Oh Boy........A Good Look Back

     We start with some good memories from Rick Houser, now of Fairfax, VA., but with good vibes about growing up in Boonetown. He wrote, "the mention of Grid is what really got my juices flowing. If my memory is right, seventh to ninth grade Grid was held on Monday nights from 7 to 9 p.m.. Grid is where a young seventh grader like myself found my first girlfriend or, at least, thought so. That, I guess, is when boys started showing a little interest in the other half. No names to be mentioned but I also got my first real kiss at prom around the ninth grade. Oh, we were so young. After we made it to 10th grade and Friday night Grid, it was off to Boyd's, usually with your favorite gal. When we were able to drive, it was to Johnny's Drive-In on the east side. Yes, you, the Kornerman, do stir what I call the prime time of my youth and again, none of us can ever thank you enough."
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     Mike Howard got some memories flowing in our last edition but we didn't have room for all of them. Let's finish them up now. Mike wrote, "I recollect lots of that time in my life........like going to Boyd's Dairy, hearing Mo Kelley announce the ballgames on Friday nights and the many clothing stores on Story Street, Meyers, Dad and Lad, Kruse and J.C. Petersen. New Highway 30 was only in somebodies mind and the road to the Ledges was steep and treacherous. It was last week that I ran into a Mrs. Thorngren and then realized it was her husband, Carl, who, so many years ago, was the one who remodeled our house on 14th Street many years before we moved into it. Western Auto, the Fancy Cue, Bide-A-Wee, Rexall Drug, the old Ben Franklin with the riding horse to the left of the entry and Riekenberg's are a few of the store fronts of my youth. I even remember buying models in the old Mondt Hotel and I do remember that hotel burning. The Lincoln, the Dairy Queen on Mamie Eisenhower and the Imperial Inn. Rotary Club met in the Hotel Holst. Many years later, I ran the hotel for a year as the owners health and business sense was being called into question. Going through that basement was quite a story in itself. Lots of old Boss Hotels memorabilia. I was on the roof when the tornado ripped through Jordan. It truly was a half-mile wide. I saw it. I guess all these memories make me old, just not as old as the Kornerman. I mean't to include the Chick-A-Dine and the horse was actually to the right of the doorway as I reread what I wrote."
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     Willie wrote from San Diego, "I remember the Citizen's elevator and I think there were more but I must not have been impressed. Younkers in Des Moines had a nice one but wait, I was on the fourth floor of a building in San Leandro, one of my work for fun jobs, and I had to step aside to let a pickup go by. There were cars and trucks on every floor, this place had serious elevators. The first floor was special because it had an amazing aroma, real strong but not offensive; full of big sacks of coffee. I still have an empty bag from Brazil. This was a factory where military tanks were built in World War II."
     Willie added, "Boone News paperboys brought the money they collected on Saturdays to the Citizens National where you were provided with a cupcake pan to divide the coins and I think the teller would give you folding money which you paid to Mr. Garvey. The remainder was your profit for the week which probably would be reasonable except for the numerous customers who claimed they didn't have 25-cents."
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     Boone Area Deaths: Rosamond Kemmerer, 100, Boone. Taught at Boone elementary school for 31 years before retiring in 1979.............Lorraine Blomgren Van Dolah, 89, Wichita, KS, formerly of Boone. Luther High grad. Worked in insurance and was a longtime elementary school secretary. Boone area survivors include her sister Marian Bauman of Boone and her brother Donald Blomgren of Ames.
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     Worldwide Korner headquarters are located at 710 Aldrich, Boone, Iowa 50036-4703. Phone number is 515-432-1530 (Yes, quit laughing....we still have a land line). To email your stories, memories, comments, support...........
kelleyskorner1@gmail.com.