15 CENT’ERS: Right before Easter, Betty Fink of Lafayette gave
us a flashback to one of those old stores we’ve been writing about,
McCrory’s. Betty showed us a couple colorful metal Easter baskets
which had been used in her family for a couple generations. The
baskets date back to the early 1940s, she tells us. The price tag
is still on them. The amount? A whopping 15 cents!

ON PATROL: Becky Yunkun of Laurel, Md., writes: “I enjoy reading
about the days of yore in Bradford. I remember that everyone of the
nine children in my family served as a safety patrol. We would
stand on corners to cross other students to safety with a wooden
pole with a red flag on the end!”

“Some mornings were way below zero but we always were on those
corners snow or rain, not too much in the way of shine!

“We were rewarded after serving two years as a patrol with a
trip to Washington, D.C., to march in a parade on Pennsylvania
Avenue.

“I now teach fourth grade in Maryland and my students absolutely
love hearing about my school days and growing up in a wonderful
town like Bradford.”

FRETZ NOTES: Kristie Bentley of Virginia Beach, Va., writes,
“The article on Fretz students snowshoeing reminded me of gym class
at Bradford High. Sophomores ice-skated, juniors snow-shoed, and
seniors learned to cross-country ski.”

“My favorites were ice skating and skiing. Oh, at first I hated
the skiing because it made my legs hurt something fierce. But as I
mastered the art, I learned to love the grace and economy of motion
that is cross-country skiing.

“And as a side note while we are on the subject of skating, I
miss Evan’s Rollerdrome. My mother, sister and I spent many a happy
Saturday attending the lesson and the free skate afterwards. And I
remember many Friday nights throughout my Junior High school years
at Evan’s.

“And once you learn to skate on a wooden floor, nothing else is
the same. I’ve skated on the coated concrete floors and you don’t
get the glide as you do on wood. In fact, I used to use my mother’s
old skates and they had wooden wheels.

“Oh, how I long to hear that funky organ music we used to skate
to.”