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Written Memories By Joanne Mellender Hollis August 2005 (Ms. Hollis tells of growing up in the 1930s and 1940s in the Fairfax Station area.)

1. Home Front -I lived on the Haight dairy farm, now the Country Club of Fairfax (and in Arlington due to gas rationing) during most of World War II. My mother, Jennie Mellender, rolled bandages and knitted gloves and scarves for the Red Cross for soldiers. While living on the farm, German POWs, held in a prison camp on West Ox Road (near Costco) came out to work on the farm. This happened several places in Fairfax County. The POWs brought their own lunches and did a variety of farm chores. I worked at the Munitions Building downtown in communications until the Pentagon was built. Once built, my office was among the first to move to the Pentagon. I married Carl (Billy) Hollis, a Fairfax native in 1949. He had worked for the torpedo factory in Alexandria until being drafted into the army.

2. Shopping - Folks had gardens, raised chickens, but for groceries there was a small Safeway in the town of Fairfax on the south side of 236 across from where Havabite is now. For purchased clothing and things, we had to go to Alexandria to JC Penney's Murphy's, and Sears. Prices were much lower then but so were the salaries.

3. Medical Care - we had a family doctor who made house calls. The closest hospital was Arlington.

4. School Experiences - I attended Fairview Elementary in the thirties - it was a 2 or 3 room school. We had an old fashioned school bus driven by a man in the neighborhood. The bus below Fairfax Station was a cart and horse. The school was heated by a potbellied stove that burned wood. The older boys cut and brought in wood and had to build the fire early to warm the rooms. Bathrooms were outside. Emmett Day, the principal and 5/6th grade teacher made soup for the students - children brought food for the soup. My older two daughters also attended Fairview in the 1960's when a big celebration was always held for May Day with a May Pole and dancing.

5. Lived in Fairfax since 1932, first on Popes Head Road and in the midthirties moved to the Haight farm on 123. We raised corn, beans, dairy; there was a sawmill for awhile. 1949 married Billy Hollis and moved across 123 to one acre with a home my husband and I built. It is gone now due to the widening of 123 in the eighties, but larger homes have been built in its place. The acre of land cost $1000.00 and we built the home for $2000.00. Our families helped us build the house. It was next to my parents' (Jennie and Clayton Mellender) home and one house north of my brother's (John Mellender) home. In the 1960's Red Mallam also built a home on 123 just north of Joe Starry's garage. I have lived in what is now the Braddock district since 1932.

6. Communication - most of my family lived in Fairfax County, but we had cousins in Indiana. We communicated mainly by mail with them. In the county, folks had phones but most were party lines.

7. Depression - We left the family farm in Indiana and came to Fairfax for a job on a dairy farm here in 1932.

8. Organizations - my mother, Jennie Mellender, belonged to the Home Demonstration Club, organized by the County Extension Agent who also ran 4-H. We were also members of the ladies Auxiliary of the Fairfax Volunteer Fire Department. Long time member of Jerusalem Baptist Church.

9. Area descriptions - Braddock Road was a two lane dirt road for many years. Route 123 was also a 2 lane road and was not named Ox Road until later years. Route 123 went through the community of Fairfax Station until the bridge collapsed when a troop convoy was too heavy for it during World War II. Popes Head and Zion were also gravel and narrow. Burke Centre Parkway did not exist until recently, and Burke was just a small community with a country store and post office. And of course the building of the Beltway was a big event. When completed, many folks took a drive around it.