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Dedicated to CGHS graduates, our friends, teachers and our beloved Principal, Mr. Melvin Vandermeer
21 comments:
She's right about the Hoosier-grown tomatoes. My youngest daughter picked and ate them right there in the garden. She was 16 months old at the time. Now 21 years later she still loves to eat them right out of the garden.
Ferdy
Thanks for the plug, GB! I just started my blog in December, but I have a list of about 300 stories I want to write. Your sister is my age--I'll be 56 in April. We had to know each other.
The only CG guys I know that went to Nam were a few years older than me. One was a Royston. God, I can't even remember his first name anymore, but he was murdered a few years ago. The other one was an Adams, but the only Adams girl I know that is my age is Denise...and I don't recall her having a brother. Seems like maybe there were two Adams boys and one got killed in Nam. When I visited the Vietnam Memorial in DC, I found his name. I'm thinking there was a Jerry Adams, but boy, that's been so long ago.
Our last name is Riley. We lived on Paddock Road, just south of the old bridge.
Joe, Cissy. His sister Mary Ella is a classmate.
And here is my post about Jerry Adams.
And I know EXACTLY where you lived... near one of our classmates- Jane Ann C.
I delivered the "News" in the valley for five years!
Glad you are aboard here...
Welcome!
Greybeard:
We were in the house immediately north of Jane Ann. You couldn't have missed us, four grubby kids. Well "Cissy Apple" and the boys were grubby, I was the cute baby sister.
Just started reading your blog. Very interesting.
Thank you R, but to be clear, this is a community blog. Take a gander at the dedication under the title. My blog is here.
I know the house you lived in well. There was a lady that lived there before you that I definitely delivered papers to... she was either single, or was alone a great deal. You're probably too young to remember her.
I used to play basketball at Steve W's court in front of his garage.
We HAD to have crossed paths!
Oh sorry, I was referring to your blog, although this one is interesting too because of all the "Valley" connections.
You're right about the house. I remember that it was a single lady that had lived there previously.
I'm sure Cissy will get around to telling some funny stories about Danny W. They were two doors east of us.
Did you have the same bus driver, Harry F who lived at the top of the hill?
Bus 14!
Welcome back to the 'Community', Cissy and R. If I remember correctly, there was another Family around with the same last name - in fact, Dan, Phil and cousin Gale were all in the Class of '65. I think that Gale and sister Tora lived - at one time - just north of the old bridge, near the intersection with Old Smith Valley Road. Any connection to this Family?
Cissy, your latest post re: the bird in the house - is funny.. I imagine that we all had 'like' things happen back then. Every night around dusk, you could watch the bats leave from their 'Bat Cave' - the belfry of the old EUB Church in the Valley - hundreds (or more) of them... I suspect that many homes had bats in their attics back then. I know that our old farm house did.
You are right about the 'Hoosier Tomato'. Not a better tomato around. We always had a big garden and Dad always liked to plant a few pumpkin seeds in it. Ever had Pumpkin 'blossom' for breakfast? Very tasty! Illini Super Sweet Corn and Hoosier tomatoes were a treat at our dinner table many times, as well.
Cissy and R-
Some of my fondest childhood/adolescent memories are of times spent beneath that old, one-lane iron bridge next to your house! In Winter we used to ride our bicycles down the path Northwest of the bridge to try to negotiate the ice-covered creek. During the heat of the summer we would crawl up the concrete reinforcement on that North bank because there was a breeze there and, in the shade, it was cooler.
Diana D., Waldemar K., Steve B. and others spent hour after hour staying cool in a swimming hole near the end of the lane Diana D. lived on. Are you familiar with it?
And Cissy, my sister is also 56. Her blog is here, but she frequently stops by here at VK so you can chat with her at either locale.
Another Valley resident is Dan, whose blog is listed in the blogroll... "Up, Down, and Charmingly Strange".
So our family here is getting bigger...
And more is better!
Broken links... let's try again:
Sis' link here.
Dan's link, for what it's worth, is here.
(Keepin' my fingers crossed they work this time.)
Greybeard: I had completely forgotten about that path. We were in the house immediately SW of the bridge. That bridge was our jungle gym. They tore it out after we were all adults and I hated the new bridge. No personality.
We spent hours in that creek. Back when you could actually play in the water, well come to think of it, I'm sure the water was pretty nasty, but we didn't care.
I do remember Gale, although I'm sure sissy remembers her much better.
Geez, I'm am amazed that all the valley and CG people are in one location (virtually).
Harry drove bus # 23. He lived right at the top of the hill on Paddock. He died one day while pulling into the school with a load of junior high kids. I was in elementary and remember the day because he never came to pick me up. Nice man. He didn't make me wear a bus tag on my first day in first grade because I knew my bus number. Funny the silly things we remember 40 some odd years later.
GB: I can't figure out who your sister is! I've lost track of everyone in the class of 71, except for one guy who lives in Texas.
I can remember Jerry, but didn't really know him. What a sad way to die. I'll post a story one of these days about a Loogootee hero who died during the Korean War. I didn't know him either, but it still hurts to lose any soldier or sailor.
Jane Ann was very sophisticated for a high-school girl. We used to hide in the back yard after dark in the summer and spy on her dad Carl--not that he was doing anything out of the ordinary. It was just something to do.
Steve W and I were very good friends. He was quite a bit older than me, but he would come and get me in the middle of winter with snow on the ground and make me help him wash his car. Seems like it was a white Mustang. He also would make me play H-O-R-S-E on their basketball goal. Not hardly a fair match! I believe he always won.
When his Ben Davis team came real close to winning the state championship a few years back, I sent him a card and told him that I know those games of H-O-R-S-E with me is what inspired him to coach basketball. I received a very quick response from him, and he admitted that I was the inspiration for his decision to coach boys basketball. He said that after watching me play basketball, he knew he never wanted to coach girls!
We always played at and under the bridge. At one time we had ducks and every afternoon we'd walk them down to the creek to play in the water. It didn't take them any time to learn where the creek was. My brother Mark was playing in the creek once and came out with a leech attached to his toe. I thought that was pretty cool. But it wasn't so cool when I almost poked my eye out at the creek.
I'll post a story about Harry one of these days. He's on my list. We loved Harry.
You surely knew Mary Sutton.
How about Sally G, who lived on the NE side of the bridge? We called her "Sally from the Alley".
Two Dogs:
I don't remember Dan, Phil, and Gayle.
Dad used to fry pumpkin blooms once in a while. I think R got one once that had a bee fried in it. A little protein never hurt anyone. If you can eat ants, you can eat a fried bee, huh R.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I'm also going to post a story or two about our "adopted" grandparents, Ode (Olen) Perry, his second wife Katheryn and his third wife Romanza. There wasn't a better man than Ode.
Some of you were probably around Kenny Roach's age?
Better get at it, or I won't get a story posted tonight...and my sister will be hounding me.
Oh, you can't write a story about Ode without my input. I adopted him as my Greenwood Grandpa. I still believe that the root of my faith comes from spending time with Ode. His teaching me those old Christian songs and he and I singing together in front of EUB church when I was 5 or so.
Brooks & Dunn's song, I Believe reminds me of Ode. I loved that man.
Harry drove Bus#14 the years I rode with him. I knew his son Jimmy well... Steve W. and I frequently played basketball in the loft of the "F's" barn in wintertime because we'd be out of the wind and under roof there.
I delivered newspapers to Mr. and Mrs. Ode from '57 until I gave up the paper route to the Armes brothers sometime in '62. I'll agree, they were a grand couple! When I had to walk the route rather than ride my bike Mrs. P. would ask, "Where is your wheel?" Hard to forget that.
Sis didn't graduate with you Cissy. She left school when she was 16, eventually joined the Navy and got her G.E.D. As you may have read, she's a nurse in Pensacola now. Odd that we both ended up with jobs in medicine.
My Dad and Carl C. were very close friends. Dad was always out back of Carl's garage working with him on that old school bus he was modifying into a camper. When they weren't doing that, they were always working on Carl's 27 foot Lone Star cabin cruiser. Carl was generous and invited our family to visit them at Cagle's Mill, where I learned to water-ski behind that boat.
Jane was, and still is, a class act. I introduced her to the man she has been married to since 1970(?). (Post about them here.)
Kenny R was a year older. Sister Kathy was in the class of '65 and due to alphabetical seating, sat right behind me in many classes. Your neighbor and Ode's grandson Rick also was a '65 graduate.
And yes, I remember the "G." family well!
We frequently mention Effie's variety store here Cissy and R...
Another class act.
Got any stories to share about her?
Sally G is still there, and many of those homes and names mentioned here were severely damaged in the 2008 flood. Effie's and the local Regal market were very good businesses for many years, loseing out to larger stores and different areas of population growth.
I heard from Sally a few years ago, and knew she still lived in "the alley", but had a home farther back from her dad's place. One time just before Halloween, we were going to have a Halloween party. Sally was over and we were making plans. We talked about turning our basement into a haunted house, and I remember saying, "We could call it the 'Horror House'". Sally laughed and said that wasn't a good idea. (Must be a common theme with me...)
Thanks for Joe's name. When I read the blog entry, I thought you were also talking to someone named Joe. It took my sister to straighten me out. I put an entry in the blog containing his mom's obit.
Yes, we made our runs to Effie's many times. She had a lot of candy and underwear in her little shop. Sweet little lady.
And there was another older lady that lived maybe next door to Effie that had three thumbs--a little one attached to her right thumb--I remember it as being her right thumb. We hit her house at every opportunity; Halloween, selling stuff...whatever...just so we could see her third thumb! She kept it perfect manicured like her other two thumbs.
GB, is your sister's name "Donna"? I did have a classmate that dropped out about then, but I didn't ever know what she did after that.
No Cissy, not Donna. But there was a Donna R. two doors North of us. Sis thinks she may have been in the class ahead of you... she started school when she was five.
We lived on the East side of Morgantown Road, five houses South of the Standard Station. I worked at the Station and at the Beehive.
GB, I have about run out of guesses! The only girl I can think of in that area is a Kathy R. She was in the class of 70, but I don't recall her graduating with that class. I used to go over to her place, and she had a player piano. One of the songs she had was "The Japanese Sandman". She'd pump that piano and sing. I can remember her dad, but don't recall ever seeing her mom.
The player piano was ours, Cissy.
"Runnin' Wild" was my favorite "sing at the top of your lungs" song.
My Dad bought that piano in pieces and figured out how to make it work. It had no pedals to pump air, so he engineered a set himself. Brilliant.
So now you know, and you brought a good memory with you!
Wow! Tell your sister I very well remember going to her place to hang out and listen to her "play" the piano and sing. She might not remember me, but I sure remember her and still think of her from time to time. I can still see her sitting at that piano belting out that song. I even found a fellow on YouTube playing it on his guitar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqKwPDMXW_Q
Your dad must be a lot like my dad was. He could rig up anything. It might look like heck when he finished, but it would work.
I love reconnecting with old friends!
Cissy
Funny I can remember little bitty memories like this, but I can't remember what happened two minutes ago.
GB, I went to your sister's website and left her a comment. Let's see if her long-term memory is as good as mine!
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