Tina Kuhr, Harriet Kuhr, and Rachel Kuhr

00:04 Hi, I'm here. Core. As of today. I am 63 years old. And today is Sunday, the 12th of September 2021. I live in Charlottesville, Virginia. That's why I'm recording from. And I'm here with my sisters, Tina core and Rachel core. Obviously, we're all sisters.

00:30 And I'm Tina poor as of today. I am 62 years old. And today is Sunday. September 12th, 2021. I live in Wilmington, North Carolina and I'm here with my sisters. Corn, Rachel core. But today I'm 60 and it is Sunday. September 12th, 2021 and I am in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and I'm here with my sisters. And Tina.

01:05 So, what is one of your best memories from childhood?

01:12 Going to start. You could start Rachel. Well, I think it's important to start by saying that we all grew up in Slippery, Rock Pennsylvania, which is a small college town and it was very small when we went to live there and we were the only Jewish kids there at the time. And I know that one of my Fondest Memories which lasts all the way till I left home was just how much

01:41 Freedom. We had to wander about the town to you. No, come in when the streetlights went on to show up at our friend's house. Is it dinner time and eat with them? And you go into people's houses are parents friends. I think one of the things that we talked about when we did the sound check was how, you know, no matter where we were people knew who we were. They knew our dad than your mom. You couldn't do too much to get into trouble because somebody would notice, she wouldn't in call your parent. You guys don't know about this, but I know when we were when I was a teenager, will probably like 12 or 13 weeks to go downtown. There were two phone booths downtown on Main Street, Main Street was like, there was one stoplight before it was on Main Street. And I would go into one of my girlfriends would go into the other phone with him. We would call each other and talk and somebody called my dad.

02:41 Add our dad and said, do you know how to speak on Main Street, tying up the phone booth? And I don't even know how we started doing. That was probably because we didn't have a lot of access to the phone at home. But other than that, we were kind of let loose on the town. That was back in the days when you had one phone in the home and everybody shared it and some people even still had party lines all the way on Parklane Drive in. We didn't have a party line anymore, then. Okay, then went out when we were really little, we had a two-person line. Yeah, but I was thinking about we talked a lot about that to just how like, you know, you could get on your bike and just go off like, you're like, Mom what she would say. Like it. So see this summer or summer. She get out of here and don't come back till 2. I don't want to see you till dinner-time, you pack a sandwich and you would leave and you'd go find your friend. So we go on these bike rides in.

03:38 I am in reality. We probably didn't go that far in my memory went really sure. But, but, but, you know, no matter where we went, we were never far from somebody, we know. So, like, I can never going to his bike rides with with people in, like, maybe with you guys, too. But like, you know, you'd fall off your bike and skinned, your knee. You would just kind of limp along to the next house, where it was somebody you knew knock on sometimes not even if you didn't, you know, knock on the door, they call your mom. Mom will come get you. You know, I like that kind of thing. But, but, but that sense of freedom and I don't like like you guys like our old house, but, you know, our first house was a big old farmhouse and the three of us, like we would go off.

04:26 Wandering like across the corn fields in the back in the woods and stopping nobody ever. Thought, there was anything wrong with it. As long as you came home by dinner time, you could do whatever you wanted and it was very, very safe. And I I, I I feel so, I don't know. I feel like that made us independent adults, and it's so different for kids. Now. I don't know if it's better or worse. I have my opinion but I I, I think it taught us to be self-sufficient and to figure out how to take care of ourselves to something went wrong and you know, how to solve problems and stuff. But we we we wanted to talk about one of our favorite Slippery Rock memories, which was Halloween. It's too slippery. Rock still have the no one's ever done. Halloween is as good as that sounds.

05:26 Remember that we had a Halloween parade and I don't remember exactly how all the kids will be in their costumes and the band, The High School band left for your band uniform. You could wear any costume, you want instead of me and uniform and we charged the band end up at the volunteer fire department, the band first and all the kids behind and the band that I don't know if I can make something behind Domino's on Main Street and a homemade popcorn ball and some candy in it. And then at that point, kids would just stay on out from the firehouse all over town, to go trick-or-treating. So, obviously, the people that live near the firehouse,

06:27 Had to have sacks and sacks and sacks of candy because all the kids hit there. But we three Decor girls. We've always known as the core girls even today. I think that we would normally we would stick together, unless maybe we got older, we would have a pack of her friends with the and our parents would hang out since we live two mile out of town at that point out on Grove City Road. They would hang out at one of their friends house Uptown and then the rule was it a certain point. I don't know if we had, why, I guess it watches or something. At some point. We would just show up at their friend's house and then we would go home. But I also remember when our friends the Pagano's, mrs. Pagano just had a baby and he went to their house and before we could see the new baby. We had to sing pumpkin carols. Oh, yeah, the ones that came out of the Charlie Brown, the great. It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.

07:26 That was one of my memories from a candy houses were famous for having better stuff. Yes. So you do is hit those places first before they bring out ran out. Like, and so who are the people that like one time had chocolate? They were giving you a carton of chocolate milk. Instead. We figured that the dad drove for the dairy. But, yeah, and I remember because I was, like down at the bottom of the hill, so you were like, really tired and you were like, maybe, you know, a ways from the fire hall and they were giving out chocolate milk and orange drink on them instead of candy bars near like goodness. It was something unique. Yeah, and nobody worried about somebody doing something terrible. You candy. Yeah, you could eat at all, you would you would

08:26 People made, ya never afraid to say it wasn't a hundred percent for 9 cuz there was certainly believes there was certainly plenty of big old.

08:48 I don't know what we'd have new words for them. Now. We can really have that person and they were just boys. Yeah, we talked about it being a town. So small. We said we have one stop left, one blink, her light and everybody knew the homeless people by their first names. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, at one point, they actually had a murder in town and that was like shocked everybody to the core who is but, you know, we didn't lock our doors or doors. Don't lock their car. Doors either No-No. And when I went away to college and I had to I kept forgetting to carry my key cuz I was just so not used to having a door that locks. I kept getting myself locked out of my dorm room. I mean what happened? Even Rachel a couple couple years ago. We went back to visit. We went to see mrs. Pagano, and she wasn't home and we just let ourselves in.

09:48 It's like I've done something to drink.

09:54 Cuz we do the back door would be open to go find something to do and if you're not coming home for dinner at 6, exactly. So that she would know not to prepare as much food just because Mr. Slider has been raised and I think in the South somewhere and the butter knife on and there were like extra spoons and and it was a special occasion. He would say to you, ladies. Would you like a little Sherry before dinner like 9 or 10?

10:38 No, thank you. Mister slick.

10:42 Yeah, we also talked about being Jewish and a very small town and our father was a college professor. So, I one of the things that would happen around our house is when the Jewish holidays, would come around right now. We're in the midst of that season. So it brings back to mind is that, you know, if they were kids that were Jewish or college students, I'd guess these kids. But you know, if they couldn't make it home, Mike my parents would help. Make sure they've got the services or in the spring when we would have a Passover seder. We always seem to have some extra students attacked. Some of them came from as far away as New Jersey or whatever. And yeah, without cars, without a lot of money, sometimes was hard for them to get home for the holidays. So we always make sure to include them with that. Dad was he was officially the Jewish student liaison. He was at this point even had a non-paying title that he was responsible for all the Jews students on. But it also like

11:42 I think, of course, our mom always liked shows got called out to do show-and-tell, like, it's cool. I mean, these are the days when there were like religion classes in school, like, public release released, the point, where they did Bible reading and prayer in the school. We did. It was fun. And it was silent for and he told me what the think about even in high school and middle school. We had we had the Pledge of Allegiance in a moment of silent meditation and I would say this right out of school, like an hour early.

12:42 Find the kids went and the kids went to the churches in the church is taught. The religion classes though. It wasn't the school teaching the classes. But, you know, if ya was since there wasn't a synagogue in our town. We we were as Rachel said, one of the couple of kids left in the classroom getting bore for reading books, of course in the Purim pussycat because all the kids got presents at Christmas and Hanukkah. So we have this magical rocking horse, who brought us presents in Hanukkah to compete with Santa Claus and then at 4, which is usually around Easter. We had a form pussycat would bring us baskets of chocolate is always around but one of the teachers ICE Rachel what the Easter Bunny brought her and she burst into tears cuz she says

13:42 I didn't ask for your mother again. Oh my God, I remember, I don't know. I'm coming out the being invited. Like every year they she's always come and talk about what is Passover. What are the, you know, what is Hanukkah? Like it, like trying it, you know? And she always did that. You always did a really good job at. She did more than her fair share presentation, as long as they lived. And I think I think I'm either. I think it was in 5th grade when they put me in a school play. And I had to recite the Lord's Prayer. And dad was pretty upset about that cuz I was practicing at home and it's like,

14:30 Ms. And Christmas carols from school choir, made an impact on my life and probably years to is like

14:48 I mean, I guess, you know, being like like a one-off family. I mean, that I think there were like, well. Bookbinder was Jewish, but they would just want raising. It was a mixed family. They weren't raised in the kids Jewish but our parents like a feeling for all the other Strays, right? So the young Korean Professor, it was the only Korean in town. So she was coming over and the I don't you know, there was for a while. There was one black family. We were we were visiting the B, you know, like all the families that were kind of date. There was just a strong feeling from anyone who landed in this generally, friendly town, but where you were that you stood out where you see your dad and you were different and wanting to do.

15:38 You know, reach out and

15:41 People feel included. Yeah. Yeah, and I think also that they were curious and, you know, they could do we have to run into family. I don't remember. I don't remember any Muslim families at that point, you remember that? Yeah. I was thinking about that about Dad was because he was like, I had some, wait, official standing is the Jewish student liaison or whatever. I don't know if you remember. Like, so, the big social grouping was the bridge club, right? There was a couple's contract Bridge Club, how many couples the nucleus of our social life? And that grouping would, you know, we have Fourth of July and Labor Day, picnics together and did a lot of stuff. But whenever somebody like whenever and the Pagano's were catholic and, and I just remember like when it whenever someone in one of the cabinets have like a death in their family and they would

16:41 You, they would always try to do. What do you do to send flowers? What you do it like I did but for the Catholic families, they knew that you should have a mass said for the person who died. If for some reason, my like our Jewish dad was the one that they always passed with going down to talk to the priest. Heading out there, setting up the memorial mass and he can pay, you don't need to take a clutch and he take the money down and donate and asking him what's right with him cuz I know, father was his name father, Ragland or bother you. No. Have a gathering of the heads of all the like, different religious groups for the students. He said, well, you know that he was there and I was there. So we talked and so like I knew is that the other people bother to ask me, who I think it was like, right there was one of the people that wrote hair.

17:41 A pretty special little town that was very unhip. Yeah. Well, I lost the Catholics were imported cuz almost all the Catholics work for the college. They weren't native to this area. That's true. I think about that a lot, cuz, I mean, a lot of those families, like, I think about a lot now cuz cuz I work with emigrants, right? But you know, how many kids we're going up. They had an Italian Nona or polish Grandma are like so many of the kids group had a my great-grandparents. Like we had in my great-grandparents that had like like especially grandmother's for whatever. Like you didn't really speak English and Malay, there be the Italian speaking Grandma, but like when they were polished family, Italian families, I don't even remember what all but like, I didn't it not so much the college professor kids, but like the original

18:40 Relation of stuff. But I think it may be more in Butler cuz every time somebody would go on strike. They bring a new immigrant group over to break the strike. How do you feed a growing up in Philadelphia? Mongolian Chicago? And here we are in this little town in the middle and they worked really hard to make sure we had kind of access to the culture and adventure in variety of things that they may have had like driving in the Pittsburgh to take us to the symphony. I remember going into Pittsburgh to have Chinese food for the first time. I remember the least in food, Middle Eastern guy, going up to Squirrel Hill and bringing back dozens and dozens of bagels and putting them in the in the freezer in the basement. So we had a good ceplina, like they really felt like those kind of they are taking us to historic sites.

19:40 Museums and we would go to Chicago for Christmas A Christmas time and go to plays and things. Like, it was important that we have access to the culture that they had been raised with you, even though we were really far away my memories. We went to every concert every tour got, you know, anytime. There's a touring company coming through Slippery Rock. Every time there was a college play, we were there, how a devil is musicals in my head, but they really felt like we needed to have that cultural exposure, even though we were an hour from the cyst over an hour from the closest big city, and, and I think that that was a really, I think it was part of them trying to feel normal. Also. They wanted us to be exposed to the things that they had been exposed to that. We weren't going to trip over down the street. So I think about that sometimes, how many bags of bagels? The same thing. It's like if we flew

20:40 Out of Pittsburgh airport, retake the side trip, in a rental, car up to Squirrel Hill. In my carry-on bag in the overhead bin would be full of bagels including including garlic. I'm sure I really upset the people. I would do the reverse thing, which is when I when I was still living in Atlanta and I would fly up, I would isn't this summer. I'd make dad drive me by the corn one of those Corn Crib places where you just put like a couple dollars in and took and I would get a dozen years.

21:18 Switch the title. I mean, cuz I love theater. I still love theater. And I know it's because it's so, you know, when Dad was he taught? He Taw Taw speech Communications, but the speech and theater work on buying the frame department chair. She was also responsible for all the theater folk, which I think was a lot of fun because you know, the speech folks tend to be kind of tightly-wound in the theater people wear hippie-ish and it was it was a good pics, but he had to go see every show like right hit me and he wanted to be not like it was horrible, but we were and he and he knew I liked it. I don't know you guys maybe or maybe it was, but I hate took me to everything in and of course in my like, you know, I'm like 12 years old or something. I mean, these are like small College college Productions in my eyes. They were fantastic like the absolute absolute.

22:17 And and you're right Rachel cuz of me, they did a lot of the classic shows and classic music was always the musical. And I mean I still have memories of like that. It was it was a version of like Nana lamantia and I'm sure it's a minute and I'm sure right now if I went to me it was I just meant being absolutely perfection in Magic can do in the summer stage in the summer stock symbol that was community theater theater in the round. You had to paint all the sides and people are like do you like Shobha and I'm like, I can't do it anymore. I remember I don't know what I was doing, but I remember being at the theater for like, yeah, we did.

23:17 You knew everybody in the shower. It was all your friends parents and stuff When We Were Young your the recited.

23:29 Production. I don't know what that. I think it may have been based on AA Milne books. The pup was, when I still do it. I just remember sitting on a little metal stool, and doing my poem, and then getting up and getting off the stage dancing. In A Christmas, Carol, where we are before about the, what was the thing where they put you guys in a boat and pushed across the College swimming pool. Oh my God, that was a water. Pageant ever really lived there and I wouldn't even know what it really. What why is it? I don't know. It was I mean that what the hell was that would have been that sick place with lightning and stuff. Everything.

24:17 Well, they need to be needed for the parts. So, you know, I forgot about that boat on the strength to remember that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and it was dark. They cut their life. They were doing like synchronized swimming or something. One of the big are spirit with a college town and you're one of their emphasis with education. But in particular there to emphasis is in the state college system, or special education and physical education, which meant we had a lot of PE teachers who needed kids to practice on. So one of the things they did in the Summers or maybe it was even during the school year on the weekends was free swimming lessons. So we all were taught to swim at a very early age.

25:09 But then when we were taught to swim, but then in the summer they had a full.

25:15 They transport app, if it was free of, it was very inexpensive. Anybody could go tennis. I did fencing One Summer. Oh, I don't remember that. I actually really like that. And you ride your bike. You have to kiss, you have to ride your bike up, the hill. To get there to get there. Just leave your bike outside the gym and go to all your classes and then go to the library and check us out and ride home. Yeah, maybe your day, does the College library, but we could check stuff out under. Our dad's name is. Thank you have no return date.

25:53 It's only 6:30 at a time and then take a day off in the summer. Even if there was not a camp like that. We would just walk to the library the song, If I would walk to the library. And at that point we're living on Parklane Drive, is like a mile and a half. So I didn't always feel like walking back just in time. So just hang out in his office and read to leave. So we also had family fun nights at the gym Friday nights. Yeah. Yeah. I think it was once a month t.i. Where they would open up the field house and you could the families. Could you use any of them could use? The white was the pool and actually all the gymnastics equipment and famously the Tramp, but we can crawl all over them. Not to

26:53 It's some point after that as being too dangerous, but they just tumble a bunch of kids in the middle and turn us loose the horses and all the gymnastics. I'm trying to hang on. I can't remember what all there was in the wrestling match that made me think you may have. Yeah, we just did things.

27:36 Yeah, but you better get here, you know, your parents would be all talking to their friends and you were like other than going in the pool. We just went where we wanted to go and eventually they'd find us an inner take us and shove us into the swimming pool. But I remember the rest of it. I don't even remember them being around that mean there are lots of kids. I'm sure there were lots of parents but not necessarily are watching over us know cuz they were all those. What they had students around and lifeguards. I do remember like what we would use the pool for sure.

28:07 It was, it was after a family fun night that you fell and skinned your knee, right? Yeah. I ripped it open. They're still there. You can still see them cuz it we had it was Winter and that they'd send her the up, the hill. The hell had to walk back down the hill. Yeah, having been back as an adult with my high school friends and wandered all over. That comes. Number one. They keep adding things to it. The old part which is the part that feels so familiar to us. Now seems very small. Yes, but you do remember going to the lab school. I was we were that I was there for third and fourth, fourth and seventh for me, and I just noticed it across campus to dad's office and hang out there until he got done for the day. And that Big Field in front of West gym making snowman and the stone lions in front of his building done lion.

29:07 Yeah, well, it said course, it was his office. It was West gym. It's that there was a gym so you can wander off into the gym and nobody was there and graphs. Maybe I'll call home and the smell of mimeo copying it. So why would he send you do that? Why would you be, like helping the secretaries office? Was the secretary was there and he'd have her set it up and then I could turn the crank that came out, and I just thought that was so much fun. Like 30, Rock's days. He was alcohol. Saw that paper. You have to start all over again, like, what a pain?

30:07 Jim and somebody would have left a basketball or something like the pins, like Indian Twitty call Bob's Bikes clubs and Madison. Moses heavy ball. It was things you could climb up yet. Going across the cornfields and that we talked about one of the things for that house on Grove City Road. When you looked out the back door or the view of our back porch, was actually the new Cemetery.

30:45 Riding. That was one of the places we would play and there's also the Lumberyard where we would go to their was the old Cemetery where there were like, yeah, where you could really old Graves at 2:18, but, you know, okay. So what made me? What's making me think of that? Cuz the old cemetery is next to the community park, right? But here's another one, like as the only Jewish kids, right? They would have

31:16 Summer, religious school Vacation, Bible School in the park and mom sent us. That's right. And it was free just go and we can walk there, right? We would just walk up the hill somehow. I don't remember, we went to the cemetery and where teachers are like I kicked all the friends were going. Yeah, they usually Old Testament stories. So, Daniel Joseph, you know, is if people let us or they didn't say anything. No. Never get there were times when we felt awkward being in, but we are

32:16 You know, any Christmas song? Oh, yeah, it's my way of Christ. Our Lord, you know, just how you get three things did the same to the same thing for High School choir or Middle School choir Christmas carols on the piano. Yeah. Yeah. I know. You know, me. I meant, yeah, you're right. I know, I can see all the Christmas caroling and then going to the wizard, The Odd Fellows home or something to sing. Yeah people. Yeah. I think it was the Grove City. Yeah. Yeah, but we were always did that with the Girl Scout stuff, but for this community park which they had rodeos and we used to go up and watch the rodeos. Was it really a rodeo? Or is it just a horse?

33:16 I'd like to bring up any stairs or anything but it's a horse. Yeah, there was a horse training and they did horse shows up there. Yeah, I remember that one, the pony in the Catholic Church raffle in her dad decided that the pony needed other horses and bought a bunch of horses that used to bring him. I didn't realize that that whole horse thing started with the free pony was a free phone. Why? How do you guys remember when the circus would come? Oh, yeah. Yeah, they put up a big tent wrecked. And again, like my memory is it was fabulous? I'm sure. What has

34:05 Apartment Shopping Center, shopping center or car, wash or something, or the bowling alley funny. Because normally circus has come to places. Big circus has come to places where there trains and they put the animals on the train. I don't have any memory, how the animals got to Slippery. Rock were there many animals. I don't, I don't remember the lion you think so. I don't know if they were horses. I don't have a whole lot of memory. I just think there was a big would seem like a giant tent and I remember going but I'm not image has been more like acrobats and jugglers know why it's for a loaded. I'm a little skeptical about the lion. I just remember.

35:00 I don't remember that they set up a like a like a fair that was in West Sunbury where they have it in a fireman. Yeah, that was far away. But yeah.

35:28 But I know that field, I mean, I wandered all over that field for years. And even when we lived on the other side of it on Parklane drive and wandering around with every building on it. Used to go at night in, like, wandering around the building site for Decatur, like the lumber yard in the basement of every house on our street, when they were being built. What are you talkin about? The Captain's House, which is the one,

35:54 Well, it's eat, at least two stories waiting and being on the roof in that house. Just don't come back to the street lights are on in traffic. And she said, what are you going to? You're not going to get hurt? It's a dead-end street with the coldest act. Like it's not like there's a lot of fluid through traffic flying around here to drive Man by watching you guys. That's true. We may not be that's maybe your problem to this day. Is it? I don't know. We both had messed up the car, but I did learn to park on Main Street at 5 on a Wednesday.

36:51 Well done. Yes. Yes. So that was, that was a tough time. I didn't know how to parallel park till I was like well into my twenties because I know you didn't know, you know, you didn't, you could you had a three-point turn. And after I lived in Atlanta as a as an adult before I could probably come. Cuz on Main Street, there was always some place I had to empty places that you can pull in. I never never backed into a parking place in Slippery Rock. Wow. I had to park a 10. Passenger van in San Francisco. On a hill. I'm the queen of parallel parking.

37:35 Crazy, yeah. Slippery Rock.

37:41 Yeah, they said that's only a very different childhood than my children or your, I mean, compared to my son's growing up the way they are. So over supervized.

37:57 Yeah, the only way they know they can amuse themselves, but it takes a device to amuse yourself with just yourself shopping thing. Like, you know, you got into trouble, you had to learn. I mean, even if you were scared, just told to walk up and knock on somebody's door and ask for helping or figure out how to walk your bike home with a flat tire. Whatever. Yeah, you just did it. You didn't

38:26 Crying start repairing to fix your problem in. Yeah, it would be good. If your kids had those experiences. I think there's a lot of little towns and I think in the little town. Sweet. We do see that more. I think that's it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The closing thought I would I would say about Slippery Rock is it was a wonderful place to grow up in and it was also a great place to leave. Absolutely, cuz he had to leave people. Say, did you go to college? Unlike? Why? Why would I do that? Yeah, and it's amazing because so many of the people that we went to high school with still live within 50 miles of there.

39:26 Having lived every place else longer than I ever lived there. Yes, that's true. I hadn't thought about that but it's still marks. It's still marks. Our business Personnel. I'm about being a child. I dream about there in the four corners by the stop light were gas station, gas station, gas station bank, right? Exactly, which is she and I think the bank is going to the bank, then going to the Roxy Theater next to it is gone baby. Think you're better? Or the Camelot restaurant was the funeral home used to be. Okay? Okay. I'll have to take you there someday, okay.

40:20 Yeah, we're still the court when we show up in town and we haven't been in a while now, but when we went, when we twist, when we still going to visit together, when we walk down the street, from one still sees us and says, it's the core girls.

40:38 When our sixties were so. The coral girls 90 something. Now, I need to, I thought you was naughty. I know it was the year before Cobra that we went to her 90's party. She's ninety-three now. Okay, we're good. So, the core girls, Slippery Rock and out.

41:11 Yeah, I'm done talking.

41:21 Now he's going to we're going to, I'm just going to keep laughing until he cuts us off.

41:31 Tina. You know, that was one question for you and your self. If you can't control yourself, you've done.