When I was a kid, growing up in Broad Ripple was just the neatest! My memories are of fun times at the neat Village stores. I admit that those memories are getting a bit fuzzy, so I hope to hear from some of you to clear the fuzz.

Do any of you remember going to the Maplehurst Ice Cream store on the corner of Broad Ripple Avenue and Guilford, where Starbucks is now? It had sit-down counters with chrome stools. It was such a treat to go there with my mom and grandmother.

From there we would go over to Ed Schock's Toy and Hobby Store. They had marvelous dolls and model kits of cars and planes, which were the toys of the day. It seems every boy I knew put together models. I have one of my first Barbie dolls, still in the original box in mint condition with the price tag on it. I am hanging onto it as a retirement investment.

But the best place of all was G.C. Murphy, a dime store. It was on the corner of College and Broad Ripple Avenue, where The Scholar Inn Bakehouse is now. It had a main and lower level. The main floor had clothes (Easter dress ups), cosmetics and school supplies, among other things. Every kid went there with their teacher's list at the beginning of the school year. But the best part was the lower level! No one can forget the pet department. It was stocked with goldfish, small reptiles (turtles & chameleons) and kittens. One day they had a drawing for a free kitten and much to my delight (and my mother's horror) I won and brought home Mickey, a cat we had for many years.

At this time of year Murphy's always had baby chicks and ducks for Easter. They had the eggs under warm lights and you could watch them hatch. They would dye them pastel colors of blue, pink and green. They were so cute!

With what we know now, we would never do that today. Kids got the ducks, which grew up, and no one knew what to do with them - so they gave them a home. All those beautiful (and overwhelming) white ducks that once took over the canal, had their beginnings from their ancestors that were hatched in the pet department at Murphy's for Easter.