MEMORIES/THOUGHTS

November 06, 2007:   Friends often have to listen to me tell him stories about "olden times" in Arma. Even my husband talks about Joe Ossana's homemade sausage (fresh & smoked). Mike always says, "Johnsonville ain't got a clue as to what good sausage is." Also, one of my favorite non-fiction authors is Calvin Trillan. I loved it when he talked about the Balkan fried chicken war (Annie's, Mary's, etc.). Mike also still talks about Gebhardt's chicken. When we get pizza, we go to an unlikely place. It is a gourmet grocer just down the street. They have the old-type brick oven like the Arma Bakery had. As a kid, I rode my bicycle about 3 blocks to the old bakery to get Italian bread, cookies and doughnuts. I can still smell the place -- it was a very, very slight burnt smell from the bread crust on the brick oven. I remember the wood pile on the side of the old building. When you went in, they asked if you wanted a round loaf or a long loaf. Then, they made a cookie that was a sort of biscotti, but not quite as dry. I believe they had citron or candied fruit and almonds in them. Those were soooooooooo good. I have tried to duplicate them, but never could. And, their doughnuts! Not everybody liked them, but I loved them. They aren't like the purely sugar creations that you get today and pay 75 cents each for. These were made with a dough that had some bite to it. I am not sure if they used the bread dough or if it was different, but they shook the finished doughnuts in granulated sugar while they were still warm. Looking back at it, as opposed to the way things are now, you didn't have all the choices for the items. There was no choice as to white, whole-wheat, rye, honey-dipped, glazed, frosted, sprinkles, low-fat, low-salt, 6 types of artificial sweetener, healthy choice, all-natural, all-artificial, organic, etc., etc. -- you got bread, round or long -- you got cookies, as is -- you got doughnuts, sugar sprinkled. But, you didn't need 50 choices. The limited products that they had were so good, they couldn't be improved upon. If I remember right, there were two brothers running the place. Italian was definitely their first language, so they seemed to have an employee at the front counter to help out. As a kid, I remember the two guys being about my height. I bet today they would be about midriff high on me. Boy, what great stuff! Kids today think that our generation grew up deprived, but I think it is the exact opposite. We grew up in a place that had teachers who were roll models and truely cared about their students. Kids today have McDuffy's for fried chicken, Super Walmart for sausage, Holsum for bread, and Dunkin' Donuts for doughnuts.   Audrey Andrews Weber

February 16,2007:   I have many many memories of Arma. One of my earliest is that I rode my tricycle from our house on South Street to my Grandmother’s house on Long Street, well over a mile away when I was very young. Just thinking about letting a child do that today would be grounds for child endangerment!     My father has done a large amount of research on the coal mines and miners in the area and has information on that. The bronze statue that will be at the Miners Memorial Park in Pittsburg was modeled off of a picture of my mother’s grandfather as he was returning home to Arma after a day working in the coal mines.   Memory of David Casaletto

Read about a local resident's experience & survival from Hurricane Ivan.    Life goes on….  by Dr. Joe Eugene Lepo

Wed, 9 Jul 2003   I cannot attend the reunion next month, but I will certainly be there in spirit. Maybe next time.  I was born in Pittsburg, and left in 1946 to move to KC. Throughout my childhood, and even now, I have gone back to the area. I have relatives all over the area, although most of them are fairly distant now. Growing up, I often visited my aunts and uncles in Arma, Frontenac, Pittsburg, Croweburg, and around the area. I spent quite a bit of time on my Aunt Annie's farm, and know all about outhouses, pumps, etc. I am related to the Busse and Galichia families,  along with several more. My Mom was born in Englevale, and my Dad is buried in Pittsburg. My maternal grandmother was Elizabeth Busse and my grandfather John E.  Karns.  My great-grandfather Albert owned a hotel and  general store in Englevale. My cousin Diane (Tassi) and I are currently putting together a book of recipes and stories about growing up in the area, along with many memories of our grandmother and her brothers and sisters. I imagine we'll finally get it together sometime this Fall, maybe. I will see her next week, and work some more on the book. I also want to send some of our family history to the reunion organizers, as we have quite a few "holes" in our records, although who doesn't? She corresponds with some of the Busse girls - Doll and Little Eva - so they will have some data.  Also, we both get e-mails from our Galichia cousins from time to time, as well as our cousin (by Marriage)  Billie Marie (Boggio) Busse. It's probably just as well that we can't come to the reunion; we'd never want to leave and come home. Good Luck,   Bernard M. Welch,  Sacramento, CA