Hobo Art	Hobo Signs	HoboLinks	Fran's Hobo Page	Hobo Gatherings

Link to Books, CDs & Cassettes
by " The Hobo Minstrels "

Use this link for information about "The Hobo Minstrel's" (Fran's) book,
"The American Hoboes".

Use this one for information about "The Hobo Minstrel's" (Fran's) CDs and cassettes.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"New Cds"
(2/3/2005)

  Yes, I now have my recordings of Hobo songs, poetry and history on CDs.  The price for the two CD set is $15.00, including postage, in the continental U.S.  Click here on, Hobo Song CDs, to get full details about this and my other available CDs. Thank you for your attention.  I am

    I get so many requests for the words to old songs and poems I thought I'd add one, or two, at a time to the site.  As some are quite lengthy they're a bit much for the Grapevine page so I've added another page to present them.  These, mostly, old pieces will be replaced periodically, by our Senior Culture and Arts Editor, using a scientific method to determine the length of time each should be displayed.  To enjoy the current "Artistic Selection" click on the title, below.  Anyone having specific requests may ask for them by emailing our "Senior Culture and Arts Editor" at;      cultural arts
 
 

Hi Fran,

I and Backwoods Jack and I are working on a documentary as a tribute to Liberty Justice. We would appreciate any and all video footage and photographs that you, or any others, have in your collections. Tag or write your name on the back of the photographs and video cassettes. Send any type of format that you have. I will transfer everything I use to a format I need for the production. Also, someone might have audios of Liberty singing or telling a joke or story. We can use that too.

What is important is that each item whether it is a video or photograph should have the date of the footage or photograph. Please state where it was shot and by whom. I want to give credit to each person that sends anything we use.

Depending on the quality and quantity of what we receive will determine if the item will be used. Don't count anything out. We will go through everything and see how it all fits together. All copyrights will be respected.

I promise that everything will be sent back unharmed.  Just write your address on a sheet of paper and I will keep it for the return shipping.

I am talking to a lawyer in the community on which type of releases need to be sent once we decide what is going to be used. Any type of monetary pie from the sales of this production is going to be very minimal.This is why we are asking for your photographs or video footage as a donation to the tribute of Liberty Justice. I spoke with Brenda, Liberty's wife, and we agreed that a certain percentage of the sale of the finished product would be donated to the building of the new hobo museum. This was Liberty's wish. He did not want flowers sent. He wanted the community to donate to the new hobo museum.

There are probably things I forgot to mention. It is important to say that we do not want to step on any ones toes.

Please send your footage or photographs to:

This years service [2008] will be different from last year BECAUSE - I DON'T WANT A REPEAT OF 2007 WITH PEOPLE ALMOST DYING OF HEATSTROKE!

I WILL control all elements of the memorial service! No last minute insertions of folks!,

EVERYONE MUST get in contact with me by Friday at noon. Then I can get everything put into form for the Friday morning service.

The Friday Morning Service MUST STAY NEAR AN HOUR!

Anyone getting LONG-WINDED..........well I have a friend in the local company of the Iowa State Police who will lend me their TASER!

So don't try to bully me at the service or YOU WILL GET TASED!
 
 

    Madman is not called "The Texas Madman" for nothing so lets not screw with him.  The consequences could be dire.

In honor of Pete Seeger's 89th Birthday ( May 3rd) , I'm going to Re- broadcast the interview I did with Pete back in 1999.  I will air the first half hour on this  interview   Tomorrow May  7th on the " Fellow Travelers" radio show,  Hosted by Rik Palieri & Ben Bergstein, airs on Wednesdays at 4-5 on WOMM-LP 105.9FM

Part 2 will be aired next week May 14th also on WOMM-LP 105.9 fm and can also be heard live , 4- 5 pm Eastern Standard time   and on the inter-net at HYPERLINK;

Hello,

    We are two men who want to write a book about Norwegian Hobos and tramps in the USA from ecpecially the period before 1940. We would be vry happy if someone could help us with finding some Norwegian Hobos and tramps. This mean a lot for us!

Wanda Graham and Elma Smithmyer both will celebrate their 90th. birthday in May.  Wanda "Mrs. Steamtrain" celebrates her day on May 11th and Luther the Jet's mother, Elma Smithmyer celebrates her day on May 15th.

It is wonderful to hear people get to celebrate their 90th. birthday.  This is a wonderful milestone filled with lots of great memories.  It would be great to give each of the ladies a "birthday card shower".  You can "make a difference" for one day for them by sending them a birthday greeting.

Hello all,

    It's been a while, i thought i'd wrte and say hi.  im living in minneapolis now.  i think im pretty much settled here for a while (maybe a couple short rides here and there) but anyone coming through get in touch or just write to say hello.  my email address is         ridin_my_hardtail@yahoo.com     take care and stay safe all

Hello there, said with a smile:)

  My interest is peaked.  50 yrs ago, when I was 8 or so, a hobo came to our house for something to eat.  Mom always had good food.  Usually a chicken leg or a meatloaf sandwich was given to the Gentleman of the rails.  And boy did they like mom's potato salad!  Our neighbor would get a call from mom to let her know the hobo was heading her way.  This neighbor was 'known' for wonderful banana cake with delicious frosting.  Well, fond memories for me. The tracks could be seen from our front porch - I miss that action - the steam engines & the proud caboose fellow, waving to us.  My little girlfriend, Susie, & I would run alongside the rails, catching butterflies with our homemade 'gauze' butterfly catchers.  What a fun summers we would have.

  Fran - I was wondering if you heard of Mooney Warther?  He was born in 1885 and lived here in my little town.  He saw many a hobo along the rails at his home, too.  One showed him a pair of wooden working pliers that he made and handed to the little boy Mooney.  Mooney pondered & then began to make pliers for friends, famly & eventually 750,000 of them given out as 'calling cards', you could say.    From there, Mooney whittled and before long became the World's Master Carver, given that name by German carvers.  We have his hobo art - seamless chains and canes with balls in them, carved from the outside in - in a local museum.  His home & property has been kept very original.   I have this job/joy as a tourguide there, and it is super.  Seems as tho I was prepared for it, from a little girl on up.  www.warthers.com    is the website.   I hope you check it out.  Thankyou for your time, consideration and insight to hobo life & lots more too.   It's so nice that you share your experience with me/us/the world.

    Just on FRANS HOBO GRAPEVINE, Rapid-T sent in a letter, he's still using the e-mail address railroadpostoffice@yahoo.com and signs his name as SAM MALONE. So...............Heads Up to anyone who gets a message from someone using EITHER THAT E-MAIL OR NAME!

    Fran, could you please post the following per the request of Brender and  Mama Jo?  Jo is with Breder and does not have access to the Internet.

Dear Hobo Family,

    It is with great sadness that I post the following information at the request of Mama Jo and Brenda (Brender).  Today, Wednesday, 23 April 2008, at 7:50 a.m., our  beloved Liberty Justice caught the westbound.  Liberty passed peacefully while at home and  with Brenda at his bedside.  Mama Jo has been with Brenda since this  morning.  There will be a one-hour  visitation service for which the details will soon be posted.  Brenda asks that flowers not be  sent.   In lieu of flowers the family requests that a donation be  made to the Hobo Foundation and sent directly to Brenda.  Please make the following note in the subject area of the check New Museum Fundraiser.   The address is;

    Liberty's ashes will be  interred at the Hobo Cemetery in Britt this  August. The song in your heart will forever touch our hearts, dear Liberty.

               Jerry "Liberty" Justice, 72, of Raytown, MO "caught the Westbound" April 23, 2008. Visitation will be 3-5 p.m. Sunday, April 27, at D.W. Newcomers Sons Floral Hills Chapel. Cremation (Arrangements: D.W. Newcomer's Sons Floral Hills Chapel, 7000 Blue Ridge Blvd., KCMO 64133, 816-353-1218)

    I will monitor the link and copy off all reflections before the Guest Book closes so as to print them up to display at Britt this year!

Hello to all of you, I'm writing from Kansa City, Mo. I'm Diana Suckiel and my husband is Bob.We were old friends of Jerry. We are also members of the Rose Tattoo along with our friends Utah Phillips, Larry Penn Rik Paileri, JB Freeman, Bruce Brackney, Kuddie, Mark Ross, John Weiss and many more. We are on the volunteer staff at KKFI Community Radio 90.1 FM. Tomorrow we will be doing a special memorial segment for Liberty Justice on our show. Our show is called Foolkiller Folk. It airs Sunday from 11Am to 1Pm. We are streaming on the web at kkfi.org so if your computer is on DSL or other fast modem you can listen. I will attempt to send a direct link to all of you. I am not a computer whizz so if it doesn't work, go to web site directly.Remembering Liberty---------------------Diana
 
 

The Kansas City Star printed the following obit:  Jerry "Liberty" Justice, 72, of Raytown, MO "caught the Westbound" April 23, 2008.  Visitation will be 3-5 p.m. Sunday, April 27, at D. W. Newcomers Sons Floral Hills Chapel.  Cremation.

I want to adlib more about a good friend Jerry "Liberty" Justice.

He and his wife, Brenda celebrated 52 years of marriage and have one son, Jerry Lee Justice who lives two doors down from his parents' home.

Anyone who knew him knew he was a songwriter, musician and singer.  For years he played in a bluegrass band named, "The Green Side Up".   He loved music and he loved to write songs.  Numerous times either in the hospital or at home he would ask me to read songs he had just written.  This wasn't a five minute deal because so many times his mind was on a "run away track" writing sometimes as many as a hundred songs in one day and he wanted me to read each one.  One time after getting home from the hospital (C.O.P.D. illness) he phoned me and said, I had you read all the songs I wrote and you know what I just read them and most of them "stunk" I must have been on wild meds.  Yes, Liberty wrote some songs that as he put it "stunk" but he also wrote and recorded some beautiful hobo songs that will be part of his legacy for years to come.  A few of my favorite songs he recorded are "It's Hell on a Hobo"; I Am a Rubber Tire Hobo"; "One More Train to Ride"; and "Yesterday's Trains".   At Britt I always enjoyed the campfire hobo entertainers but it was Liberty Justice that had us all dancing around the campfire as he sang the "Hobo Shuffle".   A couple years ago he recorded two CD's to sale and last year he wrote a book to sell, "Songs of the Rails from a Hobo King".  Brenda has the items for sale and will have them at Britt to sale too.

In his book, "Songs of the Rails from a Hobo King" Liberty writes last, but not least I want to thank my wife "Brender", my son Jerry Lee and my mom and dad, who stood by me and waited in worry so many times while I was out chasin' dreams down the rails and road when I had to go.  Even as sick as he was the past year he still had the dreams and the wonder lust to travel and this is some of the stories I wish to tell because many times visiting Liberty and Brenda we would laugh at his ingenious plans to travel after the fact.

He had been discharged from the hospital with C.O.P.D.  The doctors wrote a prescript for him to have a "scooter" to use around the house or if they went shopping.  Brenda went to the store on one occasion and Liberty loaded his oxygen aboard his scooter and off he went on an "all day excursion trip" of Raytown.   After he got home he was plum tuckered out.  He later called me and told me about his trip and told me he was stopped by the sheriff for riding his "scooter" on the highway.  The V.A. doctor got reports of his riding the "scooter" in no man's land and he was told if he didn't behave himself they were taking his scooter back.

One day the phone rang and he was so excited about buying a limousine but told me not to tell Brenda because it was a big surprise.  As he was telling me this on the phone my call waiting went off and it was Brenda on the other line.  She stated do you know Jerry bought a limousine.  I couldn't help but laugh but my mind was racing what is he going to do next.  Once again this is another classic.  He got up at 4:00 am and took off in the limo to go to the flea market to get a good spot.  He took a grill, tons of food and pop to sale there.  It was one of the hottest days Kansas City had last year and here he is at a flea market grilling food to sale while on oxygen.  He told us later he was getting heat exhaustion and people had to aid him by giving him water to keep from dehydrating.  He left the flea market and drove to a hobo jungle and gave all the food to the hobos and homeless.  Can you imagine a "limo" pulling up with food "special delivery" for the homeless?

Last year Liberty was in ICU in the V.A.  He had a phone in his room and I bet several of you have received phone calls from him while in ICU there.  You have seen a bus like you see at an airport to transport people from the airport to the car.  Liberty had seen a used bus such as this on a used car lot that was painted red with K.C. Chiefs all over it.  He wanted to buy it to take people to the football games but Brenda said no you are not capable of driving.  Did this stop Liberty.NO while in I.C.U. at the V.A. he called the used car lot and the finance company and purchased the big red bus.  One day Brenda called me and said can you come over now I think Liberty is going leave on a trip.  I got there and his jacket and pant pockets were over flowing with "stuff".  He had his guitar sitting in the living room.  He told me he was having Brenda to take him to his cousin's to play the game scrabble.  He went to pick up his guitar and it came open.  The guitar was packed with clothes, books and CD's to sale. Busted.  He was planning on going in the big red bus to the 2007 Casey Jones Hobo Gathering.  The bus was for sale on a parking lot of a company who sales K.C. Chief items.  He had called them to tell them he was going to pick up the bus but Brenda didn't know this.  After he got "busted" we left and he did go to his cousins to play scrabble but while there asked to borrow some money which his cousin gave him and then heard him on the phone calling a taxi.  The cousin called Brenda and she came right over.he was still going to Jackson.

The past year even as sick as he was at times he still knew how to connive when the "hobo wonder lust" filled his mind.

Liberty has left a legacy of wonderful music and classic moments with Liberty on his so called escape attempts to go to one more hobo gathering even though his body was saying no.   He indeed was a hobo who loved to ride the rails or be a rubber tramp.

This is only part of the song It's Hell on a Hobo but it tells his story well how much he wanted to still ride the rails but couldn't due to his health.

Song is copyrighted for use in this letter only.

My phone would usually ring three to four times a day and it was Liberty calling to chat.  He loved to chat about the National Hobo Conventions or Hobo Gatherings he had attended.  He told me numerous stories of him and Iron Horse Brad pulling funny pranks on their good friend, Gypsy Moon.  I would just sit and listen as he reminisced and would chuckle.

Indeed I will miss my dear friend, Jerry "Liberty".  He made a big difference in my life.  He was a very compassionate man.  He would give the shirt of his back if needed.  He would ask me about the homeless if I had seen so and so lately.  He used to go to homeless and hobo camps around town to visit with them or like I stated earlier take them food.

Can't you just see it now Liberty in heaven sitting around a "heavenly campfire" entertaining all the hobos who went before him, such as, Steamtrain Maury, N.Y. Greenie, Slo Freight Ben, Hood River Blackie, Gas Can Paddy, The Whittler, Side Door Pullman, Jungle Jack, and so many more Bo' there.

You will be missed dear friend, Jerry "Liberty".

I met "Liberty" at the very first Hobo gatherings that I ever went to over in Britt Iowa. I hardly knew anyone there , but as soon as Liberty saw me with my banjo case he walked over and  introduced himself and also invited me to perform with him . I was surprised at his invitation, as he had not heard me play and told him so. His reply was followed with a wink saying " You look like you are good!"  He was that kind of guy, friendly, a bit zany but very good hearted. I will miss his phone calls of exotic adventures and ideas, We will all miss his songs, jokes and his false teeth tricks.Yes , He will be missed here, but I bet he will keep the angels in heaven laughing for hours .

    One summer I was in K.C. on my way up to Wisconsin and I called Liberty to say I was in town, he came barreling out of Raytown in a Box-Truck he had just bought. Came down to the "Bottoms" by the KCS yard where I was and proceeded to take me on a night-time tour of K.C. attempting to show me "Hobo Camps" that he were unknown. As the night proceeded I got him to drive around to places along the river and several [At that time] train yards where I KNEW HOBO CAMPS WERE. I also took him dumpster diving where we picked up over 400 frozen Po'Boy Sub Sandwiches, and several Folding chairs, along with 2 folding stools. We were out all night until the dawn came and then I had him drop me at the KCS yard where I would catch a train in the [at that time] SOO-CP to Portage.

Later that year I joined up with Liberty at Baldwin City Kansas to help set up for the Baldwin City Hobo Days and DAMNED if he didn't bring the folding chairs, folding stools, and the 400 frozen Po'Boys to feed the visitors!

That same year was the year that Steamtrain, Sidedoor Pullman Kid, and Fishbones were at Baldwin City, Liberty remarked to all 3 Kings that he wanted to show me "Hobo Camps" in K.C., and I ended up showing him more "Hobo Camps" in K.C. than he knew existed! Sidedoor pulled me aside and told me "don't show him everywhere, we need some-place where we can sit down without visitors"!

The same year that Liberty had Steamtrain as a guest at Baldwin City Kansas he ended up riding with Steamtrain out of K.C. on the Norfolk Western [the Old Nickel Plate Line] trying to get Steamtrain back to Napoleon Ohio. Liberty wrote "......I ended up getting Steamtrain into one of the 2-hole Grainers and gave him a small flashlight telling to use the flashlight if he had problems in the hole during the trip.  Sometime during the night I saw the flashlight being used so I checked on Steamtrain and found him making Shadow Puppets on the wall. In Decatur Illinois we both got busted by the "bull" and were escorted off the yard, the "bull" drove us to a highway and then asked Steamtrain for his autograph before telling us Never to Ride HIS Train Again."

Liberty FINALLY put Steamtrain on a bus for Napoleon and followed my directions to the Illinois Central yard in Decatur. He was successful in catching a Train to Belleville Illinois [across the river from St. Louis]. Not liking St. Louis Liberty had a few problems trying to get a U.P. Train out west and ended up getting a bus to Jeffersonville Missouri. At Jeffersonville he found the waiting spot I described and caught a Grain Train out for K.C. but caught a grainer pointed the wrong way [into the wind]. During the ride he ended up in a REALLY NASTY Rainstorm, he had a walking stick and a blanket with him. And tried to Hold the blanket in place with the walking stick to block the rain but as he said "......all I did was end up getting soaked thru-and-thru. But as the U.P. Train rolled into K.C. I jumped off at one of the "Hobo Jungles" you and I visited that night, and was welcomed by the "Bo's" there to sit by the fire and dry off before heading home.

I was miserable from that ride, but getting the welcome to come into that River Bottoms Jungle I received coming home made the ride worth the trouble."

    Frog,  Zipper and Stephanie left Amory last Saturday, the 19th and headed north towards "God's Country".   They stopped to visit with Connecticut Tootsie, for a couple of nights, landed here two days ago, on Wednesday, and they've been great company and very welcome.  It's like "old times" for me..  They gave me the low down on Amory and a list of all the Boes that were there, which included ten Royal Personages.  I'll list them here if my typing finger holds up under the strain.  Frog gave me the list and want's to appologize for any names he might have missed.  (Hey, he ain't as young as he used to was either.)

    Again Amory was a wonderful time for all the Boes attending and, as always, Larry and Ms. Charlotte were most gracious Host and Hostess.

    Hosts, Loco Larry and Ms. Charlotte;  Lady Son-Shine, (our present, lovely Queen);  Frog;  Sunrise;  Redbird Express;  Grandpa Dudley;  M.A.D. Mary;  Lady Nightingale;  Blue Moon Bo;  Hobo Spike;  Zipper & Stephanie;  Hobo SLC & Anna;  Balogna Kid & Lady Bug;  Jump Off John; Stretch & Burlington;  Black Action Steve & Sue Skinner;  Banjo Fred;  Rik Palieri;  Vergia Slim & Cathy;  Old Man Moses;  Double Bob & Double B;  Freedom Greene;  Captain Dingo;  Secret Agent Man;  Harley;  Prince Andrew;  Milwaukee Mike & Doris Do Rite; Max Freeman.

    I wanted to write you, and ask a favor of you.  As the subject of this email states, it's about my grandmother, Wanda Graham's upcoming 90th birthday.   Yes, I said 90th birthday.

     I talked to my mom on Sunday and she wanted me to write you to:
1.  Tell you that Wanda is going to be 90 years old on Sunday, May 11th.
2.  Ask a favor of you.

The favor is this.  My mom and I were talking and thought that my grandmother would enjoy getting lots and lots of cards on her birthday.  That said, I thought that you could notify all of the hobo's that knew my grandparents and let them know that Wanda will be 90 on May 11th and also have them drop her a card.  I know she would get a kick out of hearing from so many and getting so many cards from this "card shower".  It would be fun to just see how many cards she could receive.

Of course they always did, but mom calls Wanda every day.  Mom tells me that Wanda really misses my grandfather (Steam Train Maury Graham) lots and still has her good days and bad days since he passed away.  We were both thinking that hearing from so many will help cheer her up.

It would mean a lot to Wanda and will let her know that we are all still thinking about her.

    It was on this day in 1945 that American troops entered the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, Germany, a camp that was judged second only to Auschwitz in the horrors it imposed on its prisoners. It had been established in 1937, and about 56,000 prisoners died there. There had been reports of concentration camps from the field, but no American soldiers had seen the camps. Many people assumed that the reports had been anti-Nazi propaganda. But then, on this day, the American soldiers saw a concentration camp for themselves, and they became the first Allied observers of one of the worst atrocities in human history.

   The American troops weren't actually liberators. Most of the Nazis had fled the camp before the approach of the Allied army, and the prisoners themselves had risen up and taken control of the camp from the few SS guards who remained. But most of those prisoners would have died from malnutrition or disease in the next few days if Allied troops hadn't arrived with food, water, and medical supplies.

  Many of the soldiers who entered Buchenwald on this day had been fighting in World War II since D-Day. They had participated in some of the bloodiest battles in history. But nothing they'd seen prepared them for what they saw at Buchenwald. Several of the soldiers carried Kodak cameras, and so they took photographs of the surviving prisoners and the dead, so that people would believe what they had seen. Their photographs showed human beings so emaciated that they could barely walk, and victims' bodies were stacked around the camp like piles of wood.

  Sergeant Fred Friendly, who would go on to work as a CBS producer, wrote to his mother, "I want you to never forget or let our disbelieving friends forget, that your flesh and blood saw this."

  One of the reporters who covered the liberation of Buchenwald was Edward R. Murrow. He was so disturbed by what he saw that he couldn't write about it for days, and let a subordinate break the story.

  One of the children liberated at the camp that day was a teenager named Elie Wiesel, who would go on to win the Nobel Peace Prize. He had been forced to march from Auschwitz to Buchenwald a few weeks earlier, and his father had recently died in the camp. He saw American jeeps rolling into the camps, and he later wrote, "I will never forget the American soldiers and the horror that could be read in their faces. I will especially remember one black sergeant, a muscled giant, who wept tears of impotent rage and shame. We tried to lift him onto our shoulders to show our gratitude, but we didn't have the strength. We were too weak to even applaud him."
 
 

    Just a quickie to let Y'all know what's happening.  If I let everyone know here I have to write a heck of a lot less email.  They turned me loose at the VA last Friday and things are going pretty good.  Of course my feet are a bit shorter but that may be a good thing.  Shorter feet means shorter shoes.  Those should take less material so shoes should cost less.

    This list was compiled and sent to me by Hobo Queen Mama Jo.  Thanks Mama Jo.  I'll get it all entered on the "Gatherings Page" as soon as I can.

 May 3  Princeton, MN Railroad Museum
             Host:  Silver Penny, director of railroad museum

May 24   Bucyrus, OH Hobo Day
                     Contact:  Old Crow     croneis@embarqmail.com

June 6-8     Rochelle, IL Railroad Days and Hobo Gathering
                     Contact Rick Barnes (815) 561-1231

July 18-20   Deep Lock Quarry Hobo Gathering
                Contact Hummingbird (Pat Rydquist)  patrydquist@yahoo.com

July             Van Wert, OH Hobo Gathering
                    Check with M.A.D. Mary at   hepp1catt@yahoo.com   for dates  Also posted on the Gatherings Page.

July 26        Venego, PA (history of A No 1) Hobo Gathering
                     Contact host Kerrick Caldwell at     kcdco809@yahoo.com

August 5-6   Pre-activities to the National Hobo Convention
                      Contact Mary Jo Hughes for info (641) 843-3840

August 7-10  108th National Hobo Convention at Britt, Iowa
                        For a schedule of activities go to website:
                        http://www.brittiowa.com/hobo/events.htm

August 30   Bucyrus, OH Hobo Day
                   Contact: Old Crow at    croneis@embarqmail.com

 Cancellation:  Port Huron, MI Down by the Depot Hobo Festival
    Thanks to JoeJoe Diva Depot, Host of three great hobo gatherings

Cancellation:  Pleasant Hill, MO Railroad Days and Hobo Gathering

Cancellation:  Riverhead, Long Island, New York
    Dandy Don thanks for memorable two great hobo gatherings.
 
 

  ISU engineering students head project to get hobo museum on national registry A lot of good things have been happening for the Hobo Foundation lately, such as a couple people from Italy visiting the Hobo Museum and wanting to write a book and two people from Japan who are working on cataloging and writing about all the hobo artifacts. But nothing can be better than a group of Iowa State University students taking an active interest in hobo history and culture and coming up with dozens of ideas on how to preserve it and help it thrive in the 21st century.

 Bridget Belkaucemi, a landscape architecture instructor, accepted a lecture position at Iowa State University last year and also agreed to teach a class that could encompass students from several different disciplines. Wondering what she could do that would be interesting and would tie into Iowa, she decided on a cultural study of the annual Britt Hobo Convention and the hobo sub-culture as a whole. “I never went into the museum until last year,” said the sister of Jennifer Hughes, who also happens to be the sister-in-law to the Hobo Museum curators and Hobo Foundation board members Linda Hughes and her sister, Mary Jo Hughes. “It's extremely unique and nationally significant,” Belkaucemi said about the museum, “and I knew no one had been interested in helping them with the design aspect.”

 Students taking her Hobo Studio this semester spent several weeks researching the hobo era, beginning after the Civil War to present day, before touring the Hobo Museum, located in the old Chief Theater in Britt. Students then broke into three groups, each focusing on a different concept. One group worked on redesign options for the current hobo collection housed in the theater and the theater itself. A second group worked on a new state-of-the-art facility to house the collection and the third concentrated on design concepts for a national hobo memorial that would tie in both the Hobo Jungle and the cemetery. One of Belkaucemi's students, Matt Palan, is particularly interested in the old theater. He would like nothing more than to see the building restored to its former glory. Palan, a fourth-year architecture student, was part of a group of students who presented their design ideas at the end of February to Foundation members, the hobo community and Britt mayor Jim  Nelson. He has taken his interest one step farther. As a project for another class, Historic Preservation, he has begun the process of getting the Chief Theater listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. Palan explained that part of the “hobo code” calls for being good to the environment, respecting community and doing things no one else wants to do. He feels that is exactly what he is doing in his attempts to restore a city landmark. The National Registry, however, has very strict guidelines for a building to be accepted. Palan said a building must either have architectural significance; historical ties with famous people; hold clues to the past or prehistory itself or must have significance in the overall scheme of society or within the community.

 It is this fourth requirement that he is currently working on. Information must also meet the 50-year rule. “It has to be older than 50 years,” Palan said. “The stuff I need needs to be older than that. The cut-off period is 1958. We're looking at the Princess Theater and early Chief Theater past.” Spending much of his spring break time in Britt last week talking to people and searching through the News-Tribune achieves, he is slowly piecing together a bit of Britt's history. “Realistically, this won't get on the Registry before I leave (the school semester ends). After all the material has been gathered there is a three-month review period,” Palan explained. “Someone will have to pick this up after I leave it.” But it is a start. And now that the ball is rolling there will be followers. “It's unbelievable. It's a good feeling to have new ideas,” said Linda Hughes, Hobo  Museum curator and Foundation treasurer. “It will come down to dollars, but if we can get on the  National Registry we can go for grants.” What Palan is particularly looking for now is peoples stories. Stories about what they did at the old theater, memories of first dates, watching westerns, being an employee or sitting up in the balcony. “Any story that shows there is a history there,” Hughes said. “We need this information.”

    The Texas Madman has sent a list of deceased Hoboes whose names are read, and remembered, at the ceremony at the Hobo graveyard every year during Britt Hobo Convention.  The list is a bit long for the Grapevine so I've inserted another page where you can view them.  Just click on "Deceased Hoboes" to see the list.  If anyone knows of other Hoboes that should be added to this roll you can contact The Texas Madman, by email, at;

    Got an email from Red, this week, and he tells me that his new CD of Hobo songs will be ready son.  Red (who's not really very young any more) remembers his father working for MKT.  Dad worked for the railroad forty years, starting in 1913, and Red grew up familiar with railroads and Hoboes so this CD, containing songs he's written and dialogue about the Hoboes, should be great.  I have some of his recordings and love his music and style so I'm looking forward to this new CD.  When it's available I'll post it on the Grapevine.  Anybody wanting to get in touch with Red can do so at:

    My name is Greg Baumgardner. I live in Henderson, IL. just 3 miles north of Galesburg, IL. on the BNSF.

    Galesburg has long been celebrating Railroad Days in June. In the past, one of the events was a gathering of hobos telling stories and singing songs. The hobos were sponsored by Rita Hatch at her home at Knox Station along the Santa Fe transcon east of Galesburg. I met several of the hobos during cookouts at Knox Station. Rita is no longer able to sponsor the hobo jungle and they have stopped coming to Railroad days.

     I am trying to bring the hobos back to Railroad Days. I would like to sponsor the hobo jungle at my property in Henderson. We have plenty of space for camping, areas for campfires and an above ground pool.

     My problem (and hopefully this is where you can help) is that I have no way to get in touch with the hobo community to let them know they have a sponsor.

    I do not recall the names of most of the hobos that  I met but I do distinctly remember Grandpa Dudley and a song he sang about running over possum and cooking it up in a pot.

     I would greatly appreciate any help you could give in getting the word out that Galesburg would like to have the hobos back at Railroad Days this year and that they have a place to hang their hat while they are in town.  The Dates this year for Railroad Days are June 28th & 29th.

Fran,

    I know that you have trouble with these video links. SO please check it out and if it works share with the Grapevine .

    Also I have been getting e-mail from coast to coast about my few seconds in the new Pete Seeger Film "The Power Of Song" which airs nation wide this week.

    I forgot to give you a heads up on Marlin's new CD of all original Trains Songs. Written by the legendary hobo( and national treasure ), Marlin Wallace.  The lead vocals are by Marlin himself. Available at the web site and on ebay.

    Mama Jo's "Tracks", this month, is about Hobo Nickles and railroad spikes.  It also contains a special poem, "A Spike", by Larry Penn  Be sure to click on the tracks, above, to enjoy this interesting "Tracks".
 
 

    Our Lovely Queen Lady SonShine now has started her own country music web site.  Click here onLady SonShine to get to it.  First her very own country music CD (See the article below this one) and now her own website.  Do you hear that noise?  Thats all the lady country stars, in Nashville grinding their teeth because a new, great, country star is rising.

Fran,

  Hey! Yea!  I am ready to sell my Cd..... Long Steel Rail

  I am selling them for $14.50  postage and handling included.

  I am very excited about this new adventure at this time in my life.     This is my first solo cd and it is dedicated to the Hoboes,Tramps and Rail Workers (like my Grampa) who changed so much of American history.

  As Queen of the Hoboes this year, I can not see me doing either my "Gospel" or my "Almost Country" as my first one out. They will be at a later date.

    Ok friends lets get behind our wonderful Queen and see that her first venture into recording is a success.  Lady SonShine is not onlya wonderful lady but she has a great singing voice.  If I was twentyfive years younger I'd try to have her, personally, singing to me every night.  Her CD will have to satisfy me, for now, but did you ever try to cuddle a CD?  (Sigh, sigh, sigh.  It's hell to be getting old.)
 
 

Tuesday August 5th-Queens Garden Party a Tribute to Slo-Freight Ben   (invitations will be sent out)

Wednesday August 6th-5p.m.-6:30p.m. Meal before Goespel Concert
7p.m.-Goespel Concert at St. Patricks Church featuring Hobo Greats Luther the Jet, Serenity and more. If you would like to entertain please contact Mary Jo Hughes. This is a fundraiser for the new hobo museum. More details to follow in coming months.

Thursday August 7th-Kiddie Parade hosted by the Hobo Foundation. This is still in the planning stages, more info later.
6a.m. till 4:03p.m.-Silent Auction at the Hobo House
7p.m.-Official Fire Lighting and Hobo
Entertainment

Friday August 8th-9a.m. Hobo Memorial Service at Evergreen Cemetery
2p.m.-Ladies Tea at St. Patricks Church
4p.m.-Poetry Reading at Hobo Jungle

Saturday August 9th-1p.m. HOBO KING and QUEEN CORONATION
Hobo Auction to Follow at City Gazebo

The Hobo Museum will be open all during Hobo Week.

In planning for 2008, my biggest thrill is getting ready for Deep Lock Quarry Hobo Days. It will begin on Friday, July 18 to July 20, 2008. We plan on setting up camp on Thursday night (7/17) for any Bos that happen to be coming into town. That will also give us an early start on Friday morning to set up the displays.  I hope to have a special lighting of the jungle campfire on Friday evening, an evening hike since it will be a full moon, bicycle riders on the Towpath will be stopping by to enjoy the campfire, and enjoy potlatch with whoever shares stories.

Saturday will be the train ride at noon and campfire by the river in the evening.

Sunday, we plan on starting the event at 11:30 with a hobo service (hopefully Mama Jo will lead us again), book signings and readings by Dandi McCall, and election of the King and Queen at 2:30. In all of this grand time, we will celbrate Luther the Jet Gette's 70th Birthday.  There is plenty of room in all this for your BD celebration, and any other surprise that comes our way.

I'll be corresponding more later.

    I am in the process of nominating our Deep Lock Quarry Hobo Days event, Hobo Nature Realm Jungle display, and Hobo Outreach kit for the Region 4 National Association of Interpretation Outstanding Interpretive  Program
for 2008. I am hoping you will write a letter of support for this. Those of you who are hobos can write about the historical interpretation and information, displays, activities at the event, and how your impressions. Those of you who are volunteers, can write about the displays, activities, and what you have gained from he event. Those of you who are staff can write about the benefits this interpretation has been to Metro Parks and Deep Lock Quarry Metro Park. Those of you have attended this event can write about the activities, displays, and your impressions.
I would greatly appreciate your support and help in this.  The nominations have to be in by January 1st.

    Got a letter from Pat Rhyquidst telling me that the dates for the Peninsula Hobo Gathering for 2008 will be July 18h, 19th, and 20th!

Hi Fran,

    Here's a link to the Hobo section of my web site. http://www.ratpackstlouis.com/hobo-u63.htm  Click on the BRITT 2007 picture to see all the gang and the goings on.  I also have added pictures on Baloney Kid & Lady Bug's wedding ceremony.  Best wishes to all.

Fran:

    Here on the Grapevine, and on other pages of this site, there are, and will continue to be, links to other internet sites.   I try to check these sites out before posting the links but, occasionally, there could be links, from these other sites, to unwanted materials.  If you should find yourself linked to sites that contain objectionable matter let me know, so I can look into it.

    I'm always looking for more pictures of Hobo art to add to the Hobo Arts page.  Let's show folk what we, and the old Hoboes have for talent.  To you folk that aren't Hobos, I'd appreciate it if you'd send pictures of any Hobo art that you find, also.   Help us preserve as much Hobo history as possible.  For too many years Hobo art and the history of the American Hoboes has been neglected and, at times, what is believed and saved is misinterpreted giving many of today's people  false impressions of the true Hobo.