Mark J. Price: Highland Square memories hit close to home

I’ve really enjoyed the random memories that readers have shared about growing up in Akron.

However, Gary Vitatoe’s reminiscences of Highland Square completely floored me. As it turns out, we lived in the same house, although not at the same time.

“Unbelievable,” he said. “What are the odds?”

Vitatoe, 79, grew up at 45 S. Highland Ave. across from Portage Path Elementary School. His parents, Carl and Ellen Vitatoe, bought the house in the late 1940s and Gary lived there with his sisters Linda and Susan.

It was a wonderful neighborhood for families. Just about anything that residents needed was within walking distance — as Vitatoe’s vivid memories confirm.

“The best bakery in the world was Fritsch’s and it was right in the heart of Highland Square,” he recalled. “Every morning at 7:30 or 8, you could step out onto your front porch and smell the delicious aromas of cakes, pies, cream sticks, jelly buns and, of course, bread coming out of the ovens.

“Five cents bought you the ‘best of the best’ cream sticks, or for 49 cents, they would carefully place one of their warm and fresh cakes in a white box and wrap string around the box at least five times before handing it to you.

“To the left of the bakery was the Bucket Shop, a local watering hole that played music so loud that when the door opened, it could be heard to the east and down the street at Mary Coyle’s ice cream shop.

“Highland Hardware was always a convenient store for fix-it repairs and just to the west of that was Isaly’s dairy store, which was famous for their chip-chop ham and, of course, their ice cream, which featured skyscraper, three-dip cones for 7 cents.

“The Highland Theatre was my favorite as I could go and see a different movie on Friday and Sunday as well as watching the latest Roy Rogers or Gene Autry movie on the Saturday matinee. The matinee also featured the latest serial and a cartoon.

“Tickets were 20 cents and popcorn was a dime, or you could put a nickel in the vending machine, pull the lever and get a box of Juicy Fruit or Milk Duds or other sweet temptations.

“Just one door to the east of the theater was the Highland 5 & 10. I bought gun caps, baseball cards and hand-painted lead soldiers from this store many times through the years.

“Peoples Drug Store was just two doors west and almost directly across Market Street from Gray Drug Store. Gray’s had the best radar-oven rotisserie hot dogs for 20 cents, which always left me with 5 cents for a cherry phosphate or Coke.

“Kroger’s was the main grocery store at Highland Square and was one door west of Gray’s. Kroger’s eventually closed their stores in our area, but Star Market moved into the space vacated by Kroger’s.

“Back across the street from Kroger’s was the Brown Derby whose large electric sign featured $1.19 sirloin steak dinners. Eventually they upped the price to $1.49. The Bubble Bar burned down and was replaced by Nick Yanko’s upscale eatery. Anyone remember ‘Rajah’ and his flaming sword who stood out in front of the restaurant?

“For many years, Herbert Brittain ran a grocery store at the side of the Bubble Bar. It was a very neat grocery store with wooden floors and a large green awning that came out over the sidewalk as if it were a porch. On that floor, they displayed all of their produce, fruits and vegetables, giving the appearance of a farmers market.

“Highland Square was a great business district and the proud merchants kept their properties clean and inviting. This was also an area that was great for raising a family. Kids could play kick the can until 10 or 11 p.m. without having to worry about getting shot, mugged or assaulted.

“Air conditioners were not that plentiful nor were television sets, so people sat on their front porches, talking to their neighbors until it was time to retire for the evening.”

Vitatoe’s parents sold the South Highland home in 1956 but bought it again in the 1960s and converted it into three apartments. When Vitatoe and his wife, Rose, got married in 1970, they lived in the first-floor unit for a year.

He recalls looking in the front closet and finding his name and address stamped on the wall with a “Sky King” pad from childhood.

Here’s the strange coincidence. A few years after Vitatoe moved out, my family rented that same first-floor apartment. We stayed there for less than a year, but I have vivid memories, too.

The Highland Theatre, Mary Coyle, Brown Derby, Dodie’s Dining Room, Star Market, Gray Drug and Capri Pizza loomed large in my young life.

I had to call Vitatoe to reminisce. We soon were chuckling together.

He and I agreed that one of the best things about that address was its easy access to Portage Path Elementary. I wasn’t particularly concerned with taking a daily bath in those days, so I’d wake up, plaster my hair with V05, grab a quick breakfast and go to class.

Only 15 minutes after waking up, I’d be seated at my desk.

“We had the same ordeal,” Vitatoe said. “We’d get up every morning, eat a bowl of oatmeal or cereal, get our clothes on and run across the street and up the steps to school.”

I asked him if he had ever looked under the front porch of our home. Vitatoe recalled seeing tin cans and other rubbish. Somehow he missed the plaster bust of President William McKinley and the old Victrola that I retrieved after loosening bricks and wriggling through a crevice.

In the backyard, I dug up a copper figurine of a seal, which I still own today. I found old postage stamps under the built-in drawers in the dining room.

Hopefully, no one ever needed the spare metal key to the gas fireplace. I discovered that it was a perfect substitute for the missing plastic key to my Imposters toy car. I’m pretty sure I still have it in a box somewhere.

I remember the push-button lights, the old Frigidaire, the scary basement, the squirrels in the backyard, the red-haired girl next door.

My buddies and I used to explore the roofs of Highland Square buildings, including the school, where we found kickballs, flying discs and other toys.

It was a veritable paradise for children.

“It was a neat time growing up,” Vitatoe said. “Everything was innocent.”

That’s for sure.

Twenty years apart, we enjoyed similar experiences.

I have only one regret after talking with Vitatoe. I wish I had written my name in that closet, too.

Mark J. Price can be reached at mprice@thebeaconjournal.com.

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Highland Square memories hit close to home