I have lived in Elk Township all of my life. Born and raised in AURA.
What a great place it was and is today. I can remember going up to Cassaday`s Nursery
to get pumpkins for halloween no one would be there, then you would here the sound
of a motor coming toward where you are at, you look up and here comes Mr Cassady
on his mini bike and sitting behind him on the seat was his dog. I think as he got
older he bought what he always wanted when he was younger. He was cool though.
We would leave there and walk across the street to the Apple Barn go inside and there
was Mr. Ferguson roasting more peanuts. I would love to know how many TONS of peanuts
he roasted in the amount of time he had a business on that corner. You could always
get fresh veggies there. It just don't look the same with the Wa-Wa there now.
In the distance you could hear Archie calling his pigs, you never knew exactly what
he was saying but he always got his point across. His house was just north of the
corner, at the top of the hill on the left hand side. It was a big old two story
with shingle siding. Archie and Lena Z. came over from Russia and lived in Phila.
for a while before moving to Elk Township he used to be a Russian Cossack in the
Buffalo Bill Coddy show. He showed me photos of him when he was there. He would ride
the horse standing with his sword in his hand. That thing had to be 4 ft. long. I
would like to have seen that in person. He was a real nice man I do kind of miss
him. The house is gone now, its all peach trees. I guess Silvergate will change all
that
In the summer when it was hot we would go to Sandy`s Island to go swimming,
we lived so close we had a free pass to get in. That place was great, it had a man
made swim hole and a big old fishing hole too. I never did get into fishing but I
did like to swim. Mr Sandelier did do a great job of putting that camp ground together.
Oh well its all closed up now and I haven't been back there in years. I should take
a walk back to see what it looks like one more time. Silvergate has that ground too.
We would leave there, go home, hop on our bikes and ride to Nicholson`s store right
in the center of Aura. They had the coolest gum-ball machine there and if you got
a gold gum-ball you would get a prize. I got my first camera from that store, that
was a neat place. The building is still there, it became Citizen Bank, then Peoples
Bank of South Jersey, then New Jersey National Bank then Core States Bank then closed
up for a few years. Now there is a nice Delicatessen in the building. He has the
best pepperoni twists you have to try them.
Across the street is the Aura United
Methodist Church. I can remember going there on a 7 week summer program. We would
make crafts and do neat things. I made the nicest Bible, it had wood covers on front
and back with an inset wire design on the front. I still have it today, inside the
date is May something 1965. I used to ride there early everyday on my bike, and I
would help the lady carry the stuff in. I wish I could remember her name. I had fun
there.
Every fall it was right back to school but it was fun going to Aura Elementary.
WOW !! has that school gotten bigger. But it is almost too small for the amount of
kids going there now. When I was little, the old part of the school seemed so BIG
to me. Mr Keepfer, I have to say was one of my favorite teachers. Its hard to believe
I had him as a teacher, my wife had him, my son had him and if he is still there
in a couple of years my daughter may have him. Boy am I getting old or what ?
I have a lot of great memories from around here and I hope some day my kids will
say the same thing. I know change is coming but I don`t know how soon, or if its
for the better or worse, but that's a whole story in it-self.
Well I dont want
to put you all to sleep so I am done for now, I just want EVERYONE to enjoy the SITE
and if you have any history and/ or photos you want to share everyone let us know.
THANKS... sleepy@diskworks.com
2/14/1997