NEW CASTLE —
I can't say I was a complete angel in my teenage years.
Somewhere in the annals of City Hall is a criminal record with a star beside my name.
It all started when someone decided to build the Violet Ray Laundromat on the corner of Smithfield and West Washington streets.
I remember it as being a pink trailer with washers and dryers inside.
This became the perfect spot for all of the West Side baby boomers to conduct their daily meetings.
I can still see Billy DelPrincipe, a.k.a. “Pickle,” standing on the counter and reading the notes that people had left in the complaint box.
After reading one he would usually reply, "Tough doo doo, lady" and rip up the complaint.
The problem started when some of the guys decided to disconnect the drain hoses on the washers, so the drain water would squirt all over the floor.
Plus, it became customary to pound on the change machine when leaving to set off the alarm.
One day after school, as we were having our meeting, two cop cars pulled up, blocking the exits.
They took our names and said we had to go to juvenile court.
The whole gang of us went to some kind of courtroom at City Hall.
The juvenile officer conducting the hearing said, "This is a big gang!"
All I said to him was, "This is only the executive committee!"
He looked at me and asked my name.
He then said, "I'm putting a star beside your name. If you ever show up in here again, you're going to jail."
Gee, what a grouch.
I showed him. I never went back.
It ended up that were banned from the laundromat.
That must have been bad for business, because they closed the thing and moved the trailer to a vacant lot on Moravia Street.
Should anyone ever check the records and sees the star beside my name, I think I'll just tell them, "That was because the judge liked me so much."
Gary Church
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About Gary Church: Gary is a columnist and contributing writer for The News. He’ll share his thoughts on this blog each Tuesday and Friday.
Discussion
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