Reflections Of a Small Town

From the time that I was 3 years old until I was 9, I lived in a small town which was also the County Seat. My parents were owners of the only Rooming House in town and it sit on the corner of the square near the Court House. Growing up in the business district was quite an adventure. We were not the only family living on the "Square", as most of the businesses in that time had apartments for the families to live in. These were either in the back of the store or in an upstairs. There were several families with children and we had a lot of fun.

My older sister and I and drugstore Darlene were the only girls along with 7 boys who lived on the north side. Our back yard was everybodies back yard and vice versa. We played from morning until after dark unless our mom's had an important job for us to do. Ten kids can think of a lot of mischief and also do a lot of fun things. We never considered that we were doing anything mischievous, just some grownups thought that.

One of our regular jobs was to make sure that the evil men in the basement poolhall across the alley were not doing anything wrong. Andy, whose Dad was the proprietor of this upstanding business, was the leader of this endeavor. You see the basement had a flat roof on it and we kids loved to play on the top. It also had vent holes so the stagnent smoke filled air could escape. There were often cans on the vent holes, but it was our job to take them off (so the smoke could get out) on a regular basis. Andy made sure it was almost every evening. It was also often necessary to yell in the pipes to make sure they were clear. I am sure this was a lovely sound to the men who were involved in a hot snooker game or game of poker (which was played on the side).

Nearby was a large Apricot tree. It's limbs draped over the basement and we often would climb up and drop down on the top just to do it. One fruitful year, for some reason, we decided to drop ripe apricots down those vent holes. Now, I did not know all of the men who were down there, but one of them was Mr. Andy and another one was my Dad. As we "bombed" the tables below, there was a lot of yelling and cursing and of course we took off in a run. Well, everyone but Andy took off. Andy had to see just how far he could go and just what was happening. After each drop, he would peek into the vent to see what he had hit. You know what? The next day, when Andy came out to play, he was supporting the biggest shinner we ever did see. You see, when he peeked, someone poked a cue stick up that vent and Andy just could't get up soon enough. He got his just reward, and that was the last time we bombed the pool hall.

One of my jobs along with my sister, was to go to the ice house and get a block of ice for the wooden ice box that we had in the kitchen. I guess that tells how old that I am as we did not have a refrigerator in our establishement until the early 50's. We would take the wagon to the big wooden house near the center of the square to get a 25# block of ice. That was what our ice box would hold. Mom would also have to chip some off, and we would have Kool Aid or some other iced drink. What a great treat on a hot summer day. This was also before airconditioning of any kind. (We did have an electric fan to help circulate the air. It was mostly used in the kitchen.)

The best part was just going to get the ice and bringing it home. We always had a quilt to wrap around the ice so it would not melt too much on our short trip back home. Sister and I would take turns sitting on the wrapped ice. This was to really cool us off, and it did. It would especially cool us off if we sit our little bottoms directly on the block of ice. Before we reached home, we carefully covered the ice up so Mom wouldn't know just what we had done. Wouldn't our prime and proper mother have had a heart attack had she have known? I haven't told her yet. You won't tell her either will You? Promise.!!!!

Reflections Of a Small Town

From the time that I was 3 years old until I was 9, I lived in a small town which was also the County Seat. My parents were

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Valentines

Colored hearts on the pages of my Big Chief Tablet
"Be Mine" printed boldly, then dropped into the big box
At the back of the classroom
For my first Grade friends.

Big Hearts cut from the Wallpaper Samples
Pasted on a paper doily-
"I Love you Mama and Daddy" printed on the top
Given in great excitement.

A book of Valentines, from the Drugstore on the Square-
My first boughten ones with great verses that read:
"We would be a peachy pear (with fruit).
Or the cow who was in the mooood to be my valentine.

A little more thought was put into the verse:
I'll sing a little song
Underneath the vine
I've loved you all along
My own sweet Valentine.

Valentines day was always a special day
To show someone that you cared
By sending one a card of hearts,
Or candy, if you dared.
Older sweethearts sent mushy lines
That said "How I love You"
Or a girl might get a ring, and a vase of roses too.

But when you are just a kid
And it is Valentines Day
You really do not understand
About giving your heart away.
But then, you meet Jesus
Who shows you of your sin
And you open up your heart and let His love pour in.

If you give your heart to Jesus,
He fills us with His love
It is the greatest love of all
And it comes from God above.
We lift Him up with Praise and Song
He says "I am the Vine
I have loved you all along,"
He is my Valentine.

Happy Valentine Day to You.

The Club Meeting

Aren't you thankful for the friends that you have? Wouldn't it be sad if there was no one that you could truely call friend. I am thankful for the frineds in my life. There are some that I have had for a long time and some that are new, but they are all precious to me. Some of my friends all belong in the same circle of friendship and have been involved in the same things for a long time. Some are from the pages of my past and their faces and memories come into my mind often as I grow older and seem to reminiscence over things of days gone by. AM I GETTING OLD OR WHAT?

I spent the day with friends at my house. It was Club Day. You see, I belong to an Extension Homemakers Club and it was my time to be the hostess. I have meet with these ladies for over 40 years. The members have changed through the years. Some have passed on, some have moved away and some of us(2) are charter members that have been here from the beginning. We were young women in the community and in need of companionship of other women. In this very rural community, we needed an excuse to get together and exchange ideas, do good for the community and just have the friendship of another female. It was a new adventure. In the beginning there were 13 young women(all under 30 years of age) eager to make our community a better place to live. Today, 8 women sit around my dining table and we shared ideas of what we could do for the kids at the local stock show. We have had many projects throughout these 40 years, We are not all young anymore but rejoiced when young Jennifer joined our group because she thought what we did was worthwhile.

We have given scholarships to local students, send a girl to Oklahoma Girls State each year, prepare food for the Senior Citizens Health Fair in the fall, Feed the hungry kids at the Stock Shows, Plant trees and the area lake, prepare the flower beds at the County museum, make neck strips for the soldiers, make pajamas for them and send them care packages during the year. The list goes on and on. I am not bragging but what I say is that all of this is possible with these friends that I am involved with.

We also try to be the "Good News Gossips". Now that is, We are just to share good news about each other and our neighbors. Colossians 4:5 says, "Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one". And that is what we shall strive to do.

After our meeting adjourned, several of us went to the local voting precinct and did our civic duty by casting our vote for a new school board member and the taxes concerning the ambulance service in our county.

I do thank God for friends. I especially thank Him for my best friend, Jesus. His is the one who I can always turn to and who is always there with the Good News. Have you met him? If not go to Andi's Ramblings and she will tell you how to get acquainted.