Boomer
Memories
Today I would like to enumerate some of the things fondly remembered around Los Banos going back to the 50’s among my “Baby Boomer” generation, and which help weave the various topical threads we have written about into a memory tickling story. Since I was born in 1951 and Dad brought us here in 1952, my memories circulate back to our humble home at 916 Delaware Street. That street was home field for me and a number of other young boys and their families. So with apologies to those whose names I have forgotten at the moment, we would mention the Accardo family and their children Linda, Darlene, Mario, and Jo-Jo, and possibly another toddler, at the south west corner of Delaware and West I Street. Next was the Souza family, children Cathy, Denny, and Becky. Next to them were the Patricio’s with Greg, Steve, Julie, and Annie. Then there were the Oetkens and little Mark and his older sister Judy while on the corner of West J were Danny and Delores Babmbauer, and their two little girls, and Danny passed unexpectedly in 1958 to the shock and sorrow of all.
On our side of the street, across from the Accardos, was the Setaro family, Dean, Don, and little sister. On the other side were the Pisacco’s and daughter Diane who baby-sat me when I was a toddler. The next house is a blank, but the one beyond was home to Scottie and Opal Henderson and sons Michael and Phillip. On the corner was an older couple I never knew but every house on that street was a familiar sight, as well as the large empty field that went all the way to H St. where it meets the railroad tracks. As boys, Denny Souza and the Patricio boys and I would hunt with our BB guns, and pet the horses behind the barbed wire fence in the pasture and field where Illinois Street is now located. Behind the line of houses on the west side of Delaware, it was empty fields all the way to the intersection of West J, West I, and Maryland, at the point. Behind our house on Delaware, looking east, it was empty fields until the gently curving Linda Vista connected I and J Streets. And I remember horses out there too!
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