LYNX, PATRIOTS BATTLE IT OUT SPORTS, B1
Gallup Sun VOL 10 | ISSUE 494
www.gallupsun.com
September 13, 2024
Remembering the ‘Old days’ BONAGUIDI, SCHAFF REFLECT ON GROWING UP IN GALLUP By Molly Ann Howell Managing Editor
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eighborhood kids gathering together for a game of backyard baseball. Or shooting hoops at a friend’s house. These are some of Mayor Louie Bonaguidi’s favorite memories of growing up in Gallup during the ‘60s and ‘70s.
The Schaaf family takes a group photo during Easter 1967. From left, Sarah Schaaf, Hendrika Schaaf, Freda Schaaf, John Schaaf, and Michael Schaaf with their dog Penny. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Michael Schaaf
Freda Schaaf, John Schaaf, Bert Phillips, Barbra Phillips, and Mark Schaaf pose for a photo in front of John’s New Mexico State Police patrol car in 1967. The Phillipses were visiting from England. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Michael Schaaf
THE BONAGUIDIS MOVE TO GALLUP The Bonaguidi family chose Gallup as their home in 1924 after Louie’s father Sesto and his brother Mario decided to expand their shoe repair business. They already had a store in Albuquerque, but they’d both heard great things about the mining town of Gallup and decided to give it a try. The two men traveled back and forth between Gallup and Albuquerque for a while before Mario fell in love with an Albuquerque schoolteacher and decided to stay in the big city full time. Sesto chose to make Gallup his family’s home.
Benjamin Diswell leads the Gallup High School Marching Band down Aztec Avenue during the 1975 homecoming parade. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Michael Schaaf
That was in 1924, and City Electric Shoe Shop officially celebrated its 100th anniversary this year. Although Louie said they aren’t planning the big celebration until next year. While his father was running the shoe repair store, Louie was busy growing up. He attended Cathedral School for most of his education, but then transferred to Gallup High School his sophomore year before graduating in 1963. He remembers his childhood growing up in Gallup fondly. “Growing up, the neighborhoods were great,” he said. “There was like 30-40 kids in [the neighborhood I grew up in]. Playing hide-and-seek with about 15 to 20 people is quite fun.” As a teenager, the Zuni Drive-In was a popular place to meet up with friends and hang out. Or a group of them would go visit the local pool. “Summers were always great,” Louie said. “Winters were kind of hard because the snow always seemed terrible. We’d get snow all the way from Thanksgiving until May.” Louie said the closeness of the small town had its pros and cons during his childhood. He knew almost everyone in town, but that also meant everyone knew him. “It was hard to stay out of trouble because everybody knew each other,” Louie said. “If you got in trouble you’d be in trouble with the whole community.” For example, when Louie and his friends first got their drivers’ licenses, they once stayed out until 3 am driving around town.
While Louie was in grade school, his father hired the first Diné-speaking employee at City Electric Shoe Shop. Back then, many Navajo people didn’t speak English, so it was difficult to find someone who spoke both languages fluently. Sesto spoke a little bit of the language, and when he was younger Louie knew enough so that he could tell people how much something cost. But he said he’s lost most of the language now.
See THE 'OLD DAYS', Page A3
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