To Start With....

Growing up in Grand Island, hereafter referred to as G. I., I am very familiar with the town. Town. Ummm. While growing up here it seemed like a town, but now it seems more like a city. It has grown and expanded beyond anything I remember. And...I've never left!


Like most folks, my memories of my town probably tend to be sweetened by the years. But I honestly think times were different then. My folks let me ride my bike all over town. My kids could ride "close to home," and my granddaughter couldn't ride in the street, let alone leave my sight.

A few of the things I remember: The Drive-In, Jack & Jill Stores, Kings, The Satellite Club, Fairmont Creamery, The Palmer Hotel, Lombard-Leschinski, The Grand Island Clinic (the one at 3rd & Pine), Hesselgesser's Oldsmobile (on 2nd between Pine and Oak), all the little "neighborhood" grocery stores, $.88 Cent Store, Kaufman's 5 & 10, Hesteds, Woolworth, most of the stores "downtown," The Capitol Theatre, Municipal Swimming Pool (The Muni), Christmas on Memorial Lane, Scotties
Drive-In, Heights Drive-In, home delivery of milk and dairy products (with the wooden crates), Shuff's Cafeteria, The Greyhound Bus Station, Continental Trailways Station, The Union Pacific Station, Koehler Hotel, the old Hamilton County bridge and the billboard on the north side of it, Pioneer Village, Jerome's Tee-Pee, St. Francis Hospital on Charles St., Lutheran Hospital near 1st. and Walnut, Niemano's, Big Boo, Bill's Trading Post, Apfel-Butler-Geddes Funeral Home on E. 2nd, Bowen Drugs, Clayton's, Dreier's Home Bakery, Vavra's Sausage Kitchen, Royal Crown Bottling Co. (somebody's brother has a body shop there now), and many, many other things. Going back over my list I notice how many have to do with food. I guess food can provide good memories.


There are many people that have left a lasting impression on me. Like Mae T. Clark, principal at Lincoln Elementary School; Mildred Cunningham, 5th grade teacher at Lincoln; Mrs. Williams and Mr. Yost, both 6th grade teachers and Lincoln. During my years at Howard Elementary I rememberMrs. Moore, the principal, and Mrs. Swiggle....but I don't believe that was her real name, just the way I remember it. (I wonder if there's a website I could go to and look up the teachers of Grand Island? Anyone have an idea?) I was one of the lucky girls to dance the Maypole in 4th grade at Howard. That tradition continues today.


So, here it is, my memories of Grand Island. Maybe I'll add a bit of Hall County later. Drop a line and tell me of your memories. The more memories we write down, the more we remember.

Namárië!