Ed Drake for City Alderman!

My Papa, Ed Drake, took his civic duty very seriously. As a child, I remember that he often served as an election judge, and he felt that it was very important to vote in every single election. I would go with him or my mom when they went to vote, standing just outside the little curtain as they filled out their ballot. When I was old enough to vote myself, he encouraged me to vote in every single election, including local elections.

I later found out that Papa didn’t just serve his local community as an election judge, but he had previously served as city alderman in our small town. He was initially interested in running for Genoa City Council because he wanted to improve his community and serve with honesty and integrity. He was elected to two terms as alderman from 1979 to 1987.

In 1979, he defeated incumbent David Rood by just 12 votes. He was interested in balancing the budget for the city and fought against misuse of public funds. He served as chairman of the public works committee in 1980, and chairman of the finance committee in 1981-1984. In his bid for reelection in 1983, he said that “he would like to continue in public service because during his term he had a good record and the council stayed within the budget. ‘We reduced the general deficit by 47 percent in the last two years.’ […] His experience with city finances and his ongoing involvement in several discussions before the council make him equal or better as a candidate for alderman of the third ward.” (The Daily Chronicle, 7 Apr 1983, p. 2)

Papa ran for a third term in April 1987. In an interview, he said that “he wanted a third term in office because working on the council was challenging [and] he felt he could take it and go along with anything.” He mentioned that “he is retired and […] he will have lots of time to tend to city business.” (The Daily Chronicle, 25 Jan 1987, p. 2). He was defeated in the April 1987 election by Dale Barcus, who won by 31 votes. In an interview after the election, he stated, “he was glad to have the opportunity to serve the city and had learned a lot during his tenure as alderman.” (The Daily Chronicle, 9 Apr 1987, p. 1) While he didn’t run for public office again, he was proud of the small impact that he was able to make in our community.

"Candidate Night," Genoa, IL, 1979? — “Candidate Night,” held at the Genoa Park District, on April 12, 1979. From left to right: Beverly Thompson, Robert Parrish, unknown, Robert Larson, Ray Grace, Ed Drake, David Rood (Photo from private family photo collection)

Don’t forget to vote in your local elections!

100 Years Ago Today: Nana’s Birthday

Kaiser siblings in about 1934 — Nana and her siblings Mary, Glendora, and Ronnie in front of their house in DeKalb in 1934.

My grandma, who we affectionately call Nana, would have been 100 years old today. Her name was Mildred Agnes Kaiser, named after her mother Mildred Irene, and she was born October 25, 1923. “Millie” was the second oldest child, but she never had a chance to meet her older brother, Vernon. He passed away before she was born when he was just four months old. She grew up on Garden Street in DeKalb, IL, with her three younger siblings, Glendora, Mary, and Ronnie. She had a large extended family, and spent a lot of time with her cousins on both sides of the family.

Continue reading →

A Family Tree: Drake Maple

This is the story of a special tree in our family: the Drake Maple.

In 1986, my grandpa, Ed Drake, decided that he wanted to spruce up some of the landscaping at his house. He went to a nursery, and with the help of his horticulturally-trained son-in-law, picked out some bushes for the front of his house. They picked out some yews and spireas, and bought a pretty lilac bush to plant by the front bedroom window. As they were walking around the lot, the salesman learned my Papa’s last name, Drake. He said, “I have a tree with your name on it!” He convinced my Papa to also purchase a small maple tree, the Drake Maple.

The Drake Maple is a variety of Acer rubrum, and has brilliant fall colors. A U.S. patent for this new variety was filed by Virgil James Drake (no known relation to our Drake family) in January 1973. This variety is particularly unique in its fall coloring. It is described as “having distinctively colored leaves turning from green to a colored border through shades of blue violet to red and yellow,” and was discovered by V.J. Drake in Van Buren County, Michigan in September 1967. V.J. Drake was able to propagate seedlings through cuttings of the original tree. By the time my grandpa acquired one in 1986, it was available at a few nurseries throughout the United States.

Leaves of the Drake Maple — In the fall, the Drake Maple leaves show a variety of colors. Often the edges turn red and then violet, and the centers change from green to yellow and then red.

My Papa planted his new tree in a place of honor, directly in front of his house. Every fall, it shows off its brilliant colors. The edges of the leaves turn red, and often the middle of the leaf turns from green to yellow. At different times, the tree may look red or orange from afar, and the variety of color in its leaves becomes apparent at close range. My grandparents loved to watch it change colors every fall, and it was often the backdrop for family photos. I have never seen another one in person. In more ways than one, this “family tree” is quite special.

If you’d like to see this cultivar in person, to my knowledge, there are Drake Maples planted at Hidden Lake Gardens at Michigan State University and Home & Garden Information Center at Clemson Cooperative Extension, South Carolina.

Sources:

U.S. Patent Office, Plant Patent 3,542, Maple Tree by Virgil James Drake. (External link to full patent text.)
Images are personal family photos, taken by the author or Britni Michael Photography.

Papa’s Centennial Birthday

Emma Medine holding Ed Drake — Emma Medine holding her son, Edwin Drake, in 1920.

This week my Papa would have turned 100 years old. My grandfather, Edwin William Drake, was born on May 2, 100 years ago in Genoa, Illinois. He was welcomed by his parents, Charles and Emma (Medine) Drake, and an older brother, Charles. He grew up on a farm near Genoa, and graduated high school during the Great Depression. He met and fell in love with my grandma, Millie Kaiser, just before she joined the WAVES during WWII. After she left the service, they were married in June 1946. They had two daughters and four grandchildren. He lived in the Genoa area for his whole life. He was a farmer, business owner, public servant, and foreman. He accomplished many things during his life, but his family was everything to him. Papa loved his family dearly, and loved to spend time with them whenever he could. Continue reading “Papa’s Centennial Birthday” →

Each clover is lucky…

Weil_George_1980_onPorch — George Weil on his front porch, about 1980.

When I was still pretty young, I learned that four-leaf clovers were lucky. As a youngster, I would spend hours crawling through the lush clovers that grew in our backyard to try to find one. (I never did!) One day after yet another fruitless search, my dad told me about the four-leaf clovers that he used to get in the mail from his grandfather, George Weil (1889-1981). He told me this story: Continue reading “Each clover is lucky…” →

Share this post:

Share this post:

Share this post:

Share this post:

Share this post: