childhood memory

Not the Hill’s Department Store fireworks show

I was watching Columbus’ Red White and Boom from my house the other night and it got me thinking of the fireworks my family would go to when I was a kid back in Findlay. It was sponsored by the late great Hill’s Department Store. Compared to the professional show at Red White and Boom!, the firework shows of my youth were less impressive.

We would pile into the car and drive out to Hill’s on Tiffin Ave and park in the lot facing east. Where they would shoot the fireworks off is where the Kroger store is now. We had pillows, popcorn, and a cooler with pop and the wait for the show was sooooooo long in my short attention span childhood years.

My childhood nemisis
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

There are some people who have birthdays at inconvenient times. Some were born on or near Christmas or during some national tragedy like those born on September 11th. There are others who were born on leap day so they can only celebrate the actual day of their birth in years that are evenly divisible by 4. Back when I was in elementary school, my birthday conflicted with Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Why did he have to be born the day after me? Martin Luther King Jr. ruined my childhood.

In my elementary school when someone had a birthday, they would bring in a treat for their classmates. The birthday boy or girl would get some kind of hat. The usual in my school was the paper crown you could get for free at any Burger King restaurant. We would also get to be first in line for recess, lunch, and for bathroom breaks. Then at a certain time, usually just after lunch the class would sing “Happy Birthday” and nosh on the treats. It was a special day and one I wanted to have very badly.

Tag: childhood memory

Remembering Firework Shows of Yore

Why I Hated Martin Luther King Jr.