John Sheda

Well, here we are-the middle winter in Iowa. The Iowa Caucus is over, (aren’t we all glad about that?), and now the Super Bowl is behind us. What now?

I remember those long cold winters back in the 50’s and 60’s. Don’t you? There has to be global warming for sure, because those winters in Chelsea were brutal to say the least. From late December each year back then until at least the middle of February it averaged 20* below zero most every night. Day-time highs were always in the single digits and we usually had about a week or ten days of below zero daytime highs also. Right? We all remember those days!! And not only that, but the snow!! My goodness, back in those days, the snow started around Thanksgiving and stayed with us clear up till mid-March. Twice a week we got six or seven inches of fresh new snow.

And to top that off, there were no such things as school delays or cancellations. Hogwash, I say to all that. I remember those elementary days at St. Joseph’s on those terrible blizzard,(routine back then), mornings when you couldn’t even see outside because of the snow, that the town kids had school but the country kids didn’t. T’wasn’t fair atall. We never actually did anything in school since half the kids were home, but us town kids had to go anyway. Heck, I can count on my finger, (yes, finger), the number of school cancellations back in those days.

So what did we do back then? Sledding and ice skating were our winter events in Chelsea. We had two great hills, Clay Hill and Ledvina’s Hill. Only problem, they were both a few miles from town, one going south and the other northward. We’d have to get someone to get us there and back. Not an easy task with a bunch of boys all winter dressed to the hilt and each owning his own sled…or two. But we managed. Do your remember going down a hill on a toboggan? Kids have no idea today, do they? The toboggan was a wooden contraption being 8 foot long and two foot wide. The front of it was curved toward the riders and several of us could get on it at the same time and go downhill to beat the, ahhhhh, dickens. Many other types of sleds were readily available as well.

Ice skating in Chelsea consisted of heading to the outskirts of town to the best skating place in the world-Zeman’s pond. We played hockey, using some wooden stick we found and an old beer can. Talk about fun! Anytime we didn’t have school–oops, that’s right, we always had school back then, didn’t we? Well, anytime we had the chance, we were there skating and on Friday evenings, we would have “skating parties.” Some of the older kids would bring a bunch of tires and wood and we had a huge bon fire. The black smoke from those tires billowed for all to see. No EPA groups, cops or even concerned parents for that matter. It was Chelsea, Iowa in the late 50’s and early 60’s. Party started at dark and everyone was home by 9:30 or so.

That’s just the way it was. Plain and simple. Everybody knew everybody and we were all friends. And most of us had to walk to these fun activities or even school and it was ALWAYS, UP HILL BOTH WAYS!! Of course your remember those days.

And “that’s the way I see it.” Let me know what you think at jsheda@indytlel.com or call me at 319.327.4640. I’m sure your town had the same hills and ponds. Have a great week.