1950's-1970's Stratford Manor & Eastwood Village (Forestville, Forest: dangerous, club)

[NightBazaar]

Originally Posted by bethany blair

I do have 2 class photos from Eastwood. I was in 2nd grade in one (1958) and Barbara Allen was the teacher. The second photo is 3rd grade (1959)and Blanche Wheeldon was the teacher. I wrote all the children's names on the backs of the photos. I will set up my scanner and try to send them.

Do you have any of the b/w photos your father took?

[bethany blair]

I knew a little girl named Francie Lord! Her mother dressed her in little dresses with hoops underneath - she was very dainty and pretty with dark hair. I was about 3 years older than she was. A couple of kids named Zilla and Eddie Eastwood lived in her building (also Strathmore Dr.) - parents were from Europe. We lived in the cottage near the west fork of the gully - near the laundromat on Strathmore Dr. Other friends I had were Frankie Sharp (a girl), Pat Spahni (older sister, Martha), Sara Benware (younger sister, Linda), Connie Bowling (older sister, Barbara), Toni Patterson & Donald Branson. We were all the same age (born around 1950-51).
I love hearing from you all - this conversation has been going on for almost a year, hasn't it?

[bethany blair]

I do have the photos he took. I will locate those and try to get my scanner to work and then share them with you all.

[bethany blair]

We live up the street from the McQuery family. I remember little girls and a very little brother, Jimmy. They were all blonde and blue eyed - beautiful children. I have a photo of him helping my big brother wash his car. He just kind of wandered around during the day. My mother told me that one time little Jimmy came to our house very sick with chills and a fever. He was not dressed properly and it was cold out. She put him to bed and took care of him. She said she felt the children in that family were badly neglected (abused). Just a few years later, Jimmy was found dead in a wooded area.
I am wondering if we all saw each other during the years we lived in Stratford Manor. You never know!

[bethany blair]

We lived up the street...not live as in now!

[NightBazaar]

That's sad about Jimmy. Poor little guy. Was it one of the wooded areas near the Manor where he was found?

It's possible some of us may have known each other or crossed paths back then. Ada (one of the posters here) knew some of the same kids I knew, although I don't think she and I ever met back then. I was in Stratford Manor in 1956 at the same time you were there, although I was a few years older than you.

I'll bet the laundromat you skated in was the same one near where we lived. Big field behind the laundromat where kids would play baseball, and the wooded gulley with a drainage creek on the east side of the Manor, a favorite place to explore and look for frogs, pollywogs (tadpoles), and waterskippers.

I also remember seeing some kind of dark-colored hornets that lived in the ground and looked gigantic. I never heard of them being agressive or stinging anyone, but they sure looked big, and the kids would run for their lives when they'd come out. Sometimes, we'd see a rat or two near drainpipes by the creek.

[bethany blair]

I'm not sure where he was found. I think it happened after we moved in 1960. We moved to Forestville (near Mt. Washington - suburb of Cincy), but I don't remember hearing anything about it. I think about Jimmy every so often - he had a hard, sad life for such a little boy.

Your comments make me realize how we all probably had the last really great childhoods - it will never be like that again. My husband grew up in Daytona Beach and it was a small town in the 50's - he had the same experience. We were blessed!

I'll be signing off for the day - I feel as though I have made new friends.

[A.F.D.]

Hi bethany blair,welcome to the thread.We have been enjoying this for quite some time.Guess what?I knew the Lords.I babysat Frannie when her parents would go out,Thy would have me sleep over because it was usually late when they came in.Their names were Ralph & Evelyn .I have pictures of Frannie ,maybe I will find them soon.I knew some of the same kids as NightBazzar,maybe some that you knew also.I went to Eastwood Elem.however we moved to Tn. in `58.I have wonderful memories of the manor.Again,it is nice to have you join us.A.F.D.

[A.F.D.]

NightBazzar & Hyden so sorry about the confusion on the streets,my bad,I was calling Strathmore Dr. Stratford Dr. SORRY I told you guys that I`m tired now do you believe me ?LOL. A.F.D.

[Hyden]

Bethany, It's nice to have you here. Mrs.Welldon was my brothers favorite teacher. My brother's also knew the McQuerry family. They moved to Fairfax where the Frishes Mainliner is. My brother said they had something on the news about the kidnapping just a couple months back. I think it was like a 45 year cold case that was being looked into again. There was also another boy with him. We lived on Strathmore from 55-61. It was next to the alley that led to the shopping center and laundramat. It was the best place to live at one time. Hyden