|
The
Pictures
Where is Vaiden,
Mississippi?
Blast From The Past
A
Visit Back To Childhood. . .
.
. .and Various Places In Between
This
Page is Dedicated to my Childhood Friend, Jack Fullilove (12/27/1955 - 03/20/1996), with the assurance that, although there is
a void here on Earth, there is one more shining star in Heaven.
Jack Fullilove
(Click on the Photo Above)
[WEBMASTER’S
NOTE: Most of the photos of Jack,
Sonny, Hazel, “Mr. Jimmy,” and Eleanor Fullilove found on this page were
provided Courtesy of Jack’s Aunt, Mrs. Edith Kitchens of Crystal Springs,
MS. She, as with all
of the Fullilove family are very dear to me, and I offer my heartfelt
thanks for all the help she and the family have given me.]
VARTA
(Vaiden Area Rapid Transportation Association)
To most of us kids that grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, it
was all about locomotion. Getting from
point A to point B in the least amount of time possible was a necessity. After all, the quicker we got there, the
more time we had to play. We learned
to eat quickly, so as not to waste any time getting back to what we did best
– having fun. Having a rapid means of
transportation was a must. This involved a simple formula we figured
out at an early age: EQ = RP -- Eat
Quick, Resume Play. The quicker we got
home to eat, and the quicker we got back to play was was,
besides a tad of sleep, the ultimate goal of a
5000-calorie-burning-a-day kid with wheels.
After all, there were treehouses to build, forts to attack, tents to
be erected, swimming to be done, money to be made picking up and selling Coke
bottles, and visits to our local candy store.
Then, it was time for dinner.
Now, let me explain the term DINNER to any visitors to this
page that are not from the South. In Mississippi, we didn’t
have BRUNCH or LUNCH or SNACKS. We had
BREAKFAST, DINNER, SUPPER, and SOMN’DEAT (something to eat). Breakfast was usually around 6:00 a.m. It could be as early as 5:00 a.m., or as
late as 7:00 a.m., but we usually had it earlier rather than later. Later meant an hour wasted that we could be
preparing for war, or plotting out the daily
entertainment. Regardless, we didn’t
skip it. DINNER was anywhere between
11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., but was usually at 12:00
noon. SUPPER was at 6:00 p.m. Period.
You miss it, and you eat leftovers.
SOMN’DEAT was any time during the day that the One-A-Day Vitamins wore
off. The typical schedule usually was,
as follows:
Breakfast:
6:00 a.m. – 6:15 a.m.
Play:
6:15 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Somn’deat: 9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
Play:
9:15 a.m. – 12:00 noon
Dinner: 12:00
noon – 12:15 p.m.
Play:
12:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Somn’deat: 3:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
Play:
3:15 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Supper:
6:00 p.m. – 6:15 p.m.
Play:
6:15 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Sleep:
10:00 p.m. – 6:00 a.m.
TOTALS AS FOLLOWS:
Time For Caloric Intake: 1.5 hours / day
Time to dream up new crap
to do tomorrow (Sleep): 8.0 hours / day
Time for caloric output ( PLAY ! ! ! ): 14.5 hours / day (and more, if we
“accidentally” didn’t hear mom calling us)
I must remind you that time to play had a few exceptions,
such as Sunday School and Church, and visiting relatives. But, I
digress. The purpose of this scholarly
thesis is to inform you of the various means of transportation we used to
commute to and from play. Whether it
was tricycles, bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, cars or on foot, we always
got to the fun on time.
You are listening to:
Little Honda
(Jan &
Dean version)
Click HERE for the lyrics to
Little Honda
More
Honda Cub 50 Photos (not mine) 1 2
Honda
70 Scrambler 1 2 3 4
Honda
CL-450 Scrambler 1 2
Easy Rider -- The Honda 450 Chopper (my CL-450 Scrambler conversion)
Kawasaki Triples (.pdf format)
Honda Magnas
(V30, V45, V65) -- .pdf format
How
Low Can You Go? -- The Go-Cart (Ron (driving) & Cousin Bruce)
Road Rage -- The Go-Cart -- Part 2 (Bruce (driving) and Me)
Go-Kart Cameo: 1969
Vaiden Bulldogs Annual
Go-Kart
Engine (2 ˝
Horsepower) – Photo 1 Photo 2
Like an idiot, I traded my go-kart to Bill Welch, for his mini-bike. I took
the mini-bike home, let it cool off, and gave it a good cleaning. After checking the oil, I hopped on it and
rode it about 100 yards, and the engine blew up. I didn’t ask for my go-kart back (another
stupid mistake), because we shook hands when we made
the trade. I never got it fixed, and
later sold it for $40.00 to a co-worker of my mom’s, when she was working at
Big Star Supermarket in Winona,
MS.
The Skate Board
Keep in mind, in the sixties, there was no Tony Hawk or Bob Burnquist to learn skateboarding techniques from. We had to ad-lib. There were no such things as “Nose Grinds,”
“Ollies,” “Manuals,” “Kick Flips,” or
places with “Half Pipes,” etc., or at least that we’d heard of, and
especially in Vaiden, Mississippi. My skateboard was a Hang-Ten model, much
like you’ll see in the following photos.
It eventually broke, and Phillip Wade and I took the trucks off and
mounted them to a board about six feet long, and
rode it sitting down.
The Bands
Music
has always been a large part of my life.
Although my Mom would never admit it, she was
pretty good on guitar. The way my Dad could play a fiddle, would make Charlie Daniels and the Devil want to take lessons. I
started in the Vaiden Band in the 4th Grade. My mom wanted me to play drums, but I just
had to play the Cornet. I must have
been pretty good at it, because I was started out in
2nd Chair. By the 6th
Grade, I had moved up to First Chair and was marching with the High School
Band. Although small, the Vaiden Band scored well at sight-reading contests
in Louisville, MS several years. We got to march in competition in the
Mississippi Memorial Stadium in Jackson, MS on April 1, 1966. This is a photo of Sheila
Barnette (R) and me (L) at the Mississippi Memorial Stadium that day.
Here is a Close-Up.
I
was asked to play an alternate version of “Charge” at all
of the football games and, because the highest note was either a
double-high or triple-high C, hitting that note on a Cornet (not as
high-pitched as a trumpet), was not easy and got old really fast. I would
have been a good kisser after those games – had I been old enough – due to the fact that my lips were swollen. In 1968, I was
deciding that my mom might have been right about the drums. Our wonderful Band Director, Mr. Bob
Esterline, had moved away at the end of the 1967 school year, and we had a
different director, Mr. W.B. Oswalt.
Mr. Oswalt wasn’t a bad guy, but, for some reason, I thought he was
because he refused to let me change over to drums.
Around
the time that Dr. Martin Luther King was killed (04/04/1968) by a cowardly
assassin, I had had enough and got up and walked out of the band hall. Several people followed me that day and,
the next day, the Vaiden High School Band was no more. Until the last day that the school remained
open, there wasn’t a fully-sanctioned Vaiden Band
again. The day I walked out of the Band Hall, I walked down the hill behind
the school and found Kenny Loftin standing by the Lunchroom. I told him that
I’d heard that he was taking guitar lessons and asked him if he wanted to
join my band. He said that he had been
taking guitar lessons from Van Simpson. I believe that he mentioned that Jack
Fullilove was taking guitar lessons, as well (although not from Van). Jack was a close friend so, that day in
Spring of 1968, I formed The Livin’ End with Kenny,
Jack and Van.
Mike Simpson, Van’s cousin, soon joined us on keyboards and the
quartet was now a quintet. We began
practicing mostly in my kitchen. Sometimes, we practiced in Kenny’s house,
but soon decided that the best place with the most room was in Jack’s
garage. Jack lived on Highway 51,
about ˝ mile South of downtown Vaiden and we practiced every weekend, rain or shine, burning hot or freezing cold. Jack’s mom, Hazel, put sheets over the
garage entrance (there were no garage doors) and rented two huge parabolic
propane heaters to keep us warm in the wintertime. When it was warm enough outside, people
would stop to visit with Hazel and Sonny (Jack’s Dad) and listen to us play. Often, you could see cars pulled over on
the highway just sitting there listening.
The Livin’ End was the first band ever in
the history of Vaiden. It’s also first
in my heart.
My First Drum Kit
(in Blue Sparkle from the 1967 Sears Fall/Winter Catalog – Page 1386) – Mine
is the $149.95 set in the upper right of the page. I added the drummer’s
throne in the lower right of the page.
In
March 1969, The Livin’ End won first place at the
Carrollton, MS Jaycee’s First Annual Talent Show and
received a trophy. It started there, and never let up.
When
I was in the 10th or 11th Grade, the Livin’ End was asked to provide the entertainment for the
Friday Morning Assembly one week. The band at that time,
if I remember correctly, was made up of myself, Kenny Loftin, Jack Fullilove and Van Simpson. Our last song was King Floyd’s Groove Me.
The students were comprised of about 80% Black and 20% White. We played Groove
Me as the last song of the assembly and, about halfway through, the bell
rang to dismiss the assembly. Our Principal, Rev. Curtis Armstrong, made up stop playing
so everyone could exit the auditorium. After we stopped playing, we let about 1/3 to 1/2 of the
students exit the auditorium and cranked up on Groove Me again. All of the students came back into
the Auditorium and were grooving with us. Mr. Armstrong made the guitar guys unplug their amps so
everyone would finally leave. Since I couldn’t unplug my drums, I just sat there and
laughed at the situation. I still love that song. [Footnote] The students requested
that should come back and play again, so, not too long after that, we played
from after lunch until almost 3:00 one afternoon in the Band Hall to a packed
crowd of students. Groove Me was requested several times.
During my Senior year
(1971-1972), I played drums in Coldfire with Kenny
Loftin on guitar and James Allen Gant on bass. We threw dances at the Vaiden
Community Center at least every other weekend, and always had a good crowd.
So far, no existing
recordings have been found of the Livin’ End or Coldfire,
although someone may have made the recordings. Below, you will find links to Magnolia
Blue, The Earl Bishop Band and the Hi-Lites. I had
a chance to drum in each of those.
Click on the band name, and it will take you to the appropriate page
where you can listen to the music.
Spend some time and sit back and relax. It’s good to have you visit.
Going Solo -- Slingerland Red Stain Flame Pearl
Drum Kit & Ron
My Old House by the Vaiden Cemetery (Photo 1 -- Photo
2), where I spent the first 6 years of my life.
Rocket-Powered Go Karts (Not Mine)
Aunt Louise (“Aunt E”) Caddess with her
Parakeets – 1959/1960
Mom and Me -- 1955
It Won’t Come Back – Me and My Wham-O
“Unbreakable” Boomerang
Christmas 1960 – Me and My Radio Flyer
Scooter
[Ed. Note: Notice the chalk board in the background
with ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ across the top. HERE I AM on June 18, 2011 with that same chalk
board.]
Excellent Band Rating on the CLARINET ? (I played the CORNET)
March 1960 – Age 5 – Me and my Jungle Gym Swing Set
(As of 06/14/2003 I still have this
swing set (except for the slide and one of the swings – see below))
Swing Set – June 14, 2003
– PHOTO 1 PHOTO 2
Ron’s
Portrait in Pencil – Circa 1960-1961
Ron’s Portrait in Watercolor – Circa 1960-1963
Ron and Chris Palmertree – Circa 1959-1960
KQR0575
CB Radio QSL Card
My
First CB Radio (the Base
Station from the 1966 Sears Christmas Book (“Wish Book”) – Page 642
My Nissan 300ZX Turbo – Colorado, August 1987
The Pogo Stick
When I visit Vaiden, I sometimes run across someone that,
during our conversation, mentions about their memories of me and my pogo
stick. I got my pogo stick at
Christmas of 1964 or 1965. It sat
around for over a year before I tried to ride it with earnest. I learned by standing on the front bumper
of our 1965 Ford LTD and jumping onto the pogo stick. After many unsuccessful tries, I became
obsessed with learning to ride it. I
figured that, if I could stay on it for a few seconds more on each attempt,
that I would soon master it. Ten
seconds soon turned into 20, 30, 60 and so on. Our house was approximately 150-175 yards
west of the Vaiden School. I was soon able to hop onto the pogo stick
on the top of our carport steps and hop around our driveway, onto and down
the sidewalk, across the front of the schoolyard, up the front steps of the
school and into the front door, without ever putting a foot down once. Soon, I was hopping up and down the
football bleachers, and once hopped onto the stick at 12:00 noon and bounced
continuously until 1:00 p.m., when the bell rang, and I had never touched the
ground once with my feet. My pogo
stick became very popular with my schoolmates, and they still talk about it
now. I got my boys one several years
back, and they are learning to ride it.
Before you ask, as of 2007, I can still ride a pogo stick. As an adult with more weight than a 5th
or 6th grader, it takes a lot of energy, and I can’t ride it as
long, but I can still jump in the air and climb steps with it. Call me crazy, but you won’t be telling me
something I don’t already know.
Following are three photos concerning pogo sticks. In the first photo, my cousin Bruce Collins
is driving my go-kart, and I’m standing behind it. You can see the handles of my famous pogo
stick over my shoulder. To my
knowledge, this is the only photo that I have with my pogo stick in it. The second photo was found on the internet
and is a pogo stick exactly like the one I had. The third photo is a schematic of the pogo stick.
PHOTO 1 PHOTO 2 PHOTO 3
The Motorcycles of Jack
Fullilove
NOTE: Jack had
motorcycles like the ones on the following photos. The ones in the photos, however, are not
his, but were gleaned from the internet.
Honda Sport 50 (1), (2)
Honda 125 Scrambler (1), (2)
Honda 350 Scrambler (1),
(2) Honda CB 450 (1)
Honda 750 Four (1)
Cyclone Racer Photo 1
-- Long Beach California – Summer 1964
The picture above was taken from the Blackstone
Hotel in Long Beach (6th
or 8th floor, I believe), while I was in California in 1964, the summer after my Dad’s death. I was 9 at the time,
and didn’t get to ride it (not that I would have at the age of 9
and by myself). The Cyclone Racer was designed by Frederick Church (1878-1936)
built by Harry Guy Traver (11/25/1877-09/27/1961). It
was built to replace the Jack Rabbit Racer.
The Jack Rabbit Racer only lasted 15 years (May
1915 – 1930). The Cyclone opened to the public on Memorial Day (May 30), 1930 at “The Pike” on the
Long Beach coast. The Pike consisted
of a theme park, and a pier, as well as area attractions. It took over 5 months to build the Cyclone and over 1,000,000 board feet of
lumber, over 1,000,000
bolts, and 50
kegs of nails. More on the Cyclone can be found HERE.
The Cyclone was a dual-track racer (hence the
name), in which two cars would race side-by-side throughout the course. It
had a capacity of 2,400 riders per hour and its maximum speeds were an unheard-of
(in the 1930s) 50 mph. The track was 3750
feet long, and the entire structure took $140,000 (in 1930 dollars) to build. The highest point was 85 feet, and the ride
took 1 ľ minutes to complete. It could
develop a maximum G Force of 3.64
and had a maximum vertical angle of 49.5⁰. It had no inversions.
In the 1936 movie Strike Me Pink, Eddie Cantor was chased all over the pier and the coaster,
as well. In the 1945 movie Abbot and Costello in Hollywood,
Costello was chased over the coaster, and in the 1943 movie The Dancing Masters,
comedians Laurel and Hardy “rode” a double-decker bus
onto the coaster. In the
1963 comedy It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, the final car chase scene shows the Pike and the
Cyclone in the background. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
featured the Cyclone Racer in the climax, when the stop-motion beast destroys
a model of the coaster in split-screen with live action intercut with live
action scenes from the coaster parking lot, entrance ramp and loading
platform. However, in THIS CLIP of that
movie, the coaster sign bears the name of the defunct “Jack Rabbit Racer,”
which is thought to have been done to avoid any legal issues. As previously
mentioned, the “Jack Rabbit Racer” had been torn down in 1930, a full 23 years
before The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
was made. Alternatively, that scene
was supposed to portray the monster’s destruction of Coney Island, so it
could have actually been the 1927 Cyclone Racer at
Coney Island that was used with the “Jack Rabbit Racer” sign for the movie.
In 1947,
as the lease was about to expire and demolition was soon to be scheduled, the
lease was extended another 20
years. The park and the pier didn’t
survive, though, and were demolished in early 1949…but the Cyclone Racer remained. On May 1, 1968, the lease on
the Cyclone expired again, but a special permit allowed it to remain in
operation until Labor Day. At 11:00 p.m. on September 15,
1968,
the last of 25,000,000
riders disembarked, never to see the Cyclone again. Demolition of the Cyclone
Racer began the next day. Will a New Cyclone at Long Beach be
built? CLICK HERE to
find out. At its close, it had been open 38 years, 3 months
and 16 days.
History of the Cyclone Racer (Part 1) – History of the Cyclone Racer (Part 2)
NOTE: The above video history may be of the
sister coaster – also named the Cyclone Racer – that was a main attraction at
Coney Island, N.Y. The Coney Island Cyclone opened on 06/26/1927,
and was still in operation in 2015.
Other video clips about the Cyclone can be found
HERE and HERE.
I have “culled” more
pictures of the Pike and the Cyclone Racer from the internet. Click on the links below to see them.
The Pike and the Cyclone Racer
Photo 1 Photo 2
Photo 3 Photo 4 Photo 5
Photo 6 Photo 7 Photo 8
Photo 9 Photo 10 Photo 11
Photo 12 Photo 13 Photo 14
Photo 15 Photo 16 Photo 17
Photo 18 Photo 19 Photo 20
Photo 21 Photo 22
Many memories of the Pike and the Cyclone were made.
Irememberlongbeach.com (no spaces between the words) has a video called We Met At The Pike
that tells the true story of Rose Mary and Carrol H. Dial,
who met at the Pike and rode the Cyclone in 1950. They were married for 58
years.
Blackstone Hotel
The City of Long Beach Municipal Code 16.52.410, designated the Blackstone Hotel as an
historical landmark. Excerpts from the
Code are as follows:
Pursuant to the provisions
of Chapter 2.63
and with the following recommendations of the planning commission, the city
council designates the following building as an historical landmark in the
city: The Blackstone Hotel.
The Blackstone Hotel,
located at 330 West Ocean Boulevard,
Long Beach, California,
is a six-story hotel featuring a simple, Renaissance Revival influenced
design. It is constructed of
reinforced concrete, and features a U-shaped
facade. Stringcourses set off the
bottom and top stories. Single and
paired double-hung sash windows with raised sills define the bays. A plain entablature culminating in an overhanging corn icecaps the building. Enhanced by landscaping, the Blackstone
appears largely unaltered and in good condition.
The Blackstone is important
in that it exemplifies the development of highrise
residential structures on Ocean
Boulevard in the ‘twenties, defining the city’s
first highrise skyline. A reminder of the economic boom of that
period, shaped by the city’s prominence as a beach resort and fueled by the
discovery of oil, the demand for new housing gave rise to residential highrise development downtown. Situated next to the Sovereign, it serves
as a strong visual connection to the past and reflects the city’s pattern of
development.
The Architect for the Blackstone Hotel was Edward L.
Mayberry. It was built in 1923 by John Wesley Graves (02/17/1874 – 07/27/1942), and is still in operation in 2003, reportedly as a highrise senior citizen’s home. However, I have recently received word that
the Blackstone is now being used as an apartment building.
Photo 1 Photo 2
The
Car
My 1972 Plymouth
‘Cuda
Blaze
of Glory
The Deposit
The Title
1972 Plymouth Brochure
 
The following photos
are of a 1972 Plymouth ‘Cuda that was NOT mine.
I can’t believe that I only took 2 or 3
pictures of my ‘Cuda while I had it from 06/27/1972 (bought at
Chamblee Motors in Greenwood, MS for $3734.80)
until 02/08/1976, when I traded it for, of all things,
a 1976 Pontiac Astre. When my ‘Cuda was stock, it was almost exactly like the one in the
following photos, except it didn’t have a vinyl roof, and my ‘Cuda’s seats were white.
Also, mine had a white stripe down the side, no air conditioner or
power steering or electric anything and didn’t come with a tachometer. I had ordered mine with the 150 m.p.h. speedometer and tachometer option and WITHOUT the
center console, but, when it arrived, it had the “regular” 120
m.p.h. speedometer, no tachometer, and the center console as
you see in the following pictures. It
also had the “pistol-grip” shift lever, which assured that your hand would
fly off the shifter and that you would miss a gear when trying to speed-shift
(I SOON changed this to a Hurst
shifter and T-Handle).
My ‘Cuda “evolved” quite a bit from the time I bought
it. I added an open air cleaner,
chrome valve covers, opened the air scoops, installed a set of Doug’s
headers, an Edelbrock Torker
manifold with a Holley double-pump, double-feed 850 c.f.m.
carburetor, a rev de-limiter module, Lakewood traction bars, Lakewood
driveshaft safety loop, low-restriction 3” intake and
outlet mufflers originally made for a turbocharged Corvair,
Kendall GT-1 40W
Racing Oil, Carter electric fuel pump and a Holley high-performance
mechanical fuel pump, Accel Super Coil, Accel plug wires, distributor cap and
plugs, an Accel chrome hi-output alternator, a Hurst T-handle shifter (short
throw), Sun tachometer, oil pressure gauge, and a blaring White’s 8-track player and speakers. Cosmetically, I added a chrome right-side
mirror and the “340” decals to
the rear fenders. I also increased the
tires to Multi-Mile N50-14 on the rear (on 10”
wide rear rims (I don’t remember the rim manufacturer)), and G50-14 Multi-Miles on
the front (mounted on the same type rims, but 8 ˝” wide).
I also added driving lights and other “amenities” during my ownership.
The Van
My 1976 Ford Econoline Custom Van
Photo
1 Photo 2 Photo 3
The Many Faces of a
Vaiden Native
Photo 1 -- Photo 2 -- Photo 3 -- Photo 4
Photo
5 -- Photo 6 -- Photo 7 -- Photo 8
Photo
9 -- Photo 10 -- Photo 11 -- Photo
12
Photo
13 -- Photo 14 -- Photo 15 -- Photo
16
Photo 17 – Photo 18 – Photo 19 – Photo
20
Photo 21 Photo
22
Some
of the Many Chicks in My Life
At 4 Months
At 5 Months At
2 Years Old
Baby Collage Send
in the Clowns Elevated to a Lofty Position
They
Gave Me The CHAIR Right on the Borderline
Tootin’ My Own Horn
Elementary Diploma 1968 In the Mississippi Senate King of the…Yard ?
Phi Alpha Certificate at USM Dive Right In Slidin’ Away Chillin’
Patio Benched Hair
4-H Trip to Sardis
Phi
Alpha Delta President (with Former Mississippi Governor William
Winter)
Family
Photo
The Epitome of Cool – Circa 1970-ish (Actually the date is
more like 1972 or 1973. The shiny object behind me is the muffler of my
Honda
CL-450 Scrambler, which I bought on 08/31/1971, and converted into a chopper
a few years later – at which time, those mufflers were replaced).
MORE MADNESS
The
following images were scanned from old 35mm slides. Some appear fuzzy or dark. All depict GRAPHIC IMAGES of nothing but
fun in Vaiden, Mississippi. Hopefully I will be able to update these
with clearer images at a later date. NOTE:
The dates listed by the images are the dates that the slides were developed, and may be slightly different than the date the
picture was taken.
Guarding
the Fort – circa 1961 Battlestations – circa 1961
Buck the Cow & Ron – 1961 First Grade Classmates
– 1961
First Grade Intellectual (Ron & Mrs.
Prewitt) – 1961 Making the Grade – circa 1960
Under the Apple Tree – 1961 Snow Monster –
1962
Ron
& Ricky Randle – 1961
Flea Bargain – 1961 Dog Tired –
1961/62
Dad (Alf Collins) leading Ron on Burro in Smoky
Mountains (Ghost Town in the Sky) – 1963
Injun
Ron Bagging the Game – 1962
Injun Ron on the Warpath – 1962
Peace Treaty – 1962
Vaiden Baptist Sunbeams – 1961/1962
Tom
Evans & Ron – Date: n/a
Grenada
Lake Monsters (L to R: Trent Evans, Craig Evans, Ron Collins, Tom
Evans) – 1966
The Mighty Treehouse – 1967 Fortress of Solitude
– 1967
Once Upon a Midnight Dreary – 1967
Ghosts of Halloween Past – 1966 (L to R): Terry Ennis, Billy
Ennis, Jack Fullilove, Chris Palmertree, Ron
Collins & Unknown
I
Want to Ride My Bicycle – 1966
I’m An American Band (Vaiden Band, Actually) – 1966
Last Gasp For the Sunday School
Building – circa 1966
Don’t Take It Away (Sunday School
Building) – circa 1966
The
Screamin’ Honda 50 – 1969
No Room at the. . . Manger ?
(a.k.a.
“The Eviction of Baby Jesus”)
Some
things should neever be told. Some things are just too funny not to be
told. My friends, Dennis,
Bill, and Richard Welch loved to camp out when we were kids. I did too.
Except this time I wasn’t invited. This is once that I’m glad I wasn’t.
One
year, shortly before Christmas, the aforementioned
perpetrators decided to camp out.
The night was going to be cold.
Their mother, Bud, didn’t want them to go, but they persisted. She told them they would freeze, but being
certain that this wouldn’t happen, they went anyway. Apparently, they decided too late in the
evening to properly pack the things that we would normally take (such as a
tent and proper protection from the cold).
After searching for a spot to camp and not wanting to admit defeat,
and the mandatory “I told you so,” from Bud, they spotted the manger scene in
front of the Vaiden Presbyterian Church, which was less
than 100 yards from their house. It
was warm, due to the spotlights shining on the figures in the manger. The next morning, passersby noticed the
poor Baby Jesus sitting out in the grass, evicted from the manger,
accompanied by Mary, Joseph and various other “critters.” The manger appeared empty, until, upon
closer inspection, it was found that the three wise men were “asleep in the
hay.”
Jesus Wept. John 11:35
The Kick Scooter
I
wonder how many of us had a kick scooter like this one (see photos below)
when we were younger? I rode my
scooter quite a bit, until I outgrew it, and might still have it somewhere
amidst the ruins of my storeroom.
Photo 1 is of me and my scooter on Christmas Morning in 1960. Photos 2 and 3 were found on the internet
during a search for a similar scooter.
I think the scooters in Photo 3 and Photo 5 are more like the one I
have / had. I don’t remember the name
of the manufacturer.
PHOTO 1 PHOTO 2 PHOTO 3 PHOTO 4 PHOTO 5
The War of the Mighty Treehouse
Childhood Memories 1
Childhood Memories 2
Back
Home Again . . .Page I
(Click on the Rat Fink to hear the Rat Fink
song by the Misfits)
Site Design and Compilation Copyright ©
by Ron Collins. 2016.
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