A Few Memories - Wayne F. Trickett
This page is made to pass down some personal memories as a short autobiography and as a way to avoid this quote:
"Too often memories die with their owners and too often time surprises us by running out." (William Zinsser)
Some of the earliest memories I have are of living in Brentwood Village apartments in Wash. D.C. Bits of memory, not in any specific order are... sitting on the edge of the bed with Dad (Edison), he being in traction after having a broken neck and he and I watching a tiny television screen of a baseball game and me rubbing his arm... a very nice older lady named Mrs. Weiner who lived at ground level and she would open her window while I was outside and talk to me and give me treats or candy out of the opened window... a poster in the neighborhood of the Ringling Brothers Circus coming to town... a red tricycle with a wagon attached... walking to a close by playground with a merry-go-round and swings... and a nearby drug store with rack upon rack of candies...
I spent my first six years living in Washington D.C., with parents Edison and Joyce TRICKETT. I attended kindergarten and first grade in S.E. Washington D.C. at a school named Stanton Elementary during this time. In 1955 the family moved from Washington D.C. to the rural area outside of District Heights Md. I remember the last drive from Wash. D.C. to the Maryland countryside and riding in a car in a "rumble seat" belonging to my uncle "Snookie", Ronald Lynn LEEBRICK. Along with Edison, Joyce and myself, this move included brother Ronald Lynn TRICKETT (Ron- born 1950) and two sisters, Joyce Marie TRICKETT (Sissy- born 1952) and Marlena Jane TRICKETT (Mar- born 1954). We were now a six-member family, living literally surrounded all four sides by the woods, at the memorable address of “7777” Walker Mill Rd. The house, along with it's artisian well and chicken coop was within a large property known then as "Plato's Property". Named for "old man Plato" who at the time owned what seemed to me half of the world, including vast acreage deep in the woods that was used as a 'Girl Scout' and 'Brownie' retreat with nature trails, two ponds and camp grounds. In fact, our house was just a few miles "down” the road from 6935 Walker Mill Rd., where my grandparents Frank Lee LEEBRICK Sr. and Clara Marie (DeLorme) LEEBRICK lived nearby to District Heights Maryland.
The countryside surrounding Walker Mill Rd. at that time was mostly farmland and woods, with the occasional residential houses showing up more numerous as you approached the town limits of District Heights. The town consisted then of one blinking yellow light at the intersection of County Rd. and Marlboro Pike. Along with the necessary hardware, grocery, bakery and drug stores lining both sides of the pike, there was also a gas station and a Fire House. Known as Marlboro Pike, its original name at least in the 1800’s, was “The Washington and Marlborough Turnpike”, which led to the town of Upper Marlboro, the county seat of Prince George’s County Md. Life, with the possible exception of going to school, at Lyndon Hill Elementary, in Capitol Heights Md., was a special time for me during the years 1955 to 1960.In those woods and fields I spent untold hours enjoying and learning about nature. Within the shady trails, deep inside of the woods, to every creek and pond, the plants and animals therein were mine to discover and enjoy. That time spent alone in nature, was some of the best times of my life. Those years were also shared with many animals, both wild and domestic, including the chickens and turkeys living on our property and the frequent visits of other animals such as Plato's ferral pigs from the surrounding farms, fields and woods.
Although besides my family, there were several children my age living along Walker Mill Rd. Those were wonderful times, spent with family and friends. Just after turning seven years old, upon entering the second grade in Maryland in 1955, I met a lifelong friend named Eddie Waid. We met on the school bus the first day of school, he entering the 3rd grade and I entering the 2nd. We spent our childhood as best friends in the rural countryside, as if living out the lives of 'Tom Sawyer' and 'Huck Finn' once again . I also met another lifelong friend named John Abney in the late 50's and we all spent many pleasureable times as best of friends. Then around 1959 grandparents Frank and Clara LEEBRICK reached retirement age. They desired to move further into the country to enjoy their retirement and made plans to buy a farm near Solomons Island in Cove Point Md. This created an opportunity for son-in-law Edison and daughter Joyce to buy Frank and Clara’s larger, much more modern house, closer to town "up" the road at 6935 Walker Mill Rd.
Thus by 1960 our family was living comfortably in nearby District Heights Md. Along with many new friends and many new places to explore, I had turned twelve years old that August and began 7th grade in September 1960 at Francis Scott Key Junior High School. Living so close to the school I walked to and from school for three years. In the 7th grade I took wood shop. In the 8th grade it was metal shop. Then in the 9th grade "shop" class was called "graphic arts", where I fell in love with and started to learn about the mysteries of the printing trade. Those three years also started the inevitable discovery of cars, clothes, music and girls. This resulted in a lessening somewhat of my study of nature, fields and woods. My sister Virginia Faye TRICKETT (Ginny) was born Feb. 10, 1961 when I was twelve years old.The area surrounding District Heights in 1960 was still quite rural but was quickly becoming suburban with new businesses and housing growing seemingly daily. This became, by 1964, the era of strip shopping centers, fast food chains and mega department stores instead of small business owners supplying the needs of people as the town grew. It also marked the end of the farm lands, fields, ponds and woods I had grown up in. In September of 1963 I entered Bladensburg Senior High School and by way of it’s vocational curriculum focused me with the desire to become a printer after graduation. Bladensburg Md. is one in the same as the Battle of Bladensburg in the War of 1812, when the defeat of the American forces there allowed the British to capture and burn the public buildings of Washington, D.C. High school years passed enjoyably for the most part for me. Good friends and girlfriends, roller skating and rock-n-roll fit the bill. Forming a garage band we had named “The Destinys” with good friend Damon Rawlings during those years was a joyful pastime and had a lasting appreciation of music as a reward, even now.
Upon graduating high school, in June of 1966, with handshakes and the slogan "see you at Saigon U", my vocational training paid off well. I started just two weeks after graduation, at seventeen years old, with a good job as an apprentice typographer in downtown Washington D.C. at Colortone Press. Colortone Press was among the few, at the time, progressive printing companies that had made the transition to a total photographic typography department. Along with full color offset printing and modern bindery finishing, Colortone produced high quality journals and periodicals of well respected associations of the time. It also had its own publishing division known as Acropolis Books where many popular hardbound books were printed and published. I had various duties, being an apprentice, such as making film corrections from galley proofs and assisting the proofreaders by reading out loud as they marked corrections to the galleys. It was my first real job in life and I enjoyed learning the basics from true professionals. 
