A Meeting of the Club! By Lucille Taylor Kinsella

We Taylors lived at 30 West Street in Geneva NY in the decade of the 1930’s to 1940’s in a house my parents rented. In back of the house, near the garage, were four huge Lombardy poplar trees. About eight feet up, in between the trees, my big brother Arnon build a wooden platform with railings with burlap bag sides. This was a grand hide away!

Arnon, Esther, Ruth, Ethel, Doris, Harold, Lucille_1933

Near this tree fort, was Arnon’s ‘piece de resistance’—our club house.
A five by eight foot plank building, the floor and roof were made of discarded odd sized pieces of tin. A door centered one end and at the opposite stood a ten gallon tin which he’d made into a stove. Placed on two cement blocks, it seemed safe enough. An old stovepipe angled up and out through a hole in the roof (one of many). We used wood for fuel, there being many fallen branches and old apple trees about.

We decided to have a meeting of the club here one evening when Momma and Daddy were out (a rare thing). Ruth was babysitting someplace, but the rest of us children were home. Arnon built a fire in our ‘clubhouse’ for there was snow on the ground. This was January.

Esther had tasted coffee before and served it at homes she’d worked in, so she prepared Mom’s battered old coffeepot to go on the stove. Doris, Harold and I, looking about for our contribution, spied a box of sugared doughnuts (18 cents) fresh from the ‘Market Basket’. We grabbed them, along with the sugar bowl and a cup of milk which Esther told us we’d need, five cups and a spoon. What for we were uncertain, as Mamma was the only one who drank coffee in our house.

Arn had started the fire in the hut to warm it up, and to make the coffee. We soon found, upon entering, that sitting on the plank benches that had been built on each of the long sides was a ‘musical chairs’ sort of thing. Those close to the ‘stove’ very soon grew too warm and changed places with those next to the door, where one practically froze in the cold air. 

We all glued our eyes on the coffeepot, awaiting its brew. Suddenly it perked—ONCE—and Es shouted ‘It’s done!’ Thus our party began, with our extremely weak coffee and sugared doughnuts. 

Back_Esther, Ruth, Arnon

 Front_Harold, Doris, Lucille

1932 30 West St side porch

I well remember the walk back to the house via the long driveway, each burdened with some item, Arn having put out the fire with a bucket of snow. The stars were twinkling on high, the air was crisp and cool and the night dark. All was right with our world.