My Home Town

It was the last Wednesday in February and that meant the annual gathering of people who graduated Java High School, or once attended Java High School, or married someone who went to Java High School, or lived in Java, or taught in Java, or knew someone from Java, or played sports against someone from Java...you get the idea. I think we have been having this gathering since 2016, maybe longer on a lesser organized scale.

The Java Reunion takes place at San Tan Flat and is attended by folks from South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado, Wyoming, Washington, California and other states who plan a winter get-away to sunny AZ at the time of the gathering. Some of us are fortunate enough to call AZ our winter home.

Some of the same people attend each year, usually the ones who are wintering in AZ, but each year others who happen to be in AZ at the time drop by for an evening of visiting. The oldest attendees are in their 90s and the youngest are children of younger classmates.

Fifty-one folks registered this year, but I am quite certain there were 60 or more folks at San Tan Flat who were there because it was the Java Reunion.

So what brings people with a Java connection together each year? Probably several things, but the main one is the organizer, Steve B. Steve knows EVERYBODY or if not everybody, he knows someone who knows someone. I was delighted to learn of some of the people who would be attending the gathering this year for the first time; people I had not seen in years, and in one case more than 50 years. Some people I immediately recognize as they really have not changed, and others...I'm really glad we have the name tags.

The latest census has Java's population at 129. I'm thinking it was close to 500 when we moved there in 1956. The community supported 3 grocery stores at that time.

When I moved from Java in 1970, the white building was the only remaining grocery store, Java Red Owl.

*****Disclaimer: none of the photos in this post are my photos. I have very similar photos, but all of the posted photos came from someone else...someone who has a connection to Java.*****

Java was founded in 1900 when the railroad was moving west across the state. Java got its name from the railroad folks who would stop there for a cup of coffee, before the tracks were moved a half-mile north of the town.

This is a view of the west side of Main Street Java from 2014. Left to right is the Post Office, the Municipal Liquor store, Marian-Biel Insurance, the now closed grocery story, a former cafe (Job's Cafe), the hint of pink is a sometimes functioning cafe, and last is one of several elevator owned buildings.

When I was growing up, the wide Main Street had cars parked on both sides of the street on Wednesday and Saturday nights, and sometimes, cars were parked in the middle of the street.

Hubby and I met for the first time in this cafe in August 1969

Schlepp's Cafe was the local hangout 

I don't believe the cafe is currently open for business

formerly known as Java Equity 

farmers could purchase their fuel, get tires fixed, sell their grain

still operating, but under another entity

we could buy a gallon of gas for $0.25 in high school, 

we'd pool our money and drive the streets all night

formerly known as Hick's Exchange

it was a bank, a place to pay bills

now an insurance business

the municipal liquor store

today it is the hub of the village

providing food as well as drink and a place to gather

on the east side of Main Street, the Community Center

before that it was the American Legion Hall

where both of my parents spent much of their time and energy

St. Paul's Lutheran Church

The town had a Catholic, a German Congregational, a Presbyterian and a German Lutheran church in 1913. I remember a Seventh Day Adventist church building on south Main Street as a kid. The Presbyterian church was operating when we moved to town, but closed in the late 1950s. 

the former United Church of Christ (Congregational)

before that a country Lutheran church (I think)

after UCC, an antique shop

now empty and in major need of care

I was confirmed in this church

we were married in this lovely little church

Then there are the structures that are no longer there, the places that bring back some fond memories of the 50s and 60s, the places that many small towns had during that time...

a pay phone booth

ladies restroom

As kids, we'd play games on Saturday night. The girls' bathroom was a place to hide from the boys or girls. There wasn't a men's restroom building, but there were more hangouts geared toward the male population, the bar,  the pool hall and the service station. Once the women bought their groceries and visited in the cafes, they sat in their cars and visited. I guess the public Ladies Restroom was built to meet their needs. It wasn't anything fancy, but did have a flush toilet and a sink with running water.

water fountain

Once our weekly allowance was spent on a Saturday night, the water fountain was a necessity. It also provided a base for our games of tag, and a reference point for meeting with friends.

the brick schoolhouse was constructed in 1921

it has had some updates over the years

but is now in a state of major disrepair and is facing demolition

the Class of '68 at the 2019 gathering

*****Disclaimer: none of the photos in this post are my photos. I have very similar photos, but all of the posted photos came from someone else...someone who has a connection to Java.*****