First Grade
The day before first grade, the parents brought us to see our new classroom.
We were to start at Chittick Elementary School—a modern, carpeted, sprawling place that seemed huge to me. I can remember crowding around the door to Room 108 with my classmates, the future 1984 graduates.
Our teacher, Mrs. Puchis opened it and we went inside. There we found an airy room with a large window, its own rest room, and a sink under lighted cabinets, perfect for those in-class treats made by the parents.
It was a tremendously exciting time for me.
We had naptime after recess, lying throughout the room on fluffy towels. I don’t recall actually doing any real sleeping on the less-than-ideal Fred Flintstone floor bed.
After school on the first day, I couldn’t find my bus and wound up crying on the corner until a crossing guard took pity on this woebegone little tyke and arranged for my transportation home.
Every day, I waited in front of the house, holding my Peanuts lunch box until the school van came to pick me up.
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Hello It’s Me Todd Rundgren |
| Todd Rundgren – Hello It’s Me |
It bears mentioning that had it not been for my mother, we wouldn’t have had transportation. Old Bridge Turnpike, a busy road, had several stretches with no sidewalk between our house and the school. She fought with the township to add a stop.
Once this was established, the boys in the next two houses benefited as well. I was happy in school, and as in Kindergarten, I breezed through the lessons there too.
One time, there was a contest to draw a tree and everyone voted mine the best, with its realistic limbs and green little leaves drawn on each branch. I forget what I won.
Another time, Kenny F showed me a long, jagged red scar on his abdomen, and I was pretty grossed out.
There was one day when cousin Nanette (Aunt Marietta’s daughter) came with Mom to peek into my classroom. Startled from my task, I looked up and was so surprised to see them.
Each day, the class would lie down to take naps every day after recess. Mom gave me a soft towel to use. She also gave me an old paisley shirt of Dad’s to use as a smock for our art projects. I remember one day the shirt was missing and I was saddened to not be able to find it.
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Show And Tell Al Wilson |
| Al Wilson – Show And Tell |
I used to like seeing Mrs. Puchis take a wet sponge to the blackboard on a Friday afternoon, wiping the week’s lessons and chalk dust away in neat rows as she walked across and back.
There was a progressive learning module separated by color, in this order: “Aqua Purple Orange Olive Blue Brown Green Red” and three “starter” sections after that. I finished those quickly too. We would go to another classroom across the hall for certain subjects with Mrs. DeLuco.
So, that left lots of time to draw for my classmates, who requested pictures of Mickey Mouse. I began making my own story books, including Mickey Goes to the Doctor. I was nuts about Mickey Mouse. I wanted Mickey Mouse sheets for my bed and haunted my mother for a set.
Each day at lunch, we would line up and be escorted to the cafeteria, each one of us holding a lunch box, paper bag or money.
Sometimes I would be jealous of the kids who ordered “hot lunch,” served on those sectioned pale green plastic trays. Sloppy Joes, tater tots and pizza seemed especially tempting. Even the mushy green beans carried appeal.
Our tummies rumbled and we made our way, single-file, to lunch. The cafeteria had a unique aroma of steaming food and floor polish, and always sounded of clashing trays and the din of kids’ voices.
Other moms packed desserts like cookies and Ring-Dings and Ho-Hos, while I got maybe an apple and a foil-wrapped cheese wedge with a picture of a tiger on it for a snack.
At the time, I could not conceive of Mom’s care and thought put into making my lunches, packed with love and geared for nutrition. In retrospect, I am grateful Mom saw to it that I ate properly, which I continue to do.
I was despondent one time when I dropped my Thermos, and the glass inside was ruined. I felt I was letting Mommy down.
Mom had also registered me for ballet lessons with Miss Beverly at the Hillcrest School of Dance on Old Bridge Turnpike, and I was in several recitals, which Dad dutifully filmed.
I was also enrolled in a private art class, but remember losing interest because it wasn’t particularly challenging.
Diamond Girl by Seals & Crofts was popular then, and around that time I had my Very First Favorite Song: Go All The Way by the Raspberries. Man, did it ROCK! This 5-year-old begged for the 45 (and I still have it, as well as the mp3 file of the song).
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Go All The Way The Raspberries |
| The Raspberries – Go All the Way |
In second grade, the fall of 1973, my teacher was Mrs. Doran, and on the other side was Mrs. Parker. We were in Room 157-C and D in one of Chittick School’s (segmented since) open area “loft” classrooms.
I joined Brownies, having finished with dancing school. It was a big deal for me to walk around the block to Mrs. Barney’s house for troop meetings all by myself. The following year, I attended a troop down at Mrs. Kahle’s house on Kossmann Street in the older section of East Brunswick. There were songs, crafts, treats to bake and patches to be earned.
Mom bought us sleeping bags, and mine came in handy for sleepovers in Brownies, at friends’ houses, and when our grandparents came to stay overnight.
It was at that time when a new show appeared on TV, The Six Million Dollar Man.
Six Million Dollar Hunk
My little heart went nuts to see virile, studly Lee Majors running in slow-motion. Mom allowed me to stay up one night a week to watch “Six Million”. We got the board game that Christmas.
One time, my mother heard about a special appearance to be made by Lee Majors at a local Toys ‘R Us in a Franklin, NJ shopping center. Of course, I was beside myself with joy.
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Love Train The O’Jays |
| The O’Jays – Love Train |
However, the day we arrived, the shopping center was inundated with crowds hoping to meet the star and it seemed as if we’d already missed the action. My parents jumped out of the car, put us on their shoulders and booked to where the center of attention appeared to be. There, among the throng, was a limousine starting to pull away.
Breathless and close enough to rap on the back window where Mr. Majors sat, Mom did just that and waved frantically. Sitting on her shoulders, I spied him waving back. Then the limo was gone.
While my friends were talking about David Cassidy and Donny Osmond, (and later Leif Garrett, Shaun Cassidy and Scott Baio), I suppose I just had a thing for “real men”.
When The Bionic Woman premiered a year later, that of course was Steve’s ticket to stay up and watch it with Dad.
Popular music from second grade includes Shaft by Isaac Hayes, That Lady by the Isley Brothers, Backstabbers and I Love Music by the O’Jays, Crocodile Rock and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John, Superstition and You Haven’t Done Nothing by Stevie Wonder, It Don’t Come Easy by Ringo Starr, Ma Cheri Amour by Stevie Wonder, Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress by the Hollies, and Rock The Boat by Hues Corporation. Also included were Paul McCartney and Wings, Chicago’s early stuff, and Doobie Brothers.
Mom and Dad redecorated the living and dining rooms that year, with “earth” colors popular back in the day. We got new furniture as well.
My 7th birthday party is particularly vivid because of the home movies, and we had everyone in the family over to our house. There was lots of food, kids and toys, and I carried my Mickey Mouse doll, affectionately called “gray face” by Mom, all day. (I still have this doll.)
A big birthday cake awaited us downstairs in the rec room, and, holding Gray face, I proudly blew out all 7 candles with little effort. All my big cousins were there with me. What a happy memory.
We went to Nana’s and Aunt Marietta’s houses often, almost every weekend. The trip up to Newark was a “Long Ride” back then … to my car-sick prone tummy, it was a hurdle each time.
While on the Parkway, I knew that when I saw the “big bottle” on top of the Pabst Brewery, we were almost there. That bottle was dismantled around 2005, and we hoped it would live on somewhere, somehow as Jersey nostalgia. Its eventual fate is unknown as of this posting.
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Back Stabbers O’Jays |
| O’Jays – Back Stabbers |
Dad knew multiple ways to get to Newark, whether the Parkway to the Turnpike, or the Turnpike straight up to where we’d pick up 21 right into the city. That route allowed a great vista of Manhattan, and the Twin Towers sparkled whether by day or lit up at night.
We visited NYC several times, both by car and by train. I recall one such outing on a NJ Transit train into Penn Station, where we saw the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. We drove in to see the World Trade Center twice.
The opening credits to The Sopranos feature many views from my upbringing, including the toll plazas and the “Drive Safely” storage tanks.
Hotel Romano
This was also the final summer when we went to Romano’s Hotel at Long Branch, long a mainstay for shore vacations for my Dad and his family. The Romanos, from the old neighborhood in Newark, welcomed us every summer. Nana stayed there for weeks at a time while Granddaddy minded his tavern, known as Club Warren, on the corner of Colden and Warren Streets, Newark.
We’d hit Romano’s to hang out and say hello and then go to the boardwalk and hit the rides at the amusement pier along Ocean Avenue.
We never stayed there overnight as my cousins did, but I remember once lying down in an upstairs bedroom when I wasn’t feeling well. Perhaps I was car sick from the ride down. The bed had a metal frame with a spindled curved headboard. A nearby window was open to the ocean sounds and breezes.
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Jackie Blue Ozark Mountain Daredevils |
| Ozark Mountain Daredevils – Jackie Blue |
Romano’s also had a large dining room where we ate sometimes, and there were big Italian dinners. I remember there was a nice porch overlooking the beach in front with white rockers and Adirondack chairs.
There was also a door to a large bar area behind which big men drank whiskey, smoked cigars and played cards. We were not allowed in there. Early on, my older cousins would watch over me as I toddled down the sand toward the water.
One day, the house next door to Romano’s had a fire and sometime after that, Dad and I went in to look around. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. The upper half of it was burned but there were parts that were still intact, so it was creepy but interesting. We opened up a refrigerator and were shkeeved out by its contents. Yecch.
When Romano’s Hotel finally came down, a big part of Dad’s family history went with it. I was still little and my own memories are scant.
Nana’s House
Nana had many parties in her basement rec room on Parker Street, Newark. Dad had finished it years earlier, building a laundry room, enclosing the toilet into a little bathroom, adding storage and a really nice wet bar with mirrored shelves. Even the floor was tiled like a pro.
Steven and I were usually the youngest there, when cousin Peter (Uncle Johnny’s youngest) wasn’t around.
By the time I was in early elementary school, my cousins were in the “Studio 54” set, getting ready to “go out” when we were there.
While Steven and I were bundled in our pajamas for the trip home to bed, teen-aged cousins Mona and Lisa strutted about in stylish glitter platforms and heavy makeup. They looked awesome. It seemed unfair that THEY got to go out and WE had to go home.
I was happy to sit in their room while they got ready for their big nights “downtown” and talking about things like … MEN!
I’d sit and pore over their old Peter Rabbit books while they fussed with makeup and clothes.
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Could It Be I’m Falling In Love The Spinners |
| The Spinners – Could It Be I’m Falling In Love |
Popular music of the time was Joni Mitchell’s Help Me, Vicki Lawrence’s The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia, Cher’s Half-Breed, David Bowie’s Space Oddity, the Temptations’ Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone, Sammy Davis Jr.’s Candy Man, Doobie Bros.’ Long Train Runnin’, Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together, Sylvia’s Pillow Talk, Steely Dan’s Reelin’ In The Years, and most of Paul Simon’s early hits like She Loves Me Like a Rock, Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard and Kodachrome.
There were lots of parties held out back in the common yard between Nana’s and Uncle Johnny’s houses. Nana had a large orange picnic table with a big canopy, where loads of food and smiles would gather. Granddaddy would be perched to the side watching a ball game on a TV wired with an extension cord, we kids would run and play and delicious treats would be served. It was wonderful to have the family around us, all in one place.
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Loves Me Like a Rock Paul Simon |
| Paul Simon – Loves Me Like a Rock |
Aunt Marietta’s house on Ridge Street was also locale to many parties and holidays as well as dinners. Like Nana, she worked hard to make us all feel loved and well-fed. She also made a delicious yellow cake with real whipped cream and peaches lining the top for many family parties, including my bridal shower. Those cakes were wonderful!
As we all grew, carriages and playpens were stowed and the family gatherings continued to take place. Aunt Maryann and Uncle Johnny eventually moved to Fairfield, and there were lots of memories created there as well.
VAL Vending
During first and second grades, Mom and Dad had a go at the vending machine business, and bought a 3rd vehicle, a mid-‘60s forest green Ford Econoline van.
Dad put a window in the side for visibility and did a little body work on it. VAL (Vin and Lu) Vending acquired a few corporate clients including some car dealerships between North Brunswick and Freehold. Dad bought the machines and the product, and Mom did the bookkeeping.
We used to love when a new machine was delivered, so we could play in the box. On the weekends, we would “go to the machines” with Daddy, in the van, while he collected the change and restocked the “Burry” brand cookies.
That van was fun while we had it. Many times, we’d pack snacks and head for the Drive-In movies. Turnpike Theatres on Route 18 and Brunswick Drive-In on Route 1 come to mind, among others. (Unfortunately, these establishments are now respectively home to condos and a shopping center.)
The back of the van served as a perfect place for us kids who inevitably lost interest in the movies, so we snuggled in our sleeping bags back there and played a memory card game and other things in our pajamas.
We’d also pile in it to go to Newark to visit, and we’d all try to sit up front! Dad drove, I’d sit on Mom’s lap and Steven got the console in the middle. These were the days before mandatory seat belts and child restraints.
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The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia Vicki Lawrence |
| Vicki Lawrence – The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia |
The business eventually resulted in losses due to rising prices, requiring the change mechanisms to be upgraded, as well as theft of the product right out of the machines. Within a year or so, VAL Vending’s adventures in cookies crumbled. Dad sold the business and then the van a couple of years after that.
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That Lady Isley Brothers |
| Isley Brothers – That Lady |
Mom and Dad were winning bowling league tournaments, under the team name VAL Vending. One day, they overheard a fellow leaguer as he reviewed the list of that evening’s pairings with a teammate: “Oh s#it … we got VAL Vending.”
Mom and Dad giggled. They were a formidable duo at Mid-State Bowl. Dad always called Mom a “clutch”, and she made 600 series; not too shabby, and they cleaned up on trophies and pots.
Eventually, they accumulated so many trophies that as a solution to the storage issue, they removed the golden name plates from the trophies and mounted them down in the Rec room, discarding the original dust collectors.
Sadly, only nostalgia remains as Mid-State Bowl closed its doors around 2007.
The building now hosts a New York Sports Club franchise and some strip stores. (The same fate awaited the famed 112-lane Edison Lanes on Route 1 sometime in the late 1980s; now home to Wick Plaza.)
Around that time, Dad was laid off temporarily from the city of Newark, so he scrambled to find a new job. He briefly worked at Hess on Route 18, and drove a bus for East Brunswick Public Schools.
It was a thrill for us to see Dad drive up to the house in Bus #40, and have a ride, and had the the entire bus to ourselves! He was the rare bus driver who actually had the respect of the rowdy kids.
When Dad had the Hess gig, Mom would load us up into the car with a hot casserole dish to bring to Dad for dinner. One time, Rod Stewart’s Maggie May was playing on the radio. As it turned out, that song and memory became forever linked and etched for both Steven and me.
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Maggie May Rod Stewart |
| Rod Stewart – Maggie May |
Soon, Dad got an “in” from a good friend from the bowling alley, Lou Bini. Louie worked for Ferro Trucking, an outfit in Hillside that handled local trucking work in the tri-state area, with some over-the-road hauling. Their primary client was Kraft Foods in the Allentown, PA area.
Louie encouraged Dad to test on the rigs, as Dad had extensive experience at his old job with the City of Newark. He also trained Dad on the side. Dad always wanted to drive a tractor-trailer, so after due consideration, he took the opportunity and added his name to the applicant list.
