By Viv Sade
For Buscovoice.com
You know you are a Busconian — a.k.a. Old Busco Folk — if:
You remember when the Magic Wand had carhops.
You were a carhop at the Magic Wand.
You still call CVS Hooks.
You bought groceries at Honest John Shelton’s — now Egolf’s IGA — when it was located downtown at the corner of Washington and Main streets.
You remember when the Churubusco Community Park was a swamp.
You ice-skated with your siblings in that swamp.
You remember when the Turtle Days Festival was downtown.
You were around before Churubusco High School had a football team.
You attended the fire department’s Halloween costume contest and bonfire downtown.
You got smeared with lipstick at the fire department’s Halloween bon fire.
You remember when Busco had two new car dealerships and only one bank.
You remember going to the movie theater in what is now the St. John Bosco Catholic Church annex.
You remember going to the United Methodist Church in what is now St. John Bosco Church.
You know where Concord Cemetery is.
You can recite the 1949 tale of “Oscar, the Beast of Busco” from beginning to end, complete with names and dates.
You were one of the people involved in the hunt for Oscar, the Beast of Busco.
You have a theory on what happened to Oscar.
You went to Barnhart’s Soda Fountain & Drug Store after school and ordered a Green River phosphate.
You remember when the high school basketball playoffs were held in the Fort Wayne Coliseum.
You listened to WOWO radio and Bob Sievers every morning.
You still consider Fort Wayne “the big city.”
You remember taking the Greyhound bus ride from Busco to downtown Fort Wayne for 40 cents.
You bought donuts at Murphy’s in downtown Fort Wayne and sat at the soda fountain counter.
You went swimming at Sand Lake before it was Chain-O-Lakes State Park.
You attended Green Center School.
You remember storing a shotgun in your locker so you could go rabbit hunting when Green Center School let out.
You remember the 3-story Churubusco Elementary School on Whitley Street that featured inside walls that swayed erratically when the wind blew.
You remember when there were no snowplows and the neighbors dug each other out after a big snowfall.
You remember standing in the alley behind Leitch’s Grocery store and watching as they shot and killed pigs and cows and butchered them on the spot.
You remember Raypole’s Standard Station.
You worked at Raypole’s Standard Station.
You remember when Nettie Gerard was the head librarian at the Churubusco Public Library and it was upstairs in the Central building.
You had Mr. Norman for English and Mr. Huntsman for Ag.
You remember when the laundromat was on West Washington Street and Ruth was the manager.
You remember going to the Lincolndale drive-in on Goshen Road.
You remember picking up your mail in the post office that was located where the library is today.
You went to the opening of the Franke Park Children’s Zoo.
You remember when the funeral homes in town also drove the ambulances.
You remember when Mick and Beany owned what is now the Lucky Lady.
You remember going up to Steuben County to dance at Bledsoe’s Beach.
You remember going to the beach at Blue Lake and ordering something from the concession stand.
You remember going to Fort Wayne and cruising Azars.
You used to spend a quarter at Bang’s Dime Store and get a good-sized sack of candy.
Do you have other descriptions for a Busconian or Ole’ Busco Folk? Send them to Buscovoice on the comment section and they may be considered for a future column.
How about the Eagles Nest, the H&O, John Kreiger, or the 83 Eagles? What a great town, with the liquor store sandwiched between a church and the park!
You remember the swiss steak sandwich from Pat’s Cafe, or Verna’s pies!
You remember when the “new” Busco gym hosted it’s first Sectional tournament.
You remember when a hard rain would flood West Whitley Street and the shop at Floyd’s Auto Sales.
You remember when the chemical plating company on Line Street burned and somehow we managed to put out the fire without one Hazmat unit ( but did need a ladder truck from Fort Wayne).
You remember when the library exploded, thank God it was Sunday and no one was injured!
You remember when Smiley’s (Smiley Anderson??) was the place to be after school.
You remember when the townsfolk sponsored the “Busco Bullet” in the Winnipeg-St Paul International 500 Mile snowmobile race.
You remember that Betty Straub was the winner of the contest to name the snowmobile. Hence the name “Busco Bullet”.
You remember that the crew from the “Busco Bullet” donated the winnings to the local foodbank.
You remember when Dr. Minick and Nancy Wright were taken by snowmobile in the ‘78 blizzard to deliver a baby. It was false labor…….
You remember delivering needed supplies to folks stranded because of the blizzard. The conversations usually went something like, I need milk for the baby and oh by the way could you bring me a A. Pack of Cigarettes or B. A six pack of beer or C. Both??
You remember that all of the snow from inside the town was taken to the lot where Egolf’s IGA is now located and several of us had a pool as to when it would be completely melted. Don’t remember the winner but the date was April 5, 1978.
You remember the Queen Contest at Turtle Days and the fierce competition it caused but with great wealth to the park.
You remember the only way to get to the Boy Scout building was by Scout Drive located on the west side of the school.
You remember Mowrey’s Hardware (currently the Mexican restaurant).
You remember when Bill Calafat, owner of the York Theater, would stop the movie and yell, “who popped the popcorn bag?”
This is great stuff!
Thanks for reminding me of some great Busco moments.
- You remember C&R Shoes (where La Senorita is)
- That stuffed Santa Clause climbing into the ceiling at the old Egolfs IGA where K&K is
- Coal Street was more of a street
- There use to be grass where the McDonalds is located
- Geigers building where Fort Financial is located
- Allman’s Towing and Bob saying “The only difference between a 4×4 and not is an extra 100′ of cable”
- Orr’s Funeral Home
- The fire trucks use to come out of the building that is now the offices and meeting area. Oh wait, the old timers told me that…..
Remember swimming at the Public beach at Blue Lake?
Remember C and R Shoes on the corner of 33 and 205?
Remember Hooks Than was Revco Which is Now CVS?
Remember when Orrs Funeral Home was Workmans?
And Workmans was Krider/Bair Funeral Home and they had one of the Towns Ambulances along with Sheets Funeral Home.
Harrold’s was the drugstore, where the Bargain House is now.
Only 1 ball diamond at the park.
John Kreiger would make traffic stops along the playground fence. I think that is what inspired our now Town Marshall.
I miss The Green Grill,that was good stuff!
And remember”The Whistler”???I think he’s still stuck in between the doors at the ol’ 33 Club:)
How about “Fiddler” the window washer….his name I think was Paul Rowland.
The Tri-County Truth.
When Mr. Peter Foster took the first group of Churubusco marching band kids to the State Fair (and we placed a respective 19th).
You remember when some kid started a major fire at the Standard station on Mill Street when he was stealing gas then lit his lighter to see if his can was full.
Remember when there was the big bumpy tracks on Main St. where Brevin’s is now and the Purina checkerboard square Co. loaded train cars.
You remember when you could drive completely around the school in a loop.
You didn’t care that the school didn’t have air conditioning.
You remember there were houses – but no school parking lot along Mulberry street.
When you were a kid, you’d sit on the park’s HUGE propane tank near the Scout Building – for family photos – or just use it as a jungle gym.
You remember you could buy a candy bar at Sheldon’s or Bangs and not have to pay tax.
You ever tee-peed Mr. Arrowsmith’s house after he yelled at you or a friend of yours in gym for goofing off.
You high school social studies or history teacher was the football coach.
You were scared of seventh grade because it meant you’d be in the big high school and the Busco and Green Center kids would be mixed.
You remember the big trees along Whitley, Mulberry and Main streets – before the tornado blew them down.
You bought a shirt at the Shirt Cellar or flowers at the Flower Boutique.
You have family buried in Merriam cemetery.
You have at least one relative with the last name of Addis, Herron, Winebrenner, Magers, Geiger, Gaff, Boggs, Petrie, Amber or Krider.
You had “elephant ears” dough in your fridge in support of the band.
A highlight of your year was going to the senior fish fry for all-you-can-eat.
You spent your lunch money at the Junior Store on candy instead of eating cafeteria food.
You signed a petition to keep the school mascot as “Eagles” instead of “Snappers.” Even though there was never anyone except the local newspaper editor who liked the idea.
You know very well that the first warm day of Spring means that the local pig barns get cleaned out and it means to plug your nose – or else.
Jimmy Allman was your cub scout troop leader. And Mrs. Allman was one of your sixth grade teachers.
You know the story of “green eyes.”
You were “in” Latin Club – even if you didn’t take Latin. Just so you could go on the field trips to Chicago – or the Pizza parties in Ft. Wayne with Mrs. Hontz.
After taking Mr. Hunstman’s Agriculture class against your will, decades later you still can’t get the images of the black and white photos of the backsides of cattle you were forced to memorize for the final exam out of your head.
Mr. Daily “made you” memorize all of the countries in the world – in alphabetical order – under a veiled threat that you would not pass 12th grade and graduate unless you did so.
What a bunch of great memories….Buying a skateboard from Western Auto, across from the IGA….and the car dressed up as Oscar in the parade every year……and Sam Ross hanging upside down in a straightjacket hanging off the 33 Club……waiting for a ride, sitting on the bags of salt in front of Egolfs….the old Churubusco State Bank…..keep em’ coming
Eating hotdog rosettes at Smiley’s.
You ever played baseball or football at Kramer’s field.
You played little league for Ernie’s Barbershop or Ben’s Western Auto.
Tou had the misfortune to see all 300lbs. of Bob Fletcher dtreaking down mainstreet on his motorcycle.
You got to ride in the old Oscar car in the parade. They kept it behind the post office.
You ever climbed into the fighter jet at the park when it first arrived.
Remember when the police station had bars when you first walked in?
When Collins had a school & a store!
When you could take swimming lessons at Chain O Lakes?
You could watch little league games from the big stump behind the center field.
You had Mr. Rynerson as your principal at Green Center then your teacher at busco elementary.
Got your candy at Shroyer’s.
Complained your News Sentinel was late (because the paper boy was couldn’t decide on whether it was a gum dinger day or a tootsie roll day).
Boys under the age of 25 delivered the afternoon paper.
…Paying Benny McDaniel (Ben’s Western Auto) $1.50 every week for several months on Lay-away of my Black, Made in England Bicyle and actually waited until it was paid for before I could “Ride it Home” to Line Street
…Swimming in Doc Minnick’s Pool when Indiana Summertime used to be “Long”
…Doc Minnick’s house was the ONLY house on Line St. that had “Air Conditioning”
…My Dad, Eddie Gilbert being the Best Car Mechanic at Floyd’s Auto Sales
…Jonny Shelton’s IGA had REAL Ceiling Fans
…Freeman’s Department Store had REAL Tin Ceiling and that Cool Sock display by the back door that had this HUGE Sock and a little Tiny Sock
…The St. John Bosco Catholic Church was located in the Old Movie Theater across the Street from Sheets and Childs Funeral Home
“cruising” busco, in the summer!!! ah back when gas was cheap!!!
When Coach Johnson bought the first footballs for the school to use in gym class for flag football. No one had ever played football before in Busco
There were numerous old train cabooses stored on the old tracks by Collins
When the senior class of 70 put the outhouse in front of the school the day before the Carroll vs Busco football game and then got caught. The outhouse was burned for the pep rally the next day.
When there used to be a garage where the bank parking lot that was run by Red Sylvester (my grandfather)
What about going to the fireworks at Blue Lake?
Remember when we played football on Saturday afternoons because we didn’t have lights on the football field yet?
Remember when we walked over to the Green Grill for lunch on Saturdays when working at Shelton’s?
Cruisin’ after school
Cruisin’ in Kendaville….Cruisin’ Capital
Eagles Nest…we would go after my dad coached baseball and his asst. coach drove the “Starsky and Hutch” car!
Walking the wagon full of empty coke bottles to Egolf’s IGA when it was downtown.
Actually playing outside…kickball, softball, tag, freeze tag…it was so fun!
Tractor pulls between Internationals and John Deere’s
You could get Jolly Rancher stick candy for 10 cents!!!
We got 3 recesses!!
Papa’s Place Breadsticks after any kind of game!
When the Green Center school closed and the “green center kids” came to Busco.
Regular just for fun dances after football games
Thanks for all the memories….I really miss living there!
Remember when there was an old three story Legion Hall full of crazy caracters.
When you could get a breaded tenderloin sandwich at the Green Grill Cafe the size of a Frisbee.
When my there were public auctions at the old feed mill behind Honest John Shelton’s store. One of the amateur auctioneers was John Shelton
When you Leonard Rapp and his knee high poopy rubber boots that he wore inside every restaurant.
….Shroyer’s used to be “Bang’s 5 cents – $1.00 Store” but we all called it the “Dime Store” Owned by Rex Bangs….The candy was responsible for a whole lotta Busco kids’ cavities…HA!! Rex Bangs had Cool toys in his Store too!!
….when you went to Turtle Days and sometimes won something made with White Plaster (chalkware) you could always find at least one of them broke on the side walk walking home from Turtle Days in the dark…now those things are HUGE Collector’s items…HA!
….Allman’s Garage and Body Shop had this cool flashing neon sign with an alternating logo of…Body Shop…then an old car….while Dad was waiting at the light at the “Top of the Hill” between Shelton’s and the Cop Shop…me and Eddie would to say: Body Shop, car, Body Shop, car, Body Shop, car…
….Sometimes if you were really lucky playing some game at Turtle Days you could win a “Chameleon” a tiny lizard, they were pinned on board that hung on the wall….PETA wouldn’t allow that nowadays….
….I remember when Girls weren’t allowed to wear pants to School!! You used to get “Lickins” with a paddle, dry your mittens on the radiator, went out to recess even when it was 5 below, Left the Salt and Pepper shaker lids unscrewed and just sitting on so the next kid would dump the whole shaker full of Salt and Pepper on their food and saved your carrots and celery in the “Lunch Hall” to throw through that big fan on your way out the door….HA!!!!!
We moved from Chicago to Busco in 1965 & felt we had found Paradise!Moved to Tennessee in 1986 to be near ailing parents but still miss Busco & it’s wonderful people, but not the awful winters.Our family has enjoyed reading Busco Voice since we discovered it a few days ago, especially the column “You know you’re a Busconian if..” because of all the memories it brought to mind.
After living in Chicago the difference in it and small town life was truly amazing to us. The best example was during the blizzard of ‘78. Bob Egolf wasn’t able to get to town to open the store but had left a key at the police staion and the officer opened the store & told us to just write down our purchases & pay for them when the store was officially opened again.
Remember when the Ramble Inn was Marty J’s & the walls were covered with really great drawings of regular customers.
When your punishment for committing a juvenile offense such as drinking or getting caught at a party was washing the fire trucks on Saturday morning?
it’s cool to hear the history of busco scince i wasnt around to hear it
it sounded cooler than it does today
PUTTING YOUR FOOT IN THE XRAY MACHINE AT THE SHOE STORE.
RIDING AROUND IN KATHY AMBER’S CAR.
GETTING CHIPS, POP AND CANDY BAR FOR A QUARTER AT JUNIOR STORE.
Remember when they used to have modified tractor pulls down at the Fish & Game Club?
I remember all of these things, plus working at Pat’s cafe when I was 15. What wonderful memories these bring back. We used to play in the “woods” where the part is now, and go sliding on the pond in the winter time. We used to walk uptown to get a green river or “suicide” at a little restaurant across from Pat’s cafe that I really don’t remember the name of anymore.
My uncle “Ike” Tulley co-owned a gas station where the old C&A tool was before they moved out side of town.
Remember when….there were no seats in the magic wand – that was before Judy and Max’s time. You had to go to the window to order
Wonderful memories.
I remember Pats cafe and Busco 5 and Dime.
St. John Bosco church with Father Anthony he would give kids quarters at the end of mass.
Blue Lake beach when wrestlers Dick Debrucer(sp)and Moose Schoelock(sp)
put watermelons in water to cool off when they went swimming.
We ran the campgrounds and dug a garbage site and found dinasaur bones that was shown at the Busco bank.
I remember all the good times at Dorothy and Dick Carpenters house staying over.
The old stairwell swaying at the old elementary school when you went up them.
All the sock hop dances at the school
Ice skating at pond behind Mike Presslers house
The old Blue Lake store the Harrolds ran
Cherry cokes at the Magic Wand
My Dad taking all the Blue Lake kids out on lake in his jeep pulling our sleds across lake
Going trick or treating all week
Buscos trick or treating party in Busco
The Blue Lake Campgrounds Jamboree
The Eagle Scouts from Fort Wayne coming to camp for there jamborees
The Christmas my Dad dressed like Santa Claus it was snowing and seen him coming down the street in his jeep full of presents when my sister was dying of cancer.
The Muck fire at the campgrounds we had to stay up all night watching so
it wouldnt start lake homes on fire.
When the fire dept. gave John Krieger(sp) his bike and he would rush to fires on it.
Leonard Wrappe(sp) when he came to our house and all the animals would come up and smell him cause of all his farm animals.
My brothers and sisters would have dance partys at our house and invite everyone.
Songs on the radio from WOWO The Bird Dance Beat The house of the rising sun.
Sledding in the woods behind our house that belonged to the old farmer
H and O bait store on 33 and blue lake road
Our side of the lake with all the blue lake boys, Presslers, Martins, Longardners, Shodas, Paffords, Habers, Footes, Whittakers, Barths, Buchanans ect.
The fireworks
The Busco school proms
Turtle days, the tilt-a-whirl, the scrambler, the ferris wheel
These were just a few so many more tho.
You’re a Busconian if.. touring around the Seattle area and Puget Sound,
you visit an old military base (Fort Warden), and notice that one of the
WW2 era gun emplacements is dedicated to the commanders & soldiers at the
Battle of Churubusco, Mexico(1840’s). After realizing that Busco was named after this famous battle, you take way too much time gawking and
taking photos, causing you, and the other 3 tourists with you, (who are not from Busco, and could care less), to miss the ferry back to Seattle!
These are all great!
And coming soon to this site – a downloadable ebook with photos of old Busco and all of the contributions above.
If you have any old photos of your high school class or friends hanging out in Busco (jpg format), send them to me at viv@buscovoice.com by Nov. 30, and they will be featured in the ebook.
The recent comment from Joe Martin made me lol.
Jeanine – do you know if the kids tried that stunt we did in 1970, they would be expelled and put to death? Okay, I exaggerate – maybe not death – just expulsion and torture.
What a great history lesson you all have given me!
I remember ‘Busco in March of ‘83, going to the post office with a friend, thinking… “I love this place and want to move here.” My husband and I finally did in June of ‘85! We are from New York State. While you all were digging out in ‘the blizzard of ‘78, we did the same in ‘77.
I remember having our first dinner at the Magic Wand with our real estate agent. Those Magic burgers sure were yummy!
Going to Parrish’s gas station and paying with a Fort Wayne check, because we were buying the old “Monesmith place”.
The H&O having a great laugh at our expense because ole George Monesmith told everyone there that a young couple was buying his place, and the girl’s mom asked if the house had indoor plumbing! Ha Ha!!
The ‘Busco News was the Tri County Truth.
We were just RR1, Churubusco instead of all those numbers now. (I’m glad though for our ems, fire, and police.
Being pulled over for speeding by Hooks, and learning the officer giving me the ticket was in seminary (Tournet???). Even the police are nice around here!
Being able to see the Blue Lake fireworks from our house before the trees grew up and blocked our view
The beautiful arch of trees on Main Street.
Turtle Days when my kids were small. And during one parade, watching my son Walter race out to his Dad who marched with the Boy Scouts.
The old Charter Oak Church… and loving the new
Being part of this town has been great… home is where the heart is and sometimes where it breaks.
I was reading you know you’re a Busconian and all the wonderful memories it brought back. I saw a comment about Sam Ross hanging off the 33 Club. I did not know my brother did that but doesn’t surprise me since he was hanging off parking garages in Phx, Az in the late 70’s. Does anyone remember when our football team beat Freemont High 101-0 fall of ‘70.
Thanks again for all the memories. I think I need to come home to visit and see all the changes in the past 36 years.
Helen
Mesa, Az