As a Goshen College student, one of my favourite haunts was the soda shop a few blocks away. And when I had enough spending money, I ordered the house specialty—a sundae in a tall glass loaded with toppings and crowned by a cherry.
Although my home was 700 miles away from Goshen, I had heard about the popular soda shop and the house specialty before I ever arrived in Indiana.
So, I immediately told my new friends about the soda shop and we walked the six blocks to order the special sundae.
Another highlight of my college days was solitary walks along the “old mill stream” early in the morning, identifying birds and meditating about the day ahead.
Even now, I would stand if I heard my alma mater: “There’s a spot in Indiana, where the leafy Maple grows/It’s the dear and glorious parkside, where the Elkhart River flows/’Tis a spot we love most dearly, ’Tis a spot we’ll cherish long/After youth and strength have faded, and this world has heard our song. . . .”
But unfortunately, I haven’t been back to Goshen for many years—even missing my 50th class reunion.
So I was delighted last week when my daughter, who is a professional photographer, had a job in Elkhart County that included a shoot at Goshen College.
The day of the shoot, she called home and said she was looking for a place to have dinner. So I came to the rescue and looked for restaurants online.
Imagine my surprise when I found out the little soda shop that had begun in the 1940s was re-opened as the South Side Soda Shop and Diner in 1986, and has become a world-class restaurant.
It is still in the building I remember with high tin ceilings, but attached to the wood building is a genuine 1950s-era stainless-steel diner.
South Side Soda Shop and Diner has amassed many honours. Its chili has been voted Michiana’s best chili seven times; its lemon meringue pie won the Indiana Pie Quest Contest; and the restaurant has been featured in Gourmet Magazine, as well as on Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.”
As you would expect, there was a line on Friday evening. While she waited, my daughter met several people who had Goshen College ties. Like me, they had sentimental feelings about the soda shop and came back often to relive their college memories.
In my search for Goshen restaurants, I happened onto the Goshen entry in the Wikipedia encyclopedia. Imagine my surprise when the encyclopedia named seven “Famous Residents” of the city and one of them was my good friend and college roommate, Helen Good Brenneman.
The entry described Helen (1925-1994) as a longtime Goshen resident who wrote popular books, such as “Meditations for the New Mother.”
What a trip down memory lane!
Having my daughter visit my favourite haunts—the ivy-covered campus, the mill race walking path, the soda shop—gave me a sense of continuity.
Life goes on, it doesn’t stay stagnant. But once your story has joined with the story of a place or a group of people, you are always a part of that story and it is always a part of you.
What places and stories have you been part of?
Marie Snider is an award-winning health care writer and syndicated columnist. Write her at thisside60@aol.com or visit www.visit-snider.com
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