Throwback Thursday - St Nicholas Orthodox Church

I don't like change much.  If you've followed me for any time or know me, this doesn't come as any surprise.  I especially don't like it when buildings are torn down.

This church in West Springfield was in my stomping grounds when I was a kid.  I always thought it was a Jewish synagogue.  I never saw anyone going in or out of it but the physical building intrigued me, maybe because it looked so different from any churches that I knew.

In later years it had been looking slightly neglected and worn down.  This week when we drove by it, to my total surprise, it was not there.  In its place were houses, new houses!  I made Paul turn around just to make sure that I didn't miss it.  Yep, it was gone!

A little investigation on the Internet and I found out that it was a Russian Orthodox Church and it has been gone since 2014!  Maybe it wasn't torn down right away and that was why it was looking so neglected and overgrown.  

The article didn't say why the church was no longer in West Springfield.  Maybe two congregations merged and they chose the better building, or the building where the major part of the congregation was from.  I just found it so sad that such an interesting building was torn down, and in its place two new houses built.  

Throwback Thursday - Johnson's Bookstore

One of my favorite memories of downtown Springfield is Johnson's Bookstore.

My first memory of this store was going to visit Santa Claus downstairs in the toy department.  I remember the doll selection that they had.  I was in awe!

I remember one day while I was riding my bike on my street, I found a $10 bill.  My grandmother let me keep it as there was really no way to find out who it belonged to.  I went to Johnson's Bookstore and bought a Tiny Tears doll!

My next memory was when I was a young teenager.  My friend Cheryl Walker and I would get dropped off downtown and one of the things we would do was to go to the record department in Johnson's Bookstore.  They had a little listening booth where you could listen to a record to see if you wanted to buy it.  Sounds so strange now, don't you think?  Anyhow, we would bring records in there to listen to, not necessarily buy!  We would stay there until we got told to move along by one of the sales people.  Then we would ride on the elevator.  Johnson's had one of the only elevators in the city (that I remember anyway) that didn't have an attendant to drive it.  You could operate it yourself.  So much fun.

As we got older, we would buy stationery and check out the Secondhand Bookshop (also a part of Johnson's) which was in a separate building behind the main store in the back alley.  Paul and I used to go to that used bookstore too.

I was so sad when it closed.

At the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History at the Quadrangle in Springfield they have exhibits of old downtown Springfield businesses.  One of the exhibits is about Johnson's Bookstore.

Good memories!

Buying Marley's Easter dress and Mason not sitting on the Easter Bunny's lap...

Tonight Kristen, Marley, Janelle and Mason and I went Easter shopping at the mall. Marley is not too into dresses lately, but luckily we found one that she was, if not thrilled with, at least willing to wear.

Before we went shopping, Janelle wanted to see if Mason would sit on the Easter Bunny's lap for a picture. Nope. No way. Not even with Marley saying she would sit with him.

He liked watching other kids sit on his lap.



Janelle tried talking him into it. Nope.



The Easter Bunny tried talking him into it. No way.



When we bought Marley's dress, they gave us free bunny ears. Kristen gave them to Mason. He loved them.



We tried again. Maybe he would sit on EB's lap with his new bunny ears. No way.

Oh well, he sure made a cute Easter Bunny himself!



As Marley said, when she was five and asked why she wouldn't sit on the Easter Bunny's lap, "I don't like to sit on men's lap that I don't know." You can't argue with that!

On another note - Places that are no more - Friendly's at the Holyoke Mall. This Friendly's has been at the Food Court since the mall opened in 1979, or at least very close to it. I just can't believe that this Friendly's is gone.

No, it can't be true! Lido's is closing!

Paul and I L.O.V.E. Lido's.

Imagine my horror when I saw this Facebook post yesterday.



We have been going to Lido's since before we were married. I think it is really our all time favorite restaurant. Kris and Toby had their first date there.

I have blogged about Lido's before here.

When we found out that it was closing today, we actually thought about going there for dinner tonight. We decided that it would just be too sad though. I found out later that there were so many people that they ran out of food.

You can read more about Lido's closing here.

This picture was taken in 2004. We went there for my birthday. Happier days!



I read online that they are going to sell their sauce at Big Y. That will help a little.

R.I.P.  Lido's. We sure did love you!

Monday.... Ride to Vermont

Today, being Monday and Paul's day off, we took a ride to Bellows Falls to go to the scrapbook store and Fat Frank's. On the way home, we stopped at the Grafton Cheese store for their 4 Star (four year old) cheese ends. Here, Paul is looking through the ends for the 4 Star. If you like sharp cheddar cheese, the 4 Star Grafton cheese is the BEST!

Another Post Office - Westminster Station, VT.



Also, Places That Are No More - Friendly's in Greenfield.


I really hate it that Friendly's is closing some of their stores!

Bubba Gump and Yale Genton

Today we went for a ride to Vermont to the scrapbook store. After we were on the road Paul said the glare was bad and asked me to get his spare hat from the back seat; he had forgotten his hat. He keeps Bubba Gump in the car for a spare.

When we stopped at the Vermont Visitor Center I took a good look at him in that hat. We might need to put a different hat in the car for a spare.

On the way home we went by where the old Yale Genton was. It is now a Honda dealership (actually we bought our new car there last April). I was thinking about how much I used to like that store. More recently we used to get Paul's dress clothes there, but when I was a young teenager I remember walking there to shop.





This is a picture of me at about 15 or so, my cousin Lynda, and my friend Janie (who lived with her grandmother in the house that Kris, Toby and Marley live in now). Janie and I both had on what they used to call "shells" at the time, bought at Yale Genton. It's funny the things that go through your head - just a little tidbit of information for anyone who is interested.

Another funny thing about Janie.  I'm not sure how old my cousin Lynda was at the time, but she said to Janie, "My mother says you have bug eyes."  I told Ettie what Lynda said and Ettie was horrified.  She asked her why she would tell her that, and Lynda said, "Well, you did say that."  Note to self - be careful what you say in front of your kids, lol.

282/365 - Goodbye Clark Gulf (and IHOP)

Clark Gulf has closed it's doors. They still sell gas there, for now, but rumor has it that it will be torn down to make way for another super gas station.

We have quite a history with Clark Gulf. It has saved more cars (mostly Escort wagons) than I care to remember. Paul actually considers all the guys there friends. He said today that it was always a good day when he was going to Clark Gulf for one reason or another. He would usually talk with the mechanics as they worked on his car (I'm not sure if they considered it a good day LOLOL!!). Sometimes he would stop by just to talk.

A month or so ago the owner, Paul Clark, decided to retire and Gulf is going in a different direction with the property. It seems like the end of an era - as Paul (my Paul) says, it was one of the last full service gas stations with a group of master mechanics. The only thing that makes it bearable for Paul is that we just bought a new Honda, and we will probably get it serviced at the dealer, at least for awhile.

So, good-bye Clark Gulf. You have been very good to us with consistently honest and reliable service.

I decided to take some pictures of it today before the bulldozer :( hits.







Also....Places That Are No More - IHOP

International House of Pancakes was just across the street from Clark Gulf. Paul used to go there for breakfast or just coffee while waiting for his car to be worked on. They always had a good breakfast with a lot of food for your money. It's too bad they had to close!

248/365 - Sunday

Mark and Janelle went to a wedding this afternoon, and Mason came to stay with Grandma and Grandpa.

I was holding Mason while I was taking this picture and he was waving at them, which made for cute smiles from Janelle and Mark.



Isn't Mason cute? I love this age.










Marley gave this "Froggie" to Mason right after he was born. She still loves her Froggie, and she wanted to make sure he had one too. We never imagined he would like it SO much. He loves to chew on his eyes. They are so gross. Even after washing, they are still pretty nasty. The problem is, if it gets washed, it has to be ready to go to bed with him. So, it is gross a lot!






This picture of Marley and her Froggie was taken back in 2006, but she still sleeps with him and she still brings him to Grandma's when she sleeps over. :)




We had to do an errand for Dot, so we took Mason over for a little visit. I wanted to get a picture of him sitting on Dot's lap to send to my aunt Esther (Dot's sister), but this is the picture I got.



So...I had Paul take this picture. Much better.



We had a good time with Mason!


P.S. When we stopped at Geisslers to get something for Dot, I was surprised to see that the old McDonald's was almost gone and they were using the new McDonald's. That happened so fast. The last time I was in the area they were still building the new one.

When we first moved to Belden Court after we got married, there was a Burger Town there. Shortly after, a McDonald's took its place. The building was later razed and remodeled, but now the building is gone and there is a brand new one next to it. Progress...I guess.

217/365 - Bickford's is gone!

This was the old Bickford's on Riverdale Rd. See my previous blog post for details of this "place that is no more."

This picture was taken on 8/11/2009. There is a Hooters there now. :(

202/365 - Orr Cadillac

A couple of weeks ago Paul and I were in Springfield and we went by Sterling Orr Cadillac and I was so surprised that it was closed. Not that I ever bought a cadillac there (or anywhere else for that matter), but this dealership has been on Mill St. ever since I can remember. When Paul and I were dating, the way he would go from my house in West Springfield to his house in Springfield went by Sterling Orr Cadillac, and now it was closed. A few days later there was an article in the newspaper about the dealership closing. It said "The Orr family has been selling new cars in Springfield since 1921, starting with Studebaker, Nash and Pierce-Arrow...General Motors told Orr last summer that he would lose his Cadillac franchise, part of an overall strategy to eliminate 1,300 of 6,000 GM dealers nationwide that existed at the time." Sad.

So sad.....

Tonight we went for a ride. It is really the first time that we have driven for any length of time in our new car. We drove all the way to Stafford Springs to have ice cream at the best place ever (although right now I can't remember the name :)!!)

Anyhow, we came home through Springfield and went by where the Christian bookstore "was" on Parker St. I couldn't believe it. The whole building was torn down, everything was gone!

Paul's mother was, at one time, the manager of the Christian Bookstore and I have so many good memories of that store. The last time I drove by, it was still there. So sad.

Bickford's

Paul is finally feeling better and tonight he had a hankering for an apple pancake at Bickford's. Bickford's is in a different location now. It used to be on Riverdale St. in West Springfield, but now it is in the old Abdow's Big Boy restaurant in Westfield. We actually go way back with both restaurants. Quite a few years ago now, before Kris and Toby moved to Ohio, we used to meet every Tuesday night at Bickford's on Riverdale St. They had buy one pancake meal, get one free. Sometimes Paul's parents would meet us there too. Mark used to come when he was around (I think he was still in college). We also used to take the kids there when they were young. Paul ALWAYS, ONLY got the big apple. He has never had anything different at Bickford's. (He's weird like that, he has only ever had tacos at Taco Bell)

As far as Abdow's goes, we used to go to the one on Riverdale St. (that is now torn down) when the kids were young, probably elementary age. Sometimes we got the soup and salad bar (it was kind of a new phenomenon then, a salad bar) and sometimes we got a Big Boy hamburger. They also had the best strawberry pie. It was always a treat to go to either place. How weird that Bickford's is now in the Abdow's building in Westfield. Actually, the new Bickford's looks a lot like the old Abdow's. There is a long cushioned seat along one side of the building. I can remember when it was so crowded and people used to sit there until their number was called (tonight there were hardly any people there). A couple of things have changed. They switched the Men's Room and the Women's Room. It seemed funny going into the old Men's Room. Also, the glass cases at the front of the restaurant that used to hold all of the Abdow's pies - cream pies and strawberry pies, just holds some decorations. We hadn't been there in a long time and tonight it brought back a lot of good memories. Just thought I'd share.

Just a little addition, I took these pictures on my way to work this morning. The sun was shining through the clouds and it just looked pretty. I guess taking a picture every day last year is still with me!

Throwback Thursday - York St. Jail

For some reason, I have always been a little intrigued by the York St. Jail on Columbus Ave. in Springfield, MA. There were only two times in my life that I have even had a slight contact with it. The first time was when I was a young teenager, the youth group at my church went Christmas caroling there. I remember being nervous going in there and looking at the cells up above the lobby where we were singing. The other contact was when my friend Cheryl and I first got our driver's licenses, riding by the jail and the men looking out the windows of what looked like a gym of some sort and giving us cat calls as we drove by. We actually drove by quite a few times. What were we thinking?

Anyhow, when I read in the paper that they were going to demolish the jail, I decided to take some pictures of it. Within a very short time, all remnants of it were gone, just a big empty field. I was glad I took these pictures (Feb. 2008).

A bit of history trivia - it was built in 1886 and closed in 1992.