Do you remember when Berwick and Morgan City had an abundance of China-ball, pomegranate and persimmon trees? What happened to them? Martel Campus has a China-ball tree in Morgan City – beautiful in the spring with purple blossoms and a delightful smell. The Berwick walking trail presently also has one.
Do you remember when there was a large tree, with wide-spreading branches in the Berwick graveyard? It was a beautiful walnut tree and every year it would bear and we would gather walnuts – until someone cut it down.
Remember when Toodle Fortune named his boat the “Go Take Her?” He named it this because everybody wanted to borrow her and Toodle would say, “Go Take Her!”
Do you remember Lester Lasseigne, who was married to Adele Mahfouz? They were a beautiful couple! They used to come to the movies for every change of pictures at the theater where I worked. Lester’s trousers were always starched to perfection. The are just devoted to each other.
Do you remember Mrs. Fanguay’s Grocery Store on California Street in Berwick? She raised her would family of six children with that little store. She raised a nice group of children that everybody liked.
Remember the Bradley’s in Glenwild? The would come to the post office in Berwick in an old model-T Ford, with solid rubber tires. If Mr. Bradley drover over 10 miles an hour, Mrs. Bradley would poke him with an umbrella to slow him down.
Did you know that my wife, Ruth, when shopping one day in Morgan City in the late “30s with her stepfather Mr. K.A. Karam? Mr. Karam was driving and Ruth asked him to stop at the Dime Store. He pulled in and, instead of pressing on the brakes, he stepped on the accelerator. The went over the sidewalk, through the show window and into the store. Ruth rolled her window down and the clerk said, “May I help you?” Ruth replied, “Yes, find me a hole to crawl in!”
Now you Auxiliary Ladies at Lakewood Hospital, don’t’ tease Ruth too much about this.
Do you remember Captain Newton of Morgan City? He came over to Berwick to play the horses in the Bookie Shop, run by Tony Pattie. Captain Newton was listening to the race on Ticker-Tape, and his horse was in the lead by a “neck” all the way, almost. Captain Newton was a big man, by the way. He became so excited, started jumping up and down until the floor gave way and he went through the floor. It took about four men to pull him out. His horse lost the race too.
* The End *