With lots of time on my hands while recovering from illness, I find that my mind often wanders to those times so long ago when I was a young boy roaming along Spain Creek. I find myself viewing, in my mind's eye, a kaleidoscope of candid moments in time. These are like the flashes of old-time camera flashbulbs, brilliant just momentarily and then fading away.Often these moments are unrelated. Some are happy memories; others are more tragic in nature. All were part of growing up in North Lewisburg. I find them to be very interesting, nonetheless.
While some of these moments could probably be expanded into longer stories, I think it best to leave them as just special glimpses of the past. Here are just a few:
- Going downtown to where a crowd of townsfolk had gathered for Santa's annual distribution of bagged candies.
- Walking on Sycamore Street toward the business district to attend a movie at the local theater, but being sure to cross to the other side of the street when passing the old Beltz Mill, lest some ghost would pull us into the abandoned building.
- Finding patches of ice along Spain Creek with enough room to permit ice skating.
- Listening on Mike Chamberlain's shortwave radio to the "beep, beep, beep" of the Soviet "Sputnik" artificial satellite as it passed overhead.
- The day the little Piper Cub airplane flew low over the town and tossed hundreds of paper plates to the surprised observers. There was an advertisement for some business in Urbana which had been pasted to each of the plates.
- Another day when the "young Louden boy" flew his Navy jet away from a cross-country formation and "buzzed" the town, providing an exciting low-level air show for the locals.
- Taking our sleds and sneaking across the fields to Buckshot Hill on the Reid farm property, and enjoying the snow in spite of the admonitions from our folks to stay away from there.
- Stopping at the little one-room store, owned and operated by Johnny and Rachel Spain, and buying some penny candies.
- Decorating bicycles with red-white-and blue crepe paper so we could ride them in the annual "Decoration Day" parade.
- Visiting the old elementary school building on Maple Street in December to buy our family's home Christmas tree from the Boosters Club.
- Attending the horse shows at the ball park which were sponsored by the local Boy Scout Troop.
- Stopping by the food tent to get a bowl or hand-packed cone of home-made vanilla ice cream at one of the many ice cream socials held at the ball park on holidays.
- There was an old, dilapidated, wood building which sat on the narrow strip of ground between the railroad and Spain Creek. What its original purpose was, I've never known, but it had become an eyesore, covered from ground to roof line with torn and faded posters of past circuses, fairgrounds and drive-in movie ad. It caught fire one evening, and burned to the ground while the town's volunteer fire fighters stood by. Bob Loveland was heard to exclaim "There's going to be an investigation...as to why it didn't burn faster!"
- Looking up into the clear, night sky as our country's Echo I satellite. visible to the naked eye, passed directly overhead during a Little League ball game.
- Watching the town's Yankee Little League team pass through two full seasons with no wins, and then coming from behind in the third season to win the 1966 All-County double-elimination baseball tournament.
- Walking back from a fishing excursion to the mill dam spillway on Spain Creek with twenty other Cub Scouts and leaders, and being singled out to be savagely bitten by Charlie Vertner's dog.
- Avoiding walking - or cycling - around Dan Welty's house for fear of being chased by his dog Bing.
- Holding the bag in the field behind their house one night while the Trout brothers chased the elusive "snipes" toward me...and being left there alone for over an hour.
- Years later, driving some friends out to Bucky Sheehe's farm late at night because I actually convinced them I had never gone "snipe" hunting in the past. They positioned me in my appointed place in the dark field, complete with bag, and then ran off to enjoy their joke. In the meantime, I abandoned the bag, returned quietly to my car, and drove away leaving them stranded in the fields a mile from town.
- Going over to the area behind Tom Arthur's IGA store, and walking off with about a dozen of his discarded cardboard boxes. We took them to Mike Chamberlain's back lawn, cut "doors" and "windows" in them so they resembled buildings, sat them up in a rough proximity of a town, and then set them ablaze to watch the destruction.
- Starting a friendly game of "Go Sheepie, Go" on Monday evenings, with the town's corporation limits as our boundaries, and playing into the late hours. We then called a truce, returned to our homes, and picked up the game again the next night...and subsequent nights that same week.
- Playing "Hide and Seek" when citizens band radios had become popular, and chasing each other all over town with "you're getting warm!" or "you're getting cold!" hints on the radios as to our hiding places.
- Playing "Bumper Tag" with our cars as we drove around the streets of the community in pursuit of one another.
- Gathering at Cat and Daisy Parker's Cities Service gas station on Sundays with all of the balloons we could acquire during the week, filling them with water at their outside faucet, and running pell mell around the downtown area in one huge water fight.
- Riding out to Maple Grove Cemetery to observe for ourselves the "nine foot ghosts" which some guys had burst into the Hiway 559 Coffee Shop to tell us about.
- Setting off firecrackers - especially cherry bombs - and running to hide when town marshal Bill Holycross came to investigate the noise.
- Riding in the go carts owned by Ronnie and Kelly Loveland during the annual Firemen's Festival.
- The Sunday afternoon when the middle-aged Black woman and her ancient father rang the doorbell, introduced themselves, and asked if they could see the interior of our house on East Street. Apparently the old man had lived in the house some 75 years before, and wanted to see what had changed. He pointed out to me how the rooms had been used in the past, and the additions which were not part of the original house. It was good to learn some of the history of the old place!
- Helping insurance agent Bob Deere look for his expensive, radio-controlled model airplane which he had lost somewhere in the North Lewisburg area.
- Tragically being a part of the crowd which gathered near the pond behind Louden Brothers Tool & Die one July 4th day when a 15-year old boy who had drowned there was taken away.
- Stopping by the drug store, operated at the time by Mr. and Mrs. Mills, and ably assisted by Mr. Harry Brown, and enjoying a fountain-service cherry coke - the sugary, cherry syrup brought to life with "phosphate" water. Or, a couple of dips of ice cream, served in a metal ice cream cup into which was placed a paper liner. Yum!
- Trading my "Hopalong Cassidy" wristwatch - which I had received for my 8th birthday years before - along with some cash for my first new Timex at Jeweler Jack's.
- Being impressed with the used Mercury automobile - complete with plexiglass roof insert - which my buddy Mike Chamberlain bought at Bob Painter's car dealership on Maple Street.
- Walking past Griff's Grill on a Saturday night when the TV series "Gunsmoke" was televised for the first time, and hearing it through the open door.
- Going to Buckwalter's Hardware store on those early summer days to select that season's bamboo fishing pole, line, and hooks.
- Learning of the tragic death of Wayne Sturdevant, president of the Senior Class at Triad High School, on Thanksgiving day, 1959.
- Having those periodic automobile flat tires repaired at Wayne Henry's service station.
- Waiting for the old, renovated bus which would meet us downtown on Saturday nights to transport us to the roller-skating rink in Marysville.
- Getting up very early on Sunday mornings to tee off with Tommy Arthur at his favorite area golf course - and retrieving the clubs he threw away when he missed his drives or putts.
- Being delirious with fever (after that dog bite courtesy of Vertner's little white dog mentioned earlier) later that particular night, and being visited for treatment at home by Dr. John R. Polsley.
- Going out to spend the weekend at the farm of my friends Larry and Gary Bahan, spending a day gleaning field corn which had been missed during the harvest, and driving back to town with Mrs. Bahan to sell our treasure to Bob Packman at the Ohio Grain elevator. Buying from him some soybeans, and then rushing to Alma Hall's store to purchase some plastic bean shooters so we could annoy each other the balance of the weekend!
- Driving out to Bob White's house with friends so we could swim in his family's new circular swimming pool - and then sleeping overnight in the open-air tree house which had been constructed above the pool.
- Marching in formation with the Triad High School Marching Band during those fall football games.
- Riding that great looking Lambretta motor scooter which I had bought from Ronnie Loveland.
- Attending the funeral for Spike and Jerry Clay, following their tragic, accidental deaths.
