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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 22, 1959)
Family WeeJcJy Mwember 22, 1959 rtCtir rt- I farm I ft,y -" Sivi 11 ; i We Are 1.4 Thankssdviiiff Dinner at Happy and humorous attitude toward life is indicated by sign in front of home where the 14 Hagans live just outside of Youngstown, Ohio. .... , -. vf - rprn w-y Bob Hagan does family shopping. Kids meet him when he comes home, unload station wagon. He calls it his "safari," gives each one a load to carry. Jackie, nine, and Bobby, ten, team up to carry in pumpkin from garden. Hagans raise many of the vegetables they consume. 'A r 5." y is - X (to. by ROBERT HAGAN Photos by John Rees from Black Star Thanksgiving is definitely one of the family holidays, and in many of our friends' homes next Thursday prepara tions will include scrounging for extra dining-room chairs to seat grandmother and grandfather, uncles and aunts, nieces and nephews. It's just such a large group that turns the dinner into a feast. But at our home near Youngstown, Ohio, 14 of us will take our places round the table my wife Ada and I and our 12 children. As a matter of fact, we are 14 for breakfast and lunch, too, and at our house every meal is a kind of Thanksgiving feast. Ada and I have an even dozen reasons to be thankful six boys and six girls. From the oldest twins, 15-year-old Kathleen and Maureen, to one-year-old Susan, "we think -we have the best family in the world. But Thanksgiving has other special meanings for us, too. We moved into our home the day before Thanksgiving nine years ago. Our family was growing fast, and the construction business I started after getting out of the Navy wasn't growing as fast as I'd hoped. In fact, it almost looked as if Ada and I might have to board some of the kids with relatives. Then things picked up, we found this house, and have added five kids to bur family. Another special Thanksgiving celebration is for Susan. Our youngest child was born the day after the holiday last year, so this will be her first Thanksgiving with us. "How do you do it?" is a question all our friends ask Both Ada and I agree it's easier with 12 than it was with six babies, now that the older children can help. And they really do help. Ada does the cooking and laundry; the kids do the rest. It also helps that my wife and I are easygoing. We try not to get annoyed with little things and to take the big ones in stride. And there are big things, believe me: two appen dectomies, one case of polio, a broken arm, a broken collar bone, and five cases of whooping cough at one time. We don't like to give advice to our friends about raising kids because every family is different, but if we have one rule for ourselves, it's "Take it easy. Do what you can, train the children to look after themselves, and love one another." I think we really enjoy ourselves most at such a time as Thanksgiving. All of us dig in to help. We carry in the groceries in a grand procession, and the boys drag in the biggest pumpkin they can find in the garden. The kids take turns chopping onions for the stuffing until the tears flow. But the best job is mine carrying in the turkey. It's a big day. But with a family of 14, every day is like Thanksgiving. Making the stuffing brings out eight young sters to cut bread; celery, and onions. Onions make Kathleen weep, so twin sister slices. Family Weekly, November fi, 1959 V tJbs-vvV, , rf J V.-Y m 14 I 0 4 J"kv1 i. This Youngstown, Ohio, couple has 12 special reasons to be thankful next Thursday-12 wonderful children Climax of preparations comes when Bob Hagan carries in 24-lb. turkey. Children's places at table are ranked according to age, Jokingly, Ada Hagan confronts young est child, Susan, with her first turkey drumstick. Susan responds eagerly. mwcm.V".'2UtmuiuismJ I ffWW'WUMWWKW'Wi nrmwiMT rwrik"VA.- -l-rj-iJ-. .. .. It;--I I li U fell I ' ; I I III! I I a,f.i I "if .;''.. -v - i f - h ill m "iv i ' , u ; 1 . v r mat it, m ,i r .l -k w i . J '. w m a JC33 - .1 USA J7z C V y L i ' j " ' ry "J C' ! O"! Excitement is too much for Monica who mtrS i is two-and-a-half. She falls asleep at yf ft Tfl ' ainner, and Bob puts her to bed. V V''' V HllllW-W,,.... , I I Family Weekly, November 22, 1959
