I remember Grandpa

I REMEMBER GRANDPA (George A Holt) BY Erwin Holt Farnsworth: I remember Grandpa Holt as a great and wonderful grandfather. He was a very devoted and faithful member in the Church, with a strong and abiding testimony of the Savior, Jesus Christ, which was reflected in the lives of he and his children. He loved the Church, his fellow men and especially his family. It was a very special occasion when we could go to grandpa’s house on Sunday afternoons, and be able to visit with Grandpa and Grandma Holt, aunts, uncles and cousins. One thing that stands out in my memory was our Thanksgiving Day celebrations. Grandpa lived across the street from the Church house, and on Thanksgiving he would have all of his family get together at the Church, and have a great family dinner with so many good things to eat, and the fun we had together. Grandpa Holt owned the Holt Store in Enterprise, and it was always a delight to go to his store which I did on many occasions. We had a cow, and we would put milk in two quart bottles, and take them to the store, and grandpa would put them in the cooler for us, because we didn’t have a refrigerator to put them in. One day I got there before grandpa opened his store, and as I was sitting on the cement steps, waiting for grandpa to come, I accidentally broke a bottle of milk, which quickly spread out across the steps. Grandpa wasn’t too happy about the mess I had made, but we quickly cleaned it up and all was well. Grandpa had ice cream freezers in a building in back of the store, and it was always fun to go up and watch him make ice cream, and of course we were always rewarded with ample samples of his ice cream. One of the things that we always looked forward to was the Fourth and Twenty Fourth of July Celebrations, and of course, grandpa’s store was a very busy place on those days. We didn’t have much money in those days, but we would save our money so we could go to grandpa’s store for a treat, ice cream cones, root beer floats, banana splits or ice cream nut sundaes were my favorites. Grandpa had an ice house in the back part of the ice cream plant, and I remember how, during the winter when the ice would freeze on the ponds, he would take his wagon and the big saw he had, and go to the ponds and saw out big blocks of ice. He would haul them to the ice house, where they would be covered and packed with saw dust, and he would use the ice to freeze ice cream during the summer. Grandpa was a great horse lover, and was always proud of his excellent and well matched teams of horses. He had riding horses and I remember his favorite “Billie Boy,” that I had an opportunity to ride many times. Grandpa had a farm in the valley north east of Enterprise, and I worked for him many times during the summer. It was always fun to pack a lunch and go with grandpa, to the farm. And many times he would let me ride Billie Boy from town down to the farm. We would work all day with him on the farm. On days that he would irrigate, and water would be running in the ditches, he would have us drown out chislers and destroy them. They were a pesky little rodent, and were always digging tunnels and holes in the ditch banks, and on occasions, the water would break through, so grandpa was always glad when we could drown them out and get rid of them. I would also cut potato eyes in the spring for him as always grew a big patch of potatoes as well as alfalfa. I remember that he paid us twenty -five a day which by today’s standard would be sneered at by most of the young people, but in those days it seemed like a lot of money. I am proud to be a descendant of George A Holt and for the opportunity of knowing and working with him as boy, and for his love and caring for me as well as all of his family. I only had a few short years to know grandpa, as he passed away from this life on September 13th 1935. I will always remember that day, the day of my 13th birthday. He was a great man, and lived a life of service and devoted to all he knew. He received a crown of glory, in our Heavenly Father’s kingdom. I will always remember him for who he was and what he did for me as a boy. .