CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Every year, current and former residents of one Charleston neighborhood meet to share photos, reunite with friends and reminisce about their former haunts.

This Saturday, about 100 neighbors and childhood friends are expected to attend the 17th annual Garrison Avenue Reunion at the nearby baseball field on Bigley Avenue.

"People take their vacations to come to this thing," said reunion organizer Norma Levy, who grew up on Garrison Avenue. "People come from Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Virginia, from all over."

"You never know who is going to be there, and that keeps things interesting."

Levy, 78, helped found the reunion in 1993. Over the past two decades, she has collected about 20 scrapbooks full of photos, maps and newspapers clippings from the area.

"When I started all this, my mom was 93, and at that age all you can do is reminisce," Levy said. "She wondered what happened to all her neighbors, and that started me on my search."

Her search sparked interest among her old neighborhood friends to host a reunion.

The neighborhood around Garrison Avenue, formerly known as Magazine Avenue, dates back to about 1811. It became a small thriving community in the 1920s and 1930s, and was home to about 100 families, many living in homes built by their parents and grandparents.

 "The area was considered a poorer part of the city, but it was great area to grow up in. Everyone was close-knit and we always had something to do," said William Ashworth, who grew up on Garrison Avenue in the 1930s and married his childhood sweetheart, a next-door neighbor.

Most of the children and families in the area went through school together, attended the same churches and frequented the same small grocery stores, he said.

"At the time there was no television, no computers, no money and people were more open to one another," said Carol Wolfe, 79. "They'd mingle, visit and talk to one another." 

The area also was known for its pranks -- especially involving boys from North Charleston who were dating girls from the neighborhood, Wolfe said.

One favorite prank was to put hunting dogs in a visitor's car.

"They had no trouble getting in the holler. Getting out was something else," Wolfe said. "You made your own entertainment. It was rowdy at times, but it was entertaining."

The neighborhood has also had its share of heartache. In 1961, 22 people were killed in a flood that badly damaged the area.

In recent years, the number of homes along Garrison Avenue has dwindled, as the government buys up property that sits on the floodplain, Wolfe said.

But it has also seen a resurgence, with the development of homes and neighborhoods along nearby Edgewood Drive, he said.

"When I was growing up if you would have told me there would be doctors and lawyers living up the holler I wouldn't have believed you, but we now have a pretty good representation," Wolfe said.

The group of neighborhood friends also meets for breakfast the third Saturday of every month at Harding's Family Restaurant in Mink Shoals.

Mary Estep now cares for the 20 scrapbooks full of memorabilia from Garrison Avenue, which she will have on display at the reunion this weekend.

"I had so many relatives that lived in that area, plus my high school friends," Estep said. "We're all still striving to keep it all together and stay in touch."

The reunion has attracted more than 200 people in past years, but the numbers have declined as the group ages, Estep said.

At least 25 former residents have passed away since last year's reunion, Levy said.

"There is a common bond and we love each other," Levy said. "It almost kills you to lose these friends because we've bonded over the years through the church and the neighborhood activities."

For information about the Garrison Avenue Reunion, call Norma Levy at 304-342-1095.

Reach Veronica Nett at veroni...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5113.