CV "Main Street"-page 5

By Wayne Woodruff

Between the Lester Smith Grocery Store on the corner by the highway, and the Ames Garage there were several little businesses that came and went and changed over the years between 1941 and 1957 when I left town. As Dick Williams recalled, Karl Fettig had a shoe repair shop in that area(this is on the east side of the street) and it was another place I enjoyed because of the smells of the leather with which he worked. He and his wife were members of the Baptist Church until there was some sort of disagreement between Mrs. Fettig and Mrs. Swain House, and the Fettigs and many others left the Baptist Church.

There was a pool hall there also. Again, my parents did not think that was a good place for me to be, so I don't remember much about it, but I am sure someone will recall some incidents that occurred there, and perhaps will remember who owned the joint. It seemed to survive quite a long time.

I know there must have been other little businesses in that vicinity but none stand out in my memory. They seemed to come and go and left little impact on my mind. Help!!

The next large building was Ames Garage, and I believe it was a Dodge dealership. Floyd Goode was the head mechanic there and it seems every time I saw him he was covered with grease and dirt. I would not recognize him in clean clothes. His daughter, Nancy, was in our class in school, and was ONE of the prettiest girls in the school. Of course you all will have your own opinions about the relative beauty of the high school girls, and I am sure you will share that with the rest of us.

Now, next door to Ames, we come to one of the really important places in town, Hankin's Drug Store. I cannot go into details about Hankins like Gary White did about Whitney Drug, but it was a place where all the inhabitants of CV could sit and enjoy a cherry coke from the fountain, or one of the best chocolate malts in the world for only 25 cents. They used Glencliff ice cream, whereas Whitneys used Steffins, and there were heated discussions about which was the better. One of my families favorite leisure time activities occurred on Sunday evenings in the warm months, when we would all walk from our little house close to the Hays'Hospital (across the street from Adam's funeral home) up to Hankin's Drug, and for one dollar, all four of us were treated to a milk shake or malt. I have never to this day found a milk shake that could compare with those. I think one reason Hankin's drug was so popular was that Don Hankins and Mary Bess were thoroughly nice and friendly people who made you feel welcome. They also had a big glass roaster on the counter that dispensed hot cashew nuts, which was another highlight, for me at least.

Beside the drug store was the L. C. Adams Mercantile building. The Mercantile I think was run by Hubert and Harold Cox, with the help of Gary White, Don Cox and many others. The business metamorphed over the years I lived there from one large business that was described completely by Gary White and Don Cox, to smaller clothing stores and food stores. One clothing store was owned by Vic Hollister and the grocery with which I was most familiar was the part owned by Maurice Smith. The most memorable thing about Mr. Smith was his voice. He led the singing in the Church of Christ and had a singing voice that rivaled Pavoratti. He sang at weddings and funerals and anywhere anyone needed a beautiful voice. His younger sister, Norma June, was our third grade teacher, and she was a real beauty. All the little boys loved her. I recall, one week she was out of school sick, so Bob Hays, Jack Foster and I, pooled our allowances, bought a box of chocolates, and took them to her at her house. You can imagine how we were shot-down when we found her boyfriend , Jack Loman, there. He probably ate our chocolates. She later married him. I accused T.D. Oltjen of putting the carriage on top of the Adam's building one Halloween but he said he did a lot of other bad things, but that was not one of them. Any ideas????