Saturday evening Carl had to wait for clients in Port Stanley so I drove down to join him for a couple of hours. The last time I drove around the village was about 40 years ago. I was trying to decide if the ice cream shop had been Booker's Grocery Store when the young girl behind the counter proudly piped up with, "This has been an ice cream shop for 25 years." Her mouth fell open when I said I was thinking of 40 years ago!! I suddenly realized how old I must seem to her.
The house is still there where we sat eating birthday cake and watching the landing on the moon on our black and white TV. Now there are hideous extensions affixed to the back and a second story addition. I hardly recognized the place. Quite dreadful! The harbour has been extended which eradicated several blocks of old homes. I was shocked. The trees are HUGE..lol
Even though it was raining lightly we walked along the beach and I told Carl when, around 1965, I sold tickets for the dances at the Stork Club ( don't miss this 6 min clip) on Saturday evenings. Although Guy Lombardo was long gone the memories lingered in the maple dance floor, once billed as North America's Largest Dance Floor." We used to open the large windows on the second floor and the wind off the lake would blow the cigarette smoke away and keep the huge room cool. Peter was the bus boy and at the end of the evening we would have a dance together. I remember how sad I felt when my mother called in 1979 to say it had burnt down.
The house is still there where we sat eating birthday cake and watching the landing on the moon on our black and white TV. Now there are hideous extensions affixed to the back and a second story addition. I hardly recognized the place. Quite dreadful! The harbour has been extended which eradicated several blocks of old homes. I was shocked. The trees are HUGE..lol
Even though it was raining lightly we walked along the beach and I told Carl when, around 1965, I sold tickets for the dances at the Stork Club ( don't miss this 6 min clip) on Saturday evenings. Although Guy Lombardo was long gone the memories lingered in the maple dance floor, once billed as North America's Largest Dance Floor." We used to open the large windows on the second floor and the wind off the lake would blow the cigarette smoke away and keep the huge room cool. Peter was the bus boy and at the end of the evening we would have a dance together. I remember how sad I felt when my mother called in 1979 to say it had burnt down.
There was magic in the atmosphere on those dark nights when the last of the dancers had left. As Peter shut down the band stand lights and the mirror ball slowly came to stop I twirled beneath it my arms outstretched and dreamt of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
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