December 2017 Scrapbook Pages

James the Elf

Meet James the Elf, the elderly elf that showed up at Grandma and Baba's house last year!

Just to back track a little, Dominic the Elf came to visit Mason and Miriam's house in 2014.  I think Auntie Maria put a little bug in Dominic's ear that he needed to go visit them!  He returned to the North Pole on Christmas Day, but he comes back every December 1st.  Mason seemed to really like the whole idea of Dominic (although the first year he was very sad to see him go back to the North Pole).

Last year when Paul was digging around in some of our old Christmas decorations in the cellar, he found this elf that reminded me of Dominic.  I decided to play along and put him out for the kids to see.  Miriam was fine with James, but Mason didn't think he was a real Elf on the Shelf.  He said that he didn't look anything like his elf and that he was ugly.  I told him he was an old Elf, like Grandma and Baba and that was why he was at our house!  He wasn't buying any of it.  He asked me if he could touch him (a no-no with the real Elf on the Shelf, if you touched them they couldn't fly back to the North Pole to tell Santa how you have been each day).  I said that this elf you could touch.

This year James showed up at Grandma and Baba's again.  Again, Miriam loved seeing him, but not Mason.  He still says he is not real and that he is ugly but I detect that secretly he likes him, lol!

It has been fun playing along with Mason.  I'm so glad that he still believes in all of the Christmas magic (even if he doesn't believe James is a real Elf on the Shelf).

November 2017 Scrapbook Pages

Throwback Thursday - Eastfield Mall

A couple of weeks ago Paul and I went to Eastfield Mall, to FYE, looking for used James Bond movies.  We never go there anymore, but Eastfield Mall used to be a big part of our lives.

It is located on Boston Rd in Springfield, not far from where Paul grew up.  Paul and I were just starting to "go out" when the mall opened.  It was the first enclosed mall in the area, and totally different from anything we had ever seen.  I remember Paul buying me a stuffed animal cat at one of the little kiosks in the middle of the mall.  I wish I hadn't thrown it out years ago.

Paul's mother, Priscilla, and I used to go there with the kids a lot when they were little.  She would always push the carriage; she said she liked to lean on it.

It was fun to go there this week.  Many of the stores have changed, but the layout is basically the same.  I'm glad to have these pictures, before something happens and the mall either gets torn down or turned into something else.

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This is some of what I found on the Internet about Eastfield Mall.

"Built in 1967, Eastfield Mall was Greater Springfield's first enclosed mall, featuring local favorites Forbes & Wallace and Steiger's, along with Sears, as anchors. Back then, it competed with thriving downtowns for shoppers.

Eastfield Mall opened in 1967 with branches of two local department stores: Forbes & Wallace and Steiger's.^[1][2] The third anchor store, Sears remains to this day. Forbes closed in 1975 leaving the mall store vacant. It was sold (the anchor stores are wholly owned by their tenant or proxies) and JCPenney moved in. In 1994, Filene's, whose parent company May Department Stores had bought Steiger's moved into their old space.^[1] This store became Macy's in 2006 after May was purchased by Federated Department Stores (Macy's parent company at the time). The 16 screen movie theater was added in 2000 and was initially a Showcase Cinemas. Today the theater is owned by Cinemark.

The addition of a Steve & Barry's clothing store in 2006 put the mall at full occupancy for the first time since 1978. The store displaced nine smaller retail outlets, of which only two relocated within the mall.^[3] This store closed in 2008 following the chain's bankruptcy proceedings.^[4] In 2009, Hannoush Jewelers opened a showroom in the space vacated by Steve & Barry's.^[5] In 2004, the mall implemented a teen escort policy, stating that any customer under the age of 15 must be with an escort after 5:00 PM.^[6][7] The JCPenney store was later downgraded to an outlet store, and closed in 2012 when JCPenney eliminated its outlet store division.^[8]

Macy's announced that it would be closing the Eastfield Mall location in April 2016, which left Sears as the only anchor store."

Egg and Olive Sandwiches

Today I made egg and olive sandwiches in honor of Dot.

Last night we went to visit her at the nursing home, and part of her dinner was either an egg salad sandwich or tuna sandwich, I couldn't tell. I was trying to get her to eat it but she just wasn't having it. It reminded Paul of the egg and olive sandwiches that she and my grandmother used to make all the time. I asked Dot if she remembered that and she gave me a smile and said yes.

I haven't made egg and olive sandwiches in a long time. Neither of my kids like olives and so whenever I made egg salad I never added the olives.

Paul always liked egg and olive sandwiches and one day at work he asked them to make him a couple for his lunch. Evidently it's not a well known thing, because what he got was egg salad with whole olives all over the top, and they were black olives! Yikes! No! They have to be green olives and you slice them and mix them in with the egg salad.

So tonight Paul and I had egg and olive sandwiches for dinner and thought of Dot and Nan.

Throwback Thursday - Vacation, Misquamicut 1966

My family didn't go on vacations much.  We used to visit my Aunt Ettie and Uncle Bob.  He was a pastor and they moved around a lot, so most of our "vacations" were going to visit them.  I only remember two real vacations.  One was Lake Wyola in Shutesbury, MA, and the other was Misquamicut Beach in Rhode Island.

It was in August 1966; I was almost 16. We rented a cottage on Lawton Street with my Aunt Ettie and my cousins, Lynda, Bobby, and Donny.  I don't remember my Uncle Bob being there.  I'm not sure why.  The cottage was close enough to the beach that we could walk to it.     

Paul and I drove by it a few years ago and it basically looks the same, except that it used to be white. I can't believe we didn't take any pictures of the inside.  

I can remember going to church the first Sunday that we were there.  We found a little church not too far from the beach.  We always went to church, no matter what.

Our days were spent at the beach and then back to the cottage for dinner.  I don't remember my grandmother going to the beach.  She stayed at the cottage.  She was probably glad for a few hours of peace and quiet, lol.  

My cousin Donny was obsessed with my transistor radio.  There was a song that was popular at the time, Wild Thing by The Troggs;  Wild Thing, you make my heart sing, you make everything groovy. My Aunt Ettie used to try to sing the song and we would get such a kick out of it.

After dinner we would go back to the beach.  I don't really remember too much about that vacation, except one of Dot's friends from work, Joe Zannoli and his family were there for the week too.  I remember having kind of a crush on one of his sons, Robbie.  Nothing ever came of it but it was kind of fun watching for him.  

Towards the end of the week, the Lockerbys came for a visit.  They were close family friends of ours.  

Left to right - Sonny Lockerby, Nan, Jennie Lockerby, Ettie

Their daughter Maureen was getting married that Saturday.  Her fiancé Don Gould was with them, along with Linda's boyfriend Dale Berkey.  We had a big cookout that night.

I'm so glad Dot took these pictures because I'm sure that is why I remember as much as I do.  Pictures are important!!!

Throwback Thursday - Straw Hats

Summer of 1962.  My cousin Lynda (left) was 8 1/2, and I was almost 12.  We were at Misquamicut Beach.

Lynda and I saw these straw hats in the A&P grocery store just down the street from where I used to live in West Springfield.  We had to have those hats!!  I can remember begging my grandmother for them.  She just couldn't imagine why we wanted them, but we eventually wore her down.

We do look kind of cute in them, don't you think?

Throwback Thursday - Dot and Ettie's West Springfield High School Yearbook Pictures

A couple of days ago I got a text from Kristen with this picture attached.

To backtrack a little, Marley is on the Robotics Team at West Springfield High School, and Kristen is one of the business mentors for the team.  The faculty advisor for the team, Mr. Bernard, is also in charge of the school's yearbooks. Somehow, Kristen and her friend Joanie (the other business mentor) got talking with Mr. Bernard and they started looking at old yearbooks.  My Aunt Esther graduated from West Springfield High School in 1949.  I had never seen her yearbook. It was so weird to read the write-up about her.  I had never heard her referred to as Penny.  I also never heard of Henry, who she supposedly liked and was usually at home writing to, lol!

I have Dot's yearbook.  She graduated in 1942.  After seeing Esther's picture, I sent Kris a text picture of Dot in her yearbook.  Her yearbook is very interesting, with many references to the war.  Unlike Esther's write up, Dot's sounded just like her.

Coincidentally, Kristen's friend Joanie is married to a guy who graduated from West Springfield High School.  His last name is Welch.  They found Joanie's father-in-law on Esther's yearbook page, and his brother on Dot's page.  Small world!

I find it so interesting to see these little glimpses into my aunts' high school years.

October 2017 Scrapbook Pages

Miriam's first Barbie doll.

Throwback Thursday - Gilbert and Barker Days at Mountain Park

When I was young, my Aunt Dot worked at Gilbert & Barker Manufacturing Co. in West Springfield.   Every year they had "Gilbert & Barker Day" at Mountain Park.  It was a day where employees could bring their friends and family to spend a day at Mountain Park free of charge.  I remember it as being one of the best days of the summer.

These are pictures that Dot took over the years at Gilbert and Barker Day.

1957 - Deb, Maureen and Linda Lockerby

1957 - Dot with her friend Jane Starzyk (who also worked at Gilbert and Barker).

1962 - Bob and Don Lundstrom in first boat

Lynda Lundstrom and Deb in second boat

1962 - Left to right Bob Lundstrom, Donna and Debbie Waite, Don and Lynda Lundstrom

1962 - Left to right Bob and Lynda Lundstrom, Donna Waite, Don Lundstrom

In 1965 Gilbert and Barker closed their factory in West Springfield and relocated their headquarters and US manufacturing facility to Greensboro, North Carolina.  As Dot did not want to relocate, she was out of a job.  She found a new job, also in West Springfield, at the John H. Breck, Inc.  They made Breck shampoo.  No more Gilbert and Barker Days at Mountain Park, but now we always had lots of different types of shampoo and hair products.  Dot worked there until she retired in March 1987.

16th Annual Paul and Marley Zoo Picture

It all started back in 2002 when I took a picture of Paul and Marley walking at the Forest Park Zoo. My mother-in-law, Priscilla, loved the picture and a tradition was begun. Each year I have taken a new "zoo picture." Paul says the last one will be at Marley's wedding.

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