Page 54 - Demo

National Air Mail Week Covers of IndianaAs in many small American towns, National Air Mail Week (NAMW) was a big deal in Fowler. On the Thursday morning of May 19th, as airplanes were readying for takeoff all over the country, a crowd of several hundred gathered at Benton County%u2019s Fowler Airport to celebrate. Scores of their automobiles were parked near the hangers and along the nearby roads. Local schools were dismissed for the day so teachers and pupils could attend the festivities. Among them, the High School band, in full uniform, played rousing upbeat numbers.Besides Fowler Postmaster Leo %u201cPaddy%u201d McGrath (who served from 1934 to 1943), and some of his clerks, there were Postmasters on hand from Otterbein, Oxford, Boswell, Ambia, Talbot, Earl Park, and Templeton. Plus, mail pouches had been delivered from the Benton County communities of Raub, Freeland Park, and Swanington.Interestingly, there might have been several people there who were related to me. In fact, my future mom, Betty Dowell was a highschool senior at the time, and was likely one of the many students released from classes so they could attend. There%u2019s a young woman leaning onto the wing of the airplane in the above picture that resembles her. It would have been just like her to worm her way to the front so she could get her picture in the paper. The very next day, Friday May 20, 1938, she would receive her diploma. Ray and Celesa, her parents, and almost universally known by town folk as Pop and Mom Dowell, might also have been there. Although Grandma, who was a no-nonsense person, probably wouldn%u2019t have taken time away from running Dowell%u2019s Cafe to attend. Grandpa, on the other hand, was always up for a party. So, there%u2019s a good chance he took part in the celebration. My father would have been a month shy of his 25th birthday, and like Mom Dowell, was probably more interested in making a living than participating in such folderol. However, some A Hometown CelebrationPhoto from the Benton Review newspaper, May 26, 1938