ARLO TODD & FAMILY

Leo was a Barber down in Groton, NY and his Barber Shop was down at the North end Main Street. I remember there was a Hotel on the corner and I had to climb wooden steps to Leo's place. He had a good business for himself with the Smith-Corona Factory in town lots of men and young boys like myself would have Leo cut our hair. He charged $1.00 per haircut. Even on days where only a handful of customers came in...he would make about $10.00 a day...on Fridays and Saturdays he could pocket up to $25.00. No matter how much Leo made for one day, he would always stop at a Tavern on his way home. He drank red wine. A good size tumbler of red wine costs 50 cents. When he finished drinking his red wine he drove back up that steep hill and would arrive home late and usually full of red wine. Alma was our School Teacher in a one-room School House just about 1/4 a mile where they lived. She didn't make much money, but it was enough to buy groceries for the whole family. Arlo was my best friend. That doesn't mean that we hung out together much; both being farm boys there was little time to play. Arlo was the "black sheep" of the family. They would cuss at him and call him names and demand that he do something for them. I felt sorry for Arlo. When we did have the chance to be together he always treated me very well. He was awkward and skinny. When I was over there at their farm Arlo would show me where they kept their cans of milk. They were in deep cold water until a man came with his truck and took them to be bottled and ready to deliver. In that cold water his father kept a bottle of red wine. Arlo would pull it out take the cork out of the top and take a sip, then hand it to me and I would take a sip. "Not too much John...don't want the old man noticing...." Sometimes we walked down to Groton. There was a movie house down there and in the afternoon they would play a movie. It only cost 10 cents to get in; back then they had "intermissions" and people would walk down a flight of stairs to use the bathrooms and to smoke cigarettes. There was a container there with sand in it and they would just take their cigarettes and push them down a little but into the sand. That's were Arlo would go and pick all this cigarettes out of the sand and fill his pockets with them. That's how I first learned to smoke cigarettes. Even along the side of the road we would look and find some half-smoked ones...always on a look out. I must have been between 8-10 years old. Arlo finally went to High School in Groton and when he did he saw a cousin of mine; Leona Senecal. He really fell for Leona. Arlo was so shy he hardly said a word to her. Larry, Arlo's brother also took a shine to Leona, and by golly he purposed to her and she married Larry. Larry Todd was a good farmer. He and Arlo did all the work on their father's farm. Larry bought a place of his own; it was up toward Grotto. He had some milk cows, fields for growing wheat, corn and oats. Many of those fields would supply enough hay to last through the cold winters. Arlo joined the Navy. Once when Arlo was home on leave he and Larry went out drinking. Being in the Navy Arlo knew how to drink...Larry not so much. They were driving between places that sold boose and a train was coming and Arlo tried to beat the train racing to cross the tracks before the train came by...he didn't make it. Larry died in that crash, Arlo didn't. Larry and Leona had a number of children. Arlo began to write to Leona and would visit her when we came home on and later on she married Arlo. They moved somewhere in Flordia, close to were near a Naval Base. I have no idea where they are now. But this is what I remember, so far. I'll write again and fill in the blanks.