 | Faye Graves, a native Wichitan, attended school at Friends and Wichita State, concluding at Midwestern Theological Seminary. He has been active in media for many years with Channel 12, KIRL, KFDI, KOOO AM & FM (Omaha), KFRM & KICT 95, as an owner, manager, producer, director and announcer. He has served as President of the Haysville Board of Education. He has also served on several national boards of the Southern Baptist Convention. Faye currently serves as Executive Pastor and Director of Administration and Education at Immanuel Baptist Church, 1415 S. Topeka, Wichita. You may contact Faye by e-mail fmgraves@amenibc.org, or by phone at (316) 262-1452. |
Nostalgia
2011-01-01 10:18:00
Remember...
I always like to read your thoughts about your childhood. You bring up so many memories…landmarks…businesses that have been long gone…and ways of doing things. What can you remember about February’s past?
Answer: I always appreciate the questions. They may cause me to ramble a bit, but sometimes rambling is a neat way to remember things.
February has undoubtedly been the coldest month of the year throughout my life. And in the 30’s and 40’s, they seemed even colder.
I always remember those frigid walks to school in the snow and ice…having snowball fights, building snowmen and trying all kinds of ways to keep warm. One of the ways people kept their houses warm was by using wood burning fireplaces. I don’t think then…and today…there is anything as comforting as spending an evening in front of the fireplace. Back then, with the fire crackling, I can remember telling stories with family and friends, listening to 78 rpm recordings of some of the artists of the time, such as Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Steve Lawrence, Edie Gormet, the Andrew Sisters, the Chordettes, Joni James, Dinah Shore and so many others. I still sing with the radio when a local station plays Music to Remember and all the ones that played on the radio show called, “Your Hit Parade.”
We would recall stories of haunted houses, or ones we thought were haunted, memories of our families in other years and things that happened. We talked about old Wichita with the streetcars, trains with both Pullman and passenger luxury cars, riding horses and driving wagons and carriages, tying our horse to a tie rod that still remains in front yards of some of the homes here, one-room school houses, various teachers, cars with headlamps instead of headlights, luxury places in the city to reside and stay overnight, many of the department stores and stores where we purchased out clothes.
Many large homes you see now were built close to downtown because the business owners just drove carriages to work, and location made it quicker and easier. I remember the individual, single-owner grocers and the personal service they gave you. I remember when service stations actually pumped gas into their pumps and checked all the fluids in your car and aired your tires and washed every window in the car. The ice man and the milk man came in horse drawn carriages and later in trucks and you knew them by name. They always remembered your name and names of your family. Personal service in all areas was the main thing businesses featured.
Those of you who lived in the years coming out of the depression were always looking for the best way you could save and put your savings away. February always seemed to have the deepest snow. I can remember times when I was small, watching my dad shovel snow. The city streets were not cleared because the city did not have equipment to undertake the giant job of clearing the streets. Today, we have an easier life. I think often of comparing now with then.
Thanks for causing me to ramble. Stay warm.
