Page 11 - Italian American Herald - January 2020

ITALIAN-AMERICAN HERALD
IT’S ALL GOOD
The most magical four-letter word in a schoolboy’s world: s-n-o-w
By Charlie Sacchetti
In the Philadelphia area, winters can be a real adventure. With the very mention of the word “snow”, panic grips the airwaves!
I always get a kick out of watching the
usual hype on TV and the multitude of “correspondence course” meteorologists giving their Armageddon-like forecasts. I can’t help but think of what it was like back in the ’50 s, when I was growing up. Some great memories pop into my head as I relive how we kids dealt with the gift of a day or two off from school.
First of all, back in the ’50s schools didn’t have snow closing “numbers.” If you lived outside of the city, you had to listen for your school’s name to be announced, usually
on KYW radio. If you lived in the city, you just waited with bated breath to hear the announcer say, “All Philadelphia public
and parochial schools will be closed.” In
the winter, I used to make sure I watched the 6 o’clock news on Channel 3 with
Vince Leonard. Vince was OK but the real reason was that I wanted to see the hottest weatherman in town, one “Wally Kinnan, the Weatherman.” Old Wally was unique because he was a real-life war hero who became a meteorologist and was the first
one in the country to give his “exclusive” five-day forecast. This allowed kids like me to look ahead and hope that Wally was on the ball with his prognostications. Wally was a sharp guy and knew what got ratings, so he usually had some mention of a chance for snow somewhere in his five-day outlook. But I came to realize early on that Wally’s forecast for the fifth day was usually “fair and chilly” no matter what time of the year it was!
When a snowstorm did cause the schools to close, there were no computers, iPads
or cell phones to leer at while staying nice and warm in the house. No, we opted to
go out into the weather and take advantage of the unique opportunities for fun that the snowstorm provided. One of our favorite
activities was to play tackle football. No one ever got hurt because one couldn’t generate any speed wearing boots and heavy coats. You could barely run five steps before you either fell on your own or were tackled by one of your buddies. I remember on more than one occasion, going home wet and cold after the game and making a bee line to the nearest radiator in the house after shedding the wet clothes. The innovation the auto industry now touts as “seat warmers” was an idea they somehow must have stolen from me since I warmed my “seat” lots of times on top of the radiator.
Before the snowplows were able to take care of Buist Avenue, we would also lie
in wait for a slow-moving car or truck to approach. It was an easy move to grab onto
the rear bumper and be towed for a nice ride until the driver stopped. Sometimes the driver would actually try to chase us but that proved to be fruitless. The best sledding spot was the stretch from Elmwood Avenue to Buist Avenue on 64th Street. If conditions were right, you’d have a long, downhill trip that ended only after you jumped off of the sled to prevent yourself from going into the traffic at the Buist Avenue intersection.
However, for all the fun we had outdoors, we also found a way to enjoy the day off at school, even though it was closed. I became friendly with our custodian Gene at Tilden Junior High, who had to report to work even if the school was closed. After a few phone calls to get some guys together, we would walk through the snow to school and bang
on the basement door. Gene was a great guy and he gladly opened the door, turned on the lights in the gym and allowed us to play basketball for hours. Back in the early ’60s no one worried about liability lawsuits. He didn’t worry about us getting hurt and we wouldn’t think of ever telling anyone of Gene’s graciousness to us, lest he get into trouble.
I’d venture to say that if kids banged on my old school’s basement door these days, there wouldn’t be a guy like Gene around to open the door to provide a venue for some good clean fun. He’d probably call 911 on his cell phone. And that’s a shame. IAH
Charlie Sacchetti is the author of two books, “It’s All Good: Times and Events I’d Never Want to Change,” and “Knowing He’s There: True Stories of God’s Subtle Yet Unmistakable Touch.” Contact him at worthwhilewords21@gmail.com
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