1. Wedding Shiverees
2. Christmas Eve Party

Mary Lou (Heiden) Opfermann - I remember Helma and Herb’s shivery. That was impressive to me.

Norma "Jeanie" Heiden - They went to Indiana to get married but when they came home, a bunch of relatives and neighbors said, “We’re coming tonight so have some beer ready.”

Helma (Heiden) Nickel - I still have the receipt from Jim Malone’s in Ida where Herb went and got the beer. It was a dollar something a case. He got beer and candy and pop for the kids.

Mary Lou (Heiden) Opfermann - Remember they had the old metal wash tubs that they were banging on to make noise?

Wilma (Heiden) Bicking - You always had to be careful because they would threatened to take the bride “for a ride” in the truck.

Norma "Jeanie" Heiden - Did they take you for a ride?

Helma (Heiden) Nickel - No they didn’t!

Norma "Jeanie" Heiden - You should have heard the noise. John Eipperle put something on his exhaust pipe that made the pipes “whistle” real loud. I remember everyone in the house just holding their ears. They made so much noise!

Mary Lou (Heiden) Opfermann - What year did you get married, Helma?

Helma (Heiden) Nickel - 1938

Mary Lou (Heiden) Opfermann - So, I would have been 9 years old but I can remember it very well.

Pat (Bicking) Klass - The only place I ever saw a shivery was on The Waltons on T.V.

Helma (Heiden) Nickel - They had one for Mildred and John Eipperle too. That was ten years before Herb and I got married though.

Norma "Jeanie" Heiden - They had those big tubs of beer and everybody came and drank. They just had to have a party.

Word must have passed around the neighborhood and they just showed up at a certain time. You had to have some food and drink ready.

Norma "Jeanie" Heiden - People would make all kinds of noise banging on pots and tubs.

Helma (Heiden) Nickel - Yes, and then the newlyweds would have to show themselves on the porch.

Wilma (Heiden) Bicking - Guess you’d say we were kind of a party family.

Pat (Bicking) Klass - At the reunions, I remember having those big horse troughs and everyone would be in there fishing around for beer and pop in the icy water.

Helma (Heiden) Nickel - At Lester and Lila’s shivery, I remember them passing out drinks and fresh fried cakes.

Norma "Jeanie" Heiden - Did Lee and Lou have one?

Mary Lou (Heiden) Opfermann - I don’t remember, I wasn’t born yet! 

This was a carry over of a 19th century custom in rural America where a newly married couple were given a mock serenade performed with pots, pans and homemade instruments. The word is derived from the French word charivari which denotes the same folk custom performed in France.

Ralph Heiden - Many people mentioned the Christmas Eve’s at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. What do you remember about those parties?

Norma "Jeanie" Heiden - After church everybody would come over and people would be all over the house, sitting in the bedrooms and everywhere. There were so many people in the house all at once on that night!

Mildred (Roggerman) Heiden - I used to wonder why Grandma (right holding Bruce Eipperle) would set quietly in the background during those parties. Well, after I had all my children and grandchildren home at once, I could begin to understand. It gets so hectic.

Norma "Jeanie" Heiden - It got to be too much. Pa went down to the basement one time and put an extra brace under the floor because he was afraid that so many people being there at once would collapse the floor.

Wilma (Heiden) Bicking - The men used to try to play cards out in the dining room and the kids would race around the whole house. They would tear around that table. You could just see Pa get frustrated but he never said anything.

Mary Lou (Heiden) Opfermann - I remember Helen saying that the next morning she would find half-eaten sandwiches down beneath the furniture.

Norma "Jeanie" Heiden - There would be food everywhere and wrapping paper wadded all over the place. Christmas Day was never anything special for us. People would go to the other side of their families for visits. We would be all by ourselves, cleaning up the mess and returning chairs we borrowed from the church.

Mary Lou (Heiden) Opfermann - I remember Grandpa got plenty of shirts, pipes and tobacco for presents at Christmas.

Norma "Jeanie" Heiden - Ma would sit there in the living room and unwrap her gifts. She and Pa both got a present from everybody who came. The children all drew names and then got a present from whoever picked their name. Sometimes your godparent gave you a present too.

We were lucky, we got an orange and some candy from church. Hilda and Carl stood up for me so they would each give me a present and that was about it.

Helma (Heiden) Nickel - I had seven godchildren to buy presents for each year. Five girls and two boys.

Norma "Jeanie" Heiden - I remember one time Ma and Pa gave me a harmonica for Christmas.

Helma (Heiden) Nickel - When we were young, we would usually get something like a sled or a wagon for all the brothers and sisters to use.

Ralph Heiden - Everyone would go to the service at St Matthew Lutheran Church on Christmas Eve. The kids were part of a Christmas pageant play. What do you remember about those?

Norma "Jeanie" Heiden - Yeah, my heart was always beating like crazy before we had to stand up in front of everyone and speak our lines. I was so scared to do that sometimes.

Helma (Heiden) Nickel - I remember when they had the real candles on the tree in the church. Carl Miller stood nearby with a fishing pole that had a wet sponge attached to it. He was supposed to put the candles out when they burned down close to the tree.

Wilma (Heiden) Bicking - We used to have candles on the tree at home too but Pa would never allow us to light them.

Norma "Jeanie" Heiden - Pa was always concerned about fires in the house.