[yorkiekist]

This is a great thread!!

I grew up in Sedona, Arizona. I remember how rural and peaceful it was before the "crystal people" moved there. I rode my bike everwhere and rode my horse to the creek and through town. I could go hiking all day and my parents would never worry about me not coming home. Things were so different back then. Kids had more freedom and had better things to do than watch tv or stay in the house. We played baseball, frisby, went hiking, played at the creek and rode bikes. It felt good to feel the wind in your hair and be out in the fresh air all day! There was no color tv, no computers, no cell phones. We would have Halloween parties at the skating rink up Oak Creek Canyon. The whole town turned out in costumes! Everybody turned out for the 4th of July fireworks. Watermelon and a BbQ and a cake walk. Every spring there was the St. Patricks Day Parade(that still goes on today). I walked in it every year while I was in Brownies and Girl Scouts. I remember selling Girl Scout cookies in front of the Oak Creek Market for 50 cents per box and going door to door selling Girl Scout calendars hoping to make enought money to go the Girl Scout Camp. There was no movie theater in Sedona so once or twice in the summer we would drive to Cottonwood and go to the drive in. And Cottonwood had a DAIRY QUEEN!!!! My Mom was on the same bowling team for 40 years. She finally had to stop bowling 5 years ago at the age of 90 because it started to hurt her hip. We also went square dancing every Sat night in a club called the Sedona Swingers. My grade school principle was the caller. That was really fun! It seems like there was more family fun back in those days. And people had time to relax and look at the sunsets and listen to the crickets in the evenings. Little did I know that these would be the best times of my life.