Home Sweet Home, West Virginia

 

Sam has been asking to go to WV to see all the things.  So he and Bryce had a one-day field trip that turned into two days.  Go figure!  And of course, John Denver led the way.

And they are off.

You know that you are home when you cross the green bridge and see the sign.  It is our tradition to honk like crazies and yell at the top of our lungs!

Our first house.  Bought when I was close to the delivery date with Cassie and Emmy.  It was just a two-bed, one-bath, a very small kitchen, and an even smaller bathroom.  With the help of many skilled hands, we added a family room a few years later.  It was in a great place.  We could walk to church and elementary school, and my parents lived over the hill, 5 minutes away.  Great place to play with all the neighborhood kids. Birthday parties in the front yard, college-aged 'kids' coming to spend time, a garden with green beans, and the beginning of my childcare years with Jimmy and Michael Paul. Lots of great memories.

Our second house was just up the big hill.  We had the most amazing real estate agent...Marion Davis.  A friend from church.  She let us set up a Christmas tree in the front window before we even signed the dotted line.  We had to promise to keep the blinds closed! I love the red roof.  Everyone thought I was crazy, but Sam McClure knew it would be just perfect.  Another great place for kids to congregate. Lots of birthdays in the finished basement...one of the best was the girls' and their karaoke party. There was a cool treehouse in the backyard where the Inner Circle met.  And further down the hill, way, way back, there was a junkyard where Bryce and his buddies spent hours finding amazing treasures...which included a set of longhorns.

Meem and Peeps' house.  The little house, and that's what we called it, was the house I came home from the hospital. My mom and dad built them both.  My Popaw was a contractor, so at the end of the day he would come over with his crowbar and pull out what he didn't think they had done right.  Best neighborhood ever.  All the kids walked to school together.  Everyone played kick the can, flashlight tag, caught lightning bugs, trick-or-treated together, and always made sure that we went to the Pasko's because they gave out full-sized candy bars!  So many stories!

Beverly Hills Baptist Church.  Where I was baptized as an adult and where our three oldest kids were also baptized. VBS, Day Camp, Class outings, Camp Ona, big birthday parties, Children's Christmas Plays, and hands down some of the most wonderful people on the planet.  Most have passed, but we will never forget their faces, their voices, their hugs, their laughter, and their love for us. 

The famous League 6!  When I first looked at this shot, I literally saw Bryce standing there.  My dad helped coach the team.  He loved it.  I can't remember much, but I remember him being so proud of Bryce and the McCanns, Brian and Brad, who played in the MLB.

(not Bryce, the McCanns)

The steps to St John's Preschool.  My first teaching job was here when the girls were four years old.  Betty Sue Kinzer was the best boss and Cassie's four-year-old teacher.  I taught with Linda Cummings, who was Emmy's and then, a few years later, Bryce's 4-year-old teacher; Patty Tabor, who was the Music master at Beverly Hills; Marsha Lewis; and the most fun assistant that could ever be...Ms. Connie.  It was the best job!  We had lots of laughs and good times for sure.

All of the class pictures were taken right where Sam is standing. 

 My very first class of three-year-olds. All girls!!!   I started teaching at St. John's in 1983, if I remember right. Ms. Connie had to help me with this one.  Ms. Connie and I were double trouble with a capital FUN!  Janie was my assistant that year, too.

Some say that the Frost Top has the best hot dogs in town.  It all depends on which part of town you were raised in.  I'm a Stewart's girl until the cows come home.

They still employ car-hops that bring your food out on trays and attach them to your window. And when you are ready to leave, you just honk, and they come and pick up your tray.

Root beer is served in a big frosty mug.  Nothing tastes better on a hot day.

Not too far from Frost Top is Ritter Park.  It is a beautiful park with a large walking trail that circles it.   Huntington High School majorettes practiced there.  Someone is always throwing frisbees.  Lots of people are walking dogs. Just about every time you drive by, you will see someone that you know.  There is a beautiful rose garden, tennis and pickleball courts, and a great playground.  The creek is great for creeking. One of my favorite memories is going sledding down the huge hill.

Huntington High School, Mark's alma mater.  His mom and my mom graduated from HHS.  My mom was the first head majorette in the school's history.

Looks like they made it to the Marshall Bookstore.

Sam and Marco

The fountain.  A memorial to the individuals from the community, the flight crew, and the 75 Marshall football players who were killed on a rainy night in November when they tried to land at the Huntington airport.  Each year, a memorial service is held here, and the fountain is turned off until the spring of the next year.  Mark and I both knew families or had friends who were lost that night.  I was still in high school, but Mark was at the Sig Ep fraternity house answering the phone when frantic family members and friends called asking for information.

If they had these hammocks back in the day, I would have never made it to class!

And Adirondack chairs...no way...they would be screaming my name.

The Marshall Library

Safety Town was always a field trip in the third grade.  The look sure has changed.  You learned how to follow road signs and drive battery-operated cars.  It was a really big deal.

The sign of the happy clown.  WV version of Kings Island.  The entire 'park' could fit in our Kroger parking lot.  Back in the day, it was the place to go, and it was so much fun.  The Spook House was scary.  The Big Dipper was about ready to fall in even then.  The pronto pups were delicious!  So many fun times.  And because Mark's dad worked for the owner, we had a box of free tickets!  Needless to say, Sam was not impressed.

Doesn't it look so scary!?!

In line for the Big Dipper!

I think I have only ridden it twice in my life.  And each time I thought I WAS GOING TO DIE.  Constructed of wood that looks like it came over on the Mayflower.

I loved these little things.  I can't remember what they are called, but I worked those little cars around the tracks more times than I can remember.  If you got them going really fast, you could tip yourself off in the corners.

Nick, the barber.  I think Nick cut three generations of Ellis men.  Nicest man.  Always a kind word and a sucker at the end of their haircuts.

Mark's elementary school.  Oh, the stories I have heard about ALL the happenings here, from games to climbing the fence to play ball.  The list of friends goes on forever.  Mark could walk 1/2 to school...both ways, in the snow, with no coat on...

Seventh Avenue Baptist Church.  This is where I started going to church with Mark.  The kids went here as babies.  VBS,  Sunday School class parties.  We made lots of lifelong friends here.  I remember Leo Oxley preaching.  The organist was Leota Faye Agee.  She wore white gloves.  Mark's mom sang in the trio on the radio.

336 11th Ave...Mark's mom and dad's house. Those steps were the gas station.  The best gas station attendant was Mark's mom.  She filled lots of the CHiPs motorcycles.  The girls would ride up and down the sidewalk.  I loved the porch.  The woodwork in the house was amazing.  Mark's brother had a balcony off his bedroom.  We had steaks every Saturday night with garden salad with Wishbone Italian dressing.  Mark's dad put in a huge pool in the backyard and turned the garage into the pool house.  We all think he did it because he didn't want to cut all that grass.  The kids learned to swim there.  They were jumping off the diving board and swim to the ladder before they could walk.  We had Sunday School class parties, birthday parties, parties after work...  Aunt Toot Toot pulled the kids in their float all over the place.  She put lots of miles in.

Dinner with Uncle Terry, Mark's brother, at Jim's.

  Usually we get spaghetti, but it does say Jim's Steak and Spaghetti.

Some nights we would splurge and get take-out.  Spaghetti sauce in a quart container and noodles in another, with a dollop of sauce on it.  We would empty it all in Mamaw's but yellow Tupperware 'potato salad bowl ' and mix it all together.  Served with one slice of white and one slice of rye bread topped with real butter, one of Mamaw's salads and dessert was one piece of the best chocolate pie on the planet.

They had HHS yearbooks. Sam got to look up all the pics of Uncle Terry and Mark.  Mark was the QB, #12.

The famous Kennedy Booth.

Look who Terry found in the yearbook!

Can't go to Huntington without a trip around the Marshall Campus.  There might be a video of the boys doing the WE ARE...MARSHALL cheer! 

New Baseball Stadium

My mom's favorite treat and Baskin-Robbins!

Tradition is...when you come home to visit, you ALWAYS stop for a double dip of peanut butter chocolate on the way out of town!  Best ice cream EVER.

Special Metals was INCO when we were growing up.  My dad was the Superintendent of the Primary Mill.  He spent lots of hours there.  I remember driving by the main gate when they were on strike, and he would be standing on the little porch to wave at us.  He will always be there...if you get my drift, Robin will for sure.  Some of you have heard the story, so I won't take up space here.  Let's just say he was flying in the wind.

Bryce decided to stay a little longer, and he got to have breakfast with Aung RaRe, Uncle Kenny, Molly, and Dustin.  Where else would you go for breakfast but Bob's?  I'm going to disown them all... no pic was taken.

The ride home might have been a little quiet.

Thanks, Bryce, for taking Sam, and thanks for letting me go down memory lane!