Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Hinker
----Source: Tribune Record Gleaner (Loyal, Clark Co., WI) 8/22/1974
Hinker, Sheila (Summer Fun Time - 1974)
Mingling with Mary (By Mary Woods)
The days of bike riding, swimming, camping, and being outdoors with your friends will soon be ending for hundreds of school children, as schools throughout TRG land begin during the next week. Sheila Hinker, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gene Hinker of Loyal, is just one of those children who looks forward to getting back to school and starting a new year of learning, having a new teacher or two, and sharing the educational system, and the fun times with her friends.
At the age of 11, Sheila will enter sixth grade at St. Anthony’s Catholic School which will be her last year at the parochial school before entering the Loyal Public-School System. She states that she is anxious to get back to school for several reasons, and among them is perhaps that she has a lot to tell about her summer … as will many other children.
Sheila began her summer by taking a camping trip with her parents and two brothers, Steve and Shawn, to northern Wisconsin. For her family, the trip may have been very enjoyable, but for Sheila, the camping trip was spent being very quiet for she got the mumps and according to her, it wasn’t too much fun!
After a few weeks of vacation, Sheila attended summer school where she studied math and language and participated in drama. The summer school ended with a program in which she played Mother Natured in a play. Sheila also participated in plays which were televised over two television stations. She also took piano and clarinet lessons throughout the summer months.
After summer school finished the Hinker family went on a two-week vacation, which Sheila stated was great. Since social studies and history are her favorite areas of study, the trip to the east was very rewarding and educational. Sheila states that the family toured the Battlegrounds of Gettysburg, visited Niagara Falls, and spent some time by the ocean. According to Sheila, “The ocean was perhaps the part of the trip that I enjoyed the most, but the water didn’t taste too good.”
Going places is always fun, but coming home is usually something to look forward to, and for Sheila coming home was looking forward to going camping ... again. The family was home for one day, and left again … with their camper for a weekend outing at Jellystone park at Warrens. While at the campsite, the family enjoyed the outing with friends from Loyal.
Getting back to Loyal and awaiting the starting of school, Sheila has kept herself busy. She remarks that she had been babysitting for her brother, and helps her mom around the house. As for every child, Sheila’s allowance is put towards something she wanted. Her allowance, up to her vacation out east, went towards a patch from every state that they visited, and now she is saving her weekly allowance for the annual Corn Festival. She states, that she averages $2 a week for babysitting, along with a 25-cent allowance. Babysitting also means making meals, and for her brothers, Sheila makes a good lunch of cold meat sandwiches, for she is not yet allowed to use the stove when her mother is not around.
For Sheila Hinker the summer has been one of fun, traveling, meeting new people, and just doing the things that she likes to do. Her time of getting up will not change for she states that she is usually up by 7 a.m. anyway … but perhaps the schedule of work will, for according to Sheila the reasons for wanting to go back to school are many … and one of them is typical of any girl who is like Sheila Hinker, “I’m sick of doing the dishes.”
