The first Christmas gift I remember was a rocking horse. I found it wrapped in a pink blanket under the tree. I was absolutely thrilled! I must have had other gifts from Santa that year when I was four, but my rocking horse is the one I remember best.
Through the years other gifts come to mind, especially with the help of Kodak. There are photos of my sister, Eileen and I with dolls and doll trunks full doll clothes, board games and paint by number art kits. As our family grew, the twins had matching tricycles, Randy and Phil opened trucks and match box cars. Even though there were six of us, we always had a stocking filled with a coloring book, crayons, walnuts and oranges.
The gifts I remember most were the gifts I gave to others through the years. I remember buying my Mother a glass apothecary jar for 25 cents. It was decorated with pink and gold swirls, which I had hope she would fill with the traditional holiday sugarplums. She being very practical filled it with cotton balls and kept it in the bathroom.
Growing up in a large family, Christmas gift snafus were bound to happen, My brother, Lenny opened Phil's gift by mistake and liked it so much he kept it, didn't matter that Phil was short a gift. My Mother was also known to hide the Sears Christmas Catalog that would come in the mail, as we would fight over it and by Thanksgiving, the catalog would be torn apart.
It must have been hard for my parents to come up with Christmas presents for all six kids. I can't even wrap my head around it. We always had enough, even the year when my Dad's factory went on strike and he wasn't working, my parents went to the Salvation Army to help with Christmas.
Since my husband and I never had children, we sponcer families through the Salvation Army give what we think they might like as a way of playing it forward. I hope I would be able to provide a child the same thrill I felt when I unwrapped my first Christmas present. That's my Christmas wish.
Monday, November 24, 2014
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
My Twin Brothers - American Heroes, by Thelma Matylewicz Shebby
My Twin Brothers - American Heroes
Every day we read in the newspaper about heroes, from the military and those on the home front, police officers, firefighters and emergency crews.
I want to tell you about my identical twin brothers, Bernard and Carl Matylewicz. They were born July 11, 1925 on our family farm not far from Lake Winola, Pennsylvania. In 1944 they were drafted into the United States Army and this is their story.
At the beginning of World War II, my oldest brother, Leonard, joined the Army/Air Force in 1942, and my sister Eleanor, became a Navy WAVE the following year, 1943. During basic training, Leonard suffered the loss of his hearing and was sent home with a medical discharge.
When Bernard and Carl received their draft notices in 1944, my parents, Adam and Helen Matylewicz, were told that only one of the twins had to report to basic training and the other could stay home to help with the farm.
Rather than choosing which twin would serve, as they both wished to go, my mother wrote to the draft board and requested that they both be allowed to go and that they keep the twins together if at all possible. Thus, they departed to Texas for basic training together, as the military promised they would honor my parents request.
While at basic training, Carl underwent an operation for a hernia. Bernard remained in Texas with him while he recuperated. The twins were granted a leave to return home before they were shipped overseas. My parents proudly accompanied them to visit our Grandfather, uncles, aunts, and cousins, who lived in Scott Township, in Lackawanna County. They arrived home in January wearing army issued clothing that did not include overcoats. I remember how cold they were at the time, as it was freezing cold here in the northeast.
All too soon, the boys departed for the West coast, where they joined their outfit to fight the Japanese on Okinawa. My parents listened to the radio and read the newspaper daily, knowing that their sons were engaged in fierce fighting.
I will never forget the summer day, my Mother was with my brother Leonard, delivering produce from the farm to the cottage residents at Lake Winola. My Father was working in the field, when a gentleman who was at the post office, was asked to deliver a wire to the farm and it was I who he gave it to. I was only fifteen that summer. The news was devastating. I handed the telegram to my Father, it read, “We regret to inform you that your son, Carl Matylewicz, died in action on June 21, 1945. My Father broke down and cried. I cried with him. Carl and Bernard would have turned twenty years old the next month, July 11th.
It was six months before my parents received a letter from Bernard, who was on Okinawa with Carl. Another soldier told Bernard that he and Carl were on night maneuvers when Carl was hit by a Japanese sniper and died right next to him. Bernard was so distraught he left camp and wandered about the island for quite some time. One can only imagine what his emotions were!
Bernard finally returned to the base, bearded and with a monkey he had caught. It was then he wrote home that he had shrapnel in several places, one near his left eye, which could not be removed. After serving time in Korea, he received a Purple Heart medal and was honorably discharged from the Army.
Carl was interred in Okinawa until after the war ended. Bernard was present when Carl’s casket arrived in Scranton by train, where the family, once more together, was there at the station to meet Carl‘s casket and the military honor guard escort. The casket was set down in the parlor of our farm house where he was raised, for the ensuring wake.
Bernard was quite stoic all this time, until Carl’s body was interred in the family plot, where members of Mother’s family lie. Bernard broke down as our brother was laid to rest, and sobbed as a soldier played Taps.
This is not an easy story to tell. I still cry remembering my brothers, my heroes.
Every day we read in the newspaper about heroes, from the military and those on the home front, police officers, firefighters and emergency crews.
I want to tell you about my identical twin brothers, Bernard and Carl Matylewicz. They were born July 11, 1925 on our family farm not far from Lake Winola, Pennsylvania. In 1944 they were drafted into the United States Army and this is their story.
At the beginning of World War II, my oldest brother, Leonard, joined the Army/Air Force in 1942, and my sister Eleanor, became a Navy WAVE the following year, 1943. During basic training, Leonard suffered the loss of his hearing and was sent home with a medical discharge.
When Bernard and Carl received their draft notices in 1944, my parents, Adam and Helen Matylewicz, were told that only one of the twins had to report to basic training and the other could stay home to help with the farm.
Rather than choosing which twin would serve, as they both wished to go, my mother wrote to the draft board and requested that they both be allowed to go and that they keep the twins together if at all possible. Thus, they departed to Texas for basic training together, as the military promised they would honor my parents request.
While at basic training, Carl underwent an operation for a hernia. Bernard remained in Texas with him while he recuperated. The twins were granted a leave to return home before they were shipped overseas. My parents proudly accompanied them to visit our Grandfather, uncles, aunts, and cousins, who lived in Scott Township, in Lackawanna County. They arrived home in January wearing army issued clothing that did not include overcoats. I remember how cold they were at the time, as it was freezing cold here in the northeast.
All too soon, the boys departed for the West coast, where they joined their outfit to fight the Japanese on Okinawa. My parents listened to the radio and read the newspaper daily, knowing that their sons were engaged in fierce fighting.
I will never forget the summer day, my Mother was with my brother Leonard, delivering produce from the farm to the cottage residents at Lake Winola. My Father was working in the field, when a gentleman who was at the post office, was asked to deliver a wire to the farm and it was I who he gave it to. I was only fifteen that summer. The news was devastating. I handed the telegram to my Father, it read, “We regret to inform you that your son, Carl Matylewicz, died in action on June 21, 1945. My Father broke down and cried. I cried with him. Carl and Bernard would have turned twenty years old the next month, July 11th.
It was six months before my parents received a letter from Bernard, who was on Okinawa with Carl. Another soldier told Bernard that he and Carl were on night maneuvers when Carl was hit by a Japanese sniper and died right next to him. Bernard was so distraught he left camp and wandered about the island for quite some time. One can only imagine what his emotions were!
Bernard finally returned to the base, bearded and with a monkey he had caught. It was then he wrote home that he had shrapnel in several places, one near his left eye, which could not be removed. After serving time in Korea, he received a Purple Heart medal and was honorably discharged from the Army.
Carl was interred in Okinawa until after the war ended. Bernard was present when Carl’s casket arrived in Scranton by train, where the family, once more together, was there at the station to meet Carl‘s casket and the military honor guard escort. The casket was set down in the parlor of our farm house where he was raised, for the ensuring wake.
Bernard was quite stoic all this time, until Carl’s body was interred in the family plot, where members of Mother’s family lie. Bernard broke down as our brother was laid to rest, and sobbed as a soldier played Taps.
This is not an easy story to tell. I still cry remembering my brothers, my heroes.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Free Kittens
This past summer, we noticed a stray cat helping herself to the cat food left on our porch for my mom's cat, Gus. The stray was a young black and white,skinny, but friendy female, who made herself at home. My brother, Phil, who lived up the road, had just had is dog of 14 years put down, decided to adopt the stray and named her Tina.
As soon as Phil moved Tina up to his place, he started to notice a slight change, Tina seemed to be getting fatter. Yes, Tina was "with kittens!" Too late to spay, Phil let nature take it's course and low and behold, Tina delivered six kittens. There were two black and white, two grey tiger, and two white with grey stripes, three males and three felmales. We went up to his place to see them and take pictures. How cute they were.
As they grew, they started to get restless in their box, soon they were eveverywhere, climbing up the couch, running through the house and quite wild.
I told Phil that they needed socialization, so he started dropping them off ant my moms house before he went to work in the morning. They had a ball outside on the porch. A lot more place to hide and a lot more adventures, as they could explore the yard, as well. To tell you the truth, they were quite entertaining to watch.
I printed several advertisements with the kittens' pictures and hung them up at work and at several public areas around the lake. My neice, Lauren visited over the weekend and the kittens kept her busy for two whole days. What an opportunity to see kittens at play. It might be the last time we experience that joy. It is hard to get rid of them once they're here, you just have to check out the newspaper, "free kittens."
As soon as Phil moved Tina up to his place, he started to notice a slight change, Tina seemed to be getting fatter. Yes, Tina was "with kittens!" Too late to spay, Phil let nature take it's course and low and behold, Tina delivered six kittens. There were two black and white, two grey tiger, and two white with grey stripes, three males and three felmales. We went up to his place to see them and take pictures. How cute they were.
As they grew, they started to get restless in their box, soon they were eveverywhere, climbing up the couch, running through the house and quite wild.
I told Phil that they needed socialization, so he started dropping them off ant my moms house before he went to work in the morning. They had a ball outside on the porch. A lot more place to hide and a lot more adventures, as they could explore the yard, as well. To tell you the truth, they were quite entertaining to watch.
I printed several advertisements with the kittens' pictures and hung them up at work and at several public areas around the lake. My neice, Lauren visited over the weekend and the kittens kept her busy for two whole days. What an opportunity to see kittens at play. It might be the last time we experience that joy. It is hard to get rid of them once they're here, you just have to check out the newspaper, "free kittens."
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
A Letter From Norman
Have you ever written a fan letter? I did back in 1973 when I was know as Janet Nagley, I had just finished reading an autobiography by Norman Rockwell. I was so impressed with his life story, that I was inspired to write him. I really wanted to visit him. I guess after reading his book, I felt like I knew him. What can I say, I was young.
So I wrote him a nice letter and mailed it to Norman Rockwell, Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Guss what? He wrote me back! Do you want to know what he wrote?
Jan. 9, 1073
Dear Mrs. Nagley:
Thank you kind letter and the nice things you said about my work.
Because my schedule is so crowded, I have had to make a rulenot to have visitors at my studio. I know this sounds inhospitable, and I am really sorry, but I just have to stay at my easel without interruption.
Should you decide to come to Stockbridge, and wish to go there, there is a permanent exhibit of my orginals at the Old Corner House here.
I do appreciateyour interest in writing.
Sincerely yours,
(and he signed it) Norman Rockwell
I have kept this letter these many years and over the years I have felt differently about it. At first, I was trilled, then I thought I was a little silly for writing such a letter in the first place. Now I think it was very cool of him to write back at all, kind of sweet.
Well, that's my story, I hope you liked it and maybe you will write a fan letter of your own. Cheers, Janet
So I wrote him a nice letter and mailed it to Norman Rockwell, Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Guss what? He wrote me back! Do you want to know what he wrote?
Jan. 9, 1073
Dear Mrs. Nagley:
Thank you kind letter and the nice things you said about my work.
Because my schedule is so crowded, I have had to make a rulenot to have visitors at my studio. I know this sounds inhospitable, and I am really sorry, but I just have to stay at my easel without interruption.
Should you decide to come to Stockbridge, and wish to go there, there is a permanent exhibit of my orginals at the Old Corner House here.
I do appreciateyour interest in writing.
Sincerely yours,
(and he signed it) Norman Rockwell
I have kept this letter these many years and over the years I have felt differently about it. At first, I was trilled, then I thought I was a little silly for writing such a letter in the first place. Now I think it was very cool of him to write back at all, kind of sweet.
Well, that's my story, I hope you liked it and maybe you will write a fan letter of your own. Cheers, Janet
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
1986 Plainfield Farmers' Fair by Janet DiGiacomo
Living in a small town in northeast Pennsylvania in 1986, did not offer one the opportunity to find the perfect job. Since I had lost my position with Easter Seals of New Jersey, I found myself working a part-time job and time on my hands. It was then I decided to enter some flower arrangements in the 58th annual Plainfield Farmers' Fair.
Plainfield is located between Stockertown and Bangor, Pennsylvania, along Route 191. The fair is a small country fair with the main attraction being the demolition derby and tractor pull. Local farmers and young members of the 4-H Club show their cows, calves, sheep and goats. There is a nightly chicken bar b-q and 25 cednt bingo. The public is invited to enter the different competions such as, floral design, baking, canning, needlecraft, photography, horiticulture, sewing, and arts and crafts, just to name a few.
Since I have had success in the past with entering floral arrangements in the Blue Valley Garden Club Flower Show, I thought I would try to make some extra money by participating in the fair. Two weeks before the fair began, I waited in line with about twenty others, to purchase my entry number, exhibt tags, entry form and fair book. The fair book contained various advertisements, a brief history of the fair, rules and regulations and a listing of all exhibits one might enter. Not bad for two bucks.
Under the floral exhibits department, Section 5 Artistic Arrangements, I found five catagories: Island Paradise, Country Living, Over the Rainbow, See You In September, and Here Comes the Bride. First place paid $12.00, second paid $10, third,$8, fourth,$6, and fifth prize paid $4, plus ribbons. All I had to do was to come up with five arrangement ideas that fit each category.
Some ideas came easy, but it really depends on the containers and props you have on hand. One does not want to spend a lot of money on the making of the arrangements if you want to make money. It can become costly if you have to purchase flowers from a florist, I tried to use what I had growing in my garden. For the Island Paradise class, I used a large white seashell as my containerand filled it with a couple of daisy chrysanthemums, astromeria and seeded eucalyptus, which I thought resembled coral. For the County Living class, I filled an old aqua blue canning jar with a simple bouquet of carnations, daisies and blue thistle. I place it, along with a small canning jar filled with dried red beans, on a slab of black slatef.
For the "See You in September," arrangement I used a black and white composition notebook as a base and taped a yellow #2 lead pencil, a small box of crayons and an apple to it. I then put a line of daisies, red carnations and some purple status in an empty tuna can inside a brown paper lunch bag with the top rolled down.
I used a basket filled with colorful flowers and blue ginghan bow to represent the dress Dorothy wore in the "Wizard of Oz" for the "Over the Rainbow" class. I knew the reference to Dorthy was a stretch, but I couldn't think of anything else. For the final floral entry, "Here Comes the Bride," I made a simple white arrangement using a wedding cake top with two white doves.
Besides the floral arrangements, I decided to enter a vegetable quick bread and an angel food cake special state wide contest. Since I had fresh pumpkin in the freezer, I decided to use that as my main ingredient in my vegetable bread. I used a standard angel food cake recipe that called for 13 egg whites. My only concern was how to decorate it, since 10 points were awarded for appearance which included the icing and decorations.
After dropping off my floral arrangements at the fair grounds, I went home and started baking. I found several recipes for pumpkin bread, so I just picked one and added buttermilk, cloves and brown sugar. After baking the angel food cake, I placed the cake pan upside-down on an empty wine bottle and let it dry over night. The next day I prepared an orange flavored glaze for the cake and decorated it with red, white and blue sprinkles. After dropping both cake and bread entries off at the fair grounds, I went home to clean up from my baking and hoped for the best.
After all that was said and done, it was just a matter of time to see if all of my hard work had paid off. Originally, I had entered the fair to win money, but now I was not so sure if I would win anything. There were a lot of entries besides mine. Then I realized that I had accomplished something more. To think that people had been attending and participating in the Plainfield Farmers'Fair for the past fifty eight years was amazing! Now I was one of them. I also thought about the good people who put the fair on each year, they volunteered their time and effort, these dedicated people of Plainfield Township.
That evening, after the judging had taken place, I found out I had plced 5th for the "Island Paradise" entry, 3rd for "Over the Rainbow," 2nd for "See You in September," and 1st in "Here Comes the Bride." Another big surprised came when I found out I had placed 2nd in with my Angel Food Cake, which paid $40.00 in prize money and 1st place with my pumkin bread, which paid $50.00! All together I won $134.00 at the fair, but the biggest pay off was beigh part of an age old American tradition, the farmers'fair.
Plainfield is located between Stockertown and Bangor, Pennsylvania, along Route 191. The fair is a small country fair with the main attraction being the demolition derby and tractor pull. Local farmers and young members of the 4-H Club show their cows, calves, sheep and goats. There is a nightly chicken bar b-q and 25 cednt bingo. The public is invited to enter the different competions such as, floral design, baking, canning, needlecraft, photography, horiticulture, sewing, and arts and crafts, just to name a few.
Since I have had success in the past with entering floral arrangements in the Blue Valley Garden Club Flower Show, I thought I would try to make some extra money by participating in the fair. Two weeks before the fair began, I waited in line with about twenty others, to purchase my entry number, exhibt tags, entry form and fair book. The fair book contained various advertisements, a brief history of the fair, rules and regulations and a listing of all exhibits one might enter. Not bad for two bucks.
Under the floral exhibits department, Section 5 Artistic Arrangements, I found five catagories: Island Paradise, Country Living, Over the Rainbow, See You In September, and Here Comes the Bride. First place paid $12.00, second paid $10, third,$8, fourth,$6, and fifth prize paid $4, plus ribbons. All I had to do was to come up with five arrangement ideas that fit each category.
Some ideas came easy, but it really depends on the containers and props you have on hand. One does not want to spend a lot of money on the making of the arrangements if you want to make money. It can become costly if you have to purchase flowers from a florist, I tried to use what I had growing in my garden. For the Island Paradise class, I used a large white seashell as my containerand filled it with a couple of daisy chrysanthemums, astromeria and seeded eucalyptus, which I thought resembled coral. For the County Living class, I filled an old aqua blue canning jar with a simple bouquet of carnations, daisies and blue thistle. I place it, along with a small canning jar filled with dried red beans, on a slab of black slatef.
For the "See You in September," arrangement I used a black and white composition notebook as a base and taped a yellow #2 lead pencil, a small box of crayons and an apple to it. I then put a line of daisies, red carnations and some purple status in an empty tuna can inside a brown paper lunch bag with the top rolled down.
I used a basket filled with colorful flowers and blue ginghan bow to represent the dress Dorothy wore in the "Wizard of Oz" for the "Over the Rainbow" class. I knew the reference to Dorthy was a stretch, but I couldn't think of anything else. For the final floral entry, "Here Comes the Bride," I made a simple white arrangement using a wedding cake top with two white doves.
Besides the floral arrangements, I decided to enter a vegetable quick bread and an angel food cake special state wide contest. Since I had fresh pumpkin in the freezer, I decided to use that as my main ingredient in my vegetable bread. I used a standard angel food cake recipe that called for 13 egg whites. My only concern was how to decorate it, since 10 points were awarded for appearance which included the icing and decorations.
After dropping off my floral arrangements at the fair grounds, I went home and started baking. I found several recipes for pumpkin bread, so I just picked one and added buttermilk, cloves and brown sugar. After baking the angel food cake, I placed the cake pan upside-down on an empty wine bottle and let it dry over night. The next day I prepared an orange flavored glaze for the cake and decorated it with red, white and blue sprinkles. After dropping both cake and bread entries off at the fair grounds, I went home to clean up from my baking and hoped for the best.
After all that was said and done, it was just a matter of time to see if all of my hard work had paid off. Originally, I had entered the fair to win money, but now I was not so sure if I would win anything. There were a lot of entries besides mine. Then I realized that I had accomplished something more. To think that people had been attending and participating in the Plainfield Farmers'Fair for the past fifty eight years was amazing! Now I was one of them. I also thought about the good people who put the fair on each year, they volunteered their time and effort, these dedicated people of Plainfield Township.
That evening, after the judging had taken place, I found out I had plced 5th for the "Island Paradise" entry, 3rd for "Over the Rainbow," 2nd for "See You in September," and 1st in "Here Comes the Bride." Another big surprised came when I found out I had placed 2nd in with my Angel Food Cake, which paid $40.00 in prize money and 1st place with my pumkin bread, which paid $50.00! All together I won $134.00 at the fair, but the biggest pay off was beigh part of an age old American tradition, the farmers'fair.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
The Perfect Day by Janet DiGiacomo
When I was ten years old, I practically lived at the farm. Summers were especially busy. Since my Uncle gave up milking, he used his land to plant tomatos, corn and hay. My Aunt decided to plant the lot next to their large white farmhouse with strawberries. Every spring the plants would spring up from their winter's nap and large white blossoms would bloom out from under the large green leaves. The reason my Aunt planted strawberries was to keep her kids busy picking berries once school let out. After we spent the morning picking strawberries, my Aunt would load the back of her station wagon with boxes filled with overflowing quarts of the jucy berries. Then she would drive over to Lake Winola to peddle the fresh picked berries to the "Lakers." Of course, Betsy, Jane and I would ride along and everytime she stopped, we would take at least two quarts each to each of the cottages, knock on the door and offer the berries for sale. We would earn a nickle for each quart we sold.
One hot June day, after peddling, my Aunt encouraged us to go outside and play, while she baked my cousin's Francis and Dinah's birthday cake. It wasn't their birthday, but they were both born in June, so she just picked a day to celebrate when she had the time. It was this day that my cousin, Betsy decided to lead us all into the woods on a hike. As it happened, my sister Eileen, who was the same age as Dinah, and I were visiting for the day and we were thrilled to be included. There were eight of us in all, the three boys,
Vincent, Tonto, and Duane, and us girls, Betsy, Jane, Dinah, Eileen and I. We started past the strawberry field and then past dog kennel, up into the forrest, single file, we followed Betsy, our leader of 13 years old.
The noonday sun filtered through the treetops like golden drops of rain, making our hike almost magical. One of the boys spied a tiny orange tree frog. We all took turns looking at it before our shadows frightened under a fallen moss covered log. We found a fairy ring of mushrooms, which we all agreed must be poisous. We found two large maple trees with wild grape vines winding around their large branches. One of the vines had broken off and was hanging down between the trees daring us to take a swing on it, which we did. Each one of us had a turn on the vine, and in our minds, we were just like Tarzan of the Apes swinging across the jungle!
As we walked along, the path suddenly widened to reveal the sun shinning on a small pond. There were large boulders long the shore, which we all climbed up upon. I could almost swear there was a dried up cow's skull, but I'm not sure anymore. The boys all skipped stones across the glass like surface of the pond until Betsy declared it was time we got back to the house. We didn't waste any time getting back, because we all knew we had birthdays to celebrate. Once we got back, what a surprise! My Aunt Evelyn had prepared a large pan of short cake and a punch bowl full of strawberry sauce and fresh whipped cream!
We had strawberry shortcake, as much as we could eat. The perfect end to a perfect day.
Randy's Road Trip
A true story by Randy Shebby
I answered an ad on Craig’s list from someone who advertised an old working kegerator for sale. My neighbor Shaun went along with me to help load this into the Chevy Blazer. The location was an out of the way place in a town I never heard before located somewhere between Allentown and Bethlehem.
The directions the GPS was giving lead us deep into the back section where the area became noticeably poor and gray as the homes didn’t receive the upkeep and the cars were pieced together with different color parts. We passed an old banana bike from the 1970’s that was completely painted orange – tires, handlebars, seat, everything was orange. We drove past and then had to turn around as the GPS wasn’t giving accurate directions to the address. We decided it must be this house at the top of the dirt road.
As we turned into the dirt road driveway there sat a Ford Pinto dragster – or the remains of one; as the body had been extended and the big slicks protruded from the back wheel wells. I hadn’t seen a Ford Pinto hatch back in almost 30 years and had never seen one turned into a dragster. But there it was covered with a few pine needles from the nearby tree.
We drove up to the top of the driveway and parked near another vehicle. As we got out of the car a man called to us from the other direction. It was a black man dressed in white, it looked like he was wearing an outfit one would see wearing if he worked in an ice cream parlor. He had a white delivery van. We walked over and he said you boys look like two good size men - would you be willing to give me a hand. We both agreed and he took us to where this phone booth was laying on the ground with a pipe and a concrete bottom from where it had been buried in the ground. He asked if we could pick it up and place it in his van. We both grabbed the post and together we tried to lift and it wouldn’t budge. We apologized but told the man that he would probably need a front end loader to move the phone booth. He said well thanks anyways and we proceeded to the house to see if it was the one advertising the kegerator.
The house where we stopped was surrounded by dozens of plastic bins full of beer cans and bottles stacked so it looked like a wall. A dog was barking, a baby was crying and a woman yelled for her husband. This disheveled young man came out looking rough from the wear and tear and asked if we were here for the kegerator – we said yes and he took us around back to the Bilco doors that lead to the basement. As we walked in there was dirty laundry everywhere and a beat up couch with a small table and tv and a bunch more empty beer bottles. There sat the old kegerator. He plugged it in and showed us that it worked and I asked why he decided to sell it and he said it was his grand fathers and he hadn’t used it in a while and he said he quit drinking. We both looked at each other and thought when – last night? I said well it looks ok – should I write a check? And he said I only take cash – I‘ve been scammed before. I said ok – where’s the nearest ATM? Two miles down the road. I said ok we’ll be back.
Now this all took less than 5 minutes. As we walked toward the car we noticed the black man dressed in white with the white van was gone and so was the telephone booth. We both looked at each other as this was impossible – we were within earshot of the cars and heard nothing like a front end loader or other people nor did we hear the van leave. It was like it had just disappeared into thin air. We were perplexed, baffled.
We got into the car and drove to the ATM and got money. The first ATM was out of order and the second we found was inside a supermarket. We got the money and drove back past the orange bicycle and Ford Pinto dragster. We noticed there was a real nice car parked there that hadn’t been there before. The guy came out of the house and we said were back for the kegerator and we gave him the money. I said that’s a nice looking car and he said yeah I just bought it. Again we both thought this is the strangest place – let’s get the kegerator and go. So we dragged it out of the basement and stuffed it into the back of the Blazer and left – leaving the ice cream guy, the orange bicycle and the Pinto dragster behind.
The person’s grandfather had indeed bought the kegerator back in 1972. It had the paperwork and a user’s guide. This kegerator is different in that the compressor is located on the top – not like one I have ever seen before called the Flagron. Though my neighbor has since left the area the kegerator is still remains in use.
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