reading and I especially enjoyed the poem.
An addition to Suzanne Conour Miller's comments on the Town Talk, not
only did they have caramel corn they also had great caramel apples in
the winter. Often my parents and I would take in a movie on Sunday
afternoon (if it was a musical that's about all my dad wanted to see)
and we would stop on the way home for my caramel apple.
Best wishes for happy holiday season.
Bette Schmalhausen
Bette1204@aol.com
Class of '51
Bill Bowen
w.bowen@sbcglobal.net
Just read #43 and wants to say, as I read on a church sign on the
north side of Chicago: Happy Giving Thanks
#43 hit me at a good time. Somewhere in my mind is something that
smscooter@wabash.net is reminding me . . . my Mom, 90, now in Burgin
Manor, went to church at West Main Christian with her folks, George
and Grace Powers. Grace was a Miller. I knew a /Donnie, I knew an
Uncle Elmer who led the singing at the Nazarene church about a block
from the old shoe factory. Mom was Anna Marie Powers and married
Harold Bowen in 1933. They both recently moved into Burgin Manor.
Yes, that makes 72 years married.
Myself, I was going to be class of '51 but we moved from Calhoun to
Thompsonville before my Senior year. All that to say Mom might tell
you, well, I will ask her next time we get down there, what happened
to West Main Congregational Christian Church.
Bill Bowen
Class of '51
Susie Conour Miller
smscooter@wabash.net
Got your OM# 43 last night. Was glad to get it. My husband read it
this morning and informed me that two of the Kroger stores were not
on Whittle only one. I stand corrected. He is younger than I am so
guess his memory is better ha
My e-mail address was wrong in Olney Memories # 34. It is
smscooter@wabash.net Thank you.
Susie Conour Miller
Class of '50
Ruth Reckling
rareckling@peoplepc.com
For those who remembered gas at .50 I remember it at .25 and we rode
around all evening on a $1.00, Bev Barber drove a Buick, Judy Stover
a Caddy and we didn't know about complaining about gas mileage. My
son once ask about the cars from the, "olden times, were they as good
as the cars from the "90's", I told him in no uncertain terms our
cars were better.
Ruth Winkler Reckling
Class of '59
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Jim Dale
jdale@uark.edu
Funeral Flags—Years ago all cars in a funeral procession had a
small white flag attached to their right front fender to indicate to
other drivers that they were part of the procession. Although they
may still be used in some areas today, instead of using flags some
funeral directors now use an easier method of asking that drivers
turn on their safety blinker lights to indicate that they are part of
the funeral. In former times oncoming drivers and others would always
pull their cars off of the road, stop, and wait until the funeral
procession had passed. However, this practice is slowly disappearing
and people may or may not stop and often they continue driving on as
usual. If a funeral procession is somewhat strung out, on rare
occasions a non-funeral driver might even break into the procession.
One would hope that such a driver was just not observant, rather than
being rude.
It seems that the act of honoring the dead by stopping cars is
still practiced in the more rural areas and in some parts of the
South. The practice is less common in the cities probably because of
traffic conditions and citified people also seem to be in more of a
hurry to get where they are going. On occasion, one may see an
elderly man on foot face the funeral procession as it goes by, take
off his hat, and slightly bow his head until the cars in the
procession have passed by. This is truly showing respect for the dead.
As a matter of record, my mother used to sew and make funeral
flags back in the 1920's. There was a man at Olney named Jones who
had a mail order business, and funeral flags were one product that he
sold. I could not remember his first name, but Herma Jenner Dycus has
told me that his name was Leslie Jones. My mother got paid so much
per flag and she sewed them on her treadle Singer sewing machine at
home. As I recall, a little purple cross was sewed on each flag.
Although my mother was probably not paid very much per flag, she was
able to work at home and look after my brother and me at the same
time. In those days such stay-at-home jobs were rather rare.
As an additional comment, my friend John Summers mentioned that
funerals themselves have also changed over the years. In former times
the viewing of the deceased person was carried out in the living room
or parlor in their own home or the home of a family member. They were
then taken to a church for the funeral service, and the burial then
followed. In some instances the funerals themselves were held in the
deceased persons' home. This usually occurred if the deceased had a
large house, was elderly, and had few living contemporaries.
Jim Dale
Class of 1940
Von Bayler
heavyrevy@sbcglobal.net
Hi
Thanks for sending me the copies of the Olney
Memories. I am older than most of the ones responding.
I worked at the Elks movie theater as n usher so I
could see the movies at the uptown theater. I also was
a pin boy at the upstairs bowling alley That was not
my favorite job. The job I remember best was working
for the Schneider grocery store as a delivery boy. I
drove the old pickup and one day forgot to put up the
tail gate and lost a lot of the order along the road.
I was almost afraid to go back to the store. But all
he did was take the lost ones out of my pay and I
still worked there. I went back or our 55 reunion in
Sept. It was good seeing so many of my classmates.
Thanks for putting me on your list.
La Von Bayler
class of 1950
Nellie Elliott Peters
Nlpeters@aol.com
This morning I had a phone call from John Charles Gibson, class of
'45. He was a neighbor of ours as we were both growing up and
attending the old Elm St. church. John is not on the internet, so I
have been sending him copies of the Olney Memories. He called this
AM to ask if I would contact you in regards to the Olney Memories to
see if you or any of your readers remembered a memorial, made of
plywood, etc. on the NE corner of the courthouse lawn. He said it
listed Richland County residents who served in WWII. He wondered
what happened to it and if any local service organizations were
interested in the construction of a more permanent memorial. John is
retired teacher living in Paris, IL and said they have such a nice
one there.
I would be glad to forward to him any information anyone might have
concerning such a memorial.
Thank you for your assistance and for the time and effort involved
in compiling and sending out the Olney Memories. Your dedication is
certainly appreciated.
Nellie Elliott Peters writing for
John Charles Gibson Class of '45
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Linda Stanford Peterson
lppettsn@earthlink.net
Thanks for sending all the "memories" to me. It was very interesting
reading. A lot went on in high school I wasn't aware of! But I was
a book worm. I was back in Olney for a church group reunion this
summer for the first time since the late 50's I think. It was
interesting to see how the town had changed and to see old friends.
I remembered many of the teachers mentioned - Sliva, Hostettler to
be sure. I've lived in Minnesota since 1957 with the exception of 6
years spent in France, which was a wonderful experience. All of my
family are still in Texas, so I go back there to visit.
Linda Stanford Peterson
Class of '51
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Gary Totten
totten@shawneelink.net
Taylor's Store and Wilson Street
In 1950, when I was three, my family moved from South Lexington
Street in Olney to 213 South Wilson Street. We lived there for 14
years and moved to the east side of town when I was a senior in high
school.
I don't know when Taylor's store opened, but it was open the entire
time we lived on Wilson St. It was owned by Ray Taylor and his wife
Dorothy, also known as Dot. At first Ray and Dorothy lived on the
southeast corner of Elm and Wilson and the store was immediately east
of the house. There was no parking lot at that time, and customers
parked along the street. Dorothy worked at the cash register some as
I recall, but mostly I remember a middle aged lady named Beulah
working there. I believe she lived a couple of blocks west on Elm.
Ray worked mostly at the meat counter located at the south end of the
building. The meat counter was popular, and in later years he had
additional employees who were behind the meat counter full time. As a
grade schooler, I was apprehensive about getting too close to the
meat cooler because you would get an electrical shock if you touched
it in the wrong place.
My earliest memories of the store must be about the time I started
first grade. In the summers, Mom would give a nickel each to my
oldest brother, sister, and I so we could walk the half block to the
store for a "treat". Popsicles were the normal choice, but a bottle
of pop was a nickel too, and an ice cream dreamsicle on a hot day was
also good.
About the time I got my first bicycle, around the 3rd grade, I
discovered a fellow could get lots of money by looking for pop
bottles along the ditches and selling them at Taylor's for two cents
apiece. My friend Toby Worlow (from over on Cherry) and I would
patrol all the streets and ditches from the west end of town all the
way out to the drive-in. Of course back then the bottles were made of
thick glass so they were heavier, and they got heavier yet when you
found them in the mud.
Soon the big money was flowing in so fast that we could afford to
visit Jone's Cycle Shop on Whittle Ave. and purchase wire front
baskets for our bikes to make carrying the bottles easy. I distinctly
remember Ray Taylor giving us a scowl when we hauled in all those
bottles, but I think he always took them.
Fred Herrin lived directly across the street west from Taylor's
Store. He owned the house on the southwest corner of Elm and Wilson
and the lot behind it went south all the way to the alley. Fred was
and old bachelor who liked to hunt and fish and as my brother and I
grew older, he would often take us with him to his favorite fishing
holes in Fox Creek (guess it has since become a river!).
The house Fred lived in had no electricity or indoor plumbing, and
had belonged to his parents. Fred was a good gardener, and at some
point he made a deal with Ray Taylor that he would plant his large
back yard in potatoes and sell them to Ray for resale at the store.
Fred hired my brother Dennis and I to help harvest the crop. Fred
used a potato fork to pull the potatoes from the hills and we would
pick them up and place them in old wash tubs. Then we would drag them
to the well in the back yard and pump some cold water, and swirl them
around to wash them. I think he gave us 25 cents a tub, which was big
money, especially compared to finding and hauling in a dozen muddy
pop bottles.
I don't remember the year, but eventually Ray decided to expand the
store. He needed more space and parking, so he offered Fred a deal.
Fred would trade his old house and lot to Ray. In return, Ray would
use the back of Fred's lot for additional parking, tear down Fred's
old house, and build Fred a new house where Fred could live until he
died. The house would then revert back to Ray. The deal seemed to
work out well from a kid's point of view, but I do recall missing
Fred's old house, with its interesting old furniture and pot bellied
coal stove.
As it turned out however, Fred outlived both Ray and Dorothy by many
years. At some point after their deaths, Fred moved to an apartment
above Lafe Roger's gun shop downtown, behind where the Appliance
Store is now.
Taylor's store was a busy place during my childhood years of the 50's
and early 60's. My grandparents lived at the west end of Cherry
Street during those years, and two great grandmothers also lived in
separate houses nearby. In addition to Toby and John Worlow, other
neighborhood kids at that time included the Runyons (Frank and Ed
were closest to my age), Janice Fiscus, Ed and Clarence Smith, Tim
Jones, and Ken Harrison.
By the time Dad sold our house near Taylor's store, I had my driver's
license and Olney didn't seem quite as big as it used to. Living on
the east side of town never seemed quite as welcoming and friendly as
those years growing up on Wilson Street.
Gary Totten
Class of 65
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Nancy (Reed) Fears
Nanafears@aol.com
I was in Central - (middle 40's) - when there were the 3 Kroger
stores in Olney.
Of the 3 Kroger stores - my dad, Homer Reed, was the manager of the
one on the NW corner of Whittle and Chestnut across the street from
Bower Park and the scales. Remember the night the laundry that was
behind the Kroger store burned?
The largest store was on the NW corner of Main and Walnut, across
from the Court House. The 3rd store was on Main St. across from and
on the same side as the Library. That store later became VanMatre
and Pauley's after their fire one night when it was 25 below zero
(and they didn't even cancel school the next day!)
The 1st Kroger Supermarket was on York behind Tresslar's.
Nancy (Reed) Fears
Class of 1960
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Ronnie Morris
Morrischnsw@aol.com
Ann you can add me to the list although my memories are all when I
was young. I remember skipping out of high school and going out to
Gaddies bridge fishing. Did that a lot when the weather got warm
enough, I used to hunt mushrooms and rabbits where the East Fork Lake
is. In fact where I was raised is now in the middle of the lake. I
left Olney when I was young. I went to Kansas where my brother was
working and went to work on a drilling rig. I finished school and
went to college at USL and had a very good life working for the major
oil companies. In 1976 when my youngest girl was just going into
high school I moved back to Olney and bought some ground north of
Claremont. I wasn't the best student in school. Mr. Hatch and I
didn't get along to well. I could make him mad just looking at him.
Mrs. Shumaker I am sure that I helped gray her hair and Mrs.Finch and
Mr. Godeke. Not sure if I spelled that right. I can tell you if
any of them knew me now they wouldn't believe it was me as I have
changed a lot but not to much. If any of you remember the Haynes
boys I am still in touch with them. Wayne was a dear friend and he
passed a few years ago. Jr. is in Florida and Larry is in Peoria.
I have been married 43 years and in March will be 44 years. I married
a girl from Colorado who wasn't in Olney in my teen years. We moved
away from Olney again in 1983 moving back to a home we have had in
Louisiana which we still have. Built a house here in Claremont about
five years ago and retired a year ago January. You can e mail me at
Morrischnsw@aol.com.
Ronnie Morris
Class of 1960
Linda (Stanford) Petterson
lppettsn@earthlink.net
I hesitantly reply to any of these Olney memories - mine are not in
the same vein as most. But, the mention by Harvey Zimmerle (class of
57) being "envious of the people living in the houses on Elliot &
Walnut streets" inspired me. I lived at 412 S Elliot for the 4
years of high school with the Robertsons. I had a room in the attic
(much nicer than any I'd ever had in my life.) There was an ad in
the school bulletin one day early in my freshman year (I lived in
Parkersburg at the time) wanting someone to live in and help with
light housework, so I walked down at lunch time & applied. Mrs.
Robertson was very nice and explained what she wanted me to do, but
she looked at me and said, "Do you think you can do it?" I replied
"yes". The next morning I caught the bus with all my belongings
packed in a paper bag. (In later years I had much remorse about
leaving my mother in the lurch. I was the oldest of 7 children &
obviously she depended on me for a lot of help. (But my remorse
doesn't last long when I remember what a difference that made for all
7 of us.) I got up every morning & made breakfast for her male
roomer. At lunch time, I walked home from school & washed the dishes
she had used cooking. After school, I helped with preparation for
dinner, did ironing & other miscellaneous tasks. Then I did the
dishes after dinner. Saturdays I did the laundry, mopped the kitchen
floor & cleaned the house. I did a lot of babysitting for the
Traver's on Cherry Street (Gayle). Sundays, they took me to church
with them - First Methodist - never mind that I had been a Baptist
(baptized in a river in Mississippi). I did become active in the
youth activities and that had a great influence on the rest of my
life. My friends were Phyllis Richards (I remember having Sunday
dinner with them often), Janet Garrett & Claire Jennings. The boys
from our church group were Boyd Wagner, La Von Baylor, Robert Novak,
Carey Westall - seems there were others I don't remember. We all
went to a church camp every summer - I don't remember where it was.
Seems to me, we heard Billy Graham there once. (I got campused in
college because I went to St. Louis to hear him & got back to the
dorm late.) Anyway Mrs. Robertson helped me enroll in college at
Carbondale. I had big plans to be a doctor. Her sister (who lived
in Carbondale) helped me get a job as a nursing assistant in the
hospital there (I worked evenings after class.) All went well until I
hit Physics, which I didn't understand at all (Someone from Olney was
in my physics class, but I don't remember his name, Ray ? he helped
me a lot, but I still didn't "get it"!)
The hospital where I was a nursing assistant was offering a full
scholarship to nursing school. So I applied & got it. I chose to go
to Evanston Hospital outside of Chicago, as that was where the
Director of Nursing (I can't remember her name? Tommy Perkins?) at
the hospital in Carbondale had gone. She was very nice to me, let me
study on breaks, gave me extra jobs for extra money, etc).
Any way, the rest is history - got by Bachelors Degree in Nursing
from Northwestern University there, met my future ex-husband, moved
to Minnesota, had 5 children, traveled the world (never have lost the
desire to travel), ran away after the end of a 26 year marriage to
California for 4 years, but couldn't stand the work ethic (a nice
day and all the workers took off to the beach). After being a
nursing director for many years, I returned to Minnesota and took a
charge nurse position until they decided to computerize the
facility. The administrator asked any one who wanted to be in charge
of the system to write what they knew for him. I wrote "I can cut &
paste" and got the job! I enjoyed it. And the day I turned 65, I
retired and now I quilt all day.
So that's my long discourse -- I've read all the "Olney memories"
that have been sent & no mention of any of the people I know -- where
are you?
(I forgot where I was going with this: it was the being "envious of
the people who lived on Elliott & Walnut streets". The Robertsons
were well off, but still very conscious of costs. Mr. Robertson
worked at the train station and he took his lunch to work every day.
Mrs. Robertson saved everything, there was no waste allowed.
Linda (Stanford) Petterson
Class of 1951
Kay McCarter
philkay1@verizon.net
Does anyone happen to know what filling station was in the 300 block
of south Whittle where the parking lot beside the police department
is today?
Kay McCarter Harbaugh
Class of '61
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Ronnie Morris
morrischnsw@aol.com
Ann received your Olney Memories e mails have been enjoying them so
much, a lot of the people I remember so well. I was raised north of
Olney where the East Fork Lake is now. When I was six or seven
Texaco had a large field there. There were flares on all the wells
and Pure Oil Co. had a lot of wells around West Liberty. They used
to have huge engines they called powers that one would run 15 or
twenty wells with rod lines. My father worked for Pure Oil and our
neighbor Hammel Haynes worked for Texaco. They had four boys Dean,
Hammel Jr. and Larry and Wayne so we all would go to both picnics.
It was a treat back then. We were all poor by today's standards but
no one new it. We thought we were rich and really I guess we were.
I have some of my dads check stub. He was making 90 cents an hour
and raising four kids. My parents are both gone now. There were
four of us kids. Mona was the oldest, Jim next, then Shirley then
me-Ronnie. Jim and Shirley passed away at age thirty nine and forty
from cancer. I remember running on the oil roads in the summer bare
footed and not bothering me a bit. We used to go over to Jessie
Myers and play hide and seek with Shelby. Shirley and Connell,
Howard and Vera Shaw lived just north of us. Does any one remember
them? She was a school teacher. I left here very young and retired
and moved back here last January. I have been planning to for a
long time. I have a small farm and have it all set up for wildlife.
The lord has been very good to me so thought I could help out some of
his wildlife.
I have been married forty- three years. I know there will be a lot
of you say that this isn't the Ronnie Morris I knew. I had a
wonderful life in the oil industry have worked all over the world. I
worked with Red Adair for a while. He passed a year ago August. That
is the last time I have been in Houston. Olney seems so nice you can
still leave your keys in your car and a lot of houses in the country
are never locked. I would like to hear from some of the old
schoolmates and if any of you are back in Olney, look me up. I had a
nice visit from Sharon Street just before Christmas. The taxes are
nothing compared to Houston or Denver.
Ronnie Morris
Class of 1960 but left here before I graduated.
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