Nineteen-nineteen was a big year in the LaViolette family.  Since I was too little to remember things very well, I will let this story come through the words of my sister. Story related by Fred's sister Katie     "It was just a few days after I had finished the eighth grade at Williams school when Papa came home and told us that a show was coming to town and we were all going to see it.  So that Saturday evening we all got into the big truck and went to see the great Crossman Shows at the village of Williams Crossing.  "We arrived early to buy our tickets at the entrance and Papa introduced us to Mr. Crossman.  When Mr. Crossman heard that Papa had been in the theater in Chicago, he became very interested and said that he was looking for a pardner.  Papa told us to go in to find seats as close to the stage as possible and to be sure to save a seat for him while he talks with Mr. Crossman.  "We went in to find that the stage was set off to the left of the entrance and consisted of a wide wood platform raised above the ground by a few steps and closed off by a big curtain painted with a lively scene and displaying in big letters  Welcome to the Great Crossman Shows.  This was lit by bright gas lamps at either end with reflectors that directed their light toward the stage. On the right side of the tent and facing the stage were rows of wooden chairs for the audience. While we were waiting for the show to start we were entertained with music from a piano set off to the right of the stage. Then a podium was moved to one side of the stage and a man came out and talked about the wonderful curative properties of Dr. Chase's medicines. They had these available and were offering them for sale. They had ointments, lineaments, and several different kinds of pills. After a little while, Papa came in and I heard him whisper to Mama that maybe we will get back in the show business. I didn't hear any more because just then, little Freddie started making a ruckus and I had to quiet him down. Then the curtain went up and the show started. It was exciting. The actors were so good! They made the play seem as though it was all so real!     "A few days later, Papa and Mama called me in and told me that we had become pardners with Mr. Crossman and would be leaving to join the show in just a few days. Uncle Charlie and Aunt Tillie would run the farm while we were gone for the summer and we would be back in time for my return to school in September. It was really a busy week for all of us to get ready.  "Finally we were all loaded in the truck which had now been fixed up with a canvas cover. This enclosure would be our home and sleeping space for the summer. But when we caught up with the main company of the show, it was decided that our truck would also transport the big tent. That meant that there would be no living or sleeping space until we had reached a show ground and had unloaded all of the big stuff - the big tent and the main center poles.     "Everything was so exciting! Everyone, it seemed, led a double life. During the show they were the actors. Papa and Mama became actors and even I and little Freddie took part in some of the plays. Then when the show was over each one took on a new role. Kitty and JoAnn helped in the cook tent. Mr. Foster and Frank, the piano player, packed away the stage equipment and Jimmy and the other men took down the big tent. Within an hour most of the work was done and everybody gathered in the cook tent to have a late dinner. After dinner, the men retired to the sleeping tent and talked and smoked for awhile before turning in. Kitty and JoAnn left in the touring car to go in town to their hotel room.     "The show toured through southern Michigan and down into Indiana. Then, when we had set up the show in one small town, several men approached papa to tell him that they knew he was honest but they considered his pardner to be a crook. They had decided that if he was not out of town by the next morning that they would tar and feather him. Papa found Mr Crossman in the restaurant having dinner and told him what had been said. Mr. Crossman became very concerned and said he knew that their threat came out of a misunderstanding they had had over settlement of some bills. He had tried before to clear up the matter but he could see they would not be convinced. The only solution was for him to leave at once. After some further discussion, it was agreed that he would sell his interest in the show for an amount that Papa considered reasonable. They found a lawyer to draw up the sale agreement to make the sale legal and Mr. Crossman packed up and left in his touring car. So it was now the Great LaViolette Shows. Mr. Foster stayed up late that night repainting the name on the big curtain and the truck signs.     "We presented shows in many towns of northern Indiana and Illinois and near the end of summer turned back toward home. The sky had been darkening as we made our way north for the last show of the season in Lacota, Michigan. My father and mother and little Freddie rode in the cab of our big truck which carried some of the tents, poles, ropes, chairs, and other equipment for the show. I rode in the touring car with the actresses, Kitty and JoAnn. Young Jimmie; the stage hand; rode in front and Mr. Foster; our painter, make-up artist and character actor; drove. Our dog, Bingo, and the rest of the crew rode in our second truck with the big tent, the stock of medicines, the barker's podium, and all of the signs and banners used to decorate the show front. It was already quite dark when my father pulled up in front of the Lacota hotel and inquired about the location of the fairground from some older gentlemen sitting out in front. One of the men pointed out the direction but warned "I don't advise you to take your people out there tonight because the fairground is on an old swamp that was drained a few years back and it won't be safe there when this storm breaks. The lightning always strikes that area. "My father replied "I really don't have much choice as I have a crew to feed and put up for the night." After he arranged for rooms and meals at the hotel for Kitty and JoAnn, he had the men post signs advertising our show for the next evening.     "Then, we drove on to the fairgrounds almost a mile west of town. There we found a cleared and fenced-in area of about two acres with a small "Lacota Fairgrounds" sign near the entrance. Behind the clearing fence line we could see a few trees and low bushes. The men unloaded the truck and put up the cook tent so dinner preparations could start . Then they set up the sleeping tent with cots and bedding for the men and arranged the big truck with cots for our family. By the time dinner was over, it was dark except for flashes of distant lightning and the rumble of the approaching storm. The men had a smoke and talked for a little while but they were tired and soon turned in for the night. My father made a last check of the tent and stopped near Jimmy's cot. "Jimmy. It would be better if you moved your cot away from that center pole. I don't like the sound of this weather." "Don't worry Mr. LaViolette. I'll be fine here," he replied. My father then returned to the truck with Bingo and, after he secured the tarpaulin enclosure at the rear, we all went to bed. But, getting to sleep was not to be easy for the thunder was getting louder and the lightning flashes were closer. Then the storm hit with heavy rain and loud crashes all around. I went to the back of the truck and pulled the tarpaulin aside just enough to peer out. A lightning bolt struck the ground only about a hundred feet away with an instant crash of thunder. Then, where the lightning had struck, I saw a luminous ball rolling gently away toward the fence line. In no more than 10 or 15 seconds, it reached the fence and exploded with a bright flash and a sharp report! I stood paralyzed with fear as the lightning struck again and again with repeated displays of lightning balls.     "Then, there was an ear-splitting crash just to the side of the truck. I turned and looked just in time to see the sleeping tent settle to the ground with a flaming hole where the center pole had stood. My father, with one arm thrust into an oilskin raincoat, pulled the tarpaulin aside and jumped out with Bingo right behind. Lightning had struck directly on the center pole and the sleeping tent was a shambles. Jimmy was killed instantly and several of the others were burned or numbed but otherwise not injured. Everyone was moved into the cook tent to treat the injured and to spend the rest of the night. The storm moved away soon after that and when some calm had been restored, my father started off in the touring car to get a doctor.     "But he hadn't gone out of the gate before a car drove in with Kitty, JoAnn, and a doctor. As they opened the door, Bingo hopped out and ran to the remains of the sleeping tent! My father led the doctor to the cook tent and while he checked over the men with the lightning burns, Kitty told us how Bingo had found their hotel room and scratched at the door. When they opened it, Bingo didn't come in but instead ran repeatedly to the head of the stair and slowly returned. They knew then that something was wrong so they got the doctor to drive them out to the fairground. What puzzled us all was that Bingo could not know where they were in the hotel as she had been kept in the back of the truck all the time that we were in the village that afternoon.     "It was a sudden and tragic ending to the seasons show business but, except for the lightning storm, it had been an interesting and memorable summer. The actors were satisfied with their summer's pay and with sad farewells each went off to his home and normal occupation. Our family ended up with more than an adequate supply of Dr. Chase's wonderful medicines. The big tent and many of the folding wood chairs were sold back to a theatrical supply house and the smaller tents and some of the chairs became a part of the Lone Star Fruit Farm equipment."