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What happened to John Hay?

After World War II, my grandfather worked at John Hay, which was then being operated as a United States Base. It was off limits to non-base employees for a long time. Luckily, John Hay was opened to the public at the time I was old enough to walk and I spent many wonderful years exploring all that John Hay had to offer.

For some reason, my grandparents would take me to the ice-cream parlor in Scout Hill when the rains were strong and it was very cold. We would eat base ice cream, which only came in four flavors – chocolate chip, cherry-vanilla, vanilla and chocolate. The ice cream was always rock hard and it would take me a long time to finish. On good weather days, my grandparents would take me to the bakery. My grandparents were fans of the loaf bread and pie. The peach pie looked like an empanada that had the non-crusty dough, which absorbed some of the sweet sauce from the peaches, cinnamon, sugar and other things on the filling. It was soooo good. If anyone knows how I can get this peach pie, I’ll give you a prize.

My mom taught me how to roller-skate in the skating rink in Scout Hill. My dad taught me how to play mini golf in course in Scout Hill. My sister and I would also bounce on the trampoline in Scout Hill. We would have picnics and play soccer and baseball with family and friends in Scout Hill. As teenagers, my friends and I would play bowling and pool in Mile High and eat the pizza.

I miss the old John Hay, which is so different from how it is now.