A Note on the Weekend

This quick trip was special for a lot of reasons. This one was just with my daughter, so we had a good time just the two of us flying to Indy & visiting with my parents. We saw my aunt & cousins, and spent a good part of Friday and Saturday hearing stories from my Dad on the family.

Saturday evening I poured through boxes of old family photos, copied some great ones and brought back some more for careful scanning. I really need to get my parents a scanner for these photos (recommendations welcomed on a reasonably priced, portable digital scanner). I learned quite a bit of new stories, many have triggered research ideas.

Until this weekend I had no idea that my Gumpy (my Dad's dad) had been a lifeguard in the summer of 1938 at Indiana Dunes State Park. Dad has a postcard that my Gumpy sent back to his family (showing their address in Indianapolis at the time, which was a new find). I'm scanning the postcard, and I took a copy of the great photo of Gumpy as a lifeguard at the time. This was a cool find, as I also worked as a lifeguard through high school, college, and at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.

Here are some writing & research reminders from the weekend for future posts:

- Roy Jones and streetcars in Indianapolis
- Semi professional football in Indy in the late 1930s (my Gumpy played quarterback for a semi pro team in Indianapolis around this time)
- Allison Engine Company in World War II
- Battle of Coral Sea, May 1942 (Lowell O'Brien served in the Navy and was in this battle)
- My grandmother, Blanche Allene O'Brien
- Search for a Passport or other travel record for Harry O'Brien, Dad mentioned he may have traveled to Europe with a band at one point
- The Jones family in Indianapolis in the 1940 Census
- The O'Brien family in Indianapolis in the 1940 Census