SALINA, KANSAS

Born 1/5/73 Melissa Anne Curtis Asbury Hospital,Salina,Ks  Merle Hodges,MD Ob/Gyn (called on physician as Pfizer rep and also new as member of Salina CC ).I flew home early from a Pfizer regional sales meeting in time to be present for about 10 more hours of unassisted labor and the eventual delivery with forceps. I was on a stool right beside Dr Hodges and watch a crying, failing and red baby present herself to the world. This was a clear signal of what was to follow in terms of behavior and activity. Brought Missy home to her own nursery/room to our own home  about 3 days later, to  712 Neal Ave, Salina, Ks 67401 (new house plans were picked by us,1 story, 3 bdrm, 2 fullbth, w/ 2 car gr, fireplace, uf bsmt, about 3/4 a. brick walled back patio) We were moved to Salina, Ks in June 1972 by Pfizer Labs after accepting the sales position (first corporate job) for northwestern Kansas territory directly after graduation from Georgia State University MBA program in Atlanta, Ga. (Lived in SW Atlanta or College Park, Ga  in 2 story, 2 bdrm townhouse or Washington Square for 2 years while in grad school).First 4 months in Salina were spent in a 2 or 3 bdrm  townhouse waiting for our house to be built by contractor Verner Smith who lived across the street with his wife. Verner’s quote ” Downtown Salina will be under water before it floods here on Neal Avenue” Well, the 1st major rain storm brought standing water to our front steps and it didn’t recede for 2 days.Missy was a very active baby and was always getting into the kitchen pots and pans in the bottom cabinets. She loved to ride on the back of the bikes in the seat and swing in a red wind-up machine. At around 2 months old, Missy went on her family vacation with us and a couple and their son from Oklahoma City to Big Bear Lake area in Colorado. We rented a 2 bedroom condo with a fireplace and tried to start a fire immediately. This was very difficult since we only had damp wood, no starter logs and very little experience with working the draft system. After filling the condo with smoke and finding some dry wood we were successful. We bought or rented some big truck air tubes and spent day ‘ Tubing’ down some small hills around Big Bear Lake. We had plenty of fun as 1st timers, but walking back up the hill with the tube in deep snow was hard work. This was a beautiful part of Colorado and would love to see during the summer with the lake and the mountains When Missy was about 3 months old, we spent 2 days in Kansas City, Ks and attended a Kansas City Royal baseball game. It took Missy 2 years to grow into the KC Royal t-shirt that was purchased.We took our first driving family vacation to North Padre Island, TX and rented a condo on the beach. Missy was about 6 months old, but had moved to the backpack and really enjoyed seeing the ocean waves, seagulls walking on the sand and the wind blowing in her face. The mosquitoes were huge black things that sucked blood and caused big welts and hurt, so were either on the beach or in the condo. One day we drove to South Padre Island and on down the Texas coast to the Mexican border and across to a small town called Matamoras for lunch and of course, I got sick that night. The trip home to Salina was planned to go thru Houston to catch an Astros day game, but they started the game 1 hour early because of a night event conflict in the Astrodome, so we missed the game and continued on north very unhappy.Baptized around 1 year old during full am service at The 1st Presbyterian Church of Salina Ks by Dr Bernard Hawley with grandparents Curtis (Annette and Dawson) in attendance after flying into Salina, Ks from their home in Alliance, Ohio. Big event for us all.Missy swam at Salina Country Club pool (joined club early spring 1973 just in time for golf and pool season) during summer of 1973 and was joined by her cousins Tommy and Tracy when their father Tom Curtis drove them out west from their home in Kent/Canton/Alliance, Ohio. Took water-baby class at local YMCA and she was very successful with underwater push and swim method.

During our days in Salina, we took a few over night tent camping trips to close-by water reserves areas or Lake Kannapolis. This was a carry-over from our graduate school days when tent camping was the only way to travel inexpensively. We had lots of equipment since I volunteer to be the scoutmaster for the local Salvation Army Post and had access to all of the troop’s camping gear. The only full summer we spent in Salina I took most of the troop (12 to 15) to the Kansas City area Salvation Army summer camp for a week. I was one of the water safety instructors and assisted with teaching Red Cross Lifesaving course to the senior scouts in camp. I also was awarded a certificate for passing the course myself. This week was half of my Pfizer 2 week vacation but well worth the effort and time because the boys needed the father figure. I was also inducted into the camp’s secret Indian lore society on the last night of camp. This was reminiscent of the 5 years of summers of Tuscazoor Scout Camp that I attended in Dover, Ohio while a member of Troop 106 out of The 1st United Methodist Church in Alliance, Ohio which was only 2 blocks from my house. This camp had a secret Indian ceremony on Friday night for all those who passed the weeks tests. The 1st year ceremony was so impressive and really scary that I went for 4 more years and ‘Ran the trails with the Indians’ each Friday night.
When working at Kline & Roderick Co. a man’s clothing store in Alliance, after graduating from BGSU, I joined Benevolent and Paternal Order of the Elks. This was one of my father’s favorite places to league bowl, play money cards, shoot pool and drink his Bacardi and Coke. We had my membership transferred to local lodge in Salina since they usually had a band on Friday and Saturday nights and we enjoyed a night out at the Elks. They also had a 18 hole golf in town, that I played a few times and enjoyed a special round with my father when they were in Salina for Missy’s baptisium.We also joined The Saline Country Club soon after this outng and after being sponsored by my new good friend Ken Ostrander, who was the Laboratory Director for the local pathology group and Jon Holman MD the local psychrist. The three of us plus a fourth would usually play on Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning.