A Blast From The Past
I used to have to hide under my desk at school every Friday—and not just because a nun was coming after me with a ruler. It was also because the civil defense air raid siren went off on Fridays at noon, training us how to react in the event of a nuclear attack. But I gotta admit I was more afraid of the nuns than the Russians.
Jimmy Curran still blasts the horn every Friday from the Wherehouse in downtown Holyoke. My son Gainer heard it in his backyard last week and he lives 3.5 miles away. That's how loud the goddamn thing is. I used to hear it when I’d take my son Jake to the skatepark down there. The first time it surprised me and I almost jumped in the canal.
Same thing happened to a truck driver who pulled off into the skatepark lot to have his lunch one Friday. The siren went off and the poor bastard leapt down from his cab and looked up at the sky like we were being attacked. He must’ve also had to hide under the desk when he was a kid.
Listen to this hounddog:
Curran’s might be the last functioning air raid siren in New England. It can still scare the hell out of me, but I tell ya it brings back a lot of memories.
Keep your dukes up.
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