From the January 27, 2002 Goldsboro News-Argus (NC) "DAR members reminisce about 'good old days" by Becky Barclay.
Becky Barclay went to the January David Williams Daughters of the American Revolution meeting and talked to some of the ladies about their memories of the Good Old Days.
My mom, Barbara Hatch, grew up across the street from one of Goldsboro's major parks, Herman Park, in the house she presently lives in today.
Her earliest memories of the park are going there with her nurse and family maid, Nora Stevens. "Nora would take me across the street to play with the other children at the park. And Boots, my white collie, would go with us."
Her parents would use chairs to keep her on the front porch, but one day she watched Boots slip out and followed his example and made an escape to the park. She doesn't remember if she got into trouble or not.
When she got older, she enjoyed visiting the zoo at Herman Park and especially enjoyed the lion cage, monkey cage, deer pen and other animals. One of her favorites was JoJo the monkey.
On hot summer days, she would take wax paper she saved from bread wrappers and go to the park and slide down poles in the play area. "The wrappers helped protect our hands from the hot metal and they also helped us slide down the pole faster."
During the summers the park would host pet shows and she remembers dressing her cats up in doll clothes. "One day we hitched my dad's two bird dogs to a wagon and put the cat in it." This didn't go so well as the dogs disappeared off one way and the cat the other.
Another favorite summer activity was wading in the wading pool at Herman Park. She also took old bread to feed the fish in the goldfish pond in the circle of the road going through the park.
Where the Kiwanis train is located today used to be a pony track and Barbara would ride her favorite, Black Beauty and sometimes the man in charge would let her clean out the stalls.
Three horn blows from her mom meant it was time to come home. "Growing up across from Herman Park was a wonderful experience."
Another DAR member, Lib Bennett remembers her first day in Goldsboro which happened to coincide with a farmer's market. She saw all the men walking around in their overalls. "I wondered where in the world my husband had taken me."
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