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Kenton Reunion
In 1958, I left the town in which I had grown up, Kenton, Ohio, to move across the state to Dover. I completed my last two years of high school there and gradually fell out of touch with the buds in Kenton who had been my long-time childhood playmates. Recently, at their 40th class reunion, some of my old friends asked, "What ever happened to Dave Baker?" One enterprising lady did a web search, found me, and put me in touch with Ken Lucas. We exchanged some great emails, and he was able to provide me with email addresses for many of my other old friends. As a result, we were all able to meet for an emotional reunion in Kenton. People change in 40 years, but I still would have been able to recognize any of them if I'd met them on the street.
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We took route 31 north from Columbus to the town of Mt. Victory. There we turned west to the Ridgeway Pike and swung north toward Kenton, passing by the farm that had once belonged to my mother's father, Frank Dille. It was different than I remembered, but it appeared to be prosperous and well kept-up |
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The first stop in Kenton was at my childhood home on South Main Street. It was the "town" home of my grandfather Dille. We had great fun in our youth. One of our most memorable experiences was rigging an intercom system working over wires that stretched from my house across the street to Ron Born's, then south a block to Ken Lucas'. We were able to talk back and forth till late in the evening, when our parents would make us turn it off. |
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Next, we drove past the home of my paternal grandparents, Karl and Lucile Baker on North Street. My dad was born in the front bedroom on the second floor. It was in the attic of this house that I uncovered a trunk filled with wonderful boyhood reading material: Tom Swift books, the Radio Boys, Tarzan, and many more. Tom Swift, especially, strengthened my interest in science and engineering and opened my thinking to many possibilities. |
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Then I was off on a trip down route 68 to the Alltel office to look up my friend, Morris Johnson. Morris and I had many wonderful adventures, including my first double date, when Morris and I took a couple of young ladies from Mount Victory to Indian Lake in his 49 Chevy. Going back further in time, we formed a dance band that played for our 8th grade party. Two saxes (I was one) and Morris on piano. We only had two tunes in our repertoire: Melody of Love and Auld Lang Syne. The first we played probably 10 times at various intervals throughout the course of the evening! |
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At last, the gathering began. Left to right: Ken and Cheryl Lucas, moi, Phyllis and Morris Johnson. If you'd like to see how this crew looked 50 years ago, click this link.
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Ron and Janet Born came down from Perrysburg to join in the festivities. Ron lived directly across the street from me in Kenton, and we enjoyed many childhood adventures together. |
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Later, we were joined by Dennis Hottman and his wife. They were detained by a soccer game, but managed to join us mid-evening to share some great memories. Dennis was a mad chemist when we were kids and kindled my interest in that science. |
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Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here!
After the dinner, we trekked over to where the Westy was parked and bid a fond adieu.
Till next time, friends! Let's not let another 40 years go by!
