Candy Store-Another Pic

Someone in the Patteson family has come up with another photo of the little store. This looks like it could be in an anthology of America in the 30s. Nora, Walker, and young Floyd are here in the spot where the little Icehouse stood in the previous pic. I would guess this to be older--perhaps about 1939--since Floyd was born in '29. The old trumpet vine is flourishing and the quality of this pic is good enough to read some of the ads. e.g. George Washington, a grand pipe tobacco, 10 cents; or Tops cigarette papers a nickle. We see also that Cabins were available and I remember them on the downhill slope behind. Tourist "cabins" were available in those days along the nations highways--Remember them? Note the bushel basket of melons in front. Can you find other things of interest?

Life Outside of the U.S.

In the almost 51 years since I graduated from C.V.H.S. and moved out into the "big" world I have had a busy life. I now live full-time in the western mountains of Panama. Below I will describe a few of my stops along the way, and then add a description of life outside of the U.S. after 66 years of living in my native country.

I attended two universities, Kansas State and Oklahoma State. I finally received a B.S. in Radio/TV (journalism) from O.S.U. After working the the TV/radio news business for a few years I opened a retail stereo shop and then went on to start an advertising business in Stillwater, OK.

After I sold the ad business I studied professional interpersonal communication techniques and taught seminars for 3 or 4 years for direct sales organizations. I then moved to the San Francisco bay area and ended up working for 10 years in the computer industry in "Silicon Valley". I never got rich like some of the techies, but it did help my retirement savings.

In 2001 I moved to Nashville, TN to be near my daughter, her husband and their triplets who were born in January that year. In 2007 I moved to Panama and never looked back, except for family... I'm coming to that.

During those years I was married, had one child, divorced and had the same girlfriend in California for 15 + years.

Now, about living outside of the U.S. Just like old age, it ain't for sissies! If you like a set routine and expect people to behave in certain ways that you are familiar with, then you should not even consider moving outside of the states. No other culture, anywhere in the world is the same as ours. People are different, business is different and government offices are different.

However, if you like adventure and having new experiences while learning and accepting cultural differences, then living abroad can have many advantages. One of the most important reasons to live in another country to many of us is that your money goes much farther! Another can be the challenge of meeting new friends. And in my case Panama is an excellent place to pursue my two main interests, photography and ham radio.

The variety of beautiful scenes, birds and people always gives me something to take pictures of in the western highlands. And ham radio is fantastic because of the physical location of the country near both the Pacific and Caribbean oceans.

Because of the lack of "age difference" perception in couples here, many Gringos have Panamanian girl/boyfriends or wives/husbands. For me, all I want/need is a few good friends; local, gringo and in the U.S. I have posted more of my thoughts about this area of Panama on my web site, www.paradisepanama.net.

E-mail is welcome: jay (at) jaymills (dot) org

The Candy Store Photo

I thought I would take the photo into Photoshop and see if I could bring out any details. Not much there, but you can see some of the store more clearly.

Walker and nora Patterson Store

Mary Patterson found this pic of the old "candy store" As you see, it is from the uphill side with the old High School in the middle distance. Look closely and you will see the two pumps that stood at the edge of the sidewalk and a more modern pump back against the store. I had forgotten about the little storage bldg/ice house on the uphill side til I saw this pic.
I wish we had a head on view, but this is all we could find. dfc

LET'S KEEP CV MEMORIES BLOG GOING

In the past,I would regularly check the CV blog to see what new things had been posted. Now I only check it occasionaly because not much is being posted. I assume that mnay of you past readers and contributors are doing the same. LET'S DONT'T LET THE CV BLOG FADE AWAY. To many it's the only remaining connection to past schoolmates, acquaintances and experiences to that great little town in Kansas. Because we can't think of any additional memories we feel would be of interest to others dosen't mean there aren't many other items that can't be posted. What we do know is about ourselves. I for one would be interested in learning about your life after graduating from CV High. What do you chose to do; where did you go to college; when did you get married; about your family; what jobs did you have; where have you lived; what interesting experiences you have had; what trips and places have you been; what achievments have you accomplished that you are proud of, etc. Each reader and past contributor has had interesting life experiences that others would enjoy learning about. It dosen't have to be in one posting, but could be spread out over several segments of your life. SO CV BLOGGERS LET'S KEEP THE CV CONNECTION GOING.