Mrs. Forrest with family and friends
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The Turtle Story
Editor’s note: From an interview with Mrs. Forrest’s niece Mrs. Elizabeth Rhinehart:
“I remember a time when Uncle Richard drained the lake for some reason. My brother and I couldn’t wait to see what was on the bottom. You can imagine our surprise when we saw two large turtles! Later that day, we gathered outside at the pavilion for the evening meal, and to our shock the turtles were on the menu. Back then people ate a lot of things you wouldn’t eat today. I also recall a lady, who was visiting Uncle Richard and Aunt Evelyn, was there, too. She was so excited about having the opportunity to eat fried chicken with the folks.
“When it came time for the meal to be served, the chicken was placed on a separate plate from the one that held the turtle meat. Every time the plate with turtle meat was passed her way, the woman took some and remarked how good it was. She thought it was chicken. Once we realized she did not know what she was eating, we were afraid to tell her. The chicken would come her way, and she would pass it up because she liked the “chicken on the other plate.†It was hard not to laugh. Everyone, even Aunt Evelyn, was having a hard time holding back smiles and laughter. Finally, someone spoke up and told her that she was eating turtle. She smiled and politely got up, excused herself from the table, and walked to the back of the pavilion where she got sick. Then she returned to the table and asked for the “real†chicken to be passed to her.
“Oh, we had a wonderful time at school. It was fun—great fun. There was always lots of laughter.”