hundred feet. I don't remember who won that game, but our little town team was pretty good for having only about ten or eleven players. And I will always remember the time the Boeing Bombers, one of the best semi-pro teams in the region, somehow were enticed to come to play our team IN Cedar Vale and I pitched that game. As I remember they beat us 1-0. Things that stick in your mind forever, such as the time Roy Smith was pitching to Richard Buoy ( ? Spelling ?) one night and the fast ball slipped and Richard did not duck and I will never forget the sound of that 300 mph fastball colliding with the unprotected skull. Richard fell like an ox that had been pole-axed and did not get up. He must have had a hard head, because no permanent damage done.
Baseball was always fun. We had some great young players during our high school years. Bill Williams catching and, of course, unfortunately usually forgetting to wear his protective cup. His brother Dick, catching at times and pitching other times. He had the "heaviest" fast ball I ever saw and when you batted against him it was like swinging the bat against a brick wall. Roy Walkinshaw playing third base had a real gun and no one ever beat out a ball hit to his side. And Bob Hays at first base, tall and gangly but never missed a ball thrown to him. He had an interesting idea that since starting to play baseball and wearing baseball spikes, his running stride seemed to be shortened. Well….
We were not great, but had a lot of fun.
At Thanksgiving the Town of Cedar Vale bought ten or twelve big old turkey gobblers and at an appointed time they were thrown off the top of the tallest building in town, which was the post office building. They flew down into the crowds, and whoever caught a turkey, then had a turkey dinner for Thanksgiving evening. Exciting!!
And at Christmas, Santa Claus came riding up Main Street in a big open wagon filled with goodies for "all the girls and boys". More excitement.
The sound of the noon whistle from atop city hall could be heard for miles around and reminded everyone that it was time to stop and eat and relax.
Some things were not pleasant memories. After basketball practice during the winter I had to walk home from the school gym in the dark and I could either walk around on the road which added a mile to the walk, or cut through Hewins Park and down behind the Pavilion, and across our alfalfa field to the house. It was bad enough to walk that way, because it was dark and spooky, but many times two of the towns drunks were parked behind the pavilion drinking their whiskey and inviting this frightened high school boy to get in and "have a little drink". Needless to say, I managed the last half mile home in record time.
Cedar Vale had no community swimming pool, but did have something that was even better, the town dam on the Caney River. It was a short bicycle ride or walk from the center of town, and above the dam was the best swimming hole in all of Kansas. Someone had fastened a long rope high up in the big Cottonwood tree that hung out over the river and it was a blast to grab the end of the rope and be able to swing out over the middle of the water and drop or dive into the green muddy water. Kids now are spoiled by the sterile, clear waters in their swimming pools. But, just below the dam, perhaps 25 yards from the swimming hole, was a nest of cotton mouth water moccasins that thankfully did not venture above the dam and we certainly didn't venture into their area.
1 comment:
Good Piece--It gives me the "warm and fuzzies" We discussed the many "swimmin' holes" around CV before, but before this article I guess.
The Dam was the most used by all and the easiest to reach. I certainly put in many hours there usually in a swimming suit, but not always. Invariably if we were skinny dipping, some girls, or maybe a family group would appear and we had to hide in the horseweeds to cover ourselves, worse yet we might be trapped in the water and naturally our "buddies" wouldn't throw one their shorts.
Cedar Creek had two nice holes that were often used. The Bill Taylor Hole which was popular for picnicing and bathing. The Deep Hole which is just west of the cemetary was well hidden and by unspoken agreement was used only by the boys. I do remember that the girls sometimes announced they were going to swim there and with a little grumbling we covered our nakedness and shared. After the age of 11yrs or so it seemed much nicer to share with the girls.
DFCox
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