Let me first say, I don’t know who wrote this. I only know her name is Cheryl, and she’s on the internet somewhere, and perhaps still nearby… but all my cyber-sleuthing on the website where I found this and the related Facebook page has been fruitless.
It is an open letter from Cheryl to her Grandson Lyle. It is inspiring, amusing, nostalgic, and heartbreaking all at the same time. A recollection of simpler times, and a real testimonial of how many of us grew up in Rio Linda, and why many of us stay here.
I’ve selected an excerpt that I particularly enjoy. Please, please visit the website here and read the entire letter. I’ll guarantee you won’t come back empty-handed.
Rio Linda was a small town. The main part of town, located along M street, consisted of The Archway Market, The Archway Pharmacy, The Archway Frosty and The Archway Gas and Garage. The reason everything was called “Archway” was because of a huge archway that was set up on the intersection of M Street and Rio Linda Blvd. The original archway was built in Marysville California in 1911 for use by an electric trolley system. The arch was dismantled between 1924 and 1925 due to structural and electrical problems and in 1925 donated to the Rio Linda Grange. In July, 1926, the arch was dedicated at Rio Linda Blvd and M Street as a historical landmark. Down M Street a bit farther were the local vet, a shoe repair shop, McMillan’s hardware, a Baptist church, Rio Linda elementary school, the Rio Linda library, the railroad track crossing, the Nuway Market and a town water fountain. Later, the library was moved, and it is now down at the end of M street, by the post office and the Marvel Supermarket, a supermarket that was built in Rio Linda when I was about 8 years old. Now it looks very tiny, compared to Supermarkets of today. Other places in town that I remember well, not on M Street, were the Rio Linda High School and Jr. High, the Pont Express and the Lutheran church that your cousin Debbie went to. Of course there were a few other businesses, but these are the ones I remember the best.
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One place nearby was a huge mud hole across the street from our house. Every year it was full of pollywogs and my friends Janet and Debbie and sometimes my cousin Debbie and I would have fun gathering up some to take home as pets, hoping we could watch them transform into frogs. One year I took the top off of a giant blue plastic piggy bank and kept them there in their pond water. I blew air into the bank with a straw for oxygen and hoped for the best. No luck. Unfortunately, pretty much, every year, they would die because we really should not have taken them from their natural habitat.
Walking up to the Archway Market was always a fun thing to do. In a small town, there isn’t much to do, so things like that take on a little more importance. Janet and I would walk all over town searching for soda bottles to turn in for the 3 cents deposit. This was in the days when soda bottles were made of glass and sadly, often people would just toss them out a car window. This was a dangerous practice, but it also allowed those of us who had the inclination and or desperation, to make some money collecting them from the roadside. Sometimes we would ask neighbors if they had some to throw away, mostly though, the ones we got were from the roadside. We would head down to the Archway Market when we had gathered several. Back then candy was cheaper. We could get a licorice stick for 2 cents and a candy bar for 5 to 10 cents. Sodas were 10 cents with a 3-cent deposit. Usually Janet and I would come home with 5 or 6 candies each. I was not supposed to eat candy, so I think that made it all the more fun. I remember stealing dimes from my Mom’s dime collection as a little girl to go to the store with as well. She had an antique piggy bank that she kept on a shelf above the stove. I would climb up when she was taking a nap and grab a few dimes. She never caught on, but I spent many a night feeling guilty.
One time I went to the Archway Market with a friend, who got caught stealing a piece of candy. I hadn’t stolen anything and was very mad to be accused by the owner. I walked out, exclaiming, “Do you KNOW who my father is?” The storeowner asked who he was and I replied, “You sure are going to find out and boy, will you be sorry!” I sometimes wonder if he ever worried about whom, exactly, my father was!
I remember the Archway Frosty had the best corn dogs in the world! My Mom would send my Dad out on special movie nights for a big bag of them. In those days, we only had 3 or 4 channels on TV. We would look at the TV Guide when it came and mark the nights certain movies would be on. About once a month there would be a great movie that all of us wanted to see. We would either all gather together on Mom and Dad’s bed to watch the movie on their little black and white TV and munch our corn dogs. I remember that Mom had a bed spread that had little cloth puffs on it and after lying there watching the movie, I acquired polka dot where the puffs had indented my skin. Sometimes we would plop down on the rug in the living room and watch on our color TV. I specifically remember seeing “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” and “The Reluctant Astronaut” on 2 of our movie nights.
Every year, near the 4th of July, a Red Devil Fireworks stand would be constructed near the Archway, usually in the parking lot of the Archway Pharmacy. I remember many warm July evenings, walking down to the fireworks stand, with money earned cutting the lawn or some other chore, buying fireworks for our annual 4th of July show in the front yard. Dad would always wind up buying extras, even though I usually bought plenty. Every year we had a pretty grand show and a great time. The last fireworks we set off were always the sparklers, which I would attach to the top of the fence, so that the fountain of sparks that reined down would be more impressive.
I always hated it when the fireworks were over and it was time to go inside.
