Fifth-grade memories still bring inspiration

As we are celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, I’m once again remembering my first encounter with the city of Aurora — not the year when I arrived there as an adult, but in the encounters I had through my fifth-grade experiences while reading “Engine Whistles,” the last in the Alice and Jerry reading series written by Aurora native Mabel O’Donnell. Stories about childhood life in a fictional village from pioneer days until the years before World War Two, Alice and Jerry books drew on O’Donnell’s life experiences as a child and young adult in Aurora.

One chapter in “Engine Whistles” describes a Fourth of July weekend. The story is drawn directly from the 1910 celebration that the Aurora Beacon News headlined as “Aurora Home Coming July 2, 3, 4 and 5.” Events highlighted in the news article included a dedication of the new Fox Street bridges, a Zouave drill team exhibition honoring veterans of the Civil War and “aeroplane flights” by pilots demonstrating the newest Wright Fliers.

That 1910 event and its fictional retelling were joyful celebrations, but O’Donnell also wrote of hardships and tragedies such as great fires and floods that destroyed businesses and infrastructure, requiring citizens to overcome disagreements, work together and adapt to change. Something I still remember from fifth grade.

Gil High

Huntley