The Town I Grew Up In, the 1964 World's Fair, by Joan Tavolott

When I was 15 the World's Fair was held in NYC a short train ride from where I lived, in Flushing which is part of Queens. My mother let us go there on our own with friends and we went as often as we could get the money for the admission. I was usually with my sister, Fran, who was a year older than me, and often with my brother, Joe, who was a year younger than me. Fran and I were best friends, were in the same school, and had lots of mutual friends. Fran was a bit flirt so a big part of our time at the World's Fair was meeting the young guys who worked there or were visiting like us. I remember so many things from that summer, which also was the summer my oldest sister, Mickey, got married at the age of 19. This is the Unisphere which was in the middle of the park where the fair was held. 49 years later this structure (and a few others) still stands in Flushing Meadow Park and can be seen from the highway as you drive past the park.

The Town You Grew Up In, Elevated J Train by Joan Tavolott

Growing up in Queens made us pretty comfortable riding the NYC subway to a lot of places. There was the regular "underground" subway but we also had several train lines that were elevated above the ground for all or part of their line...like the elevated J train. I took the J train to high school every day. Some people preferred to take the bus, but the train was faster and I loved being up high and watching all the neighborhoods we traveled through. If you sat in the right car you could see the front and the rear of the train as it went around the big curve. The J train started (or ended) in Jamaica where the streets with all the small stores and department stores were located. Then it went all the way through Brooklyn and into Manhattan. It was a long ride and made all the stops. lol There were much faster trains to get you into the city! 

Part of the "El" as it was called was demolished about 10 years ago...the end that went to Jamaica and all the stores. I think they decided it took up too much room and the space was used to widen the streets and created more parking for shoppers. It doesn't look the same there any more.

The Town You Grew Up In, "Marion's House", Lynn Cohen

It's been very cathartic for me to have drawn my own childhood home, and now the homes of the three friends who lived across the street from me growing up. We had a very rich childhood, playing out doors and in each others homes together through out our childhoods. When I say rich, I do not mean monetarily rich, as we were probably all from low middle class households, all of us; but we had great imaginations in play and creativity as children. We made up games and ways to spend our time that were rich in fun and full of life!

I am grateful for that.

The Town You Grew Up In, "Best Friend's House", Lynn Cohen

The Town You Grew Up In, "Joanne's House Painted", Lynn Cohen

I decided to post Joanne's house painted and I added more memories in my art journal to this piece. Now I'll draw Patty's house to post later. Welcome to my childhood neighborhood! BTW you could not see this house much from the street. A big stone wall was by the sidewalk and the house was set back quite a ways from the street. It always had a bit of a mysterious vibe to it.

The Town I Grew Up in by Joan Tavolott

I'm sorry I didn't get to participate in the last theme, so I wanted to make sure I did something for this one. These are all small, maybe around 2 1/2 x 3 inches. I used Google Street View to help me navigate the streets I grew up in.

I grew up in Jamaica which is part of the borough of Queens and part of NYC. Yes, I am a city girl and lived in this neighborhood until I was about 23 and moved out on my own. These three sketches sort of go together. I'll start with the church we went to...St. Joseph's Catholic Church which was a Polish parish. There was even a mass said every Sunday in Polish. My grandmother and mother spoke Polish to each other most of the time, but we kids never learned to speak it. I wish we had. The church is pretty from the outside, but beautiful on the inside. I always loved the stained glass windows. It was within walking distance of our house and we spent a lot of time there for mass and special church celebrations.

We lived with my grandparents and my grandmother knew almost everyone in the neighborhood. The local funeral home was diagonally across the street from the church. If there was someone from the neighborhood who had died, my grandmother knew them and we would stop in for a "visit" after mass on Sunday. The funeral home is still there, but it has changed names. We knew the people who owned it when I was living there, in fact we went to school with their children.

Directly behind the church was the elementary school, St. Joseph's, which went from grade 1 - 8. We had no kindergarten and the school had only one class for each grade. The building was bland and not at all attractive. What it did have was a big schoolyard which we took great advantage of at recess and lunch. Our school did not have a lunchroom and we walked back home for lunch every day.