Innholdsfortegnelse for April/May 2018 i Reminisce

You never forget your first pet. My hubby and I have had three during our many years of marriage—two Norwegian elkhounds and a calico cat. The elkhounds, Olaf and Bree, were gorgeous animals with thick, fluffy fur coats that meant they could play for hours outside in the cold and snow. They kept each other company when we went to work and guarded the house from any and all intruders, including rabbits, squirrels and the occasional garter snake. They were great with our kids and everyone who visited. But when they were gone, we never got another dog. We just couldn’t. Then came our cat, Misha, who belonged to our youngest son, Nathan. Soon after he left for college, she started pulling on the bottom of our closed bedroom door…

MOVABLE FEAST This all-in-one water bottle with attached food dish makes on-the-go pet meals as quick and easy as a twist and a flip. $20 (for 15 percent off, use discount code Reminisce15), THEPOOCHCOMPANY.COM HIDDEN LITTER Move your cat’s unsightly, stinky litter box to a secluded spot, such as a bathroom, where it blends with your decor. Thanks to Good Pet Stuff’s hollowed-out planter design, it’s a win for both of you. $52, AMAZON.COM NOSEPRINT NECKLACE Follow kit instructions to make an impression of your buddy’s nose, then send it in. A few weeks later, you’ll receive your wearable keepsake. $80 and up, PRECIOUSMETALPRINTS.COM WALK THIS WAY Make long walks more comfortable, especially if you have arthritis, with this hands-free leash. It attaches at your waist and converts into a…

Beating Bobby Riggs in the much-hyped Battle of the Sexes was not Billie Jean King’s only, or even greatest, achievement in 1973. That year, she won two Wimbledon titles (doubles and mixed doubles) and the U.S. Open mixed doubles, co-founded the Women’s Tennis Association, and successfully lobbied for equal prize money for women and men at the U.S. Open. Serena Williams continues to break records as the world’s greatest female player, but King broke down all the barriers for women’s tennis.…

Our 1978 Plymouth Horizon was the sharpest little car on the road, with its gleaming white finish, shiny chrome accents and vinyl woodgrain trim. The Horizon was the first front-wheel-drive subcompact that Chrysler built in North America, along with its Dodge sibling, the Omni. It plowed through snow in the winter. In summer, the Horizon’s air conditioning— a first for us—kept us cool, and the car seemed to go forever on a tank of gas. We drove it to Florida for spring break, Cedar Point amusement park in Ohio in the summer, Pennsylvania in the fall, and family events throughout the year. Our most memorable drive was in 1979 during a family picnic near Cleveland, Ohio. One of our cousins had moved to a new apartment and we all wanted…

ACROSS 1 Like good cheese or wine 5 Gas used in flashes and lamps 10 Cravings 14 Moth stage 15 Wide in surprise 16 Boxing Day tsunami locale, Banda _____ 17 2017 U.S. Open site, ______ Hills 18 Sound 19 Punjab, India, district 20 1950s slicked-back hairstyle 22 Casino employee 24 Commercials 25 1960s conical hairstyle 26 Timeless short hairstyle (2 wds.) 30 Ferber, who wrote Show Boat and Giant 31 Ness of The Untouchables 32 Singer Perry 33 Football field lengths (abbr.) 36 The A in A.D. 37 Large horned mammal 39 Slender 40 ______ and cheese 41 Enlist again 42 “______ shining sea” (2 wds.) 43 1948 Hitchcock movie 44 1970s layered hairstyle (2 wds.) 46 Haircut named for a medieval servant 49 Type of sleep 50 After…

Just an hour from Chicago and located in the heart of Starved Rock Country, Ottawa is one of Illinois’ best places to get away, stay and play Starved Rock Country boasts some of the nicest state parks, including historical Starved Rock State Park, and activities year-round, such as an annual wine and jazz festival. The area is also a haven for fantastic dining, boating, fishing and hiking, river clubs, gorgeous blooms, art and unique shopping opportunities. Plus, Ottawa was the site of the first Lincoln-Douglas debate. Neighbors here are truly neighborly, and loyalty to the community is ever-present. Mayberry still exists, and you can find it here. TESTED BY STORM The true test of Ottawa’s mettle came in February 2017 when four tornadoes, baseball-size hail and high winds damaged the…

My husband, Rosario Cammarata, arrived in the United States from Sicily in 1958 with his mother, two brothers and $2 his father had given him. The family settled in Gary, Indiana, but Rosario was forced to quit high school and find a job to support his mother and siblings. He was considered a master barber back in Sicily, so he got a job at a barbershop. After two years, his boss asked if he wanted to buy the shop. Because Rosario had saved his money, he was able to buy his first barbershop in downtown Gary at 18. In 1966, he built a barbershop and an adjoining building in a Gary neighborhood with help from his brothers. We got married that year and went to Italy for two months. When…

THE CLASS CLOWN Jake Jake stuck to me like glue and came to school with me every day. In 1950, my fifth-grade teacher tried to scare him away, but Jake always came back. Now my daughter, who is a teacher, takes her dog Sawyer to class. Today they call them therapy dogs. Jake and I were way ahead of our time. HAZEL ALMENDINGER JOHNSTOWN, OH THE LIFE SAVER Bobo Bobo was devoted to my older sister, Kathryn, and me. When I was a toddler, he kept me from falling into a brook. My father took this picture in 1953. DIANNE BINGHAM STEVENS HOOSICK FALLS, NY THE SUNNY SONNY Santino We found this little guy in an Orlando, Florida, trash bin while on a trip to Disney World. Santino— yes, we…

THE CAT’S MEOW You can tell from my smile in my eighth-grade school photo that I was very proud of my cat’s-eye glasses. This was in 1969 at Gillette Junior High School in Gillette, Wyoming. CATHY STREETER • SHERIDAN, WY COMING UP: On the Waterfront Post your photos: REMINISCE.COM/SUBMIT-A-STORY GROWN-UP GLASSES I usually had durable glasses that weren’t stylish. But when I saw my fifth-grade teacher’s cat’s-eye frames, I had to have some. I did tire of them, but for a few months in 1958 I just felt so sophisticated. RANDI DELL • MINERAL WELLS, TX “I always loved the way our youngest, Nate, looked in 1991 in his tortoiseshell glasses. At 6, he looks impish but still studious. Today, he wears contacts. I almost don’t recognize him anymore.”LINDA KAST…

President Nixon’s chickens came home to roost when Watergate hearings started in the U.S. Senate. Sports fans celebrated two rare occurrences: Secretariat became the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years, and the Miami Dolphins finished the NFL’s first perfect season. And the Ideal Toy Co. tapped into kids’ fearless imaginations when it introduced the Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle. JAN. 3 CBS sells the Yankees for $10 million to a syndicate led by George Steinbrenner. JAN. 14 Aloha! Elvis Presley’s concert in Hawaii is the first worldwide telecast by an individual entertainer. JAN. 16 NBC broadcasts the 431st—and final— episode of Bonanza. JAN. 22 The Supreme Court legalizes a trimester approach to abortion in its landmark decision Roe v. Wade. JAN. 27 The Paris Peace Accords bring a ceasefire to…

The Dust Bowl and the Great Depression were two good reasons to leave Ardmore, Oklahoma, in June 1934. I was only 4 but I clearly remember being tucked into bed with the covers pulled over my head and told to stay put while my mother, Maude, lined the windowsills with wet towels. Many who lost their jobs headed to California. My dad, Walter, a newspaperman, had no trouble finding a job wherever we lived. A friend of his had gone to Alameda, California, and wrote back saying there was an opening for a pressman on the Alameda Times-Star. My mother and my sister Margaret, 16, were thrilled about the move. California was where the movie stars lived, and Mother especially loved Shirley Temple and Mary Pickford. Daddy bought a new…

Freddie Richard Joseph Groen, Army specialist 5, headed back to Vietnam for his third tour in 1968, to produce a documentary for the U.S. Army. Irish-born Freddie had grown up in Kings, Illinois, the oldest son of Mabel and Fred Groen. He enlisted in the Army in 1964 during the Vietnam War and was trained in audio technology and photojournalism. By 1968, Freddie had been to Vietnam twice, for 16 weeks each time. As an audio specialist, he had interviewed top brass including Gen. William Westmoreland, plus various heads of state and other dignitaries. He was embedded on a number of missions with the ground and air troops and filmed some dramatic and horrific battles. In one instance, he spent from daybreak to lunchtime inside a tank, filming war activity.…

All families have stories about their ancestors passed down through the generations. But discerning how true the stories are requires a bit of research. My paternal grandmother, Clara Shannon Seavey, claimed that her mother, Isola Winslow Shannon, was a direct descendant of a Mayflower family, the Winslows. Thanks to a genealogical search on Ancestry.com, I was able to verify this—but only partly. My research showed that, indeed, there is a line that goes back to the Winslows, but not to Edward, the Winslow on that first ship. (Edward was elected governor of the Plymouth Colony settlement three times and is mentioned in many history books.) My family traces its roots to a younger brother, Kenelm Winslow, who came on a later voyage to join the colony. In addition, I’ve found…

From about 1970 to 1973, I must have watched every episode of The Brady Bunch, not because I loved the show, but because on Fridays it came on before The Partridge Family, which was my favorite. I waited excitedly through the chronicles of the Brady kids to see what David Cassidy and his rockin’ family were up to each week. Looking back, though, I’ve come to recognize that aside from their music, the Partridges had little influence on me, while the Bradys have shaped me in all sorts of ways. I yearned for the Bradys’ California sun, fancying myself a landlocked beach boy separated from his spiritual home. The large lots, green lawns and wide streets where the Bradys lived cemented in my mind the picture of the perfect neighborhood.…

While I was in the Navy stationed at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in Washington, I bought my first new car. Later I was transferred to San Diego, and I met Katy, my future wife. I told her I had a new car back home and, knowing sailors, she didn’t believe me at first. After we married we put all our belongings into the car and moved back to the Seattle area, where I was stationed on a submarine in the Bremerton shipyard. Two years later our son was born, and the car proved too small for all the baby items. We traded it in for a station wagon. I always longed to get another car like my first, but I never saw one for sale until 2015, when I…

My younger brother Ben and I grew up across the street from a large park in a quiet neighborhood of Victoria, British Columbia. Our house was below street level, which meant that all groceries, camping gear, decorative rocks and anything else our parents made us haul had to be heaved up and down the steep front lawn, because the car was always parked on the road. Like many children of the ’80s, we spent Saturday mornings watching cartoons and enjoying our small allotment of sugary cereal. At some point before lunch, our mother would turn off the TV and shoo us outside. One particular morning, she sent us to help our father change a car tire. Watching him get his hands dirty and swear under his breath was somehow considered…