Submitted photo Pictured are Vernon, Christine, and David Hansvick, ready for some softball in front of the family garage on the edge of Vesta, circa 1963.  

We have been learning about Marshall’s David Hansvick, the second of three children of Dottie (Penske) Hansvick and John Hansvick. Dave grew up in the small town of Vesta where summers opened new realms of activities for Dave and his friends.

“In the summertime we were really busy. We always had our bikes. We would leave at 9 o’clock in the morning (Dave chuckled) and we’d be gone all day. You might check in, but you were just gone.”

Many of their summer activities were typical, childhood activities and adventures.

“We had swimming lessons. I don’t know who arranged this, but they’d take us to Redwood twice a week in the summer for morning swimming lessons at the Redwood pool. We also had stuff that we would do in the summer. We’d go swimming at the river. There were some deep spots. We would walk out on the railroad tracks to the railroad bridge about ¾ of a mile east of town. That was deep enough (under the bridge) so that you could go swimming in our underwear. We would take our bikes fishing down at the river. We caught a lot of carp and bullheads. Once and a while we’d even bike out and spend nights where we’d camp out, me, my brother, and another friend. It was a pretty laid-back time. I’m sure they’d check on us, but we didn’t know that. And, of course you built a lot of forts all over town.”

Some of their summer adventures were less typical.

“When we were younger, we’d always be going down to the river. When we saw that they were just starting to butcher cattle at the locker plant, we’d get on our bikes and ride as fast as we could down to the river. We’d notice and say, ‘They’re starting to butcher. Let’s go!’ We’d get to the culvert and be watching the water coming out of the culvert before it would turn red. That was because they just dumped (the blood) and it went right into the river. I remember us riding as fast as we could to get there beforehand to see that water turn red.”

Dave and his buddies used their bikes to engage in other, less savory, activities.

“We had our .22 rifles — we were pretty young to have them — we would go down to the bridge on the tar road going to Lucan, sit on the bridge, and shoot carp. That got us in trouble. We’d also go out with our .22’s to the (town) dump and shoot rats for entertainment.”

Saturday nights in Vesta during the summer were events in and of themselves.

“If you went downtown in Vesta on any Saturday night, there’d be people all over the place. There was Vernon Voss’s popcorn stand and every Saturday night he would make popcorn. You could smell the popcorn from 2 blocks away. Everyone was eating popcorn and hanging around (the) popcorn stand. That was just a popular thing. (Dave chuckled) I don’t think anyone had anything else to do. There were a lot more people around. They’d come into town and get groceries. I just remember that it was fun. Even with nothing special going on, there were always people downtown. You’d bike down there and that was like the summer.

Vesta summers also brought special, community activities that Dave and his friends frequented.

“In the summer we played softball. It was never baseball, always softball. You started out as a youth, playing fastpitch softball. So, we played a lot of softball. A big thing we did with friends was they always had a town fast-pitch team. I remember going and watching the Vesta team as a kid. You would have a couple hundred people there, watching softball. The concession stand was going and everything. You watched the town team play fast-pitch. You’d watch those guys play and, boy, it was like that was the thing. Eventually you became one of them.”

Vesta also hosted outdoor movie nights downtown.

“They did outdoor movies. Right behind the stores was the Community Hall parking lot. The lumber yard donated the block and the planks for the temporary summer bleachers. I remember walking down when it got toward dark. Vernon Voss, who ran the popcorn stand, also did the shows. He would (project) the show on a screen on a Saturday or maybe a Friday night for these outdoor movies. There was always a huge crowd there. I think people came in town for that. I talked with my brother and the first movie we both remember was ‘The Creature from the Black Lagoon.’ (Dave chuckled) I remember walking home was scary because it was pitch dark and you had a couple of blocks to walk home.”

The biggest summer event was a town fair on alternating summers.

“They had V-esta Days. That was a two-day celebration where they would have the carnival. That was always the big, big thing in the summer. It would be on Main Street and the Commercial Club would have their big stand with their famous chicken You’d go pick rock (for farmers) to get money to buy your tickets for rides and stuff. V-esta Days was every other year and the next year, you’d have the July 4th celebration.”

Vesta had a vibrant commercial district and a close and engaged community during Dave’s growing up years there in the 1950s and ’60’s.

©2026 William D. Palmer.