Abstract
Sharon Curry discusses her life in Shaker Heights. She lived on two different streets, Nicholas and Menlo. She reminisces about her life in Shaker, calling it a great place and promoting many of the aspects about it, especially its safety.
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Interviewee
Curry, Sharon (interviewee)
Interviewer
Eaton, George (interviewer)
Project
Moreland History Project
Date
11-30-2017
Document Type
Oral History
Duration
48 minutes
Recommended Citation
"Sharon Curry interview, 30 November 2017" (2017). Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection. Interview 904007.
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/crohc000/1135
Transcript
George Eaton [00:00:02] Hello. Today is November 30, 2017. My name is George Eaton and I am interviewing Sharon Curry at the Shaker Heights Public Library for the Moreland History Project. Ms. Curry, would you please state your full name for the record?
Sharon Curry [00:00:25] Sharon Curry.
George Eaton [00:00:30] And that’s C-U-R-R-Y?
Sharon Curry [00:00:33] That’s correct.
George Eaton [00:00:34] Okay, well, thank you for agreeing to be interviewed. And I guess the first thing is , tell me something about yourself with relationship to Shaker. When did you first move here?
Sharon Curry [00:00:48] I moved to Shaker in 1978. I was looking for a place for the family to move. And I was going down a little street called Nicholas. And Nicholas has seven houses on that street. And I saw an old friend and she was standing in front of her house on Nicholas, and we hugged and we were so glad to see one another. And I told her that I was looking for a place to live. And she said, Sharon, this is your lucky day. I live right here and next door the house is for rent. It’s a two family. The landlady lives upstairs and the downstairs is for rent. I could put a good word in for you. And you go ring, knock on her door and let her know you’re interested. By the way, I know Joyce from the Lee Harvard area. Before I moved to Shaker, I lived in Cleveland in the Lee Harvard area. And I went to John F. Kennedy High School. And Joyce did, too. So we were both Fighting Eagles from JFK.
George Eaton [00:02:04] And what was her name? Joyce?
Sharon Curry [00:02:06] Joyce. Then it was Joyce Frame. Like a picture frame.
George Eaton [00:02:10] Okay.
Sharon Curry [00:02:11] Yes. So she’s married and has a different last name now. So, I followed her instructions, put in an application. She put in a good word. The lady called me, and I lived there till 19, well, that was 1978 when I moved in. I lived there to 1994. We had three children there. And then after the third child, it was only a two family. It was time to look for something else. So then we were lucky and bought a house on Menlo. And that’s where we still reside, on Menlo. But we had wonderful years on Nicholas.
George Eaton [00:03:00] Okay, you say we, I think it was you and your husband.
Sharon Curry [00:03:03] Me, my husband and, no, our three kids.
George Eaton [00:03:07] Okay. Your husband’s name?
Sharon Curry [00:03:08] Willie Curry. Yeah.
George Eaton [00:03:15] You can also give me your children’s names.
Sharon Curry [00:03:18] Okay. My oldest son, he went to Fernway. His name is Jasper, just like the Stone. J-A-S-P-E-R. And then our second son, Christopher Curry. And long as those were two boys, they could share that second bedroom. And then Taylor Curry came, a girl, and we had to look for a place to move after that. Yes.
George Eaton [00:03:53] Okay. Alright. So Joyce Frame, Joyce Frame, your friend-
Sharon Curry [00:04:04] From John F. Kennedy? Yeah.
George Eaton [00:04:07] Oh, from Kennedy. From Kennedy.
Sharon Curry [00:04:09] Uh huh. JFK. John F. Kennedy. Oh, no, no, no. We were the Fighting Eagles. That’s JFK on Harvard. Yeah, that’s where we went to school. And we graduate from there in June ’70. Okay, so then we had good memories on Menlo, where the seven houses were. Joyce and I, we were neighbors. We had gardens in the backyard and we used to compare and look at the growth and whose tomatoes are the biggest and compare each other’s garden. And moving up a little bit every year we had the garden, my backyard face the city’s garage where the buses are stored. And over at the bus garage, they used to see my tomatoes growing and they used to push through the fence. And I used to tell the people over at the bus garages, if you want tomatoes, just reach over and get them. So moving up in this story, last week, a bus driver came in and we were talking. She said she has been driving the bus for 33 years. She has not retired. And I said, well, I used to live on Nicholas and my house was right in back of the bus garage. She said, well, I don’t know if we ever met. The only thing I remember is a lady that used to have a garden and her tomatoes used to grow through the fence. I said, that’s me. I was that lady. She said, and then sometimes you had a pond in the backyard and it had fish in it. I said, that’s right. She said, and your fish used to survive over the winter. I said, you’re right. The snow would cover the water, cover the water. The water would freeze. And maybe an inch of that water didn’t freeze, and the fish hibernated and stayed right there. And when the spring came, the goldfish were in the pond. And the pond was made of a swimming pool, a little kid’s swimming pool. I put the liner in it, grew flowers around the edge and put the fish in. And the bus driver never met the lady, but she remembered the pond and she remembered the garden. Yeah.
George Eaton [00:06:49] And I have to go back a little bit. You said you moved From Nicholas in ’94 and you moved to where?
Sharon Curry [00:06:58] Oh, Menlo. That’s where I’m at now.
George Eaton [00:07:02] And that’s a house that you’re in?
Sharon Curry [00:07:04] Yes, we’re in a house now.
George Eaton [00:07:06] So were any of your children born in Shaker?
Sharon Curry [00:07:09] Yes, the two were. Christopher and Taylor were. And all three of the kids went to the Shaker Schools, and they went to Mercer. And at Mercer, I was very active. I worked in the library. On my off days, I would work in the office. When they had pizza day, I would come up at lunchtime and serve pizza. And I was also the banking lady for Mercer, Mr. Mandel, he headed the banking at Mercer many years ago, and he had moms, parents come in to volunteer. And I was one of the volunteers. And I would go to each classroom and the kids would make their deposit, and I would write it down in their bank books, and another parent would take all the money to the bank and deposit into their accounts. So I know a lot of people might know the name of Mr. Mandel. And I notice when you’re active in the school where your children go, people treat your children well. I noticed that, yes, everybody, I never had a lot of the problems that you hear other parents talk about, that maybe they asked for something and they weren’t paid attention or did someone hit them. I noticed everybody knew Mrs. Curry and they knew my children. And if we were late turning the book back, that’s okay. That’s Ms. Curry. She’ll bring that book back. Yes. So I love Mercer School. And let’s see, we had a good principal, Dr. Stokes, who who’s now retired from Mercer. And then I also worked at all their schools until they reach high school. And it was something about high school. They didn’t need you around.
George Eaton [00:09:28] They were too grown.
Sharon Curry [00:09:29] Yes. Oh, and I went on field trips and everything.
George Eaton [00:09:36] Now, when you first moved here, so none of your children went to Moreland? Had Moreland closed then?
Sharon Curry [00:09:43] No, Moreland was here. But what happened was, I think they were busing the kids, you know, and so my kids, though we live right here at Moreland, we had to go over to Mercer. Yeah. So that’s where the kids went, to Mercer.
George Eaton [00:10:02] Did that bother, how did you feel about that?
Sharon Curry [00:10:05] Well, we were new to Shakers, and we enrolled the kids. And if that’s what the policy was, we had no bad feelings about it. If this is the way it’s done, we’re ready to comply and get the kids going. We knew it was a good school system wherever we went, and we were just happy to be Shaker residents. Yeah. So it didn’t bother us at all.
George Eaton [00:10:30] So when you did move here in ’78, were the schools a main reason, one of the main reasons you chose Shaker?
Sharon Curry [00:10:39] Well, let me honestly tell you, I lived in Lee Harvard. So, this Menlo is not far from Lee Harvard at all. Actually, we were just looking for a place to live. I did not even know it was Shaker.
George Eaton [00:10:56] Really?
Sharon Curry [00:10:56] No, really. The Moreland area. I did not know that that little street happened to be in Shaker. So it wasn’t that it was Shaker. I was looking for a place to live.
George Eaton [00:11:09] And the houses were attractive enough to be of interest to you?
Sharon Curry [00:11:12] Yep. And it wasn’t far from where I lived. I was just coming up Lee Road, and then there was this little street. I made a left onto it, and there we were. And I saw the lady that went to school with me. So that’s why I stopped, Joyce. But I did not know at that time I was in the Shaker because it’s like five minutes away from where I live.
George Eaton [00:11:37] So when you found out it was in Shaker, after you had moved in, when you learned about the schools, were there any other impressions you had of Shaker and what you had done?
Sharon Curry [00:11:48] Well, I tell you things I had come to notice about Shaker because, like I said, I didn’t have any experience, expectations. And I didn’t know it was Shaker. I learned that we had good police service. Yes. I learned that you don’t put your, take your garbage to the tree line. You leave it in the backyard, and they come up in your yard and remove the garbage. That was different from Cleveland. And, when they said you can’t park on the street, you get tickets and you live right, your house is right there. And you park right on the street, right in front of your house. No parking. You will get a ticket. So everything was walking distance. I could go get my hair done. Okay, one thing Joyce and I would do to start our garden, we would go right around the corner to Carl’s Nursery. Everyone went to Carl’s Nursery. Now, right now at Carl’s Nursery, there’s nothing there. Then next to Carl’s nursery was Ponka Brothers, which is now Shaker Auto Hospital on Lee Road. It used to be Ponka Brothers, the brothers and the Father. So we would go to the nursery, get our flowers and put our flower pots on the porch. We would plant our gardens. And then our husbands would go around the Ponka Brothers, get a tune up and get work done on the car. Everything was so close. And then across the street, on Chagrin, they call it Abe’s now. It’s on Chagrin. In Scottsdale. There was a little market. We could go to the market right there. The market was there. And at night, the neighborhood was safe. Crime was low. Me and two of the little kids of mine, Christopher and Taylor, I would take them for walks at night. And we would come out of our house, go on Lee Road. We would turn at Hampstead, and at Hampstead, let’s see, on that corner right now is right there where the animal hospital is across the street used to be a diaper service.
George Eaton [00:14:29] Really? Okay.
Sharon Curry [00:14:30] And we would turn right there at the diaper service and go around the block and come back home. So the diaper service is gone now. Carl’s Nursery is gone, Ponka Brothers is gone, and the grocery store is gone. Then we go to the theater, Shaker Theater. That was on Lee Road. Gone. Everything’s closed now. Mind you, we’re walking all these places. Everything was like we lived in downtown Shaker. You want to go to the movies? That was there. Okay. You want to shop, you need shoes? Right now it’s called the Woodlands of Shaker. It’s a nursing home, like assisted living. Used to be a big old shoe store called Gay Shoe Store, used to be on Lee and Chagrin. And now that is the Woodlands of Shaker. And that was the shoe store, Gay Shoe Store, a long time ago. So I worked. Now let’s see how this go. I used to work at a little store. It’s gone now. It was called Rosalind’s Children’s Fashions, and they sold children’s clothing. And then after you get a 15 minute break, because it was part time, I would go directly across the street and there was a little place. You sit on the stool and order your food, and the seats swivel. It was called, I think it was called the Red Rooster.
George Eaton [00:16:19] The Red Rooster?
Sharon Curry [00:16:20] Yes. And those two little kids of mine, they were little. The oldest one was older, he’s 11 years older between the two. So Christopher and Taylor. I used to go to Stride Right shoe store right there on Chagrin.
George Eaton [00:16:40] Really?
Sharon Curry [00:16:40] Yes. It was a Stride Right. There was a Red Rooster. And then for activity for me and my husband, we would go right on Chagrin, park, go in the back of the parking lot, go up the stairs and go bowling. It was a bowling alley. Yes. Huh. There was a bowling alley and there was a restaurant, and it was exquisite. High price. I don’t even remember the name of that restaurant around anymore. But it was, we never patronized it. Yeah. But a lot of places we used to go, we didn’t even need a car. We would walk and do things together. So I was thinking, you got to get the kids into, got to join a church. So there used to be a church right at the corner of Nicholas where I lived and Lee Road. And the pastor there his name was Brother Frano. And Brother Frano, when we went to that church, it was very nice. The kids were baptized there. And then he moved to Wickliffe. So after he moved to Wickliffe, we was looking for a church again. And I think it’s been about 21 years now. I joined East View United Church of Christ with Pastor Dr. Reverend Valentino Lassiter, who passed away. Yes.
George Eaton [00:18:30] Now, the church at Nicholas, was that-
Sharon Curry [00:18:35] Full Gospel. It was called Full Gospel.
George Eaton [00:18:38] Was that in the old building where the synagogue was?
Sharon Curry [00:18:42] No, right now there’s a church at that corner now. And the windows have murals, like they’re pink and red and green, stained glass windows. And it’s right at the corner of Menlo and Lee Road. So it’s still a church. But this particular one, Full Gospel that we joined, they moved further out. So after we joined East View, I became active in East View on the Women’s Guild. I’m an usher. I’m what you call first aid if someone has an injury. I took my first aid training and I can help you out. And I enjoy the church. And East View, they celebrated their 100 year anniversary. Now, that I should have brought pictures for. We walked from our old location down, like at 139th and Kinsman, where it started out in someone’s basement. Then we got a building, and then after that we moved to East View and we marched from that spot, the first location, all the way up to where we’re at now.
George Eaton [00:20:11] You say Eastview was on 130th?
Sharon Curry [00:20:15] 139th. Right before you get to that intersection.
George Eaton [00:20:20] Where Union comes into…
Sharon Curry [00:20:21] Where that welfare building used to be, that the building was yellow right down there on Kinsman. Yeah.
George Eaton [00:20:32] I don’t recall that. Okay. But roughly 130th?
Sharon Curry [00:20:34] Yeah.
George Eaton [00:20:35] And East View had started in someone’s basement?
Sharon Curry [00:20:37] Yeah, in someone’s house. They had the little services there. Then they got a church, a small church, and they moved from that church. And at East View, I think we may have had maybe 15 pastors in 100 years. Yes. And our last one, it was Reverend Lassiter, and we lost him several years ago. So we’re still in the process of trying to find a pastor.
George Eaton [00:21:06] He was a good friend of mine.
Sharon Curry [00:21:07] Oh, okay.
George Eaton [00:21:09] So what year was it that you did the walk?
Sharon Curry [00:21:12] Oh, gee, I think it was maybe three years ago. I do have a booklet, and I have pictures and I have a lot of history in this booklet that I can share, too. Yeah, It’ll have the exact dates that all the pastors we had. And I’ll be glad to share that, too.
George Eaton [00:21:34] Okay, well, great. Well, we’re available to make copies or whatever.
Sharon Curry [00:21:38] Yes,
George Eaton [00:21:39] I have releases on that, so. And what about your children? What were their attitudes? It seems like you really enjoyed it and the walking and the closeness of everything.
Sharon Curry [00:21:50] They’re still friends with the kids that were on Menlo. When we were on Menlo, that bus would leave that garage and turn the corner, come to Menlo, and right in front of my house, that’s where they pick up kids. So early morning, my kids would have to get dressed, get their breakfast and get out on the porch because everybody migrated on our steps and waited for the bus. This went on for years because that was the bus stop right in front of my house. So over the years, they became friends with all the kids. They went to the Shaker schools from kindergarten to graduation. Oh, my son, who graduated from Shaker Heights High School, his class was the last class that graduated and had a commencement at the school. They no longer do that anymore. They go to a hall or some type of place. And the reason for that, when my son graduated, we were all there. They were outside. It poured down rain. They had to give us plastic coat. That was Christopher. They had to give them plastic. They gave the parents plastic. Half the parents went on the inside of the building and tried to watch the graduation from the inside. They were soaking wet. It was, yeah, it was pretty bad. So after that, that was the last class that graduated at the school. They paid money and put them at a hall so the family could enjoy it. Yeah.
George Eaton [00:23:42] And what about Taylor’s? Do they share with you their experiences with, at Shaker?
Sharon Curry [00:23:49] Well, when they were kids, I saw all their experience. I was right there. Yeah. Taylor, she was a Girl Scout, so I was a mom that participated. So when she was camping, I went camping. When they had different sleepovers, I was there. So everything, mostly that she did, she was under the direction of Joanne Perkins. Ms. Perkins was the troop leader. And she would keep all the parents involved. They sold Girl Scout cookies. They had sleepovers. They slept in the malls overnight. They had all kind of interesting things. And then you look out the window when they go out to play. As they got older, when you look out across the street. The street that we saw was called Sudbury. And all the kids on Sudbury, they played together. And my view was straight out there to see the kids. So whatever they did, I was mostly a part of it. We would go to the museums. Dad would take us. We go to the museums. We went to see the Ninja Turtles. Turtles. That’s something they seem to always remember. They remember being in bed at night. This is something they recall. They said, ma, you remember when we used to lay in your bed at night, we look out the window and we would count when we would hear a car go down the street, look for a headlight. We used to count cars. I said, did we? They said, yeah. I said, oh, yeah, I remember that. So they share with me some of the things that they experienced growing up. Yes.
George Eaton [00:25:45] Now, you were on, when you first moved on Nicholas. Now, the houses over there were all two families?
Sharon Curry [00:25:54] Yes, it was seven houses, and they were all two families. At the first quarter corner was the church. Then you have the seven houses, and then the street would run into Shelton.
George Eaton [00:26:10] Okay. So you got to be, I would imagine you got to be good friends with just about everybody on Nicholas.
Sharon Curry [00:26:17] On Nicholas, yes. In the seven houses.
George Eaton [00:26:20] You knew them all, right?
Sharon Curry [00:26:22] Yes, I think I knew everybody. Well, the neighbors that lived on both side of me. Well, Joyce moved away, but then there was a nice lady that moved in, Lillian Crowder. Her dad is a pastor, and she lived there, and her sister lived downstairs. And then next door to me, the lady that lived there, the Tidmores, they’re still there. So the people that live next to me on both sides are still there. Yeah. Mrs. Crowder, her sister is still there next door. The Tidmores are still there. Well, now, Hughes. Yeah.
George Eaton [00:27:06] Okay. Okay. Anything else?
Sharon Curry [00:27:15] Oh, let’s see what other memories I have that I could think of. Oh. Sitting in this building right now in this Shaker Library, I can remember when I lived, I was on Menlo, where I’m at now. I was looking at the Sun Press, and then when I was looking at this article, it said Shaker Library needed help, a monitor for the computer center. And I applied. So I worked right here in this library. I was hired, and I worked in this building. I think it was 2000. And then 2005, I became a substitute here, and now I work next door at the Stephanie Tubbs Jones community building. But I started out right here, working downstairs first with videos, I used to when you want to rent videos, you select your videos, and I put them in the container, and someone would check them out. And then an opening came in the computer center to monitor the room. And I applied for that, and I moved upstairs, and I had a wonderful experience here. Everyone is so nice. There were older people, younger people, and even where I work at now, I still see some of the people when they walk past the community building or they come in just to take a break in the summer. So I still see a lot of those people that I made friends with here.
George Eaton [00:29:02] In looking back at the history of Shaker, for instance, you were close enough to Scottsdale to witness probably when they put the barricades up.
Sharon Curry [00:29:13] Oh, yes, they put the barricades up. And before, now, people adhere to them because you can’t go through them because of concrete walls. But before, a lot of people were guilty of going around the barricades. And I also remember, a long time ago, I had to even ask somebody, didn’t this whole street used to be called Kinsman? It was all Kinsman a long time ago, from Kinsman all the way up to Kinsman. And I thought so, but it was so long ago, I thought, well, maybe. I don’t remember that right. But it was all Kinsmen. And then just one section became Chagrin, and you could pick Kinsman up again out there past Beachwood. Yeah. So I remember that, and I remember the barricades.
George Eaton [00:30:11] Okay. What did you think of those when they went?
Sharon Curry [00:30:14] The barricades?
George Eaton [00:30:14] Yeah, there was a lot of, there were a lot of complaints about those barricades. Did you have any…
Sharon Curry [00:30:23] Well, the complaints that I heard weren’t the complaints I had. The complaint I had was, I’m only trying to get right there now. I can’t go there. It was an inconvenience for me. That was my complaint. It was an inconvenience. Yeah.
George Eaton [00:30:42] Okay. Did you notice in the years that you’ve been here, a change in people? I mean, we’ve talked about all the businesses that were walking distance, but what about the people themselves? The, you know, the ethnicity change or, percentage?
Sharon Curry [00:31:00] Well, well, I just think it’s a friendly community. I really think it’s, I love my neighbors. I enjoy the people I work with and the people that I meet. I was at the bus stop. People are just so friendly. I was at the bus stop looking for someone, and I didn’t see them at the bus stop. And the people who were at the bus stop, they were saying, well, I think they went that way. And they said, I know they were here. And they actually helped me look. And they said, there’s that person you’re looking for. They’re in the bank. And we were strangers and didn’t know each other. And everybody seems to help one another out. So that’s a good thing. Yeah.
George Eaton [00:31:50] Now, as you were mentioning, one of the places you didn’t, the Baskin Robbins?
Sharon Curry [00:31:56] Baskin Robbins?
George Eaton [00:31:58] Okay. That’s alright. If you don’t remember.
Sharon Curry [00:32:01] Nope. I don’t remember, Baskin. Well, it’s there. I don’t remember it being anywhere else.
George Eaton [00:32:05] Okay.
Sharon Curry [00:32:06] Yeah, but I remember my son Jasper. He went to Taylor Nursery School on Lee Road. Mrs. Taylor is passed away now. And I might, two of my grandchildren, they go to a daycare right next door to where this place used to be. And I often think about that when I go to pick up my grandchildren. I’m picking them up from a daycare when their uncle, my son, used to go to the daycare directly next to them. Yeah. And then also that whole little plaza on Lee Road. I used to work at a store there. It’s gone. And then on Chagrin. Oh, did I mention that I used to work at this children’s clothing store? Oh, I think I did because I used to go across the street and eat over at the Red Rooster.
George Eaton [00:33:13] Okay, but you, you mentioned Stride Rite.
Sharon Curry [00:33:17] Just a shop.
George Eaton [00:33:18] Okay, but the children’s store.
Sharon Curry [00:33:20] Yeah, it was a children’s shoe store. Stride Rite. It’s children’s shoes.
George Eaton [00:33:25] Okay.
Sharon Curry [00:33:26] Yeah.
George Eaton [00:33:26] Okay. So the store you worked at.
Sharon Curry [00:33:28] No, that’s where I shopped.
George Eaton [00:33:30] Okay, but you said you worked at a children’s store.
Sharon Curry [00:33:33] Yeah, it was called Rosalyn’s. The husband and wife owned the store and he named, Mr. Geller was the owner. And Mr. Geller named the store after his wife, Roslyn Geller and I used to work there. And they sold children’s clothes, Healthtex, all the name brand children’s clothes. And they had the aisles for the socks, and you can get all the matching socks and T shirts. It was organized real well because that was one of the jobs we had to do. Keep everything folded and nice.
George Eaton [00:34:10] And that was located where? On Chagrin or Lake?
Sharon Curry [00:34:14] Yes, the shopping center. The plaza is there now.
George Eaton [00:34:13] Oh the plaza, okay.
Sharon Curry [00:34:16] But it was, if you could picture where the bowling alley was, it was at one of the corners was Rosalind’s Children’s Fashion. And next to Rosalind’s Children’s Fashion used to be a gas station. And all that’s gone. And there’s a plaza there now.
George Eaton [00:34:41] You mentioned. And this was the first time I heard, Abe’s Market? Was it…
Sharon Curry [00:34:50] Abes is now. It’s called Abes now. It’s right where that barricade is on the corner of Scottsdale.
George Eaton [00:34:56] Okay.
Sharon Curry [00:34:56] There used to be a market there.
George Eaton [00:34:59] Oh, okay.
Sharon Curry [00:34:59] Yeah.
George Eaton [00:35:00] And was it just a regular, I mean, was it like fresh food?
Sharon Curry [00:35:04] Vegetables and meat. It was a market.
George Eaton [00:35:08] Okay.
Sharon Curry [00:35:10] And that was just about a little ways down from that nursery, across the street from the nursery.
George Eaton [00:35:18] But you don’t remember the name of it necessarily?
Sharon Curry [00:35:21] Nope, I don’t remember the name. And a matter of fact, there was another store when we lived on Nicholas is now a place where you buy security doors. It’s security doors. But right in that little plaza, it’s security doors, there was a Barbara’s beauty shop and one of those locations when we would leave out our house, we go through the parking lot, through the back door and go in a grocery, in a store. One of those, I think it was where the security building was, because it was like the corner. And we go in the back and there was a store. So we used to go right there to get groceries there. The good old days. I hate when that store left too. Yeah.
George Eaton [00:36:19] Products you have trouble finding now?
Sharon Curry [00:36:22] Well, it was just a friendly like corner store. Yeah. You didn’t have, and it’s not huge like a grocery store.
George Eaton [00:36:29] And you got to know the owner?
Sharon Curry [00:36:32] Yeah. And then, oh, my kids used to look forward to fireworks. Going to see the fireworks. We used to always go take them to see the fireworks. A lot of good things happen here in Shaker. Yeah. And you know, most of them are happy memories to too. Yeah, we were really blessed to be protected. We stayed safe. We stayed together, and we had good friends and good surroundings. Yeah. So it has really been wonderful place to live.
George Eaton [00:37:16] And were you ever involved in any of Shaker’s politics?
Sharon Curry [00:37:19] No.
George Eaton [00:37:21] Never wanted to run for counsel?
Sharon Curry [00:37:23] No. I was the type, I’m the type person. I don’t want to do the running for office, but if you need me to do something and I can pass out the brochures or do something, I will help, but no.
George Eaton [00:37:39] Were there any of the council, any of the council people that come to mind who, who you really liked?
Sharon Curry [00:37:44] Yes. Al Foster. He was my neighbor on Nicholas. I mean Menlo, where I live now. He was across the street. Yeah.
George Eaton [00:37:55] Okay. What about mayors? Is there any of the mayors that stood out?
Sharon Curry [00:37:59] Yes. Mearns. She passed them.
George Eaton [00:37:59] Mayor Mearns?
Sharon Curry [00:38:00] Yes.
George Eaton [00:38:07] Was there any particular reason she stood out?
Sharon Curry [00:38:10] She was friendly. I’ve sat down and talked with her. We sat at restaurants and ate together. She was a people person too. Yes.
George Eaton [00:38:24] There was a place called the Proud Pickle?
Sharon Curry [00:38:28] I heard of it.
George Eaton [00:38:30] Okay. You don’t remember it?
Sharon Curry [00:38:32] Oh, and you know…
George Eaton [00:38:34] say you were together, I just wanted to…
Sharon Curry [00:38:34] Yeah. I’m just trying to think of the name, that place that we ate together. I wish I could think of it. It was in a plaza and it was a hardware- It was a place where you eat. It was the Olive Garden and it was the medical building. It was like on Farnsleigh. And let’s see, what was that other street? Farnsleigh and Warrensville. And there was a plaza there. And we was, well, when I say we would stop and eat, we were. I would be there eating, she would be leaving. Stop, sit down and talk and socialize and have a pop or something. Yeah.
George Eaton [00:39:24] Okay.
Sharon Curry [00:39:25] And our present mayor, he was so faithful about coming to East View, to our church. And anytime we invited him to something, he was always there.
George Eaton [00:39:39] Mayor Larkin?
Sharon Curry [00:39:40] Yes, yes, we really appreciate that. He always spoke well of Reverend Lassiter. And then when we would have parades and they needed someone to say a prayer at the beginning of the parade, he would always invite Reverend Lassiter, and he would do that. And he would do the benediction. And he always looked forward to Reverend Lassiter coming. And he would always come to the church and come to the pancake breakfast and come to the scholarship funds. He’s been to a lot of events at East View, so we appreciate him too.
George Eaton [00:40:32] Anything else you might want to…
Sharon Curry [00:40:33] Well, I know I’m probably missing something important and I would think later to say, oh, and I didn’t mention blah, blah, blah, but right now I can’t think of it. Yeah.
George Eaton [00:40:45] Did it have to do with your family or?
Sharon Curry [00:40:47] Let’s see.
George Eaton [00:40:48] You haven’t mentioned any pets that you may have had.
Sharon Curry [00:40:53] You don’t know, I’m the pet lady. Oh, I love animals. Oh, listen, I, everybody will tell you, I just love animals. I don’t care if it’s a fly. I’ll open the door and shoo him out. I’m not gonna step on any. And nothing in my house goes to waste. If it’s cornbread, don’t throw it out. Cause I’ll go outside and crumble it up for the ants.
George Eaton [00:41:22] Oh, my goodness. Okay.
Sharon Curry [00:41:24] I had two dogs, Samson and Delilah. I love those dogs. I now made the mistake of feeding a little, a kitten. Well, then it was a mother, and she was expecting. And one day I went to put the garbage out and her kittens were right on the ground. And don’t you know, I brought her two kittens in and her in too, because it was winter. But then after the winter came and this winter was over and spring came, I put her out and her kittens. And I still feed them to this day.
George Eaton [00:42:07] Really.
Sharon Curry [00:42:08] But now it’s coming up on the second winter, so I’m worried about them now. But I’m not gonna let them back in.
George Eaton [00:42:13] Okay.
Sharon Curry [00:42:14] Yeah, so I feed the cats. We don’t have any dogs, you know, stray dogs, but anything that’s out there. I have a possum. I have a raccoon.
George Eaton [00:42:28] You have a possum?
Sharon Curry [00:42:30] Not that belongs to me, but he comes around. All these animals know where to come to eat. There’s a possum outside. He’s not mine. He’s in the neighborhood. And he must be getting fed really well by more people than me because he waddles, he’s so fat.
George Eaton [00:42:47] Oh my goodness.
Sharon Curry [00:42:49] And this just happened to be skunks in the neighborhood, you know, so. Yeah, so nothing goes to waste. I will just give it to the animals. That’s one thing. I love the animals.
George Eaton [00:43:04] Possums, raccoons, and skunks don’t bother you.
Sharon Curry [00:43:07] Yeah, I’m afraid of them, but I feed them. I’m afraid of skunks. I don’t want to get sprayed. I was on my job one day and someone said, Ms. Sharon, you better come and get this bug out of here before I step on him. And I went to see what it was on the carpet. It was a spider. I didn’t want to get bit, and I didn’t want her to step on him. So I just put a paper towel over him, and he was in it, opened the door and let him out. So, yep, I do love animals.
George Eaton [00:43:43] Okay. Okay.
Sharon Curry [00:43:47] Did you say uh, uh, uh?. And I don’t like to hear sad stories about animals either. Yeah. If someone say, let me tell you what I saw. If it’s about an animal and it has a sad ending, I don’t want to hear it. Yeah. But yep, I love the animals.
George Eaton [00:44:07] So you, basically, you loved your life here. You’ve loved your life you’ve lived here. Have any of your children come back to Shaker?
Sharon Curry [00:44:22] My daughter is in Shaker. Two of my kids are in Shaker. Yes. Oh, let me tell you. When it was time to move and we were looking for a place to live, and I was looking in all the wrong places. I was looking at houses that were big and beautiful, and they weren’t in the Moreland area. They were on the other side. And this real estate lady told me, you have champagne taste and you have beer money. You looking for these houses you can’t afford. She said, I have a house I want you to see. So she took me to see this house, and I looked at it, and I kind of turned my nose up at it, and I went in the bathroom. I said, oh, this bathroom is so little. What Will people say when they come over and see this little bathroom? She said, if they don’t like it, tell them to go home. I said, oh, my goodness. Anyway, she said, you should buy this house, stay in it five years, get you some equity in it, and then sell it and then move over there where you want to go. We bought the house. We’re now seniors. It’s the perfect house for us. We don’t need bigger anymore. Like I wanted to start out big. It’s the perfect house for us. And we love the house. Yes. A little bungalow. Yeah. Oh, and I didn’t mention I have three children, six grandkids and two great grands.
George Eaton [00:46:06] Oh, my goodness.
Sharon Curry [00:46:08] Yes. My daughter Taylor has three children.
George Eaton [00:46:16] Six grands, and how many great grands?
Sharon Curry [00:46:19] Two. So if you remember the son named Jasper. Jasper has three children. Then the son, the middle child, Christopher, he has two children and Taylor has three children. Hey, wait a minute. Three, six, seven, eight grandkids. And I, I have eight grandkids. And let me tell you what else I have. The son named Jasper. His oldest son has two children and those are the two great grands. Oh, boy.
George Eaton [00:47:10] Jasper is a grandfather now, huh?
Sharon Curry [00:47:13] Yes, he’s a grandfather of two. His oldest son has two children. Yeah. So I don’t want to forget to mention those grand. Yeah.
George Eaton [00:47:27] I take it they come to visit you often?
Sharon Curry [00:47:28] Yes, yes. Because that two of them are in Shaker. They’re close by. They’re in walking distance. I may see them later on today.
George Eaton [00:47:38] Oh, really? And so where do they both live, in the Moreland area?
Sharon Curry [00:47:43] Well, one is in Garfield Heights, and two our in Shaker, in the Moreland area.
George Eaton [00:47:50] Okay, that’s Christopher and Taylor
Sharon Curry [00:47:50] Yes.
George Eaton [00:47:51] In the Moreland area. Okay, let’s…
Sharon Curry [00:48:03] I guess that covers as much as I can remember. Yes.
George Eaton [00:48:09] Okay.
Sharon Curry [00:48:10] I enjoy talking with you.
George Eaton [00:48:12] It’s my pleasure, truly. Okay. And if you think of anything else, just let me know.
Sharon Curry [00:48:17] Oh, okay. Will do.
George Eaton [00:48:19] So essentially this will finish our interview with Mrs. Sharon Curry. And this is George Eaton signing off.
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