Dorothy: They used to block off the hill on Princeton Avenue for sledding. Other than Rexon’s it was the best hill In town, We used to sled at night, I was so lucky because my grandparents, the Gores, lived right there at 214 Princeton. I could run into their place when I got cold I had it made.
Ruth: In the winter, friends and I would walk to Kirkwood Lake to ice skate when the lake was frozen. Kirkwood was a small town of approximately fifty houses and is part of Voorhees now, It was about one mile from Stratford.
Judy: One winter the water tower overflowed and when the water hit the trees it froze. People came from all over to see the frozen fairyland. Each part of the day brought a different beautiful scene. If you saw it you would never forget it.
For those long winter nights there were trips to the Stratford Library. it was a very small, two room building on Atlantic Avenue which was heated by a little potbellied stove. We always seemed to find the perfect book.
Ruth: Our next door neighbors were the Wards. Dorothy Ward was one of my best friends. She graduated from Stratford Elementary School on Princeton Avenue in June 1947, The class size was seven. Her graduation dress was made by a lady who lived on the corner of Kirkwood and Harvard Avenues. Dorothy and I would do errands for our parents. The majority of women in Stratford did not have a car and many did not know how to drive. Teenagers were expected to do chores, pick up the mail and do family errands.
Everyone knew Dorothy because her mother and grandparents had lived in Stratford since 1925. Both Dorothy’s father and grandfather rode the train to and from work in Camden. They got off at the train station on Princeton and Atlantic Avenues.
Dorothy: You knew they were gong to let me out of that school because my grandfather, Norman Gore, was president of the school board and my mother, Marian Ward, was president of the P.T.A.
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The article above has been taken from an article that appeared in South Jersey Magazine in the Spring 2000 issue. The article is entitled Fond Remembrances of Stratford (1940's through mid 1950's) and was compiled by Bonnie Hoeflich McGuire. The remembrances above were contributed to the article by some residents of Stratford both past and present. The article above was scanned from a photocopy of the original so you can probably blame any typos on me.
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