William Marvel: Demise of the 50-50 Blend

Unusually cold mornings like the one we saw last Thursday always remind me of Percy Frye, whose station wagon served as the South Conway school bus in the 1950s and 1960s. He would collect six or seven of us at a time on a loop that began at my house, delivering us to either Pine Tree School or his store; there the big bus picked us up on the way back from East Conway and took us to Conway Junior High and Kennett. He was the first school-related person I saw on my initial day of school in September of 1955, and the last I saw at Christmas break of 1966. After that I moved out of the house to live on my own in town, and never rode with him again.

Those of us going on to Conway Village would pile out of the station wagon at Frye's Store half an hour or so before the big bus arrived. The store didn't open until 8 or 9 a.m., but Percy would unlock the door when the mercury in the big Pepsi thermometer dropped far enough below zero, so we could stand on the creaky hardwood floor and watch for the bus. Otherwise, we were on our own, but most of us were prepared for it. Parkas, woolen coats, trooper hats, lined mittens, heavy pants, long underwear, and winter boots were the norm, while girls often wore wool pants underneath their mandatory skirts and dresses.