Hilda Bethke Zink

Hilda Bethke was born in 1934 on a farm in Baltimore, Maryland, to parents Lena and Henry.

Hilda married Raymond E. Zink and they had three children, Ray, Joyce, and Debbie.

Hilda had seven siblings: Bill, Pete, Howard, Lena, Marie, Alvina, and Daisy.

Hilda loved her Zion Church family and she treasured the many years she spent being an active member there. She was a member of the handbell choir and served on the Church Council. One year when the church was looking for new ways to bring in much needed funds, Hilda approached the Church Council with an idea… Pumpkin Rolls. She shared her recipe, and she and Ray trained a team of volunteers on how to make pumpkin rolls… lots and lots of pumpkin rolls. Many members of the original team are still involved, and the pumpkin rolls sold at Zion’s annual Turkey Dinner are enjoyed by many area families as part of their annual Thanksgiving tradition. After almost 20 years, it is still one of Zion’s major fundraisers and it all became possible because of Hilda Zink.

Farm Life

Letter written by Hilda, date unknown:

I was the middle daughter – two older sisters – Lena and Alvina – 2 younger – Marie, May Lena (Daisy). Howard was my younger brother and Pete (Henry) and Bill were my older stepbrothers.

We lived on a truck farm on (New Philadelphia Road) Pulaski Highway – Route 40. We grew our own vegetables and had a cow for milk and butter, chickens for eggs and for food (meat). We raised our own chickens by setting aside 2 or 3 hens with eggs to hatch and then raise the chicks. We had one cow, which was bred once a year for a calf. The calf was either sold or traded to a milk farmer. From the cow we had plenty of milk and cream. The milk was poured into large round bowls as the cream would come to the top. It was skimmed off and put into a glass butterchurn to make butter. The butter was then “washed” several times to get the pure butter without any milk left in it. My mother had butter and buttermilk customers who came to the house to buy it or some relatives would ask for it (Aunt Liz and Uncle Albert).

My grandparents had an ice house by the pond. Inside there were rocks with boards across. It was very cool inside which kept the milk and butter cold. It had a natural ‘spring’ inside. My grandmother Agnes (Grossmom) had a root cellar in the house next to the kitchen. She kept her meats and fresh picked vegetables and potatoes there. It was a “neat” house. Built into the side of a hill. On ground level was the kitchen, root cellar, fireplace and the stairs leading to the second floor bedrooms. However, on the second floor landing was a door to go outside. Once outside you would be on top of the hill. Grandpop Robert Bethke (Grosspop) built it that way as a means to escape from the Indians. If they were coming in the kitchen, the family could escape by going up the steps and be on top of the hill. The bedroom floors were wooden with a few handmade rugs to step on when getting out of bed.

The big kitchen had one huge fireplace where Grosspop had his rocking chair. The only other furnishings were the huge wooden kitchen table and chairs. Grossmom would always make hot tea with cream ladled off the top of the bowls of milk. She washed dishes in a bowl. Water was carried by bucket from the outside pump.

She helped slop the pigs and cows. She worked in the fields to grow their own food. They had a horse or two to help with plowing the fields.

I was a kid about 7 or 8 years old when World War II was going on. I remember our dad (Henry Bethke) listening to the evening news on his radio (floor model). I was terrified that my dad would have to go to war. Our pump went dry so my dad and a neighbor, using a divining stick, searched around the property for a new location. The divining stick was a branch from a certain tree that could bend closer to the soil as it sensed water. Finally a new location was found and the well diggers dug for many days. A new pump was installed and once again we had clean, cool, fresh water – I loved it.

Hobos often stopped for food. We always gave them two slices of bread with King syrup on it and they would start walking again.

We had a medicine man with his special truck where the sides would open so we could see all the wares and supplies he had. I only remember getting Gentian Violet and Mercurichrome to put on cuts and scrapes. He had soap and pots and pans. My mother always gave them molasses sandwiches.

My dad always did his own plowing and growing of our vegetables. In the front of the house, across from the driveway and lane was the corn patch. Often road walkers would go into the patch at night and steal corm. The next night my dad would have his gun ready. He never shot at anyone but would shoot into the air to scare them away.

We grew our own potatoes, tomatoes, beans and corm. The potatoes were kept in our root cellar. The other vegetables were put in glass jars and processed with high heat and water to preserve for winter meals. We raised our own chickens for eggs and table use. I especially liked watching the baby chicks pick their way out of the eggs. Sometimes I helped pick the shell so the chick could get out faster. That wasn’t always the right thing to do and my mother would tell me the story about how important it was to leave the chick to do that work by itself. We had our own grape arbors. We always had plenty of fresh grapes right off the vine. By September, all the grapes were picked and made into grape jelly for winter use. The jars were sterilized first. The grapes were cooked and then put into cotton sacks so the juice could drain into the bowl and the skins were caught in the sack. Us kids didn’t like grape jelly with the grape skins in it. It took lots of sugar to sweeten the jelly.

Member’s Memories

Written by Hilda Zink around 1997 for the VFW and Ladies Auxiliary in Rossville, Maryland. She had been President since 1995.

I became an auxiliary member partly because I grew up in Rossville and had four years of my early education at the “Old Rossville School”. The Old School was very much a part of the lives and activities of everyone in the co. While a student in the third and fourth grades, our teacher, Mrs. Holter, had us knit squares from wool yarn during one class period each day. After completing a square, we gave it to Mrs. Holter. She sat in front of the classroom wit her specks on and weave the squares together until it was just the right size for a comfortable lap robe. The robes were then sent to our servicemen in the hospitals. She often received a Thank You note from “the men” which she read to the class and then thumbtacked it on the bulletin board. As a child, I felt proud to have been a part of that effort, and remember the feeling of loyalty we owed to our servicemen.

The air raid drills were terrifying. When the alarm sounded the students filed out of the school to “hide” in a nearby stream bed. The 7th grade boys had dug steps into the bank so the children could get to the bottom of the stream bed faster. The older boys had to protect the younger students from falling into the water.

I must mention my memories of the “infamous” tombstone of teacher Alfonse Price in the school yard. The younger children circled around it singing “Ring Around the Rosie”. Others made is the home free base while playing Hide-n-Seek. And then there were others, like myself – we chipped Hop Scotch markers from it. The chips, with one side being smooth and flat, were perfect for landing in a hopscotch block.

I watched as my three brothers went overseas to serve in World War II. I missed them so much and yet when they came home on furlough in their dress uniforms, the old feeling of pride and loyalty erupted again, knowing they had been there helping to protect our country. They came home without injuries and didn’t need a lap robe made by school children. My oldest brother Bill Bethke, was one of the charter members in putting together the VFW Post 6506 in the “Old Rossville School.”

About that time there was plenty of talk among the women fold on starting an Auxiliary. My mother and oldest sister were among the charter members. My mom (Lena Bethke) held the flag Bearer and First Year Trustee positions. My sister was the Senior Vice President. The three room school house was being turned into a dance and Bingo hall. Spaghetti dinners were served, which raised lots of money and there were times when plenty of hot dogs were served on rolls. I became a “waitress” at an early age, helping to serve meals, give out corn kernels to Bingo players, and clean up those kernels after Bingo was over. The kids of the members also tagged along when our moms and sisters marched in the parades on Philadelphia Road., now named Route 7. Again, it was the time to experience the patriotism of our country, the members, and our families.

In 1953 I married the love of my life, my husband, Ray. My parents rented the “Old School House” for our reception at a cost of $25.00. The beer kegs were rolled across Philadelphia Road from Rossville Inn for the reception. Auxiliary members helped prepare the food and decorate the hall. The tables and chairs in the hall were a mixture of wooden picnic tables and metal or chrome tables and chairs. But it was “right” to have our reception at the VFW that was so much a part of our community and our lives.

Ray, with his military duty over, and I, began raising our family of three children – Debbie, Ray Jr. and Joyce. For my dad, having grandchildren qualified him to be a member of the Grandads at the Post home. By this time he had retired and was available to help “fix” and “repair” things at the Post. He volunteered to clean up after the Saturday night parties. He enjoyed the companionship with the “guys”.

Today, the VFW and the Auxiliary are still a part of my life, having served as chairman of the Cancer Aide and Research program, and receiving the Traveling Educational plaque. I served as Junior and Senior Vice President and Community Activities chairman, receiving recognition and plaques for outstanding reporting of Post and Auxiliary activities. The years have come full circle – having been elected in 1995 to serve as President of the Auxiliary – the same Auxiliary that almost 50 years ago I remember as just beginning.

More information on Charles Evering VFW Post 6506

Charles Evering was a Rosedale, Maryland, hometown hero born on April 19, 1926. As a Private First Class, 6th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, U.S. Marine Corp during World War II, Charles was Killed in Action on June 24, 1944 in Saipan, Marianas Island at the age of 18. Private Evering served our country for about six months when his life came to an end. Charles is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Prayer Shawls

Excerpt from letter written by Hilda Zink, November 2007.

The Ladies Guild presented 34 handmade Prayer Shawls in the [Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church] sanctuary on April 29, 2–7. The shawls were blessed a the 9:30am and 11:00am worship services. The shawls were made to be given to Zion members on the Prayer List, shut-ins, those in care facilities, and those in need of “We’re here for you and care about you”. It is an ongoing project to show our love, concerns, and care. Let’s get some warm, fuzzy shawls to Zion’s housebound members so they can wrap it around themselves and know that the church cares about them and is sending comfort.

July 1992 – Our Visit to Germany

Our trip and visit to the relatives was just awesome. We were warmly greeted by everyone-family, neighbors, shopkeepers and the list goes on and on.

We stayed in the home of my cousin Bernhard, his wife, Mine (Me-nah), 2 of their 4 children, Anja — 16 years, and Michael — 19 years. I wore Michaels’ wooden shoes and Ray helped Bernhard with barnyard chores. Turkeys, peacocks, hens, garden vegetables, homemade bread, lots of family photo albums, and tea every few hours with homemade cakes and real cream for the tea. Anja and Michael gave up all activities in order to spend as much time as possible with us, therefore, we were engaged in long discussions on family history, world events, jobs, schools, computers and on and on. They spoke English as does Mine so it was easy to converse.

Each day Bernhard arranged to take us to visit a different relative.  And, oh my, we were so warmly greeted, hugged, kissed, pampered with the most delicious food and tea with real cream.

Our first day of visiting was to “Cousin” Hermann and to my great shock – he is really my step-brother! My grandmother raised him as her own as was the custom in those days. Hermann and I cried together – it was a very special kind of event. He didn’t want us to leave and even wanted to pull me from the car so he could keep me a while longer. His two daughters were there and his wife plus three grandchildren. They adored us! The Sunday before we left they came laden with a basketful of gifts for us to take back to America so we would never forget them!

We visited cousin Leni and family — it was an afternoon spent in their gorgeous Tea House or Garden House. We were overwhelmed with attention, a cookout in their flower adorned garden. Our parting gift — a handmade ceramic dinner bell — cobalt!! Leni remembered that my mother loved blue and I was to have the special blue bell to take back to the U.S. to remember them.

Next a visit to Cousin Grete and family on her huge, huge dairy farm. There I cradled in my arms the youngest of all, an almost 4 week old baby girl. They saved the new birth celebration until our visit. When a new baby is born, everyone comes to visit and share “Kindertur”. Kindertur is a special alcoholic drink with raisins in it. The custom has it that it is only served for the birth of a child and for special blessing, health, and a long life for the baby. It was a real special day. Our gift was a dish from Grete’s family china dinner set. Now when she sets her table for a family dinner — one plate will be missing — it is in America with Hilda. I promised her that I would place her plate at our family dinners and would remember her!! The dish is blue and white, a windmill in the center with a thatched roofed house on either side. A canal is in the foreground with a dinghy boat in the water. I just love the dish and the thought behind it.

On to cousin Ewaldine’s house. My mother stayed at her home on 2 of her visits back to Germany. I heard so much about Ewaldine from my mom that when I finally saw her it was as if we had known each other for a long time. Our embrace seemed to last forever. It was a very, very lovely meeting. She has also an enormous dairy farm with many cattle. Ray was given the royal tour of Grete and Ewaldine’s dairy operation. There again, the food was delicious and memorable. Her gift to us was an oil lamp which belonged to her complete set of china. The pattern is the Ostfriesen Rose. I promised to light it often and remember her and her family. We all cried! Such warm people! Such thoughtful gifts. Nothing was bought from a store just for the occasion but instead a part of something that belonged to them was to be shared with us.

We visited cousin Evert and his family — same scenario — our parting gift — precious family photos he wanted me to have so I could look at them and see the great grandparents and so on.

Next a visit to the place where my mother grew up and lived. The house had burned down many years ago and there is now a pasture. However, we visited the house next door to see if it was the same family as when my mom’s family lived there. Sure enough!! The 87 year old man went to school with my mom and remembered her well. His wife, daughter and family were all having afternoon tea. Their 16 year old grandson spoke English quite well — he & I had a lengthy talk and he didn’t want us to leave — he was so thrilled to be conversing with an American with such close ties to his homeland

One day was set aside for visiting the graves of my grandparents and other relatives. That was a real experience — the cemeteries are more like flower parks, ornate, beautifully landscaped, and serene places. Also visited the church where my mother had attended. It is about 550 years old and very well preserved.

Not be forgotten — we visited Mina and Bernhard’s son, Hans-Jorge and his expectant wife – we were hoping baby would come during our visit — was born 6 days later — a boy! It was a 2-1/2 hour drive to Bealefield to their home. It gave us the opportunity to see some lovely country, the remains of a concentration camp, a health spa resort, and a 140 kilometer ride on the autobahn. Hans-Jorge works in the world-known camp for special children with disabilities. It was a lovely day with them, they had lunch prepared for us in their flower garden.

And then our visit had to come an end. Bernhard and Mine drove us to the train station in Leer where they had met us in a joyful, happy reunion. The train was right on time, our parting was so emotional and I still get tears in my eyes when I think about it. It was the same station and platform where my mom got on the train for a new life in America. The same train station where Bernhard met her on her visit to their home the last time she was in Germany. Ray and I boarded the train, put the window down so we could say more goodbyes again and again. The train pulled away and we were heading back on the journey to our kids waiting for us in the U.S. Ray and I call it our “Sentimental Journey” as we do have very, very fond memories of being with the relatives. They prepared for our visit and made it very special. Bernhard and Mine are very gracious, humble and special people they shared everything they owned with us. We learned so much about their lifestyle. They speak of my mom with reverence and grace which made me realize how much they too loved her.

Northern Germany is lush, flat, green, numerous windmills, and canals. I had always wanted to meet the relatives, to talk of family ties and I returned with a deeper sense of being a part of their world. Visiting their country was a real new experience both spiritual and cultural. We did not experience much difficulty with communication. Anja had volunteered to be near us to help with word translation. Almost all the young in Germany speak English and they were so proud to communicate with us.

What struck me the most, was how we were looked up to as Americans as well as relatives. Surely it was more than we look up to ourselves. Mine (Me-nah) pu it so well – “the way they look at you, you would think you came from outer space”.

We were happy to be back home. My lifetime dream was fulfilled.

August  8, 1992 letter from Hilda to Joyce white she was staying at Bernhard and Mine’s house in Moormorland, Germany.

“Time is going fast. We have now visited all the cousins. Hermann and Leni on Monday, Grete and family on Tuesday, Bernhard’s workplace on Wednesday. Visited cousin Evert (Bernhard’s brother) and saw he graves of grandparents and my mom’s church in Filsum. Visited Ewaldine on Thursday. On Friday, we visited Ewart’s brother, Hans-Jorge. On Saturday. we went with Bernhard and Mine to the village store. Just a few bags of groceries and it was very expensive.

The gifts from the cousins: Hermann gave me photos – some very old and one of him and his wife. Leni’s husband does something like ceramics  and gave us a handmade bell. Grete had her table set with the service which was also a part of her good china dishes. She gave me a bowl from the set. Evert came to Mine’s house with his very old family photo albums for me to take pictures from. Ewaldine gave us a small table lamp  (from her set) — it is the same pattern as the one Mine sent us at Christmas. These are treasures to them. and they want me to have part of it to take back and remember them by. Anja tells us at breakfast that she dreamed last night in English. She’s done so much translating for us. She stays real close to us so we understand what is going on and what is being said.”

Letters from Hilda to Joyce indicate that she and Ray first went to Frankfurt and started on a tour and stayed at the Queens Hotel in Nuremberg. Saw Heidelberg Castle, Berlin Wall, Hitler’s bunker, Gestapo headquarters. Then 5 hour train ride to Leer.

Kindertür

Hilda tasted Kindertür during one of her visits. Here is what she wrote about it:

This beverage is prepared when parents announce that a baby is expected. After the birth of the baby, the adults celebrate the news by sharing together the drink as well as the good news. It is served in crystal stemware with a demitasse spoon.

Three months before the baby is due to arrive, mix and stir:

1 box of raisins

1 bottle of proof alcohol

Prepare in a large crock container. Cover with a lid and store in a cool room.

Our Visitors and Our Travels

Bernhard and Mine visited September 1990

Trip to Germany: July-August 1992

Hermann and Diny visited July 1993

Tour of Western states July-August 1993

Minnesota, Canada and Great Lakes July-August 1994

Lake George, Lake Placid, Adirondacks, Catskills July 1995

Notes from Hilda about her mother’s suitcases

Hilda remembers her mother saying, “Show me how to write it in English.” She wanted to be like other Americans.

When I asked her to tell me about the boat, how long it took, what was it like? Yes, she was homesick and thought she would never get to America. She had a small bunk on the boat. Her possessions were in one truck and two brown suitcases. Years later the suitcases were kept special. The trunk was stored in the attic. The larger brown suitcase, kept in the bedroom closet, held special treasures – Mom’s wedding veil, which, as young children growing up, we would play bride and afterward carefully fold and place it back in the brown suitcase.

There were other treasures, including a dark green linen dress and shoes, in the suitcase which always were folded and carefully placed back. The smaller case was kept in the parlor closet. In our growing-up years, that case held the important papers, coins, and Mom’s passport. The passport was carefully wrapped in a linen handkerchief.

Additional photos