Where was I? After we had our fun in the backyard (below) the boys took naps as pictured and then we went to the “Church Park”. I think it is officially called “The Village Park” or something like that but everyone I knew called it church park because on the east side sat the Methodist church and on the north side sat the Lutheran church.
Until recently there was a water tower smack in the middle of this park but it has been removed and a new water tower has been erected in another area of town. This was probably a good idea because when I was a kid it was completely accessible for climbing, which I (along with my friends Shannon and Cabrina…pronounced “Sabrina” not “Kabrina” as every substitute teacher tried to call her) did one sunny day in our youth. I was the chicken who only went half-way. I just couldn’t get past the fact that if a bee buzzed me and scared me even a little, and I lost my grip, I would most likely die from the fall. Anyway…It was pretty cool to see the world from even halfway up that tower and I was a little jealous of the the two girls who actually went the whole way.
My boys loved the park. Most of it is unchanged. The merry-go-round is still there with the deep ditch around it from pounding feet making it go very fast. The swing sets, the slide and monkey bars, and the churches look exactly the same, just a little more run down. The grange hall on the west side of the park looked a little spruced up with a white wash and coat of blue paint on the doors. The park has huge trees and stays pretty shaded so it was pleasant to be out there snapping pictures and watching the boys enjoy themselves.
There was also a plaque that has been there as long as I can remember but I don’t remember ever paying any attention to it. This time I read it and became curious. I did a Google search when I got back to dad’s and found out a little history about Burr Oak that I’d never heard before. Why didn’t they teach us some of those things in school? It seems to me we would have had a better appreciation for where we lived. I found that the names of many of the original settlers in Burr Oak have now become the names of roads all around the area. The road I grew up on was probably named for someone named Harrison Kelley. I remember that people sometimes spelled the name of our road “Kelley” but the street signs usually said “Kelly” which is how I’ve always spelled it. I might just start putting that extra “e” in there just for stubborn fun.
looks like they were having a great time! i am glad to see that there are still a few old parks around with original equipment!
Beautiful! I love that merry-go-round. And I love that it’s still fun for kids to do that kind of stuff.
How sweet that your boys get to share the same things you enjoyed as a kid. Great pics too!
I always love the inquisitive look of wonder on Ivan’s face. In the one on the merry-go-round, it’s delight. The one with him looking at whatever Owen is such curiosity. I don’t know him well enough to know, but it always looks like there’s a lot going on in that melon of his.
Ok, is Burr Oak REALLY a flourishing little village? I haven’t been there in a while (yes, I read the history)… but I thought, last time I visited, it was slowly vanishing. Hopefully not.
Shannon – Ha! No…it is certainly not flourishing from what I can tell. They’ve torn down two of the buildings there on Third street and it just looks like nothing is happening anywhere. Dad said the post office is only open a couple hours before lunch and a couple hours in the afternoon. Was it always that way? I don’t remember that.