Bill Rogers Remembers When . . .

I remember . . .

The Naborhood Link News published in Lemay.

The Lemay roller rink at Bayless and Lemay Ferry.

Buying gasoline from a Mars service station at ten cents a gallon and receiving a free glass.

Attending the Lemay movie theater and winning a basket of groceries in a drawing on a Friday night. Admission was ten cents.

Hitch hiking from Lemay all the way to CBC on Clayton Road.

Buying a “pine tree float” at Wilde’s Palace of Poison. (A tooth pick in a glass of water)

Our first telephone as LOckheart 7360.

Living next door to a beacon on a lot on Ruprecht Ave. in Bella Villa. (Lemay)

Living on a street that had 52 kids within one block all within 4 years of age. What a great neighborhood.

Playing baseball on the Heine Meine ball field before the Lemay Baseball Association was formed.

Reading the minutes of the organization meeting of the Lemay Baseball Association – which I still have. (My dad was one of the charter organizers)

Swimming parties at Spring Forest and Spring Lake.

Swimming at the Forest Park Highlands.

Riding the Flying Turns at the Highlands

Bowling at the St. Andrew Bowling Alley in Lemay.

Dating my first girl friend at Notre Dame High School.

Working at the Fred P. Rapp grocery store on Lemay Ferry - Now Ace Hardware.

Playing baseball at the Greens, Porkies, Heine Meine, Jeff Barracks, Forder School, Bayless School, Titanium fields.

Watching the Veiled Prophet Ball and Wrestling at the Chase on our 5” TV set with the bubble magnifying glass to enlarge the picture.

Setting up chairs in our living room theater style so my aunts could come over to watch the Veiled Prophet Ball – and my dad popping pop-corn for everybody.

Listening to Frank Eschen narrate the veiled prophet ball program.

Remembering when our zip code consisted of 2 digits.

Going to the Rock 'n Roll shows at Keil Auditorium in the 50s seeing Bill Haley, Chuck Berry, The Platters, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Doggett, and others.

Seeing Lou Thesz and Gorgeous George at various wrestling matches and on TV.

Watching TV test patterns just for the heck of it.

Attending Rubicam Business College on South Grand Ave. – where I met my wife.

Participating in the cub scout and boy scout jamboree at the Arena and dressed up as Snow White and using two grapefruits as part of the get-up to fill out certain parts of the costume.

Watching the Harlem Globetrotters play the college all-stars at the Arena and barely beating them by 2 points (around 1952)

Collecting autographs of the St. Louis Browns and Cardinal ball players as they walked under the stands at the old Sportman’s Park.

Watching Joe DiMaggio hit three home runs off the scoreboard against the Browns at Sportman’s Park.

Attending Stan Musial’s last game.

Attending Ozzie Smith's last game.

Attending the first All Star Game at Bush Stadium in 1964 (?) with the temperature at 104 degrees.

Listing to Ed Bonner, Gil Newsome, Jack Carney, Miss Blue and others on the radio.

Air raid tests during WW II and my dad being an Air Raid Warden.

Driving my first car a 1939 Plymouth.

Going to movies at the Lemay, Southway, Longwood, Michigan and Crest movie theaters and the Attic which was also called “The Dump.”

Being a CBC honor guard at various functions around town when CBC was a military school.

Participating in a 21-gun salute for a deceased classmate.

Remembering the newsboy yelling, “Morning Globe . . Paaaper.”

The St. Louis Star Times which was one of three daily newspapers in St. Louis.

Getting two post office mail deliveries each day.

Buying tamales from street vendors.

Tony Gagliarducci, the knife sharpener, who would clang his bell as he walked the streets.

Getting chunks of ice from the milkman as he delivered milk . . . and left the milk at your front door.

Getting change for a quarter so I could buy a coke for a nickel.

Riding the St. Louis County Bus line for a dime to get to St. George Grade School in Affton. Yes, there was a county bus line.

Seeing German prisoners raking leaves in Jefferson Barracks in the middle '40s.

Cruising the Mississippi on the Admiral.

My first job at the Fred P. Rapp grocery store on Lemay Ferry. My second job was a typist at a sugar company.

My first full time job at the St. Louis Postal Employees Credit Union in the main post office on Market Street.

Partying at Gas Light Square and seeing the Smothers Brothers perform at the Crystal Palace and listening to Singleton Palmer Dixieland.

Enjoying pizza at Luigi's on Watson, Pagliachi's on Kingshighway, Monte Bello on Weber and Cusinelli's on Lemay.

Watching the trains come into Union Station.

Dining at the Harvey Restaurant in Union Station.

My first flight on a TWA plane going to military summer camp. Most of the passengers wore business suits, white shirts and ties.

Getting behind-the-scenes tours at Anheuser-Busch. My dad worked in the fermenting cellars.

Meeting my wife-to-be at Rubicam Business College at Grand & Potomic in South City.