Life History of Philip Harris

21. Tell us about your father, do you have a special memory of him?

The most pleasant memories of my father was when we were young kids. We would walk to the Harrisena school and wait for my father. He would allow us to sit on his lap and steer the car home. My father made me a fishing pole when I was very young. When he went fishing, I would follow him and he showed me the best spots in the brook to catch trout. I would follow him hunting and he would show me all the safety features of handling a gun and show me how to shoot it. He was a true outdoorsman and loved to have me tag along. When we lived on lower Ridge Road, next to halfway brook, he built us a diving board at a big swimming hole. I recall helping him every night in the summer getting a load of ice from Preston Carpenter's ice house on Lake Sunnyside and taking it to Merrit Staples Pavillion on Cleverdale. I liked it because I got a bottle of soda.. He owned and drove a 1931 Ford pick up.

My Father was drafted into the Army during WWII. He had become a alcoholic during the war. He had many years with this disease and things were hard for our family. He did conquer the disease and the last 20 years of his life were good for all the family. He was a very compassionate person when not drinking. He loved to hunt and sometimes that was what we had to eat. He loved to work in the garden. I have inherited that love of working in the garden from him.

22. Have you ever witnessed or experienced a fire, flood, disaster or accident? What happened, what did you do, how did you feel about it?

In the late forties we had a hurricane or twister hit. I was on the porch and could see it coming across the field. It was the most devastating thing I have ever seen. We could see the 100 year old maple trees dropping in the front yard. Brayton Harris had gone down to the mail box to get the newspaper and he was picked up and thrown about 20 feet. We watched when H. Russell Harris' house burned down, also in the late 40s. It was a terrible sight. Peggy and Connie came over to our house and we all watched as the house burned to the ground. At that time the closest fire company was in Glens Falls. In later years Russell worked hard as Town Supervisor to get the 4 volunteer fire companies in Queensbury.

23. When you have quiet time what do you like to do?

Being old and retired,quiet time is appreciated. We have more of it and we love it. We take as long as we want to have breakfast and read the paper. We enjoy reading good books. We read at least 15 a year. If we don't like the book we just stop reading it. If we like the book we may read it the second time. I am doing that with Dan Brown's books. We have TV programs we like but the list is getting smaller . We enjoy good movies, but prefer to watch them at home on TV. We have a big screen TV with high definition, HBO and all the channels. With 1200 channels, most of the time there is nothing to watch. I relax while playing my square dance records and practice my calls. Wanda likes to do cryptoquotes and crosswords. That is not relaxing for me. I enjoy working in my garden. It is work but very relaxing. I feel close to the Lord when working the soil and watching a tiny seed bring forth a beautiful plant. The quiet time of our life at this time together is wonderful. God is good.

24. Who was the president of the United States when you were born? Who was your favorite president and why?

I was born during the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1934. He would probably be considered the greatest president. He took over from Herbert Hoover considered the worst President. The unemployment was at 50%. Roosevelt got the country working again and rallied all Americans when we were attacked at Pearl Harber. He brought us thru the Great War and brought The Social Security system to older Americans. He was followed by Harry Truman, also considered a great President. He tried to get medicare but failed. He also tried to get universal health care for all Americans. He was thwarted in this by the Republicans. My favorite President was Dwight D.Eisenhowser. The country was at peace after a long war. He got the interstate highway system going. It was a happy time but the Korean War was getting started and the Communist threat was under way. John Kennedy was a good President and faced down Khrushchev in Cuba. It was a very sad time when Kennedy was killed. Lyndon Johnson was the next president. He got Truman's Medicare program into law. He brought civil rights to to black people that could not vote or go to school with whites. He unfortunately got us into a unneeded war in Viet Nam. Just like Bush in Iraq. Richard Nixon was not a good President. Gerald Ford took over when Nixon had to resign. He was followed by Jimmy Carter. I liked Carter but he was not a good President. Ronald Reagan was a good President, except for his trickle down economics that did not work. He was followed by George H.W. Bush also not a good President. Bill Clinton was a good President. The biggest job growth in the history of the goverment. The national deficit was being paid off. He really disappointed everyone with the Monica Lewinski scandal.The worst President in my lifetime is the present one we have. George W. Bush.He is very bad.

25. Did your family have any special traditions?

When I was a youngster we had a tradition of cutting a Christmas tree on my birthday on Dec. 18th. We were supposed to stay on my grandfather's property. The trouble was, he had no good Christmas trees on his property. We would sneek over onto the Stevenson property, now Stanley Miller's, and cut a beautiful tree and drag it home. One year as we were cutting the tree we were cought by Mr. Miller. He told us we could have the tree but next year call him first. In our family because of safety concerns.Mom and I decided to change a family tradition and have a artificial Christmas tree. The tradition had been to get the tree out of the box and put it up on Dec. 18th. I think all our family still uses a artificial tree. Traditions I like are telephone calls from my children on Christmas, and Mothers and fathers Day. Green bean soup with fresh beans out of the garden. Salt on a green apple or rhubarb. Buttermilk and Dirty John Hot Dogs. Pickled Kabossie Inovations with the family.. Family Home evening.

Traditions and memories are wonderful. I hope we can have a big Family Home evening and reunion before too many more years pass.

26. How old were you when you learned to drive? Who taught you and what kind of car did you learn on?

I was about 14 years old when I learned to drive. My friend Puzzy Coon 's father had a old 1929 Model A Ford. We used to drive the car in the fields and woods near his house. The car was not licensed and soon the body fell off. We would drive the car thru woods and back roads to a square dance in Kingsbury.When I was older my father let me drive and was suprised that I already knew how. I got my first car when I was 16, a 1941 Chevrolet.. The car had a problem shifting from first to second gear. I would have to stop the car, get the hood open and flip the gear that would had stuck. Getting back into the car I would then start out in second gear. The fenders eventually fell off the car but I still drove it.

I had a date with a beautiful girl after I bought the car. We went to the Dix Drive In theater in Hudson Falls.The movie was " Casablanca" with Humphrey Bogart. The beautiful girl snuggled up to me in the front seat. She wisperd in my ear. "Do you want to go into the back seat"? It was a strange request I thought. I looked her in the eye and said " no I would rather stay up here with you.. It was a great movie and my first time at a drive inn with a beautiful girl, and I didn't have to watch it from the back seat. Those old cars I had bring back beautiful memories.

27. What is your first memory of as a child?

The earliest memory as a child was when I messed my pants and it went all over the outside pump house at Uncle C's. I do remember he chased me in to the house and I ran to the arms of my mother. I was terrified. Uncle C was the brother of my grandfather Leroy Harris. He was a batchler and would shave and bath once a year. Usually in the spring when my Grandfather and grandmother would catch him. In his younger years, he was a bicycle racer. I understand he won several races. He road his bicycle every place he went. It was nothing for him to ride 10 miles to Glens Falls and back again, even in his older years. He raised exotic chickens and would show them at fairs around the country. You could always tell when Uncle C was around because you could smell him a mile away. He smoked Mechanics Delight Tobacco in his pipe and chewed Beach Nut chewing Tobacco. I also remember as a child tipping over the rain barrell. I was petrified because I was told I couldn't go on a family picnic.The family did relent and let me go after what seemed like hours upstairs crying. I never tiped over the rain barrell again.

28. What did your father and mother do for a living?

My father and mother were very hard workers. When I was real young during the depression ,my father took what ever job he could get. He also supplemented his pay by fur trapping. He went to work for the Imperial Paper Company . They made paint. My father and others got lead poisoning. When he recovered he went to work for the Town of Queensbury Highway Dept. Most of his working career was with the Town.

My mother took in laundry when we were young. When all the kids were in school, my mother worked for several families cleaning house. My mother and father were very hard workers.and instilled that trait to all of us kids. We know we have to work for what we have. There is no free lunch.

29. Have you ever seen or witnessed a miracle?

I see miracles every day. The world is a miracle. The ever expanding universe. The world we live in ,gravity ,rotation around the sun. The oceans, rivers tides,and the beauty of the world around us. Life is a miracle. We have a body for our Spirit.

I think technology left me behind. I was just trying to figure how a voice came over a telephone when along came TV. When I use the computer or send a fax, I have witnessed a miracle.

The birth of a baby is a miracle. The birth of animals and the instinct of the mother is a miracle. I also think of the medical marvels that have preserved my life. When we witness a healing,we have witnessed faith, not a miracle. . When I put a seed in the ground and get a beautiful tomato, I have witnessed a miracle. Life is a miracle.

30. What sports do you participate in or watch? Are you enthusiastic about sports or exercising?

I love baseball, I enjoyed playing it when I was in school and with my friends. In the country we used cow flops as bases. If the ball went into the brook, that was a automatic out. I love to watch my favorite Team, The Boston Red Sox and try to get to Fenway to watch a game once in a while. I did watch a spring training game in Florida. I did play soccer when I was in high school. I was also a good runner. I like to watch professional football in the fall. I like the Buffalo Bills. They, like the Red Sox, never win.

I do like to play golf in Florida. I don't get much time to do it up here. Golf to me is a good way to take a walk and get some exercise. Wanda and I love to square and round dance. We do a lot of that in Florida also.

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