Category: Trella Diaries

Tuesday September 20th 1977
Busy every minute at shop with wedding appointments and checking future orders. Taking wedding payments and making out orders and schedules for next two weeks weddings.
To Mary’s for supper. They have a new Wheel Horse mower $1,000 ($850 with trade-in of old mower.)
Then to MC Hist Society board meeting. Not much accomplished. Home and wrote copy for bulletin. Bath, washed, made-up bed. Packed some and it’s 2 a.m. and I have to get up at 4.

[Letter from E.M.Sheneman to Ray Hemmerly about Bina Dunn’s marital problems-transcribed by Trella Romine]

Sunday, May 1, 1921

Now I do not know what I may say before I finish this.

Ray does not know as much what has been writen by Jack as Jim and May does, so a few lines to Ray first.

Jack has sold Bina’s good, good nice home since she has been here says for $3,000. There was a mortgage on it but not pushing it. Jack has sent the contract to Bina to sign and she has not signed it yet, and his orders was not to let anybody persuade her not to sign it as he did not want any bink [sic] about it. A letter from him Friday. He was looking for his contract back. How do you expect he will feel and do when he does not get it. Now Ray, another thing you do not know that May does also Jim and that is he has threatened to come out here and take Johnie away from her and take him home with him, then she says her last hope is gone. Ray, much more I could tell you. He had promised her no home, no anything. Now I want to say to all three of you, we expect him to be BULL MAD when he finds out she has not signed the contract (if it was you would you sign your intrest in it wouthout any promise ahead?)

Now under these circumstances we do not know but Jack might pop in on us anytime and might accomplish what he has threatened Bina with here-to-fore. And as we have no protection and so far from town out here what could we do. She would like to be in Marion so if he did come there would be police, etc to call on if any serious thing would occur. She is afraid out here. And Ma and I are not much short of that, for Ma has seen him MAD and he did not care what he done.

Bina is complaining today where he has kicked her on the back, and Lillie
has protected her when she has been choked, so now she is afraid of her
life here. I want you to consult together and see what can be done if
anything, as you see we do not feel safe ourselves. We are all feeling
reasonable well in heaalth but not very well in mind under the
circumstances.

Mon. Morning. Things look black here this morning, don’t know what the outcome will be.

Yours in hope.
E. M. Sheneman

[Trella Note:
Bina is daughter of E.M. and Lucy Sheneman and wife of John A. Dunn of
Minneapolis. She had come to her parents home just east of Marysville,
Ohio following domestic problems. Johnie is her retarded son, age 7 at this time. Lillie is her daughter who died on March 2 in Minneapolis . Ray is the husband of Bina’s sister, Ivaloo. Jim and May are older brother and sister of Bina. Following all this Bina chose to use her middle name and after her divorce from Jack she became known as Theresa Sheneman. Allen Sheneman of Santa Ana, CA. her brother, has (rest illegible)]

Friday, December 13, 1991
Finished entering addresses in D:/SBT/Family/TRADDRES (Don’t know how a family path got into SBT!) 190 files. But can’t select True in a logical field. Foxbase has an error.
Did a little more C’mas decorating – only the angels to get out.
To Al’s with Mary H & Mary J in Mary H’s new 1991 Cadillac deVille. Mary J satisfied that (despite her claims saying he wouldn’t) Justice has been done with Dace Damron sentenced to 2 to 10 years for driving the truck that killed Marilee – The impact statement read by Robyn Monday at sentencing had much to do & first time 1987 law has been used permitting victims to have a day.

Friday, May 24, 1991
.7 in rain
Set out salvia & dwarf snaps in patio bed to S – Checked cardinal flower by pond that Bob Harter had given me & raccoon had dug it out! Planted kettle on patio & moved more plants out of greenhouse. Just finished watering when a thunderstorm came up. .7 rain really needed.
Wrote checks to pay bills including the Aqua Air Freshener with the $10 delivery charges ($427 total) when David brought it up to me!
Bath & short nap before 2 Marys picked me up to go to Al’s ion Cardington for supper. Bought cantaloupe seeds to plant tomorrow.
Jym Ganal says this is the warmest May on record +8.4 degrees above normal & not since 1911 – my whole lifetime has it been near this warm in May.

Tuesday, December 31, 1991
MCHS bricks 8 hrs
All day at computer cleaning up files. Decided I had to add the postal bricks that had been laid elsewhere to the data base with a new member and no payment. Also check locations by position & came up with about 10 errors. In about 4:30, mailed $2,000 check to David, took additional news release on bricks to Star & then to HH. Checked numbering on 1200 series bricks & ran copies for Glen/Gery. Also check the duplicate locations. Met Mary at Wendy’s for our New Years Eve dinner. Home & plugged in the outdoor lights on the star, wreath & tree. Lots of mail including gardening catalogs that make me drool. Worked crossword puzzle – stumbling on ‘senna’ *medical plant). Watched King Orange Jamboree Parade from Miami – quite a production. Performers on floats actually performing. Then watched Donna Mills in World’s Oldest Bridesmaid.
Guess I’ve wrung everything out of 1991 that I can.
Happy New Year!

Monday, December 30, 1991
MCHS Brick 4
In at 10 to meet Bill Snider, Star photographer for pix of volunteers stuffing certificates & Todd laying brick. But he had left note saying he would be in Thursday instead. So I checked original order forms & found 6 postal that I hadn’t entered as postal on data base!! So come of them had been laid other places & we’ll have to be re-ordered. Also decided to lay some of the duplicates that Glen/Gery manufactured in order to fill out another LCA row.
Took car to McDaniel Olds to order new rear view mirror – will cost $175! Stopped at Kroger’s to get pork roas & sauerkraut for Wed. Home about 3:3-0. Gort lunch – read paper & watched TV
Called David & told him I would invest $2,000 in Terradise Computer Systems so he can buy out one of the original investors. Bob Riley.

Sunday, December 29, 1991
Bill Hutchman drove for our participation in the Killdeer Plains Audubon C’mas Bird Count. Group met at Denny’s for bfst & headed out into rainy, dreary, foggy morning. We got 18 species & 1,377 individuals – Nothing special except a probably rough-legged hawk. Ate lunch in car parked at Ridgedale School waiting for Audrey Clagers from Carey. He’s a character. Supper at Hutchman’s. Erma’s stir fry & then took report to Lux.

Saturday, December 28, 1991
34/41
MCHS brick certificates ½ hr
Errand day- took brick certificate mailing to the PO & swung past McDaniel Olds to check on side view mirror but closed weekends. – Stopped at Bernard & Bette Brooks to give him the Horatio Alger Jr. book Bernard Brooks Adventures that I bought at Charm. He was sitting at table smoking & drinking coffee & looked good but not much pep. Liked the book.
Stopped at Hemmerly’s to give Kass letter showing gift of 5 shares – but even ½ off on C’mas items were still pricey. Stopped at Meijer who is selling out before moving to Rt 23 & 95 on Jan. 1. Bought gifts for rest of year. Then to County Market for 35 cents/gal water & deli food. To Wal-Mart to pick up pix of C’mas that I left Mon. Then to Servex to exchange Eureka sweeper attachment plate for one with proper latch on it. Home about 2:30 – Ate – watched home shows on TV.

Friday, December 27, 1991
MCHS 9 hrs Brick Certificates
Entered the location in data base for bricks that will be laid Monday & then printed out those & the group I had corrected. In at 12:00 to pick up envelopes with return & postage imprint at HH the lobby entrance had been painted making getting into auditorium a hassle. Fran & Jim Mautz & Connie Gibson & Mary in to help stuff. Everything worked perfectly. Mary & I took off at 4:00 to go to Al’s in Cardington for supper – took Mary J & Helen Romine with us. Other workers finished sorting on ziop & left. Mary & I back at 5:30 – Found others had folded all the envelope lap[s down so had to pull all 708 of the back flat before we cold seal them. Finished about 8:30 & took to PO but even bulk mail area was closed. Home about 9:15

Thursday, December 26, 1991
MCHS 9 hrs Brick certificates
Photos at Kroger’s after Mary & I had dinner at Isalys.
FInished entering the corrections – then called David & he set up the new file by filtering out the True for p[rint. I tried in out on Ventura & it works.
Wrote up the news release for the Star on dedication of bricks & took it in. At Heritage Hall laid out the postal area for bricks we have & with Mary’s help have them lined up for Todd to lay Monday.
Watched TV & worked crossword puzzle to unwind. Wilda Fulton called to check on Howard as she is called friend of Alice’s in Cape Coral, FL and wanted to report. Alices’s money from her house about gone. (and her mother’s house!)
Called Helen Sheneman. Aunt Ruth in hospital for 2 weeks. Her lower leg swollen with infection & that is better, but lungs & colon infected. Helen sounds so discouraged. She seemed to have same kind of infection that I had in Nov.