A to Z Challenge - M

Hello there.  Did anyone notice that I missed the letter L in the A to Z Challenge?  I didn't think so.  In case you are wondering, I was going to blog about Lips.  The wax kind that we used to buy at the little service station on our way home from school.  Instead of blogging, though, I was spending my time with another L word.  My Loves.  Our family got together this weekend to celebrate a late Easter, and all thoughts of the A to Z Challenge went bye bye.  I'll try to do  better, I promise.

Here we are at the letter M.  Today I am remembering McClung Park.

Throughout grade school, McClung Park was the highlight of my school year.  Our school picnic was at McClung park. It was the one day each year when we could ditch our Parochial School uniforms and wear normal clothes.  Our poor teachers were given the task of trying to teach for a few hours in the morning, until we were finally let out grade by grade to walk to the park located a short distance away (1/2 mile or so).

I remember extreme weather - either very hot or very cold and wet.  I can still remember the excitement of holding on to my best friend's hand as we walked.  Getting to the park was half the excitement.  Once we got to the park, we were each given three tickets to be redeemed for treats.  I only remember them offering Popsicles  because that is what I always gobbled up.  We would go around and round on the merry-go-round until we were staggering like a drunk on a Saturday night.  Then on to the swings, jungle gym, and rolling down hills.  Finally we would each get picked up by our parents (or walk home), only to return later that evening, dressed in our prettiest dresses, to the pavilion for the school dance.

There was nothing sophisticated about the set up.  A record player would play music and everyone would dance with everyone else.  It was one big free-for-all.   I only remember two of the tunes playing those many years ago.  We'd put our left foot in, left foot out, and do the Hokey Pokey and turn ourselves about, over and over again.  There was only one dance we'd do more often than the Hokey Pokey.  That was the Bunny Hop.  Surely the Bunny Hop was the original line dance. We would line up, place our hands on the shoulder or waist of the person in front, and do what the lyrics said, trying not to lose grip as we hopped, hopped, hopped, snaking around the room.

Put your right foot forward
Put your left foot out.
Do the Bunny Hop.
Bunny, Hop, hop, hop!
Dance this new creation
It's the new sensation
Do the Bunny Hop
Bunny, Hop, hop, hop!
Let's all join in the fun
Father, mother, son
Do the Bunny Hop
Bunny, Hop, hop, hop!

Has anyone else done The Bunny Hop?  If not, get out there and find your inner child.  Live a little!

A to Z Challenge K

Today I am going to be remembering Knights of Columbus sponsored dances.  The Knights of Columbus is a Catholic men's organization dedicated to doing good deeds.  They good deeded themselves to death for us kids when we were in high school.

Our local K of C Council would sponsor dances after the Catholic High School home football games.  This was a big deal.   Almost everyone went to the football games, because win or lose, we knew there would be a dance afterwards.  As a member of the pep squad, I'd have to wear my uniform to the game.  But afterwards, friends would get together at one house or another to change into their coolest clothes and head downtown for the dance.

The hall was located in the upstairs of a two story building only a block from down town.  Every time I stood in line, slowly climbing the stairs with the rest of my friends to the dance hall, I tried desperately  not to be the giggly teenage girl I was.  Acting out with the rest of the 15 year olds, I always failed.  The men at the door would take our money (was it 50 cents?), stamp our hands, and let us inside, where we'd enter what I thought of as another world.  There were three or so local home grown bands that played at these dances.  Right now the only one I can think of is the Oviatt Brothers.  This amazes me, considering the hours I spent making banners advertising which band was going to play on any given weekend.  They played music like "Whiter Shade of Pale", "Twist and Shout", "Light My Fire", and "I Think We're Alone Now".  Thinking back, I'm wondering if any of the adults ever stopped to listen to the lyrics of any of these songs.  The strobe lights and black lights added to the already exciting atmosphere.  As the hall filled up, the windows that surrounded the rooms were opened to let the fresh Fall breezes in.  Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't think there were any screens on those windows.  Is that possible?  Overcome by shyness, I'd often sit on the sidelines most of the night, alternating between a smile pasted on my face, chattering with my girl friends, watching out of the corner of my eyes to see if anyone was heading our way, or plastering my face with a practiced look of "I don't care" boredom.  That is until 1969 - my Senior year.  Jim and I had met that summer and quickly became inseparable.  We attended every one of those K of C dances together.  My shyness evaporated like water on a hot summer day while we danced each and every dance.  Arms high in the air, we'd clap, stomp, twirl, and sway to the music of each and every song.

Today we are still holding each other tight, swaying through the music of life.  Thank you Knights of Columbus.

A to Z Challenge - J

Today for the A to Z  Challenge, I am going to be remembering about Just Looking.

Have I mentioned that things moved a tad bit slower in the 50's?  There were no strip malls, no supercenters, no super malls, and certainly no outlet malls.  There was no internet shopping.  Oh wait, internet?  What is that? What we did have were family run down town apparel stores, 5 & Dimes, family grocery stores, and hardware stores (family owned, of course).

If my memory serves me correctly, the down town stores were open from 9 to 5 every day, Monday through Saturday.  On Wednesdays and Fridays they stayed open until 9:00 pm.  There was no such nonsense as shopping on Sunday.  That was a day of church and rest.  All of this added up to a whole lot of just looking.

We would spend Saturday mornings cleaning house.  After that we would often head to the grocery store, and, if needed, downtown.  It was always fun to tag along and people watch.  We shopped at Lee's, a small grocery store on the corner of Dunklin and High Street.  This was before it became hoity toity, moving to a larger building on McCarty street.  I liked nothing better than hanging from the bars, purpose unknown, outside the store, and watch people  Often I'd know them.  They'd call my sister and me names like Forcky (mom's maiden name was Forck), or would mix our names up on purpose because we looked so much alike.

It was especially fun when we would head down town.  Sometimes mom would shop while I stayed in the car with dad.  I'd make up stories about everyone.  In my mind the teenagers were hopelessly in love.  Women were wearing shoes too tight for their feet, causing them to walk funny.  Men were all professionals, taking time out from their busy weeks to spend time with their families.  The kids were all getting everything they asked for.  I'm pretty sure all of this couldn't have been further from the truth, other than the shoes too small for the women's feet.  That was probably on the mark.  Then we would head to Southside Fabrics.  Oh my, I was in heaven. My love for material of all kinds began at a very young age.  We'd look, and look, and look.  It might take three or four trips before we would decide on just the right piece of material.

Church was also a time for just looking.  I know I was supposed to be praying, but there was a whole lot of looking going on.  The very first row was usually occupied by the family of a local Dr.  They had a daughter who was a few years younger than me.  I did a whole lot of just looking at her and her perfect hair, shoes and clothing.  Her mom had a fur coat that grossed me out.  Pews were not reserved, but they may as well have been, because nobody else had the nerve to occupy their spot. Ladies all wore hats to church, which was another source of wonderment and entertainment.  As I looked at them there were a whole lot of "what are they thinking?" thoughts going through my head.

I'll have to say that my favorite time for just looking was when the stores were closed and we'd go window shopping.  I loved looking into stores like Saffee's, Young Fashions, Jack and Jill Shop, Kress', Woolworth's, Burkel's Shoes, and American Shoes.  When I was just looking, the sky was the limit and I could afford it all.

Do you ever go Just Looking?

A to Z Challenge - Letter I

I had two remembering words for the letter I:  Ink pens and Ice Cream Man

It was difficult to choose between the two because of my early-on fascination with penmanship and pens of any sort and such an endearing childhood memory as the ice cream man, but the ice cream man won out.

I seem to remember the music blaring was Pop Goes the Weasel. Surely his playlist was more extensive than that?   He drove this four wheel cycle affair with a chest freezer on the back.  You could hear him coming a long ways off, giving us time to plead for that magical thin dime that would buy an ice cream bar.  My ice cream of choice was a Fudge Bar.  I can still taste the cold chocolate on my tongue in the heat of the sweltering days of summer.  All of the neighborhood kids would come running to the music of the ice cream man.  We secretly felt sorry for those that didn't, knowing they were either in trouble, or they didn't have an extra dime or two to spare that week.

I've lived in the country for over 30 years.  This prompts me to ask:  Does the ice cream man live on?  If not, what a shame. Such good memories.

A to Z Challenge Letter H

This post is going to be short and sweet.  For my theme of remembering, today I am going to remember my friend the Halo. When I was a little girl, my halo was tucked in my back pocket for whenever I needed it.  Mom would say, "Did you remember your halo?" I attended Catholic School, and the nuns were always asking us where our halos were whenever we'd misbehave.

I do believe I need to find that halo, dust it off, and start wearing it again.

A to Z Challenge - Letter G

Here we are into week two of the A to Z Challenge.  Be sure to click on the logo in my side bar to read other A to Z Challenge posts.  There are so many good ones to read, and I'm making new friends along the way.  Thank you to everyone who has stopped by so far.  I appreciate you.

Today's Remembering word is the letter G.  There are three things from my past that the letter G brought to mind.

I'm remembering Games today.  Being the uncoordinated runt who was always picked last for softball at recess, I was never any good at sports.  That never bothered me, though, because I knew if I were picking, I'd pick me last too.  But I was pretty good at other games.  Games like kick the can, hula hoop, hop scotch, hide and seek, jump rope, and red rover.

There was a concrete slab in front of our school perfect for drawing a hop scotch grids with colored chalk.  I  loved hopping one one foot, then two, then one, bend down and pick up a rock, and keep on going.  I was pretty good at tossing that rock just so to the number it needed to be on.  I'd look forward to the recess bell just so I could rush outside with my friends to hop, hop, hop.

As we got older, we graduated to the much more aggressive game of Red Rover.  "Red Rover, Red Rover, send Deanna right over" I'd run as hard and fast as I could to break through the joined hands of two members of the opposing team.  I loved playing that game, even if I did usually end up getting hurt.

Even though it was a pain to haul around, I'd take my hula hoop with me every chance I could.  I can still remember the feel of the hoop around my waist, then hips, then knees, then shimmy back up to under my arms, and then over my head, and back down again.  When I got tired of those antics, I'd roll the hoop out with just enough wrist action for it to come right back to me.  Boy did I think I was something.

Jump rope! There are so many ways to jump rope: alone, alone and then someone jumps in with you, with a skipping step, one foot, keeping two feet together, fast, slow, with a friend on each end, turning the rope for you.  We'd sing song  "I like coffee, I like tea, I like Deanna to come in with me." Then the two would jump together, the second person saying the rhyme. Then the first person would run out, and we'd start all over.

The neighborhood kids played kick the can and hide and seek a lot.  Occasionally we'd get to join in.   The can would sit in the middle of the street towards the top side and one team would start kicking it to get it past the other team to the end of the street.   Some of the older boys were pretty rough and tough, making the game a little dangerous.  Hide and seek was a blast, having an entire neighborhood to hide in.  That was one game my parents absolutely didn't like, because kids were running through everyone else's yards.  It sure was fun the few times we joined in, though.

I'd play card games like Old Maid and Slap Jack for hours on end.  By the end of a rowdy game of Slap Jack, my little hands would be as red as a tomato.  It was always fun to see who could pop the most Tiddlywinks into the little plastic cup.  Although I wasn't very good with the Yo Yo, my older brother could "walk the dog" and take a "trip around the world" with the best of them.

What games did you play when you were a kid?

Oh, by the way, my other Remembering G words were GoGo Girls and garter belts.  Aren't you glad I chose games?

Film and Flash Bulbs

F is for Film and Flashbulbs.

This morning I was looking through my computer, flash drives, and SD cards for some photos.  We don't think twice about snapping a picture multiple times.  You know, just in case the smile wasn't quite right the first time.  Until the advent of the digital age, we didn't have that luxury.  Not only did you have the cost of developing (it's not like you could look at the images and choose which to have developed), but there was the cost of the film itself and of the flashbulbs.  All of these costs added up to careful consideration of what and who to capture on film.  When mom was on the downward spiral with Alzheimer's, we found that the many boxes of photos and photo albums bothered her more than about anything else in the house.  She would look at them and lament just how much money had been spent over the years on those photos.  Thank you mom and dad for valuing capturing the memories when you did - dash the costs!

My dad was a camera buff.  We owe it to him that we have so many images of mom and dad's family and our childhood.  We would troop outside on Easter morning, proms, birthdays, and other events,  for family pictures.  We have many pictures of us with our cousins, again usually outside.  Dad's camera did have a flash attachment, but the best shots were always taken outdoors.

Easter 1963 - Tony, Deanna, Tom, Kathleen

I remember when Kodak came out with the instant camera.  It was a marvel.  So easy to use.  

Make that kind of easy to use.  The roll of film had to be placed just right on one side of the camera, and then the film stretch across the lens to the other side to be secured just so in the little cogs on the other side.  Then the camera was closed and a knob turned until the beginning of the roll was reached.  It was not an exact science.  I can recall many times taking precious pictures and then at the end of the day opening the back of the camera and realize I had not gotten the grooves and cogs lined up correctly.  Disaster!

How many of you can remember the blinding flash of the flash bulb?  Worse than that was the smell.  Events like family reunions, birthdays and weddings were enough to make you want to leave the room.  The smell of sulfur (at least that's what I think it was) was overpowering.

This is one good ol' day I would never want to return to.  But I'm so glad for the people like dad who loved taking pictures back then as much as I do today.  Give me digital all the way baby!