by Ron Johnston
Up and down Lib went, like she was on a trampoline, screaming at the top of her four-year-old lungs.
“Honey, settle down,” mom said, “you’ll hurt yourself.”
Nearby and also getting into the act was Auntie Bud with an unlit cigarette drooping at the side of her mouth, playing air guitar with a broom.
Pictured before everyone on a small black and white TV set with the volume up full blast were four young lads, The Beatles. But you really couldn’t hear the English rock band, because the noise level was off the chart, not only in Studio 50 (Ed Sullivan Theater) in NYC but at 89 Hillendale Street in Rochester.
The date was February 9, 1964, and The Beatles had arrived in the USA for a “rilly big shoo!” as Sullivan often said of his broadcasts.
But the thing is, the Fab 4 were not the only entertainment on display that evening, at least not at 89 Hillendale Street.
Lib’s parents were laughing hysterically at the living room scene before them.
“Uh-oh, I think I just had an accident,” mom said, laughing. And, all that embarrassing statement did was incite more laughter.
Pop, who had been standing, immediately plopped down on the sofa. All the laughing had brought tears to his eyes.
“Bud,” he said, “Play some more.”
Bud turned and blew him a kiss as did Lib.
Meanwhile, Grandma Kit was a little perplexed. But she really didn’t have a good view of the TV set from the kitchen doorway anyway.
“Are The Bugs on yet?” Kit asked.
On that, the laughter scale increased another level with mom exiting the living room in a flash.
Alice Alexander had a unique nickname for a lady. Just about everybody who knew her addressed her as “Bud.” And, as Kit’s younger sister, all the nephews and nieces called her “Auntie Bud.”
Everyone thought Bud was the funniest woman alive. Bud wasn’t a standup comic who told jokes or anything like that. But she had the most hilarious, cross-eyed facial expressions you’d ever want to see. She could have everyone rolling on the floor with laughter.
She also had a lot of energy, was a good sport about everything, and was adventurous.
One time, Auntie Bud took some nephews and nieces on a drive on a lonely, rural road near Riga Center just before sunset. All of a sudden, she blurted out, “Let’s chase the sun.”
As she accelerated the vehicle (not too fast, though), everyone smiled, giggled, and responded, “Yes! Yes! Faster!”
But after about a quarter of a mile, she slowed down to a crawl. There was no other traffic on the road.
“Faster!” the kids said. “The sun’s over there!”
With a maniacal grin on her face, Auntie Bud said, “OK, here we go!”
So, again she floored it (but again not really that fast) and off she sped down the road after the sun.
Don’t know too much about Bud’s early years, except that she was from a large family and was raised on a farm in Riga Center.
Her ancestry was Scottish, and she was very proud of it.
On October 17, 1921, “Bud” was the maid of honor at her sister Gert’s wedding at the Alexander home at 7034 Chili Riga Center Road, two miles south of Churchville. Beautiful as ever, she wore a gown of “tomato-colored canton crepe embroidered in blue and silver.”
Bud herself never married, but as a young woman, she traveled west on a train to San Francisco, California.
Apparently, there was a man in her life, but it never became serious for whatever reason.
About 1941, Bud’s brother-in-law, John, and sister Kit’s husband passed away after a work accident. At the time, John and Kit had three grown children, and resided at 89 Hillendale Street, which was within walking distance of the airport in Rochester.
Kit of course was heartbroken by her husband’s death. But Bud’s presence proved to be very comforting.
The two sisters would live in the same house at Hillendale for the next 40-some years. They were quite a pair.
Bud became Kit’s chauffer and drove her everywhere, with Riga Center being one of their favorite destinations, especially during holidays.
Over the years, the family looked forward to the summer Alexander-Gray reunion at the main pavilion at Churchville Park. There, Bud, Kit, and others would provide endless entertainment. And, the food of course was plentiful and delicious.
Bud was also pretty close to being a chain smoker. She loved her cigs, and would actually get frustrated when her nieces hid them on her in fun.
During early February 1971, the two sisters – Bud and Kit – were still residing at Hillendale when neighbors witnessed the twosome, arm in arm, do a classic “Scottish jig” in the cold on the porch just outside of the front door. It was hilarious.
A few years later, Auntie Bud ended up living in South Windsor, Connecticut.
And, yes, even in her later years, she was still the life of the party… and could make everyone laugh.
Sadly, Auntie Bud passed away in the late 1970s.
Provided photos
Note: Ron Johnston, a 1966 Churchville-Chili graduate, is the author of One-Game Wonder.
