PART 6: Lloyd Kellam Remembers
George & Tommy’s Shocking Car; Saved by Herbert Bull

January 5, 2014

(EDITOR’S NOTE:  The Cape Charles Historical Society has for more than a decade been recording oral histories of the area’s earlier days.  In 2002, as one in a series of lectures sponsored by the Cape Charles Library entitled “The Way We Were,” Cape Charles native Lloyd Kellam shared the following account.  In 2012, funded by a grant by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, the recording, along with 14 others, was transcribed. The Historical Society has now made it available for readers of the Wave.  All the transcriptions are also available for reading at the Museum.  

I left out a lot of things that I’ve forgotten. One is that some of the people that I know that have passed through here. The one that comes to my mind, I wrote it down tonight, was I can remember coming out of Daddy’s store when it was next to Wilson’s and walking down toward the bank and lo and behold this big convertible pulled up. I can’t remember what kind it was. A guy got out and opened up the door on the other side and a little guy got out in a uniform, about that tall, and it was the Philip Morris man. Do you remember who that was? He spent the night at McCarthy’s Hotel.

I think back about what went on. George and Tommy had an automobile, I don’t remember what it was, it must have been about ’20. ’23 Ford Town Car. But they had it hooked up, no not “hooked up,” they had it wired up! So that if you walked up to it and put your hand on it, it would shock you! The only way you could get in it, would be to jump up on the running board and you could hold on to it because then you weren’t grounded. But they would fool you sometimes. They would tell you it wasn’t on and then all of a sudden they would flip that switch. They had another little boy around town named Kelly; he lived out on Hollywood Farm. He did the same thing to his car and I can remember it. He’d call me over, “Lloyd, come over. Get me a Coke.” And I’d go get him a Coke and hand it in the thing and when I handed it in, it would set that thing off!

Talking about characters, I had numerous lives. I’ve different friends for different things. I used to get on my bicycle sometimes, but most of the time would walk out to Amos’ house, which is about a mile and half or so, just to play ping-pong. We’d play ping-pong all day long. All of a sudden it comes to me that Amos made a cake out there one time. What did you put in that cake that was wrong? He said he put in pancake mix!

[Amos:] He said it was good! Wanted to know what the recipe was. They put that in the Northampton Times! [Read more…]

Raymond Salopek, 72, Bay Creek Resident

January 4, 2014

Raymond Salopek, 72, husband of Sandra Salopek and a Bay Creek resident of Cape Charles, passed away Thursday, January 2, at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital.

A private memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be sent to the American Cancer Society, PO Box 163, Salisbury, MD 21803-0163.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by two daughters, Noelle Lawrence and her husband, Peter, also of Bay Creek, and Nadine M. Malpase and her husband, Stuart, of Charlotte, NC; and a granddaughter, Margaret Ann Malpass of Richmond. [Read more…]