We had a cherry tree in the backyard, I would climb up the tree and pick the cherries. Mom would bake a cherry pie. Mom also baked all kinds of Greek pastries. I would find out were she hid them and I would sneak eating them.

I helped dad build a chicken coop. We had baby chicks. I helped feed them. When they were grown, mother would cut off their heads, put them in hot water, pluck out the feathers . . . and we would have chicken to eat.

We used to play behind a factory with a stream behind it, if we ever fell in no one would find us.

We used to get into and walk through a huge city drainpipe. If there were ever a downpour of rain we would surely have perished.

I used to roller skate at Belleville Roller Skating Rink and in Newark at Dreamland and Twin Cities.

Every Fourth of July we would go and watch the fireworks at Nutley High School stadium.

During summer vacations, I recall going to one of the parks in Nutley. They had crafts and we would make things. I made a huge kite. We used to buy and assemble kites and fly them out in the fields.

I remember learning to play the trumpet. I played in the grammar school band and the high school band. I was really never any good. Actually I was pretty bad . . . but I got to see all the football games free!

We played all kinds of different games with pen knifes, built fires, and roasted potatoes. We use to find empty bullet shells, fill them with tips of matches, seal them, throw them into a fire . . . and then run as they would shoot off.