The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1858-08-14
tCorrcspohdencs Of the Nonpsreii.l
errERS FROM RAvENDALE-NO. Y

Mn. EpIroR Prior to the last ss4th," q
little band Of the chivalry and beauty Of the
Bluffs, had determined to inaugurate pio-nicS
as one Of the constitutions" Of Western
Iowa, knowing full well that when the
metropolis led the van the smaller towns
and villages would eagerly follow in its
wake. But the rain thwarted their laudable
purpose, and the enjoyment they had prom
i,ed themselves, and which seemed almost
within their grasp, vanished into tho dim
and dreamy future. Yet, nothing disheart-
ened, they kept looking ahead for the "good
time coming" and at length it came a, good
as they could wish. After al indefinite
postponement, their efforts and hopes were
Yesterday crowned with glorious success.
Annual or semi-annual pic-nics in this re-
zion ore now fixed fact, and children's
children, as they celebrate them, will drink,
in natures flashing beverage, the health of
their grandpas and grandmas who, when
they were fiery youths and pretty girls, put
their heads and their baskets together, went
out to Festal Grore, and founded them. |
was honored with an invitation to join the
iovial throng, and did so.
About thirty persons made up the COM
pany, and, to say nothing of the piles of
good things that loaded the tables, the collis-
ion of kindred spirits, the Interchange OF
sentiment, ''the feast of reason and the flow
of SOUL" rendered the occasion ono long
to be remembered with pleasure. We had
music and dancing, racing and swinging,
climbing and lolling, but not any brawling.
Then we were not pestered with any Of
those intolerable bores, called orators,
who think long winded bsmbastic
splurge of "empty nothingness" should
be a prominent feature Of oil such
gatherings. have listened to hem, on
similar occasions, until have writhed
on my seat with torture, and have seen the
delicate fingers of gentle women hooked in
stinctively like eagles talons, as tito throt-
tie them and choke them into silence. No
orators to jar our nerves and make us mad.
No naughty danes with elevated roses and
magnificent swing. No grouty gumbling
wretches to make US miserable. And these
last you know, are perfect scouge, for if
one of them were dining with the gods, he
would growl if Jupiter should sip bis nectar
before passing the goblet to hm.) But
we had none of them. Peace, harmony and
JOY were the presiding deities of the scene,
and time flew as though enviou of our
enjoyment.
Festal Grove lies adjacent to Ryendale,
upon a gentle eminence, which, probably,
in the remote past, served as play ground
to the monsters who rolled and ported in
the waves above it. And, since ishas heav-
ed itself up ''into this breathing world"
and become covered with verdure, The buffa-
10 and the savage have trampled over it,
alike unconscious of its future picnic fame.
Then, in modern times IA log schtol- house
has graccd its summit that for year after
year, for o sweet and swift three months,
gathered within its classic walls the aspiring
genius of the hamlet; but, after being the
scene of innumerable ferrulings and the
dcuth-bed of thousand hopes, ittoo has
passed away. Yesterday formed anew era
in the eventful history of this old hill, its
GROWING grove, probably for the first time
in its existence, received a name, and its
''soundins aisles" echoed with sweeter mu-
sic than ever rang through them before
But, Mr.. Editor, all good times in this world
have an end.
we parted-the ladies giving rich zest even
to the final scene by setting in thrilling song
a few rich gems Of poetry, among which
"Sweet Home" sent many heart bounding
over the continent to nestle again for mo-
ment in those magic circles which time has
broken, and drive off the chill of the cold
world on the warm hearth stones of child.
hood. We took the ''ridge road" on our
return to town, which led us from the grove
s.iil lafeuef oue iuto lne Couhtrys anu, ateI
a crcuitous drive of ten miles in the cool of
the evening, we all reached the Bluffs safe
and sound, well pleased with ourselves and
''the rest of mankind,' and fully resolved
that pic-nics shall flourish in this region for
a hundred years to come, after which the
future may look out for itself.
Yours, in haste,
Bob MARLINsPIKs.
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