Random Thoughts from a Random Memory

By Edward Master

How often does the bell ring for the Honky Tonk when you pass by the west end of the bridge in Foxburg? How many memories are recalled at the turn of the road at the Rose Bud on the Parker Hill? Do you still taste sauce washed down with an ice-cold root beer at the Hot Dog Shop in Emlenton?

Remember that the Honky Tonk was originally Curry’s lunch room. For years there was a sign saying such on the corner of the garage across the street. I’m not even sure why or how it got its name, Honky Tonk. I just know that for a few years that was our hangout on Friday and Saturday nights. I had to be in college when it lost its drawing power. I’m also going to guess that some of its audience got drafted into the military. I can’t say what its appeal was other than its location being between Parker and Emlenton. Sum it up to convenience.

The Rose Bud, however, even though on the hill, was Parker central. If you were meeting someone, you were meeting at the Rose Bud. At one time there was a small hangout next to the theater in Parker on the flat, but it didn’t have much of a shelf life. Strictly from hearsay, there was some extra-curricular after-hours activity at the RB with neighboring folks from the south (namely Karns City school district). That too dissipated with age, college, and/or military.

Moving upstream, I was introduced to Emlenton’s Hot Dog shop probably during my sophomore year in high school. The HDS served as a layover until it was time to hop on the bus for an away basketball game. Mostly, I think we passed away time with mugs of Hires root beer. The jukebox blasted “Eve of Destruction” by Barry What’s His Name and “King of the Road” by Roger Miller.

Much, much later in life I came to realize almost every small town in Western Pennsylvania had some version of a Hot Dog Shop. I discovered Rollie’s on Oil City’s South Side through Tom Pearson. Knox for a bit had a gathering stop in the middle of town near the drug store and Jordan’s hardware. Clarion of course had the Modern Diner, though now I’m not sure of its ‘modern’ amenities.

The creme de la creme was the Butler Hot Dog Shop in mid downtown Butler. Now Butler’s HDS is just east off Jefferson Street.

I don’t know if we can count the Boys and Girls Club in Emlenton as a true-life hangout. In my Grandpa Master’s words, “we loafed” at places like the Honky Tonk and Rose Bud. If we couldn’t drive there, we often hitchhiked to that destination.

In Turkey City, we had our own version of loafing or hanging out. When I was a youngster, a squad of retired men lined the bench on the front porch of Sheesley’s store in town. I can remember my mother saying how she hated walking by the group of old men as she went into the store. As those fellows died off, the loafers moved to Ivan Best’s store up the road. That became a real hangout through all of my high school years. There were a lot of lies told within those walls.

I heard tales from ex militia, lost loves, never found loves, and once-told escapades. Never more. Never again.