Readers – This letter arrived from Amarillo, TX, an actual letter typed and signed by the writer, Doug Miller. He’s looking for the girl he took to a drive-in movie during the summer of 1954. Read on…. maybe someone knows who she is.
“My introduction to Greene County and the town of Jefferson was in the early part of June in 1954. I was a ‘troubled’ teenager from McKinney, TX. I had just lost my girlfriend because at 16 I didn’t have a car and my Dad did not have a car that I could use so I blamed all of my problems on my Dad, which did not help the matter.
“Then providence came to my aid. My sister Pat and her husband Bill Helms came to visit and after sizing up the situation decided that it would be good if I want to live with them in Jefferson for the summers.
“I was enthralled with the beauty of the country, the cross-checked corn fields, the tall tress, the seven hills west of town and most of all – the people I met, both teenagers and adults. My sister and brother-in-law owned and operated Helms Nursing Home on N. Cedar St, a big roomy two story home surrounded by a myriad of trees and some very nice elderly folks and very peaceful.
”I quickly found that a place called Louie’s downtown was a favorite hang out for most teenagers and they were very receptive to strangers and they made me feel welcome.
“During this period in summer the teens found employment by being at the agency where farmers hired them on daily labor to help with the crops, things such as detassling corn, baling hay, cutting corn out of the soybeans, and other related chores. Jefferson as so serene and peaceful – a far cry from the suburbs of Dallas.
“I stayed with my sister until the first of September when I had to once more go to Texas, but the stay in Jefferson had been like a healing tonic and when I boarded the train in Des Moines for the trip home I knew things wold be okay.
“I can recall almost everything from those three short months in Jefferson except one thing that has eluded me totally. I was allowed to drive my brother-in-law’s car as long as I didn’t leave town, and one evening after a hard day of work baling and hauling had I drove downtown and happened to meet a girl that had also spent a long day in the field. We had a coke and just talked and she mentioned a good movie she had heard about that was playing at the drive-in theater in Carroll so I ‘rationalized’ and decided to take the chance and we headed to the movie.
“Then the unthinkable thing happened as we settled in the car to watch the movie. She yawned and said how tired she was and I followed suit. It indeed had been a long day. She then sat close and nestled her head on my shoulder and that was the last we remembered until we were awakened by loud knocking on the window. It was the attendants of the theater. Everything was black and the theater was closed and we were the only car left and my watch showed the time as midnight. We had settled in and slept through the movie and until the rude awakening. Then began the drive home to face my brother-in-law and more scary, the thought of per parents if they were awake. Lots of possible problems. But mercy was with us. I took her to here home and the lights were out and there was no irate Father and blissfully my family was also asleep.
“The embarrassing thing is – I do not remember this girl’s name.
“The very next week I hired on with a construction crew that was building a new grain elevator in Scranton and when we finished there we went to Odebolt to finish one there. Then time ran out and I was on the train headed for Texas. My sister, Pat Helms, met this girl downtown as she was inquiring about me. Knew the girl’s name but that was 66 years ago and like me, the name is gone.
“I have repeated this story to my children and others for a laugh about teenage years and often wonder if this girl ever told this to her children- and didn’t remember my name. If she is still with us she would be about 82 and I hope her memory is better than mine.
“After my wedding the first long trip we took was to my adopted hometown to see the endless miles of corn and soybeans and the delicious apples. After she departed this life I later married a second time and I took this bride on the same trip and watched her awe at the fields of soybeans as she has never seen them before.
“Jefferson, Iowa, was then and still is now – My Adopted Hometown. Full of warm memories of Spring Lake and Squirrel Hollow, and Deal’s apple orchard west of town. And ‘Doc’ Manahay’s clarion bell tower erected on the town square after his death. These are vivid and warm memories and now – if I cold only remember the name of the GIRL.
Doug Miller, Amarillo, TX”
If anyone can help Doug reclaim that bit of information, please contact him through GCNO at news@greenecountynewsonline.com or leave a voice message for publisher Tori Riley at 525-386-3087.
