TODAY'S NEWS - QUICKIES THAT CHANGE OFTEN

"I WILL NOT FOLLOW WHERE THE PATH MAY LEAD, BUT I WILL GO WHERE THERE IS NO PATH, AND I WILL LEAVE A TRAIL." Muriel Strode -KHS65 class motto.
"The good old days....when we weren't good and we weren't old" Barbara Schwarz Moss 2010
SEE WWW.KHS65.COM FOR 169 PIX FROM OUR 45TH REUNION - CLICK THE SMALL PHOTO FOR LARGER VERSION. See lots of NEW grade school pix!
CHECK THE LABELS, GO TO KIRKWOOD HISTORY ARTICLES & CLICK THE POST ABOUT FRANCIS SCHEIDEGGER'S PIX FOR A GLIMPSE OF A PLACE I BET EVERYONE REMEMBERS - and much more!


We seem to all be suffering a common problem these days, WHERE DID OUR LIVES GO? Our brains seem to still be 18, but our bodies are talking a different language. Sarah Orne Jewett puts it much more eloquently than do I:

“Neither of my companions was troubled by her burden of years. I hoped in my heart that I might be like them as I lived on into age, and then smiled to think that I too was no longer very young. So we always keep the same hearts, though our outer framework fails and shows the touch of time.”

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Interactive news, reviews, gossip, musings, activities, photos, mysteries, histories, stories, truths, lies & video tapes from & for graduates of the Kirkwood (MO) High School fabulous class of 1965. Email us anything you would like to share to leslieatkhs65dotcom. See photos at www.khs65.com - comment here or on the website to make yourself heard! FIND US ~ www.khs65.com ~ www.khs65.org ~ FACEBOOK KHS65 ~ http://khs65blog.com ~ KHS65 MAKE IT A HABIT!

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Nostalgic night ramblings

After spending a couple hours in Crestwood this evening with a KHS65 alum who shall remain nameless, I drove home about 11:30pm on this beautiful clear, cool night. Downtown Kirkwood was pretty much deserted and the lights were nearly all green all the way from Watson Road to Manchester. Couldn't help but notice how much has changed but my mind seemed to see it all with old eyes. Spencers is still the same, Nipher has an addition closer to the road. Manor Grove Nursing Home, the old Kirkwood Old Folks' Home, where my former mother in law lived and died, has had an addition; passed by the corner where the Clark station was, where Sue Hoch & I used to grab a quick smoke before school, then the site of the old Pfitzinger's, the show, the block that used to be brick houses where Ronnie Reed's sister lived & held his b'day party; the Magic House is now HUGE, and as I passed by the site where the Kirkwood Hotel was I couldn't help but notice the fact that the new modern building taking up most of that block sits close to the sidewalk and road, just like the old hotel did. Remember those old geezers who used to stand around outside? So much has changed, yet if you use the right night vision goggles you will still see Katz Drug, the bank where I had my first savings account, Kirkwood Pres where we had Girl Scout Sunday services. Then the house where Cyril Clemens lived - remember his walking down the sidewalk with his white beard? Of course turning left to come west right at Parkmoor is always a memory-trigger - boyz and their carz. Claychester Cleaners where we took our dry cleaning, and never could figure out why it was named for our street? Then the corner where Bopp intersects Manchester, nothing like it used to be. Remember the Gulf Station? For awhile they had a special offer, stainless cutlery for a reduced price with purchase. I had that cutlery for many years! I passed by so many places - streets where our classmates lived, streets where I lived. North Kirkwood Jr. High, the Chemistry teacher Mr. Adams' street where Jane Via and I teepeed and thought we weren't caught, until a few days later when Mr. A played a home movie for us in class....a movie of me and Jane tossing the rolls!!! We were mortified! Then north on Ballas Road past Squire Korum's house, and the home of relatives of close family friends, then the street on which lived the true love of my life, then the recently-shuttered Shell gas station at Ballas and Clayton Roads where my friend took me when I was about 19 to pick up a credit card application, my first, then west on Clayton past more streets of friends. That brought to mind how much of my life has been spent on or near Clayton Road, even more so as I passed the nursing home where several of my friends have lived and died. Spent some time thinking about Route 66 because Manchester Road is part of the old 66 Byway. Past the old Flaming Pit restaurant on Manchester where we ate dinner after graduation and before THE party, which was before the swim party, much of which I don't remember due to the bottle of champagne that my date and love of the time opened for me as we drove in his convertible MG to Cool Dell.

I frequently come home from Kirkwood at night up Kirkwood Road to Manchester then Ballas then Clayton but for some reason tonight the nostalgia bits seemed foremost in my mind. Hardly another car on the road all the way home until, closer to home, I passed the high school from where my kids graduated, past the road to my home in Manchester of 12+ years, and into my driveway where the light was on, and the first moth of the season was fiercely clinging to the white garage door. It must be spring, the trees are abloom, forsythia gorgeous and the tulips under our mailbox stand are in full color...and then there's a solitary moth! Some things never change. And thinking of Clayton Road and Lindbergh, the way I sometimes come home rather than the detour over Ballas, reminds me that I recently had a BIG BEVO at Schneithorst's...I only recently realized they STILL serve them. The sauce is as good, but not enuf of it - I plan to speak to the chef on my next visit, he's probably young so needs a refresher course in Big Bevo-making.

2 comments:

  1. My nostalgic ramblings in Kirkwood most often occur during the day. It is my habit to workout at the YMCA 6 days-a-week, usually around mid-day. Sometimes, having worked up a thirst or appetite I become nostalgic for old favorites. Thirst on a hot day always makes wish for a tall, cold glass of limeade from the Katz lunch counter. If I've worked up an appetite, a hotdog from the Rexall lunch counter might come to mind, though I much preferred the Crestwood Woolworth dogs in their toasted New England-style bun. Or maybe a grilled cheese from Parkmoor. . . or, maybe something from Velvet Freeze, or . . .

    As I drive on Kirkwood Rd, I miss the long-gone Kirkwood Books and a drive down Jefferson always brings a pleasant thought about the Hobby Shop and the wonderful owner who seemed to love to talk model trains and cars as much as I did.

    I much prefer to think of, and see in my minds eye, what used to be downtown Kirkwood. Its more picturesque than the string of pizza, wings and burger consumers who now "grace" the display windows.

    One constant remains, Kirkwood Hardware; thankfully it continues to provide what you need, including plenty of friendly advice on how to use it.

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  2. Let me know if you can identify this popular spot.
    Looks like Velvet Freeze.

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