Moving to the sound

We moved to Masonboro Sound around 1963. It was quite a change from city living but I took it in stride and actually still had every thing the city had to offer a kid just entering his teen years and more. One of the things I would do in the evening just as the sun would go down when I lived in town is get a pocket full of rocks and go find a vacant lot and go Bat hunting. Bat hunting was an easy sport that did hurt any thing especially the Bats that were being hunted. I don't think  anyone can throw a rock fast enough to catch a bat by surprise. The process when something like this. First rock is thrown in front of the bat so that  he follows it down  and as the bat got close to ground the second rock was thrown. This is the one that was suppose to take him out of the air. I can't remember me or any of my friends ever hitting a bat, but it sure was fun watching them follow that rock to ground. The great thing about our house on Masonboro was there was a field straight across the street and there was no limit to the number of bats to be seen.

Burnt Mill Creek was replaced with  the Intercoastal Waterway, Whiskey Creek, the sound and the Atlantic Ocean. Guess this is were my love of aviation (no more airport to visit) and ships and water were merged. Only a few years later I would join the U.S. Navy and earn my green stripes of and Airman.

Schools changed instead of a Chestnut Street Bear I was now a Roland-Grise Black Knight. Later long after I left that campus some weak kneed administrator got scared that someone poor weak minded soul would be offended and dropped the word BLACK. Even though my grades were not the best I was allowed on the track and field team and ran in the 440 relay, broad jump, and high jump. I was just average and by high school I dropped the idea of sports.

Mrs. Lynch was my art teacher and I feel in love with art. Actually I was getting pretty good in Jr High. having a good teacher sure helped. To bad I could not have had a teacher like her in high school. My high school art teacher should have tried any profession other than teaching, she could make a kid hate ice cream. Nice lady but not a teacher. After one year with her I dropped art.

Then there was my first girlfriend. She lived in Harbor Villa about a mile away. Her family moved to Aurora  at the end of the 8th grade. Long distant relationships just don't last with 8th graders. By the middle of the 9th Grade to other girls were in my life though not at the same time. Paula came first and then I met Eva Pierce probably one of the sweetest girls I have ever known.

More on Chestnut Street Jr High School

It was Chestnut Street Jr High in the early 60s when I went to Chestnut. The newer building on the 23rd Street side housed  1-6 grades, that school was called Snipe's Elementary and the main and older 2 story structure which housed the gym and auditorium was Chestnut Jr High (grade 7-9). The building that was in the rear which was built about the time of Snipes was for shop, band, chorus and extra classrooms. The main building burnt in the 80s I believe and was completely rebuilt except for the outside walls from what we where told at the time. Makes me wonder where the asbestos came from that was used as one of the main reasons for destroying this historic site.

At this time there were 5 Jr Highs that competed with each other in sports, Chestnut (Bears), Tilston (Blue Devils), Lake Forest(Yellow Jackets), Sunset (Hornets) and Roland Grise (Black Knights). Later some weak kneed spineless administrator would drop the Black for fear of offending some poor weak minded soul. Because of this competition New Hanover always had some of the top teams and athletes in the state and many went on to the pro ranks. In those day colors only meant the school you attended not what gang you were in. Chestnut was Red and White, Tilston was Blue and white, Lake Forest was Green and Yellow, Sunset was Green and White and Roland Grise was Black and Gold.

Thing that are gone forever.

I wonder how many of these things you remember if you grew up in Wilmington, NC in the 1950s? In fact many of these things probably happened all over the country in the 50s and early 60s.

At the top of my list the Civil Defense siren. Every Saturday at 12 noon it would be tested and you could hear it all over Wilmington. Later in life I would discover that was one of many jobs the fire department was responsible for. In fact in my early career as a fireman on of the department I worked for still had a siren like the old CD siren we tested each Saturday at noon.

Then there was that smell that drifted over from the paper mill in Riegelwood if the wind was just right. Sort of a cross between a skunk and an over turned out house. Not near as bad as the smell we get from the chemical plant on highway 421 these days.

But there was another smell that was much better and that was the candy counter at H L Greens 5 and 10 Cents Store downtown. They kept the maple nut candy hot so that if you were anywhere in that part of the store you had to stop and buy some. Even though they didn't smell near as good the hot nuts they sold can't be matched anywhere today.

Remember the sweet roll at school lunch?

There was the sound of the tug boat horns talking to each other while working on the river.

What about that cloud of white smoke behind the county mosquito sprayer that all of us kids would run behind. Trusting that our government would never hurt us. Many of these same kids got a dose of Agent Orange years later still trusting the government to keep us safe.

Remember when water was free and didn't come in a bottle and soft drinks were all the same price? 5, 6, 8 or 10 cents depending how far back you can remember.

Buy a small Coke with shivers of ice in it (5 cents) pack of Tom's peanuts (5 cents) and a Moon Pie (5 cents). Then put the peanuts in the drink and you were on top of the world for only 15 cents.

Then there was and is the candy called Boston Baked Beans. Not from Boston, not baked, and not beans. So much for truth in advertising. They sure are good though. Then why did the government change the name of picnic ham to picnic shoulder?

I can still taste those S&H Green Stamps, bet I licked a million and put them in books so Mama could cash them in for something. Sometime I got something so it wasn't to bad. Anyone remember Palm Motor Oil at 25 cents a quart. Gulf, Quaker State and other major brand were 65 and 70 cents a quart. Palm was re-manufactured before such things were popular. Used to get it a Miss Daisy's Store after we moved to Masonboro Sound. 

Guess I should say a little about Miss Daisy and I will a little later.

Weather and other stuff

More proof that it isn't getting any warmer. This picture was taken 10 January 2011, except for the some missing trees it could have been shot in the 50's. I remember many a cold January and many a warm one also. Our area seems to run in 10 year cycles. The only white Christmas I remember her in Wilmington was in 1989. This road is in the middle of town now but back in the 50s it was the edge of Wilmington. new compared to me.It was completed in the late 1970s. Many times us kids would catch rides on the train that ran near by Mercer Avenue where I lived. The frieght trains ran through the city from the rail class yard on the northside around the edge of town and then to the State Port on the southside of town close to where this picture was taken. It was easy for us kids to catch a slow moving train and ride a short distance to another part of town. Tom Sawyer had his Mississippi and I had my Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. You did have to be careful not to catch it out past Kerr Avenue or you might wind up in Jacksonville, NC 50 miles north. Glad to say that never happened, but it sure would have made a good story.