Joe Menkevich
From Joe Menkevich
Northeast Catholic High School Crew Team & The Ghost
The older one becomes, the more things one will witness – strange mysterious beautiful unexplainable wonderful things.
For many years I thought to take a few pictures of some of the facades & windows of buildings along Frankford Avenue. Today I have.
This is the second floor of what was once a dining room inside Horn & Hardart Restaurant. (near Margaret Street)
Old Horn and Hardart second floor window
The reflections upon the window glass brought back the memories of rattling dishes and the smell of the food – the pies and the coffee and the pies! I remember taking the EL from North Catholic and waiting for my brother to finish his shift as a bus-boy. A loud crash from the dropping of a whole load of dishes – and there was my brother standing there frozen like a statue with one dish left in his hand.
The old waitresses began gathering around scolding – trying to make him feel guilt & embarrassment. There he stood with that one last dish.
He shrugged his shoulders and threw it into the broken pile, took off his apron and said: “Now all of you can clean it up – I quit! Are you happy now?”
Some say the Spirit of North Catholic will never die.
It was in building next to Roxy’s Army & Navy Store. [4500 block of Frankford Avenue: http://www.flickr.com/photos/frankfordgazette/2042191622/ ] Memories of wet t-shirts, the smell of sweat, the working out, & the camaraderie inside while looking at the dyslexic writing on a window: WERC CN
As an alumni of Northeast Catholic High, I knew where the Crew Team used to work out in the late 1960’s. I know because I was there.
But after I took the photo, it appeared as if a strange face was looking back at me. Is it the face of a young man? I had to take a closer look.
Some say “the Spirit of North Catholic will never die.”
Take a look and decide – is it just a smudge or something more?
Perhaps it’s just an illusion – perhaps it’s something more. The strange silhouette reflected on the glass serves to prove – ghosts, spirits & memories will never die as long as we keep them alive.
© 2011 – Joseph J. Menkevich all rights reserved.
