The Parents: John and Carol June

Dad

Dad is very proud of his service in the Marines during World War II. As with many men of his generation, the war was a defining moment for him. He enlisted at age 21, one month after Pearl Harbor, joining thousands of others who did the same. As a C46 crew chief he participated in the island hopping campaign of the Pacific Archipelago, in sometimes less than ideal situations. He did his patriotic duty, with distinction, survived, and came home to his family. He doesn't talk about it much. Doesn't need to.

The Marine 1942

Dad enjoys gadgets, and anything automotive. That seems to run in the family. Not just the mechanical end of things, but also driving--he drove his refrigeration truck for more than 40 years. He is also a race car fan. He and Mom make annual pilgrimages to Daytona to watch the stock car races, and to enjoy some Florida weather no doubt. Mom always comes home with a tan. Dad is naturally dark, it's hard to tell if he's tan or not.

One summer we went to a formula race at Watkins Glen. Wow, did those cars move fast. Just blurs. At some point I remember climbing a tree on one of the curves, hoping that the height of the tree, and the slower speed of the racecars, would allow me some visibility. They were just slower blurs. The tree was full of spectators; reminded me of a bunch of crows. I was just blown away by the number of people there. It seemed like millions to me! It was far less than that, but it was the biggest crowd that I had ever seen. Our usual racing fare was a Sunday trip to the Perry raceway. Now these stock cars did not go a million miles an hour, they were slow enough to see. The racetrack was just a dirt oval, so you didn't have to strain to see anything. And there were a lot more wrecks. We used to park outside the gate to save a couple of bucks, and we would stand on the hood to see. Do that with a car today and you will be visiting a body shop. These trips were great fun. Of course a highlight to the trip would be a stop at one of the many roadside hamburger joints on the way home. We were always in search of the perfect hamburger and milkshake combo. There was a restaurant in Naples (I believe) that was a particular favorite. We would eat on a bench in the adjacent park. I can still taste those burgers. I went with Dad to a motorcycle hill climb once, near Howard I believe. That was terrific. Watching all these pot-bellied Hell's Angels types run their hogs up this incredibly steep hill. Of course most didn't make it, and both rider and hog would come tumbling down the hill. The riders were quite well lubricated, as were most of the spectators. Great fun. You could count on Dad to trade his personal vehicle every 2 or 3 years. Always a Ford. Always a convertible. Every time I ride in a convertible to this day, I am taken back to the days when we would all pile in the car, and trek out to somewhere with the top down. We did not necessarily need a destination. Often we would just pile in the car and drive. Thataway....

We did a lot of different things. Circus's, county fairs, parades, state parks. Such fun. I can't end this without mentioning another of Dad's passions. Pool. Eight-Ball. Or probably any other game of pool or billiards. They all involve hitting the balls where you want them to go. Simple. Ha. Now some would call Dad a shark; others might call him a hustler. My advice to you is, keep your wallet handy if you elect to play him.

Dad watched a lot of news shows, ergo so did I. I particularly remember the GE College Bowl, and Twentieth Century with Walter Cronkite. Dad, and Mom too, liked anything with Walter Cronkite. So of course, the Evening News with Walter Conkrite was derigueur at our house. We watched all the space shots too. It must have been this early experience that made me a news junkie. Dad also had a subscription to Popular Mechanics which, to me, was about the most exciting magazine ever. To this day I subscribe to Popular Mechanics. I think all of this early exposure contributed to my inclinations for scientific things. I also remember lounging around on lazy Sunday afternoons watching sports on TV. This was pre-cable days so we were pretty much limited to the three networks (yes, only three). I particularly remember ABC's Wide World of Sports. Dad and I liked that one because it showed a bunch of different sports in one show. I once built an atomic cloud chamber for a ninth grade science project. This is simply an apparatus that allows one to see the trails of atomic particles emitted from a dab of radioactive paint. The device required dry ice to provide the low temperatures necessary for operation. Anytime I needed to demonstrate the project, I needed fresh dry ice. Dad would make special trips to the nearest facility where dry ice was available (I think it was Elmira) to get me the ice. I won first place. With that kind of support how can you lose. Dad's latest adventure is the Internet. Kay and Erv gave Mom and Dad a computer this last Christmas, 1998, and an Internet connection. So now Dad is surfing the net; a cyberspace junkie, joining the ranks of us who have actually lost sleep over the whole thing. A 78 year-old cyber surfer. Think you might have the record Dad!

Mom

We had fun times as kids. Heck, we had a river just a quarter mile away from the house, and just beyond that we had the cliffs and the woods of Tobes Hill. Mom gave us the freedom to enjoy these things even though she must have been worried sick at times about our mis-adventures. I don't remember her ever being restrictive about my comings and goings. We practically lived in the woods in the summertime. If not in the woods, then in the tent in the backyard. Of course we played the game of "Rick's Mom says it's ok if you say it's ok". And of course Rick's Mom had not said any such thing. But it almost always worked. She knew the game.

One summer Richard and his friends built a tree house in the Maple out front. The newspaper took a picture of Mom standing on the tree branch outside the door of the treehouse. The caption read, "If the kids thought they were safe from Mom in the treehouse, they had better think again!".

We had two levels of discipline in our house; misdemeanors and petty offenses were punished by Mom and her yardstick. I can remember on more than one occasion, one of us kids running around the yard with Mom on their heels swinging that yardstick. She broke more than one yardstick on my butt, but eventually she learned that striking the gluteus maximus did not achieve the desired effect. She then began directing her swings at the back of the legs, and that would sting. For the more serious offenses, Dad was called in to serve up punishment. This consisted of Dad's bare hands on the butt. Oh that smarts. I guess corporal punishment is out of favor these days, but it didn't seem to hurt me. Mom loves knick-knacks. She has more knick-knacks than "Carter has pills" (to quote gram). She would gather bunches everywhere she went. And she had plenty of opportunity to buy them on our many summer vacation swings through the northeast. Most summers, we would pack up the car with Mom, gram and the kids and embark on several days of travelling the region. One summer we toured the Adirondack Mountains. We took a boat tour of the Thousand Islands, lasting several hours. First time I realized what being seasick meant. We went as far north as Messina where the St. Lawrence Seaway locks are located. That was the first time I ever saw a big ship, and up close too. I found it quite amazing. I remember the cabins we rented on one of the lakes; I remember the "Land of 1,000 animals". They had a few animals, and 900 minks in cages at the rear. We hit every tourist trap the area had to offer, all seemingly designed for kids, but Mom and gram seemed to enjoy them as well. Of course it wasn't all just fun. We visited a number of historical sites, and museums too, but none so awesome, so fascinating as the Smithsonian. You can literally spend weeks touring the Smithsonian. The museum comprises numerous buildings, and like most government buildings in Washington they are simply massive. Nothing like I had ever seen.

We didn't have weeks to spend at the Smithsonian on this trip, but I finally did spend a couple of weeks doing just that when I was stationed at Ft. Belvoir in Washington. On that Washington trip, we hit all the highlights of the capital. We even climbed the stairs of the Washington monument. No elevators for this bunch.

Then there was the summer we went to Boston and saw the historical sights there. I remember, particularly, the House of Seven Gables, and "Old Ironsides", the U.S.S. Constitution. It was a lot smaller than I had expected and I can still see the interior of that ship. The area below decks was no bigger than a good-sized living room. It must have been hell working in there, firing cannons and such. We can't forget the New York City trip; which included a visit to the 1964 World's Fair. I can still see images from that experience; the big metal globe at the entrance, the "It's a Small World After All" pavilion which, after the fair, was moved to Disneyland. The GE pavilion with the rotating kitchens, the underground house, the "futurama ride". Cool stuff. I can still smell the salt water taffy on the Atlantic City boardwalk. The Beatles first movie "Hard Day's Night" was playing on one of the piers there--I remember watching part of it. Rumor had it we just missed Ed Sullivan on the pier. We had a hotel room high up in one of the "smaller" skyscrapers. Our first real HOTEL room, and 60 floors up to boot!. These are heady experiences for a young teenager. I would not like to drive in NYC. I would prefer to let the taxi driver do the driving. But Mom handled it. With a car full of kids to boot. I thank Mom for these exposures to things beyond Hornell and the small little world of a small town teenager. And I thank Dad too because if he hadn't stayed home to take care of the house and business, we would not have been able to go. And I thank Gram too; they are all are part of these experiences. I am what I am today because of them. We took many day-trips. The parades, picnics, amusement parks, historical sites, and natural wonders we experienced are still vivid in my memory. Our weekly visits to Lake Demons, or to Grams were highlights of our youth. Yes, we had a good time growing up. We would spend many an evening just sitting around playing board games or cards. We all learned how to play Hearts and Oh Hell very early. We must have had fun because most of the time we ended up in giggling fits. Then Dad would come in from the other room and give us that look and say something sarcastic, and of course that would just make everyone giggle more.