Remembering Luci

As I sat there alone in the Hospital, staring at the WBNS-TV Transmitter Tower, I could not help but think about my childhood star, Luci.

There was a time when the local television stations had time to fill with local shows; the networks -- CBS in this case -- had little to do with the schedule.  Mom turned on the television shortly before 8 AM.  It was a large wooden box with a dim cathode ray tube that was barely capable of black and white.  It took a few minutes for the tubes to warm up and the picture to start squinting on the screen.  It was time for Captain Kangaroo.  It was also time to pull out my toys and begin building today's empire.  I had wooden blocks that came from Lazarus, from which I learned some basics about Geometry, pre-LEGO bricks with building plans, a pre-Thomas the Tank plastic train with track, and Tinkertoys.  This was all I needed to build the various structures of my railroad empire.

For the rest of the morning, somewhere between the morning television and my empire, I passed the hours.  I also learned.  I still have that jingle from the good Captain run through my head from time to time, "All good doggies say thank you too, just like all good people do."

But mostly I wondered what happened to Luci.

I yearned for those days, when at 9 o'clock, Luci's Toyshop came on.  Luci's world was simple, a talking tree who seemed to sleep through most of the show, Pierre Poodle, Stanley Mouse, the Dragon, George Giraffe, the Walrus, Chan 10 - the Chinese Guy, Wonder Witch, Lamb, and Gumby.

Pierre Poodle went through the list of birthdays, Stanley Mouse was a sidekick, the Walrus helped recite the Pledge of Allegiance, the Dragon, though amiable, grew to enormous size when mad, you get the idea. Everyone had a job, everything was predictable.  Some crisis happened, puppets reacted, situation resolved, we all learned something.  Perhaps the most iconic for me was Lamb, who taught the ABC's to everyone in central Ohio.

I was all set to go to Luci's Toyshop on the morning of June 3, 1965. You see, Luci had a live audience, and I, I would be there!  We were in the television studio and ready for the show to begin when CBS interrupted to broadcast the first U.S. Spacewalk.  We would have to return another day...

That day came and went.  Then in August, we were invited to return.  At the time, I could not believe that someone would walk in space the very day I was supposed to see Luci's Toyshop.  I got over it, but when we saw the show in August, it just didn't seem as important.  By September, I was in school, and before long, I didn't think about Luci much anymore.

Now, in the middle of the night in Doctor's North Hospital in January 2001, I desperately wanted to know what happened to Luci.  I wanted my world to be good and right.  Luci made it a safe place.  No one ever got hurt or sick in Luci's Toyshop.  Luci was now nothing more than a fading echo and I felt very alone in the world.

On September 21, 2003, Lucile Ethel Gasaway Van Leeuwen passed away.  God Bless You, Luci.