ABOUT THE GRAPHIC. I couldn't find a photo of the Colonial Diamond T that I loved as my favorite fire truck of the era, so I borrowed one from the web and Photo Shopped the name "Colonial VFD" on the side. The lower center photo is of Jess and me at Kuser Mansion where we hosted a number of evening programs relating to the Hamilton of yesteryear. That particular evening Jess and I and my brother Bud recalled our years at Kuser Elementary School to a very receptive audience of local citizens.
Losing my dear wife Judy triggered a very sensitive part of my being as I recalled all the wonderful people I have loved and known all during 81 years of life the Lord has given to me thus far. Beside my best buddy Don Slabicki about whom I have written countless columns recalling our childhood in the Hartley Avenue neighborhood, countless persons from the past pass before me in an endless parade. My first true love, Shirley Whitebread, Madeline Bencivengo, Shirley and Dave Sneath, the Dilts family, Donnie Cook, Bobby and Dick Soffel, Beb and Brut Peters, Louise Baird and all the wonderful teachers I had at Kuser School and Hamilton High, and countless acquaintances whose influence on me has made me the person that I am: a melancholy "nostalgiac" who loves "living in the past;" a really wonderful place to live. All of which brings me to this post. Jess Anderson was one of those buddies of mine. He and I and Don Slabicki were very close in our later teen years. In fact, as you will read in a column I wrote many years ago, it was Jess who suggested that I join his as a fellow volunteer at Hamilton's Colonial Volunteer Co. As it turned out, I was not a qualified smoke eater as Jess.
Losing my dear wife Judy triggered a very sensitive part of my being as I recalled all the wonderful people I have loved and known all during 81 years of life the Lord has given to me thus far. Beside my best buddy Don Slabicki about whom I have written countless columns recalling our childhood in the Hartley Avenue neighborhood, countless persons from the past pass before me in an endless parade. My first true love, Shirley Whitebread, Madeline Bencivengo, Shirley and Dave Sneath, the Dilts family, Donnie Cook, Bobby and Dick Soffel, Beb and Brut Peters, Louise Baird and all the wonderful teachers I had at Kuser School and Hamilton High, and countless acquaintances whose influence on me has made me the person that I am: a melancholy "nostalgiac" who loves "living in the past;" a really wonderful place to live. All of which brings me to this post. Jess Anderson was one of those buddies of mine. He and I and Don Slabicki were very close in our later teen years. In fact, as you will read in a column I wrote many years ago, it was Jess who suggested that I join his as a fellow volunteer at Hamilton's Colonial Volunteer Co. As it turned out, I was not a qualified smoke eater as Jess.
Was Jess' father a policeman? I remember a Hamilton policeman coming to Klockner about 1948 - he drove me to AC for an essay award - I was impressed!
ReplyDeleteNo Candy. That was his older brother Bob. Nice to hear from you!
ReplyDeleteTom