My Hometown Brush, Colo – It’s Not What it Used to Be

I was a sophomore in high school when I went to work at Crane's Cafe on Main Street, washing dishes for $2.45. This is actually where I got my start in radio. As I was washing dishes in the back I was doing a radio show in my head complete with all the music, and song-to-song talk overs. Crane's is now closed, but this is where I learned to love coconut pie!

The Bakery was right across the street from Crane's Cafe. At some point, I took the job of cleaning up at the bakery for a couple of hours right after school, and then walking across the street to to do my evening shift washing dishes at Crane's. I would sweep and mop the floor and wash all the pots and pans - and every day I would go home with a sack full of left over donuts.

Same school, same location, and yes, home of the Beetdiggers. What you need to understand is that these were sugar beets, not the kind of beets you eat at Thanksgiving. I was a Beetdigger, but not in the athletic sense. I was a total band nerd. As far as the school is concerned, it is one of the things that is still the same.

The library has always been at this location, but this is a brand new library, which has greatly expanded - so much, in fact, that it now covers the area where all the guys from church would  play countless games of Sunday afternoon football. Our football field being wiped out not withstanding, this is a definite improvement.

I was in the fourth grade when we moved to Brush, so I spent 2 1/2 years at Central. I think maybe it was an army hospital before it was a school. Some great memories at this school like Miss Bath, Miss Haynes, and Miss Lindell, but thankfully a new school has since been constructed.

The only fast food restaurant we had growing up was Tastee Freeze. Best chili dogs on the planet, and delicious thin-cut krinkle fries. While this building is now vacant and Tastee Freeze is gone, the town now at least has McDonalds and Wendy's.

This was the site of many basketball battles between my older, taller brother and me, and occasionally a group of guys. The rim and backboard in the driveway remains, as does the white fence we had to climb repeatedly to retrieve the basketball on an errant shot. That fence seemed a lot taller back then. By the way, I did happen to edge my brother this weekend in a game of Around the World.

The Sands was not a part of my childhood, as movies were generally forbidden at our house. I think we might have gone to see one of the Billy Graham movies from the 70s at this tiny one-screen movie house.

About three years after our family of four moved to Brush we moved into this house on Circle Drive. Aside from the initial remodel, not much has changed except maybe the removal of some trees. You can see our basketball goal on the west side.

The reason for our visit was my dad's 80th birthday. We made some great memories, and found it hard to believe that all these years had passed - my dad was 40 when we came to Brush, and now, the big 8-0. He says he feels like 60, and the fact is, he looks like 65. Yes, there have been some changes in 40 years, but it's all been good.