A great day with a great son

I recently got a chance to go back in time.

Well, not exactly back in the past like the guy in The Time Machine.

The calendar leaf still read 2009.

But I had an opportunity to share a little time and memory with my son, Ryne, that involved a memory of times I enjoyed when I was his age.

Several moons ago.

Growing up in the rural environs of Whiteside County — tucked away in the little triangle between the sprawling cites of Rock Falls, Tampico and Prophetstown — one of the highlights of the summer occurred in June.

Usually the third Thursday was designated as “Kid’s Day” by the village of Prophetstown.

A carnival was set up down Washington Street (the main drag) for the day. There was a charge to ride the rides but youngsters ages 12-and-under (if my memory is correct) were given a couple of free tickets by the sponsors. You would line up and get your left thumb painted red with mercurochrome to pick up the free ducats.

Now most youngsters have never heard of mercurochrome, a medicinal substance used for probably over a hundred years that was banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration back in 1998 as not “being generally recognized as safe and effective” as an over-the-counter antiseptic and forbade its sale across state lines.

In fact, mercurochrome was so effective as a stain that as soon as it was applied, you hoped that the redness would somehow wear off before you had to enter the line to get more free tickets 365 days hence.

Ryne and I got to P-Town around 1 p.m., so the line for free tickets was closed down. No problem. There were plenty of tickets for sale.

About the only problem was most of the rides that blanketed Washington Street were “kiddie” contraptions .

Now that Ryno is 12, while certainly not an adult – or even quite a teenager – the thought of riding the little choo choo train or carousel was not exactly very high on his to-do list.

And since Ryne does not like rides that toss him around and fling bodies side-to-side, really eliminated just about all the options.

For the sake of nostalgia, I had to get on at least one ride.

The ferris wheel was my choice.

Which left Ryno on the sidelines – because he is scared of heights.

Much like me.

I don’t like heights either, but get by if I don’t look straight down. As long as my gaze is centered on the horizon or a far distance, I can manage.

So Dad got to partake of the ferris wheel... by himself.

A sidenote – the ferris wheel used to ALWAYS be placed at the south end of Washington Street, right before the jog right. Facing north. The ferris wheel, for some reason, was tucked just around the corner, facing east on the east-west street.

Kid’s Day was observed in Prophetstown from the 1930s (that is what I have been told) until the mid-70s. It was brought back this year as part of the sesquicentennial celebration of the village.

It was hot that day (Saturday, June 20) and the sun was beating down on the pavement, causing the temperature to elevate quickly. Ryne rode a couple of rides and then decided enough.

He conned me into playing a couple of games, hoping to win a prize.

No luck.

So before we left, I decided to play the “rat game”, with aspirations of winning Ryno a BIG prize.

The “rat game” consists of such creature being plunked down on a spinning wheel with one of the 26 letters of the alphabet being designated to each of the holes located on the board. It was a quarter per letter.

I plunked down $1, got four quarters in change and placed a quarter on the squares labeled “M”, “N”, “R” and “Y”. For those of you who think I cannot spell, the “M” was for Mike.

After asking the game operator if the rat was named “Elvis” and being told the creature was without an appelation, the critter was deposited out of his holding container onto the spinning board. The rat without a name promptly headed for the hole designated with the “R” letter.

Ryno got his pick of the BIG prizes and chose a dog.

After spending a little time with my brother, we headed over to Tampico.

To the Roesselein Barn on Fargo Road, located a mile north and two miles east of the birthplace of Ronald Reagan. The occasion was the St. Mary’s Parish Hog Roast & Barn Dance.

Highlights of the evening, besides sitting down to a great supper with Ryne and my sister and brother, were the silent auction, the 50-50 raffle, the hog raffle and the crafts and bake sale

I got to see several people from the old neighborhood, kids I was in 4-H with and went to high school with. And being a Cunniff, I met a lot of interesting people and exchanged a word or two with them.

A big money maker for St. Mary’s was the spirited bidding on baseballs signed by New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi and players Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. Jeter and Rivera are probable Hall-of-Famers. Girardi is related to the Perino family that attends St. Mary’s.

The heat of the day had started to spiral downward as the evening wore on. The food was excellent.

On the ride home, we tried to pick up The Wizzard on the radio. He was broadcasting that night from a remote site in Streator. The golden oldies made a satisfying end to our memorable day.