Those of us of a certain age remember, with great fondness, the wonderful decorations at Ball Stores in downtown Muncie. Recently, I shared some photos of the decorations with the audience at the latest Tea & Talk at Minnetrista. During tea time, there was lots of chatter at the tables as new and old friends exchanged memories. It was especially great to meet one gentleman in the audience who had worked at Ball Stores for more than thirty-five years.

When you buy your produce at Farmers Market at Minnetrista or your fresh cider and bag of apples at The Orchard Shop, you become part of a long Minnetrista tradition. Likewise, the children who learn about Johnny Appleseed and watch cider being pressed and tour the orchard to learn about apples are also part of the tradition.

Lucina Ball did not hesitate to offer sisterly advice to her younger brothers—Lucius, William, Edmund, Frank, and George. In a letter written in 1892, she suggested that the brothers “… get up a ‘syndicate’ to buy a whole square and build it all equally good, and so make your own surroundings.” They took her advice then, as they so often did, and purchased a thirty-three acre tract on the White River.

It was a wild and wooly evening when Lucy Ball, oldest daughter of Frank C. and Elizabeth Brady Ball, married Alvin Owsley on May 16, 1925. The wedding was held at the home of the bride’s parents, just as her sister Margaret’s wedding was the previous year. The setting was lovely, the guests were many, and the bride and groom had their nerves under control. The weather, however, did not cooperate.

Jars, jars, and more jars. In addition to more than 1,000 fruit jars, the Minnetrista Heritage Collections includes approximately 100 packer jars. So what is a packer jar?