Boline, 1935

When I was eleven my family spent several months in Hotel Johnson with Mother and Daddy as the operators. The year before that I remember that my Uncle Hillyer's family had done the same thing.  I also remember that there was a fire call in late afternoon about Christmas at the old Country Club on Spring Street. The Boline family of Enzey, Gazena, and Olive lived there and operated the swimming pool behind the house. Daddy went to the fire as a fireman, and Mother went out there as Gazena's close friend. I remember being on the sidewalk at the hotel/store during the fire, which completely destroyed the house. I understood then that the fire started spontaneously from cleaning supplies in  a closet and that there was a problem getting enough water on  the fire because the swimming pool had been drained for cleaning.  Mother helped the Bolines move  their belongings to the corner room next to us at the hotel, where they lived while rebuilding a smaller house (now Lonnie Ray's) on the site of the Country Club.