This has been one of the tougher prompts for Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project. I’ve already written about some of my memberships and my parents’.
The next organizations that come to mind are the ones I remember my maternal grandparents talking about. Hoyt and Willie Cook were always on the go. They were retired teachers and attended monthly meetings where they could catch up with other educators they’d worked with. For a while they were in a square dancing group. They were also active in the Good Sam camping club and charter members of the Conquistadors chapter in Pensacola. I think some of the same people were their fellow members in two or more of these organizations. I’m pretty sure I remember square dancing at some Good Sam event or other.
I believe my grandparents were also members of AAA. It makes sense because they traveled a lot, and AAA provided discounts and free maps in the days before GPS. I seem to recall them attending presentations on different destinations around the world. They weren’t really world travelers; Mam-ma visited us in Scotland when my dad was stationed there, but I think that was the only time either one of them ventured from North America. Still, they enjoyed learning about other places, and Pap-pa was a talker; he loved any chance to meet with people and visit.
Something I didn’t realize until I saw the symbol on his grave marker was that my Pap-pa was a Freemason. He and Mam-ma are actually buried in the Masonic area at Bayview Memorial Park. Sometimes you don’t even know the questions to ask until it is too late.
Rhyme Schemes and Daydreams 