This account of amusing events that flicker yet through my mind and the not so pleasant experiences that we sometimes had to face along the way has given me moments of quiet reflection. It was certainly a changing world -- first a car, then a radio, and finally electricity. We were ""small potato" farmers living near a beautiful lake in northern Michigan. I was educated, got married, became a professional engineer, moved several times, worked for different companies, and vacationed by car, boat, train, and plane. New devices such as television have provided us much pleasure and discoveries in the field of medicine have extended our lives. Reviewing the past and visiting the old "haunts", I see what remains of some foundations and take note of the green spots in the fields and mounds of earth where someone toiled, dreamed, and disappeared. Life does go on.

      Sketches of Helvetia and Hubbard Lake are included along with photographs. My grandfather's genealogy and my family tree can be found at the end.

      Karen, Beccy, Saretta and Eva have done their best to edit these pages. My thanks go to them and to Bill, Elaine, Mary, Ruth and Sue for their suggestions that made the tale more complete. Arthur G. Thayer, May 1983, 447 Hillside Drive, Rossford, Ohio. 43460