The Time Machine brings me back to Chancellor Avenue, Newark, New Jersey, circa 1964. Vintage cars like the '62 Oldsmobile Spitfire, 1957 and 1958 Chevy's roamed up and down the street passing The Bunny Hop, The Burgerama, and Dave's Hot Dog Haven. Did we only eat French Fries, hot dogs, and hamburgers? On May 19th, 2005 I had the pleasure of attending the Sunday morning group of boys that used to frequent Chancellor Avenue. This event perpetuates the camaraderie that existed amongst us boys. For some old boys the time machine went back to the 1920's. There were some guys there that were 90 years old. I felt great. I was one of the youngest guys to attend. Wow what a group. There must have been over 200 boys of Chancellor there. All of us used to hang out in the neighborhood. Most of us went to Weequahic High School. Some went to South Side High School, and some guys were from Hillside. Almost all of us played baseball, basketball, softball, or football in our day. The joyousness of the evening created a very loud room. I could not hear myself think at times. I found myself leaning over and placing my ear near someone's mouth to hear what they were saying. I saw a lot of this going on. What made the evening special for me was seeing some of my old buddies that I had not seen in quite some time. In some cases over 20 years. Being able to hug some great guys like Mr Barone, Stanley Levy, Big Jeff Schulman, Joe Marguiles, and Jake Davis made the evening a great night. I felt special because of the special people I was with. This was a great night. |
