A trip down memory lane
Published 9:05 am Saturday, September 13, 2008
On the day before our family reunion, my sister and brother-in-law, Sandy and Marty, accompanied Arnie and me on a trip down memory lane. After breakfast we headed for Miamisburg, a town about the size of Albert Lea, which is located three miles south of Ellerton where we were raised. As we were growing up, every Friday evening we would go to Miamisburg.
Mom and Dad would do their banking, Dad might get a haircut or have a beer with some friends and Mom would go to the grocery. We kids would get out downtown and go to Westcott’s Five and Ten Cent Store, Philhouers Drug Store, Ben Franklin’s or the record store to buy our favorite “45.” Occasionally on Sunday afternoons we attended a matinee at the theater that was across the street from Philhouers Drug Store and next door to J.C. Penney.
Their downtown is struggling to survive and many of the places I remember are no longer in existence. Places such as Daisy’s Inn, where on Tuesday nights you could get all the homemade pot-pie you could eat, the old record store where my brother Larry and I would pool our money to get a new record and J.C. Penney, where I got my first matching, store-bought outfit, are all gone. But they are revitalizing the theater and it is to open soon.
The Christmas Store just opened where Jansen’s, a women’s clothing store, used to be. Suttman’s, a men’s clothing store, is still there and the Hamburger Wagon still operates on the Town Square. And yes, there is still a line waiting to get the best hamburger around. We walked the entire downtown discussing what we remember being where and sometimes we had different thoughts, as Sandy is 10 years older than I and some places had changed in that window of time. We visited an antique store that was located across from Town Square and found that a former classmate of our sister Linda operates it.
After spending time and money there, we made a quick visit to the Christmas Store until it was time for the Miamisburg Historical Society to open. It is only open two afternoons a week and we were lucky to be there on one of the right days. I could have spent several days there doing research, but settled for about an hour, bought most of the books they had for sale and found out that our great-grandfather and other relatives had signed the Hamilton Petition. The volunteer was very helpful and I will visit there again.
Next we drove by the house where the McGuire sisters grew up and the city swimming pool. As we headed out of town, we drove over the new bridge over the Miami River at the north edge of town to proceed to Ellerton. My grandfather had helped build both of the bridges that made it possible to get to the town of Miamisburg from the west. Both of the bridges have now been replaced with larger more modern bridges.
We turned north after we got across the bridge till we got to Manning Road and then took Bear Creek Road that winds along side Bear Creek in its rural setting toward our childhood home. Ellerton is no longer called Ellerton, it is now part of Morraine, but will always be Ellerton to us. Since the house we grew up in (and that had been in our family for four generations) burned down last year, the area we called home is all vacant except for the stone fireplace that my uncle built in our backyard at 4747 S. Union Road. We crossed State Route 4 and continued north on Union Road to the Ellerton Cemetery, where our parents, grandparents, great- grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins are buried. The two country churches that sit side by side and had been such a vital part of our community are now both closed. The joint cemetery located behind them is in sad shape and the history of our family runs deep into its history. I recalled many of the memories my dad had shared with me as I walked through the cemetery. Sandy and I have different memories in some respects, but precious and happy are the memories we shared.
As I was washing down the stairs in the parsonage this past weekend in the Historical Village, it reminded me of Saturday mornings when I was a kid. That was cleaning day and we would pile stuff on the steps all week, but on Saturday morning it was my job to put things away and wipe down the steps. We are happy to announce that the parsonage in the Historical Village will be open during Autumn in the Village. (It has been closed for two years for needed repairs.) It has a new foundation and roof and the floor joists have also been replaced. The next project will be to paint, but that may have to wait till next year. Thank you to all the volunteers who helped with the parsonage repairs.
Please join us next Sunday, Sept. 21, for our annual “Autumn in the Village.” The hours are noon to 4 p.m. and admission is $5 for adults, $1 for students 12 to 18 and members and children 11 and under are free. There will be fun, food and entertainment for the entire family to enjoy. Invite a friend and plan on spending the afternoon with us. You won’t want to miss the opportunity to enjoy the demonstrations, have lunch, stroll through the village shops and see all the changes that have taken place and those that are in progress. There will be presentations of characters from the past, music, a spelling bee, candle making, corn shelling, spinning, rug hooking and other demonstrations throughout the afternoon. See you next week.
Pat Mulso is the executive director of the Freeborn County Historical Museum in Albert Lea.