This is another memory of growing up next to St. Joe's field in Thorndike. When I was young, school never started before Labor Day. The first day of school was always the Wednesday after Labor Day. And Labor Day was always special at St Joe's park. That was the day of the annual Lion's club picnic. It started the day before when a big circus tent was put up. On Labor Day, the tent was filled with all sorts of games and food booths. There was always the "wheel". It consisted of a wheel with the numbers 1 to 100 on it. In front of the wheel was a table that had boards with series of numbers. For example, the first board might contain the numbers 1,10,15,20 and 25. Each board had numbers like that. To place a bet, you would put your money on one of these boards. The wheel is then spun and if it stops on one of your numbers, you would win 10 times your bet. Most of the time I would bet a dime and win a dollar if my number came up. Sometimes I was brave and would bet a quarter to win 2.50. The big spenders would bet a dollar! There was also a game called chug-a-lug. This game had three dice in a cage that was turned three times and the the dice would come out. In this game you would bet on one number and if your number came out you would win the amount of your bet. There was always a chance the your number would come out on all three dice and you would win triple your bet. I never won a lot of money but I would come out ahead quite a few times. There were games during the day on the ball field and at night there were fireworks. It seemed like most of the town would turn out for this event and a good time was had by all!
The next day (Tuesday) my brother and I would always get up early and walk around the field and tent to see what we could find. We usually found some change and if we were lucky we might find a dollar or two. We also would see if we could find any fireworks that didn't go off but we never did. I'm not sure what year this Lion's Club picnic ended. These were simpler times but I miss them.
Monday, January 28, 2019
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Birthday greetings
Yesterday (January 15) was my birthday. I received over seventy birthday well wishes. One would think that I must have a lot of friends. I guess I do but most of the greetings were on facebook. I also received several text messages and my son Brian did take me out for lunch. This must be the "new normal" but I think I like the way birthdays used to be. You would get real cards from some people (I did get a very nice card from Susan) and then there was cake and candles! And there was always the singing of happy birthday and a round of "Sto lat" while the candles were being blown out. It's just not the same anymore.
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Birthday Musings
Since today is my birthday, I thought I'd look way back to a much simpler time when I was growing up.
I grew up next to a baseball field (St Joe's Park). How great was that! During the summer we'd have pickup baseball games every day. The were no uniforms, no umpires, no parents, just a bunch of kids playing the game for the joy of it. I remember hitting a home run a few times. I'm a lefty and I could pull the ball down the first base line. We didn't have a set number of innings, we just played until we were tired. On every Sunday during the summer, there would be a real baseball game. There was a local league and the local team was St. Joes. There was always a good size crowd watching the games. My brother and I kept the score on an old wooden score board. For this we were paid the big sum of one dollar and all the free sodas we could drink. At times we would get distracted and would forget to put up the score until someone yelled at us. The parking lot was pretty close to the field and foul balls would often go that way. We would wait for the "thunk" that would mean that someone was going to need a new windshield. We were also part of the ground crew and we would groom the infield and line foul ball lines and batter boxes. After the game there was always a Polish picnic at the pavilion that was nearby. There would be a Polish band and good Polish food. In the fall, the pickup baseball games gave way to pickup football games. We would play tackle football with no equipment. I don't remember anyone ever getting hurt though. It was just good, clean fun. I don't see much of that anymore. Everything has to be organized and scheduled.
The field is still there and there are still baseball games but it's not the same. There are lights on the field now so most games are played at night. The crowds are nowhere near what they were when I was growing up. And there aren't anymore Polish picnics. The pavilion was torn down long ago. I still go to the field to let my dog run around. Being there brings back so many memories.
I grew up next to a baseball field (St Joe's Park). How great was that! During the summer we'd have pickup baseball games every day. The were no uniforms, no umpires, no parents, just a bunch of kids playing the game for the joy of it. I remember hitting a home run a few times. I'm a lefty and I could pull the ball down the first base line. We didn't have a set number of innings, we just played until we were tired. On every Sunday during the summer, there would be a real baseball game. There was a local league and the local team was St. Joes. There was always a good size crowd watching the games. My brother and I kept the score on an old wooden score board. For this we were paid the big sum of one dollar and all the free sodas we could drink. At times we would get distracted and would forget to put up the score until someone yelled at us. The parking lot was pretty close to the field and foul balls would often go that way. We would wait for the "thunk" that would mean that someone was going to need a new windshield. We were also part of the ground crew and we would groom the infield and line foul ball lines and batter boxes. After the game there was always a Polish picnic at the pavilion that was nearby. There would be a Polish band and good Polish food. In the fall, the pickup baseball games gave way to pickup football games. We would play tackle football with no equipment. I don't remember anyone ever getting hurt though. It was just good, clean fun. I don't see much of that anymore. Everything has to be organized and scheduled.
The field is still there and there are still baseball games but it's not the same. There are lights on the field now so most games are played at night. The crowds are nowhere near what they were when I was growing up. And there aren't anymore Polish picnics. The pavilion was torn down long ago. I still go to the field to let my dog run around. Being there brings back so many memories.
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