Facebook triggers many memories of the life of kids in RR

Last week I saw a comment posted on former Rainy Riverite Sean Nicholson's FaceBook that triggered memories from others and myself. It was fun and interesting to look back and at how things have changed.
Here is some of what was said:

Sean Nicholson: When I was a kid I didn’t have an XBox or Wii, there was this thing called a Lite- Brite. My curfew was the street lights and mom didn’t call my cell she yelled “time to come in”. I played outside with friends, not Online. If I didn’t eat what my mom made me then I didn’t eat. Hand sanitizer didn’t exist, but you COULD get your mouth washed out with soap. Repost if you drank water out of a hose and survived!
Vicki Kilpatrick: My children are/will be what I call “free range.” Allowed to screw up, fall, play, and have fun...CBC did a great documentary on how this generation of children is growing up without “free play” and how detrimental it is to leadership and problem solving skills as well as a host of others.

Matt Ivall: Falling out of a tree, wiping out on the bike, getting a fish hook stuck in your hand, “these are a few of my favourite things!”

Ken Johnston: Bikes were king! We rode all over RR and Baudette with them! Played games with them. And of course outside was our video games! Games of baseball at the park’s checkerboard where over the fence was a homer! Scrub at the power plant! Hide and Seek! Ghost in the Graveyard at Noga’s! Swimming off the Big Dock (dock ball included). Raiding crab apple trees! So many fun things outside!

Troy Ricci: Dock ball!

Vicki Kilpatrick: I don’t remember dock ball, but it sounds painfull. I’m sure I was suntanning at the time rolling my eyes at all the silly boys playing it.

Garry Noga: I loved taking bites out of crab apples and still leaving them hang on the tree!!, Climbing on the high school roof to get balls down, fights in the Red Owl parking lot after movies!

Ashley Stamler: Dock ball was the best.... My kids have no clue what that is, along with double Dutch, hop scotch, tin can alley, ghost in the grave yard! Things were so much fun when we were kids..... Technology has sucked the life and fun out of the new generation!!!

Ken Johnston: Another great summer memory I have is whenever we could get our hands on a big inner tube and tubing down the river from the big dock to Jenson’s dock and walking back and doing it all over again.
Sean’s comment about no cell phone calls to come home but the voice of mom in the neighbourhood also resonates. There were several moms that seemed to be able to call their kids right across town... I remember hearing “Michael Wayne Godin get your butt home” just about any where in town.... Garry Noga and Michael Irvine rang out many times as well.

–Until then,
Ken