1950's-1970's Stratford Manor & Eastwood Village (Cincinnati, Springfield: single, where to)

[NightBazaar]

Originally Posted by StanDoff

You are correct. When we moved to Kingsley, a Leon Kesterman lived across the street. Sound familiar ?

No, not familiar at all. Our building was the 2nd over from Shelborne. I didn't know anyone in the first building which faced Kingsley, but was on the corner of Shelborne. In our building, the only kids I knew was Larry Wise, his younger sister Terry, and their mother. The kids grandmother would come by once in a while driving a fancy Cadillac with long sweeping taillight fins. They were really nice. They lived in the apt above us. My parents probably knew the people in the other 2 apts. As far as I know, I don't remember any kids in the other two apts. On the north side of the building, there was a cluster of about 3 other buildings. I wonder if Leon might have lived in one of those? We lived in the same apt from the summer of 1955 (I think) until the spring of 1959.

Yeah, your brother had a bugle, not a trumpet. Did your brother have a nickname? Was his hair somewhat of an orange/red color?

[StanDoff]

My brother is a red head. He has had several nicknames. Not sure what it was then. His name is Gary.

[NightBazaar]

Originally Posted by StanDoff

My brother is a red head. He has had several nicknames. Not sure what it was then. His name is Gary.

Yeah, that's him. I think one of the nicknames he went by was "Red". I don't recall that I ever knew his name though. It's been too long ago to remember some things. A very nice kid. I hope he's doing well. Is he older or younger than you?

[StanDoff]

He is older and retied to TN.

[NightBazaar]

Originally Posted by StanDoff

He is older and retied to TN.

I hope he's enjoying his retirement. I'm still astonished to see the School Patrol photo and some of the people I knew back then. That was a long time ago. Thank you for sharing it. I've often wondered how friends from the Manor are doing now.

I don't know if your brother has ever mentioned this, but I'll share a recollection of mine. The school held some kind of PTA event one time in the evening. It was held where you can see the curtained stage. As a conclusion, the kids from school demonstrated various kinds of tumbling on mats. As a grand finale, the curtains would be closed, and then opened again to see 6 boys, 3 on each side in sort of a dual tower stunt. Each of the two groups included bigger and stronger boys each holding a boy on their shoulders, and those also hold a third set of boys on their shoulder. It was 3 kids high. I was one of those at the top. In effect, this was like a circus act dreamed up by the gym teacher.

The kids at the top held a banner of the school that was between the two groups. Your brother was at the bottom of the stack I was on. Another kid named Rodney (I think that was his name) was on the bottom of the other stack. We had practiced this stunt a few times, but the night before the event, I started feeling really nervous about doing it. To me, it seemed like I was up high enough that if something went wrong, it was going to be an unpleasant drop. It was possible that either of the kids on the bottom could buckle over from the weight of the kids above. I was having second thoughts about it, and didn't want to do it, but my parents said there'd be nothing to worry about. That didn't really give me a sense of comfort. In truth, there were the padded mats under us, by I was still feeling freaked out about it. In the end, when the stage curtains opened, we pulled it off and and it all went well to a thunderous applause from the parents and teachers.

Your brother's strength was really impressive. He solidly held us up. The kid on the other side, Rodney, didn't look like he'd have the strength to do it, but he pulled it off successfully as well. When the curtains finally closed for the last time, we got down and it was over. I was relieved it was over. Your brother was really strong as a kid. I've never forgotten about him, and I've never forgotten about that stunt. He's one really great guy and someone who I'm glad to say I have known.

[StanDoff]

Thank you for the story. I had never heard that one. I'll talk to my brother this weekend and see if he remembers it.

[StanDoff]

Just talked to Gary, he was a little fuzzy on the pyramid. he remembers doing it in gym but not on the stage. he remembers a guy named Bruce S. that lived on the corner of Kingsley. Is that you ? Said he got a knife off him but mother made him give it back.

[NightBazaar]

Originally Posted by StanDoff

Just talked to Gary, he was a little fuzzy on the pyramid. he remembers doing it in gym but not on the stage. he remembers a guy named Bruce S. that lived on the corner of Kingsley. Is that you ? Said he got a knife off him but mother made him give it back.

Yes, that's me. Great memory! We did indeed do the pyramid thing in the gym a couple of times as practice. But the purpose was to perform it at the PTA night event. In the photo of the School Patrol kids, you can see a stage with large curtains and seats in front of the stage. That's where the "big event" took place.

We lived on Kingsley, but our apartment building was the 2nd one east of the corner from Shelborne. Here's a link to a couple of photos I posted earlier in this thread. The building in the first one is the one on the corner. That's the one on the corner of Kingsley and Shelborne. Ours would be next to us, but it's not in view in the photo. In the 2nd photo, you can see the apartments across the street. You can just see a bit of the bungalo to the right of the photo. And further right (not seen) would be the alley/parking lot and an empty lot (a sunken drainage area). The building in the far left of the 2nd photo was also on the corner of Kingsley and Shelborne. Those photos were taken shortly after we moved to Stratford Manor. I have a hard time remembering specific dates back then, but it looks like I said 1954. The tag on the licence plate on the Desoto is 54 and my dad bought it new.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/4060409-post17.html

I don't remember anything about a knife, although it might be possible. I did have a very tiny knife with a beaded sheath (and a feather) that we bought at a souvenir trading post (tourist trap) somewhere in Wyoming during our travels across the US. The blade couldn't have been more than an inch long and not sharp enough to cut butter. It's possible your brother might have gotten a knife from someone else because there were a few other kids around who had small pocket knives like Swiss Army or Boy Scout knives.

Living at the Manor was one of the best experiences of my life. There were so many great people there. It was a sad, difficult day to have to move and leave it all behind with nothing but the memory of it. We had no time to even say goodbye or get addresses of our friends just to stay in touch.

[StanDoff]

In the second photo you can see our apartment. We lived in the lower left corner of that building. We used to swim in the drainage hole when it rained. There was a telephone pole next to the alley that went between the bungalo in the picture and the drainage hole. I remember we had a massive wrestling match there one time. I went to dive at a guy, he moved, I hit the pole and broke my arm. What a wonder place to live !

[NightBazaar]

Originally Posted by StanDoff

In the second photo you can see our apartment. We lived in the lower left corner of that building. We used to swim in the drainage hole when it rained. There was a telephone pole next to the alley that went between the bungalo in the picture and the drainage hole. I remember we had a massive wrestling match there one time. I went to dive at a guy, he moved, I hit the pole and broke my arm. What a wonder place to live !

Ouch! A broken arm isn't fun. That hurts just thinking about it. Yeah, we used to swim in that drainage area as well. My mom was petrified about it. She thought one of us kids would get caught by the drain and drown. When it was dry, people would play catch with softballs over there. I assume you were also familiar with the wooded gully behind the laundromat? There were some trees, but it was mostly tall weedy plants. There were one or two small streams that flowed through gully. Sometimes we'd look for tadpoles and crawdads, look at tiny minnows and water striders. We'd also ride bikes on the meandering trails.

I had a lot of friends in the Manor, mostly near our place, but I also had some great friends at the Children's Home across from the school. A couple of the kids from the Children's Home are in the photo of the School Patrol.

In the School Patrol photo, about 3 of us didn't have belts and badges to wear. At the time, there weren't any extras available, but we did eventually get our own.