Page 44 - Always Virginia

32 Virginia Day Fritscher

beautiful sights like the “locks” and the “flat rocks.” We would go
out wading in the water very shallow, clear and cool, running over
the flat rocks. When the river rose, part of the town was under
water and the men would put up boardwalks. The water never
came up as far as our house, but I can remember the spooky feeling
walking on the boardwalks over the flood waters trying to get to
Overjohn’s grocery or to Draper’s who had a dry goods store with
a little restaurant where I’d order up a little ice cream cone which
I always bought whenever my parents made ice-cream as I didn’t
care for the home-made kind, because at Drapers, they would fill
the cone with ice cream and then dip it in candy stars–which they
didn’t do at home. What a treat!
There also was a store named Benninger’s. We would stop there
on our way back to school and buy a penny’s worth of blackies,
whities, brownies, or banana chews. We always had a few cents,
because we would write Daddy a note at school and give it to him
at noon, asking for a penny for the afternoon. All that candy led
to some visits to the dentist who came up from St. Louis two or
three times a week. He was Dr. Sweeney, and he made the amazing
discovery that I had two sets of permanent teeth come in (just in
front). I found out much later my teeth were just like my cousins
Cecilia and Loretta Day who also had two sets of teeth come in just
in front. I always claimed Dr. Sweeney pulled the wrong set, but
he was far better than the old dentist we had there in Kampsville,
because that old dentist, Dr. Holner, was alcoholic. We used to
go visit Dr. Holner or rather the Tillisons, the people he boarded
with, and I’d rock Dr. Holner’s dog to sleep while Mom and Daddy
played cards with the Tillisons or just visited. I always loved dogs
and was always bringing a stray home.
Mom belonged to the Women’s Club, a national organization,
and when they’d meet at our house we kids would always laugh to
hear them sing their opening song, “Illinois.” Very funny hearing
them singing, “By the river gently flowing, Illinois.” The ladies
played bridge and I knew from watching how to play bridge since I