In last week’s column, I wrote about a few summers of my youth, which brought back many memories.

I am so fortunate to have the memories so vivid to me of my childhood.

While my wife Marilyn insists that if I can’t remember I make it up, that really isn’t true. Making it up would diminish the true value of the memory.

Once I moved here just before the fifth grade most of my memories came directly from South Williamson, although even when I lived here I went there at least once a month and for a few weeks every summer.

Some things really never change, I am grateful that my memory of those times is one of them.

When I was a youngster in downtown Russell there were so many things there then that are no longer there.

As I look at downtown Russell these days, it has certainly taken on a vast amount of changes.

For those my age and older I can remember when US 23 ran directly through downtown Russell. The traffic was monumental.

This of course was due in very large part to the wide-open running C&O. Armco added to the traffic as did Ashland Oil.

It was quite a booming little town full of bustle and commerce.

There were plenty of businesses. Some of them stayed around most of the time I was in school. The fact that Russell had two dry goods stores in Stephens and McConnells, grocery stores, drug stores and oh yes, two hardware stores, plus much more.

I can remember spending an entire day going door-to-door talking to so many kind people.

I remember when I was about 12 or so, Joe Stephens hired me for a day’s worth of work doing the annual inventory of the store.

It was the dirtiest job I have ever day – at least on the inside. We were all over that store, up and down, and I believe there was a dirt basement as well, but I may have been wrong.

We counted every item in the store. The big items were easy as there were just a few of each but packages of items took forever, they even had some loose items to count, such as keys, which took absolutely forever. I am not complaining because it kept me there on the clock to add to my pay for that day.

We worked an entire day – open to close – and finished up about the time to lock the doors. When we were finished for the day, Joe went to the cash register and pulled out a crisp $10 bill.

In 1963, $10 was a substantial amount of money. No taxes, no anything. I promptly got up the next morning and went to the bank and put $5 of that cash in my savings account.

That left me $5 to take and spend at my leisure.

I remember asking my Auntie if it would be ok if I went to Ironton for the day – and she gave me the big thumbs up.

I gathered up Tommy Wadkins and we headed across the Ironton – Russell Bridge (the original) and a big day in the Iron City.

We went to the restaurant and had a couple burgers and fries, along with a long, tall cold Coke. Then walked back a few blocks to the Rona.

I do not remember what was playing that day, but it was a double-feature so we were going to get our money’s worth.

We spent the day at the movies and then on the way home, somehow found our way to a couple ice cream sundaes.

Back across the bridge we came and back to our respective homes. It is absolutely amazing what joy those days bring to mind.

Thanks for going down memory lane with me one more time. Although, honestly, we may do this a few more times.

And so, for another week, thanks and thirty.