Chapter 6: School Memories

Open-on-the-top desk!

Flip-top desk from schooloutfitters.com
Pretty close to what I had! Click and grab one for yourself.

The day I started fourth grade was to be remembered for a lifetime—I FINALLY got my open-on-the-top desk!

That night, Mom and Dad smiled as they listened to my enthusiastic description of sitting down, opening it and placing my new lunch box inside.

My teacher was Mrs. Lewis in 145-D, and on the other side was fifth grade with Mrs. Karpf, in 145-C.

musicnotes-tiny“One Of These Nights” by the Eagles

Eagles – One of These Nights

From 1975: Love Will Keep Us Together by Captain and Tennille. Music from the era also includes Philadelphia Freedom by Elton John, Waterloo and SOS by ABBA, Could It Be I’m Falling in Love by the Spinners, You’re No Good by Linda Ronstadt, Then Came You by the Spinners and Dionne Warwick,& Miracles by Jefferson Starship, and Lady Marmalade by LaBelle.

That year, Mom arranged for us to be babysat by Mrs. Neary, who lived a couple of blocks from school. This was necessary because Mom had to be at the School of Nursing early, and we needed supervision between her leaving and our own classes.

We’d walk to school from the Nearys’, and walk back afterward, and Mom would pick us up around 4:30. This was the routine for a couple of years. No doubt it was grueling for Mom to orchestrate all this.

Interesting to note is that the Nearys had a toddler, Mark, who ran around the TV room being a general disturbance when all we wanted was to watch Huckleberry Hound. He was rambunctious, and once shattered the face on my Mickey Mouse wristwatch with a wiffle bat. I was incensed at the time.

Fast-forward to the year 2004, when I was playing drum set at the Contemporary Service at church, and a baptism took place. Mark (the toddler) was having his second baby christened, with the rest of the Neary family in tow. It was fun to get re-acquainted afterward, and I wasted no time in reminding them of the wiffle-watch incident.

musicnotes-tiny“Swearin’ To God” by Frankie Valli

Frankie Valli – Swearin’ to God

We were already familiar with babysitters, as Mom and Dad took plenty of opportunities for couple time. There were weddings, parties and other adults-only events. They went on a couple of vacations, and Aunt Marietta or Nana came to stay with us. One trip was Las Vegas, and the other was Puerto Rico.

All of us with Granddaddy
All of us with Granddaddy on Parker Street

Steven also started first grade that year, so we went on the same bus to school.

Two other kids, Tommy and Andy, lived in the next two houses over, and were two years ahead of me. So when I was in 4th, they were in 6th, they seemed so worldly and mature … they were almost in junior high, and practically driving! Oh, innocent perceptions.

Listen To What The Man Said by Wings, My Little Town by Simon & Garfunkel, Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas and Swearin’ to God by Frankie Valli always bring me back to fourth grade: I’m enjoying my open-on-the-top desk, giving drawing lessons to my classmates, and having a major crush on Rick W.

Poor Rick W. Apparently, I was not exactly discreet in my romantic interest and that poor kid got teased something fierce. One day on the playground, I was on the slide with Elizabeth C. We were talking about the fact that she and Rick were “just friends”— I guess I thought otherwise.

My fourth grade school portrait
My fourth grade school portrait

There was also a day when we were both absent. You can imagine the speculation and razzing the day following. Yeesh. I thought it was hilarious at the time though.

That was also the year that the school put on a big talent show and a kid named Robert sang Thank God I’m a Country Boy while playing guitar. Not bad for a 9 year old!

Tommy B also teased me because I drew so well; the jealousy in 1975 turned out to be genuine respect in high school, when Tom and I had art class together.

Mrs. Lewis, our teacher had us design a “coloring book” for the kindergarten class. I was put in charge of drawing most of the pages, and came up with a couple of crossword puzzles and other activities. These were mimeographed (remember those “dittos”?) and distributed in cool colors like blue and purple.

musicnotes-tiny“I Love Music” by the O’Jays

O’Jays – I Love Music

A new girl, Diane F, arrived sometime during that year and she began bawling as soon as she got to our classroom. I remember thinking, why is she crying? It’s cool here. Diane fit in just fine within a few days. I went to a birthday party at her house once.

My art teacher, Mr. Burik, took special interest in my talent. He really gave me great encouragement, and groomed my inclinations, asking me to paint some stage sets.

Our school put on productions about Hans Christian Anderson and Disney. I remember painting a big pumpkin stagecoach in the art room during my free time.

With Romano’s gone, we spent increasing amounts of our summer time at the DeRose shore house.

musicnotes-tiny“Kung Fu Fighting” by Carl Douglas
Carl Douglas – Kung Fu Fighting

Ralph DeRose: this time, let’s make the right choice.

Ralph DeRose
Couldn’t find any of his campaign posters online, so I made one. Ralph was THE MAN! Too bad Jersey didn’t pick up on it.

Dad’s cousin Ralph, a New Jersey State Senator from the 11th District since 1971, ran for Governor. He was in the primaries twice, in ’73 and ‘77. He had the poise and good looks of a celebrity, and as a little kid, I got starry-eyed around him.

In 1975, he successfully sued Governor Brendan Byrne in Superior Court. He had to fight to continue to serve as  Commissioner of the NY/NJ Waterfront and maintain his law practice concurrently. Byrne declared that he shouldn’t due to a supposed “conflict of interest”; the State of New Jersey disagreed with him.

Ralph was a man of integrity, and tried to fight corruption in Trenton, fiercely opposing a state income tax. He served in many professional capacities throughout his life.

At Aunt Jean’s, there would be bocce and lots of space to run and play, and there was always some sort of food being served.

The property was also located adjacent to a NJ Transit train line. Every time the warning bell and distant air horns sounded, we kids would BOUND down there to see the train rumble by up close. Even in the dark, we dashed full-tilt.

Scenario: clang clang clang clang clang! “THE TRAIN! THE TRAIN!” We’d drop whatever we were doing and off we went. The adults regarded this small pleasure with mild amusement.

A&S Pizza

Our favorite pizza place was A&S Pizza, on Route 18 South, near Turnpike Theatres. The picture here is of the same building, owned beforehand by burger chain Carrols.

I don’t remember Carrols as it was already A&S by the time my memories began to take shape. The cooks at A&S would give us a small lump of dough to play with while we waited for our pizzas. The entire eat-in area was bright because of the wall-to-wall windows.

Carrolls Hamburgers: Predecessor to A&S Pizza
Carrols Hamburgers: predecessor to A&S Pizza

When Mona’s in-laws-to-be bought A&S in the early 1980s, they updated the building and the ordering counter was placed in the rear instead of along the side. They then changed the name of the business to Grande Pizzarama. (In the present day, the location is now home to a KFC franchise.)

It was exciting when we heard that Dad was going to bring home a pie from A&S after work. We would run up to the corner and strain to see when he turned from Route 18, then race home with appetites raging.

Chapter Seven: Disney Bound and “The Spirit of ’76”

Return to Chapters

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

error: