Boberg Kids Take First Prizes

Now I think I have to go back to Kisa again for a few other stories. I’ve forgotten to tell you about the kinds of competitions that farm kids had at that time.

When we were young we all belonged to the youth group for the political party that Dad was in, Bondeförbundet. The youth group was called Svenskalandsbygdensungdomförbund, the Swedish Rural Youth Association. I've talked a little bit about the meetings and dances that we had but we did more than that. We had what we called Studiacircln. There was always some kind of study circle going on. We studied all kinds of things, languages, math, current events, all parts of life. We also had a lot of competitions. One time Sara and I entered a competition in how to hoe a turnip field. Turnips were planted using a machine and it let out too many seeds so there would be too many plants in a row. We crawled on our hands and knees and hoed out part of the seedlings, so there was the right space in between. You always had to make sure you chose the healthiest biggest looking plants too. Then you pushed the dirt up around the little things so each plant stood straight up when you were done with it. Well, Dad was, of course, again, very particular about how this was done, so we had learned how to do it right. So Sara and I entered this competition that our club had. After we finished our rows, the judges went out and looked them over and then they went inside to discuss what they had seen while those of us who had competed stood outside.

Well, this competition was at Gustav Jonsson's farm. There was a little boy in that family who was too small to compete but he was standing around with us and Ragnar i Gräsvederna said to him, "Why don't you go inside and see what you can hear? See who won." The little boy crept in and then came back out and said, "Gun won!" Ragnar i Gräsvederna said, "Nah, that can't be! You heard wrong." The little boy insisted he had heard right and it was true. When the judges came out, they said I had taken first place and Sara had come in second. Papa had come along with us that day because he knew Gustav Jonsson personally. Papa didn't judge; he just came along. The other kids kind of grumbled that they had chosen us just because Dad was there. But when you won in your club, you went on to the District competition, so Sara and I were entered there. This competition took place in a completely different field and there were completely different judges. When this competition was over, Sara had won and I had come in second! Well, some people grumbled again, but the man whose field it was he told them, "You come see! There are no plants that stand up as straight as in the rows that the Boberg girls hoed."

All that grumbling made me say I was never going to be in a competition

like that again, but then one year, they had a competition in our club and Rut and Greta i Herrefall came and they wanted to go, just to watch and see how it worked. They asked me if I wouldn't just come along to watch too, so I went. When we got there, everyone was just standing around waiting. By the rules of the club, there had to be a certain number of people for it to count as a competition and they didn't have enough people yet but with us there would be enough. We said we couldn't because you had to crawl on your hands and knees and we couldn't do that in our skirts. Well, there was a boy at that farm who we knew from school and he was sent to get some of his work pants and we were talked around and the competition happened. When the results came out, I had won again. Guess if I wasn't happy going home then! When I got home, Mom and Dad had already gone to bed but I went in and woke Dad up and told him I had won. That was a sweet victory.

Another time when I was home with Lennart, we joined in a competition about cutting grass in a meadow. The boy was to cut the grass and the girl was to rake it. There were all kinds of rules about how close to the ground the grass was to be cut and about how it was to be raked in particular patterns and patches. That competition was up in Misterfall. They had a great big meadow and each set of participants got a certain lot to do. When we got done, Lennart and I had won. Again people grumbled. They said it sort of wasn't fair because we were brother and sister and we were used to working together. I think again we had benefitted from Dad's teaching. He always had a particular way things were to be done. Things needed to be done just right. And even though we maybe didn't know it as kids, he had reasons for all these methods. They made the plants grow better or they made the farm more productive and in the end, they made life easier.