Growing up near the Stockyards

Born in 1918 in Elyria, Joe Sadar had fond memories of his childhood. “I can’t believe any youngsters, no matter where they grew up, had a better neighborhood than the stockyard area. We were always in the stockyards playing around. We used to go there, jump in, milk the cows and take it home. The ranchers would all bring their cattle in and we’d ask if they had any cows around. They’d let us go in and milk them and take it home. We’d carry a bucket with us.

Then we’d play “gate tag.” There was an alley and pens on both sides. We’d play tag, get on that gate and swing to the other side. You’d do that when there wasn’t any cattle. Yeah, they used to hire cowboys to move the cattle around. When they would run sheep up to the killing floor, they would have a goat lead them. Sheep are funny. If there was a puddle of water, they wouldn’t cross it. They had a goat lead the sheep up onto the floor. They’d follow that goat right up into the packinghouse. That old goat would eat cigarette butts and everything. That was a great place to have fun.”

Rudy Okoren was born in 1924 and was old enough to experience long Masses at Holy Rosary Church. “The Mass was in Latin, and there was a sermon in English and then one in Slovenian. We got in the habit of slipping out during the second sermon to play in the stockyards. Of course, our folks knew something was up because we’d come home all dirty. So later, we’d just duck out and sneak a smoke.”

Two generations later, another kid discovered the excitement in the stockyards. Born in 1954, Ken “Boogie” Mondragon grew up in public housing at Stapleton Homes. “We used to go to the stockyard area and once in awhile, they’d have pigs in there. We’d go in there and ride the pigs and get all dirty. We didn’t hurt the pigs and they knew we were doing it. Then we’d wash up in the Platte River and go home. We had to find our own fun.”

Today’s youngsters can take advantage of a symposium, gardening, cooking classes, or virtual learning experiences at the CSU Spur development in the Stock Show Complex. Perhaps some of the new activities could include riding pigs, “gate tag” or milking cows.

Sadar’s home at 4789 Williams is still standing