'60's Winter Memories

It has been a really long time since my last post. The winter season has renewed my interest in writing so I'll continue with memories of activities popular when I was in elementary school.

Winter clothes were a challenge, especially for little kids. Snow pants, boots, hats, scarves, heavy coats...it was hard to move around with all of those items on. The back of Hoosac St School was one giant playground and we used every inch for sliding down the icy slight slope. At recess, we formed lines and we would run and slide with our boots, trying to keep standing the whole time. The challenge was to stay on your feet and not fall onto your rear end. Of course, all of the padding in the snow pants helped.

One grandmother lived at the top of Victory St. Sometimes we would take our flexible flyers or big flat pieces if cardboard to her house and slide down the alley in back all the way to Summer St. Of course, that was pretty dangerous and we only did that when the snow was fresh and not icy. My other grandmother lived halfway up Alger St. Across the street from her house was a giant hill that, on the backside, overlooked Rt 8 south to Cheshire. It was an awesome sledding hill and was one of our favorite places to go. We had flexible flyers, coasters, a jack jumper, and a toboggan. My brothers, cousin, and I would spend all day there. You really had to be careful not to land in the gully though. There was a small wet swampy area at the bottom of the hill that had a dry bridge area in the middle. You had to aim for that bridge or you would land in the wet and have to go home to dry off.

The best place to go in town was 8th hill at the Adams Country Club. It was a steep sledding area that had a couple of bumps at the bottom which acted like small ski jumps. Everyone in town went to 8th hill and on a nice sunny day, half the kids in town would be there. The hill became icy with so much use and the sleds would really be flying down the hill. Jack jumpers were popular with many kids. A jack jumper was a short ski with a post and a seat. The person sat on the seat and balanced all the way down the hill, using his legs to slow down or stop. It was scary until you became accustomed to balancing and staying on the seat. Toboggans were great fun too, the more kids on the toboggan, the faster it went.

Adams had some great outdoor skating rinks: Renfrew Field, Fisk Street, Howland Ave, PNA field. Free fun if you had skates to use. Some fields had concession stands for hot cocoa and a pot belly stove for warmth. We took advantage of all and loved every minute!