John Sheda.

Hi! John Sheda here and this is probably my last article here in the Tama News. I hope y’all enjoyed reading my old days living in Chelsea. As you know, I’m a ’69 graduate, (barely) of STC and will always be a Trojan at heart. Here are just a few of the things “I remember.”

Just three TV stations besides IPTV. How did we manage that? Good old Dave Shay, Tait Commings and Conrad Johnson. Conrad knew the weather better than the guys today, don’t you think?

Summers in Chelsea! Band Concerts, (Fred Vitek & his crew) and “hoot-annies” on Saturdays. What a great time to be alive back then. Remember “Popcorn Annie?”

Lebeda’s Dairy Sweet. The hangout for all the kids in town, (bet many Tama/Toledo kids remember too). The original “Dairy Queen” was born in Chelsea.

Swalm’s Drug Store was truly an original drug store. We’d sit on the floor reading comic books and watch those crows fly around the store. This store was “Americana at its best.”

Detasseling for Funks for several weeks every summer. Every kid in town detasseled and it was here I learned about paying taxes. One summer I got paid one dollar an hour and worked for 100 hours. I expected a paycheck of a hundred bucks, right., but after those &*^%*# taxes, my net check was only eighty-four bucks. Grrrrrrrr.

The annual floods! Always! The town of Chelsea because of these floods saw a number of people leave Chelsea and move about two miles to the north to higher ground. However two icons of Chelsea did not and would not move; The Silver Dollar and St. Joseph’s Church. If you wanted a beer and go to Mass afterwards, you had to return to town.

Deb (Veit) and I were married in 1974 at St. Joe’s as were so many others. The church baptized, wed and buried so many of our Chelsea residents. I am saddened to hear that the weekend Masses are being discontinued.

TIMES-ARE-A-CHANGING AREN’T THEY? However, not all changes are good, are they?

Love ya all & signing off I am. Let me know what you think at johndebsheda@gmail.com or heck, maybe even give me a call at 319.327.4640.