When we were young, my Dad (Carl Heiden) would never allow us to go ice skating on the river until Grandpa went down and checked the thickness of the ice. When he said o.k., everyone would head for the ice.

I don't want to forget the birthdays, Grandma's was January 13th and Grandpa's was April 1 (April Fool's Day). All of the family would gather in the evening with a gift and also bring along something for sandwiches, chips, cakes, etc. for a little party.

In warm weather when we would gather, we would always have a ball game. We had plenty of room because playing out by the barn we didn't have to worry about hitting any windows.

I can always remember their big garden and how they canned fruits and vegetables for the winter months instead of freezing things.

Velda Heiden - When we were young, we lived with Grandpa and Grandma and Grandpa would play ball with us kids. We would play in the outfield and he would bat the ball to us after asking if we wanted a fly ball or a grounder. He would hit whatever we wanted. Sometimes he would hit the ball over the old barn that has since blown down. We would have to go to the other side and chase the cows out of the barnyard in order to get the ball back.

Wintertime, we would skate on a pond in the flats by the river. We were not allowed to go onto the river until Grandpa or my dad or Uncle William took an axe and chopped a hole in the ice to make sure it was thick enough.

Picture: Card game with Bill Bicking, Art Heiden, Mary (Rambow) Heiden, Carl Heiden and Wm Carl Heiden.

Picture: Smoke house in the backyard at 8861 Dixon Road.

Robert Heiden - When I was 9 years old, I had never caught a fish. Grandpa told me to come over the next day and he would take me fishing. That day he caught a large carp and put it on a stringer back into the river.

The next day, we went fishing again. Grandpa told me to go fetch something from the house so I was gone for about 15 minutes. On my way back, he yelled to tell me that I had a fish on my line. I was so very happy to have caught such a big fish on only my second day at it.

Years later after I was a married man, Grandpa told me how he had hooked his fish from the previous day to my pole. From then on, he and I would always be partners when it came to playing euchre.

Dianne (Heiden) Houpt - I remember sitting with Grandpa while he fished with his cane pole sitting in his chair with his pipe firmly entrenched in his mouth. I remember the once a week trips when Bill Cominess came across the river to play cribbage with Grandpa.

Verdell (Heiden) Geibel - After Grandma passed away, it almost became a ritual that my sister Velda, Maryann (a fried of ours) and I would go and play euchre with Grandpa, Helen and Jeanie. They always put on a nice lunch and the grand finale was watching Gunsmoke on TV. That was one of Grandpa's favorite programs.

I always remember how Grandpa enjoyed his sun room and front porch in the summer. He always looked so contented sitting there smoking his corncob pipe.

It seemed they never lacked for company to play cards. Grandpa could tell who was coming by the looking down to the corner with Ida Maybee Road and recognizing the car. He would say, "Here come Lesters, Arts or whomever" and get up to prepare the table for a game of cards.

Cheryl (Heiden) Stevens - I remember Grandpa best of all on Saturday nights hanging out next to him while he played euchre with Jeanie, Helen, Velda, Verdell and their friend, Maryann. That's how I learned to play the game. When Grandpa's luck was bad, he would shuffle the cards and cut them himself by giving them the "ole strassburg poke". I don't know where that expression came from but I've never forgot it and I use it myself sometimes!