Howard Herron Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

Howard Herron 86
Q: Did you ever hear Lawrence Welk?
A: No, he wasn't even born then.
Q: He wasn't?
A: I don't suppose.
Q: Was that the closest radio station you had, WLS?
A: St. Louis. KSD in St. Louis and WLS in Chicago. They had a quartet.
Q: Barbershop?
A: No, I can't think of their name.
Q: Would it be on the radio you mean?
A: The Blue Ridge Mountain Boys or something like that.
Q: Oh.
A: And they were a quartet.
Q: Did the people of Auburn like square dancing and that kind of music
when you were young?
A: Well, when I was a kid they did but when I was able to go to dances
they didn't. They had them at their homes out in the country. If
somebody was going to have a dance, everybody was invited, everybody
would tell everybody. You didn't have any special people, just word of
mouth. I was chairman up there, I told you about that.
Q: What was the population of Auburn along the time that you were a
teenager ?
A: I don't suppose it was over 1500 people.
Q: Well, that's pretty good. It hasn't grown all that much since you
were a teenager, has it?
A: I said 1500, I guess.
Q: Well, it's about twice that now.
A: Well, it wasn't that big. I don't suppose there was even a thousand
people here.
Q: And everybody knew everybody?
A: Oh, yes. When I was in business over here I knew everybody and pert
near how much money they had in the bank. They don't think I did but I
thought I did.