Indiana Wants Me

 Chuckling to myself and hearing J Dean Taylor's 1970 classic Indiana Wants Me in my head. I'm once again remembering my birthplace and "home state" Indiana. Why? A number of reasons. The Indy 500 yesterday, a conversation at the pool with a fellow Logansport Hoosier and my usual Facebook friends posts.

First the Indy 500. Jimmy Johnson's debut. Sadly ending in a crash at the end. Ironically with all the places to watch it I thought "let's go old school" and listen to it on the radio. When I lived in Gary IN the Hasting Brothers put up a tent in their backyard on Hovey St and we listened to a little portable. Mrs Hastings made lunch. That was 1964 and that year my favorite driver Eddie Sachs was killed in a crash.

 Wm R LaDow a Facebook friend and journalist from Griffith follows the 500 through out April and May keeping me up to date on lineups and practices giving final comments on the race afterwards. I grew up mainly with the Andrettis, Unsers, Foyt and always thought I should be out there with them. Faint Laugh here. I really have more in common with Don Garlits and the US 30 Dragstip folks. That should be another post. Yes I raced.

While swimming my laps the other day I asked a sunbather near the edge if I had sprayed her with my Olympic Michael Phelps kick. She said no and I said my Olympic days were probably behind me although I think we both agreed they were only in my head. Turns out she is from Logansport. I was born at Memorial Hospital about 50 years before her. So I gave her a historical trip through 60's Logansport. 

We (Dad and I ) would leave the Gary IN terminal on the Pennsylvania Railroad train to Logansport stopping in every burg along the way. We would usually visit the weekend staying with Uncle Ken and Aunt Marge. Taking a Saturday daytrip to Deer Creek and Camden seeing relatives all along the way.

Keitzer's 

So we chatted about restaurants. While I couldn't think of the name initially later I found it...google search. It was Keitzer's Drive In on the West Side, on US 24 at Miami Ave. The best Hamburgers, French Fries and Cokes. My main staple through the years. I also went to the diner where Aunt Marge worked for pie at the counter. That is where she plied me with a promise of a $1 (12 comic books for $1) if I would get a crew cut while I was there (Dad wanted that). We frequently went to the diner on the way to Deer Creek that had juke boxes on the table. I would play "Do the Freddy". My Dad's name is Fred so that totally embarrassed him.

We also liked to go to Riverside Park and ride the Carousel. It had a brass ring feature that if you pulled a ring out as you went around you got a free ride.

 www.casscountrycarousel 

So we had a great chat about Logansport and the changes through the years. We discussed Gary Indiana a bit too. My family moved there in the early 60's. Dad was an accountant at US Steel. More on Gary I'm sure. I mentioned to her a recent story about growing up and we had a good laugh. She's a nurse.

A Facebook from a friend asks "Did you ride your bike behind the Mosquito fogger growing up". We sure did and to top that off Hamlin St in Gary was gravel and every week the city would spray used oil it collected from the mills to spray the street to keep dust down. We rode on that too not including the fact we lived 8.4 miles (google maps) from what is now BP refinery in Whiting IN. The refineries burned off spent waste gases continuously. So I'm been treated to a lot of airborne toxins. Catching my breath.

Memorial Day and Logansport make me think of our family member buried over seas. Private Courtland Williams my Uncle. Six Williams' boys served and one didn't make it home. 

Dad is a Purple Heart winner in Okinawa. Four days in the Sea of Japan before rescued the survivors.  

I'll do more posts about "Growing up in the 60's".  Enjoy the holiday weekend!