Rita Schneider

Rita in NYC in the 1940’s

Rita Schneider

2

In my mid-twenties, I inherited several hundred dollars. I decided to spend it on something special. After some time and thoughtful consideration, I decided on a trip to Europe, sponsored by a group of about 15 from St. Louis University, a Jesuit University. St. Louis is my home town and we would leave for Europe from New York City. This was my only time ever visiting New York. It was exciting, lots of fun and I liked it a lot. We spent about five days there, staying in a plain, drab, inexpensive hotel, but we had a great time seeing the sights. I remember well taking the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty and the elevator to the top of the Empire State Building. What a wonderful sight. There was so much traffic and so many people when we took the subway. Everyone was always in a hurry, especially in Grand Central Station. We had lunch in Child’s restaurant and took in a matinee, a musical, on Broadway. We started in Holland at a university in Amsterdam. I especially like Holland. It was so clean and organized. What a wonderful trip during the late 1940’s!

Volume 1, Issue 2 | Winter/Spring 2018 | THE BEACON 11

New York Adventure

Terri Erickson

2

It is a grey, drizzly day in Seattle and I had a flashback to a day like it when my fantasy started in Lakewood, Ohio. I was eight years old, and bored. I took an umbrella and danced up Madison Ave. two blocks to the local library. When I walked into the Children’s section, I spotted a magazine with a cover photo of a line of costumed synchronized dancers. The title was: “The Radio City Music Hall Rockettes.”

I found my favorite spot to read: a bay window with a fluffy cushion. As I paged through the magazine, there in front of me was laid out the adventures of the women dancers in New York and clips of them in various costumes and dance formations through seasons of the year. I had recently seen the movie “Easter Parade” with Fred Astaire and Judy Garland dancing down 5th Ave. in NYC. And I could visualize myself as a dancer on the streets of New York… so began my fantasy dream. I would ask my parents for dance lessons and become a “Rockette” living in New York. The family budget would not allow dance lessons. So, I continued to make up dances and dance around the backyard through the flowers and around the trees. When I started High School, even though I wore uniforms, my mother began giving me a subscription to “Seventeen” Magazine. I was able to choose one outfit each month, and she would call around stores in Cleveland to see if they carried it. Usually she ended up calling the store in New York City that featured it, and before long it arrived in a box from Macy’s or Gimbels, Bloomingdales, or Saks, all strange names of stores I longed to wander through. And then my fantasy of dancing, living and shopping in New York was rekindled. In my Junior year of college, I applied to Columbia University for a Graduate Fellowship and to Fordham University in the Bronx for a Graduate Teaching Assistantship. I was awarded the Fordham Assistantship, to my family’s delight, because it was a Jesuit School, and all my education had been in Catholic Schools. The award included $90 a month living expenses and all my educational costs including books and research materials. My commitment

12 THE BEACON | Winter/Spring 2018 | Volume 1, Issue 2