Don - Your airplane message made me laugh. When my dad was about 6, my grandfather's brother took him up in one of those planes at the Lincoln RI airport. My grandmother is 87 and to this day, when she talks about it, she is still angry. She was absolutely furious to think her brother in law would do such a reckless thing with her child. The airstrip in Mendon is still there, sort of. When I first moved here, they used to have a flea market in the huts that were on the property. Now, there is a business there that sells granite and other stone - for counter tops and things like that. They built a strip mall there, along Rt 16. One of the businesses, Airport video, has some postcards and news clippings about the airport in their entry way. If you have a photo anywhere of that merry go round at Lakeview, let me know. There are all sorts of people in Mendon who would love to see it. Lisa ----- Original Message ----- From: "Don Barnes" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, March 08, 2006 7:21 PM Subject: Re: [MAWORCES] Dear Old Mendon > How I remember old Mendon. > > I have not seen Nipmuck Part since I was ten years old when my > family moved to Georgia with one of the first "Yankee" mills to move > south. I am 81 now so what I remember has been aged for 71 years. > > I remember my first airplane ride from the Mendon Airport. Yes, > Mendon had an airport. Actually an air strip. Well, maybe a grass > field just off the Uxbridge / Mendon road. > > I was five years old at the time because the barmstorm pilot required > that all passengers must be five years old before they could go up in > his open cockpit biplane. The flight schedule was simple - Saturdays > and Sundays on warm dry days. Return trip was to where you took off > from. > > I remember when we climbed into the front cockpit and the pilot got > into the rear seat, that I was afraid that the pilot would not be > able to see when we was going. > > When we go aloft and looked down I asked my father, "Is God up > here?". Or at least that is what he told later. Actually I don't > remember saying anything. > > At Nipmuck Park the thing I remember best was the merry-go-round. > It had a slotted arm that was loaded with metal rings. If you stood > on the edge of the wheel and held on to one of the vertical poles > (and you were tall enough) you could stick your hand and perhaps > snag a ring. If the ring was brass you got the next ride free - a > wonderful prize. If the ring was plain old metal, you were suppose > to throw it into a bin that had a big mesh bag to catch it. Then the > rings were loaded back into the arm. The brass rings were bright and > shiny so grabbers and spectators could see when a winner was in the > slot. > > I believe that the streetcars quit running to Mendon in the late > twenty's or early thirties when a flood on the Blackstone River took > out the bridge and tracks that were never replaced. > > Since I remember these things from seventy years ago so well, how > come I can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning. > > Don Barnes - Winston Salem, NC > > P.S. My grandmother was an Albee from Horse Corners > > > ==== MAWORCES Mailing List ==== > To UNsub go here: > http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/usa/MA/worcester.html > >