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The Streets & Roadways of Home: Sharing Memories with Betty Lebeau Myers

photo provided Betty Myers loves the county she has called home for 80 years and shares interesting stories of summer fun.

photo provided You could find anything you needed or anyone you were looking for at the Dalyrimple's Store on Main Street.

photo provided Robert & Betty Myers and her sister Janice pause by the Waterbury Dam to enjoy time together.

Tuesday August 6, 2013

By Cookie Steponaitis

Betty Myers has called Addison County her home since her birth in 1932 and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Sharing Memories of growing up in the Champlain Valley brings a smile to her lips and stories about dancing, fun and being together as a family.

   “My parents were pretty strict with us,” reminisced Betty. “but we went together as a family and did a lot of things. Rutland Fair was a favorite as well as swimming in Otter Creek above the falls. You have to remember, Betty added, we made our own fun.”

    For people of Betty’s generation fun came in many forms. Whether it was playing hop scotch at the park, walking around the side of the Bixby Library hanging on by their fingers, gigantic games of hide and go seek with thirty or more friends, or sipping a Coke with sister Janice at the Pinegriff Restaurant on Main Street in Vergennes (current site of Three Squares), fun was what you made it.

    Betty’s parents held many different jobs in the community, but Betty most remembers going with her mom to clean houses and her dad as the Road Commissioner.  Whether it was the Square Dancing at the Grange in New Haven, Cove Point at Lake Dunmore, or a local Barn Dance, Betty and sister Janice were together and stayed stuck to each other. Brother Charlie might be close by, but the sisters were on their own and spending time together. “Movies at the theater in town weren’t that much, maybe about 25-30 cents,” remarked Berry and being that we all grew up together we could go in groups. You knew almost everyone in the theater. It was a quieter life than today’s standards, but we made our own way and we never hurt anyone.”

    Being a teen during the World War II years, Betty remembers vividly the accounts of the attack on Pearl Harbor and the way the local community came together. “It was harder with the men gone,” shared Betty. “Women pitched in and for a while it was hard even to buy things. We had coupons and sugar was rationed. Things took longer to earn and you took better care of them because of it. We were fine, but we put the needs of the town and the men in the war first.” While life was altered by those events, one constant for Betty and her family was the square dancing. “ There was what you would call normal music, “ commented Betty. “ You can square dance to most anything, but there was a caller and a fiddle sometimes to. I rarely left the dance floor and accepted every invitation. It was just pure fun!”

    While Betty had known brother Charlie’s best friend Robert most all of her life, it wasn’t until 1954 when the couple married that Betty and Robert would begin a 56 year marriage that would only end with his death. Camping, fishing and outdoor fun was a big part of the family’s life and Betty remarked her sadness about how families today don’t eat together that often.” We sat as a family each night,” commented Betty. “We talked, we shared and we knew what was going on  in each other’s lives.” Today with seven grandchildren: Nathan, Eric, Judd, Charles, Bill, Aaron, Kyle and great-grandchild Cole, Betty does admit the boys have the corner on the market in her family, but still loves to share memories of her sister Janice and stops to local haunts like Dalyrimple’s General Store, with everything a child or family could possibly need. “There were toys, clothes, food, treats and a place to meet and see people,” reflected Betty. Located where now Jackman Fuel’s and the Vermont Beverage, Dalyrimple’s was a gathering point as are many local stores today. People come to purchase things, but as much of the focus in on the conversation and the coffee corners.

    For Betty, and many of her generation, the lessons learned on the streets and in the yards of Addison County held solid and firm for their entire lives. “Fun was to be made and family was how it happened,” remarked Betty with a smile. “It is the bonds there that stand up to hard times and to situations that will test any person. It’s like my history teacher in elementary school Mrs. Bodette told me, ‘Don’t intentionally hurt other people and be happy with what you have and what you do, and have fun.”

    Family, fun and Addison County- Stories passed from generation to generation- Fairs, dances, fishing and sports. Betty Lebeau Myers knows all about them. She lived them and to this day are what keeps the spark in her eyes and the spring in her step. May all of us find our fun with those we love and see the beauty, joy and strength of the community that calls the winding paths, streets and roads of Addison County home.

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