Turning Points
Life is a journey. It has a beginning and it has an end. All along its path are events, places
and people who are turning points. Here, I relate some of these turning points in my own
journey. Hopefully, the stories will illuminate and maybe entertain some of those who care
enough to read.
Life is a journey. It has a beginning and it has an end. All along its path are events, places
and people who are turning points. Here, I relate some of these turning points in my own
journey. Hopefully, the stories will illuminate and maybe entertain some of those who care
enough to read.
| Seen it, seen it... May 5, 2006 |
What do you do for recreation in a small town,
population 550, before TV, with no malls to
hang out at? There was no organized
baseball, soccer teams, swim teams or any
other supervised recreation, for that matter.
But we had roller skates with steel wheels for
sidewalk skating. There were sidewalks on
the few major streets in New Haven, a feature
population 550, before TV, with no malls to
hang out at? There was no organized
baseball, soccer teams, swim teams or any
other supervised recreation, for that matter.
But we had roller skates with steel wheels for
sidewalk skating. There were sidewalks on
the few major streets in New Haven, a feature
that has been abandoned in an age of neighborhoods where driving is the only mode of
transportation. So skating lickety split down the sidewalks was great fun despite many uneven
pavements and obstacles.
In winter, if there was a decent snow, we got out our sleds. These were store-bought sleds with
steel runners and on a snowy slope were positively swift. We would drag old worn out tires on the
sleds and pull them up the hill overlooking the church cemetery. At the top of the hill, these tires
were lit for a bonfire producing more black smoke than heat. But you could warm yourself while
waiting your turn to take your life into your own hands going down that hill with a maybe-frozen
brook at the bottom. A couple boys would pile on a single sled and fight another duo as they
careened down the hill side by side. Snowball fights went along with the sledding, of course.
Keeping a lawn up was not a priority in New Haven and cutting it meant pushing a rotary mower,
with no motor. A goodly portion of our yard was kept bare so you could play marbles. With these
little glass spheres, there were several games that could be played and trading the marbles with
each other besides winning them made them a form of currency.
Every kid in New Haven had a stack of comic books and hauled them around to other kids’ places
trading for ones not read before. “Seen it, seen it, seen it…” was the refrain as you flipped through
the other kid’s stack. If he had one you wanted, you offered to let him flip through your own stack
looking for a trade.
transportation. So skating lickety split down the sidewalks was great fun despite many uneven
pavements and obstacles.
In winter, if there was a decent snow, we got out our sleds. These were store-bought sleds with
steel runners and on a snowy slope were positively swift. We would drag old worn out tires on the
sleds and pull them up the hill overlooking the church cemetery. At the top of the hill, these tires
were lit for a bonfire producing more black smoke than heat. But you could warm yourself while
waiting your turn to take your life into your own hands going down that hill with a maybe-frozen
brook at the bottom. A couple boys would pile on a single sled and fight another duo as they
careened down the hill side by side. Snowball fights went along with the sledding, of course.
Keeping a lawn up was not a priority in New Haven and cutting it meant pushing a rotary mower,
with no motor. A goodly portion of our yard was kept bare so you could play marbles. With these
little glass spheres, there were several games that could be played and trading the marbles with
each other besides winning them made them a form of currency.
Every kid in New Haven had a stack of comic books and hauled them around to other kids’ places
trading for ones not read before. “Seen it, seen it, seen it…” was the refrain as you flipped through
the other kid’s stack. If he had one you wanted, you offered to let him flip through your own stack
looking for a trade.
There was a movie house in town operated on the St. Catherine’s
Church grounds. It was a white brick building with wooden floor.
Admission was affordable for us and it was a treat to sit in the
wooden seats, eating popcorn watching the Mickey Mouse
cartoons, the black and white newsreels of the Korean War
followed by a western movie. When the film broke, as it often did,
everyone stamped the floor until the frustrated operator got it
running again. Hugh Louis had a serious leg condition that
required him to be in a wheel chair for several months. The Church,
in an age not handicap-friendly, installed a ramp so Hugh Louis
could be rolled in to see the movie.
Recreation for adults was poker for men at the downtown Knights
of Columbus hall, dancing at the Kentucky Fish and Game club, or
playing bridge.
My mother belonged to a ladies bridge club and one night a week
would spend an evening with her friends. They rotated the host
function so about every couple of months, it was her time to set up
the tables and put out a spread of refreshments. We would hear
them from back in our bedroom, cackling and talking.
| Copyright © 2005 leoshoemaker.com |
Photo courtesy of T. Cecil, Mayor of
New Haven
This building, now dismantled, served
as a movie theater operated by St.
Catherine's Church in the 1950's
New Haven
This building, now dismantled, served
as a movie theater operated by St.
Catherine's Church in the 1950's
We were all banned to the back room during these bridge club nights at the house but got to help
clean up the mess the morning after.
clean up the mess the morning after.
___________________________________________________
| And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 KJV) |
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