Bill, Gordon, & Joe,

On 202nd St. in Euclid in the '50s, Old Lady Raulflesch had the only buckeye tree in the neighborhood.

That old lady LOVED that tree. But every kid I knew collected buckeyes. She'd scream bloody murder if she saw a bunch of us shaking the tree, but we finally figured out when she took a nap, and we timed our visits.

Of course the buckeye wasn't any good for eating. And the nut was too light and small to do any damage when you threw it at the kids from 196th St.

But the smooth, shiny brown color was mesmerizing. I collected them for years.

In 1996, I took my wife & kids to Put-In-Bay & Cedar Point (hadn't been in 40 years), and found a buckeye tree somewhere in our travels.

Felt like I was 10 years old again.

Richard Dennis