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A Baby Boomer's Scrapbook |
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At
this point I should probably apologize to my daughter, Kylene. From
the time she started high school, I have been doing my best to convince Kylene
that, for her own good, she should spend a lot more time on academic pursuits
that would help to give her a better future and a lot less time thinking about
her social life and about boys. I'm
afraid that those sincere admonishments are pure hypocrisy on my part. As
far as my own high school academic pursuits were concerned, I took the easiest
courses that would let me graduate (like art and shop, no algebra or foreign
languages, etc.) and only did the minimum amount of school and homework that I
needed to do to get by. The pursuit of happiness was my number one priority and
that meant being with friends and girls, being friends with girls, going to
parties and ball games to meet girls, to dances and cruising for girls, to
movies and makin' out, makin' out at the movies, girls and parking and parking
with girls. Fortunately
or unfortunately, considering my mental, hormonal and emotional state as a
teenage boy, much of what I remember from high school had to do with girls and
sex (Well actually, although there were a few feeble attempts, while in high
school there was no sex, as much groping and fondling as I could get away with,
but no sex). As you might guess, my
apology has to do with the fact that most of the memories I have recorded are
about that bias. I'm sorry about that but that is the way my brain was wired.
Right or wrong, those were the memories that stuck and it can't be helped. In my defense, I must say that I don’t think my preference for
girls was entirely unwarranted. I always thought (and still do) that girls
looked good, they felt good (when they would let me feel), they smelled good,
they tasted good and, for the most part, seemed to be a lot smarter than the
guys I hung around with (sorry, guys). I
had to grow up with five brothers. Why wouldn't I rather be with girls? Anyway,
I do apologize and I hope you won't think too badly of me for appearing to be
the male chauvinist that either culture or genetics or stupidity make me out to
be. In order to help keep things straight in my head, I went through
the '64 yearbook and put all of the kid's names down in alphabetical order. I've
listed the every one by name and graduation year. I’ve made As I said before, it’ll probably take me forever to get
through the whole class so here are my memories of the kids whose last names
started with an A through those whose names started with a …. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diana
Ahearn [65]: Vivian
Alexander [65]: Nancy
Amley ( Floyd
Andrick [65]: Alice
Arndt [66]: Eugene
Arndt [65]: Margaret
Arnold [65]: Ken
Augustine [65]: Bruce
Bacon [65]: Dave
Bacon [64]: Melody
Bacon (Briggs) [66]: Judy
Baibos [65]: Bill
Bailey [66]: Bob Bailey [65]: I don't know why I thought so because I can't
recall a single joke or funny ad lib from him but my impressions of Bob Bailey
are as one of the funniest guys I knew in high school. I'd like to see him again
some day to find out why I think that. I hope he hasn't changed much. I'm pretty
sure we went out drinkin' together at least a few times. Ruth Bailey [64]: As I've noted before, I grew up with Ruth
Bailey from the 4th grade on and, although I sometimes wished that I could be
her boyfriend, she seldom seemed to return my interest in her whenever we would
talk or I might try to flirt. I have a few specific memories of Ruth from
Meridian High. Like us Bishop's, the Bailey's were a big
family of 8 kids and Ruth was the oldest of six girls and two boys. I was the
oldest of 7. We had six boys and one girl. Her full name was Ruth Marie Bailey
and she had the same initials as me, Raymond Max Bishop (RMB). None of this
means a thing but I always thought it gave us a lot of I belonged to the 4H club and took several
classes like woodworking and electricity, the usual boy stuff. Just for the heck
of it, I decided to sign up for the 4H cooking class. Ruth's taking the class at
the same time may have something to do with my decision to do a traditionally
girl's thing but I don't remember. I probably just wanted to hang out with a
bunch of girls instead of a bunch of boys. That's all I remember about that. We
just had a cooking class together. Oh, and I made sugar cookies for the final
project. Another thing I remember about Ruth is, on one
very cold day, I sat with her on the bus to Another memory of Ruth had to do with blue
jeans as well. On a summer evening,
I think between grades 11 and 12, my friend Mike Kauppi invited Ruth and me over
to his parent's house for dinner. We were standing in the kitchen doing dishes
or making ice cream or something when she looked down at her legs and said
something like "What da ya think?".
I didn't understand what she meant and must have looked puzzled because
she then pointed at her waist and said "My pants, what do you think?".
Still looking obviously clueless about what she meant, she finally grabbed the
waistband at the right hip of her low cut jeans, pulled it down until I could
see her panties and said (as if I was deaf), "HIPHUGGERS, do you like my
new HIPHUGGERS?". I'm sure I must have finally expressed some appreciation
of her fashionable new pants at that point but the event probably sticks in my
head mostly because pulling her pants down a little was kind of a sexy thing to
do. Near the end of our senior year, although they
had been going together for a while, I was shocked when Ruth told me that she
and Tom Boman planned to get married soon after graduation. On one of the last bus rides home from
school, I sat near Ruth and asked her why in the hell she wanted to get married
to Tom after such a short time together and so soon after we got out into the
"real" world. When she said "Well, I'm not married yet, do you
want to make me a better offer?". I don't know if I was able to answer her
question because I sure wasn't ready to get married and was dumbfounded that she
even asked. I can only assume that she was really just kidding and am glad to
know now that Tom and Ruth have been happily married for many years. Peggy Bailey [67]: As Ruth's sister, I had known Peggy Bailey for
a long time. Although she was a cute
kid, a fear of being harassed for dating a freshman kept me from considering her
as anything more than a friend until we met at a party in Greg Bigelow's
basement. Peggy's yearbook note to me has always been a
reminder of what happened that night. "Max, To a sweet guy that helps people with their
problems. May you get the girl of your dreams. Love Always
Peg
Problem Child" At the party, Peggy's sister Ruth and Greg
Bigelow were paying a lot of attention to each other and, as most kids at
basement parties do when parents are upstairs, they were doin' a little kissin'
and a huggin' at every opportunity. Since Peggy and I were both unattached at
the party, I tried to encourage Peg to do the same with me. While dancing with Peggy (and being the
excellent lover that I was) I kissed her on the left side of her neck and then
on the right side of her neck. Next, I kissed her on the left ear and then on
her right ear. Moving right along, I kissed her on the left cheek and then her
right cheek. When I finally kissed her on the lips, she did exactly what you
would expect a girl to do with an affectionate guy like me. She started to cry. It turned out that she had a crush on Greg and
was upset that Ruth was having such a good time with him. Although talking with
a girl was a pretty alien concept to me at the time, Peggy and I Linda Banks [65]: Mike Banks [64]: My last memory of Mike Banks was after high
school. I was at Francis Grove and Mike was there in his Army uniform having
either joined the Army or been drafted. He was home on leave after his basic
training. He and Carol Heppner and I spent some time sitting at a picnic table
together while watching others dance. I think I tried to talk to him about his
Army experiences but he really didn't want to say much. He didn't seem to be very happy. After my experiences in the Air Force
several months later, I could easily understand how he felt. Richard Barringer [66]: Carolyn Bashford [65]: Marlene Beavers [66]: This is what Marlene said in my yearbook: "Max, Never forget Reid's Study Hall and all that was
done. You're a real cute guy and you should go a long
way in life... a long way (?) Whenever you are feeling down in spirits just
think of me and Smile! Always keep smiling. Good luck!
Marlene 66" It is interesting that she told me to keep
smiling because her very big and very bright smile was one of the most memorable
things about Marlene. (And, from recent photos, still is!!!) Prior to meeting her again on the Internet, my
last memory of Marlene was at a party at her house on Marlene's younger sister Marty was one of them.
The extra guys didn't seem to be a problem at all for her and she seemed to be
happy to dance with anyone who asked. Not only was Marty trying all the boys out
to see who was the best dancer, she also appeared to be making out with almost
every one of her dance partners to see who was the best kisser. This seemed to me to be a reasonably
democratic approach for her to take to a Apparently, Irene had left with Dave Fink and
they been gone for quite a while. Dave had Until the '66 class reunion in 2001, that was
the last I remember of Irene but I do remember seeing Dave Fink at least one
more time after that. Marlene's party may have been some time after I
graduated so I don't remember if I ever saw her again before I left Linda Becks [65]: This is the yearbook entry from Linda Becks: "Max, To the nicest guy at Never get out of practice and lose that nack for dancing - you're great! Best of luck always in whatever you do and with the very lucky girl. I know you're one person I got to know at that I won't ever forget. Be good or try. Stay the way you are now. Love Linda" I'm afraid that the yearbook entry is most of
my memory of Linda. Marcia Beden [66]: Jerry recorded the following words of wisdom in
my yearbook:
Maxsh,
Ole boy, ever since we've known each other
we've had a few laughs together. We've also has a
few lumps together like in English, but it was all in
Fun. I'll always remember the fun times we've had
together and you, ole pal who I enjoy knowing.
Jer
"64" The "lumps" that Jerry is talking about is when guys
used to punch each other in the arm over and over again until somebody said
uncle. Dumb… real dumb. I remember Jerry as being a real neat
person...I mean, literally, very neat. His hair was always well I don't remember much about the specifics of
when and where but we did pal around quite a bit in gym, in classes and in the
hallways. The last time I remember seeing Jerry was in the Linda Beden [67]: Mike H. Beebe [65]: Michael M. Beebe [65]: Sandra Beebe [65]: Sandy Beebe [65]: Anne Belert [66]: Susan Benjamin [67]: Greg Bennett [67]: Dennis Michael Greg Bigelow [65]: I remember Greg Bigelow's red hair. Greg was funny and very
bright and with his parent's International Harvester Travel All 4WD Wagon was
way ahead of his time in the world of SUVs. There were a few adventures I had
that included Greg and some other guys but they after I got out of high school.
Maybe I’ll fess up about those later. Raymond (Max) Bishop [64] Robert Black [66]: Jack Blasdell [64]: Joan Blasdell [67]: Dwight Bloomfield [65]: Randy Bloomfield [64]: Carla Rae Boman [67]: Chuck Boman [67]: Dan Boman [65]: Tom Boman [64]: As I mentioned previously, Tom and I went to
school together from at least the third grade on.
He was always the biggest kid in our class and we always got along well.
Although we were the same age, he was kind of like a big brother when we were
together. Other than his relationship with Ruth Bailey when they decided to get
married, although I have lots of good memories of Tom while we were growing up,
I don't remember much about him while we were at Gary Boots [64]: Mike Boots [67]: Sheila Boots [67]: Bill Borland [66]: Curt Boulis [65]: I don't remember much about Joyce Boulis [66]: One summer day Joyce Boulis came down to the
beach at Francis Grove and sat down on the sand with several other girls. She
was the only one there without a suit on and for some dumb reason, I decided to
give her a hard time about it and throw her into the water. I managed to drag
her, kicking and screaming, almost to the water when the girls on the beach also
started yelling at me to stop. Being
the sensitive guy that I am (sensitive to the possibility that 5 girls might
think of me as a real jerk) I stopped.
"MAX,
THIS IS WHAT YOU TOLD ME TO WRITE SO I'LL
WRITE IT. THIS IS HOW MUCH I
LOVE YOU XXXXXXXX.
GOOD LUCK IN ALL YOUR FUTURE YEARS AND IN
EVERYTHING YOU DO. ALWAYS REMEMBER STUDY
HALL AND HOW WE WORKED SO HARD TO GET OUR
WORK DONE. "64" JOYCE" Penny Boulis [67]: Kathy Bozer [64]: Kathy was a life long neighbor, playmate and
schoolmate. Kathy had an older sister named Linda and a younger brother named
Billy. I think Bill still lives in the family home on Floyd Bradley [66]: Barbara Braley [65]: Joyce Braley [67]: Eddy Brandow [67]: Ruthita Bredt [65]: Russell Bricault [65]: Carol Briggs [66]: Lynn Brown [66]: Sandra Brown [66]: Letitia Burkhardt [66]: Letitia's entry in my yearbook said:
"Max,
To a real sweet guy. I'll always remember you
as my wrestling buddy. Could
me some day. I hope that You will always keep your
sweet little smile. For it was the first thing I noticed
when I came to Meridian High. The second thing was
you. May you find the kind of life your heart desires after
graduation. I wish you much luck in whatever you do.
Be good now and treat the girls the same way.
A friendly friend,
Letitia
P.S.
year & see me. I liked Letitia a lot and had several dates
with her, all of them, I think, after I was out of high school. As she noted in her yearbook entry we did
wrestle around a little bit in the gym though. The memory is pretty vague but I believe
sometime, either around lunch or after school, she was doing some cheerleading
practice while a couple of us guys were practicing on the wrestling mats. At
some point I probably challenged her to a match or offered to show her some of
"my moves" and she must have accepted. In hindsight, I probably took
it as a real good opportunity hold on tightly to a pretty girl while pretending
to display wrestling skills that I never really had. Fortunately, after I got back from In addition to the wrestling, in a meager attempt at courtship,
Letitia might have even been the only Meridian High girl that I ever took out to
a real sit down type restaurant (as opposed to McDonald's or Pat's Drive-in). I
may have even had to tip the waiter. Wait a minute…did I forget to tip that
waiter??? I also remember visiting her house one time and
getting a chance to ride one of her step dad's horses. The horse had only one
good eye and when I got him (her?) to gallop, he/she kind of went down the road
a little sideways. Unfortunately, Letitia's step dad came along and yelled at me
to slow down before the horse tripped and told me return to the barn. I didn't mind being yelled at (I had
plenty of experiences like that from my own dad) but I did feel bad that I might
have gotten Letitia in trouble. The ride was still fun but if I'd been smarter,
I'd have sat in back and let Letitia drive and held on to her instead of the
horse. She probably wouldn't have let the horse run and I would have had a
longer and even more pleasant ride. I
don't think that I was ever accused of being too bright at that time in my life.
(Gee, have I ever been accused of being too bright... hmmmm, let me think....) On my last date with Letitia I wasn't too bright either. I
dropped by her house one night and asked her if she wanted to go for a drive.
She wasn’t feeling very good but said she would go out for a little while. I
think we might have gone into When I finally figured out that I’d done a real dumb thing and
wanted to see her again, I tracked her to a house in Painfully, my requests for a date on that night or on any of
several subsequent nights were all rejected (she’d probably already met some
guy with a name like “Ed”). I finally gave up and left before I lost face by
resorting to begging or crocodile tears or some heartbreaking story about how
she should spend a last night with a poor boy going off to war in a distant
land. (Luckily, I only got shipped as far west as Much to my regret, I didn’t see her again until the class of
’66 reunion in 2001. Darryl Burkhardt [67]: Except as Letitia's brother, I have only one
memory of Darryl Burkhardt [67]. On a leave from training while I was stationed
at Chanute Air Force Base in Jacqueline Burnham [67]: Gilbert Bye [65]: Ilene Card [64]: Kay Carrigan [65]: Kay’s yearbook entry was:
"Max,
To a real sharp guy and real swinging kid.
Remember the wild party at Ruth's and our
'spin the bottle' game.
Good luck in everything you do - you deserve it.
Be Good, Kay" Ruth Bailey’s parents were gone somewhere one weekend and she
decided to invite several of us local Mills kids to a party at her house. Ruth
also had 2 brothers and 5 sisters and I have no recollection of where they were
that night. There may have been 7 or 8 or more of us
invited to the party but unfortunately the only ones I remember are Ruth, Kay
Carrigan and myself (of course). One of the highlights (lowlights…?) of the evening was a party
album called ‘Knockers Up’ by a night club At some point later in the evening, someone suggested a game of
spin the bottle. The game started out with fairly random spins and just quick
kisses but as the game proceeded, people started trying to control the spin of
the bottle to land on a particular person either by trying to judge how hard to
spin or, more successfully, an ‘accidental’ slip of a toe or hand that might
reach out to stop the bottle at the appropriate target. I suspect that I did my best to aim the bottle
at Ruth because I knew and liked her the most but the kisses that Kay returned
seemed to last a little longer each time and I started concentrating my bottle
spin towards her. Anyway, not too
long after that, we stopped using the bottle as an excuse and those of us who
could, paired off and went to the nearest cozy corner, bedroom, couch and in the
my case, a reclining easy chair. In addition to my unrequited affection for Ruth, another reason
that Kay wasn’t my first choice is that, although she was real cute, she was
also about half a head taller than I was. In the heat of the moment though, I
must have thrown my stupid prejudice to the wind and decided that when you are
curled up in a reclining chair to make out, it’s a lot harder for people to
tell if you are too tall or too short. To my eternal discredit, in the cold light of day, I’m afraid
that my “tall girl/short boy” phobia did catch up with me. Although we didn’t start to go ‘steady’,
over the next week or so we did sit together on the bus each day on the way to
school and could occasionally be seen holding hands. Anyway, as I said, the anxiety of walking the halls with a girl
that I had to look up at to talk to eventually bothered me enough that, rather
than confront her directly, one day I left her a ‘Dear Kay’ note. I
must have gotten lucky and said the right things in the right way or it could
just be that she was feeling some of the same “short boy/tall girl” feelings
as I was. She seemed to take it well and, as you can see by the yearbook note
above, we remained friends. Connie Calkins [66]: Betty Camehl [66]: Ilene Card [?] James Card [67]: Richard Card [67]: Dick Case [64]: At Darlene Case [66]: Ellen Cassaday [66]: Janet Varner Cassady [65]: Deanna Cassady [65]: Jay Chapin [66]: Dorothy Chase [65]: Joan Chase [66]: Joan’s yearbook note read: "Max,
Just a little room left for me to
write. Good luck and may God
bless you always. Be good always
and you have many friends. Always
remember the good times on the
bus at night.
A friend forever,
Joan" These nice words are most of what I remember of
Joan. We did have good times on the bus. The morning ride was often cold, quiet
and sleepy but the rides home were a time to wind down from the school day and
just yak, play cards and generally horse around as much as the bus driver would
allow. I don’t have many specific memories about them, just a warm
and fuzzy feeling that at least some of rides were, as Joan mentions, good
enough that I should have remembered them. Pat Chase [67]: I only remember Pat as Dorothy and Joan’s younger sister. Ronnie Church [67]: Judy Coin [65]: Danny Claxton [66]: Anita Clausohm [67]: Dave Coates [66]: Vicki Cohoon [67]: James Cooper [64]: William Cooper [66]: Russell Cornman Jr. [64]: Sandra Coveart [67]: Beverly Craig [65]: Kathy Craig [67]: Eric Crawford [66]: I didn't remember anything about Eric Crawford
until I got an email from him a while back. His picture wasn't included in my
'64 yearbook so I couldn't even place his face until I found him in a group
photo and a light finally came on in my head about who he was. From the humor of
his emails, it is obvious that he is one of those people that I wish I'd known
better. Beverly Cross [67]: Denny Cross [66]: Rose Ann Croutch [67]: Cheryl Daniels [65]: Danny Daniels [67]: Diana Daniels [65]: Sherry Dapprich [67]: Bob Davids [65]: I imagine that almost everybody knew and liked
Bob Davids. We were good friends from the time we met, even though we didn't
seem to have a lot in One day in his English class, Mr. Reid was
talking about sticking two things together and used the word adheses. Bob raised
his hand and said "Mr. Reid, I don't think that there is such a word as 'adheses'.
I think you mean 'adheres', don't you?" "No" said Mr. Reid "I'm sure
that the word is adhese." The conversation went back and forth between
Bob and Mr. Reid a couple of more times until it was suggested that we consult
the dictionary. The word adhese wasn't there and Mr. Reid was sure that if we
looked in the big dictionary in the library that it would be there. After class,
we went do the library and looked. Of course it wasn't there. I know, it's a dumb story but, when I think of
Bob, that's one of the things that I remember. Another little adventure prompted this entry in
my yearbook:
"Maxie,
Be good ole boy and always remember our fun "times" especially
the ones at McDonalds(?) Whatever you do in life, try to someday
run through the jungle and look at the pretty flowers and
home and let someone slug you with a baseball bat and don't let it
phase you a bit.- I know this will be hard but you and I know that
it can and has been done by an exceptional person.
Remember track & good luck in [the] rest of your life. Work hard when
You have to and you'll never be sorry. Look forward to the fun times
Ahead.
Bobbie - Bob Inc. 1964" What Bob wrote is a sort of a metaphor for
something that happened when Bill Mills, Bob and I were dragging the drive-ins
one Saturday night. There were no spaces left to park, so Bill
pulled into the parking lot of the store next door to McDonald's. Before we
could stop, a car pulled in front of us to keep us from moving forward, another
car pulled in behind us to keep us from backing up and the 8 guys in them piled
out and proceeded to try and drag us out of Bill's Bob got pulled out and ran over to the Bay
Station to call the police. That left me still sitting in the middle of the car
with one guy on the left and another guy on the right both trying to pull me out
of the car at the same time. They finally got their act coordinated and pulled
me out on my head from the driver's side. When I got up one of the two hit me in
the face a few times until, in an shameless appeal to cast aspersions on his
character, I said something like "Hey fella, does it make you feel like a
real man to beat up on someone half your size?". Anyway, the ploy worked and he turned
around walked back to the crowd where Bill was finishing his battle. Once he got out of the car, Bill was able to go
after the guy who was punching him in the face and, after a few good smacks
almost knocked him on his ass. After
he backed off, the big dude told Bill why they had ganged up on us. He and his
friends thought that someone in a car like Bill's had reported them to the
police for reckless driving or something and they were just looking to pay them
back. After they figured it out to be a case of mistaken identity, everyone got
back in their cars and drove away. By that time, Bob had returned from the gas station after
calling the police so we just waited until the policeman got there. As he was
writing a report, the two cars that had stopped us drove through McDonald's and
we pointed them out to the cop. He just looked up for a second, said something
like "OK", and then continued to write out his report. So
much for the long arm of the law… Fortunately, aside from our bruised egos, Bill
only ended up with only a bruised face and me with a split lip and blood all
over my shirt. News must have traveled pretty fast and the
next Monday at school, it seemed like everyone we knew had heard some version of
a story about what had happened to us. Of course the topic was hard for me to
avoid because I walked around with a band-aide on my lip for two or three days. It turns out that that wasn’t the end of it though. Bob’s
dad hired a lawyer to see what we could do about the boys who tried to beat us
up. I think the lawyer’s name was Leonard [C.] Even though nothing came of it, I always
appreciated that Bob and his dad cared enough about Bill and I and our injuries
(as slight as they were) to try and do something like that. More than a year before he was old enough to get a driver’s
license, Bob had a car. Bob’s dad sold lake front property and, in one sale,
he traded a lake lot for an Alpha Romeo sports car that he gave to Bob. Of
course, this was both a blessing and curse. Imagine, being a teenage boy, having
this beautiful car sitting in a garage, looking at it day after day and being
unable to drive it, for more than a year. Talk about being ‘all dressed up
with no place to go”!!! When he was eventually able to drive, it was
real cool to ride shotgun with him. That did have its drawbacks though. On at
least one occasion that I remember, we went to a dance where he met a girl. Bob
decided to take the girl for a ride but, having only 2 seats, there was no good
way for me to invite someone to go along for a ride as well. Naturally, being a
finicky sports car, it must have stalled somewhere and some dark back road but,
fortunately for me, poor Bob got it started in time to bring the girl back to
the dance at closing time. Unfortunately, I got stuck at the dance alone until
Bob eventually returned. Although I
really like sports cars, I sure was glad when he traded his Alpha in on a
Pontiac GTO. Bob was as passionate about sports as he was
good at them. I think Bob went out for everything except baseball. Although much
shorter than the average player, he was especially good at basketball. We did a little better in the ‘62/’63 season but we only won
a couple of games in the ‘63/’64 season. I remember one home game pretty
well. I think it may have been with Bullock Creek. The guys were playing very
hard and the game was very close all evening. I’m not real excitably but that night was think I was yellin’
so loud that the people sitting next to me were covering their ears and telling
me to keep it down a little. Bob was playing his heart out and I think
that we were ahead until the last few minutes when the other team got another
couple of baskets and did us in. Bob looked like he took it pretty hard so I went to the locker
room to congratulate him for his effort and to try and cheer him up a little.
Whatever I said sure didn’t work because I can still remember seeing his face
as he broke down and cried. That was probably just the start of what I think was
one of the most emotional nights in my life. I’ll add more to the story when I
talk about Carol Heppner. I have other stories about Bob but most concerned events that
happened in the summers of ’64 and ’65 in the transition from School Life to
Life’s School.
Later… Kathy Davis [65]: Barry Dice [66]: Roger Dice [67]: Patsy Dice [66]: I only remember Patsy Dice the younger sister
of twins Wanda and Wilma's who lived a couple of houses north of us on the other
side of Eastman Road. Wanda and Wilma both got married before they graduated
from high school. I don't know what
happened to Patsy. Joe Doremire [66]: Merl Ann Draves [67]: Susan Draves [67]: Ted Draves [66]: Ray Duby [65]: Phyllis Dunn [65]: To be continued... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sharon Edgar [66]: Other than the fact that she is tall, since
finding her on the Internet, I know more Sharon Edgar today than I ever knew
about her in high school. Terry Elmore [64]: Linda Elza [65]: Ernest Erskine [66]: Evelyn Erskine [66]: Marilyn Everly [64]: Doris Evilsizer [67]: Barbara Faber [66]: Mike Farquharsen [67]: Dale Fath [66]: Janice Fath [66]: My remaining memory of Janice Fath was as Ray
Mason's steady girlfriend. I was hitchhiking to or from somewhere and Ray and
Janice picked me up in the customized white 55 or 56 Roger Ferguson [66]: Erna Fick [66]: I only remember Erna Fick [66] as Judy's
sister. Judy Fick [64]: Judy said this in my yearbook:
"Max,
Yes, I guess we finally did make it after all these years. (Kindergarden -12th). It's been a pleasure
knowing such a sweet person as you. Good luck in whatever
you do. Judy,
64 In reality, it was Judy that was the sweet
person and the pleasure of knowing her was all mine. Judy and I went to school together from the first grade until we
graduated. I probably should remember more but the things I remember most about
Judy are the things that I don’t remember. That may sound odd but what I mean is, I don’t remember her
ever saying an unkind word or doing and unkind thing. I don’t remember her
ever getting angry or even speaking in a loud voice. She was always quiet and
polite and, although perhaps a little shy, always friendly. To everyone. What’s best is, from her emails to me over the last couple of
years, she hasn’t changed a bit. Dave Fink [65]: Dave made the following
"Maxie,
To a good ol English buddy. Remember that party we had that Friday night, Boy o' boy were you................... Don't do too many things wrong. "64-65"
"Davey"" I probably drove around or got caught drinkin'
with Dave more times than I should have. I don't know which time he was talking
about in his yearbook note to me. Perhaps the volume of alcohol that I consumed
killed that memory all together. I think the last time I saw Dave was after he
graduated from Somehow Dave got a lot luckier than that. At
the time anyway, I think that he was somehow able to avoid the draft and,
through his dad or some other relative, got a job at Saginaw Steering Gear. Here I am, driving an old Renault I suspect the apparent greener pastures (or, in
this case, a yellow Corvette) on Dave's side of life was just the green of envy
at the time. Chuck Finney [66]: Joanell Finney [65]: I will always remember Joanell Finney as I never knew why but was shocked when they broke up and even
more shocked when Joanie eventually hooked up with, pardon my expression, an }%@&#~X!
like Jim Brink. I don't know what happened to her but I sure hope her life
turned out better than I thought it might if she stayed with Jim for very long.
Hopefully, Jim was able to change significantly from what I knew about him at
the time. Pamalee Fishtorn [66]: James Fitzgerald [67]: Karen Francis [66]: Norma Francis [65]: Norma said in my yearbook, "Max, Good luck to all you may do in the future and take it easy on all the pretty girls. A friend always, Norma Francis (63-64) My last memory of Norma is kind of unusual. She
was collecting money at the gate to Francis Grove one summer day when I went to
swim (actually, I probably almost never went there to swim, looking for girls
was the more likely excuse). I think Bob Bailey may have been the lifeguard and,
when he had to go the bathroom, he asked me to sit in the chair until he got
back. I would have probably been hard pressed to save my own buns if I got in
trouble in the water let alone save someone else's butt but who could pass up
lookin' as cool as a lifeguard so, of course, I said yes. Anyway, I'd been sitting there for a few
minutes when some kid came running up to the chair and said "Hi!". I
returned his greeting and when I asked him what I could do for him and he said,
"I don't know. Norma just told me to After Bob got back to take his place on the
lifeguard stand, I went to the gate to ask Norma why she wanted that kid to say
'Hi' to me. Norma apparently thought that the kid looked so
much like me that she thought I had left and was just returning. After she
realized that it wasn't me, she was so convinced that we were look-alikes that
she knew if I saw him, it would be as if I was looking in a mirror so she sent
him to say hello. Unfortunately for
Norma, I didn't catch on and the kid left before I could check him out again. I
have no clue about who he was but the whole idea has always seemed to me like a
good start for a science fiction time travel story about my traveling back in
time to say "Hi" to myself. Roger Francis [65]: Sally Francis [65]: Douglas Fry [66]: Robert Fry [64]: Sandy Fry [67]: Dale Furst [65]: Sharon Furst [66]:
"Max
To one of the nicest guys I know.
Always remember all the fun we've
had together. The parties and at school, Ha..
Love ya,
Sharon Furst "64" I went out with We found a good place to park and Sharon and I
were makin' out hot and heavy in the front seat (at least as hot and heavy as
Sharon would allow) but I couldn't believe what Butch and Audrey were doin' in
the back seat. I'd only been out on a few double dates before but I'd never seen
or heard of anyone doing what they did. It was very distracting. What were they doing? Talking, just talking. I mean, you could
talk almost anywhere and no one would care. Why, with such a precious few hours
alone (well almost alone) in the dark, would any red blooded young couple think
of doing such a thing? Wasn’t that something that only married people did? Must have had and adverse affect on me. I never doubled with
Butch and Audrey (…or Tony Furst [65]: Janice Gay [66]: Aaron Geiling [67]: Pam Geiling [65]: Danny Getgood [66]: Gail Getgood [65]: Janice Gillespie: "Max, To a real swell guy. I'll never forget your
cute little smile. Be good to all the girls and love them all. Love ya,
Jan
"64" I liked to dance with Janice at lunch time. She always forgave
me when I stepped on her feet. I also remember a time when Danny Morse confessed
a serious lust for Janice. I don’t know what ever became of that… Bianne Gordon [65]: Bill Goulette [65]: Linda Gransden [64]: Lynn Grant [65]: Dick Grice [65]: Gary Grice [66]: Sally Grice [66]: Dennis Grubaugh [67]: Duane Grubaugh [66]: Kay Gunterman [65]: Larry Hackett [65]: Dick Hale [64]: Betty Hall [67]: Mary Hall [65]: I have lots of good memories of One long weekend, it may have started on a
Friday, Kevin Nilles' folks were away and Kevin and friends decided to have a
party. I don't know how I got involved but by the time I got there, 4 or 5 guys
had been playin' cards and drinkin' beer for many hours. Kevin, Bill Mills, Dave
Fink, Greg Bigelow and I were among the many who managed to keep the poker game
goin' and the beer flowin'. One goal of the party appeared to be how many
vertical columns of beer cans could be stacked in the corner of the dining room
from floor to ceiling without the whole stack falling over. I don't remember the
count but after a couple of days and nights, it was a lot. At some point, we decided to call as many girls
as we could get to As with most parties I remember, the guys
outnumbered the girls but there were enough girls there that I think that along
with the dancing and the conversation there was the usual necking in the corners
of the room and during slow dances. Sue wasn't havin' any luck finding her
potential boy friend and eventually, with perhaps a little bit to drink, the
loud mood music and a little dancing, I was able to wear her down and persuade
her to do a little huggin' and kissin' with me, even though I'm pretty sure she
would have rather been with someone else. At some point though, things got a little out
of hand when a girl I didn't know decided to chug a whole fifth of Orange Vodka
and then challenge all the guys to take her on in the bedroom. After several guys went in and came out
of the bedroom, someone said that she had passed out and thrown up all over so
some of the girls took her downstairs to the shower and got her cleaned up and
washed her clothes. By the time her clothes were dry she was sober enough to
take home. I think I may have been the one who, along with
Sue and another girl, volunteered to take her home. After we dropped her off, we
may have gone back to Kevin's place but eventually, several of us ended up at
Sue's house to crash for the rest of the night in chairs, on the couch and on
the floor. I was lucky enough to get the couch. Even though her folks were
nearby in a bedroom, I was somehow able to persuade Sue to back to her room for the rest of the night. Morning came too early. Something startled me
awake but when I looked around, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary so,
I went quickly back to sleep. This happened a couple of more times when I
finally caught quarterback Sue rifling pillows at me from the kitchen. It was
the start of a great pillow fight. I think Sue may have even ended up vacuuming
up feathers. She also fixed breakfast for all of us that morning. Her parents
were also kind enough to stay in the bedroom and not interfere with our serious
but innocent fun. Good party. To my benefit, my juvenile behavior that night
wasn't quite enough of incentive to avoid me Another party I remember was at Kay Carrigan's
house, sometime around Christmas of '65 I think. I had been dating a girl named It seems to me that there were lots of kids at
the party but so were Kay's parents. That meant that the lights weren't down
very low and there was more of the group activity than the grope activity
usually found at a teenage party. I think Sue came with another girl but somehow
we got together and, even though it was hard to find a cozy corner to make out
in, we were both small and found a way to over When I went to visit Happily, Sue was there for me again on another
night to sooth my deflated ego. I
think we ran across each other at McDonald's when she was driving around in her
brother's '64 Chevy. Sue's brother had gone off to the Army and left his car at
home. It had a 327 engine and a 4 speed transmission and Sue was very brave to
let me drive it (I hope her brother never found out). Anyway, once I got behind the wheel, I decided
to drive around to try and find a good place to park. Not knowing I think my last date with Sue was some time
after I'd joined the Air Force in January but had a month of delayed enlistment
leave. At Sue's suggestion, I think, we went to someone's wedding reception.
There was lots of dancing and music and at least one punch bowl that was well
spiked. I probably spent much more time at the punch bowl than I should have
and, as a Being in what may have been an American Legion
or VFW hall, several other guys didn't think it was so funny and four of them
picked me up by the arms and legs and threw me out into the snow. My loud
protestations that I had already signed up fell on deaf ears (well, the music
was sort of loud) and made no difference. I was eventually able to convince the
doorkeepers of my innocence and was allowed back in but I think we left a short
while later. I don't remember what happened with the rest of the evening but my
memory loss may have had something to do with my numerous trips to the punch
bowl. Fortunately, Sue doesn’t remember either so at least I didn’t do
anything more that was so bad that it was memorable to her. Grace Harman [66]: Linda Haskell [67]: Dennis Hatfield [66]: Irene Havens [66]: After lots of emails and meeting her again at a
class reunion, I think I know more now about Irene Havens than I ever knew about
her in school. Ramon Hayes [66]: Steven Hayes [65]: Diana Hect [64]: Kathy Heikkila [66]: Debra Heikkila [66]: Carol Heppner [65]: In Mr. Anthony’s Art class, I think Carol
Heppner, Dana Wint, Rose Mason and Pat Varner used to sit together most of the
time and, if someone else didn't get there first, I always tried to sit with
them. Pat was pretty quiet most of
the time and I think that she may have had a steady boyfriend. I'm pretty sure
that Dana was engaged to an older guy with nice car and a steady job and she was
quiet most of the time as well. Carol was not quiet. She was fun and funny and would giggle or
laugh at the drop of a good dirty joke. As
a matter of fact, she was probably the one who most often had a joke to tell. I
even remember one that I can attribute to her (probably because she repeated it
to several people within earshot of me). "What are a girl's favorite articles of
clothing?" One night a few of us heard about a drinking
party in Carol Heppner wrote in my yearbook: "Max, Next year you won't be back, eh? Well, good luck in the big cruel world. Too bad you weren't at our party Sat. night. We really had fun. But you know when the next
one will be. Don't ever forget Art Class and all the fun we
had. God be with you. Carol" I don’t know if that was the night but one
night when we went drinkin’ in the woods, something happened that seemed very
funny at the time. She probably won’t remember or will think that I’m makin’
it up but I hope Carol won’t mind if I tell what happened. It was pretty dark in the woods that night and,
other than the occasional match to light a cigarette, nobody wanted to turn on
any lights to attract the attention of any potential adult intruders (ie…
police). Of the several people who were there (more than a dozen or so), I only
remember Jerry Palmer and Carol (although it could have been the same night that
I was with Butch, Audrey and Sharon). After probably an hour of drinking and talking,
someone suggested that it was time to take a pee so everyone headed into the
woods to unload their beer. A few minutes after we all gathered back at the cars
(and the beer), somebody noticed that Carol hadn’t returned. After calling her
name a whole bunch of times and getting no response, we all scattered back into
the woods to find her. It took a while but eventually somebody (I
think it was Jerry) came back with Carol who was all right except for a little
(but not much) embarrassment. It turns out that the reason Carol couldn’t
answer our loud calls was because, as she sat down on a log to take care of
business, she fell over backwards. With her pants caught on the log and lying on
her back with her feet in the air, she was giggling so hard at her predicament
that she couldn’t get up. She also couldn’t stop laughing long enough to
answer yell back so we could tell where she was. Eventually someone heard her giggles and helped
her up and back to the cars where the rest of us were. Gale Herkner [67]: Edwin Hess [65]: Linda Hess [64]: Margo Hess [66]: Annalee Hildebrandt [64]: Gary Hildebrandt [67]: Cheryl Hiner [64]: Rebecca Hodges [67]: Joyce
Maxie,
Don't forget all the fun we had
Together. How about the time
we.... went to the library. Try to be
good & when you get old & dream
of days that used to be don't forget
dear ol'
this summer & don't do anything I
wouldn't! Of course, I'll have to admit
you'll have to have a little fun but if
you can't behave, be careful.
Best of luck in everything you do,
(you might need some extra luck!)
God Bless ya!
Love
Joyce! "64" The At Becky Horton [64]: Tom Horton [67]: Diana How [65]: David Howard [66]: Prudy Howard [64]: Ann Howe [64]: I didn't know Ann very well but boy, did I like
this yearbook entry ;-))
"Max,
To one of the sharpest and
sweetest guys I know.
(smack!)
Always,
Ann '64 Linda Hubbard [65]: Rod Hubbard [67]: Charles Huber [65]: Michael Hulbert [65]: Connie Having known Connie since seventh grade, I have
a couple of good stories to tell about her but, being the sexiest girl I knew in
High School, I probably should ask her if it's OK to repeat them.
Diana Diana is Connie Barbara Hulse [67]: Linda Hulse [65]: Dave Husted [64]: Kristine L. Husted [64]: Pamela Hyatt [65]: Daun Inman [67]: Donald Inman [67]: Gary Kelsey [64]: Lyle Jacobs [67]: Penny Jenks [66]: Chris Jewett [64]: Christine Johnson [66]: Gary Johnston [64]: Thomas Johnstone [64]: Bruce Jones [67]: Alan Kastl [66]: Gary Kelsey [ Judy Kelsey [67]: Pat Kelsey [67]: Donna Kennedy [66]: Douglas Klemkosky [65]: Judy Klemkosky [66]: Rita Kosnik [67]: Carlotta LaFaver [64]: Ruth Lantz [66]: Dale Laplow [64]: Leroy Latoski: Ron Latoski [67]: Robert Leigeb [65]: Ron Leigeb [65]: Sandy Leigeb [67]: Duane Leonard [64]: Betty Letts [65]: Bob Letts [66]: Christina Letts [64]: Jim Letts [65]: Clarence Lewis [67]: Hugh Lewis [67]: Kathleen Lewis [65]: Jerry Leuenberger [65]: Bob Lightfoot [66]: Sally Linton [65]: Lloyd Loar [66]: Wanda Lower [65]: Ernest Lueder [65]: Margie Lueder [67]: Gary Lynch [67]: David Lyons [65]: Michelle Main [66]: Angela Manges [67]: Gene Mann [67]: Linda Marcy [67]: Ray Mason [64]: Rose Mason [65]: Roy Mason [64]: Mike Maticka [67]: Clay Maxwell [66]: Gaylord Maxwell [67]: Larry Maxwell [66]: John Maynard [66]: John Mazzoni [66]: Douglas McCrary [66]: Pat McCrary [67]: Mike McCrary [64]: Suzanne McGraw [64]: Fred McNeill [66]: Kathy McRoberts [67]: Cathy Meyer [67]: Richard Milk [67]: Robert Miller [66]: Bill Mills [65]: Bill Mills [65] was an original "Wild and
Crazy Guy" (and may still be from what I hear).
"MAX,
To a trustworthy, loyal,
helpful, friendly, courteous,
kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty,
brave, clean, irreverent clod.
With friends like you, who needs
bad luck.
ME, Billie Mike Mills [67]: Tom Milton [67]: Candy Mitchell [65]: Cheryl Mitchell [65]: Curt Moe [67]: Pat Moe [64]: John Mogg [66]: Larry Molnar [67]: Danny Morse [65]: Michele Morrison [67]: Mary Ann Morse [67]: Danny's sister, Mary Ann, had red hair and
freckles and laughed at my jokes and juvenile behavior. We kidded around in
Science class and danced occasionally at lunchtime. She was shorter than me (a
very attractive attribute to us short guys), had red hair and freckles, and
often wore big poofy skirts and dresses. James Murphy [67]: Joyce Murphy [66]: Thomas Nankervis [65]: William Nankervis [66]: Carol New Tony New Bonny Newman [67]: Sandy Nickerson [67]: Larry Nielsen [66]: Kevin Nilles [64]: I remember Kevin most from an all day, all
night party that may have lasted 2 or three days. See my Diane O'dell [65]: Bill Olney [65]: Betty Jo Ostrander [64]: The Ostrander's lived a few houses south of us
on Kathy Overly: Jerry Palmer [64]: I remember Jerry Palmer [64] mostly from his
penchant to "kiss and tell". He seemed to be unable to the keep the
intimate details of his dates to himself. Of course his stories would inevitably
draw out a round of bragging from the guys gathering around him and there was no
way to tell truth from fiction after while. Although I thought it was kind of a
crude thing to do, I'm afraid, at the time, I wasn't above listening in to find
out just how far this girl or that girl was willing to go. Mike Palmer [66]: Randy Palmer [67]: Dorothy Paplinkas [64]: Mike Parsons: Mike Parsons [67] lived just down Garold Petee [67]: Barbara Philo [64]: Mary Jane Pierce [67]: Larry Piper [64]: Phyllis Potts [67]: Sandra Potts [65]: William Potts [67]: Jim Poznel: Bob Pyle [65]: Sally Randall [67]: Suzanne Raveling [67]: Becky Reid [66]: Linda Reid [65]: Sandra Reist [66]: Bill Reithel [65]: Lenny Revior [66]: Suzanne Revior [66]: Bill Reese [64]: Audrey Richardson [64]: Audrey was one of the kids from my neighborhood
that I grew up with on the bus to school. She
was as nice a person as anyone but, even from the time we were small, would
often swear like a boy when she had the urge. I liked that about her. When she
started going with Chuck Sasse, I thought it was a good match. Chuck was always
kind of rowdy and he seemed to settle down some with Audrey around. Velsor Richardson [67]: Albert Richmond [65]: Phyllis Richmond [66]: Sharon Richmond [64]: Roger Riggie [65]: Betty Robbins [66]: James Robbins [67]: Chuck Robinson [65]: Joe Rogers [65]: Laura Rogers [66]: Sue Roller [67]: Vaughn Roller [64]: Carol Rooker [64]: Pamela Roth [65]: Janice Kay Rydell [64]: Carol Ann Sampson [64]: James P. Sampson [64]: Kay Sampson [65]: Shirley Sampson [67]: Ralph Sampson [67]: Butch (Chuck) Sasse [64]: Mike Sasse [65]: Nora Saylor [66]: David C. Schneider [64]: Janice Schneider [67]: Lucinda Schofield [65]: Sandra Kay Sepos [64]: Larry Sharick [66]: My memory of Larry Sharick [64] was when (at
least I think it was Larry), on the way to school one morning, he ran off the
road or hit something, put his head in or through the windshield of his '50
Chevy and did some serious injury to his ears. It's probably the bandages I
remember when he returned to school. Bill Shauger [65]: Thomas L. Shauger [64]: After staying late at school for some reason, I
ended up hitchhiking home on the night of the Junior/Senior Prom and was picked
up by Tom and Bill Shauger. They were driving around looking for something to do
and rather than go home, I decided to ride along with them for a while. After
searching for some excitement for a few hours and finding none, we drove back to
It was near the end of the prom when we got
there and even though we were not dressed up or ac I finally had no choice but to leave so I
started off hiking home again. I felt lucky when a couple in an old Claudia Schrantz [66]:
Dave Schneider's [64]: My parents were good friends with Vi and Leon
Schneider, Dave Schneider's [64] mom and dad. My folks would take us to their
place to visit often and Dave and I spent a lot of time together playing around
the farm. I could write a short story about all the things I did at the
Schneider house while we were growing up. For now, I'll just say that Dave
always was, and still is a great guy and I am happy to know that he and Sally
Varner got married and have lived happily ever after. Pretoria Seaman [67]: Butch (Carl) Seelhoff [64]: Jeanne Seehoff [67]: Judy Sepos [67]: Carol Shaffer [66]: Steve Shaffer [67]: Frank Shaffer [66]: Sheldon Shearer [66]: Bob Shepherd [67]: Jennifer Slater [66]: Bruce Allen Smith [64]: Ken Smith [65]: Linda Smith [67]:
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