It's been a little while ...
Can you "see" tails wagging to and fro? Those are the smiles I associate with all you Dogs of Yore. Every now and then, I can't help but let my mind wander back a little to days gone by. Lately I've often returned to 1966 through the music sent to me by my steadfast friend Donnie Washam (Class of '69). After the last Miles' Files, Donnie "burned" a CD of twenty-one songs from 1966 and sent it to me. The memories those songs conjure up are heart warming and laugh inspiring. For the most part, this '66 soundtrack brings visions of gathering places for the Pups of the day. We ran in packs marking our territory at every "hang out" on the map - Headlee's Drug Store, Grimes Drug Store, Shannon-Ritter Drug Store, Shelby's Drive-In, Jack's Dairy Cup, Tastee Freez, Dog 'N Suds. I don't remember specific conversation although I'm certain all things said carried much importance. I do remember the "tails" a wagging when we gathered together for no reason at all but to enjoy the company of littermates.
A special place of getting together was our own "private" pool hall at the home of Mike ('69) and Karen ('72) Fortune. Bobby and Sugie Fortune's house could have been claimed as a second residence for most of us in the late '60s. They built a game room for the kids at the rear of their house complete with pool table, jukebox, and plenty of chairs and couches. I say plenty of chairs and couches - there was never enough for every one to sit at one time. What fun! We polished our pool shootin' skills and danced to the tunes of the day. Boyce Fortune (Mike and Karen's uncle) kept the jukebox filled with the latest hit singles by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, the Turtles, Tommy James and the Shondells, and all the Motown artists. There was always a pack of Pups at the Fortunes, so you never had to stray alone.
Speaking of the Fortunes, I have had the good "fortune" of returning to Newport a few times this summer. The last Miles' Files relived the 31st Reunion (the Encore Reunion) of the Class of 1970. In addition to that memorable weekend, I returned to the "scene of the Fun" for the Newport Country Club's annual invitational golf tournament and a couple of times just to visit my mother. On one of those occasions, I stopped in to visit Karen Fortune Cathey who is courageously battling breast cancer and she is doing marvelously. I also stopped by the Party Store (strictly social of course) to see Mike and to chat about Newport today. During the golf tournament, playing partner Greg Hubbard and I would eat breakfast at Kelley's. Seeing men of the town gathered together to start each day reminded me of times past when my father met each day with the likes of Bobby Fortune, Bill Keedy, Sr., Doc Hawk and others to discuss the "cures" for all that was ailing the world at the time. Every now and then, I can't help but think of Newport then and now.
The Newport Country Club Invitational golf tournament has to be the BEST golf tournament anywhere. The club's Tournament Committee members do an outstanding job in organizing the event and seeing that all participants enjoy Newport's special brand of hospitality. Of course, I have such a good time seeing so many "Old Dogs" there year in and year out like Jimmy Jowers, Robert Vanhook, David Hare, Mike Brand, Rodger Brand, John Sink, Bill Keedy, Jr., John Pennington, Jerry Bullard, Jeff Fortune, Joey Treadway, Paul McGinnis, Terry Dillon, Lindley Smith (a Tuckerman Bulldog, but an "Old Dog" nonetheless), and many, many, many more. I must remind Lindley that he owes me a drink since he failed to honor me after his hole in one in this year's tourney. I have been participating in the tournament since 1983 and remember one year in the mid '80s playing with Jeff Fortune. Our only goal that year was not to finish dead last in the tournament. We were successful in reaching our goal when Mr. Van Smith (Lindley's dad) and his partner limped in behind us. What a gentleman, Mr. Van Smith! During the tournament, David Hare asked me if I had to pick a single icon to remind me of Newport, just what would it be. Together we mentioned the Silver Moon, the Blue Bridge spanning the White River, the Greyhound (of course), cotton gins, and James (Williams) the Hot Tamale Man's pushcart. What comes to your mind as a Newport icon?
The satirist Samuel Butler once uttered "the great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too." So it is with all my friends and the "Old Dogs of Yore" who I see at the Newport Invitational each year. Being foolish with a bunch of other fools can be a lot of Fun!
On my other visits "home" this summer, I took a few tours to strengthen my memory and to look at Newport then and now. A few Miles' Files back, I took a virtual walk down Walnut Street and recalled the people and places along the way. In another, I remembered my first neighborhood home at 412 Hazel Street. On my first visit with my mother this summer, I took an early morning walk from her house on South Main Street up to Garfield, over to Walnut and up to Front Street. I let my senses guide me since several of the homes and businesses I remember are no longer in their proper place. I walked past a couple of freshly mowed lawns with the grass clippings sprinkled with the smell of wild onions. I observed a crew of roofers giving a face-lift to an older house damaged during the spring hailstorm. I remembered Linda Fann and Elizabeth Fellows playing in the front yard of that house. I watched a young lady walking her dog, which brought back the memory of my dog Spats and Donny Appleton's dog Puppy. I caught a glimpse of the red-bricked Walnut Street School. I guess it was a mirage in the early morning haze. I saw myself throwing down the kickstand on my Schwinn bicycle in front of the library and running in to find a new adventure in a book on a shelf. Books offer young boys (and girls) wonderful opportunities to know of things you have not yet experienced and to know of places you have not yet visited. The marquee of the Strand Theatre told me "Old Yeller" (now there's a good dog movie) was the evening's feature.
Once I got to Front Street, I stopped and peered into the windows of the Sterling Store and the Ben Franklin Store to see if any new baseball cards had arrived. I greeted Mr. Hall, Mrs. Ashley and Mrs. Chisam at Hall & Monday Shoe Store, said hello to Mr. Holmes at P.K. Holmes Store for Men and Boys and waved at Mr. Stephens in the Star Clothing Store. I turned to head back home down Hazel Street. Walking down Hazel, I fought off an urge to get a six ounce Coke from the cafe in the lobby of the Hazel Hotel after smelling the burger's on the grill of Wardell and Dorothy Pennington's Midway Cafe. I skipped on down Hazel to Newport Avenue and back over to Walnut. In my mind I stopped in for a brief visit with my great aunt Ann Gray and ran on home after that. The actual walk took me about 45 minutes, the memories took me almost 50 years.
On the second visit to my mother's this summer, I stopped my car in front of 412 Hazel and got out. I found the two ground floor apartments vacant and locked. While looking in the window of one of these apartments, a young man arrived home from work. Deangelo "Dee" Qualls works at Medallion Foods and now lives upstairs at 412 Hazel with his wife and two children. I told him I lived in the building as a child and was attempting to re-establish reality with memory. He invited me in to view the floor plan of the place I knew as home in the first seven years of my stay here on earth. It was as I remembered, but surprisingly a little larger. Dee's family life there is bound to be much like that of my family's daily routines some 42 years ago since the size and ages of his family members are similar. I wish to express my appreciation to Dee for his warm and generous hospitality. It was the first time I remember going into 412 Hazel since moving from there in 1959.
These visits this summer have enabled me to put now and then, then and now together. While the more things change, the more they stay the same. At least that is the way it is in the Miles' Files.
Well, I guess I will curl up with a good book tonight and live in another person's world for a while. On the subject of "dogs" (of the greyhound type) and "books," I'm reminded of words from one of my life's mentors, Groucho Marx, who once said, "Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. And inside a dog, it's too dark to read." Groucho also murmured that he would like to find a "comfortable couch, a good book, a friendly dog, and a beautiful woman" and if he could "just get the dog to read the book, he would have a little fun."
In search of fun, I'm still Miles from Nowhere, guess I'll take my time ...
joe
No comments:
Post a Comment