43
Historical society takes stroll down memory lane
Photo
Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Audience members listened intently and chimed in with memories of their own during Frank and Doris Cavanaugh’s program on “Canfield Memories” March 10, during the Canfield Historical Society’s annual Spring Lecture Series.
Photo
Frank and Doris Cavanaugh, long-time residents of Canfield, strolled down memory lane during “Canfield Memories,“ the Canfield Historical Society’s first lecture in its annual Spring Lecture Series.
By ABBY SLANKER
The Canfield Historical Society began its annual Spring Lecture Series with a stroll down memory lane during “Canfield Memories” March 10, with Canfield residents Doris and Frank Cavanaugh leading the way.
Historical society members and the public were invited to share any special memories of growing up in Canfield and any photos of the “good ole days” they may have had.
The Cavanaughs have been married and living in Canfield as husband and wife for 60 years, with Frank’s family moving to Canfield in 1935 and Doris’ family moving here in the early 1940s.
“We have a lot of memories together. We did a lot of remembering and brainstorming and came up with lots of good memories. We actually had to throw some stuff out as we went through our lives in Canfield because we thought ‘no one will be interested in that,’” Frank said.
Doris started the evening describing her earliest memories, which included movies in the park and the Firemen’s Street Festival.
“Everybody went to the festival,” Doris said.
She also remembered the Legion and Firemen’s Halloween Celebration at the middle school, during which everyone dressed up, including adults.
“I remember I won first place in costume contest dressed as a gypsy. My prize was money from Farmers Savings and Loan,” Doris said.
Frank remembered skating at Smith’s Pond at Fair Park, getting coal from Delph’s Mill and going to Ingles Greenhouse.
“All the kids skated at Smith’s Pond,” Frank said.
During the Cavanaugh’s program, audience members chimed in with their own memories and even triggered other people’s memories.
Most nodded their heads in agreement when Doris brought up the use of the word ‘uptown.’
“We wouldn’t say we were going to the bank — we would say we were going ‘uptown.’ We wouldn’t say we were going to Isaly’s — we would say we were going ‘uptown’. Everything was ‘uptown.’ We still say it today,” Doris said.
Doris remembered The Fountain as a place to get milk shakes, while Frank remembered the pool hall.
“The Fountain was the place to go,” Doris said, while Frank said the pool hall “was a guys thing.”
The audience once again contributed to the conversation when Doris hit upon The Spot. According to Doris and Frank, The Spot was the hangout where kids could eat, dance and listen to the jukebox. The Spot also served beer, but the kids never thought about drinking it.
Along with the Cavanaughs, most audience members remembered the Roxie Movie Theater and that it cost 10 cents to see a movie.
“The girls would meet the boys there. The girls paid their own way, but they could go and hold hands with their guy. I remember that!” Doris said.
Many attendees also remembered the old red schoolhouse, which was built on part of the land where the Canfield Village Middle School now stands. The schoolhouse was demolished in 1955.
The Cavanaughs, and many audience members, also remembered that they walked to school every day and thought nothing of it. There was home milk delivery and home bread delivery; there was a train which ran through the station on Railroad Street from Lisbon to Niles every day; and Dr. Campbell was the physician in town and he made house calls and hummed all the time.
Everyone seemed to remember Eddie Norman and Harry Sullivan. Norman would hook up a man-made snow plow to his Clydesdale and plow the sidewalks, just because he wanted to. Sullivan was the first police man in Canfield and was the one-man police force.
According to Frank, Sullivan had an interesting way of stopping people in cars.
“Harry would just jump out in front of a car or truck if he thought the driver was doing something wrong,” Frank said.
Frank summed up the evening very well in his own words.
“Everybody has different memories of different things, but one thing is for sure — Canfield had a lot of characters,” Frank concluded.