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Remembering back to tenth grade at Sarasota High School (the only high school in town) English Literature exposed us little people to memorization of such things as Shakespeare's "Dull not device by coldness and delay" or S.T. Coleridge's "Day after day, night after night we stuck nor breath nor motion, as idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean". Those are the only passages I can now recite.

But the following recitation I can still recite with my eyes closed and one hand tied behind my back:

"It was midnight on the ocean,

Not a horse cart was in sight,

I stepped into a drugstore,

Just to get myself a light.

Now the man behind the counter,

Was a woman old and gray,

Who used to peddle shoe strings,

On the road to Mandalay.

Good evening sir, the woman cried,

And her eyes were filled with tears,

As she put her head between her knees,

And kept it there for years.

Her children all were orphans,

Except one tiny tot,

Who lived in the house across the street,

Above a vacant lot."

Well, that's my spiel. Now I got brain sprain, but  

Life is/was good.

Usually, Diane and I write these blogs about our personal experiences. But recently my SHS Class of 1946 had our annual holiday luncheon/mini reunion and I learned that one of my childhood sweethearts, Joann Summers Lowe, grew up four blocks away from me but almost in a different world. She lived on the other side of the railroad tracks, literally since their property fronted the railroad tracks.

During World War II, young men were being drafted or they enlisted into the military services. This left many young girls and young ladies to keep the home fires burning;  Joann, at age 10-14 was one of them

The Ormond Summers family of 6 lived on about a 10-acre farm where now is North Washington Blvd. and 11th & 12th Street and the I-Hop Restaurant. North Washington Blvd. dead-ended there at the railroad tracks at this time (pre 1955) so this was out in the country.

Joann's early morning chores included milking the cows, bottling the milk and gathering the eggs. At age 13 she had a special driver's license that allowed her to deliver farm goods on her way to Central Elementary School and later Sarasota High School. When she was 10-12 years old she made the deliveries riding her bicycle to school.

School was an important part of her life; she taught at Phillippi Shores and Southside Elementary for over 30 years.  Life was/is good.

Image courtesy: www.bukisa.com

I was sad to read that Sarasota native Evelyn Craft, long-time proprietor of the 'diner-style' restaurant King Kone once located on the northeast corner of State St. and Lemon Ave., passed away on December 5^th, and with Dad scheduled to have hip surgery on the 21^st, I thought it would be a good opportunity to give my parents a respite from their blogging duties and acknowledge Evelyn.

My sister, Pam McLeod, and I grew up in downtown Sarasota. Our daily schedule consisted of going to school and then biking to and working for our parents at Sarasota Cycle and Key Shop. And like other children of small business owners on State Street (the Downs, Drapers, and the Housers come to mind), our lives were framed by the people in this very little, quaint and tight-knit community where everyone knew everyone, and most importantly looked out for one another. And Evelyn looked out for us.

Evelyn was a central figure in our lives on State Street. We ate at King Kone often and Evelyn always greeted me at the counter – leaning over, grabbing my hands, bringing them together and giving them several very firm ‘love pats’ and a huge smile. “Hello Kenny!” she’d say.  I felt welcomed by Evelyn.  She always engaged me in conversation about my life- “How’s school?” “Are you studying hard?” “Makin’ good grades?” Her cheese burgers were the best. And her milkshakes were amazing.  But as good as the food was there, it was Evelyn who made the experience. If she and King Kone were still around today, they’d certainly be featured on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.

At the age of 20, I was accepted to travel for a year in the international music group, Up With People. In an effort to help me raise money for my travels, Evelyn agreed to sell homemade oatmeal cookies that I baked daily. I didn’t recognize it at the time, but now, as an adult I can only imagine the small margin on which King Kone operated. And by selling my cookies and asking nothing in return, she was certainly undercutting her own dessert sales.  She did this proudly because she wanted to see me succeed. And she wanted to be part of it. And I did; and she was. And for that I thank her.

Life was/is good!

Last week we had a Christmas/Holiday lunch with members and spouses of the SHS class of 1946 (Pete's Class).  When we get together it's fun to talk about the Sarasota we grew up in.

Bill Franklin (of Franklin Lighting & Electric) told us that when he was a very young man, he went to work for the City.  He was told he could wok in any department he wanted for two weeks each so he could decide what interested him the most and after several weeks he decided on the electrical department.  Can you imagine the City doing that now?  Me neither.

He recalled he was called into work late one night because a traffic light bulb had burned out on Main Street so he managed to borrow a City garbage truck and a 6 foot ladder and parked in the middle of Main St. teetering on a ladder to change the bulb.  This was way before bucket trucks were even thought about.

Life was/is good.

Without a doubt, whoever reads these sagely words of omniscience can surely list as many things as I can to be thankful for; such as growing up in Gillespi Park. We kids really have good memories of that place; tennis, basketball, football, field hockey, kick-the-can, baseball, tree climbing & fishing (after the alligators went on tour). Fortunately the hooks were bigger than the fishes' mouths so all we really did was feed them bread crusts. The water was clear as rainwater (which it was) and one foot deep so we could watch the whole show. Watching the night time submarine races in Brumby Lake was also very popular.

Archery was also a popular sport. When I was 11 or 12 years old there would be six or so archers who set up hay filled targets for practice and/or competition. Safety regulations were strictly enforced and adhered to. After "quivers are empty" and "bows on the ground" I would run to the targets to help hunt for and retrieve errant arrows. The ones that had ricocheted off the side of the target could be 50 feet away or farther.

One of the archers was nice enough to give me his old 4 foot-long bow with arrows when he bought a new 6 foot lemonwood deluxe and arrows to match. I just barely had enough oomph to pull that string back. At first the other shooters would hide behind a tree when I was on the shooting line. He even paid for my one year membership in the club. And, I got my Archery Merit Badge in Boy Scouts.

So, I'm thankful to George Cameron Shute, Jr. for rewarding me for helping him. I haven't seen him in over 60 years, but I'm still grateful.  Life was/is good.