Ramblings

I think I will start a file for things like you just sent about how it was. "Things we remember", and start that book for us. I have been trying to entice people to do this.

Mary Hyde you may know is a school teacher in town and will be having her kids involved in a project of interviewing us via e-mail for publication with a school to be shared with an group of Australian of children. It is a world wide project involving a lot of schools. This is the type of questions they are going to be asking. "How it was when we were growing up in the Point."

I remember one time about 15 years ago I was perching in the Tuckahoe, the water was silver with perch. It was not necessary to use bate, they were biting on the shiny hook alone. I was pulling them in so fast that I got excited that on one cast the end of my pole came loose and I castled the other half far out into the creek. The pole half, hook line and sinker became caught on the bottom. Needless to say I lost a very expensive ugly stick and a lot of fish went un-caught.

It was around 7:30 pm and the full tide had just changed. The sky was pink and so was the water. It was just a beautiful experience, all but loosing the pole.

Hope you and the gang have pleasant Thanksgiving. We are going with a group to Yosemite to a lodge for diner. The ride is nice, the scenery beautiful and the food is better. We generally do this to avoid the hassle of it all. Call it senior privileges.

I was in Chick's gas station the night Lou painted the floor gray. I was amazed at the short time it took. He did the complete floor in less than 10 minutes. I am sure it would have taken me all day.

Hi Bills,
Thanks for the "Pix" email. I'm having a bit of a problem opening some pics.

I know the computer is smart, so it must be personal problem. My son Jeff
will be visiting me tomorrow and will possibly get this problem resolved. He
is the one who scanned the pictures which are all from Russ Brook's album.

I thought the 56 Ford was Russ's but believe it
Dick Conover

I've been thinking about the storytellers our family has been known for.
I also realize I don't know the complete versions of most of the stories.
Most stories have variations, depending on who is telling. I guess if you
had to get it exactly right, you wouldn't try to tell it at all!
Thought you might like to read what I wrote about this.
Dick Conover 1999

Yes, I do remember Chicks Station on shore Rd. Sorry I do not have a Photo of
it but with all the things coming in maybe one will show up.

I never could afford a new outboard motor back then, But I did buy two used
outboards off Chick . One was an old Green twenty-five horse Johnson and the
other an eighteen horse Evinrude. It seems that the old Johnson parts could
fit anything and I soon had three or four of them for parts.

And many times I ran the Cricks between Steelman Bay and Scull Bay and also
Broad Thorofare and Sod Thorofare, Mostly in the winter cause back then I
worked the Bay and when I needed a days pay and it was blowing I could always
get out of the wind there.

Looking back on it all now things were tough. I remember one day I had to go
out to make enough to have dinner that night. It was so cold that I took wash
tubs out and filled them with water so the clams would not freeze, I thought
it would be OK. well it froze from the bottom up and it was a block of ice
when I got in. I sold the clams anyway and no one said a word.

I remember trying to race cars at rainbow channel. It was a pretty good run
and we would parallel the bridge and go at it. I never beat one though. I
never had a boat that fast.

And I have watched the sun come up over Longport Bridge and a lot of other
places. When you work the bay you have to beat the sun and the wind. I've
watched the sun come up and down on all our rivers to. That is the place to
be. I remember the duck hunters taken there house boats into the Tuckahoe for
the winter, and the clamers houseboats at Brick Kiln Crick, Ya, I guess I
should write a book.

We hulled the river in the winter and caught perch and catfish, and sometimes
stripers, and also set a large fike net at Champion place just above English
Crick.

It was a great life and I loved it, but, I had a growing family and I had to
get a job to take care of them. So I went to work for the State and stayed
there thirty-five years and I now sneak around all those places with a camera.

I remember Chick Conover had a Clam house in the garage behind his house on
third St. and Les had one later at the piers on Bay Ave. Also Lou Talman had a clam
house at one time on Shore Rd.

Bill Carr 1999
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I started this message when Rich Conover asked If there was anyone that had
known Chick or had done business with him. I did not finish this but was
going to untill I heard Chick had passed on. I decided not to send this but
after thinking it over I've decided to send it now.

This message was never completed at that time and still is not. I will go on
with this at another time. There are just to many people in Somers Point that
have no knowledge of the Heritage of the town.

I guess what we recall brings out more memories for others. I do have a lot
to say and I really was not finished with the ramblings but it seemed enough
for now. And I look at the people in this town today, and they have no idea
how small this town was. And I think that they should know, I wonder, do they
know how many houses were on the West side of New Road, Etc.
Bill Carr 1999

Bill,
Thanks for sharing your recollections. I'm glad to see that our letter to the Pointers struck a responsive chord.
I believe you are right about the heritage of the town.
It is special and deserves remembering. I'm always a little reluctant to express what I recall, because I feel I am restricted to my own memories and may not accurately tell the story. Let's keep on talking and sharing pictures! Every time we lose someone like my Dad, we lose a little of the flavor of our town history.

Russ Brooks sent two interior views of the station. My son Jeff scanned them and I think Bill has them now. Maybe we'll see them online soon.
Keep taking those pictures of our memories!
Rich Conover 1999