Thank You From John Bush

I would like to thank all the readers of my stories about growing up in Martinsburg in the nineteen fifties. Many have contacted me, and I’ve enjoyed talking with and/or emailing them.

Some pointed out gaps in my memories and, in a few cases, errors that I made. Because of the stories, I made new acquaintances, and from them I learned a lot of new information. Reminisces with classmates and relatives were special. I feel very lucky to have grown up in Martinsburg in the 1950s and especially lucky to have gone to public schools with classmates who came from so many different economic, religious and social backgrounds.

Special thanks to classmates Bill Reese, Monty Gerhart, and Bob Davis who reviewed some or all of my stories. Their comments and corrections were helpful. Without the encouragement of my wife Pam who believed my stories were worth sharing, I never would have ventured to commit them to the written page. And lastly, a big thank you to the Herald for publishing my memories. We are lucky to still have a small town newspaper that keeps us connected.

Some notable corrections to the various stories include the following:

1. The ladder truck in my Martinsburg fire story may have been a regular fire truck with ladders hanging off its sides.

2. Cove High band director Paul ‘Pop’ Fisher had five daughters, not four.

3. The 1957–58, end-of-season basketball game in the story about Leon Zook was played in Hollidaysburg, not Williamsburg. Also, John Smeltzer was one of the forwards, not Bill Smeltzer. 4. The older baseball fan that I referred to as ‘the elderly Ray Zook’ and ‘old man Zook’ in the story about Joe Hinish and baseball games at Memorial Park, in retrospect, was most likely Ray Honsaker.