July 2004                                                               The Megaphone                                                                     Page 5

The Reunion Photo

by Jean (Taylor) Rodgers

I saw an angel today.

It was beyond a snapshot,

Black and white, 30 inches long,

Showing bank employees at a dinner.

More than 50 years had passed.

The many faces looked out

At my 21^st century eyes.

Most were long dead;

Others sick or dying.

I smiled to see the quaint collars,

The bobby pin curls,

The slender ties,

And then I saw the angel.

My mother’s face looked at me,

Younger than I am now,

In glowing health.

Her eyes, so kind and loving,

Had that wistful look

I remember so well.

Her face looked beautiful to me.

Some people saw ghosts in that photo that day,

But I saw an angel.

Submitted by . . .

Jean (Taylor) Rodgers '57

Buttermilk Station

by Marvin Crim

So many times small bits and pieces of information are lost over time. Here's one that few know about these days.

For decades the Pennsylvania Railroad from Cincinnati to Chicago ran through Madison County and Elwood. To this day along what remains of that rail line there exists a little spot in the road just north of Anderson called Florida Station. But few have ever heard the story about Buttermilk Station.

Perhaps somewhere around the turn of the century or a little after, train crews would stop for meals provided by a lady living about a mile and a half along the tracks northwest of Florida Station. She owned a cow or two and would make her own buttermilk. Neighbors and train crews loved the buttermilk so much she started selling it to whoever wanted it. To the train crews the unscheduled stop became known as Buttermilk Station. 

In later years the same location became know as Keller Station, named after its owner at the time. Apparently there was actual competition with Florida Station for railroad business and obviously Florida Station won out. In fact, the station is still there but you can't tell it because siding has been put over it. It's on the southwest corner at the tracks in Florida Station. It's now a house and was a restaurant at one time. If you could peel the siding off the business part of the building, you could still see the double doors they used for freight and luggage.

Buttermilk Station? It exists now only as a distant memory along with a remaining house along the tracks between Florida Station and Frankton. But at least now you know . . . a little of the story.
         

Submitted by . . .

Marvin Crim '57

Details provided by Barbara Davis -- who currently lives at Buttermilk Station