Comments from Ken Dooley's email dated 8-31-2010

I always liked Gary Herwick and Mary Lou. Moe was a classic, and it’s great to hear that he is still kicking. I loved his sister Linda. She used to sit for me and my sister Barb who lives in Westlake.

Comments from Tom's email dated 8-30-2010

Funny just last night at dinner I was explaining to my son, and my wife, how you and I and I believe Gary Herwick used to jump off the garage roof, and they didn't believe me. They said it would break your leg, but as you said, we didn't and don't know why. Formica, were you referring to the masonite shed we built beside my driveway? We found all of the materials to build that shed in my grandmother's garage. Yes I remember sleeping in the shed, surprise we didn't get eaten alive by mosquitoes.

I remember shooting off a multiple stage water powered rocket in my back yard and it would end up over by your house on Orchard. I remember making gun powder in the basement; cutting up my mother's mason jars lids, which were make out of zinc, and dropping the zinc into hydrochloric acid to make hydrogen to fill balloons. And many more memories, surprised we have lived to talk about them.

I have really fond memories of growing up in our neighborhood, the kids were always out doing something, not like today when the kids are either, watching TV, playing video games, or on the computer.

comments from Ken Dooley's email dated 8-30-2010

Tom, I tell a lot of stories about our days growing up together in Fairview: making homemade ice cream (My wife grew up on a farm and did the same ― we have an old wooden / steel maker we pull out when Diana’s mother visits; and the stories start); picking yellow wax beans; building and sleeping in the hut made of that stuff called Formica; skating on the rink in the side yard; flying those toy planes; watching the building of Soap Box Derby cars in your grandmother’s garage; processing film in the dark room; making baseball bats on the lathe; West football practice and games; collecting stamps and buckeyes; talking about digging a hole to China; and jumping off your garage roof ― how did we not break a leg? Your home was a wonderland!

Welcome

I got the idea for this Blog after I found an old childhood friend, Kenny Dooley, from the 50s and 60s. The last few days we have been exchanging emails, mostly reminiscing about the neighborhood when we were growing up. I shared these emails with another childhood friend, Gary Herwick, and the reminiscing continues. So I thought is would be interesting to collect all of our memories of growing up on Lorain Rd, W228th, and Orchard in Fairview Park, Ohio during the 50s in one place. Hopefully we will continue to share our newly remembered memories of that time, and hopefully others from the neighborhood will drop in, read what we had to say, and add their own memories.

If you grew up in this neighborhood and would like to make a post, contact me at tculver@comcast.net, and I will add you as an author, which enables you to make posts.

To get this blog started I will cut and paste the memories from my recent emails with Ken and Gary.

Tom Culver
Amherst, NH