Barbara finished the seventh grade the summer of 1945 and did quite well. With the kids out of school, Fred decided the family would take a summer vacation to see Waive’s family in Michigan and his family in Wisconsin.  Fred decided they would travel there by car and he found the biggest Buick station wagon he could find which would hold the entire family.  Their daughter Dixie thought it was a hearse. photo  To pay for the vacation, Fred arranged for them to stop at various churches along the way where he would preach, and the family would provide music.  Barbara was doing quite well on the marimba and with Sue on her saxophone, they were the “Junior Family and their Crusade for Christ" ,

  Fred would preach, while Waive would draw chalk illustrations of the bible stories, and the kids, “The Five Crusaders” photo  would provide music and song with Barbara on her Marimba, Sue playing the saxophone and Carol, Dixie and little Gary singing.  Fred had the route all planned out with them stopping a night or two at churches along the way who would feed them and put them up for a, usually at the church minister’s house.  At one church they had set up a tent on a vacant lot where The Crusaders performed and Fred preached a real hell fire and damnation sermon winning several souls to Christ.  

  
Fred (center) at Tent Revival

Upon arriving in Michigan the Juniors visited Waive’s family. The children enjoyed spending time with their Grandma and Grandpa Schwander and their aunts and uncles and many cousins.  When it came time to return to Atlanta, Fred invited Waive’s parents Charles and Ruby, her brother Bob and her sister Helen to go with them so they could help him with his chenille business.  Charles didn’t have a car so it was decided that Charles, Ruby and Bob would ride in the car with the Juniors and since they all could not fit in the car, Barbara, Sue and Helen would take the train back to Atlanta.  Barbara was excited for it would be an adventure with the three girls traveling together.  With the war going strong, the were many soldiers on the train as well as black people riding in the same cars.  Barbara surprised and made aware of segregation for the first time when getting to the Maxon Dixon Line, they made all the blacks get off and go to a separate car at the back of the train for Negros only.

To accommodate Waive’s parents, sister and brother, Fred converted the old three stall carriage house into an apartment. Barbara had a wonderful summer, with her aunt Helen being the same as Barbara and her uncle Bob not only was only three years older then Barbara but they had the same birthday.  The three of them spent endless hours playing Monopoly with some games going on for several days.  They made it a routine, starting play in the morning, taking a break for lunch which they would have the same thing every day, tomato soup and tuna fish sandwiches, the continuing the game in the afternoon and often into the night.  In the fall Barbara and Helen started school together with Barbara introducing Helen to all of her friends but Helen never felt accepted by them.  Before the year ended, her grandparents said they had enough of the south and that it wasn’t for them and they moved back to Michigan taking Helen and Bob with them.

Always looking for ways to make money, Fred made an apartment out of the basement and rented it out to the Smith family. Mr. Smith was a patrolman with the city schools and would show films at the schools in the area.  On weekends he would bring the school projector home and rent movies which he showed them on Saturday night with.  Barbara’s favorite being the Hopalong Cassidy films.  Barbara was surprised her father even let the kids see the movies for with his newfound Baptist religion he didn’t believe in going to the movies.  The first time Barbara went to a movie theater was with her Grandma and Grandpa Schwander, Helen and Bob.  All the during the movie she thought the Lord would come down to the show and she would go to Hell.  It would be several years before she would go to a movie again.

Updated: 12-05-2021

1946 Morris