Thoughts on Going Back Home
 

This page was first conceived when your webmaster drove by the old homestead during the recent Golden Reunion and winced as he viewed the changes.  Then Buck Locke contributed his recent encounter with his humble childhood abode, and now you have a spot where you can vent your thoughts about where you lived 50-plus years ago.

Louis Buettner:

My Dad is Rolling Over In His Grave!!!

Ernst and Mabel Buettner
The house where I grew up:

I grew up proud of the little brick home my Dad provided for our family.  I remember the day he paid off the building loan when I was in high school.  We had a little celebration with the whole family in attendance.  Dad constantly worked at preventive maintenance on the house.  The wood trim was painted every two years.  The shrubbery was  coaxed into the perfect shapes.  Those basswood trees replaced some scrawny trees that couldn't perform to his standards. 

When we drove by this past June, I could have cried!  The current owner mows the lawn that has replaced Dad's gardens that provided us with exotic fruits and vegetables, but he hasn't lifted a finger to keep up the house!  Every square inch of white trim is peeling and rotting.  Notice the soffet board that is hanging down in front of the living room window.  The lawn is bare, and the famous scuppernong arbor on the left side of the house looks like the jungle of darkest Africa.

Tri-Cities Daily, 1940

R.I.P., Dad!
 

Buck Locke

Sharing My Home

My parents bought the house in 1943 getting ready for my start in the first grade.  The house was two bedrooms, living room and kitchen, very small.  My dad turned the single car garage into a bedroom for me in 1948.  He then added an extension onto the house for a new kitchen which then turned the old kitchen into a den.  Next he added a utility room onto the new kitchen for a washer/dryer and sewing room for mom.  Not taking time to rest from his labors, he built a two car garage in back of the house and poured a concrete drive. 
 
This year we sold the house to the son of the next door neighbor.  My mom wanted to see what changes they were making to the house.  We were pleased that they are making lots of improvements to the house.  The hardwood floors have been refinished.  They have put very nice tile on the floors of the kitchen, utility room, den and hall.  Sprucing up the place has gone well as they are getting it ready for the son to move into in Oct. with his new bride!
 
We are happy that a new couple will be starting their life together in the place where I grew up and that my parents spent over sixty years of a happy marriage!

 

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