Nostalgic Nuggets

This book is a journey to the middle of the 20th Century and to Elmira, NY, when it was the heart of the Southern Tier and the Finger Lakes. It is a tribute to the places and moments that shaped our lives. What began as a series of shared reflections on Facebook has grown into this treasury of memories, capturing the spirit of the 1940s through the 1960s. This was an era defined by a deep sense of optimism, a time when our downtowns were the pulse of the community and the future felt limitless.

Within these pages, you'll find the sights and sounds of a vibrant Elmira and its neighboring sisters-from the bustling streets of Binghamton and the glass-streaked history of Corning to the collegiate charm of Ithaca, the railroad roots of Sayre, and the scenic beauty of Watkins Glen. We revisit the magic of Eldridge Park, where the carousel and the midway felt like the center of the world, and the golden age of downtown shopping when the sidewalks were crowded and the stores were humming with energy. We remember the magic and excitement of the annual Iszard's Holiday Parade that brought us all together. We delight once more in Brand Park Swimming Pool, downtown Block Dances, and memories of our old schools and other favorite places of our shared youth.

Above all, this book is a celebration of the glory days of growing up in that Golden Era, a rekindling of precious memories too long buried. We may have moved away or seen things change...but through these shared memories, we are always home.

Larry James Butts was born at St. Joseph's Hospital in Elmira, NY, and lived on Elmira's Eastside until going off to college. He spent a significant portion of his life in Elmira, south-central NY, and northern PA in that special era when the area was a growing hub of factories, businesses, and thriving families.

To Larry, the Elmira he knew always extended beyond the city limits to include the neighboring villages, towns, and counties. During its post-WWII mid-20th-century heyday-the Golden Days of the 1940s to the 1960s-Elmira was an optimistic center of trade, education, and business, proudly known as "The Queen of the Southern Tier," "The Gateway to the Finger Lakes," and "The Soaring Capital of the World."

For several years, Larry has shared his recollections on Facebook Elmira memory pages. His heart was blessed to see that personal memories rekindled treasured, long-buried memories for a growing number of readers, who shared their own memories and urged him in increasing numbers to preserve these reflections in a book.

This is that book.

The poem in each memory is the smile one has as an old beloved memory is recalled.

The prose is the sharing of memories when a friend then asks: "Why the smile?"

May the memories in this book bring smiles to your heart, dear reader, and all hearts as treasured memories of what we all knew as home are reawakened.

Remember when...Remember then,

Bring precious memories back again;

Where you'd go and what you did -

Who you did things with as a kid.

Too long forgot...those precious days of old

Remember them again...your youthful days of gold.