I remember Denison in its hey day,
and the intense excitement on cold Christmas mornings
Golden Rule School days
and the fresh wax on its old wooden flooring
I remember Denison in its hey day
and waiting for endless Katy trains to pass
Burns Run summers
and Miss Cook’s history class
I remember Denison in its hey day
when all the factories were running
Dragging Main on Friday nights
with the chrome engines gunning
I remember Denison in its hey day
when eight tracks and mini skirts came along
My first time with the Beatles
and learning all their songs
I remember Denison in its hey day
when all the stores were open
And the barber shops
were thronged with joking
I remember Watsons
and McDaniel Junior High
Saturdays at the Rialto
and the first time I got high
I remember the Safeway plant
where my daddy used to work
Driving down Armstrong Avenue
and buying gas that was pumped by the clerk
I remember Sundays
and eating Ashburn’s Ice Cream
Bomb Shelter drills
and long summer dreams
I remember Sid Maples
and trading for my first good guitar
Fishing in the winter
and heading to Dallas when it seemed so very far
I remember Denison in its hey day
and the first time I fell in love
When smaller pants and shoes
fit me like a glove
I remember Denison in its hey day
and longing to be free
Looking backward brings fresh tears
filling the Denison memory sea
John, this is fantastic. It could be a piece that I wrote. It mirrors my life, as I’m sure it does many other folks. I’ve been many places during my life. I ended up back in Denison. I can’t think of or imagine any other place in this world that I had rather grown up. Denison really was a nice, good town back in those days.
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Also Denison Herald as a paper route, 6b.
Waiting for paper distribution with other carriers using paper bag as protection from numerous rubber band fights. Saturday at the 25 cent Rialto with popcorn in my coke. Two years of delivering 90 papers a day, 6 days a week. Marching Band in the Fall on wet, soggy marching field-wet shoes around the band hall. Practicing during Studyhall in the Band hall 3 years.
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Gary, I also had a Denison Herald route. It was 120 houses in the Cotton Mill area for 18 months. The paper cost 40 cents per week and I got 15 cents. I bought my first guitar with my earning. That was a huge education into the the real world for me, especially the collecting door to door.
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