Visitors Nostalgia & Memories

(Archive #96: March 1, 2012 to March 6, 2012)

Date: 3/6/2012, 1:05 am, EST
Name: Danny Stat
Location: Orcas Island, Washington
Old Neighborhood(s): 9th Ward
Schools Att'd: Harlan, P.S. U of D
Employers:
Message: One day, when I was 6 or 7 years-old (1949 or '50), a man knocked on the door of my grandparent's house, which was on the corner of 9th and Monroe St. in Wilmington. The man was a fish peddler who told my grandmother that he had a "Jewish" fish for her. After making the transaction, the fish, which was still alive, was put in a large metal washtub that had been filled with water and placed in the middle of my Buba's linoleum kitchen floor. The fish floated calmly just beneath the surface; it's pectoral fins and tail stirred the water ever so slightly, to keep it's equilibrium in the small tub where it had been confined. As most people reading this story will know, the corner of 9th and Monroe Streets in Wilmington, Delaware is far from the Brandywine River where the fish had undoubtedly been caught. Although surely unknown to that fish, the Brandywine River may as well have been on the moon, as far as it's chance to find it way home to the comfort of its former life was concerned. Still, given what was destined to unfold that day, that fish (it was a "carp," of course) had millions of years of primitive instinct embedded in its tiny brain, instinct, which gave it--as it does every creature who is a prisoner--the unrelenting desire to escape and return to the mossy rocks and tree-lined banks of that Wilmington river which had been, until perhaps that very day, its peaceful home.......
I will continue this story tomorrow, God willing and the webmaster permitting......

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Date: 3/5/2012, 10:08 pm, EST
Name: Jerry T.
Location: at the shore, de.
Old Neighborhood(s): Hedgeville(S.Jackson), S.Broom, N. Broom, Klair Ests.
Schools Att'd: St. Hedwig's, Archmere, U.of D.
Employers: U.S. Army, State of Dela.(retired)
Message: It was a very short notice !

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Date: 3/5/2012, 9:32 pm, EST
Name: Daniel Statnekov (was "Danny Stat" when I lived in Wilmington)
Location: Orcas Island, Washington
Old Neighborhood(s): 9th Ward
Schools Att'd: Harlan, P.S. U of D
Employers:
Message: Re: The now discontinued blog: when my grandmother was in her late 90's she would tell people that she wanted to live to be 100 years-old and 20 DAYS! Of course, everyone understood why she wanted to live to be 100 but without fail everyone asked her why 20 DAYS. My grandmother (who you will hear more about in future postings), with a twinkle in her still baby blue eyes, would exclaim: "I don't want to die suddenly!" Everyone laughed; now, with the seemingly very short notice about the demise of the blog, my grandmother's humor is more understandable."

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Date: 3/5/2012, 8:04 pm, EST
Name: Daniel Statnekov (was "Danny Stat" when I lived in Wilmington)
Location: Orcas Island, Washington
Old Neighborhood(s): 9th Ward
Schools Att'd: Harlan, P.S. U of D
Employers:
Message: I understand what you mean, Jim; some years ago I wrote a book about my journey to understand an ancient Peruvian whistle which had led me to a new path in my life. Primarily, I wrote this book so that one day my children and perhaps their children could better understand the journey that I had undertaken; I also wrote it so that I could perhaps get a better glimpse of it for myself, as well. Along with the others here, I've been enjoying reading your reflections about your life in Wilmington in those carefree years of our youth. I'm looking forward to reading more. All the best, Daniel

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Date: 3/5/2012, 4:15 pm, EST
Name: Maureen Kelley Dunning
Location: L
Old Neighborhood(s): 9th & Jackson St.
Schools Att'd: St.Paul's/Sacred Heart
Employers:
Message: Jim, I read most of your poems, really enjoyed them, thank you for sharing them.

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Date: 3/5/2012, 3:43 pm, EST
Name: jim rambo
Location: mexico
Old Neighborhood(s): 3rd and connell
Schools Att'd: bayard/ conrad
Employers:
Message: Jerry, Thank you for posting the Our Echo site! No problem. One who tries writing is always hopeful that another will appreciate his efforts. "Most" of the stories are autobiographical because they were written so that my grandchildren and their children will better understand the era we were raised in. "Garage Lessons" is one of a number of stories that include Wilmington. I hope that Danny will consider making use of the Our Echo site to post some stories because he does know how to use words..

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Date: 3/5/2012, 11:49 am, EST
Name: Jerry T.
Location: at the shore, de.
Old Neighborhood(s): Hedgeville(S.Jackson), S.Broom, N.Broom, Klair Ests.
Schools Att'd: St. Hedwig's, Archmere, U. of D.
Employers: U.S. Army, State of Dela.(retired)
Message: What a thought indeed, Danny, for a dinner celebrating the two birthdays. Of course, any day having Kielbasa is a Celebration. I was weaned on it.
I like your literary style. You ought to hook up with Jim Rambo, a poster on this site, to co-author a book on 'Wilmington Remembrances'. Check out his site and enjoy his stories and poems : http://ourecho.com/biography-183-jim-rambo.shtml . I was privileged to receive an autographed copy of his book, 'Let My Record Reflect', containing these stories and poems.

Jim, I hope I didn't transgress by posting your site.

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Date: 3/4/2012, 5:00 pm, EST
Name: Danny Stat
Location: Orcas Island, Washington
Old Neighborhood(s): 9th Ward
Schools Att'd: Harlan, P.S. U of D
Employers:
Message: On second thought, maybe an eclair or a Mille-feuille (better known as a "Napoleon") for dessert would be a better choice than a sorbet, more in keeping with the French heritage of the duPont family and just the thing to put on top of that feast of Kielbasa Starowiejska.
And one last thing re: birthday celebrations: in addition to the duPont and Pulaski birthdays, today, March 4th., is also the anniversary of the publication of the song "Happy Birthday to You", which was first published on this day in 1924!

Now go out and make it a GOOD day.

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Date: 3/4/2012, 1:33 am, EST
Name: Danny Stat
Location: Orcas Island, Washington
Old Neighborhood(s): 9th Ward
Schools Att'd: Harlan, P.S. U of D
Employers:
Message: When I was a boy, growing up in Wilmington, I heard that at one time William duPont had a standing offer to build a tennis court in Delaware for every court anyone else would build (sort of a matching grant). At that time, Mr. duPont was married to the Worlds #1 player, Margaret Osborne duPont. Today, March 4th is Margaret duPont's 94th birthday; many of us here will enjoy knowing that Margaret duPont shares her birthday with the truly great and illustrious Revolutionary War General, Casimir Pulaski, who was born on this day in 1748.
YES, let's all of us comemorate a duPont and a Pulaski's birthday!

I can imagine a moving celebration, feasting on Kielbasa Starowiejska at Delaware Park (since Pulaski is considered "The Father of American Cavalry") and then a light sorbet dessert at....The Wilmington Country Club, of course; what a thought, eh, Jerry?

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Date: 3/3/2012, 8:56 am, EST
Name: Jerry T.
Location: at the shore, de.
Old Neighborhood(s): Hedgeville(S.Jackson), S.Broom, N. Broom, Klair Ests.
Schools Att'd: St. Hedwig's, Archmere, U. of D.
Employers: U.S. Army, State of Dela.(retired)
Message: Stan Dauphin's Obituary mentioned that he was Sexton of St. Paul's for more than 30 years. Now that's an old term which I didn't hear for a long time. Also interesting is that he was born at Winterthur.

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Date: 3/2/2012, 8:11 pm, EST
Name: Jerry T.
Location: at the shore, de.
Old Neighborhood(s): Hedgeville(S.Jackson), S.Broom, N.Broom, Klair Ests.
Schools Att'd: St. Hedwig's, Archmere, U. of D.
Employers: U.S. Army, State of Dela.(retired)
Message: Bill : Your post about Stan Dauphin triggered memories of the custodian at St. Hedwig's grade school while I was attending. His name was John Gentkowski. I remember him collecting the trash from the baskets in the classrooms and putting them into the basement incinerator, painting, and selling the long pretzel rods from a metal can in the school yard at recess for a penny a piece. Probably had many other duties, including shovelling snow as well. His daughter Eleanor was in my class, and the family lived on Chestnut St., one block off Jackson. A real nice guy too. Thanks for joggin the noggin, Bill.

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Date: 3/2/2012, 4:39 pm, EST
Name: Danny Stat
Location: Orcas Island, Washington
Old Neighborhood(s): 9th Ward
Schools Att'd: Harlan, P.S. U of D
Employers:
Message: Bill-It's nice to remember someone like Stan Dauphin who was known to only a few but gave of himself to so many. In recent years, whenever I've driven down I-95, I see St. Paul's standing there, kind of like an old flag from another time, a time when there was a neighborhood and community that gathered around that church, before the interstate cut the neighborhood in half and became what many of us believe was a principle factor in the changes that we've all witnessed. Thanks for your remembrance of Stan Dauphin; it brings back the feeling of a happier time.

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Date: 3/2/2012, 2:15 pm, EST
Name: Bill
Location: Delaware
Old Neighborhood(s): 4th & Harrison
Schools Att'd: yes
Employers:
Message: On the subject of Leap Day birthdays, Stan Dauphin, who died a few years ago, was a Leap Day baby. Stan was the custodian at St. Paul's. I can remember him clearing the snow from all four sides of St. Paul's block with only a shovel. Big stamp collector and opera fan. A genuinely nice man.

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Date: 3/2/2012, 4:55 am, EST
Name: Daniel Statnekov (was "Danny Stat" when I lived in Wilmington)
Location: Orcas Island, Washington
Old Neighborhood(s): 9th Ward
Schools Att'd: Harlan, P.S. U of D
Employers:
Message: Mr. Magistrate: Herman Woody was going 65 in a 50 mph zone, "KAZAM!"; and he's transformed into Woody Herman going 56 in a 50! At the very least, he could have written a song about it.....
Maybe even call it: "Roll on Down the Highway."

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Date: 3/1/2012, 12:37 pm, EST
Name: jim rambo
Location: mexico
Old Neighborhood(s): 3rd and connell
Schools Att'd: bayard/ conrad
Employers:
Message: Speaking of band leaders, when I was a magistrate back in 1970, a Delaware City cop brought a guy in and announced that he had been speeding on Route 40. Cop said his name was Herman Woody. Turned out that it was Woody Herman, the band leader, in a leisure suit and on his way to a gig in New York City. Cop agreed to reduce the ticket to 5 mph over the limit, Woody smiled, paid, and went on his way.......to the Thundering Herd.

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