The Hollow - Part Three

I asked a select group of people (my class of '72 classmates and relatives on my mother's side, many of whom graduated in the '40s and '50s) their opinions on the Clarence Hollow posts. My thought was that those who had stayed in Clarence their entire lives would have experienced changes gradually and therefore have a different viewpoint than those who have moved away - even if only a few towns over, where they now spend most of their time.

I also thought that age might come into play. Those of the Parker generation would have seen more changes over time, while those of us in the middle are still hanging on to the images of our youth. The youngest generations more than likely haven't been hit by that "change" thing - yet. If our grandparents could weigh in, I'm sure there would be yet another angle - "Changes? Let me tell you about changes..."

As expected, most people may have thought about it but chose not put their feelings into words. However, Parker alumna ('49) Janice Donner Hartwig did take the time, and here is her viewpoint:

"I'll comment on the recent things in the Bee about Clarence Hollow because I don't agree with them.

Perhaps some of the buildings are run-down but I'm sure in time someone will work to improve them. Maybe the writer didn't happen to be here during the time Main Street was torn up due to the installation of the sewers and things really were a mess. I think the work the N.Y. Dept. of Transportation or whoever did it has turned out beautifully from the East Hill to the West Hill. The brick walkways and the lampposts now give it a quaint look and it's neat and clean.

Perhaps it's not as he remembers it but that's life; the only thing that's for sure is that things change.

If he'd like to hear laments, he should talk to someone from one generation back who remembers when we went to school at Parker up on Academy Hill -

"Far above the busy humming, on a hill so high,
stands our Parker Alma Mater,
reaching toward the sky"

"In those days" the guys would sneak out of school and go to the bottom of the hill to "Ma Hummel's" (Mysterious to me, I don't know if I was ever there) but it always sounded like many things transpired there.

It made many of us sad to see Parker torn down.

Thinking about it, I suppose the writer probably went there for his early years of school but that's not the same as when it was high school with 45 - 75 students per grade."

Agree or disagree with the posts on Clarence Hollow? Truthfully, I don't think that there is a right or wrong answer. It's all in our perceptions, and in our memories.


(The top photo is of Hummels's located at Main & Academy; It was a service station in the early 1900's, but it seems to have gone through various incarnations. Both it and the Parker School photo are from the History of the Town of Clarence)

WNY Heritage Magazine with the Race Car Driver

I just bought my first issue of WNY Heritage magazine. It obviously has been out for a while, since this is Volume 10, and I may have even seen it in the past, but I never actually focused on it before. It's a bit pricey, but well worth the money. It is very high quality paper and has a selection of well written, in-depth articles with many historic photographs and illustrations of history in Western New York.

The Summer '07 issue is currently on the stands, for a little while anyway. In it there is an article on midget car racing in the old Buffalo Civic Stadium. This may sound familiar, as it is something I wrote about in the article about Parker alumnus ('47) Bill Rafter. Sure enough, Bill gets a mention near the end of the article (page 51), along with a picture showing him driving in a winning race. Of course, there's a current picture of him in the Parker Reunion pix, sans car. The article is written by Keith Herbst, author of a book on auto racing 1935-1960 in our area, called Daredevils of the Frontier.

Later on, as I was browsing through the Definitely Buffalo Store in Main Place Mall, I came upon an assortment of back issues. Rather than return them to the publisher when the new one comes out, the proprietor keeps them as an edition to the historical books she carries. So I picked up another one. I'll probably end of with one of everything she has!

I have quite the collection of non-fiction books and magazines that I've read part of, and mean to get back to "someday", and that I use for references. The WNY Heritage magazines are worthy additions.

*UPDATE* I have read the entire Summer '07 issue and am working on the other one now. The magazine is definitely very interesting!