The Grand Theater on Cedar-a long gone treasure

http://www.pstos.org/instruments/id/wallace/grand.htm

The Grand Theater on Cedar Street around 1920. The theater was still there when I was very young, and I saw a couple of movies there as well as Captain Cy, who hosted the daily Popeye Cartoons on television. I also remember there was a little luncheon place called the "Midget Lunch" next door to the theater.

Expressions on a sunny day in the park

My grandson yesterday in the park in San Diego. What was that last look?

A Look Back In Time

Cedar Street in Wallace-1937-Noitice the diagonal parking-Please note, I was not alive yet in those days (:)

  

Burke in the old days. Burke was once a rip roaring town,and this was probably a lot like it looked when my dad first came there in 1929 as a young teenager.

The Providence Hospital

The Providence Hospital , erected in 1891 and demolished in 1968 sat on the hill overlooking the east end of Wallace. The grounds were impeccably maintained, and elk and bears were often visitors to the grounds. I best remember this hospital from having my tonsils out during the Thanksgiving weekend of my first grade year. OK, no big deal, right? Well, if one was not Catholic, quite frankly, this hospital was more than a little frightening with the statues and the Sisters in full habit.

So, here is the story. I got an infection after the surgery and became somewhat delusional. Please remember that I was only 6 years old. So, I come to after the surgery, and low and behold, standing right in front of me was a figure dressed an black in what looked liked a flowing robe, Well, I thought for sure that I had died and gone to hell. (;) Thank goodness the "figure" turned out to be one of the Sisters and not the angel of death.

It is too bad the Providence was torn down, It was an integral part of the history of Wallace. Man, I miss the old Wallace.

Having Your Cake And Eating It Too

Well, there is enough of this cake to have it and eat it! This was a special cake made by General Mills for the Silver Jubilee. The cake weighed 1,000 pounds, and was 6 feet by 8 feet, and delivered on a flat bed truck. The Honorable Mayor of Wallace, Clyde Murray, is shown here with the
ceremonial knife made by Wallace Silversmiths of Wallingford, CT, just for this occasion.
I vaguely remember this cake. What 6 year old would not remember such a cake?

 A special Tribute


On this date, May 16, 1977, the Honorable Mayor, Clyde Murray passed away at the age of 63. His tireless work in making Wallace a special place to live, work in, and grow up in, will be remembered by the citizens both past and present of Wallace. Thank you Mayor Murray, and special thanks to your family for sharing you with us.

1958- Mrs. Goldstein's Afternoon Graduation Class

See, I did graduate from kindergarten. Yes. I did it. I even still have my graduation cap. May 14, 1958.

Wallace-Opera Anyone?

Wallace was always the leader in culture of the Coeur D Alene Mining District.

 Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, the Wallace Opera House which was built on the site of the "modern" day Wallace swimming pool. So,if you thought that Wallace culture is confined to the Lead Creek Derby, as cultural as drinking beer and watching a beach ball float down a polluted creek is, well, you are wrong. Wallace had a genuine opera house at one time. Sorry this picture did not scan better, but I found in in my mother's scrapbook of old Wallace things, and it did not fit my scanner and it had lost a corner over the years.

A Special Guest and The SiIver Jubilee

This past week it was my privilege to receive an email from a "reader" who said that she followed my blog and that she especially liked the stories about Wallace. I am always thrilled when someone takes the time to write and tell them that they read my drivel. I look at my reader stats , and indeed it shows that some people do read this blog, but of course, I have no idea who they are. It used to be a very small circle, and I pretty much knew who was reading, so when I have a new reader, I am thrilled.

She had a specific question for me about my growing up in Wallace, She asked if I was living in Wallace during the Silver Jubilee Celebration in 1958. Now, of course, I was not born until 1978, but I seem to have some genetic memory of such a celebration in my home town.(:) I emailed her back and related to her my memories about that marvelous time in the streets of  Wallace. I especially passed on how all of the adult men had to grow facial hair, and how the Wallace swimming pool was stocked with trout, and the kids under a certain age were allowed to catch one. It was great fun for  a little boy in Wallace. I still remember the mustache that my dad grew. I also told her how if the men did not grow a mustache, they were placed in a make shift jail, and the local kids would stand in front of the pen and shoot the "prisoners" with water pistols.

I did not expect to hear anymore from my new reader, although my interest was piqued by her inquiry. I received another email from this lady, who signed her name Donna.She told me in  this email that her dad had been mayor of Wallace during those years, and that they had moved from Wallace a couple of years after the Silver Jubilee. I told her that the only mayor that I remembered as a child was Arnold Keller, and she said that here father was the mayor right before Mr. Keller became mayor. To top it all, she included a picture of herself and her parents during the Silver Jubilee, and guess what, she was fishing in the Wallace pool for trout. Ladies and gentleman, I present to you Donna, the daughter of the former mayor of Wallace,Also in the picture is the Honorable Mayor ,David Clyde Murray , his wife Mabel, and daughter Donna. Thank you so much Donna for sharing this special photo and your memory of Wallace.

Growing Up Wallace-The Old Grade School

Hot creaky radiators , crowded  hallways, and a cacophony of blended sounds of  voices ranging from almost infantile to an almost adult textured sound, and the pounding on the stairways of hundreds of children , some because they were forced to be there, and some because they liked being there, and there you have it. What do we have? We have the Wallace Elementary and Junior High School dressed in brick and standing an impressive three stories tall.

One's first introduction to these halls of learning was the entrance on 3rd Street, for it was this portal that opened up to the glories of learning and Mrs. Goldstein's kindergarten room.  I still have vivid pictures of that room dancing through the old reels of movies in my mind. For it was in that room that we learned to socialize, fight , nap, snack, and listen to stories, I still remember my nap rug. It was a brown bear rug. No, it was not a real bear, but I loved  that old rug, It was so comfortable for nap time.

I especially remember Halloween in that old kindergarten room. Now, why, Halloween over Christmas, I don't know, but I can tell you to this day what the weather was like that day, and exactly what kind of  candy that we were given that day, and the  Halloween song that Mrs. Goldstein played on the old phonograph.

 It was also in kindergarten that I first felt male jealousy over a girl. Terry T was my neighbor and my first crush, except for Anette Funicello of course, and Randy F was talking to her over in the corner of the room. Terry even took her nap next to Randy that day. I was experiencing a feeling like I had never had before. Pure rage. But, in that way that children have, those feelings only last a day or less, and buy the next day, all three of us were plying together. If only we adult could work out our problems that easily.!





Now, it was on to kindergarten graduation, and we donned our caps and gowns, marched up the stairs in that kindergarten room to the stage, and received our first diplomas. I still have mine.My mother saved everything.

Now, the next academic step was a big one. Mrs. Barrett's first grade class. Stay tuned.

Dreaming of Wallace.

What is this mad desire that I feel to reconnect to the past? There must be some unfinished business from those days of yore.. OK, here is the scoop, Last night I had a dream about Wallace and in particular, about some of my classmates from my graduating class. This is a dream that comes up several times a year. I have a secret confession to make. I loved school. Sometimes I wish that I could go back in time and hide in those old classrooms in the old Wallace High.

I suppose this desire derives from the simple reason that life was so simple then. It really was. I miss the school. I miss my classmates, and I miss some of the teachers.

Gonna take a sentimental journey
Gonna set my heart at ease
Gonna make a sentimental journey
To renew old memories

Got my bag, got my reservation
Spent each dime I could afford
Like a child in wild anticipation
Long to hear that "All aboard"

Seven, that's the time we leave, at seven
I'll be waitin' up for heaven
Countin' every mile of railroad track
That takes me back

Never thought my heart could be so yearny
Why did I decide to roam?
Gotta take that sentimental journey
Sentimental journey home

Sentimental journey!

 Words and music by Bud Green, Les Brown and Ben Homer