Birthday Party and Sleepover at the Vail’s

Dicky Vail, Billy Calhoun, and Jerry Rawls were boyhood friends of mine who lived in the same neighborhood in Mt. Gilead, Ohio. I believe that I was more of a free-range kid than the other boys, because when my mother opened the door, I was out and gone as she said, “Stay within earshout!” My Dad had a different way to call me in, and that was a very loud whistle. 

I enjoyed visits to Billy’s house where he had a chiwawa dog named “Skippy.” Skippy was a dog that likes to bite, except after he got to know you. Billy’s dad was a lawyer who kept him well-supplied with great toys. He also had a trombone that was fascinating as I had to try to play the clarinet instead.

Billy lived on Cedar Street that had a great hill. An alleyway connected Cedar with Elm Street where I lived. Jerry Rawls lived on the alleyway set back from Elm Street and diagonal from my house. Part of Jerry’s house was originally a log cabin. His dad used to sit in the log room to smoke his pipe. His mother was named, “Toots,” and she was from England. She was a lifelong friend of my mother. Toots was deaf and her mother lived with them too. Jerry’s grandmother used to make orange scones with orange icing that was too die for.

Dick Vail lived on Elm Street at the bottom of the hill. His father was Alan Vail. His mother was Mary Jane and at that time he had two brothers, Jimmy being the oldest and Brian being the youngest. They lived next door to my Great Uncle, James Shoewalter.

Dicky Vail was immensely popular because his family was the first to have a television set. After a couple of years of playing together including having a Flippo the Clown inspired circus party in his backyard, the Vail’s moved to a farm on the north side of town. His mother was once the 4H queen, so she probably enjoyed that they were going into farming.

I missed my friend Dicky, but his mom kept us together by inviting me to play at the farm. One such event was Dicky’s birthday party that began in the daytime and included my staying over the night. That was the first time in my life that I stayed away from home.

We played hard that day on the farm with many other kids present. Sandy Kubbs might have been there, I don’t quite remember. Billy and Jerry were there. We got to cross the highway to visit Dye’s Market to purchase bubblegum. Dye’s market always smelled like rotting fruit.

Anyway, in Dicky’s barn there was a haymow. We were allowed to climb up a ladder to the loft, and to jump into a pile of hay. We did that many times and I was hot and sticky. My skin was full of holes from landing in the dry hay. I worked up an appetite.

We had birthday cake and ice cream that I surely gobbled. The kids all went home and the environment settled down to a calm family-style late afternoon. I was still hyped up from the barn.

We watched a little television before assembling around a very large table to have our dinner. Mrs. Vail put a record on the player. It was Wake Up a Little Susie. That music was churning my stomach as I ate mashed potatoes and chicken. 

All of a sudden, it dawned on me that I was away from home. I was missing my family. I didn’t even know where I was going to sleep. I wouldn’t mind sleeping in the barn in the hay loft.

I felt a little sick to my stomach. “Maybe I should ask them to call my parents to pick me up?”

I just couldn’t do that because I wanted to try to spend the night.

We all retired early and I had my own bed upstairs where five of us would share one bathroom. There was one downstairs, but we were all up there together. 

I was feeling ill. I had diarrhea. I had to go the bathroom many times, and it was embarrassing. I finally settled down, but I heard Mr. Vail exclaim, “Someone clogged the toilet!”

I was sure that I would not be asked to visit again after that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LojqhHnmyvc

My house on Elm Street, Mt. Gilead, Ohio