I love Iowa. I am glad my family movcd to newton when I was 3. They were looking for a town of about 10-12000. Indianola, Ankeny and Newton were the 3 finalists. My folks decided on Newton. Its interesting that Indianola are still the same size. Not Ankeny.
In the summer, Newton meant Lemonade in the shade. Ridiculous days (which were acxtually pretty cool). Time at maytag park. glad to see some of the old swings and items to jump on are still at the playground. the old popcorn stand by jupiter. choices... popcorn or a sno-cone... tough decision.
In the winter, it was seeing santa ringing the bell and of course the courthouse being lit up so big and bright we could see it from the interstate or from the colfax exit on I 80. Cheap winter entertainment also was going to high school basketball games and cheering on the cardinals. I wanted to be one of those kids.
The mall was cool too. It wasn't big but it could host a mean craft fair, or antique show. ahhh the old steakhouse. good food, until it almost burned the mall down.
Living by railroad tracks, my dad and I would walk down to the tracks and watch the trains go by. I would try to get a caboose wave. at times we were lucky and a passenger train or a circus train would go by. Now I also lived by the old bus station, but that was too close to skid row. I wasn't allowed to go by there.
I also had to have supervision when going to the old toys store since it was next to the shamrock bar. too dangerous. my argument was that hey the greasy pizza house ran by my neighbor dorothy was there. no.
Newton was a cool town to bike ride around. growing up that was fun. I had some mishaps though. Like on the way home from Jimmy Linden's house and I took the back way to avoid Trevor Langston's dog. Great Idea as the back way lead me into a guard rail and crashing my bike. Bruised ego and a lot of scrapes.
or the time I was biking to school in 9th grade. On 2nd ave I was admiring old Maytag plant one. that building is now DMACC. The thing seemed so cool. I just admired it. I forgot to look ahead and rode straight into the back of a pickup. Someone got a good laugh I am sure. I looked around to see if the coast was clear. the worst part was trying to unwedge my front tire from the pickup.
ahhh at least I can still get a haircut at the rialto.
In the last 30 years. there have been 4 different locations for Hy-Vee.
I wish they still had Henry's Hamburgers. and sirloin stockade.
Country Kitchen actually might have been my favorite place. They had coins to collect as a kid to turn in for cool toys. that was a goal in life. get cool toys. In a way, that mantra lives today.
What do you remember from Newton in your youth?
Chuck, the toy store you are referring to was the Toy Chest. My grandparents owned the dry cleaner around the corner. The Toy Chest had the coolest illluminated case with European die cast cars. The bus stop was at the Churchill Hotel. My dad or my uncle still have a sign from the building. We had great fast food in Newton, Nemo's sub sandwiches, A&W, Tastee Freese, Ken'sPizza. You cannot forget the arcades. Ground Control. The one at the mall and another one by the Dairy Queen. Newton was a great place to grow up when during our generation.
ReplyDeleteBrandon