Summertime In Enid
The grass is turning brown, the wind has slowed to a breeze, the temperatures are nearing 100 degrees and the locusts are filling the air with such a loud noise that it almost drowns out the planes flying overhead. What does this all mean? We are in full summer mode in Enid.With temps nearing 100 degrees it was nice to see this thunderstorm almost reach Enid this morning. Unfortunately it continued to build south and then moved east.
There's nothing much better than thinking back to summers past in Enid, Oklahoma. There was the splashing at Champlin Pool, the train whistle at Meadowlake Park, getting cold drinks at Somewhere, A&W and Sonic. Remember getting double dip scoops at 31 Flavors on Maine? What about catching tadpoles while trudging through boggy creek?
I remember sliding down boxes on the hill behind Taco Bueno when it was just a field and wondering if there was going to be some hippie hanging out at the Bird Sanctuary. I also remember sneaking into the drive-ins to see the worst B-movies ever made. Speaking of movies, remember when all of the theaters were downtown? How about the huge water slide north of town?
If you're young you need to enjoy today, because these are the "good old days" you're going to miss 20 years from now!
What do you remember about summertime in Enid?


















6 Comments:
I remember going for a swim at Phillips University pool, walking to Stone's grocery store for penny candy, playing outside till after dark. Loved growing up in Enid.
Summers of the late 50s I remember cruising from the Dairy Maid on East Maine just under the underpass to Vans Drive-in where Walgreens is now. Dairy Maid had the best ice in the world. (we went back and forth a zillion times a night) High school kids hung out at Dairy Maid and boys from the base could always be found parked at Vans.(Vance didn't have any military females until the mid-70s). You could cruise all evening on 50 cents worth of gas! We spent a lot of evenings sitting on the steps of the old Carnegie Library, swimming at Champlins, going to the outdoor drive-in theaters, or movies at the Esquire or Chief movie theaters downtown. There were lots of backyard parties with tons of watermelon and burgers. Who remembers Lake Hellums or Nine Mile Canyon? Who knows which street was Lahoma Road and that just past Cleveland to the west, was almost in the country? My grandmother and her brothers owned farmland which is now where the mall is.
I remember the Tastee Freeze on South Van Buren. They had an ice cream truck that made it's way down Ponca every day during the summer warbling an unsteady melody. My friends and I would beg for quarters from our moms to buy chocolate sundaes, popsicles or drumsticks. No ice cream ever tasted better!
LOL... Karen stole my memories completely!! I loved Stone's and the PU pool! I'll just add going to Bob's Cone Corner for a lime Coke and being in the library's summer reading program. And late in the summer nothing was more bittersweet than going to Vater's. I just loved the smell in there, but hated what it meant!!
Rhonda how could I forget Bob's Cone Corner? Do remember Edward's grocery store? They had penny candy there too. One time on the way home from Edward' my sis stepped on a ketchup packet laying in the street, it squirted my little brothers shirt. When we got home our mom thought he was bleeding! Scared the wits out of her. I remember Vater's well. Back then that was the only place to get school supplies.
I've been looking for copies of old photos from Lake Hellums, hoping grannyann can help! I went there only a couple times as a little kid, but still have vivid memories! My favorite Enid "high old times" were going to the County Fair (to show sheep and lurk under the grandstands) and going to the big Tri-State marching bands parade.
Post a Comment
<< Home