Memories of Oakland in the 80s & 90s:

It was not that many years ago that I packed my bags in the two-story house that I had called home for eighteen years. That home held many memories from growing up in the 80’s and 90’s. Pike Street in Oakland was known for holding water after a big summer rain. My friends, siblings and I would put our mothers to work with Tide after muddying our clothes in the newly discovered Pike Street creek. If we only knew what was in that water maybe we would have thought twice. Then again, we likely would have not cared. Playing outdoors was great fun. Nintendo was just getting popular so most summer days were still spent outside with pogo ball, big wheelers, bikes, and scooters. My best friend, Susan, and I would get stiff necks riding bikes for hours. Sometimes we relaxed in her big pool and paying the price with nasty sunburns for a few weeks.
I have all kinds of random warm memories from being a child in Oakland during the 80’s and 90’s. When I was really small, I would pick dandelions in my front yard. Bruno would walk by on his way to the post office. He would stop and talk to me. I was fascinated by his accent. He kindly gave me the nickname “dandelion.” I remember Doris Buckler always having huge lollipops and Doris Boyer running a nice shop on the square. June Johnson led a ceramics class there once. I enjoyed that very much. I remember my happy neighbor Mr. Kerns. He still often has a whistle on his lips! My other neighbors were dear to my heart as well. Mildred Gwinn and Orville Gilbert were pleasant neighbors and are missed. I remember seeing Roger Ashmore go by my home as well as an ice cream truck and the dreaded town bug sprayer. As kids, we thought we had been poisoned to death.
I loved the Cornbread and Bean Festival, of course, and a couple circuses made their way to Oakland. My grandpa would tell me and my three siblings to go play on the railroad tracks. We took him up on it. I still love the sound of the trains in Oakland and the fire alarm at noon.
Grandparents were a special part of my life. I really miss my great grandmother, Flossie Ziegler. When I got my name on the board my first day of kindergarten it was her lap I crawled into and cried. My grandpa Bob helped me have my first and only sighting of the Northern Lights. My grandma Peggy helped me get a job with her at Rockhome and my grandma Judy affectionately called us children “turkeys”.
When I would get angry with my parents or siblings, I would run away to the water- fountain lion on the square. You could see that from my front yard. Sometimes, instead, I would go to the cannon. It was on a different corner of the square then.
Oakland is where I grew up and found morals and values. While it has changed, it is still years beyond some bigger cities in friendliness. There are things about this little town that are forever gone. I miss Tom Hudson’s pictures during ball games. We will likely never see the Bean festival again. We won’t taste another pizza made by Shirley Pisani in her store or buy gas from Bob McConkey. We won’t have ice cream at Reigel’s drug store but we will continue to find a warm smile and helping hands. A few people come to mind, but I fear leaving many out so I won’t list them here. So, what about you? What decades did you see in Oakland and what memories do they hold for you? I would love to read them!
Written By Tabitha (Clapp) Sill
Used with her permission. If you would like to write down your times in Oakland, I would love to post them here.