Great Grandma's Shed: Marcum Road Follies

By Helen Nickolson

While driving her daughter Katherine to daycare about 28 years ago, Helen began telling her “dreams” about Old Red, the kind convertible with magical powers who lived next to them in the country. He also had some adopted buddies–a Dalmatian called Cutie Pie and a duck named Teepo. These stories were very comforting to Katherine, especially when she didn’t want to be separated from her mother. Years later, she still would oftentimes ask her mother if she had had a “dream,” so Helen began recording the adventures of Old Red. Now, these adventures are together in this heartwarming book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Adelaide Books Publishers
• Release date: Dec 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9781951896218

Helen Nickolson

Helen Nickolson was born in Kato Kourouni, a small village in Evia, Greece, which had neither water nor electricity at that time. Sponsored by her aunt and uncle to emigrate to the United States when she was five, she journeyed across the rough Atlantic Ocean in December on an Italian ship. From New York, she then travelled by bus to Lodi, California and arrived on Christmas Eve. Her name in Greek is Eleni Nikolaou and was changed by her uncle to “better assimilate” into American society. He meant well. After high school, Helen attended the University of California at Davis where she majored in English. She went on to graduate school at California State University, Sacramento and received her MS in Counseling Psychology and MA in English. Helen worked as a counselor and also taught English and Psychology at Yuba Community College for 30 years before retiring. She has been married for 35 years to Larry Michel, and Katherine is their only child.

Book preview

Old Red lived in the small country town of Nicolaus, which was teensy in size but gigantic in heart. Nicolaus is in California, but not the beach or Hollywood parts that most people think of; instead it’s a Northern California farming community of around 300 people, many of whom come from families that immigrated from Germany and Switzerland. A lot of rice, along with alfalfa and walnuts, is produced and exported from this area. Traffic backups rarely occur, but if one does, you can count on it being caused from tractors driving slowly down the road. And every so often, you’re bound to see a couple of farmers in their pickups stopped in the middle of the road chatting about the latest community news.

This is a close-knit community that is very supportive of its schools, sports, and recreational facilities like its pool where generations of locals have taken swimming lessons. One of the primary fund-raising events for the schools is the annual Labor Day Parade and Picnic. The parade highlights tractors, antique cars, horses, and floats from different service groups, the three local grammar schools, and one high school. Sometimes a family designs and builds a theme-based float and has family members of all age groups riding on board. One of the best floats Katherine Michel’s family ever entered was based on The Wizard of Oz, and that won the overall best entry in the parade! The four local schools rotate responsibility for money-making food venues–Pancake Breakfast, Hamburger Booth, Lunch Booth, and Dessert Booth—and they keep the money to use on special activities for their students. Yes, everyone becomes excited and involved and the event gets special coverage in the Appeal Democrat from the neighboring big city of Marysville (well, it’s huge compared to Nicolaus).

Old Red loved his home because it wasn't very big, the town was sparsely populated, and he could roam the winding country roads as he pleased; after all, he was a spectacular, one-of-a-kind car. In the morning he would hear the birds chirp and at night he would sometimes hear coyotes. He often saw quail walking among shrubs and thought how adorable they were following their mother trustingly and being protected by their father at the rear. He also saw rabbits and squirrels and wild turkeys, but he didn’t appreciate it when the wild turkeys tried to sit on him and made a little bit of a poopy mess. He didn’t like that at all and honked loudly whenever they tried to