My Father's Life in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

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When my father was a young boy ( 14 years old), the Vance family moved from Turner, Michigan to some vacant property in Florida. Grandpa built them a house to live in on one lot. This was mostly an uninhabited area, the region best known as Fort Lauderdale. My grandpa was a private contractor. He had to relocate his family, to wherever the construction work was available. In 1928, he accepted a major job offer, building a big home near the Atlantic shoreline for E. F. Hutton. This project supported grandpa and his family for about two years. The first summer they lived in Florida, my dad got a job delivering newspapers. This gave him a little spending money, to buy a few things that he wanted. Yes, my father did own a bicycle, which was pretty handy. There was a problem, while Russel was peddling past a certain man's house. A dog would come out each afternoon chasing my dad down the street, frightening the heck out of him! So, Russ came prepared with a nice sized rock inside his newspaper bag. When the dog chased after him, my father winged the dog in the side of the head! She high-tailed it for home The next afternoon, the dog's owner met Russel at the front gate, for a little chat. He explained to my dad, 'All my dog wants is for you to give her the newspaper!' Then, the man graciously invited my dad into his home, to meet her litter of puppies:) After that day, Russel became best of friends, with this gruff acting dog by handing her the man's rolled up newspaper Photo: Mine