It’s real hot! This red-hot July weather makes one wonder why we dread the winter. But we do and that is just human nature. It’s just hard to imagine cold weather in Allen right now. What I do remember is that July is a time for the kin to come and visit. I remember over at Stonewall in the 1940s some of our California kin who had migrated out to the golden west during WW-II would come home for a visit and they were good times for me. Nowadays its somewhat different. But not much.

Back in the day, so to speak, families were larger than they are these days. We had 5 kids in our family plus my mother’s younger brother, J. C., saw fit to stay with us a lot. So, when the visiting kin came with their also large families, it was common for other nearby relations to come by and visit too. Perhaps spend the night. And eat. A lot. I’m not sure how my mom managed those crowds, but she did. Come dark, many local kin chose to go home. Some of them. But the out of state kin were sort of like this: “There for the duration.”

At night, getting enough quilts for all the kids to have a pallet was tough, but somehow it was done. All the regular beds in the house were occupied by the aunts and uncles. Hot? You bet. But come dark, those old nonairconditioned houses would eventually cool down. The hot ovens would cool down and homemade icecream helped make kids unaware of heat, inferiorities of their beds and any crowding that might happen. So, I remember these as happy times. And eventually, and sadly, they would all eventually go home, waving their hands and hankies and disappearing into the west.

Sometimes, after their departures, my brother Gerald and I would talk about them. We both though they must have it wonderful out there in California. We pondered at their questions to us, “What do you do for excitement here in Stonewall?” Indeed, we wondered. At that time, Stonewall had five lively beer joints on its noisy Main Drag. One on the west end of the street was something called “The Circle Inn and Wobble Out.” It was a sleezy night club, I guess. There were ladies who lived in the back there and my brother finally told me what they did for a living. Burnetts Drug stayed open till 11 pm on Saturday nights. At least ‘till the preview movie started.

The Trolley Café, a converted streetcar, had a loudspeaker on its front and whatever the Juke box was playing was played (at no extra charge) to the crowds on the streets. One song I’ll never forget was “There’ll be smoke on the water, on the land and the sea.” A sort of westernized version of a WWII patriotic song. I don’t think the “Trolley” ever closed. The busy Fitts-Field on the edge of town provided jobs to anyone caring to work. It was a busy and, to me, exciting town. Birdie Gray’s indoor-outdoor café adjoining the very busy Stonewall Hotel just east of the Main Theatre provided nourishment and more for willing customers. So, I continued to wonder what my cousins were talking about.

Yep, Stonewall was a very entertaining town, whether you had company or not. I understand it has calmed down somewhat now. But still a good place to live. Hope your week goes well and be sure and go to church Sunday.

Wayne Bullard, DPh

cwaynebullard@gmail.com