ROSCOE REUNION REVIVES GOLDEN MEMORIES.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
``On the last day of the year in 1948, the town of Roscoe was history and Sun Valley was born. The memories remain of a time when hearts were light, work was scarce, but needs were few, and dreams of someday some·day adv. At an indefinite time in the future. Usage Note: The adverbs someday and sometime express future time indefinitely: We'll succeed someday. Come sometime. owning your home and just making your way paramount. ``There was no television, and radios were scarce, so your neighbors, friends and socials were important to daily living. It's it's 1. Contraction of it is. 2. Contraction of it has. See Usage Note at its. it's it is or it has it's be ~have our roots we cling to Verb 1. cling to - hold firmly, usually with one's hands; "She clutched my arm when she got scared" hold close, hold tight, clutch hold, take hold - have or hold in one's hands or grip; "Hold this bowl for a moment, please"; "A crazy idea took hold of and acquaintances of these years that form the importance of our Roscoe Reunion Reunion Arafat, Mt . Adam and Eve met here after 200 years. [Muslim Legend: Berra, 44] chickweed flower symbolizing a rejoining. [Flower Symbolism: Jobes, 322] Esau and Jacob after many years, they are reconciled. [O.T. to each of us who were part of that era.'' --- from a reunion keepsake booklet. They have grown old together, these elementary and high school friends who gather today in Santa Susana Santa Susana can refer to several places:
They gather to celebrate a time when there was no television, radios were scarce and your neighbors, friends and socials were so important to daily living. Many of the men fought in World War II together. Men like Jack Forsch, who still works at his dad's store - Roscoe Hardware - after 45 years, and his pal Ernie Ernie Noun (in Britain) a machine that randomly selects winning numbers of Premium Bonds [acronym of Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment] ERNIE n abbr (BRIT McKinley, still opening the doors six mornings a week at McKinley Shoe Repair in North Hollywood. They are all in their 80s now and have developed bonds stronger than steel. That's why it is so important, this annual social where the kids who went to Roscoe Grammar School together back in the '30s continue to cling to their roots. They might have lost their town's name when it changed from Roscoe to Sun Valley, but they haven't lost touch with each other. ``Every year we get to see the people we were school kids with more than 60 years ago, and our grandkids get a little history lesson,'' McKinley says. ``You stand back and watch it all, and it puts a lump in your throat.'' A lump in your throat. Exactly, says Sue Saracino, who organizes the social every year. ``We were all in the same boat as kids growing up in Roscoe, trying to survive the Great Depression and find jobs,'' she says. ``If you had one, you were a king, and it didn't matter what kind of job it was. You took work where you could find it. ``Jack found it in hardware; Ernie as a shoe cobbler. Louie Visco started out in the rubbish business; the Courtney boys helped their dad plow plow or plough, agricultural implement used to cut furrows in and turn up the soil, preparing it for planting. The plow is generally considered the most important tillage tool. the fields and build Roscoe Park.'' The work was hard, the hours long, but they wouldn't trade those years for anything, Paul Courtney says. ``People had nothing but each other,'' he says. ``We didn't have cars or TVs. We just hung out in the park together, went to school together, then went off to fight a war together. ``A lot of us raised families in this area together, and now we've grown old together, still friends,'' Courtney says. ``I'd say we were pretty lucky.'' He'll get no argument about that from any of the Roscoe veterans, who look around at kids today and see more affluence but less personal freedom. ``The kids today have so many more material things than we ever had, but, gosh, they've lost so much, too,'' Saracino says. ``We walked the streets, played in the fields and had total freedom, never worrying about the dangers today's kids have to face out there with all the violence,'' she said. Over at Roscoe Hardware, one of the oldest and last family-owned hardware stores in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , 83-year-old Jack Forsch was waiting on some longtime long·time adj. Having existed or persisted for a long time: a longtime friend; a longtime resident of Detroit. longtime Adjective customers Friday morning, telling them to stop by the social today which goes until 6 p.m. There will be rides for the kids, plenty to eat and more memories flying around the park than you can shake a stick at, Forsch said. Memories of a time when Sun Valley was called Roscoe, and neighbors, friends and socials were important to daily living. When hearts were light, work was scarce, but needs were few. Great memories told by kids who stayed close over the years and grew old together. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Jack Forsch, 83, still works at Roscoe Hardware, one of the oldest in the Valley. Hans Gutknecht/Daily News |
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