Buchanans celebrate togetherness after 60 years married

By Julia Wolf

James and Beverly Buchanan have a marriage 60 years strong, officially, Oct. 14.

The couple met at Frog Hop bar. Beverly was out with a friend, when James and a friend walked in.

“She got excited, almost fell off the stool,” said James, with a laugh.

They have been together ever since. They dated for five or six months, before tying the knot, when Beverly was 20 and James was 26.

“We didn’t waste no time,” said Beverly.

They were married in a candlelight service wedding at the Withee Methodist Church, before moving to Nazareth Lutheran Church for the reception.

“The next day, we had a party in Cadott, for all of our drinking friends,” said Beverly, since the wedding was dry.

They started their married life in Chippewa Falls, but moved to Cadott after a few years, where they spent most of their time since.

Beverly was working at Chippewa Plastics when they got married, but switched to taking care of the family, once children came along.

She raised five kids – Teri, Tim, Trudy, Tracey and Travis, while James worked on the road most of the time, as a truck driver across the United States.

“She did a good job,” said James.

With all his truck driving over the years, James said his agreement with his employer was that he needed to be home on Christmas Eve, to spend time with his family.

“Christmas Eve is my time to do the cooking and entertainment,” said James. “Bev is doing all the other stuff.”

He says Schneider Transport followed that handshake agreement all 25 years he worked for them.

Once James retired, Beverly went back to work at River Country Co-op, for over 20 years.

In the 1970s, they built a new home and tried to grow pickles on the larger lot, with the kids, to take to the pickle factory in Chippewa Falls. The kids were not particularly interested in helping weed, so it didn’t quite work out as planned.

“We had enough for ourselves, was about it,” said James.

However, gardening was something they did wherever they lived.

James says he and Beverly never took a honeymoon and when they did travel, they took the whole family. They did go to the grotto in Iowa.

“That was a nice place to go,” said Beverly.

They also went to Colorado, Florida and Arizona, to visit their children, when they were living there.

There were challenging times, too. James and Beverly lost their daughter, Teri, and her husband, in a car accident, just over 20 years ago. James says they have made a point to put real flowers in the cemetery since.

Many times, the challenges are smaller.

“You have your spits and spats, and so forth,” said James.

Beverly says there were disagreements once in a while, but they made the conscious decision to stick with it.

“You put your mind to it, you’re going to do it, and that’s it,” said Beverly.

James says they work things out, talk it over and, most importantly, don’t give up and walk away.

They now have grandchildren, greatgrandchildren and step-great-grandchildren.

Beverly played horseshoes and bowled over the years, participating in several bowling tournaments.

“Those were really fun,” said Beverly, adding she has lots of pictures from the activities.

James is a member of the Cadott VFW and Beverly has served as the secretary of the VFW Auxiliary for 37 years.

James also did a lot of charcoal grilling, something he enjoyed doing whenever he was home from work.

“We’d get the charcoal grill out as soon as I got home,” said James.

One time, James says he had brats and hamburgers on the grill, when a Western on the TV caught his eye.

“I looked at that just a little bit too long and burnt some brats,” said James, laughing.

He says they saved a lot of them, so they still had enough for a meal.

They also had a trailer in Holcombe, for 18 years, which they spent time at.

The couple is also members of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Cadott, where Beverly sang in the choir.

James says 60 years went by quickly and that it doesn’t seem that long.

There will be a celebration of their anniversary, hosted by their children, at Rick’s Halfway Hall in Cadott Sunday, Oct. 17, from noon until 4 p.m.