Margeet became a Den Mother for a cub scout den that Dave joined. Dave was an outdoor type of kid and enjoyed the Cub Scout activities. Soon I was involved as an assistant pack leader, taking the group on hikes and sleeping out overnight in Indian tents, and cooking our breakfast the next morning before hiking back. We also helped Dave with his Downhill Derby car for the annual race. Some Saturdays we would join in their newspaper collection to raise money for the pack which was sponsored by the Presbyterian Church, which she had joined.
Most of the supervision on the job was from out of town; some found local housing and others made an eight-hour commute back home to Pittsburgh for the weekends. Stan Hosmer and his wife liked social gatherings and organized many adult parties and picnic group events which included the children.
On many summer weekends, we would pack up picnic supplies and visit Fairhaven or Selkirk Shores State Park for an afternoon outing on their sandy beaches. Dave and I would usually take along fishing poles to try our luck.
The second summer there I started playing golf again. Along with John Sento and Ted Hojo (whose father had built my folks’ house in 1927), we would play at Battle Creek State Park near the town of Fulton.
My most vivid memory of playing there was an afternoon when an eclipse of the sun occured in the afternoon. As the sky darkened and the light faded, John said, “I think God is sending me a message that I shouldn’t fudge on my golf score. I really had a seven on that last hole where I marked down a five!”
We had many relatives visiting us at our cabin during our three summers there. The Kellers visited us several summers, mainly I think, because Dad loved the bass and perch fishing. Lou, Carm and Lonny visited us one summer for a day and we had dinner at the hotel looking out over the lake.
John and Erma Stevenson drove up for a stay at our house, and took Margeet and the kids for a trip through upper New York, visiting Lake Placid, the “North Pole,” the Eisenhower Lock on the St. Lawrence Seaway, and other sites along the way.
The Butlers, on their annual summer camping trips from their home in Brookville, PA, visited us along the lake several times. The most vivid memory of the Butler’s visiting is the year they camped at Selkirk Shores. Dave had gone to stay with them overnight.
They had packed up and driven for about ten miles toward our place when they discovered that Mark was missing. Anne and Dick had counted five kids before starting, but one of the kids was our Dave.. When they drove back, a Park Ranger had Mark, and was waiting at the gate.
In the spring we traded in our old car for a new, small Plymouth station wagon. It was our most popular car, with room for the kids to play around in the back when we took trips occasionally back to Monongahela. At that time, seat belts had just been introduced, but were not on cars as orignal equipment. We had to pay to get them installed.
When we traveled back home to visit during the summers, we made it a practice to stop at a scenic spot near Watkins Glenn in the Finger Lake Area for a picnic in a spot overlooking the extensive grapevines and Seneca Lake.
The second summer at Fifth Street was the one when BJ decided to run away from home. Neither Margeet and I recall the circumstances that upset her, but I remember being in the front yard when she came up to me, carrying a little basket with her favorite doll in it, and told me that she was running away from home. I asked her if she wanted me to go with her. She said no and started walking down the block.
I watched her as she turned at the corner, and by looking through the yards could follow her on the sidewalk of the street below as she walked around the block. I met her as she turned our corner and asked if she was ready to come home. She told me that she would have really run away but she wasn’t allowed to cross the street by herself!
Next to our present spot in South Bend along Crooked Creek, Oswego was our favorite of all the places we have lived. It’s was, and is, a friendly small town, easy to get around in, close to several state park beaches, great fishing, and great lakefront scenery. We probably would have stayed there if I had found the right job opportunity.