Fountain Ferry

Fountain Ferry Park was an amusement park in the west end of Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A., on the Ohio River.  From the time I was 11 or 12 years old, I could safely travel ANYWHERE is the city by bus, by myself.  Sometimes a girlfriend and I would take the bus there together and spend the day.  Other times, we would take the buses separately - if she lived in a different neighborhood - and meet at Fountain Ferry.  The park was old, the roller coasters were about as wild as we could tolerate, and the park was never crowded, in the 1950s.  One of our very favorite rides was the big giant spinning wooden bowl. We'd climb in, it would start, spin faster and faster, and we'd end up, by centrifugal force, plastered on the sides for the rest of the ride. We never failed to get in the bowl.

We could also roller skate. Then later on a hot summer day, we'd just sit and sip lemonade on a bench and watch the families stroll by. Keep in mind: no air conditioning anywhere at this time!  The 1950s were a very benign time, very safe for nearly everyone in the country, at most times, as far as I was aware.

Frequently I would take the bus by myself to buy a piece of music recommended by my first piano and organ teacher, Miss Mary Treitz.  I'd bus downtown to Shackleton's on Fourth Street.  The store always had what I needed.  Another favorite place was the main public library.  I knew every nook and cranny.  The book or journal I sought was always there.  These bus trips around the city always involved transferring to another bus line.  Closer to downtown, I had to wait on corners I later found out was in the poorer section.  It was always safe.

Once in a while my Granny, Marie, and I would take the bus downtown for shopping and lunch at the Blue Boar cafeteria.  What a treat!  She let me choose whatever I wanted.

When I married in 1963 and we ended up in the very small town of Danville, Kentucky, in 1969, the world was still safe.  The oldest four of my children walked about a mile and a half to their elementary school until around the late 1970s.  I think that's when the random child kidnappings started.

The local school board immediately required all children to ride the bus or be dropped off by a parent, and the same for the trip home.  That's when the fear started.  Even as a child, I was taught to never talk with strangers but now it was more: strangers could be aggressive.

Could we ever regain that innocence, feeling of protection, lack of fear of past years?  What happened to lose it?  This is not a simple issue.  Back in the '50s, '60s, and '70s, nearly all mothers stayed home in the neighborhoods. Now that has changed.  I don't have too many answers or ideas but I remember that the courts started going to great lengths to make sure the rights of criminals were respected and generally forgot about victims.  Perhaps we just need to keep a more watchful oversight of who our judges are, and also what's going on in the courts and legislatures.  We need God to keep 'shedding his grace' on America!  Just ask him!