David and me at the carnival.
Big Tom (brother in law) and me at the carnival.
Carol and me at the carnival.The Broad Brook carnival has come and gone for another year. The faces have changed over the years and some of the entertainments are much better than they ever used to be...but really it's all the same in some respects. We never had fireworks when I was a kid.
I have been going to that carnival since I was a small child. When we were little (and there weren't 6 of us yet) Mom would load us into her Bonneville and we were off to the carnival. It was probably only about a mile from our house but with the kids in tow it wasn't possible for her to walk us up to it. And I'm sure we watched the parade every year before the carnival but I have no memories of the parades as a child (I have later memories and pictures too)...even though Dad would have been marching every year.
The parade always 'opened' the carnival for the last night which was always a Saturday night. The carnival would actually be open on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as well but they made a big deal out of Saturday when the crowds were much bigger.
Dad was in the Fire Dept all my life but I really always took it for granted. It didn't strike me as anything cool or different...it just was. When my brother David (the youngest boy; 4 yrs my junior) was about 5 yrs old or possibly younger he started badgering Dad to take him to the fire house with him and Dad eventually gave in and took him. The firemen nicknamed David Smiley. And I bet Dad never knew he was setting a pattern that would form David's life. David has stayed in the fire dept all these many years; first as a junior, later as a regular member and now the Chief. He followed in Dad's footsteps and even surpassed Dad's achievement as well. Dad would have made a great Chief...he was a natural leader and kind as well. But he never took to the limelight and preferred to remain a Captain directing and teaching quietly from behind the scenes. He never looked for any accolades from anyone and always seemed pleased and yet surprised that he was such a huge favorite with all the guys...especially the juniors, who made many mistakes but always looked to Dad to set an example. And he did set an example. I don't think he ever knew it really, but they all looked up to him as a father figure and a role model.
So when I go to the Broad Brook carnival these days and I see new people in the raffle booth, it's a painful reminder that Dad is gone now. Dad and Mom used to run the raffle booth for years. Dad would make jokes and friendly chatter to the people making out the tickets and Mom would draw people in with the microphone. They worked great together. Everyone would stop at their booth or laugh as they wandered by because Mom wouldn't let you walk by without saying something outrageous to the crowd or calling you by name. Everybody knew everybody else in Broad Brook back then.
Occasionally I'd be sent to the food booth to fetch them something to eat and drink and part of my night would be spent at their booth getting reacquainted with friends from high school that I'd only see at the carnival each year.
I'd always find time to blow my money at the dime pitch too. And when David was a junior (or maybe even before that) he and his friends used to have a turtle race booth. These little boys would 'recruit' turtles from the Broad Brook pond just for the carnival and then let them go when it was over. They were adorable...the boys...although the turtles were cute too. And I swear the crowd gathered just to see the little guys running the show more than anything else. I believe they tried it a couple of times with frogs too. Ah those were the days!
And I never knew they'd be such special memories when I was living through them at the time. I never knew David would stick with the Fire Dept. I never knew he'd carry on the Lockwood name and do us proud by becoming the Chief of the Fire Dept. But how could I have known that the little tow-headed boy with the cut off shorts and bare feet, who was always dirty and getting into some kind of trouble, would grow up to be a real adult, stepping into Dad's shoes so easily, taking the mantle of responsibility on his shoulders like he has, and helping to keep the memories of Dad so alive? He is his own version of Dad and doesn't really look like him, but he's enough like him to hurt my heart when I watch him in action and make me so proud to be his sister.
