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 Just a simple white tablecloth
Let’s start with a family tradition that dates back more than sixty
years ago.
Mount Pulaski native and local insurance agent, Corey Leonard,
shares a unique story about what started out as a simple white
tablecloth long before he was even born. His paternal grandmother,
Imogene Leonard, laid out a plain white tablecloth on a long dining
room table and not only did she serve her family and other special
guest’s meals on it throughout the years, but she also asked them to
sign their names on it.
She would then embroider those names by hand on the tablecloth, thus
preserving their signatures forever. She would also embroider all
the names in different colored thread, said Leonard.
“It’s in pretty good shape for being just a white tablecloth,” said
Leonard. “You think it would be stained and in not great condition,
but it’s aged pretty well for being a white tablecloth that several
people have now eaten on. It wasn’t something that she always had
out as I recall, but she would get it out for new people who had not
signed it and maybe she had not ever prepared a meal for.”
As of right now there are 55 signatures on the tablecloth and as
Leonard explained, “She didn’t just get it out for anybody, so it’s
not covered in names but there’s a lot of people on it who passed
away years and years ago.”
The earliest date on the tablecloth goes back to 1959 and those
signatures belong to Ethel and Kathleen Bellovich, who incidentally
wrote their address on it, too. According to the embroidery, they
lived at “338 S. Colin, Compton, Calif.” and the dates on the
tablecloth are listed near their names as “59” and “62” and “98”
alluding to the years they visited Imogene at her home on Washington
Street in Mount Pulaski.
Of course, throughout the years as the Imogene’s family grew, so did
the signatures, along with the dates listed.
“My sister, Sue, signed it in 1979 and then we must’ve got it out
for Christmas in 1998 because she signed it again, adding her
married name,” said Leonard. His sister Angie did the same, adding
her married name to the tablecloth at one point, along with her
family that grew through the years. Dates like 2016 and 2019 can be
found on the tablecloth and include the signatures of the Wakeman,
Oreskovich and Leonard cousins.
He added that basically over the last few years they’ve just gotten
the tablecloth out to add new people, like for example when his
youngest child, Jameson, was old enough to write his name.
Leonard noted that while it’s primarily full of immediate family
members’ signatures, he thinks there might be a few names who were
just special dinner guests of his grandma. And he noted some of the
signatures are extended family members as well.
“Penny Pharis’ dad was Leonard Hatfield, and he signed the
tablecloth,” said Leonard. “Leonard Hatfield was my dad’s first
cousin. Penny’s grandparents have also signed it. Penny’s
grandmother and my grandfather were brother and sister. So, there
are different parts of the family that have signed it. There are
just connections from different parts of the family like that.”
Leonard’s in-laws have also signed the tablecloth. “As we pass it
down hopefully it’s something we can keep going and add additional
members.”
Leonard also emphasized how the tablecloth is not perfect and that
makes it even more special.
“My grandmother did quilting and other stuff so she knew how to sew,
but she was not a professional embroiderer by any means. It’s kind
of cool that it’s just done by hand too because it adds to it. The
names are just put on there randomly and it’s done by hand so it’s
not perfect, which makes it kinda cool.”
“I’ve have never really seen another one like it,” said Leonard. “I
wish I knew what made her think to do it. I don’t know if somebody
else in her family had one and I don’t know the story behind what
sparked her to start that. I mean, she was fairly young in life when
she did it. My mom was 16 when she got married and her signature is
on there in her maiden name. And that’s also kind of cool, that my
mom and my aunt’s maiden names are on there. My wife Lisa actually
signed it before we got married, so her maiden name is on there.”
Imogene Leonard passed away in 2016 at the age of 91 but because of
her genius idea, her family has a treasure to hold near and dear to
their hearts. However, this story could’ve ended on a different note
had it not been for the honesty and thoughtfulness of a stranger.
“So, when Grandma died, we had an auction and somehow, even though I
intentionally went and found the tablecloth, somehow it got put in a
box at the auction. Somebody bought it and then brought it back to
me. So, it almost got lost. Someone who had bought the box at the
auction and found the tablecloth in there, brought it back to me and
said, “You guys probably want this back.” I had no idea that it had
somehow got put in that box. So, we almost lost it, but somebody
tracked me down and figured out who it was from and got it back to
me.”
Since his grandmother’s passing, Leonard also found a new person to
carry on the task of embroidery so that the tradition can continue.
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“It is really neat, and I am glad we have it to get
out and look at every once in a while,” said Leonard.
Now that simple white tablecloth is a priceless and precious memory.
It starts with a blank canvas
Corey Leonard’s mother-in-law, Donna (Kutz) Vaughan, also shared a
unique family tradition that her family started years ago. Their
story starts with an 11 x 15 blank canvas that is turned into a
family keepsake.
Vaughan explained that members of the family would draw on the
canvas, each one using a different color and then on the back of the
canvas they would put the color and each individual name to the
corresponding color so people would know who created what on the
painting.
“Lisa drew a Christmas tree one year and everyone put different
colored dots on it for the ornaments,” said Vaughan, referring to
her daughter, Lisa Leonard.
Vaughan’s other daughter, Heather Murphy, added,
“Each year was a different painting. When we did the Christmas tree,
everyone put different colored circles on it to represent the bulbs.
Other people colored garland on the tree. Other people put lights on
the tree. Each color represented a different member of the family.
And then on the back we would put, for example, an orange ball and
then that person’s name next to it. So, each thing on that specific
canvas for that year was identified on the back by who did it.”
And don’t forget the presents!
As Murphy noted, some people also drew Christmas presents under the
tree to make the painting complete.
“And we always put the year on it somewhere, too,” Murphy added.
“There was a tree one year that had different fingerprints on it,”
continued Murphy. “We dipped our fingertips in paint and made them
the leaves of the tree.”
And every year as new family members come along, they are included
in the fun.
“So, the next year we may have had three more babies and those three
babies would get something to add to the canvas, but it may not be
pretty because they’re babies,” laughed Murphy.
And the possibilities are endless for this creative family, as one
year there was a snowman on the canvas.
In keeping with the idea of making each canvas unique, Vaughan
mentioned how one year everyone just grabbed a paint brush and put
different colored strokes on the canvas.
Murphy, who teaches at Chester-East Lincoln, added, “It was just a
blank canvas and people had paintbrushes and did different strokes.
I did concentric circles, circles inside of circles, that was my
design. Another person did squiggly lines. And it was just a canvas
with random strokes, kind of like a Jackson Pollock painting but not
a Jackson Pollock painting,” she laughed. “He just threw stuff all
over the canvas.”
Who keeps these treasures and displays them?
“Whoever wants it,” said Murphy. “Lisa usually keeps them because
she has the wall space.”
Both unique family traditions are sure to inspire others to want to
be creative and leave a lasting legacy for future generations.
[Teena Lowery]
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