January 31, 2015
Mr. Fruth used to go to Roff's farm on Occidental Highway in the summer and buy a bushel of muskmelons. Those melons tasted so good.
I took Hawaiian guitar lessons from Mrs. Overmeyer for a year in 1946-1947. The studio was upstairs over Woolworths Store on Maumee Street just west of the four corners in Adrian, Michigan. I liked Hawaiian music and also the Hawaiian guitar. I did learn to play some songs.
I used to climb to the top of the maple tree by the driveway at 1497 E. Valley Road. I could see up to the corner of M52 and had quite a view all around.
In the summer of 1947 when I was 11, my mother took me to the train station in Toledo to board a train for Albany, New York. I left in the evening and rode all night on the train. In the morning when we arrived in Albany, my Aunt Lucy and Uncle Charles met me at the train station. We went to their house at 514 Pawling Avenue in Troy, New York. I stayed for 2 weeks. It was quite a trip, since I had never traveled before. I remember Uncle Charles liked to tease me. Aunt Lucy was always a special aunt, and especially so since I was named after her.
The summer of 1951, when I was 15, I again took the train to Troy, New York. I stayed at Aunt Lucy and Uncle Charles for a month and 2 weeks with Clara Larson. She was Uncle Charles, daughter and she lived at Islip, Long Island. She took me to New York City. How exciting it was to see the big skyscrapers and be in a big city. We went to Radio City Music Hall and saw the Rockettes and the movie “Showboat”. We went to Macy's Department Store, Grand Central Station, rode on a subway, went in a big cathedral, ate at an Automat, where you put in a quarter and the door opened and you could get the sandwich out. We went up in the Empire State Building and looked out over the city. We could see the docked ship, the Queen Mary. We took a picnic to the popular Jones's Beach and I saw the Atlantic Ocean and went in the water. I read Grace Livingston Hill books out in Clara's hammock. It was a great summer.
When I was in 7th or 8th grade, I went with some others from Birdsall School on a train to Greenfield Village Museum. It was a fun trip, especially when one of the boys that I liked went also.
When going to high school, Fox's Ice Cream Place on Main Street just north of the four corners was the place to go. We would take our sack lunch and get a Cherry Coke to go with our lunch. Sometimes I got the homemade ice cream, which was their specialty.