We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. T. S. Eliot
Now in retirement, I pause and remember a place and people and a way of life that was inspirational in my journey through life. In this journal it is hoped to recall something of local events and times during my formative years.
Thank You Niagara...
My Dad, Andrew, migrated to Niagara from Oklahoma in the 1920’s. Like so many people at that time, he heard there were jobs available in that area. He specifically was told that by his Uncle, Frank Brynak, who lived in Breitung and worked at the Ford Motor plant. But when my Dad arrived, there were no jobs to be had at the Ford plant. Someone told him about Kimberly Clark Paper Mill in Niagara so he went there and was hired the same day. His three brothers, Ed, Midge and Joe followed shortly afterward. As a result I grew up surrounded by cousins. My maternal grandparents, Frank and Mary Wodenka, lived halfway up the hill in back of our house. The hill was known at that time as Wodenka’s hill. I skied down that hill many times. There was no ski lift to take us back up. We would just trek back up the hill in snow up to our waists and think nothing of it. We would build a ski jump and have our own little tournaments. All the kids in the neighborhood would join in and the Dads’ would officiate. My cousin, Therese was really good and could jump as far as any boy. There was Jimmy Durand, Dougie Maes, Jimmy Heisenfeldt, Jan Bovee, Jerry Waitrovich, Larry Waitrovich and others that I can’t remember off hand. My cousin Therese and I were the only girls.
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