A Stroll Down Fremont Ave

By Paul Baker

Let’s take a stroll down my street and met some of the Hospital Hill Gang I grew up with. They are really a great bunch of kids and I know that you are all dying to meet them though I’m sure some of you out there already know a few of these kids, but for those who don’t, then let’s all get together and I’ll introduce you to them. So c’mon, let’s take a walk down Fremont Ave, it’s a beautiful spring day and you can smell the lilacs that grow in the O’Herns yard across from my house.

I’m going to begin where Fremont Ave intersects with Lincoln St. because there’s a big yellow house there where Ellen lives. Ellen is a pretty blonde who takes ballet lessons; she is one of the girls I play spin the bottle with on Lillian’s garage roof. She lives next door to a field that still exists on Fremont Ave, it runs up to Garland St and as far as I can tell, it’s the last one left.

Ellen would often join us in a game of “Off the Wall” which we played in front of the Nurse’s home. She’s a shy girl and I would see her heading down the street carrying a box containing her ballet slippers. But she overcame her shyness and became a regular playmate.

Now let’s head towards Lawrence St. and cross into my neighborhood of five identical multi-level houses. They are all still there and I often visit the old neighborhood via Google Earth, brings back a lot of memories.

On the corner of Lawrence St. and Fremont Ave is where Lillian and her sister Beth live. I had a crush on Lillian as a kid, and can remember her wearing a red blazer with her long brunette hair coming down over her shoulders; she had just gotten back from a college interview and is telling me how it went. I really wasn’t listening to what she was saying as I was just looking at her and thinking how pretty she was.

I use to take her for rides on my bicycle, she would sit on the top tube and I would bury my face in her sweet smelling hair. After I got my first car, a 1953 Buick, I would take her for rides in it. When I got out of the army, I tried to locate her as I still cared for her, but I failed in doing so. She attended college in Beverly and the last I heard she had moved to Chicago.

Next door to her lives Gerry, he’s kind of a chubby kid and Sonny Radzikowski use to call him Pudding. I went to Gerry’s Bar Mitzvah at the temple on Malden St. His mother Sally and my mother were close and they decided one day to get their driving license. Sally passed her exam, but my mother failed. I’ll never forget how mad my mother was over failing and how she claimed she was treated so badly by the person who tested her, so she said. She got her license on the next try.

Next door to Gerry is where Freddy and Marilyn live, and living down stairs is Doreen. Just three great kids and we had many a good time together. Every morning as we kids were getting up for school, my mother would ask what we want for breakfast. Sometimes Freddy’s father would hear my mother, and yell out what he wanted for breakfast. Our homes were that close and you could hear conversations going on during the warm months when the windows were open.

Sonny dated Marilyn when they were in their early teens and years later when Sonny lay dying in the Whidden Hospital, Marilyn would come and visit him. It really made me feel good that these kids who had grown up together still had time in their lives for their everlasting friendship.

Now you’re at the Baker’s house, I have two brothers, Harry and Richard, and a sister, Cheryl. Harry is the dancer in the family, and takes lessons from E. Virginia Williams. Ms. Williams is the founder of the Boston Ballet Company, and Harry is the youngest member of the troupe. Harry later opened his own studio in Atlanta, Georgia, and competed both nationally and internationally with his students. It was there while I visiting him that I met my future wife, Rose. Rose use to compete in ballroom dancing, and Harry was her instructor.

As we continue our stroll, we’re passing by a large field that we used for football and other games. It really was a blessing to have this field and we played many a game there. One time we all bought gliders that had a propeller which you would wind up by an elastic band. These planes were a blast to fly as you could change the wing position and have them do various aerobatics. There use to be two very large Elm trees across from the field; the trees along with the field have all disappeared when the Whidden expanded.

We’re now going by a vacant lot that we use in our game activities. It’s now occupied by a house that Freddy’s parents built. After many years of living on Fremont Ave, they decided to built a home just two doors down. For many years, Freddy’s father sold produce out of a truck before moving into the insurance business.

A little further down is another vacant lot that interconnects with our back yards. We could travel almost half of Fremont Ave via these back yard trails which had a heavy growth of trees and bushes perfect for hiding out and ambushing the other kid. Needless to say what happen to this lot as a guy by the name of Bob Conti decided to build a home on it. During the construction, it was a perfect fortress to defend during our snow ball fights.

Across the street is where Carl and Chris live, they are typical brothers, Carl is the oldest and on occasion, beats up on Chris whose famous retaliatory threat was: “I’m going to tell ma!” They have a real nice home with a long driveway flanked on one side by Forsythia bushes and a large maple tree that sits in the middle of their front yard. The expansion of the Whidden now sits where Chris and Carl use to live; such is the price you pay for progress. Their mother is my Cub Scout den mother, and I go the First United Parish Church on Broadway for our pack meetings.

Afterwards, my mother would treat me to apple pie ala mode at the Waldorf. We would sit by one of the two large plate glass windows facing Broadway so that I can keep an eye out for our bus that drops us off at the corner of Ferry and Cherry Sts.
We’re now walking by another lot that is just beautiful with lush green grass and trees. It has a large cherry tree that we climb when the cherries ripen. It has a steep embankment which is great for playing King of the Hill. Further in the back are a vegetable garden and other trees. A house now occupies this once great playing area.

Now we are in front of Ronnie’s house, you all know about him from my previous post. There is an elderly couple living downstairs and they always sit out on their small porch in the good weather, and when Jimmy the Ice Cream man drives up, the old man buys his wife some ice cream. Lately, I just see the old man sitting there by himself; he doesn’t buy ice cream anymore. One time while I was walking by, I noticed both chairs were empty.

Across the street is Jacky and Joanne’s home. Their father is an Everett cop. Joanne chums with Marilyn and it’s in vogue for young girls to wear kerchiefs over their heads. We boys take great delight in yanking them down, but the girls don’t break stride in their conversations and just pull them back up over their heads. After a couple of times of yanking them down and the girls just ignoring us, we give up. Never could figure out a WIT (woman in training).

Okay, we are now in front of the Radzikowski’s home where Anthony, Sonny, and Cosmo live. Art did an article on the “Doo Wop” scene and I read where Sonny was with the “Remember When” group. Sonny is the clown of the gang, you couldn’t ask for a better-natured kid then him. Cosmo is his youngest brother and I get a kick out of his short haircut and that his round head feels like a fuzzy coconut.

I use to put him in a head lock just to rub his coconut like head. He’s the youngest kid and we all look out for him. Anthony is the oldest, and doesn’t play much with us; he never seemed to be a healthy kid and smoked a lot. I’ve heard he has since passed away.

As we walk by Bellevue Ave, I’m now standing in front of Iris’s brick house; it was the only brick house on the street. In front of the house, you can see a long row of Irises and I always thought maybe they planted them especially for her and thus her name. Iris is a rough and tumble girl and can hold her own with any of us kids. One day her family moved to Swampscott and I was saddened by her moving away, just a sweet girl.

Across the street from Iris lives Judy and Jeanie, they would occasionally join us in a game or two, but mostly did their own thing. I had a crush on Jeanie as a kid, and would sit on the wall on the side of her house facing Bellevue passing time by killing ants while waiting for her to come out. Hmm, maybe that’s why she never came out? There’s an apple tree on her front lawn, and I would climb it to pick the fruit, and if she saw me, would yell at me to get off her property. Never did figure out the attraction I had for her.

Now I’m in front of Charlie’s house, and I’ve mentioned him a couple of times as being the coolest kid on the street. He’s the only kid that dressed in a white shirt and khaki trousers when playing. Presently, he has a Corvette and a big silver Chevy truck parked out in front of his house as seen from Google Earth. In the summer time you can find him up in New Hampshire where he has a cottage. Funny, not too far away is where Freddy also has a year round cottage and neither of them knew they were neighbors till I mentioned it to them.

So you’ve meet most of the Hospital Hill Gang, just a bunch of kids that I was lucky enough to have grown up with and whom I’ll never forget for all the good times we had together. We did everything together and that’s what made us so special, we were all for one, and one for all. Pick a fight with one of us, and you had to fight all of us.

We grew up in an era where our parents didn’t have to worry where we were, and didn’t have to worry about people that would harm kids. If they existed, they must have lived in other cities. We never had a home broken into, a car stolen or anything else for that matter. We respected adults, and did as they told us to do.

Hey, I hear there’s a pick-up ball game down at Glendale Park, so I gotta go. Why don’t some of your guys come on down and join us now that you’ve met the gang. We would like to meet you and find out where you all live and maybe you can take us for a stroll thru your neighborhood? So when you respond to the various posts, don’t sign on as “anonymous”, but use your name, after all, we are all from Everett and it’s about time we all got to know each other. Oh yeah, if you have any spare gloves, bring them as we’re always short. See ya later.