Monday Memory- Mainstreet

Main street USA-  I spent a lot of time on "main street"  as a kid.  In fact, I spent most of my nickels and dimes here.  I also did my first shoplifting on this street.

  It was at Cowley Drug.  I must have been 4 maybe 5 and I was with my brother Chris.  My theft?  It was a piece of penny candy.  My brother asked me what I was eating when we left Cowley's and I confessed.  He also made me go back and apologize.  To me there was nothing more frightening  than that red headed old woman and her very grouch demeanor.  I am not sure if she scared the sin right out of me or the awful way my tummy felt did.  My days of robbery started and ended that day at Cowley Drug.

It was also here at Cowley Drug that my best friend Suzanne and I stopped at everyday after middle school.  We would combine our leftover money from school lunch and treat ourselves.  We usually split a Twix bar and and bought a few penny candies.  Unfortunately, this was also at the time in my life that I quit having cereal for breakfast- my calcium intake went down and I got my first cavities- ouch!

We loved coming here to visit with one of the Adams sisters- Glenis or Dorcas were usually working and most often we ran into the old man "powerhouse"  who purchased his Lucky strike cigarettes from Cowley's

I can still hear the door close behind me as I entered Cowley's and the very distinct smell of this drug store still lingers in the air.  I descend the slanted floor and stop at the old fashioned soda machine to buy a 35 cent soda.  I then take off the old bottle cap... pop- right there at the soda machine.  Those were the best sodas ever! 

COn the  opposite of the street from Cowley Drug, was the best ice cream parlor around, Fernwoods.  Suzanne and I spent many summer nights in our early teens at Fernwood's indulging in our favorite flavor of ice cream.  These are my yummiest memories!

 Main Street used to have to phone booths.  One was on the old corner by the old Post Office and one was by present day Bulloch Drug.  Back in the day, it cost only 10 cents to use the old telephone.  To amuse ourselves on hot summer days, Suzanne and I would each go to a phone booth and then call one another.  Not much different than today's texting, I suppose! 

 My sweet Travis bought my wedding ring from Clark and Linford.  In fact, the owner came in after hours so Travis could shop in solitude.

My home town holds so many dear memories... and of course this Monday Memory of Mine would not be complete without the story of the summer that My dad lined up a job for my sister and I to water the flowers on main street.  We would tote our old buckets around every morning at 6 am and used a wrench to access the water faucet by every store on Main.  We each received $75 for the entire summer... love you dad.  At the time it was an awful experience, but I wouldn't mind going back just once with old "Bud" and my big sis!

Challenge- Record memories from you own Main Street- Tell the stories, record the sounds, smells, and sights!