Hazard's Glory Years

The Shamrock Restaurant was owned by Biram Caudill. It was located in a block of buildings constructed in 1958. Before they were built, one of the old houses that was there was called the "Hole-in-the-Wall" and my half-sister was scared to death of one of the ladies living there as she would come out as we headed up the hill to school and take a broom and run us off, cussing and ranting.

My half-sister took tap dancing lessons in a place called "Ryman Gardens.” That was in the early '40's. Visualize with me the old Hurst-Snyder Hospital and walking down toward Mt. Mary Hospital, you will come to what was back then an entrance to a building that fronted on Main Street with a small parking lot. That is where my sister, Anna, took her tapping lessons. Later on it was home to the Leach family and then I think the USO might have had something in there. It could have been one of Hazard's first "rec centers".

The rec center where I spent a lot of time was over what was then Engle's Flower Shop and later Dawahare's. There were steep steps leading up to the floor above the stores and it was also used for Lodge Meetings. Boy, did we ever dance till we dropped. No trouble, no drinking, smoking, carousing that I can remember, just good clean fun. I guess that is one reason we remember them as "good ole days", huh.