Edie, Louise, and my grandmother moved to Burton Avenue in Avondale, and my family moved to a four-room apartment on Hutchins Ave, also in Avondale. My brother and I shared a hide-a-bed in the dining room.
I started at Avondale School. I proved to be a bit of a concern for them because they had classes in the A, B, and C categories. One year I’d be in the A class, then the B, and then back up to A. I guess I was on the line, too good to be in the B’s, and at the bottom of the A’s. That didn’t bother me at all.
As far as my parents were concerned the schools could do no wrong. If you got punished at school, you also got punished at home. You just accepted it.
There weren’t any teachers I remember in Avondale. I loved math, and I didn’t care for English. In the 2nd grade our classes were in a shack, a temporary classroom, outside of the regular building.
If you would look at Avondale now you would think there were no woods in that area. But I had a friend who lived on Burton Avenue, and I would walk through the woods to his house and back again, along Reading Road. There was a nice woods there.
I went to visit my grandmother frequently when we lived in Avondale. I used to play cards with Grandma Felson. I would cheat by looking in her glasses and seeing what cards she had in her hand. But I don’t know that she wasn’t letting me win anyway! We played Casino, Old Maid, and Go Fish.
I had afterschool care because my mother was working. It was part-time, but if she wasn’t able to be home, I went to the Jewish Community Center. It was on the corner of Dana and Reading Road. The reason I went there was that my Aunt Louise was the Executive Director. It wasn’t set up for youngsters, but it had pool tables, and I’d go over there and shoot pool. It was a good experience. When all my schoolmates were at Hebrew School, I was at the J.
The Felson Family 