Stimson Street

After reading last week's post, I began thinking about some of the dear people who lived on Stimson Street when I was a girl.  For those who do not remember, Stimson is the street that turns off of Hwy 120 in front of the parsonage and beside the Cliffside park.  It winds down a gentle curve and then passes by the Cliffside Cemetary.  Stimson Street and its occupants hold many sweet memories for me.

My family lived in the little white house at the bottom of the hill and I had a great back yard with a swing, a tree house and a "lower" yard.  The "lower" yard was big enough for a badminton net but my Daddy always beat me every time we played.  I remember that it was also lengthy enough to race--I can remember being very young and Daddy challenging me to a race where I ran forwards and he ran backwards.  Again, he beat me every time! Our neighbors were James and Sara Hamrick, who were very kind and friendly.  Sara was the librarian at the Cliffside library and I remember checking out books when the library was still in the Memorial Building.  I always thought that she looked just like a librarian ought to look and that she carried herself in a way that would make other librarians proud.  We continued to visit the library when it moved to Henrietta and although it was much smaller, Sara conducted the library business as if it were in the grand building of yesteryear.  Her husband, James was a friendly and funny gentleman and he would always talk to me and my friends when we were outside.  He gardened alot and while he pretended that he wasn't paying attention, I'm sure that he kept a watchful eye on us while we played.  One of the most thrilling things about the Hamrick house was when their grandsons, Mitchell and Wesley, would come to visit.  They were older and they were boys--you can imagine how excited we were when they were around!  I haven't seen them in years, but I can remember them in my mind's eye and I cherish those sweet times with that family. 

The Bissette's lived beside the Hamrick's and as I wrote in my last post, they were a dear, sweet family.  They moved to Cliffside when I was in the fourth grade and Kim and I became fast friends.  I spent many an afternoon at her house, climbing trees with her and her brother Shane.  Her mother, Thelma would often load us up in their massive beige Cadillac and take us to Bill Scruggs Store for a treat. And even better, she would tell us to go inside and choose one drink and one thing to eat and charge it to the Bissette account!  No matter how many friends were there that day, Mrs. Bissette always saw that we were all taken care of.  Kim's father, B.F. hung wallpaper for a living and was gone alot of the time.  But when he was home, he was kind and fun-loving; he loaded many of us up in the back of his truck one year to travel to the little league championships.  I can't remember where it was held, but it was a day trip and we had the best time.  This precious family suffered their fair share of tragedies; while we were all still students at Cliffside, Thelma had a stillborn daughter. She also became bedridden due to health problems but always kept a happy spirit--I can remember spending many afternoons just sitting on the side of her bed with the "gang" and talking to her.  Later, their son Shane died and then Thelma's body just gave way to her illnesses and she passed, too.  Precious people in my life...I hope that I let them know how much they meant to me while they were here.

The next house beside the Bissette's belonged to Maude and Hickey Wortman.  I remember that Maude was very sweet to all of us and she had very tall grey hair! Hickey was a character and had both legs amputated. Maybe that's why I've never thought that people in wheelchairs are different than I am.  The Wortmans had a steep hill in their backyard that was covered with vines.  They fell in such a way that a "cave" was created and they let us play back there all of the time.  We discovered that if we went to the top of the hill, walked across 221-A and turned right up the sidewalk, we could be at Cliffside School in no time.  I spent many mornings walking to school during seventh and eighth grade at Cliffside School because I could never get ready on time and Daddy would have to leave.  Thank goodness for the shortcut in the Wortman's backyard!

I can't remember the lady's name that lived beside the Wortman's, but she had a steep hill on the side yard.  She never once complained when we played on it or cut through on our way to the park.  Beside that house were the two old ladies who lived together-again, I can't think of their names, but I remember that they always loved company.  We would sit on their front porch and talk to them and they would always have cookies ready for us to enjoy.  Beside them were the Rollins family, who went to Cliffside Church with us.  Sara passed away last week, but she can rest assured that her sweet disposition meant alot to many people.

Finally, at the top of the hill was Alice Hames.  I guess she technically lived on Hwy.120 since her house faced the road but I always considered her a Stimson Street neighbor.  Mrs. Hames was an older, widowed lady who lived alone but had a magnificent and immaculately kept home.  She and I developed a close relationship when I was young because my Daddy checked in on her.  So, when I was older, I visited her often.  I remember sitting in her kitchen on a stool behind a white formica-covered bar.  Mrs. Hames would sit on the other side and we would enjoy Cheez-it crackers and Jif peanut butter while trading stories.  She would always get me a gift for Christmas; when I was younger, she gave me two ornaments that looked like decorated Christmas stockings.  They were a brown color and I always thought that they looked like packed brown sugar.  She also gave me Savings Bonds; I never knew what they were for, but I knew it must be special since she gave them to me.

It is quite unusual for someone in their early forties to be able to name the people who lived in all of the houses around them.  But that's just the nature of Cliffside.  It was a place with a way that was frozen in time; it would advance with the rest of the world to some degree, but as for every day life, Cliffside kept to its old-fashioned roots.  People were what was important and somehow, the residents knew that those relationships and the memories of those who had passed were what would mean the most. 

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

This morning, I was reminded of how beautiful the snow is as it glistens under the first light of day.  As I looked out my window, the winter wonderland transported me back to a time that seems not so long ago. 

When I was a girl, I attended Cliffside Elementary School and one of the most exciting times for us was when a "snow day" was declared.  Now, all of the kids who went to school there lived within a reasonable distance and many of us could walk to each other's houses.  When it snowed in Cliffside, our favorite place to meet was the Bissette's house on Stimson Street.  Our friend, Kim lived there and her mother was the queen of hospitality where young people were concerned.  After enduring the layering of warm clothing by our own mothers, we began the trek; no less than ten kids would come (sometimes many more) and we would prepare ourselves with sleds, lunchroom trays and a variety of objects that would slide.  After a quick inventory, we would walk down Stimson Street and then cut through the road that wasn't a road anymore until we got to 221-A.  If it was frozen, we would slide down the road in front of the funeral home.  If we got bored there, we trudged up the street until we got to the big hill near Cliffside Church (a Dollar General is there now.)  We would spend hours sliding, building forts and having snowball fights--what fun!

After we got bored, hungry, tired, cold or any combination of those, we would drag ourselves back to the Bissette's house.  Mrs. Bissette would always welcome us--all of us--with open arms.  I remember that when she was still mobile, she would take our wet coats and gloves and dry them for us.  She would fix homemade hot chocolate and nearly always had a pan of very large sourdough biscuits ready for us to devour.  The best biscuits had a small chunk of cheese tucked inside and if you got one of those, it was like gold! We would always end up in the Bissette living room, where Mr. Bissette kept a roaring fire in the woodstove, and we laughed, talked, sang and played games.  If the weather got really bad, Mrs. Bissette would invite us all to spend the night--boys AND girls, but don't get any ideas.  This family were strong Christians and Mr.Bissette would see that the boys stayed downstairs in their son's room, which was next door to his bedroom and all of the girls would go upstairs and lock ourselves in Kim's room.  Then, the next day, we would do it over again.

It seems like it snowed for days when I was a girl and I could almost promise that we were out for a week every time.  The Bissette's don't live in Cliffside anymore; Mrs. Bissette and her son passed away and Kim and Mr. Bissette moved away, like so many from our beloved mill town.  But the memories of those Cliffside snow days are tucked away and when the first flakes begin to fall each year--regardless of where I am--I am a girl once again.