IRH - The Summer of 1958

This section is to honor the works of Russ Lancaster who started the “I Remember Hamlet” web site years ago. Without his pioneering the web at that time we might not have gathered all these memories of our Hamlet, NC. We thank you Russ for what you started in 1996, may you Rest in Peace. Russ was kind enough to let me download his web site before he took it down. Thank you Russ.
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David
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IRH - The Summer of 1958

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The Summer of 1958
Changing Times for a Teen-Ager
by: Russ Lancaster


The summer of 1958 brought about many new experiences for me as I grew in age from 16 to 17. To begin with, there was the birth of my last sibling. My youngest brother, Timmy, was born in early June that year.

His birth was unusual in that he was born 9 years after what we thought was the last Lancaster child to be born to my parents, Jack and Ernestine. He must have been quite a surprise to them too.

It was both a joyous and troublesome event to me personally. First, I was thrilled to have yet another brother but at the same time found it disturbing to visit my mom in the hospital. It was disturbing because I took my girl friend with me on those visits over that three day period. Being an adolescent in 1958 was tough enough without thoughts about where babies come from affecting my relationship with my girl friend. It probably didn't bother her at all though.

I never got to know this youngest Lancaster very well when he was a kid. Less than a year after his birth I would leave Hamlet for the next six years spending four of them around the world in the Air Force and the next two working various jobs in Lexington NC. By the time I finally moved back to Hamlet, I had quite a family of my own including two children. One of them was only three years younger than this new brother who had mysteriously grown to the age of seven without my knowing him at all.

That summer in 1958 also found me working the hardest job I have ever worked. My dad had decided he would no longer pay rent and bought his first house. It was the two story house at the very end of Circlewood Drive where it meets Highway 74 West of Hamlet. You may remember that big old house but it exists only in memories since it has been replaced by Hamlet's newest Hospital, the Sandhills Regional Medical Center.

One July day that year a family friend, John Raby, dropped by around breakfast time to see my dad. It seems John was recruiting help for his part time house roofing business. He knew my dad was a Yardmaster with the railroad but figured he could use some extra cash with all those Lancaster boys and a teen-age girl to feed and clothe.

My dad quickly turned down the work but glanced over at me and told John I would be glad to help him, that I needed a job. That was partially correct. I no longer had a job having quit soda jerking down at the bus station. But, I wasn't so sure I would be glad to help him. But, I knew it was in my best interest to do as my dad said and, yes, I could use some cash. Allowances at our house were not given at all unless you actually did something for the family to earn one. John Raby told me to meet him at 414 Spring Street the following morning and he would assign me my duties.

That was another strange twist of fate. John Raby lived directly across the street and sixteen years later I would end up buying the same house that we were going to roof.

I showed up for work and found some of my classmates and High School friends there ready to work too. I remember Buck Hodges being there for sure and believe that Sonny Garrison might have been there. It has been many years since then.

I noticed they all had worn gloves and thought they must be nuts; It was HOT and we were going to be up on a roof!

John Raby gave me my first assignment. I was to carry bundles of shingles up the ladder and place them on the roof. That was certainly easier said than done. I managed to hoist one of the bundles up on my shoulder but could not for the life of me make my way up the ladder with that heavy load. I don't know how much those bundles weighed but do remember that I barely tipped the scale at just over 100 lbs myself back then.

John saw my difficulty and told me to drop the bundle of shingles and just come up on the roof with him. He then showed me how to remove the old shingles and that would be my job for the rest of that first day. It didn't take long to find out why the other guys had worn gloves. My hands were soon raw, scratched and bleeding from pulling the old shingles off bare handed.

But I stuck it out. The next two days we finished roofing the house. We finally finished around 1:00 p.m. or so on July 4th. Mr. Raby gave me my wages, $12.00. It was the most money I had ever had at one time in my life and I was shocked he would give me so much money considering how little help I must have been. He told me he wouldn't need me anymore until the first of the next week.

I realized it was a holiday, July 4th. My parents and sister and brothers were all out at Boyd's Lake keeping cool in the crystal clear water with its sandy beach. I was the hottest I had ever been in my life being up on that roof all day.

I jumped on my bicycle and rode down Spring Street and out to Boyd's Lake to join them hoping they had brought enough food for me. As I entered the gate Mrs. Boyd looked at me and wanted her 20 cents or so to come in. I had already stripped down to a pair of shorts and left my shirt on the handle bars. I begged her to just please let me go in the water for a moment or two to cool off and I would be right back to pay her. I was soooo hot. She agreed (she knew me and my folks as well as most of the people in Hamlet). I didn't try to cheat her. I returned after diving into the water and cooling my off my body and brain and gave her a now soggy dollar bill from the twelve Mr. Raby had paid me.

I found my folks out by the picnic tables grilling hot dogs and with an iced down watermelon just being cut. I let them know my job was finished for the week and we soon got down to eating, playing horseshoes and swimming. It turned out to be a great July 4th as we all ended up that evening down by the City Lake watching the fireworks.

I was to spend the rest of that summer helping John Raby and earning a good deal of money for myself. My girl friend was happy with my new wealth and we spent many evenings holding hands in the dark at the Hamlet Theater.

That summer of 1958 was also the year my Dad got me my own individual railroad pass good for transportation on any Seaboard Airline Railroad passenger train. Being 17 was turning out to be just fine with me.

I spent many Saturdays that summer riding the rails between Raleigh and Hamlet. I could leave on a train in the morning and be in Raleigh before noon. I would walk those cobblestone or brick streets from the Raleigh passenger station and visit the Museum and Capital buildings. I had enough money for lunch and would usually buy a paperback book at the passenger station before catching an evening train back to Hamlet. I was an avid reader and would usually have the book finished before arriving back in Hamlet around 9:00 p.m. This freedom was fantastic and I still think of those railroad trips from time to time and how manly this then 17 year old felt.

As the summer began to come to an end thoughts began to emerge about what the future held for me. I was getting ready to enter my senior year at Hamlet High School. I could see my last year in Hamlet for a long time begin to fill my thoughts and my vision. What would I do, where would I go? The answer is clear now and is also at the very beginning of this story but the apprehension I felt at the end of that summer was huge.

My youngest daughter and one of her friends once asked me during their senior High School year in Jacksonville, how had I determined what I would be, what job I would have once I graduated High School. They were serious and curious since they (at the time) had no idea what the future held for them.

I answered by saying I had been just as naive as they now were and that things just have a way of working out. It wasn't a good answer by any means but the only truthful one I had.

Things did work out for me... just fine! I would find a wife, have children, buy homes, work jobs and finally retire and it all just happened. I had no plan, the future was there waiting for me to come to it, not it to me.

But I remember how it all started when I first thought of it back in the summer of 1958. I remember John Raby and the means he gave me to earn more money than I deserved and taught me work ethics that would last forever. I remember my youngest brother that I didn't even know back then and am thankful I know him now. I remember the girl friend and all those evenings in the Hamlet Theater that year. I remember the train rides and the new freedom I had has a 17 year old.

But most of all.... I remember Hamlet
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