Compiled by Dave Ongie, News Editor
I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid, the only screen time I got during the summer was the five minutes after breakfast when my mom slathered sunscreen on me and sent me out into the world.
Judging by the responses of our readers to this week’s Facebook question – What did you enjoy doing during summer vacation as a kid that kids nowadays can’t relate to? – I wasn’t alone. In my day, we were free range. We left the house after breakfast and didn’t turn up again until dinnertime at the earliest. The only rule was that we had to be back before the streetlights came on.
One time my mom dropped my brothers and me off at Pine Oaks Golf Course just after breakfast with sack lunches. A little after 10:30, we were out of golf balls, so we hiked to the pro shop to tell her to come back with more ammunition. Instead, she told us to climb down the hill behind the ninth green and restock our supply with wayward golf balls. So we did, and she picked us up around dinnertime.
Our readers had similar stories, which you’ll read below. To answer future questions, be sure to follow us on Facebook: @jcnewsandneighbor.
My best friend and I used to pack a lunch and walk about a mile to the old town’s only cemetery and spent the entire day wandering through the graveyard slowly and reverently reading all the headstones. Some were quite old. Many of the older ones would list the illness that the deceased succumbed to; if not we’d do the math to figure the lifespan and wonder aloud about the length of their life and make up our own stories about them.
Donna Rowland
Riding my bicycle with my best friend through country roads for miles and miles without worries of someone hurting us.
Dianne Silvers
Shooting b.b. guns at Coke cans, and playing pen and paper Dungeons & Dragons.
Mike Murphy
Head directly outside after breakfast, get home before the streetlights kick on.
Jared Bentley
We made homemade go-karts, using wheels off of Big Wheels. They were built out of wood with no motor. Someone drove, someone had to push. Good fun for a few summers in Chicagoland.
David Baldwin
Riding bikes with my friends on 11E in Greene County. It was in the process of being built and only “local” traffic was allowed – which was a car or two about every hour.
Don Armstrong
Running all through the neighborhoods, building forts with friends, stopping at different houses to get supplies or food, and waiting for that whistle or yell once it got dark to come home. Can’t do that anymore.
Jason Teague
Visiting old cemeteries with my grandparents. They would share stories about the people. Also, cranking the ice cream for-ev-er!!! I can still feel the cramp in my hands and arms just thinking about it.
Corrina Sisk-Casson
Magic World in Pigeon Forge. The Magic Carpet ride was awesome! Pretending to be in a rock band by playing tennis racket guitars in our neighbors driveway. The yard was our audience.
Robin Sayers
I remember leaving and riding our bikes to Mingles (about a 30 minute bike ride from the house). Then we spent all afternoon there and rode back. No supervisor. No cell phones. I struggle to let my girls walk across the street in front of our house without being right next to them.
Chris Mathson
