Dorothy Koelling
by, 
Tanner Anderson, William Patterson, Sarah Wilson 

Dorothy Koelling was born on October 16, 1913, in Caldwell, Kansas. In her middle and high school years nothing of great importance happened in the United States as a whole, but her rural life was much to be accounted for. 

Dorothy recalls Armistice Day, a well-anticipated event in her small town. There was an annual Armistice Day parade on Main Street where the girls wore pretty white dresses and threw flowers as they walked along in the parade. The boys also wore white shirts, but Dorothy does not recall their participation in the parade. Another event that she and her colleagues attended was the many programs that took place inside the town hall and the school multi-purpose room. On Saturday afternoons her father would take the family car; a Dodge; downtown and park it in front of the drug store. He would then walk home and eat supper. After supper the family would walk back to the car and watch the people go by. They enjoyed watching what they wore and trying to guess what they had in their packages. Later in the evening they would go into the drug store and buy a double dipped strawberry ice cream cone. Afterwards they would drive home. Sometimes when she begged her Dad enough, he would let her drive around the last corner to her house. 

The food at the time was very limited compared to today's market. There were no lunchmeats available to them except boiled ham from the grocery store. A common main course for the time was home slaughtered fried chicken. Many families raised and slaughtered chickens themselves. When the chicken was large enough for slaughtering, its head would either be chopped off or its neck snapped. Just for a few minutes afterward the chicken would flop around. Then the chicken would be dipped into hot water so the feathers would be loosened. On holidays they would eat salmon patties, fried potatoes, tomatoes, and green beans. On Easter they would have beefsteak and gravy. 

In her town there was a building where the Chautauqua Circuit would perform when it came to town. This was a highly anticipated event among the citizens of Caldwell. They would allow students from the local school to participate in a dance routine. Mrs. Koelling remembers in her childhood kids her age would pass time by roller-skating and playing basketball. Sometimes she would be instructed to baby-sit her younger sister, Clella Mae; this was not always her idea of an enjoyable afternoon. 

The thing to do on Valentine's Day was to make a Valentine's box weeks in advance that was decorated to hold Valentine cards. At Dorothy's school students were generously rewarded for arriving at school on time every day of the week by being dismissed a half an hour early on Friday. 

The most popular gathering place for Dorothy and her friends at that time was the Community Hall where most of the town events took place. There was also an extra room in the schoolhouse where they would put on various programs. Two of the students that were attending Dorothy's school were twins that were very skilled in playing the harmonica, and they would perform Manasquan in the extra room. 

Dorothy's life has been very interesting; she has lived through World War II and has seen many fascinating things. This is only a small portion of her life, but it is still embedded in our history and not to be forgotten. It is a story, of one woman, one life, and still is to this day.