Aspen memories

I just wanted you to know how much I enjoyed the article about “Grandma Maurin” in the Aspen Times Weekly June 1-2. When I read it, childhood memories came flooding back to me. When I was little we used to walk over to Sylvia Maurin’s house for visits on summer afternoons. She loved it when kids stopped by for tea and cookies. Her little poodle “Lollipop” was a huge attraction.

Growing up in Aspen in those days was such a treat. There were old miners loitering on benches in front of the Jerome. Most of the streets downtown were not paved. It was dusty, but great for riding horses into town. We even rode to the movies at the ISIS. We got in trouble one time for galloping back and forth across Wagner Park and tearing up the sod.

We spent many an hour inner tubing in the Roaring Fork, stopping at “Big Rock,” a swimming hole behind the Eagles Building (which was a trailer park in those days).

The public pool was located behind the Independence Building, across the street from Guidos Restaurant. We’d load up with old-fashioned candy from the Country Store (which was where Macdonald’s is now) and spend the day splashing around.

Another attraction, and you might think this is weird, was Red Butte Cemetery. As kids, we loved to play hide and seek there and climb up on the big, bronze elk statue. Surrounded by huge cottonwood trees and criss-crossed by irrigation ditches, it was a cool, shady spot where we could float our “leaf” boats and loll away summer afternoons among “friends.”

I won’t bore you with all of my childhood memories, but thanks to writer Jony Larrowe, I was able to re-live a few today.

Cheers!

Pat Bingham

Aspen