Fredericton Memories

City of Stately Elms, it was called.

            Fredericton is a beautiful city.

The capital of New Brunswick,

            home of UNB and St. Thomas U.

            home of Willie O’Ree and Danny Grant.

As a boy, I lived at 233 Aberdeen Street

            in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.

Twenty kids lived on our block.

We played hide-and-seek, street hockey,

            backyard softball

                        and pick-up games of touch football.

We played marbles and yoyos and pea-shooters,

            go fish, old maid and crazy eights.

We rode bikes and hiked along the railroad tracks.

Seems like we skated all winter long,

            at Wilmot Park and the Lady Beaverbrook Arena.

I played crokinole with my father on winter evenings.

            He let me drive the 1962 Pontiac Laurentian

                        in the driveway.

We walked to school –

            York Street Elementary,

            Connaught Street Elementary,

            Smythe Street Elementary.

(Never heard or knew of sexual predators.)

            Saturdays I walked seven blocks

                        to the library on Queen Street.

I visited and watched TV in the homes of my friends.

We went to Inkster’s,

            the tiny convenience store on Argyle Street,

                        buying Lik-M-Ade, gum, pop and ice cream.

Explored the small city

            as if we were Radisson and Groseilliers –

                        “coureurs des bois”.

Those were halcyon days. J