Lincoln: Conquest mainstays honored with key to the town
The Conquest Senior Picnic was held on Grandparents' Day, Sept. 8. About 80 seniors and their families shared food and fellowship. Our town board furnished the chicken halves, which were cooked to perfection by our Conquest Fire Department. The tables were loaded with casseroles, vegetable dishes, baked beans, pasta, salads and desserts. We have some incredibly good cooks!
Organizer and moderator Peg Gilmore welcomed us all. Amazing Grace pastor Deborah Hitchcock offered grace and soon, plates were filled to overflowing as conversations filled our pavilion. It was so much fun to see neighbors greeting neighbors — it has been a busy summer and folks sometimes only have time to wave across the hedgerows! Catching up on children, grandchildren, weddings and sicknesses kept us busy.
As historian I shared an anecdote about our weather relationship to Channel 9. A few months ago I mentioned that some folks only knew about Conquest as an occasional blip on the weather map. Marg O'Connell took it a step further and wrote to Jim Teske to find out why we did not appear more often. His research discovered that mostly major population centers are highlighted, but sometimes the computer somewhat randomly will pick a smaller town if we were in the path of a weather front or storm. As we are to the north of the Thruway, close to Wayne County weather patterns, it often is our destiny to be selected! Hurray! Both Marg and I were impressed with his follow-through and invited him to our Senior Picnic. He declined because of vacation plans, but made a special call to make sure we knew he appreciated the invitation! Thank you Jim and Channel 9!
One of the highlights of our picnic has been awarding deserving folks the key to Conquest. This year's selections were David and Laurie Waterman, and Dan and Debbie George.
David Waterman is a lifelong Conquest resident and 42 years ago, Laurie joined the family. The Watermans have lived in Conquest since 1866 and the family now spans seven generations. David and Laurie raised four girls and now are delighted with their seven grandchildren. David and Laurie had a dairy farm for 50 years. They are now semi-retired, raising 75 heifers for dairy replacement and cash cropping the land. They are both active members of Countryside United Methodist Church, where Laurie is the financial secretary. Laurie has been involved in PTA and Girl Scouts, and has been instrumental in planning and selection of our playground equipment at Conquest Recreation Field. "This has always been a good place to live," they said. "We like watching the four seasons and having our granddaughters close. We live in the country, but nearby to so many great attractions — wonderful history and natural beauty. It's just home!"
Dan and Debbie George have lived in Conquest full-time for 17 years but bought their property in 2002. "I always wanted a place on the water and after our children left home we didn't need a big house. This was close to our home in Newark for a weekend retreat, and our grands now love our place in the woods!" They have been active in the Duck Lake Association, where Dan now serves as treasurer. "We were both raised in small towns and love meeting the people here. There is such a variety of folks with so many interests and stories to share. One of our favorite places is the Conquest Park — what a facility! Our grandchildren love it!" Giving back to the community and paying it forward have always been important to this family.
In other news, Countryside church will be having a soup sale on Oct. 5. Soups offered: vegetable beef, split pea with ham, and chili. Soups must be preordered by calling Ginny at (315) 243-5924 and picked up at the church on Duck Lake Road in Springlake between 3 and 5 p.m. Soups are $10 a quart and include crackers and a brownie for dessert.
Halloween decorations are already prolific! Folks seem to love displaying ghosts, ghouls and skeletons as well as the carved pumpkins we all enjoyed as kids! This year, the Amazing Grace Parish will be giving out treats at the small pavilion at Conquest Park, and also will have doughnuts and cider for the accompanying adults. We invite community folks to be part of a "trunk or treat" celebration. Many of us have been disappointed not to have costumed callers on the 31st. This will give us a chance to be together, and our youngsters a chance to safely gather treats!
Joni Lincoln is the historian of the town of Conquest.
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