When she got older, she went over to the nearby home of her cousins, the Thomas sisters — Barbara, Roberta and Mary Ruth. They would play house and dress up in old clothes. They would get together with a neighbor, Dennis Cuendet, and go sit by a pond north of the Cuendet farm. They would gather around and eat eggs boiled by Betty’s aunt, that were stored in pickled beet juice that had turned purple.
Lori Balmas Lori Balmas, director of the Monett Senior Center, had a simple formula for what made summer. “Playing outside and going to the pool,” Lori said. “That’s what we did here. You just looked forward to that last day of school, and you knew it was summer.”
Linda Sitton Linda Sitton grew up in the 1950s and early 1960s in the Bonne Terre, Fredericktown and Sullivan area in eastern Missouri. “Summer meant being out of school and slumber parties,” Linda said. “In a small town, you could run around everywhere. You could run around outdoors in jammies. It mean bike riding and swimming pools and TPing people’s trees. “When we rode our bikes, we went to a swinging bridge in Fredericktown. We’d never think about it being dangerous. If we would wade through water, we could get to this little island and we’d stay there for hours.” Every year, Linda said she would go to Girl Scout camp and had a wonderful time. Even as an adult, when she would go to retreats at camp with other adult Scout leaders, she said it was still just as much fun. When her four children were growing up in Monett, the big adventure was going to the swimming pool in the summer. Three of them liked it so much they all became life guards. “We always went on vacation, especially trips to Minnesota,” Linda said. “They all want to do it again, one more time.”
Luetta Burton Luetta Burton grew up in Aurora. Her summer fun was playing on a wood swing she had in a tree, and another on the front porch. “I remember lying in the grass on a blanket reading a book, running around barefoot, going to the swimming pool, catching fireflies, playing Mother May I, Red Light Green Light and tag,” Luetta said. “I was a professional grasshopper catcher to go fishing with. “I really enjoyed the hot weather. You couldn’t wear shorts to school back then. In summer you could wear shorts and thongs for shoes.” Luetta had chores, like gathering the eggs and bringing in the firewood. Until her mother died when Luetta was 8 years old, she would help her mother in the kitchen. Since she was the youngest, her sister was eight years older and her brother was 11 years older, Luetta had “extra privileges” as the youngest. One of her fondest memories is driving the tractor as a girl, sitting up high, wearing a straw hat, as the others loaded the hay bales.
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