Oh ya, the event that got me moving on this....

Well, for what seems like forever, (but is probably closer to 4 or 5 years), I have been hearing and reading the stories about how they wanted to knock down that building at 700 Toronto Ave that was the epicenter of all things in my younger years, Arlington Elementary School. It was more than a school to me, with all that that entails, learning, discovering, a place where all of my friends were, it was literally my neighbor.

The block that Arlington was on dominated the view from our house, and depending on where you were seated in our living room, you had a clear view of the building itself. We climbed the crab apple trees in between the street and the teachers parking lot, we weaved between the parking bumpers on our bikes (or skateboards, the old style, with the slow, metal wheeels) we played baseball on the lawn, we shot buckets on the playground, we practiced our tennis serve and bounced superballs against the building, (could we slam one hard enough on the ground to make it land on the roof? No, but we sure tried!) We rode our bikes what must have been 500 miles a summer on the whole school block, and we hid in the bushes by the corner of the building as we played hide and seek.

Well, that 3 story giant (4 if you count the basement that was only half in the ground) is going to be knocked down this summer I hear, I got the word that that was officially gonna happen late last week from my sister, who spent her lunch hour there that week taking one last tour with Russ, the janitor there for many years giving the tour. A few years ago Russ took me through there too, when I was up in Toledo on leave, it was good to walk those old halls again. So many memories came back. But I am sure I will elaborate more on those in later posts.

I'm going to miss you my old friend, you helped me become the person I am, and you gave me a safe place to grow up.

You can't go back. Well, you can in your mind....

Well, it finally happened. I guess I am now officially in the 21st century. I have a blog. Now to make it interesting, to people other than myself. Actually, I guess that doesn't matter, as long as I enjoy it that is all that is important.

I have long thought about setting up a site on the web where others like me (there have to be others, right?) who grew up in the 1960's and 1970's in the south end of Toledo in general, and the Arlington Elementary school district in particular could view, contribute and share stories, recollections, pictures and whatever else they had. What I have quick access to I will post in the near future, and hopefully I will be able to add more later.

I really don't know why I have this fascination with those years, probably just human nature, looking back on fondness to a simpler time. Like Don Henley says so well in the very beginning of the song "End of the Innocence"

Remember when the days were long
And rolled beneath a deep blue sky
Didn’t have a care in the world
With Mommy and Daddy standing by

Yep, not a (real) care in the world. A simpler time. Now that I am (and have been for way too long it seems) an adult, I often look back fondly on my youth. My parents really sheltered my sister Becky and I, I didn't realize it then, but I see it now. And I am very thankful for that. I was able to be a kid. I don't think many kids these days can say that, well, not for as long as they should be able to. But that is a thought to be expanded on in a later entry maybe.

The way I see this blog evolving is, I plan on trying to put into words what it was like growing up then (60's, 70's) and there. (South End of Toledo) I will be telling short stories, and as I do, I may, in my cloudy recollection, accidentally combine two or more episodes into one, so if I do, please excuse me, I wasn't busy taking notes at the time. I was way too busy being a kid.

I hope to add pictures and other items too, but if this blog is to really have life breathed into it, I will hopefully be getting others recollections and contributions to add to it. I plan on posting (among other things) class pictures from back then, so who knows, if you drop by here, you may spot a face or two you recognize, maybe even your own.

So if you stumble upon this, tell a friend from back then if you are still in touch. Spread the word!

More to come.........