Chapter 1997, Life and Times of the Keith G. Calkins Family

Happy New Year—as we ended Chapter 1996 (which hasn't been written yet!), our boys, Theron and Jared were 6.7 and 3.7 years, respectively. Keith's fourth year teaching high school math at Andrews University for the Berrien Co. Math & Science Center meant he was teaching as seniors the (now special) class he started with as freshmen. He was teaching (and developing) a new course for the juniors who took AP Calculus AB in 1995-96 called AP Calculus BC. Out-of-sequence freshmen numbered nine (one was two courses ahead), out-of-sequence sophomores numbered three, and out-of-sequence juniors numbered seven, including the two referenced above. Terri continued with her Sabbath School secretary responsibilities as our large local church (PMC) underwent a major building program (which meant her office and supplies were moved about half a dozen times). When she remembered, Terri attended local library board meetings as VP. Action on that front heated up as fundamental structural building defects were identified, the most atrocious (water leaking over electrical) repaired, and a lawsuit filed. Another important change for Terri was starting contract work in August for Interlink—the same company she worked for up until a week before Theron was born and the company Keith has been moonlighting for since Jared was born. Theron moved from Kindergarten into 1st grade this fall, remaining at Trinity Lutheran. Jared started preschool in the fall two afternoons a week, also at Trinity. Keith kept very busy helping George emulating the Sigma 6 computer and with other tasks; teaching and some work on the house at 610 and residing the garage at the Calkins Centennial Farm near Tustin. Genealogy occasionally made a minor debut. Once again, what follows is organized chronologically.

Jared Preschool Terri & sons at Lake Michigan Theron Grade 1

January 1997

As per usual, Keith and the boys ended last year by returning from Keith's brother Fred's in KY, this time bringing Keren for a missionary seminar. On New Year's Day Keith was trying to help Gary find their electrical problem at Keith's sister Alice and Gary's new farmette. The two pictures below February really belong in 1996 and show Grandpa Calkins playing ball with Jared on the front lawn of the Calkins Centennial Farm and nearing completion of the siding and wall in the old granery area of the barn there. They also show (left) Taj, our Great Pyrannes/Kavasz dog on the right born March 1996 and gotten from Fred's the weekend of Theron's sixth birthday; and (right) the Centennial Farm garage before it received new siding summer of 1997. The barn's new post and roof work was done in 1995 and that barn wall and siding work was completed in 1996. In Dec./Jan. Keith spent considerable time helping George get his house secured. With George in AZ, but his lawyer on the phone, there were some tense times. Keith thought he might even spend a night in jail when the sheriff showed up! The seniors tried for the third time to have their Christmas party and technically school closed on them yet again due to snow—they rebelled and had their party anyway!

February 1997

The mother of Keith's worker Rachel collapsed in pain and ended up in the hospital in Indianapolis. She was eventually diagnosed with stomach cancer. Keith's classification meant he was not on either the faculty or staff list at Andrews University—a perennial problem with no end in sight. February is always a good time to take a look at that, since various lists get generated related to the board meeting then. The pickup truck still won't start in cold weather (defined as below forty). The mechanics are rather puzzled. That was the first model year with computer control, but replacing that expensive item did not resolve the problem. Eventually (read late spring), enough things changed (bad grounding, bad ground location, warmer weather, removal of a wire that "does nothing") that it appeared not to fail. Keith got new glasses and contacts and set up his study again downstairs. Theron continued to disassemble disk packs (14", 10 platter), about five every Sunday, in anticipation of a bicycle next summer. It's a major task, but he got lots of practice over Christmas with his cousins.

Grandpa with Jared at CCF and Taj in 1996 1996 barn wall & siding under 1995 roof at CCF

March 1997

Interlink continued to need Keith to do address conversions at the most inopportune times—like test/grade time. It was a good year for maple syrup, we got almost three gallons from our little tree. The warm weather allowed Keith to take 3/4 ton of aluminum to the recycler (i.e. the truck started). Rachel helped direct parents for parent-teacher conferences. Madhu Siddalingaiah called about Sigma 9's and came from Washington D.C. for a Sunday visit. Keith sold him a Sigma 9 front panel. Aunt Ada moved into a retirement home in Grand Rapids, after living/working in Battle Creek for 45 years.

April 1997

Spring break found Keith cutting down Alice's Box Elder. It was huge, 4 feet in diameter with 30 inch limbs over their milk house and propane tank. This provided quite a change of pace and an engineering challenge. Jared went north with Keith the first weekend of spring break and Theron (and Zadok) the second. That second weekend Keith cut down a large, hollow beech at CCF which he worked over all summer. The last of that 30 inch tree was removed Labor Day and November of 1998! Spring break was followed quickly by the senior class trip which Keith agreed to chaparone. Zadok hitched a ride down to West Virginia and was picked up by his mother. That trip included white water rafting. The boys really enjoyed the video long after the event. Keith suffered from Sciatica before, during, and after that trip—it soon cleared up, but since it was particularily bad at night, was a royal pain. Late in April Jared went up to CCF with Keith to plant the 1000 pine trees: 500 white and 500 red at the Centennial Farm. Keith's father drove the tractor while he planted using an old planter they had reworked the year before. The dry spring meant those trees, which were older than what his father usually got (three year old instead of two year old) so they could be planted easier with the planter, did not do as well. Keith very successfully transplanted some of Alice's smaller white pines which are too densely spaced—and spring of '98 he tackled some larger ones as well with only a 50% success rate. His biggest coup was transplanting a six foot tall, 2" diameter black walnut tree, which our boys defoliated, from our garden in Berrien Springs up to the Centennial Farm. He used a lot of water to soften the soil and a come-along to actually pull it up (slowly)—it did fine until late in 1998.

May 1997

May always bring Algebra Diagnostic tests for our incoming freshmen, as well as, orientation, honor's night for our graduates, etc. The expansion of the Math & Science Center was formalized with an expanded class (50 instead of 30 per grade level) and Keith learned who they had hired as a second freshman math teacher. Was Honored Teacher for Kara Lindstedt (valedictorian) at Niles High School. May is never a dull month in Keith's job. Memorial Day for the last three years has been given over to finalizing semester tests to be given the rest of the week. Keith likes to go up to the Centennial Farm the next weekend before the grass gets too out of hand and this year was no exception. Getting back on the farm is always invigorating and brings stress levels down to a reasonable level to pursue grading of final exams, generation of grades, proctoring make-up tests, collecting textbooks and calculators. Somewhere in there is always an ISD faculty meeting thrown in for good measure. The weekend following is often township cleanup up north, so that also must be attended, for appropriate progress. Jared was a big help with that and Keith bought him his own gloves since he was loading some old barbed wire.

1997 MSC Class trip to WV Michelle & stump in 1998 Find/scan the letter from Kara!

June 1997

We (read that Keith) signed Theron up for softball with the area learning league. Although Theron was overage, after the first few games all agreed he would be happier playing T-ball. It was thus somewhat ironic that he never made it into the Marlin team picture. The high point of playing with the Royals was that several of his classmates from Trinity played with or against him. Keith coached as necessary, even when Terri couldn't care for Jared. Also in June Keith got an evaluation. He kind of demanded one due to the circumstances he continues to find himself in—a department of one essentially without a chair, with the next management level confused and too busy. He found it at least curious that the program facilitator saw things differently and a lively correspondance ensued over the summer. Some things remain in dispute and although the work is satisfying (although overwhelming most of the time), Keith continues to look for employment diversity. George Plue moved back to Berrien Springs from Arizona. This meant first that Keith had to let them into their house—he had sealed it up rather well. In June Keith helped George install flooring above their garage for storage, and with other tasks. Terri spent 10 days out in British Columbia vacationing with Via. During that time, Keith got bicycles for both boys which all summer they practiced riding on the sidewalk along our block. Keith worked on yard fencing to keep the dog out of the Terri's new flower gardens in the front, save a walnut tree, etc.

On a trip up north in late June Keith forgot to shift into overdrive after encountering a traffic jam north of Grand Rapids. A few miles into Osceola Co. he noted that and shifted into overdrive. That might not have been noteworthy except that it was a very hot day and mid-afternoon. The surge on the cooling system burst the water hose just past the water pump and although Keith stopped right away, the engine was clearly damaged. Much time was spent assessing the extent of the damage and eventually a mechanic was located who was willing to do the repair work on the side, if time was not an issue. Engine replacement is never cheap, however. Our dog, Taj, had to stay north while Keith took a bus home.

The softball team without Theron Theron with his T-ball team

July 1997

The family reunion festivities started with Fred and his youngest two going up to Bethany's near Decatur, IL and Keith's arrival there with Theron the next morning, Wednesday, July 2. Soon after arrival Terri called with news of an early morning funnelcloud which cause extensive damage all over Berrien Springs. Bethany had had some recent boundary problems (cut down/burned out lilac bush) and good fences make good neighbors. They also wanted to be able to let their dog run loose in the back yard. The project had considerable undetermined aspects which had to be continuously resolved as the project unfolded. Soon Keith and Fred were in over their heads installing a twelve foot fence behind the neighbor's backstop which protruded well onto Bethany's property. The neighbor had already agreed to pay for the additional fence height there. On the other side, the neighbor had started a six foot fence, but it was in a very unfinished state. By late Wednesday all the posts were set, in spite of being kind to David's truck by not getting all the concrete in one load. Before they left for Berrien Springs late Thursday afternoon all the fabric was stretched and gates hung. The remaining fence was done four foot high. David had conveniently left his truck for them to use, but we don't think what is pictured below center is what he had in mind!

Load 1 of fencing materials 16' post into hardpan Cousins with their handiwork

Gate one of three Cutting the top railing Wrapping it up

On Friday, Fred and his youngest two with Keith and his youngest proceeded on toward Tustin with a couple stops in Grand Rapids to visit Aunt Ada and get gifts for the gift exchange. Sunday they started on the CCF garage and soon discovered that soil had accumulated to a level above the sill on the SE so that was rotten. Their time was quickly over with stripping off the old siding, getting building supplies, putting in windows (one new on the west), towing Keith's pickup to the mechanic, repairing the well (again—a nut had come off and fallen half way down the wellshaft, but it came up with the rods), etc. It took several more weekends including help from Keith's father to finish siding the garage which including repairing the doors, and on Labor Day weekend, substantially relandscaping the SE corner. Some work remains to finish the soffits, facsia and under the eaves, but the results can be seen in the pictures below taken Labor Day weekend. Terri and Alice sorted through much of the household accumulation, but too late for the new bonfire. The first bonfire was located in the orchard and consumed brush from fruit trees deemed to be root stock and not the grafted version. It also included brush from the east half of the elm tree in the front yard (see ball picture under February) and other such trimmings. The new bonfire was largely composed of several thousand 0.5" magnetic computer tapes and opened up some floor space in the barn. The right picture below also shows the two replaced siding boards up near the barn's west peak. Installing those produced an electrifying experience for Keith. July concluded with a trip north with Alice to Ernest's annual conference. (Their father was working at Bethany's.) Once at CCF, Keith hitched a ride with our farm tenants to get the pickup.

August 1997

An assistant director position in the computing center opened up and Keith applied for it. He was not looking forward at all to the upcoming school-year with the expanded freshman class (50 students), moving (now clearly sometime during the school-year), team-teaching, etc. Summer algebra started early in August with its three hours a day intensive schedule. Keith had arranged for Roberto Ordóñez, who was going to be teaching the other section of freshman mathematics, as well as a section of freshman computing, to assist. That allowed them to get aquainted with each other before the school-year started. Keith's worker for the past two years, Rachel, got married the end of August and moved west to Idaho. Rachel's mother was now sick enough that neither parent made it to the wedding. Theron and Jared certainly enjoyed that chance to stay at Plue's. In September Rachel was back for her mother's funeral. Terri's Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Welden sold their home and furnishings and moved to Florida. Terri got a good deal on much of their furniture, so we had to rearrange things considerably.

September 1997

With the Math & Science Center expansion came two classrooms, so another computer was needed. This time Keith went for a notebook: 200MHz, 2Gb, 32Mb, 13" active Sager. He realized it was his sixth since starting this job! It was supposed to arrive before his trip north Labor Day weekend, but instead arrived the day he got back to work. Meanwhile, Smith Hall was not looking very ready, but it was clear ISD Math was getting exiled there when college classes started. The weekend of the move was the annual Tremont trip with the sophomores, so Keith missed out on that. They were short a chaporone, so one of Keith's workers, Rick, went in his stead. There were no phones, and no office furniture in Smith Hall. The tables were too narrow, tippy, and had a sandpaper like surface. Some one thought three chairs would fit underneath each—not! One classroom had very limited blackboard space most of the year due to shipping damage and associated bureaucracy. Eventually, Keith got his old tables back which resolved that situation for one room. Much time was spent getting the new computer lab as well as Keith's notebook and the classroom computers working (100Mb network vs 10 Mb everywhere else on campus). The large TV's had to stay in the old classroom and new Data Video projectors arrived which with VCRs and associated cabling were eventually (self) installed. With two classrooms, the usual projects were done with partners for freshmen, but presented once in each classroom.

CCF Garage looking SW CCF Garage looking north CCF Garage/barn looking SE

October 1997

Theron did not participate in swimming lessons this fall—he really didn't like them. George discovered that the GCC compiler was robust enough to support many of the things he expected and wanted, but found lacking in other C compilers. By late September he started executing simple Sigma instructions and by October, Keith (and boys) were spending LOTS of time there making substantial progress. George's girls are just older than our boys, so they love to play together. Keith found it an excellant excuse to finally learn C and also fulfill a very old (though rather rusty!) dream. He and George found out there were actually some Sigma things they really didn't understand how they worked and had some very good "discussions" on many aspects. In October they were running some diagnostics cleanly and by November booting the CP-V operating system. Several nasty bugs later they were very, very pleased.

For the prior two years, October has meant Cybersurfari and Andrews placed three teams in its first two years. This year, Keith's students took first place! The new lab may have been some help, but it was close. We ended up sending our dog Taj away to herd sheep—she played much too roughly with the boys. The aggressive behavior was blamed on her Kavasz heritage. We accepted a full-blooded Great Pyrannies in exchange, Goliath, but soon found that he really was an indoor dog and we were not willing to go that route. Car repair of brakes and tires provided additional excitement for Terri taking Goliath back to Detroit and then going to her weekly horseback riding lesson. We ended up selling the '86 Cavalier to one of Keith's students and buying Fred's '89 Cavalier which he had never seen. Midnight Bell, a wholly unowned subsiderary of any Baby Bell, had to rigged up a temporary phone for the day Terri had her outpatient tubal cauterization. With the expansion, we had 14 freshmen who with their parents wanted to be accelerated into Algebra II. Keith already had one Precalculus freshman, so the committee met and the ones from Roberto's section were transferred into Keith's class and some from Keith's section were transferred into Roberto's class. Coupling this with the usual attrition and replacements kept things rather exciting. The final results were an accelerated freshmen class of 12 girls and 1 guy in Algebra II.
Our first 1st place team: juniors. Preteen triumvirate at HHF

November 1997

November always starts with parent-teacher conferences. They schedule five minutes for each one, so Keith completes them in two nights, but it is exhausting. Combine this with an early morning schedule for test prepartion and grades, followed with the end of daylight savings time, and Keith often gets sick. Is it any wonder he routinely skips the blood drive this time of year? Keith's worker Rick got a job at Battle Creek Academy when they sacked their math teacher. Finding good workers took a lot of precious time. Keith had some misgivings regarding hiring a freshman with no calculus, but it turned out very well. Local dignitaries, government officials, etc. came to an open house mid-November. During this, Pat Mutch asked Keith what computer class he wanted to teach next year and he thought there was hope for a change. A better laugh was when he overheard Pat telling Ed Wines (see 1993!) how valuable Keith was to the program. We had Thanksgiving at Alice's followed by a family trip north with boys for wood and the '89 Cavalier.

Once CP-V was up on the Sigma emulator and a SCSI driver working for George's tape drive, George returned to Arizona for several weeks to copy tapes. Keith's access to a printer from his computer continued to be unpredictable. He also had but limited access to a copier, so often pressed the new color scanner into service as a copier, among other tasks (such as the pictures here:).

Keith with his 8 lb "Sigma" Boys at AU X-mas tree lighting George: The Sigma tamer

December 1997

Once AU classes were over for the quarter, Keith had plenty of help and many various tasks, including consistant printer access, were completed. Early the day after Christmas, Theron, Jared, Keith and Jephthae headed to KY to Keith's brother Fred's. Jephthae had stayed behind when her mother headed south early, just before the storm, to stack firewood and help with boys, etc. At Fred's, one of the first orders of business was exhuming a goat dead a year a half for a professor in the Biology department at Andrews. Fred and Keith also walked the property lines of the 15 acres they expect to lease from the Coal Company and almost finished the excavation of the root cellar. Lots of games of Acquire and Money Matters were also played by Fred, Keith, and the young children. New Year's Eve, Keith drove back the 500 miles with the boys, stopping at several McDonald's play places for comic relief. On to 1998!