HAT TIME: Frances Ohman writes us from East Smethport: “When I
had awakened Easter morning, it brought back memories how I used to
go to New York City on Easter holidays and visit my sister who has
since passed away. We would ride up and down Fifth Avenue watching
the people coming out of church, wearing their Easter finery and
the ladies with their very beautiful hats. I was completely
overwhelmed. It was the Easter parade of fashion. Styles have
changed a great deal since that time.”
“I have worn a hat to church every Sunday of my life since I was
5 years old. A lady asked me one time, ‘Mrs. Ohman, you have so
many hats. I supposed you wear a hat to bed every night.’ I said,
‘I do have a nightcap. It’s usually a stock market cocktail because
it goes down very easily.’ There is only one problem having so many
hats — it’s a hard decision deciding which one to wear.”
MOVING ON: Jim Flynn of Erie takes us to our next major holiday,
Memorial Day. “My mother would not plant anything until Memorial
Day (back when Memorial Day was the 30th of May). It was my job on
Memorial Day to dig up the garden. Fortunately it was small and I
would be finished in time to see the Memorial Day parade on Main
Street.”
“I believe the reason she waited until Memorial Day was from a
trip they made on Memorial Day in 1939. They went out for dinner at
the former Breezy Heights restaurant on Route 219 this side of
Kane. They had moved to Bradford the month before. It snowed! They
wondered, ‘To what kind of place have we moved!’”
To be totally safe, one should really wait until June 10 to
plant in Bradford — that’s no lie. We have a new employee at The
Era who is from Alabama and just went through her first winter in
Bradford. She was wondering in March about planting flowers. Sadly,
we had to disabuse her of that silly notion.
Our very short growing season — among other things — can
certainly put a crimp in any gardener’s style, particularly when
frost is not uncommon in early September. Last year’s unusually wet
summer also dampened the enthusiasm of some gardeners but, as
always, hope springs eternal.
