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Nostalgia

2011-07-01 13:56:00

Remember...

Answer: My first thought is always the month of July when you say, “Those lazy days of summer.” I think about the beginning of July, when we were all getting ready to celebrate the 4th. In my years as a boy growing up here, I remember we were able to shoot firecrackers on the days before the holiday actually arrived. Remember the ones called “bulldogs”? Wow, they were so powerful and made a loud noise. When they exploded they would blow a tin can way up in the air. Leading up to the 4th there was always a big baseball game and then fireworks show after the game at Lawrence Stadium, now known as Lawrence Dumont Stadium. Many times we went to Joyland to watch the fireworks. Also, many Fourth nights, neighbors and friends would come over and watch my father light the big night works in our front yard on South Water Street. He would let all of us younger kids have sparklers that were so bright and exciting. Since summer was here we would cool off in different ways. Some of us remember the good times going to the Municipal Swimming Pool located in Riverside Park. It was a big pool. You would check in at the locker house, change your clothes and walk through a door and step barefooted into a large vat full of chlorine to sterilize anything that you might be carrying on your feet. The pool was always full of people and the water felt so refreshing. Sometimes we would drive south to Sandy Beach and swim there and others would go to other park facilities and many smaller pools and lakes around the city. Sometimes we would put on our swimming suits and go out in the yard and dad would spray water from the garden hose on all of us kids. In my teen years, I remember going to the old “boat-house” and renting a boat. My buddies and I would row up and down the Arkansas river until our rental time had expired. They had canoes, row boats and motor boats that would take groups of people on short cruises. Another favorite thing to do was go on picnics. My mother would load up a picnic basket and we would go to one of the parks, mostly Riverside and Linwood. Think back about the Sunday concerts they would have on the parks stages. Some of the music was actually broadcast on our local radio stations. Things were so different back then. No air conditioning, not as much crime. We and nearly the whole neighborhood actually slept on the front porch of our home, anything to keep cooler. I think the 4th of July, declaring the independence of America, becomes more precious to us each year. I sincerely wish you all a great summer.