Picking Berries in ’68

Among my summer memories from growing up on a farm are the days when my sister and I would go berry picking. Generally, she picked berries in an ice cream pail, and I tried to eat them. We would don long sleeve flannel shirts that belonged to dad, and head deep into the berry briars to pick black berries, black caps, and gooseberries. The big reward was when mom would have a homemade pie crust waiting to fill (for Phil)! Our family farm was just that. It was a gathering place for neighbors and friends. We had a bachelor farmer that lived over the hill from us. My mom always said that he must have smelled the charcoal when she was cooking steaks. He would show up and an uncle and aunt and cousins would drop by. There was never an invitation needed. Mom would just whip up more food whenever she heard our old farm dog barking. That meant another car was coming down the gravel driveway. Later a card game might break out or someone would convince my dad and I to sing a song. We had a regular routine worked out with duets and occasionally a bathroom humor ditty that would bring the house down. Music was always a big part of our lives back then. My dad was a record collector, and he had an amazing collection of 78’s. Most of the time though, the radio was playing.

Although I was very young that summer, my memory of that time is very vivid. My mom and I were in Madison on June 6th of 1968 which was the day that Bobby Kennedy died after being shot the day before. My aunt was a worker at the democratic headquarters in Madison and was very emotional that day. Later in that summer we would see all of the violence and protests at the convention in Chicago. While the national news was not always good, music was a great escape. This week during my Those Were the Days radio show, I will be spinning some hits from July of 1968. Among my lifetime favorites are Hello, I Love You-Doors, Lady Willpower-Gary Puckett, Jumpin’ Jack Flash-Rolling Stones, Think-Aretha Franklin, Hurdy Gurdy Man-Donovan, Sky Pilot-Eric Burdon and the Animals, and Sunshine of Your Love-Cream. Between and six and midnight Saturday night, you are invited to a radio party with listener requests and memories, trivia, and lots of fun. You can hear Those Were the Days on WRCO FM 100.9, WRCO.com and the Civic Media app. I hope you have a great holiday weekend, whether you are cooking steaks, picking berries or singing naughty songs.

Philip