This is the school I attended from first through fourth grade.
It was built in the 1800s!
I walked from North Main Street to South Main Street.
I do not know just how far that was –
But in Winter, it was cold!
The hill behind the school was a cemetery-
But also sled riding!
The elementary classrooms were on the first floor.
I do not remember much beyond the first floor,
But there was also a basement.
Second grade was where I first loved books.
Our teacher would read the Bobbsey Twins and their adventures.
I loved that part of class!
Later on in the 9th. Grade it was IVAHOE!
First grade was in the front, and we could look out on the large yard –
That was used for recess.
Ringed by huge Maple trees!
Just around the corner on Mechanic Street was a penny candy store –
Called “AUNT NELLS”!
A favorite place to stop and buy candy!
Many memories for me here.
The firehall –
About a block from my home on North Main Street –
Every night at 10 pm. –
The siren would blow, and “CURFEW” was to be home and off the streets!
As far as I know –
It still blows every night!
Upstairs is where I went to study for my Hunter Safety Course.
I went hunting with my father and my brother-in-law, Bill Luce.
It was with my father up at the end of Barden Brook where the sharp curve to the left is –
Up over the ride on the right –
I tasted my first “BUCK FEVER”!
We had just started down the other side when a six-point Buck walked in front of us!
I emptied my 30.6 – Remington of six bullets-
I was shaking so hard that I missed all six times.
I only ever shot one thing, and that was a rabbit.
I hit the back legs –
It was trying to crawl –
I stepped on the hind legs, and it screamed!
THAT WAS IT FOR ME –
I never hunted again, and I do not own a gun.
My sister Donna –
Who was fifteen years older than me-
She, along with my grandma –
Raised me until she married Bill Luce –
He became the chief of police and mayor of Eldred.
My mother worked at the Viko and then Alcas – now CUTCO.
My dad was a supervisor for South Penn Oil Company.
I remember him taking me to work on the leases –
I would ride with bulldozers with a couple of his men.
I think OSHA would frown on that now!
But being in the woods-
Pulling the tool shed – dog house with that dozer-
They are sweet memories for me.
Bill took me hunting many times.
One time, I got cold and went back to the car.
I played the radio, and when he got back –
The car would not start.
I had run the battery down.
He did not get mad, but next time I had to stay with him!
My brother Roger is on the right.
I do not know who the women were talking to, Sherry!
This was in The Villages before he passed away.
He graduated from the Eldred H.S. some ten years before I graduated from O-E H.S.
He was my HERO growing up.
He left for college, and I moved into his bedroom at the front of the house.
I slept on the floor whenever he came back.
I was eight years old when he left.
Before he passed away –
He would ask us to come and spend the winter with him in THE VILLAGES!
I shall always fondly remember those times as we grew closer.
The WWII museum – and next to it, the expansion.
But when I was growing up
This was Frisbee’s insurance and Slavins’ gas station and furniture store!
I was allowed to roller skate down to Slavin’s gas –
But later, when I got my first bike-
I could go all over town as long as I was home before the street lights came on.
This was maybe a block from my front porch.
The sidewalks were cracked, crooked, but I skated them
For over twenty years –
Our SUPPLEMENT for health and nutrition.
You can read and see the research.
Sherry’s website – yes, she sells this.
Go to https://sfitzsimmons.juiceplus.com
Long before I was born,
The main street in the middle of town
Other than the vacant stores now and the cars here-
It looks much like this today.
The little NWPA town I grew up in.
In the foothills of the Alegany Mountains and the Alleghany River.
Thanks for reading!
PAPA’S WORLD-
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