Talk:Whitestown, New York

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Hello to all reading the "Whitestown, New York" Wikipedia entry.

The few years I spent growing up in this wonderful area and the Mohawk Valley were some of the best years of my life. As I grew older I would often think of times past there. Good times. It was a bad time when my father's employment forced another relocation. Being the 'New Kid' all the time can be tough on a youngster. But this time was different as the family had stayed put for a couple of years. I had made some GOOD friends. I was about to join the local Boy Scouts troop and was looking forward to attending the Parkway School. This move hurt. In the years right after the move I often thought of the friends I'd left behind. Especially my BEST friend Danny. Of course, as time passes, memories fade and we move on. But one special memory of that last summer would just come to mind every once in a while.

FADE IN... Danny gave me that SMILE. The one that usually meant trouble was not far behind. (Danny and I seemed to take turns at coming up with such ideas.) He laid out the plan and soon ... Now you have to promise not to tattle on us ... Danny and I had snuck our way into the traveling circus - carnival really - that showed up every year. We each had a dollar which was BIG money in those days. The idea was .50 cents for LOTS of candy and .50 cents for games. We proceeded to play the ring toss, break the balloons (darts) and pitch the ball at the bottles. Within 15 minutes we had each won a cheap 5 cent 'trophy' for our .50 cents. In our youthful innocence we couldn't have been happier! We took in all the usual sights such as the sword swallower, the bearded lady and tried but failed to sneak into the hoochie - coochie show! The (fatso) carny that caught us tried to chase us down but to no avail. We were truly fleet of foot in those days. We both got pretty sick from eating ALL our candy on the way home too. What a GLORIOUS day!

FADE OUT.... I'm in Utica about 7 years ago when the fates conspired for a chance meeting of Danny and I after nearly 50 years. I was speaking to my wife when a couple walked toward us. The man (with a head of sparse gray hair) walked up to me (also with sparse gray hair) and just SMILED. I recognized him IMMEDIATELY! First we shook hands then we actually HUGGED one another right there in front of everybody. I introduced him to my wife as my BEST friend. He poured on the charm and had my wife laughing like a school girl within 30 seconds. We talked for a while more trying to catch up on a half century. What the fates do for a man they also do to him. I had only about an hour to get to the O.C. Airport to catch our flight. Danny and I exchanged phone numbers and addresses with invites to get together whenever we could. I mentioned that if he came to visit our area during the summer we could maybe ... sneak into the Ringling Bros. Circus? He just SMILED. In that INSTANT we were just two little Whitestown boys all over again ... making plans!

WHITESTOWN BOY

PS For the life of me I can't remember the NAME of that traveling circus/carnival. Also, the plot of land where the circus set up had a name too. Anybody remember that? ... I must be having a 'senior' moment!

WHITESTOWN BOY 10:33, 29 June 2007 (UTC)