In 2020, while living in Jefferson City, I opened a little digital time capsule: a Facebook group called Growing Up in Ferguson, Missouri. It was just a place to remember the good stuff—and it took off.
Why it clicked
Shared memory is a powerful glue. Sledding and skating at Wabash Park. Halloweens with homemade popcorn balls (not fun-size Twix). Movies at the Savoy. Seymour Shoes with the fluoroscope machine. Pick-up baseball games in the elementary school lot. Candy stores on the corner. Mailmen who came in for coffee and a chat. Gas wars. Frozen custard. McDonald’s hamburgers for 15¢. Nostalgia galore.
The group grew to about 4,000 members before I handed it off to someone who wanted to keep it going. It’s still alive today, which tells me we tapped into something real—a hometown we still carry around with us.
Trampoline tales & Camp Comet
We were the only family in our neighborhood with a trampoline, which made our backyard the place to be. Kids lined up for turns, and I got good enough to give trampoline demonstrations at Camp Comet—a summer spot many Ferguson folks will remember.
On hot summer nights, we held special sleepovers and slept out on the trampoline under the stars. It made a surprisingly comfortable “bed”… until the night someone bounced a little too high and went right through it. End of sleepover.
Mom, the substitute teacher
Some of you might remember my mom—she was a substitute teacher at our elementary school. Whenever she filled in for my class, the first thing she’d do was point me out and tell everyone: “One wrong move from him and you all suffer—so behave!” Mortifying… and effective.
Add your memory: Camp Comet stories? Trampoline photos? Your corner candy store or sledding hill? Drop them below—we’re building a living scrapbook.