Every year, elementary school kids from across the state are encouraged to write a Lion's Club Essay. This year, the topic was "What is a Patriot?" Winnie wrote a beautiful essay about Grandad Ivie. I got a call a few weeks later letting us know that she not only won first place for her essay in our school, but she also won for the whole city of Pocatello and she also won first place out of every fourth grader in our state! WOW!!! Here's her essay:
A patriot is a person
who loves, supports and defends his or her country. My great granddad was a great example of a
patriot. He passed away in 2002 before I
was born, but my mom helped me read his biography to understand what makes
someone a patriot.
My great granddad’s
name was Joseph Hyrum Ivie. He served as
a solder for our country during World War II when he was 26 years old. He joined the army in 1943. Because he grew up in Idaho and spent his
childhood hunting with his dad, he was good with a gun. He was chosen to be an expert rifleman for
the army.
After his training,
he traveled on a large boat called a barge with other soldiers to
Germany. He landed on Omaha beach where
he was under fire from enemy forces. He
had to be brave and fight his way up the beach and into enemy territory. He was surrounded by German soldiers and
captured. He was held in a prison camp
with many other American soldiers for ten months.
When he was in the
prison camp, he had to work really hard moving cement and getting hardly any
food to eat. He slept on hard, cold,
dirt floors and was hungry all the time.
He had to be brave to survive in the prison camp. The prison camp was also filled with
diseases, and my great granddad almost died from a disease called dysentery. He said his faith in God helped him to
survive in the camp. Just when the
German troops were getting ready to kill all the prisoners, the Russian army
attacked and freed all the prisoners. He
finally got to go home and be with his family again.
My great granddad was a patriot because he loved
his country and was brave to go to war and defend our freedom. I am free to choose which school and church I
want to go to, who I want to be friends with, all the fun things I get to do
every day, and what I want to be when I grow up. This is because patriots like my great
granddad fought and protected these freedoms.
When I hear his story, it makes me feel really good inside and grateful
that he fought and almost died so that I could be free.
Our family was invited to a special Lion's Club lunch in Sun Valley! She got to read her essay to the whole audience, receive a framed certificate and she also won $75!
It was a lovely little lunch! Lucky Duck June's raffle ticket was drawn and she won a popcorn bucket full of movie treats!
We were so proud of Winnie and we decided to make a weekend of it! We took the kids all around my old stomping grounds. Check out majestic Baldy Mountain - where I learned to ski!
Here's the Sun Valley Lodge - where Papa Lee was born!
We visited the Big Wood River. I have a lot of fond memories of picking up Louie's Pizza with my family and heading down to the river for a picnic.
The kids all agreed that Sun Valley is a beautiful place. Too bad we can't afford to live there anymore!
You are never too old to skip a rock or two!
We visited my elementary school in Hailey.
We stopped to visit Nana Louise's grave in the Hailey Cemetery, too. Klive gathered a few pine cones to decorate it.
Here's my Bellevue Elementary School! That's going way back!
We stopped by Grandad Ivie's grave in Bellevue.
We also visited one of my sacred places - the house at Timmerman Hill. Grandma and Grandad Ivie's house was the site of every great Sunday dinner, family reunion and holiday celebration. It is also the best hide-and-seek house in the world, with all of it's hidden nooks, secret doors, and dark passageways! I loved to tightrope walk the entire perimeter fence, feed the baby calves, chase the houdini pigs, and gorge myself on strawberries and raspberries in the garden. This is what Heaven looks like!
Right next door is "The Little House" - my very first home!
We wrapped things up on our way home with a stop at Craters of the Moon!
We did a lot of hiking around the lava rocks.
We also climbed inside some giant caves. Winnie and I stayed close to the entrance!
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