photos of variety and department store display windows in Little Rock, Arkansas, back in the 1930s. It was in my Uncle Irving Skipper's photos and effects. I made a page showing smaller version of the photos and linked those photos with large images for those who have a special interests in things of that era. The photos were about 4x5 inch contact printed on flexible velum photo paper.
1/8/04 1966 Barracuda Restoration Page 4 - I have added page 4 which has photos of the completed engine prio to installation in the car. I expect to have in installed and more photos on the web in a few days.
1/5/04 Our Family Cats - Here are photos and short descriptions of our cats. They have been on the web for a long time, but were not included in the INDEX for some reason.
12/1/03 1966 Barracuda Restoration - I bought this Barracuda new in March 1966. I drove it 160,000 miles in about 17 or 18 years and then garaged it for major engine repair. My son recently encourage me to start the process of getting it back on the road. These pages have several photos of the exterior, interior, engine, transmission, and various details. When the work is complete, I'll add photos of the final result. 11/21/03
8/7/03 Pike's Peak and the Royal Gorge - This group of pages has many photos we took on a trip to Pike's Peak and the Royal Gorge in Colorado. It was our 20th wedding anniversary in 1982. We drove our 16-year-old 1966 Barracuda and it made the trip up Pike's Peak with no problem. We found the little one-room log school house where Ann attended first grade. I also include links to several other sites related to Pike's Peak and the Royal Gorge of the Arkansas River.
7/30/03 Space Women - I have added a dozen photos. They illustrate the space suit (spacesuit) donning sequence and Kathy Sullivan's dry run activities for a Hubble Space Telescope Tools thermal/vacuum test.
7/17/03 Ouachita River Crossings - I became interested in the Ouachita River when Interstate Highway 30 was completed between Little Rock and Texarkana. I was impressed with the beautiful view of rapids in the river just upstream of the IS 30 bridge and took a photograph of it. Later I noticed that US Highway 71 crosses the Ouachita just north of Mena and that the river begins just a few miles further west near Arkansas� border with Oklahoma. The river runs east to the area of Hot Springs where Blakely Mountain Dam has formed Lake Ouachita and, south of Hot Springs, Carpenter Dam has formed Lake Hamilton. The river then trends south to cross into Louisiana. It occurred to me that a series of photographs of the river at various crossings would provide an interesting picture of the progress of the river as it crosses the state.
6/23/03 The Noland Family My paternal grandmother was a Noland. She was the daughter of William Franklin Noland and Sarah Matilda Beaty. She was the third of four girls, Nolar, Sidney, Josephine, and William �Willie� Franklin Noland. There was a six-year gap between the two older girls and the two younger girls. Their father, William Franklin Noland died just after the last daughter was born in 1894. The two older daughters got married at a young age and then their mother died before 1900. The oldest daughter and her husband took in the two younger daughters. Nolar married Linus Clarence Roe, Sidney married James W. Brewer and then John Isaac Kissire, Josephine married James Arthur Skipper, Sr., and Willie married David Lindsey Krisell.
This page is in rough draft form.
3/31/03 Photographic Perspective I have add a page of photos to illustrate the effect of subject to camera distance on photographic or visual perspective. One set is head-and-shoulder self portraits and the other set is of an architectural subject. In addition, I compare a view made with a wide angle lens to a digitally stitched image made from two photos made with a normal lens.
3/30/03 Meteor Crater, Arizona The Great Meteor Crater of Arizona is just south of Interstate 40 between Flagstaff and Winslow. It is visible from the highway. It was created by the impact of a large meteorite about 50,000 years ago. It is about 4,150 feet across and 570 feet deep. This set of photographs shows views of the crater from the hiking trail around the rim. I have read that visitors are no longer allowed to hike the rim trail. I hope that these photos will provide some indication of the magnificence of this unique astronomical/geological feature.
3/3/03 Tornado Damage in Judsonia, Arkansas, from a tornado March 23, 1952. The photos were made by my Uncle Irving Skipper. There are fourteen 'shapshot' size views of businesses, residences, automobiles and street scenes with military and cleanup crews. The snapshot images link to enlargements of various details of the scenes.
3/3/03 Black Locust Farm B&B - I made this page for my Live Journal friend, Lady Maine.
2/25/03 STS-1 Award received for participation in the preparation for the STS-1 Shuttle Mission aboard the orbiter Columbia commanded by astronaut John Young and piloted by astronaut Bob Crippen. The miniature flag was actually flown aboard the orbiter during the mission and was returned to earth to be used for mementos such as this.
2/21/03 Space Alien Angels - We were fascinated with this floor-to-ceiling sculpture in the lobby of the Sydney Airport. I think it would be called a bold relief style. The things at the bottom represent chairs. A man's hand appears in the lower right corner; he almost walked into the photo frame. I don't know who the artist was.
2/17/03 Cigar Box - I have restored the images on this page. The links originally went to the old Prodigy site.
1/11/03 Halbrook Stories - I have added to the Halbrook Stories. The additions are on the first page and are in blue font.
1/11/03 James Arthur Skipper - I have moved the biography of my grandfather to the Tripod site. I also reduced the photo file size for quicker loading.
12/23/02 Boquillas Canyon Sand Hill - The Rio Grande River exits the Big Bend National Park through Boquillas Canyon, an impressive canyon cut through the Sierra Del Carmen. A parking lot is within a mile of the canyon entrance and it is any easy hike for all the family. Just inside the entrance to Boquillas Canyon against the cliff on the north side of the Rio Grande River is an immense pile of sand. The sand appears to have poured from a hole in the cliff about 100 feet up. This page has eleven photos including a photo of the young woman in the bikini.
12/11/02 Moscow Journal - I am moving the Moscow Journal and all the Moscow photos to this site.
12/10/02 A History of Shadycrest Baptist Church - Much work to be done on this in the coming year. I'm linking to it now to see whether Google will pick it up. It has been on the web for three months and Google searches haven't located it yet.
11/26/02 Helena Bucasio's Family Album - This is a web page work of art! Helena says of her family "... my family name is Paiva which roots are in Portugal, in the region nearby a small town named Castelo do Paiva. My grandparents are from Portugal, Lisbon and Porto and came to Brazil early in the last century." The old family photos are displayed in antique oval frames and animated cameo lockets. Helena describes the family in poetic prose and includes poetry written by a friend specifically for this page. There are wonderfully apropos quotations from the writings of Pedro Ayres Megalh�es and playing softly in the background is a beautiful MIDI arrangement of 'Study 22' from Easy Pieces by J. S. Bach. The rosebud 'bubble' mouse follower lends delicate color to the antique sepia and beige tones.
11/14/02 The Arkansas Roadside Travelogue - Russ Johnson's excellent Web Site featuring articles and photos of some of Arkansas' history, mythology, natural wonders (many of the natural springs are described and rated), agriculture, industry, and commerce: stories of Monte Ne, Dog Patch USA, Crater of Diamonds, and much more written in a light, humorous way.
11/4/02 Jemma Mitchell's Moscow Photos - This is a page of 'thumbnail' photos that link to the large (1280x960) photofiles of Jemma's beautiful photos of Red Square, St. Basil's, Lenin's Tomb, GUM, and other scenes around the Kremlin, the Moscow River, and her 'flat.'
9/7/02 Spartus Miniature vs Argus A - The first camera I used was my mother's Spartus Miniature 127 roll film camera. Many years later I was given the opportunity of purchasing a pre-war Argus A, predecessor of the famous Argus C-3. I was immediately struck by their similarity of form and these photos and comments describe them.
9/4/02 More Photos from Sydney - I have completed a third page of photos from Sydney, Australia. This page includes a large panoramic photo of Sydney from North Head. There are views of the "Heads" from the ferry and views of the beautiful buildings along the coast in Manly.
8/22/02 Luther Alonzo Maxwell - Luther Maxwell was my maternal grandfather. He was born and raised and lived and died in Conway County, Arkansas. He was a well-educated man for that time and taught school from the time he was 18 until he lost his hearing in his mid-30s. He then farmed and sold fruit and fruit trees on his 160-acre farm. He also served on the school board and as lodge secretary and church treasurer. He achieved the rank of 2nd Lieutenant during World War I but the war ended before he had to go overseas. He spoke proudly of having been at Officer's Training camp where Dwight D. Eisenhower was a Lieutenant Colonel. He seldom traveled, but did drive to New Mexico to visit his little brother around 1930.
6/14/02 Ethel Pauline Skipper - During my recent visit in Arkansas and Oklahoma, Ione, one of my father's few remaining Skipper cousins, told me about their move to and early life in Webbers Falls. I've added it to Ethel's story.
6/14/02 Snapshots from Visits Home - Photos of family at Decoration Day Observances at Old Liberty Cemetery where my mother is buried and at Lanty Cemetery where her parents are buried. Ann's dad at his parents' tombstone in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Folks at the fish fry hosted by Ann's sister and her husband. These page link to more photos from a trip in February 2001 including some of my mother before her final illness and of my high school girlfriend, who attended a surprise 60th birthday party for me.
6/8/02 The Cigar Box cont. - I have been watching for nature shots this spring to be added to the Cigar Box. Some of them are here. There are aphids, ants, bees, a spider, a cicada (taken in 1973), some beautiful wild flower blooms, and an old photo of some posts (old railroad ties) on the beach at Galveston.
4/18/02 A Beautiful Bride Portrait - I did photography for small, simple weddings many years ago and this portrait of a beautiful bride is presented as another sample of film resolution; this time with color negative film. My computer display just doesn't show the true resolution that can be obtained in a print.
4/18/02 A Eulogy for Our Mother - My sister Marinelle gave this eulogy at our mother's funeral April 11th. I have included some photos of mom, a MIDI of an old hymn for my brother John, and a beautifully written, comforting note from one of Marinelle's close friends, Tom Carpenter, City Attorney of Little Rock.
3/18/02 Ozarks Wildlife Club a filmstrip presentation. I travel through northwest Arkansas so often and have several good photos of that mountain scenery that I thought of doing a pictorial essay of the area. Then I remembered that there were a couple of filmstrip presentations of the Ozarks among the many photos, slides, and movies in Uncle Irving�s things. As a memorial to his work and to promote Arkansas tourism, I scanned the 72 images from one of the filmstrip and set them up to be viewed in a way that simulates a filmstrip presentation. An introductory page is first.
3/17/02 More Halbrook Stories - This one tells how the Halbrooks came to be in Arkansas in the early 19th century. This one tells of an incident in which one of Andrew's nephews was killed.
3/8/02 Perluvinier is an acapella quartet from Iceland. A member of this quartet left a note in my guestbook today. Their site introduces the quartet and its members and has sample audio clips from the songs on their recent CD recording. Very beautiful music!
2/25/02 More Halbrook Stories - I have added two more - short, but poignant.
2/24/02 Florence Skipper was the oldest child of Dave and Kate Skipper. She was born just after the Civil War and grew up in a very primitive land in a very primitive time.
2/22/02 White Water - Sunlight dapples the water rippling over pebbles at the headwaters of the White River in northwest Arkansas.
2/22/02 Jonquils were very common around the old home places in Arkansas in the first half of the previous century. Many of them are still growing where the old houses used to be. These Jonquils are from bulbs brought from back home several years ago.
2/20/02 Dave Skipper's Daughters
Dave and Mary Kate Skipper had six daughters in addition to their three sons (another son died in infancy). The sons get more attention because they carry the family name, but the daughters have important family stories too. I have become re-acquainted with several descendants of the daughters during the process of checking family history so I�m going to include some biographical information about the daughters as I obtain it. I�m beginning with the youngest daughter, Ethel Pauline Skipper, who married James Phillip Turner, because some of her children are still living and her oldest son provided much Skipper family history and several photos.
2/14/02 A True Story of Love and Betrayal in Early Twentieth Century Rural Arkansas
This is a true story except that the names have been changed. The details about 'Stella' came from the oral storyteller; the other information is from 'Bill's' autobiography. This is part of the 'Halbrook Stories' and in the next few days I will be adding several more. If you are following the Halbrook Stories, look there for the additions. I won't be listing them here until I get the next set prepared in a month or so.
2/10/02 "Chang and Eng" A Book Review - I finished reading this book by Darin Strauss during our recent visit with family in Arkansas. I enjoyed the book so much, I wrote a review of it and put it in my Live Journal. I don't expect to list every entry in the Live Journal, so you'll have to check the Journal for new entries.
1/21/02 The Cigar Box cont. - While sorting through some old negatives and prints, I found some taken in the spring of 1962 that were taken on the campus of the University of Arkansas. Ann and I were dressed for some special occasion. I also have included some miscellaneous shots, both old and new, to add to the Cigar Box: Fields of cows and wild flowers; A mole cricket; and B&W photos of leaves, berries, and a dead tree in a pond.
1/18/02 I found and old 'paper' negative that I made with an antique Rexoette box camera. I added it to the 'Penhole Camera' page.
1/14/02 I have added the group photo of the 4th Officers Training Scool at Camp Beauregard, La. in 1918. My Grandfather Luther Maxwell was a 2nd Lieutenant. I've also included a closer scan that shows him more clearly. This was scanned from a 35mm negative copy photo of the original print. The original print was about 7x20 inches. Punch the 'Maxwells' button at the top of the page or 'Luther Maxwell' on the Site Index page.
1/14/02 Film Resolution - A portait of a young woman, enlarged to show her eyes in great detail, illustrates the best resolution and sharpness I achieved with home processed B&W film.
1/10/02 Stereo Photography - A stereo photo pair is displayed with instruction for viewing in 3-D by the "cross-eyed," straight view, and mirror techniques. There is also a brief account of my experience with stereo photo systems and links to several excellent and comprehensive sites on stereo photography.
1/8/02 Photographic Perspective - Our experience with photography gives us the impression that the focal length of the lens will create a particular perspective in the resulting photograph. However, the photos shown here illustrate that it is camera-to-subject distance, not lens focal length that makes the difference.
1/7/02 Grandpa's Old Barn - I was surprised when I first glanced at this photographic negative when I peeked at it during the washing process. Read the text before scrolling down to the photos. I have included views of Grandpa's house and barn in the snow and the view east toward Round Mountain.
1/3/02 Photography without Glass - An old pinhole photograph is compared to a modern 35mm photo of the re-created scene with an explanation of the process for making a large-format pinhole photograph using photo enlarging paper.
12/28/01 An Unexpected Gender Difference in Suit Testing - I have added a short description of this unusual test result that occurred when we started using women as test subjects in vacuum chamber space suit testing.
12/19/01 TheJSC Space Center Roundup has published an issue commemorating the 40th anniversary of the announcement that the Manned Spacecraft Center would be located at Houston. Space buffs may enjoy reading some of the articles. A History of JSC is also online.
12/8/01 Page Scout has selected two of my 'space' pages for their science catagory. Their Web Site says that they have "The best pages on the web, and beyond!" I haven't checked that out, but here is their link; you can check them out yourself. (By the way, I'm proud that someone took note of the pages.)
12/1/01 How My Web Site Got Its Name When I signed up for the Personal Web Page feature on Prodigy, I was presented with a form to complete. The first blank was 'Name'; I put in my full name because I often do that to honor my Grandfather Maxwell, who had no sons. The form continued with address, phone number, e-mail address and so forth. I dutifully filled in every blank whether mandatory or not and the result was that my name appeared as the name of the site and my address and phone number were there for everyone to see! By the time I got the pages to appear, I had forgotten how to modify them and now it has been like it is for so long that I am no longer interested in changing any of it.
11/21/01Siblings - Photos of the six of us spanning a quarterr century beginning with probably the first one taken shortly after baby brother, John, was born in 1954.
11/20/01The Circular Quay - Scenes along the quay around Sydney Cove: the Harbour Bridge, docks, Sydney Opera House, warehouse restaurant and shops on 'The Rocks,' and more green spaces.
11/8/01 Trip to Sydney - I finally selected, scanned, and uploaded a dozen slides from the trip to Sydney. These were taken in Sydney itself, except the skyline view which was taken from a ferryboat on the harbour. One of these days I'll tackle the dozens of other slides from the harbour, Botany Bay, Cabramatta, Bondi Beach, Manly, and Northhead. (Click the 'Trip to Sydney' button.)
11/2/01 The Cigar Box - LeeAnn has a 'junk drawer' for her photos and miscellaneous things. I chose a 'cigar box' for the extra photos I uploaded, but no longer display anywhere. My boyhood photos are stored in a couple of cigar boxes so I added a couple of photos of my high school girlfriend to the bunch. The collection includes butterflies, flowers, pokeberries, souvenirs from Moscow, the crop duster plane, White River water, a tree frog hiding in a rose, and a page of BUGS which includes a rare shot of mating 'walking-sticks' with a mosquito trying to bite 'em, a cicada and its larval husk, and spiders.
10/27/01 Louis' Summer Trip to England, Scotland, and Ireland. My son Louis is putting his travel photos on a Web Site. Take a look.
10/5/01 The First Photos - THESE are the very first photos I ever toook. Some mistook the first 35 mm roll for my first photos. On that first roll of 127 roll film were pictures of my sisters, my Mom and Dad, some farm animals and pets, and our house. They were made in 1954 when I was 13 years old and just finishing the seventh grade. I have also included recent photos of the Spartus Miniature camera that I used.
9/17/01 Women in Space - I was involved in the vacuum chamber spacesuit training tests for Kathy Sullivan, the first female astronaut to do an EVA.
9/14/01 Spring comes on desert - This poem was written by Nguyen Qui Dinh, an exchange graduate student at the University of Arkansas, in the winter of '59-'60.
9/14/01 My Birthday - Some of you may be interested in the photos my oldest son took at my 60th birthday party back in February. Since he didn't know many of my highschool friends and some of our relatives, he didn't put much information with the photos.
9/5/01 Monte Ne, Arkansas - Interested in ghost towns, old ruins, sunken cities? Monte Ne is a fascinating, but little known 100 year old resort now covered by the waters of Beaver Lake. Beaver Lake was created by daming the White River in northwest Arkansas. (Yes, the White River of Clinton 'White Water' fame!)
8/9/01 More Photos - More images from the first rolls of B&W 35mm film. They were added to the previous page to make a set of four pages.
8/5/01 Images from My First Roll of 35mm Film - B&W photos made with the Kodak Signet 40 given me for high school graduation by my Uncle Irving and Aunt Nila. Subjects are classmates, date, kissing cousin, Father's tombstone, flowers, and landscapes.
8/2/01 The Leaf - Is it art?
8/1/01 STS-1 Post-flight Suit Test - Not all tests were successful. This is one interesting example. Astronaut Pinky Nelson volunteered to be the test crewman for a vacuum chamber test of a Shuttle EMU spacesuit after the first shuttle flight.
7/31/01 J A Skipper I have revised the biography of my Grandfather Skipper. I have added many photos to the existing text and have revised and added additional information obtained from relatives and from family documents.
6/25/01 Grand Canyon Photos - I found a box of slides from a trip to the Grand Canyon. I selected 16 and tried my hand at another set of pages using HTML. The photos are of the eastern end of the canyon from the south rim.
6/7/01 Testing Uncle Irving's Old Camera I bought Uncle Irving's old Nikkormat from the estate and shot a couple of test rolls to check it out. Nature, people, flowers, butterflys, self-portrait, magazine photo copy. This is my first complete page using HTML. Thanks to Jane for encouraging me.
6/5/01 Uncle Irving's Flowers I selected a few of the hundred or so flower photos from my uncle's collection.
6/5/01 Implosion of the Hotel Marion - 1980 In looking through my Uncle Irving's photos, negatives, and slides. I found this uncut roll with a sequence of shots of the implosion of the Hotel Marion in Little Rock. I assume he took them and that others might be interested in seeing them.
5/6/01 Moscow Photos Restored! The four Moscow pages are ready for viewing again except for the text on one of them.
4/7/01 Andrea Jeanne has the most beautiful pages of photographs I have found on the Web in a year of surfing PWPs. Beautiful page graphics with scripture and poetry and an amazing variety of photographic subjects and techniques. See them at: Andrea's Looking Glass.
4/2/01 MOSCOW JOURNAL - I have added to the journal: Currency Exchange and the Week at Zvezda Moscow Journal
4/1/01 SMEAT - The Skylab Medical Experiments Altitude Test was a 56-day test at reduced pressure in a vacuum chamber outfitted to resemble the Skylab. 2.5 megs of pictures of the astronauts involved, the press personnel, test team, facility, decals, and awards on seven pages. Each page loads in a reasonable time. Click here or use the index on the home page.
3/13/01 My thanks to Jacklyn for framing my pictures on the Dave Skipper page and for the tip on how to make the second picture appear, even though the Prodigy template only provides for one picture. Her site is Wolf Tracks
3/2/01 MOSCOW JOURNAL - Several months ago, I started to tell about my trip to Moscow. I have now typed the first part of my notes from the trip: the flight to Moscow and the first weekend tour. Later I'll write about the five days at Zvezda, the final weekend, and the trip home. Moscow Journal
2/26/01 CURRENT CATS - Several months ago a nice lady asked if I had pictures of our cats. I didn't then, but recently took some, so here they are. Our Cats
2/24/01 A PAGE FOR ENRIQUE - Photos from our recent trip to visit relatives in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Enrique from Argentina said that he would like to see them. Arkansas Trip
1/27/01 My First Decade -(Actually this is a preview; I only have five years completed. The large photo pages aren't complete, so the 'thumbnails' don't link to anything.) Use this link or the index on the Prodigy Home Page.
1/15/01 The story of my Great Grandfather Maxwell - five pages of text with 'thumbnail' photos linked to larger photos on the Geocities Site. Use this link or the index on the home page. Alvus Martin Maxwell
1/3/01 Family Photo Album II - Mostly slides from the 60's and 70's. There are a couple dozen on six pages on Geocities.
12/27/00 The story of John Quincy Skipper, my grandfather's older brother, written by his grandson, Ray Don Bostian.
11/3/00 Some views of the small river that flows through Wertheim, Germany. River in Wertheim

Re-posted: 11/12/02