16-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Saturday, February 3, 1912: Today proved to be a dull Saturday to me anyway. Ruth went skating this evening. It’s the first time this winter.
Source: Youths' Companion (November 16, 1911)
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Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Since this was the first time that Grandma’s sister Ruth went skating, the weather must not have been as conducive for skating in 1912 as it had been the previous winter. In 1911 Grandma’s diary entries mentioned that friends came over to her family’s farm several times to go skating. For example, on January 17, 1911 she wrote:
Miss Stout was over this evening, wanted me to go skating or else sliding with her down on the creek with the rest of the gang. I choose to stay at home, and there I remained, and here I am at the present time.
Warrior Run Creek flows along the edge of the farm. I’m surprised that the creek froze enough to skate on. Maybe they flooded nearby land to create a homemade skating rink.
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