Main St

There wasn't always a lot for a kid to do in a small town of 528. Thankfully, there were a few places to go to pass the time. We lived about 4 blocks from Main Street in Rollingstone. It didn't take but a few minutes to walk to Schell's Cafe and Grocery. I only recall eating there a few times, though, mostly with my grandmother. More often, I would go to the grocery part of the business to get candy (the Milk Shake candy bar was awesome) and/or Mr. Freezee's. Those Freezee's were delicious on a hot, summer day.

For a couple years, Main Street had a store called Tom & Sandy's. It was kinda like a super-mini version of Kmart. They had an aisle of toys which I would peruse from time to time.

Across the street was a beauty shop that our neighbor, Pam Wood, opened. I recall my brother, Brian, and I walking there one winter evening to get haircuts. I had just purchased a handheld game and played it while waiting to get my hair cut. It looked like this:

Pretty primitive game, but hey, it was 1982. When I got my hair cut, Pam remarked on how thick it was. Next door to her shop was the Rollingstone Post Office. I only went in there a time or two to get stamps.

Right by Schell's was the laundromat. On many early evenings when she was running late, Mom would ask me to take her waitress outfit there to dry (the dryers were much more powerful and faster than the one we had at home).

We also had 2 bars which were fun to go to once the arcade craze started in the early '80s. The Fireside Inn had Donkey Kong & Monaco GP (a racing game). The Rollin' Inn had Journey (yes, a video game based on the Steve Perry-led group!) and Gorf.

Gorf was a lot like Galaga. It had this computer generated voice that would say, "Insert Coin" when no one was playing the game. On many occasions, I would reply to the voice, "Insert Dick".

Further down the road was the 1st State Bank of Rollingstone.

(It's called the Eastwood Bank now). I remember I had a savings (passbook) account there that usually had about $5 in it. The bank also had a drive-thru which was quite groundbreaking for a smalltown bank in the early '80s.