Friday, February 28, 2014

Valdese for the last time

Many trips to the Catawba River riding the bike or walking with Ace. Most of the time alone, me ‘n Ace. I made Minnow Jar(traps) to catch bait for us, but most times we caught nothing, so we went swimming. I felt like I could swim a hundred miles.

Summers I went to church Youth Camp. Once I won a diving contest and a swimming contest. 

Von Dale (my friend from Albemarle) came to visit a couple times for a week at a time. some great times. He got to meet the boys at Valdese. That was always fun.

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(Cousin Bobby O’Shields visiting Valdese, Bobby lived outside Laurens, SC)

There is a mountain called High Peak near Valdese, we all climbed it a couple times. Then climbed the fire Tower that was on top. the Rangers were always very friendly to us.

BF Jack Grace Valdese

(Note dad’s belt buckle, he always wore it to the side. That was to keep from scratching his car when checking the oil)

Once I asked mama if I could ride my bike to my brother’s house in Shelby. It was 39 miles. She said yes. I got about 8 miles over the mountains, I was beat. So I got to a phone and called home. Shirl answered. she said she would come and get me. When she go there I talked her into driving me and the bike to Shelby and not tell anyone, so she did. At the city limits she let me out and I rode up to my Brothers house and lied, I said I had rode all the way. I don’t think Shirl ever told. Sister in Law Ruth probably didn’t believe it, but she was so sweet to me, like a 2nd mama.

I hate to say I lied, we used to say I told a story.Surprised smile.

Valdese had a sad point. Folks let their chickens loose in Valdese. Ace could not stand that. Mr. Brinkley had chickens in his lumber yard across from our house. I had to keep an eye and a cow chain on Ace. But sometimes he did get loose.

My dad did not see Vets for house pets. Vets were for farm animals that provided a lively hood for families. BUT he made an exception with Ace. We went to the vet. The vet said it was no use, and Ace died of poison.

I took him home, buried him and prayed over that grave for many nights, that God would allow me to see Ace in Heaven.  If any dog got there, it will be ACE. Winking smile.

Valdese was a great place to fly kites. Ride bikes, skate and fish. Garland page would take us to a creek across the mountains to swim and eat watermelon.  Few folks had TV, but Garland worked for Kirksey Furntiture Co, and they allowed the Page family to go to the furniture company and watch the display TV’s, of course they let me come along. What a thrill to be in a business after it closed.

The NEXT big announcement at the Darnell residence was, we are moving to Belmont, NC.

Hey I thought, I know a beautiful girl there, I met her at the Campground. I even remembered her name, Martha Carver… Shirl wasn’t real happy, she had a boy friend she did not want to leave.

But leave we did, that is what preachers families did, MOVE!

Thanks for coming by the log

Nite Shipslog

PS:

My sights had already been set, I thought, “When I am 16, I will quit school and join the Marines.”

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1954 Ford Fairlane Sedan1954Met1954_Hudson_Jet_Liner_4d_sdn_-_fvr1954PackardPanther

These cars were the newest on line when we moved. I knew them all except the Packard. I never did see that dude.

12 comments:

Jackie said...

Love walking back in time with you. Reading your writing is like sitting on the porch in the swing with a good friend and listening....

Elizabeth said...

I agree with Jackie! I think I am actually going to be able to leave a comment on my tablet!

Elizabeth said...

Yay, it worked !

Chatty Crone said...

What a wonderful pal your sister is - that is so cool that she drove you! lol

shirl72 said...

That car was Mildred'a car and her
nick name was Sister. Valdese was
a good place to live. I graduated
there from Valdese Hi in 1954. I volunteered Dad to take part in my
graduations. It was fun time.

Paula said...

I like that idea your Dad had not to scratch his car. Shirl graduated the same year I did, 1954. I never thought before how it was for preacher's kids. Just get used to a town and the people and have to move again. You and Shirl seemed to have survived it well.

TARYTERRE said...

That was sweet of your sister to drive you to your brother's place. And then to keep the secret. How did you get home???

betty said...

So sad about Ace, but got to admire you for trying to ride the 39 miles and then trying to figure out how to get there anyway!

betty

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

Except for loosing your beloved Ace, you really seemed to have a great life there. Your sister was a such a good friend to you. I can't imagine riding a bike 8 miles let alone 39 miles. We used to ride our bikes a lot..it was either that or walk. I remember when we said we told a story instead of calling it a lie too. I'd almost forgotten that one till you mentioned it. You do have a lot of great memories!

Louis la Vache said...

«Louis» is enjoying reading your stories of Belmont and Valdese - and you KNOW he likes the photos of the cars!

There's a reason you haven't seen that Packard Panther. :-)
Only five were built - but that was deliberate. The front end on that car is - to put it politely - not one of stylist Richard Teague's "better moments". This particular Panther was updated with the "cathedral" taillights from the production '55 Packards. «Louis» thanks one other Panther may have gotten that update. The others had the "sore thumb" taillights used on the '54 and '55 Clippers. The Panthers were built before Packard's V8 went into production. They were powered by the 359 cu in, nine main bearing straight eight used in the '54 Patricians and Caribbeans, except in the Panthers, the engine was fitted with a supercharger. The car you show may have gotten a V8 when it was updated with the "cathedral" taillights - «Louis» doesn't remember for sure. This particular Panther was owned by the head honcho of Creative Industries, the company that custom-built the five Panthers for Packard.

Louis la Vache said...

More car trivia...
That Hudson Jet looks a lot like the '52 Ford. Hudson's boss, A.E. Barit, listened too much to the owner of the Chicago Hudson franchise when the Jet was being developed. The man in Chicago was selling 3,000 Hudsons a year, so the management of Hudson gave him pretty much a blank check. This guy liked the looks of the '52 Ford and wanted the Jet to look like it. Problem was, the dimensions worked against the design for the same reasons Bob Bourke's beautiful design for the '53 Studebakers didn't work well on the Studebaker sedans. Studebaker management forced Bourke to foreshorten the design, meant for a 120" wheelbase, onto a 113" wheelbase. As a result, the Studebaker sedans looked dumpy. The same thing happened to the Jet - the Ford design didn't "shrink" well to the compact Jet's dimensions. The upshot of it was the Jet cost Hudson buckets of money they should have spent on their big cars, the Jet didn't sell and it sank Hudson...

Louis la Vache said...

OK - one more, then «Louis» will leave you alone...
:-)
Here's the "sore thumb" taillights on the '54 Packard Clipper.