Christmas Bobsled

Christmas Bobsled

A Calumet County Accounting

Hanging on the wall of my shed

Is an Auto-Wheel Coaster Company sled,

A three-man Fleetwing with wheel and cowl

To keep to the course when the runners howl!

I haven’t had it long nor the pleasure of a ride,

But imagination and possibilities are my guide

Since some generous soul decided to give it away

And as luck would have it, it came my way.

Chilton’s St. Martin’s Lutheran Congregation

Recently held a Trivia Night and Silent Auction

Whereupon my winning bid garnered me the sleigh

And a good parishioner helped me carry it away.

Its condition is exceptional, though it has been used,

But there is little evidence that it’s ever been abused.

And while the manufactured year still remains in question

The middle nineteen-thirties has been a good suggestion.

I’ve hitched to those year’s now because my dad was 10

With nine other brothers to share Christmas back then

When money was tight and the Depression full-on

And a gift like this would have been barrels of fun!

Grandpa’s farm was on Tower Road high above the lake

With two grand hills heading down for sleighs without a brake!

But Hook Hill turned out at the bottom to help you slow and stop

While Quinney Hill was straight and fast with 500 feet of drop.

Bright knit scarves wrapped tight around each rider’s face

Would stream behind the wild screams and exciting, flying pace

As down they flew, faster than they knew, until the hill gave way

With nothing left except to trudge up the cliff the other way.

Putz Lisowe says they used to stop the cars on Highway 55

So the sleds could come screaming through, “And man-alive,

What a ride! Some went out a mile on the lake before done,”

guessing that’s a two-and-a-half-mile run!”

It’s what I see when looking at that bobsled on the wall,

My dad and his brothers with Leroy, Bobby, C.J. and all*

All local kids making the most of what they had—

Hills, friends, and one Christmas bobsled from mom and dad.

By

James N. (Jim) Zitzelsberger

December, 2023

*Leroy and Bobby Schwobe and C.J. Propson who all went to the one-room school with my dad and his brothers in greater, downtown Kloten.

An Early Morning Christmas Call

An Early Morning Christmas Call

by

James N. Zitzelsberger

Merry Christmas, Mom!

Hope you’re having an enjoyable day.

….

I didn’t hear the forecast,

But a little snow may be on the way.

….

Did you hear the pounding of each little hoof

When the reindeer landed on your roof?

….

No? Well, maybe it was,

But it could have been Santa Claus up above.

….

Did you put out cookies and milk

Like you did when we were young?

….

Better than catching snowflakes on your tongue,

And a nice little snack when you were done.

….

Remember the year you ran the tavern

And Santa came early on Christmas Eve?

….

I can’t remember a thing I got

But it sure was a surprise at five o’clock!

….

No, I know you don’t need a thing,

And, maybe, nothing is what we’ll bring

When we get back together later today.

….

Well, maybe just a small bouquet

After we’ve fed the horses their noontime hay.

….

Nothing really special, she’s a lot like you

And doesn’t need a thing, used or new.

….

But I’ll tell her, though I wish you could too,

Maybe later-on when we stop to see you.

….

Looks cold outside with the wind blowin’

And the kitties are waiting for me to get goin’.

….

I know, Mom, and I love you too!

But it wouldn’t be Christmas without talkin’ to you….

Mavis Mae Backhaus Zitzelsberger
September 8, 1927 – November 24, 2022