Source: http://homernews.com/stories/030404/tow_20040304016.shtml

Anniversary

The 50th wedding anniversary of Jim and Linda Reinhart is March 6, 2004.

Jim and Linda met in 1951 while Jim was stationed by the Air Force in Linda's home town of Natchitoches, La. Their first date was watching ``The Great Caruso,'' and the following summer Jim proposed at the same movie. After their marriage in 1954 the couple moved to Valdosta, Ga., and then to Fairbanks for two years. During their stay in Fairbanks they fell in love with Alaska. Their two oldest sons, Bob and Steve, were born in Fairbanks, where Jim flew F-89 fighter jets. From 1956-58 they were stationed in Sioux City Iowa, where their son Joe was born. After Jim resigned from the Air Force, the couple bought a remote lodge near Deer River, Minn., on the banks of Sand Lake. There they ran a tourist operation with a set of cabins that they rented out. Their oldest daughter, Becky, was born while they were visiting Linda's family in Grand Isle, La.

Linda worked as a nurse at a hospital and ran a small grocery store and bakery out of their main house. Guests would line up and wait at the oven for her famous cinnamon rolls. In 1963 their daughter Susan was born. By 1969 Jim began to feel that northern Minnesota was getting too populated and the family was again feeling adventurous, so they, along with some close friends, Gert and Floyd Seekins, decided to move their families to Homer. They packed all 13 people and as many belongings as they could into travel trailers and vehicles and drove up the largely dirt road in a caravan.

In Homer Jim worked as a bush pilot and owned a logging company, Reinhart Timberland. Their youngest daughter, Jennifer, was born in Homer in 1973. Jim ``retired'' in 1981, and they built and opened Grandma's Antique Shop in downtown Homer. In the early 1990s they decided to really retire and spend their time doing what they enjoy most hunting, fishing, playing with grandchildren, flying and quilting. They are the proud patriarch and matriarch of a large family including six children, 18 grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren, with a ninth great-grandchild due in April. Their children will have a family reunion and picnic celebration to celebrate their anniversary on the Fourth of July.