Floodstage! How our Old Gate Road became a life line to higher ground…by Erwin A. Thompson

EVERGREEN HEIGHTS LAYOUT: The Hilltop & Bottom Lands…and the Field Roads
HILLTOP
A lesson in the topography of our property would be helpful in understanding how these changes in river levels affected us and the community.
The Riehl farm at that time consisted of a hundred and fifty four acres. The original farm house (the Big Brown [...]

Summer in Full Bloom: Peony Memories

We’re in the time of Summer Solstice now when summer is in fullest bloom with the longest day and shortest night. To celebrate this time on Riehlife, I’m sharing a peony bouquet plucked from an email correspondence between Susan J. Tweit and my father…about the horticultural history of our homeplace, Evergreen Heights.

Photo by Susan Tweit [...]

Generations of Family Christmas Traditions by Erwin A. Thompson

Evergreen Heights, the place pioneered by E.A. Riehl, my father’s grandfather
As a family, over generations, we developed some of our own Christmas traditions.
PROVIDING CHRISTMAS TREES FOR THE COMMUNITY
My Grandfather Riehl was a pioneer in this part of the country in raising evergreen trees for Christmas trees. We took orders, in those days, and had [...]

Clearing the Years—Telegraph’s Active Living Section Chooses Pop as Cover Boy—Erwin A. Thompson Reveals Secrets of Reclaiming Youthful Outlook

Pop’s a cover boy! He’s made the front page of the ACTIVE LIVING section of THE TELEGRAPH. (When I was growing up, known as “The Alton Evening Telegraph”–but it now comes out in the morning.) To read the cover story “Clearing the Years: Brush-clearing helps 92-year-old reclaim youthful outlook” it says on the cover. Inside [...]