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IT WAS a grand trip! 

 That's the feeling of some 600 Il- 

 linois Farm Bureau folks who traveled 

 6000 miles on two special lAA trains 

 to the AFBF convention at San Fran- 

 cisco and back. 



In fact, some folks were so pleased 

 with the junket that they wanted to know 

 whether the lAA was planning on spon- 

 soring another trip in 1947. Even when 

 it was pointed out that the 1947 AFBF 

 annual meeting would be held in Chi- 

 ago, these folks said they would like to 

 have a special trip either before or after 

 the convention. 



Credit for the planning of the special 

 trip is due a number of folks, but par- 

 ticularly, Roy Johnson, lAA director of 

 special services; Paul Mathias, lAA sec- 

 retary, and Charles P. McEvilly, city- 

 passenger agent, Illinois Central railroad. 



As is the case with most special trains 

 operating over such a long route witli 

 many side trips, there were some minor 

 disruptions in the schedule, but the Farm 

 Bureau travelers took them in their 

 stride. Railroad personnel assigned to 

 the special trains reported that in all 

 their long years of supervising special 

 convention trains they had never had a 

 finer group of people. "These folks en- 

 joy themselves so much that the feeling 

 of good fellowship is contagious," they 

 said. 



And there was good reason for these 

 farm people enjoying themselves. For 

 most everyone it was the first trip since 

 before the war, and for many it was their 

 first long journey since their honeymoon. 



Only sad note of the entire trip was 

 the death of one of the party, Chris A. 

 Vercler, 70, father of Ralph Vercler, who 

 is a member of the board of directors of 

 the Illinois Grain Corporation. Mr. Ver- 

 cler died suddenly in his hotel in San 

 Francisco Thursday morning, Dec. 12. 

 That was the day on which the special 

 train started on its return trip. Mr. 

 Vercler was prominent in Farm Bureau 

 work in Tazewell county and in the 

 Washington Farmers Cooperative Grain 

 and Elevator Company. Funeral serv- 

 ices were held Dec. 18 in Washington, 

 III. 



For most it was the first real vacation 

 in many years. With their sons back 

 from the service there was some one 

 at home to take care of the chores. 



Take Mr. and Mrs. Louie Husser of 

 Ladd, Bureau county, for example. Their 

 son, Ray, was back from the service after 

 serving in New Guinea, Luzon and 

 Japan, and they were able to leave the 

 farm in his hands. It was their first 



By CRESTON FOSTER 



lAA RECORD EDITOR 



really long trip since they were married 

 35 years ago. They celebrated their 

 35th wedding anniversary on Dec. 13. 

 What did they think about the trip.^ 

 ■ It was wonderful! We didn't know it 

 would be anything like this," they said. 



Then there were two other couples 

 who were celebrating their 50th wedding 

 anniversary on the trip. They were Mr. 

 and Mrs. Nottingham, Pleasant Plains, 

 Sangamon county, and Mr. and Mrs. 

 B, F. Hoover, Morrison, Whiteside coun- 

 ty. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Rathbun. 

 Aledo. Mercer county, were celebrating 

 their 40th wedding anniversary. There 

 were probably others celebrating wed- 

 ding anniversaries, and a number who 

 had "Happy Birthday " sung to them. 



Singing was a popular pastime on the 

 train. Mrs. Charles Conway, Reynolds, 

 Mercer county, wrote a special song for 

 the group entitled "We're From Illinois." 

 Practice sessions were held in the obser- 

 vation car and upon arrival in San 

 Francisco, a large delegation of Illinois 

 members sang the song before the con- 

 vention audience. 



This was the first real trip for Mr. 

 and Mrs. Conway since their honeymoon 

 30 years ago. "All our family is grown 

 now," Mrs. Conway said, "and our 

 youngest, Charles Francis, 15, is a sopho- 

 more in high school. So this is our first 

 real chance to take a long trip as James is 

 back from the Army and is looking after 

 the farm." 



Then there was Dan Bergman. Jr., of 

 Palatine, Cook county, who said that this 

 was his first trip out of Illinois. He had 

 made several trips to St. Louis, but he 

 didn't really count that as being much 

 outside of the state. His wife who made 

 the Frisco trip with him had been out 

 to the Coast in 1940, but he had been 

 too busy on the farm to accompany her. 

 Bergman farms the homestead settled 

 by his grandfather. Bergman's father. 

 who expects to celebrate his 95th birth- 

 day in April, farmed the homestead for 

 70 years. 



Bergman, like most of the people on 

 the special trains, first read about it in 

 the lAA Record. "I'm glad that I made 

 the trip," he said, "because I've never 

 experienced anything like it." 



These people were typical of those who 

 made up the caravan. No group was 

 more entitled to real vacation. They had 

 overcome every obstacle to establish the 



greatest production records in wartime. 

 They had served their country in time of 

 need valiantly and without stint. 



What was the best part of the trip? 

 There is probably a lot of different an- 

 swers to that question. The editors of 

 the lAA Record would like letters to 

 see what the folks on the trip thought. 



But from the agricultural standpoint, 

 the high point of the trip was the ir- 

 rigated farm lands in the Salt River Val- 

 ley in Arizona. Busses took train pas- 

 sengers for a 50-mile tour of the area 

 in the vicinity of Phoenix. This area, 

 once a desert now is lush with citrus 

 groves, truck gardens, and rich pastures. 



Inquiries revealed that the land had 

 an asking price of $1000 per acre. Along 

 the route a stop was made at orange 

 and date groves and at a lettuce packing 

 shed. Five thousand cars of lettuce move 

 out of the Phoenix area annually. Let- 

 tuce not suitable for marketing is used 

 for dairy cattle feed. 



For the novelty side of the trip, Los 

 Angeles and Hollywood perhaps were 

 the most interesting. Trips were made 

 to the broadcasting studios in Hollywood 

 where folks saw in person their fa\orite 

 radio entertainers. Mrs. L. A. Barrow, 

 Gibson City, Ford count}', got the wish- 

 ing ring on Tom Breneman's breakfast 

 broadcast, Mrs. Wilson Johnson received 

 a compact on the "Meet the Missus" pro- 

 gram. Others attended "Truth or Con- 

 sequences" and other broadcasts. At 

 Phoenix, passengers on the first section 

 of the special train apjK'ared on a radio 

 broadcast from the station, and also had 

 their picture taken. This picture was 

 carried by the Associated Press Wire- 

 photo service to Illinois newspaj-icrs. 



From El Paso, busses took the group 

 on a 172-mile trip to the Carlsbad Cav- 

 erns, another high point on the trip. As 

 one traveler said to her husband as they 

 toured the caverns, "Dad, this sight alone 

 is worth the price of our ticket." 



There were many other highlights en- 

 joyed. The view of the snow-capped 

 mountains, the cotton-picking in Texas. 

 cattle on the range in Colorado where 

 many Illinois farmers buy their feeders, 

 the old French district and open market 

 in New Orleans, the historical Alamo in 

 San Antonio, the dinner in Juarez, Mex- 

 ico, where folks bought souvenirs, the 

 Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake Cit) 

 where an organ recital was given for the 

 visitors. And last but not least the four 

 days spent in 'Frisco at the convention 

 and sightseeing. Yes indeed,, it was a 

 grand trip. 



JANUARY. 1947 



