Playing Tag at St. Hedwigs

In elementary school, everyday at recess, the big deal was playing tag. Linden Street would get blocked off and we would have the block between the school and church to play. Tag was the thing to do. There was water department access cover, sort of like a manhole cover but smaller and square, near the corner in the center of the street and another further down the block that were the bases. Running from one to the other and being chased was so much fun, it was the main exercise we got at St Hedwigs. The main players were; Mark Emory, Robert Joswick, Mark Ivanitch, Paul Rydel, Eugene "Mooch" LaRouche, Jeffrey Hall, Charles Needles, Mark McGrellis, Raymond Brittingham, and myself. There might be others but I'm glad I can remember those names at this moment in 2017.

I remember looking down Linden Street to the south and often saw trains rolling by on the elevated track through Wilmington. We also would hear the factory whistle at the nearby NVF Company. I look back on those days and think about how much has changed. Kids sit around looking at their phones now, factory whistles are a thing of the past, but somewhere in some city a train still rolls through and some kid is watching it and dreaming about riding a train to some faraway place. Or at least I still hope that one thing still holds true.