boardwalk in Wildwood, New
Jersey. He tells me I made him
sit through it four times.
One day, several months before
my sixth birthday in 1961, my
dad said, “Son, we’re going to
do something really fun tonight.”
I said, “What’s that Dad?” He
goes, “There’s a carnival behind
the church. It’s a fundraiser in
Scotch Plains.” I said, “Really?”
I was like 5 and 3/4 years old, a
little guy, dressed just like Den-
nis The Menace. I had a crew
cut. All the kids would get a
crew cut for the summer be-
cause it was like no maintenance
for the parents. They just shaved
all the hair off of your head. You
could just run in the woods and
you didn’t have to worry about
fleas, lice, or any of that shit.
And I had a pair of blue jeans
cuffed up. I had a white pocket
t-shirt, crew cut, and a pair of
white high top PF Flyers - re-
member those sneakers? “You
can run faster and jump higher!”
I was content at 5 1/2 to mere-
ly run faster and jump higher.
Watch The Smithereens with Belinda Carlisle play“Blue Period”
NJ STAGE - ISSUE 43
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