Stories from Mom: Part 5, Fall and Winter on Center Street

By Virginia Williams Kelly

Fall was always beautiful on Centre Street because we had many trees with lots of leaves and we were allowed to rake all those leaves from our big old maple and oak trees. We piled them in our yard and then jumped from our front porch into the leaves. Then it was time to burn them so we always put them into many small piles at the edge of the curb. Our parents would each take turns burning some of them. I don’t know of anyone who does not love the smell of leaves burning in the fall and to me that smell always says home and childhood.

Winter had joys of its own on Centre Street. We always built the biggest snow men had the hardest snow balls and even tried to make igloos. But the biggest thing of all happened when the city policeman closed off Loo Street at Broadway and let us enjoy it after a good snow storm. Every one for blocks and blocks came over to sleigh ride. Winters are not like they used to be because in those days we had very few cars and most did not drive when the snow got deep and I think snow plows were nonexistent in Frostburg in the 1920s.

School busses were not even invented when we went to Old Beall High School. I remember one particularly large snow fall when my sister Dorothy, Mary Middleton, Gladys Gunter, Olive Coleman and I all waded thru waist deep snow to school only to find that it was closed for the day. Of course, at that time we had no communication by radio to tell us to stay home. You just went at your own discretion at such times or you ask a friend if they were going and go with them.

 As you might imagine, it snows a lot in Frostburg so here are some winter photos.

 

That's my sister Dot on the left, then Dad and Mama, and me.

Dad and his son-in-law, Harold Conrad, Dot's husband, holding game.

Dad with his truck.

Another picture of Dad with his truck.

 

Mama's parents and my grandparents,

Joseph H. Whetstone 1858 - 1939, and Catherine Elizabeth House Whetstone 1865 - 1947.

You can read previous post of Mom's stories here:

Part 1: Those were the days my friend, we though they'd never end

Part 2: Center Street

Part 3: Summertime on Center Street

Part 4: Mushrooms!

 

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/11/stories-from-mom-part-6-fall-and-winter.html