Back in Time

[Rockbridge]

Once in a while I reflect on earlier times, as I suppose everyone does. During some of these reflections, it’s not hard to see, in my mind's eye, a picture of my Grandfather, dressed in bib overhauls and wearing a weathered 1930's era hat, standing on Lexington's main street, carrying on a conversation with another man across the street. I have no recollection of specific topics of these short conversations, but I do remember the 1950's ford and chevy sedans whizzing past as the two men raised their voices to overcome the sound of whining gears and motor noise. Lexington was the heart beat of the county then, and I suppose it still is today. On a farm located several miles from this Historic Virginia town, I spent a lot of summers during my youth, working in hay fields during the day, milking cows in the evenings and sleeping under a tin roof that made one of the best sounds in the world when it rained. After spending a hot summer’s day in the sun, my Grandfather and my Grandmother and I would sit on the front porch and look out across the valley to catch the glint of the setting sun, shining off of a car, traveling along the Sky Line Drive. These were some of the most peaceful and secure times of my life and I thought they would last forever. Little did I know about the horrors that lay ahead, in a very short progression of time, which would sever this existence forever, erasing it, as though it never was, except for the dim recollections in my mind.

[resigned]

What beatiful reflections----they almost parallel to mine. I grew up in the Ozark Mountains and spend lots of time with my Grandparents. They lived right across the pasture from our home. I believe Grandparents have a great deal of influence on our lives. So sorry to hear you had some bad times following. You mentioned the horrors. While I went through some difficult times growing up (still growing up) I felt they all helped to make me the person I am today. I remember my Mom telling me when I was struggling with a particular difficult time that I was metal being forged into steel. I would tell her I didn't need any more forging.

My Grandfather wore those bib overalls also

[Rockbridge]

Thanks for the kind words.

[Rockbridge]

Horror is a very subjective term, I suppose, depending on the sensibilities of those who use the word. What would be considered a horrible act to most folks, could and probably would mean nothing to a psychopath. I am not trying to describe that type of horror (see my last posting). The kind of horror I am trying to describe here is one which can follow suddenly, after years of struggling to arrive at a temping plateau. It is the horror preceded by a mindset of self sufficiency. It is ushered in by an ever increasing notion, which suggests tomorrow will be just as good as today. The welcoming corridor of our brain invites this type of horror, by telling us that we have made it through the tough times and now we have more than enough to see us through this present time.

My Grandfather’s horror was initiated by a stroke. The horror, itself, was spending his remaining years watching what he had worked so hard for, during the depression years, be destroyed. The farm was sold and the great hardwoods, including the giant walnut trees, which he treasured, were stripped from the land. Apartment buildings for college students were built next to the farm house, desecrating the old home place forever.

[MissTheRC]

Hi all, longtime casual reader, first-time poster.

Most of the threads here focus on current events, politics, philosophical musings, what-have-you. I thought I would start a thread just to see generally what is it that others think makes Lex/Rbridge a special place. I was born at SJH and grew up in the county, have been gone for about 5 years now doing the push-off-getting-a-job-as-long-as-possible school thing. I often find myself missing the area terribly, regularly checking up on the NG and RW's websites and trying to keep up with the goings on. I love the times when I get a chance to come back, but find that most of my peers have moved on elsewhere and that is sad to me, though I can't say I blame most of them for trying to make something of themselves.

So what is it about Rockbridge that makes it such a special place to you? What is your favorite part about the area? Least favorite part? Were you raised here or are you a newcomer? If an oldtimer, what kept you around? If new, what brought you here and made you want to stay? My aim here is to create a light-hearted thread for all of us to reflect on our hometown/new hometown/place we've taken a fancy to/etc. Feel free to throw in some interesting personal anecdotes. I look forward to reading the responses.

[Wise One]

Thanks for the stimulating and innovative posting.

You say you were "born in SJH." I was born in the original, Stonewall Jackson's actual house, which was the town hospital for years.

Here's some of the good stuff:

• As a kid I loved spelunking in the county's many caves, almost all now closed off by the goddamn lawyers and owners fiercely shouting "it's mine, go away!"
• I loved hiking the hills and swimming the streams. Still do, although the streams are degrading rapidly.
• I loved the characters of the town, who seemed more vivid and real and "out there" than those we see today. For example,
• KAT (Kenneth Thompson) taught high school and inspired me to science and mathematics, nice, although he also betrayed a shocking mean streak. I'd been the yearbook's photographer the year before. He assumed and stated that I'd be doing it again. When I meekly asked if I couldn't, instead, write and edit to broaden my experience, he exploded, threw me out of the room, and forbade me to work on any publication in any capacity.
• Art Silver, nearly the only Jew in town, regaled boys with tales and jokes and routines from his Vaudeville days, and taught us that girlie magazines exist.
  I never tired of a joke he told a thousand times, "I was walking down Main Street when this bum came up and asked me for money. I screamed at him, GO AWAY! I'm working this side of the street!"
• Willie Shields was seen every day, all day, walking the streets of Lexington collecting stuff people threw away. I delivered the morning newspaper to his house, once peeked inside, and saw that every cubic inch of interior volume was packed with junk accumulated over the years.
• You could still walk and camp freely nearly anywhere without selfish and inhospitable landowners chasing you away. I remember being approached on a camping trip up in the hills by honest to god Moonshiners hawking their wares.
• I learned some of my best moves at Hulls Drive-In.
• Every kid walked or biked to school.

And here's some of the bad stuff:

• It was mean back then, segregated schools, prejudice was open and raw, and many blacks stepped off the sidewalk into the gutter to yield to whites walking by. White/colored signs were everywhere. Blacks were required to sit in the balcony of the local movie theaters.
• There was a military draft. It was understood and accepted as normal that Mrs. Price, the head of the draft board, would see that no son of the rich, powerful and connected in Lexington would be touched by the draft. She delivered.
• "Religious instruction" appeared in the public schools. My Dad thought this to be unconstitutional and arranged for me to sit in study hall during those times. I had only one partner in avoidance, the Catholic kid, whose parents objected to the protestant nature of the instruction. Naturally, my Dad's position was affirmed by the Supreme Court.
• During the desegregation of Virginia's schools, conservatives rammed through their "massive resistance" campaign. One particularly obnoxious feature was a State grant of money to parents wanting to send their kids to private schools, thereby enabling them to stay 'way from them colored folk. My Dad figured out how to screw the bastards, took the money for two of his kids, and used it to send his children to northern integrated private schools! He predicted the system would collapse, and it did.
• Only a few people had TV sets. We didn't. Wait, maybe that was the good stuff.

[Amy Probenski]

Here is a collection of of old photographs in the Rockbridge area from way back.

I love these old photographs!

Note: photo not there any more.
And here's a wonderful photo of a covered bridge in Lexington, with VMI in the background. There should be enough information in the photo to figure out where it was taken, but I can't quite make it out. Is it perhaps at the location of the old railroad station?

[coondog]

Amy

Thanks for the "wonderful photo". I haven't seen that one before. The perspective is from what is now the northern end of the East Lexington bridge.The Beechenbrook Chapel and Stono are recognizable on the far left. Most of the closer structures (now gone) are on what is now Jordan Point Park. Old Rt. #39 on the right looks fairly new. I wonder...is that a canal boat under the bridge? I don't know who those two guys are, but from the hat, that might be Wise One on the right.

Coondog

Somehow, it all looked better then than it does now.

[Juggler]

When I was a boy, my mother would send me down to the corner store with a $1, and I’d come back with -

5 bags of potatoes
2 loaves of bread
3 pints of milk
a hunk of cheese
a box of tea
and 6 eggs

You can’t do that any more. Too damn many security cameras.

[crux]

...and your momma turned the blind eye?

[Neck-aint-red]

So many things, formerly useful, have faded away. Buggy whips, 8-track tape players, LP vinyl records, pay phones, fountain pens.

It is now time for the Post Office to go bye-bye. Analyses of the customer base, the revenue stream, the nature of mail pieces, the competition ... all point to the imminent death of the Post Office.

Sigh, she served us well. But now she's got to go.

[Rockbridge]

Looking back is sometimes good and sometimes bad. Either way, it generates sensations, which are usually not rooted in reality, so much, as our perception of reality. That perception is based on what we place value on at the time.

Values change. Life is fluid. However, my perception of Rockbridge County, as being the most beautiful place on earth, has never changed. My memories of driving on the Skyline Drive in a snow storm, from Lexington to Waynesboro, have never faded. At the time, I was a 19 years old conscript, slated, to become cannon fodder, for the aspirations of corrupt political minds. The snow accumulating on the Parkway was a silent cleansing flurry of refreshing, purifying, whiteness to my miserable soul. The visual beauty of the Shenandoah Valley below gave breath taking substance to all that was right on the earth, in spite of presumed horrors looming in the most desolate portions of my subconscious being.

There would have been no other place on earth I would have rather been at that time, thinking that I was surely looking at it for the last time. There is no place on earth I would rather be today.

[Sean323]

Hello, I am looking for any information, stories and anecdotes anyone might have on my grandfather, Thomas F. Kennan MD, my grandmother Helen Kennan, their children Tom and Myra, and their housekeeper Pearl. My grandfather lived in Raphine from around 1930-1980. His address in Raphine was 54 Doc Hill, just off Raphine Rd. I am writing a book on my family history to be passed down to future generations. My Grandfather was a country doctor who had his practice attached to his house. He made house calls and traveled all over the region taking care of people. He delivered over 3000 babies in and around Raphine and surrounding areas during those 50+ years. My grandmother passed away in 1980 and my grandfather passed away in 1988. They are both buried in the Mt. Carmel Church cemetary in Steeles Tavern. My father, Tom is 82 and doing well. I just visited Raphine and their old house 2 days ago after 32 years. On that day I also visited my Aunt Myra (Earhart) and her son Patrick whom I have not seen in 32 years. Also on that day I visited with Jane S. Kennan of Staunton, my Grandfathers' second wife, whom he married in 1980 and whom I have not seen since the mid 80's. That was a very interesting day.

You can post a reply to my message here, or you can email me. My email address is: sckennan41@comcast.net.

Thank you.

Sean Kennan