The family of George and Sarah Shoop

In January 1926 George Jr. was born. By then there was three going to school. When it was cold and rough weather their Daddy would take them to school. Other days they would walk half a mile to the bus. When the boys got older, George and the boys planted a big strawberry patch. Then the next year when they were ripe he hired extra pickers. Our children helped. Their Dad paid them the same as the others. That money they kept for picnics. About twice a summer we went to Lakemont Park and several times to other picnics. George Jr. was two and a half when in April Blair Robert was born. The winter before we got our first radio. That was 1928. It used a car battery for we didn’t have electric or running water. We all enjoyed that radio in the evening.

Carl at Shady Grove School, 1928

In December 1930 Paul Howard was born. We didn’t have a hired girl. Our girls were bigger and could help their Dad some. He made bread while I was in bed and he got hives so bad he would go hold snow on to give him relief. So time went on. There were times when it was cold the car wouldn’t start. Then Dad would get one of the horses and hitch it to the car and I would lead the horse to the top of the hill. He would then run the car down the hill to start it. George had an old Ford tractor that was hard to start. He had to crank it. He would sure get mad at that. I had a gasoline engine for my washing machine and sometimes I couldn’t start it and would have to get George in from the field to start it. Oh! Them were the days. Now we push a button and our machinery goes.

George, Carl, Harry, Paul, Blair circa 1934

By this time, besides the regular farm crops and strawberries, George had watermelons and cantaloupes for sale in the summer and had a good sales trade. When Dorothy Mae was born in September 1933 we had a sink with a pitcher pump in the kitchen which helped a lot with my work. When James Lester was born in December 1935 we had nine children.