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| our birthday boy |
Today we celebrated the 150th birthday of my dad's grandfather.
Joseph Grant Cramer died before his grandchildren got to know him--he only had one toddler grandchild when he passed away suddenly at age 56--and so we were honored to get better acquainted with him today.
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| birthday cake |
Most of his descendants are spread across the country and could only enjoy this via the Facebook group report, but we had about 20 of his local descendants in Utah gather, including two who share his name. We put on mustaches to get in the spirit of the past, and started with a crossword puzzle and coloring page while waiting for guests to assemble. Since Joseph was born right after the Civil War ended and named after Ulysses S. Grant, we had a patriotic theme for the decor and began with a rousing song together: Battle Cry of Freedom.
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| one branch of the family |
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| another branch |
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| Joseph Cramers |
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| party games |
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| raise your hand if you have Cramer blood! |
We enjoyed a powerpoint presentation about his life and history, and a time traveler gave a personal vignette!
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| Joseph returned from the grave to tell us about his life |
That was followed by "Pin Chester on Nebraska" and a scavenger hunt.
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| party game |
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| scavengers |
These were the clues, which had to do with stories from Joseph's life:
Down the hall books will call; a globe to
mind, Nebraska to find
Men of war, men of peace;
find the flag and say your piece
Brothers on a team, bounce
and dribble; find the clue but do not quibble
Storekeeper kept scale on a
shelf; find it now for yourself
Odd is the fellow with the
billiard ball; odder still to go and fall
Mustache strained his coffee cup; find the place
to drink it up
The final clue led back to the kitchen. Wally recalled how his dad "strained his coffee with his mustache" so we had the kids try to drink "coffee" (Dandy Blend herbal) that way.
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