A bike similar to the one I rode in the late 70s.

In general we spent a substantial amount of time unsupervised in the out-of-doors.  We lived to escape the confines of and chores at homes and to explore our natural world.  Sledding in the cemetery or the football field.  End of the school year parties where we’d sleep outside in a friend’s back field,  a huge bonfire burning with all of our notebooks and certain teachers in effigy- yeah we were kind of bratty.  Then we’d wander the streets of the village in the wee hours, smoking cigarettes we procured at 3D, beer we purchased (illegally- everyone had fake IDs then and the drinking age was 18 so if you were even close, it wasn’t that difficult) at Incavo’s, peering in the windows at BJs, awed at the goings on inside that storied bar, wishing desperately that we were old enough to get in. 

The exotic and mysterious BJs.

For nostalgia’s sake, and also because there’s not a lot to do around here, I went to the drive-in movie theater a couple times this summer. If it had been 1984 instead of 2024 the place would have been overrun with teenagers.  The only young people I observed appeared to be little children with their parents.  I remember movies at the Van Buren Drive-In: Romancing the Stone, Porky’s, Young Guns.  Kids tried to avoid paying and would sneak in by hiding in car trunks. We’d also go to the regular movie theaters all the time, it was our usual Friday night routine. Theaters would be packed with pre-teens and teens.  The Regent used to show movies at 7 pm, 9pm and show X rated films at midnight.  There was always a line to get tickets and concessions at the Cine’ at the Plaza. I remember when a movie would be “Held Over” meaning one movie would play all summer, like Grease and ET.  You’d end up going to see the same movie two or three times. Watching a movie on your phone cannot even begin to compare to watching one at the movie theater. No way. Even if you’re watching the same movie over and over.  

And the beach….again, teenager free.  Some families with little kids, but no hordes of 12- 18 year olds like there were in the 70s and 80s, towels or blankets spread on the sand, boomboxes playing top 40 hits or cassettes. My friends and I would ride our bikes to the lake frequently to spend the day swimming, sunning, throwing dead fish and handfuls of seaweed at each other and cliff jumping into the water.  Then we’d ride our asses home at the end of an exhilarating day, all sandy and smelling like lake water. After dinner we’d get on bikes again and ride to friends’ houses or downtown or to Russell Joy Park to watch boys play baseball. When I made the suggestion that my own children ride their bikes to the beach they were aghast that I would consider something so utterly ridiculous.  When I was young, riding that yellow and black five-speed was my escape from the adult world, it was freedom. 

 Later when we were older and could drive we’d go to the beach at night for keg parties at the Point.  The parking lot would be thronged with older teens, beer kegs in the trunks of cars, music blasting, lots of flirting.  Do kids do all their flirting on-line today?  When we were older, like in college, we’d go to the lake to skinny dip after work or a night of partying. Sometimes we’d have chicken fights or just splash each other- more flirting.

Another place we frequented was the creek.  From exploring to scum sliding to partying, time spent at the creek was a huge part of my young life. Creek parties were epic- we’d smoke Swisher Sweets cigars and burn a ceremonial hole in neck ties we wore that we bought at the Salvation Army.  Don’t ask me why. I have no idea why the hell we did the things we did.  We thought we were non-conformist radicals and we gave our group a name;  the LUSHs- the Liberating  Union of Social Hellraisers. We liked to imaging we were rebels. Again someone would bring a boom-box and we’d have a keg of Stroh’s kept cold in the water.  

The mighty Canadaway Creek. A great place for bonfires and beer and shenanigans.

There were also outdoor pools. Dunkirk had a beautiful pool at Wright Park, the JFK pool.  Being from Fredonia I never went there but I know people who did and the place was packed every day.  My family had a pool membership at the Holiday Inn hotel.  We went every day, as did about fifty or so other families with lots of kids.  Marco Polo, racing, diving down to touch the pool drain, jumping off the diving board. What a charmed way to spend summer days.  The country club also had a pool that was packed with families and had a scary-cool high diving board.  I only went once or twice with my friend whose family had a membership.  From what I hear now that pool is practically deserted most days.  What the heck?  Another outdoor pool memory: pool hopping. At night when you thought people weren’t at home…hoping like hell we wouldn’t get caught we’d peruse neighborhoods looking for a likely target. And we never were. Tee hee. 

We were always outside at night playing games with neighborhood kids- Kick the Can, sitting around gossiping, talking about albums we bought at Good Vibrations or Record Giant. We’d be gathered in the street and someone would call out “Car!” and we’d scatter out of the roadway.  My neighborhood had a block party for several years when I was young and boy did the teenagers from the “hood” have some fun playing Truth or Dare in someone’s dark backyard while the adults were doing their own partying or whatever they did under the tent over in the vacant lot. 

Teenagers gathered in packs in the downtown common way back when.  My village had a teen gathering spot called The Hub that I’ve mentioned previously.  It was staffed by teachers from the high school who supervised and sold snacks.  I think there was a ping-pong table and occasionally local teenage bands performed.  It was the place to hang out for older teens. We’d mill about outside the building and groups would spill over into the park.  My parents did not think it was becoming to hang out in the park.  Until I was older, they absolutely did not want me being seen “downtown”. It was de classe’. But of course I did anyway because that’s where the action was.  And I wanted to be right in the middle of the action.  And by action I mean I wanted the attention of boys. 

The park was also the place to be at the end of August during the annual celebration of my community’s agrarian roots, the Farm Festival. You’d go to check out how school-mates had changed over the summer and to show off your new school clothes.  Who was tanned?  Who looked good? Hordes of teens would gather during the evenings also looking for action.  Sometimes kids from neighboring communities would be there too.  It was sort of the re-introduction to school society after summer vacation.  

Barker Common- commonly referred to as “The Park”

Lest you think that all we did was party and be obnoxious, not true.  We were all highly involved in all kinds of activities.  I was in band and chorus. Other friends were in the school orchestra.  Many of my friends and I participated one way or another in our fabulous high school musical productions. I was on the school newspaper staff  as were some of my best friends.  Some were on the yearbook staff. We were cheerleaders and athletes.  Many were involved in student government at school and in youth groups at church. We were able to manage getting good grades (don’t ask me about math and science though) and received awards and Regents scholarships for outstanding work.  We were able to successfully manage school and busy social lives. And spend time outside.  We did it all with equal amounts of effort.  

I could be wrong- and maybe I’m just an old curmudgeon, but I think if young people today had the kinds of unsupervised communal experiences we did thirty or forty years ago they would be better off.  I’m not saying things were perfect, far from it.  Kids did suffer from things like depression and there was definite rampant sexual harassment- but those ills still exist. All of the surveillance and parent directed activities haven’t eliminated them.   There was a sense of freedom and fun and excitement and hope that I’m not sure young people experience today.  I wish that my own children could have had at least half the fun I had as a kid.  We’ve provided them good lives but there is an essence to their youth that is very different from the one I experienced.  Maybe it’s undefinable- and maybe this is true for every generation. Regardless, I think it would be cool if kids spent more time outside. Get out there kids and have some fun!