Shipley, now age 105, reflected on several memories, including when he was a jeweler in Rock Hall.
“When I was younger, not even 20, some friends and I took a couple trips out west. We found many interesting stones in the parks and mountains. I’d collect and polish many of them. I turned them into some of these jewelry pieces. For quite awhile, I belonged to a group in Rock Hall that did different kinds of art.“
“We brought all those stones back by auto. It was the early 1930’s and I had a Model A Ford. But we kept getting flat tires. We carried a couple extra spares, but we were always taking the flat tires off the car and having to patch them. One day there were just too many flats for us to continue.”
“For my 100th birthday, my son arranged for me to ride in an old motorcycle sidecar. When we got back to the party, I was driving the motorcycle. I also remember long ago, taking some of the girls for rides in those sidecars. They’d get such a thrill, especially when we took a sharp turn and lifted the sidecar off the road.”
Interviewed by Carol Niemand, transcribed and photographed by Jeff Weber
Editor Note: The Chestertown Spy and RiverArts have partnered in 2016 to share the art organization’s community arts project “Humans of Kent County,” designed to celebrate the wonderful, unique folks who live and work in Kent County. Citizens are invited to interview and photograph from young to old from all corners of the county and to submit a photograph and brief story to be part of the project. It will be posted on the Spy each week and each quarter the most interesting photos and stories will be enlarged and produced for an exhibition at the RiverArts gallery in Chestertown.
leslie moorhouse says
Hey! Uncle Ship!! I have a picture of that car and the friends you went with hanging in my bedroom! You and the Corsairs!! Moorhouse, Scattergood, Williams, and you………Gibbons-Neff couldn’t go! I’d love to come see you sometime! Dorothy sends her love!
Les Moorhouse
Anna Schnellbacher says
This is a wonderful tribute!