Happy Hill lives up to it’s name
Chronicle file photo
Happy Hill Park holds activities, including a reunion of new and old residents.
BY VERNOLA PURVIS JACKSON
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
I can remember as a young child the many years of living and “growing up” in Happy Hill Gardens. We lived at 502 Powell Street.
My brothers, sisters and I spent a lot of days sitting and playing on the porch with our neighborhood friends. Some of them lived on Mock, Gill, Mint, Mumford and Alder Streets. We would walk to Diggs Elementary and Anderson High School (Columbia Heights area) during those days many years ago.
Sometimes we would go to the park (Happy Hill Gardens Recreation Center) to swing on the swings, slide down the slides and play on the playgrounds. During Easter, the park held huge community Easter egg hunts. There was always something fun to do and we walked everywhere together. We could pay a bus fare and ride the safe bus (Safe Bus Company) to downtown or other places in the city and that was exciting too! Downtown had stores such as Kress, Woolworth, Mother and Daughter, Anchor, Arcade and Butler Shoe Store. We did a lot of shopping in those stores in downtown Winston-Salem.
Grocery shopping was done at the Food Fair, across the bridge over Salem Creek or we could walk up Waughtown to the Winn Dixie or the A&P. Royal Cake Company sold oatmeal cakes for a small price, and the Holsum Bakery always had breads and cakes. Parents would buy appliances from Ed Kelly’s. Almost every-thing we needed was nearby in our neighborhood. We had stores owned by neighbors, in their own houses, in which we could buy loose cookies, candy, sodas and snacks for pennies or small change.
I will cherish the parts of my life that I lived in Happy Hill Gardens. It’s a memorable part of my history.
