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01/10/21 05:18 PM #2422    

 

Dan Shickle

It is with great sadness that Larry Shoup asked me to let the class know that his wife Reta passed away this afternoon.  She had Covid=19 and she ended up with Pneumonia.   I spoke with Larry a few minutes ago.  He was concerned that the class be informed.   No plans have been made about a celebration.  

Prayers would be appreciated for Larry as he and Reta have been dear friends for many years.


01/10/21 07:30 PM #2423    

 

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Our sympathy to Larry and his family.  If you'd like to send a card his address is 1904 Westminister Circle #1, Vero Beach, Florida 32966.


01/11/21 06:12 AM #2424    

 

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Did you go to Lucca Grill for a pizza?

 

Or did you go to the Sugar Bowl which I believe later was called Rudats?


01/11/21 08:52 PM #2425    

 

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Happy Birthday Ron Williams!!!!


01/12/21 09:01 PM #2426    

 

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Happy Birthday Donna Fogel Phillips!!!! P


01/14/21 06:07 AM #2427    

 

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Did anyone live in White Place during your school years?

 

I think this is a picture of the heating plant that the residents of White Place  had back in the day, someone correct me if I'm wrong.  The stack is gone but the building is still there.


01/15/21 06:15 AM #2428    

 

Phil Hershey (Hershey)

I think Jim Shirk lived there. Rod Brent lived on Clinton backing up to White Place. I lived two streets over on Fell Ave. Steve Whalen (not a member of our class) but went to Trinity and was one of my friends lived there. I know 1 or 2 others lived there but can't remember the names.


01/15/21 08:14 AM #2429    

Marty Fugate (Kusmaul)

Pretty sure Pam Clark lived there. At some point, Nancy Bennett.


01/16/21 04:40 PM #2430    

 

Bill Butler

          Barb, thanks for the birthday e-card.  The older I get the more important having a class website becomes, as Milan Jackson insightfully understood. I too offer my appreciation for its existence and the diligent efforts to keep it functional.  I don’t use global social media due to the nature of my work so this site works well for me.  It’s a perfect forum to connect with the past and share some notable recollections of our special high-school years.  Here’s an example – the Raiders 1961-62 championship basketball team that won 23 of 26 games.  Sorry for the length, but I don’t want to understate the incredible prowess of this amazing flat-out awesome team.

          We had talented juniors but I’ll describe what I remember about The Fearsome Five seniors.  The movie The Magnificent Seven came out in 1960, but these seniors said they could perform similar miracles with just five:  Bob “Bodacious” Spahn, Rod “Run-n-Gun” Brent, Jim “Jimmer” Shirk, Don “Buzzy” Feek, and Ron “Pete” Peterson.  OK, so I made up some nicknames, but this is what I remember about an away-game against the Mighty Towanda Truckers.  BHS played some good teams, e.g., Decatur, Champaign, Mattoon, Trinity, Harlem Globe Trotters, U-High, Normal, et. al., and The Fearsome Five always proved their superior athletic talent.

          The Towanda team (11 1st-stringers) consisted of: Grumpy Schnarky, Imby Seale, Ruff Gowen, Dess Perado, M.T. Hedd, Noah Nutten, Mossley Bunk, Givya Hartbern, Gill O’Teen, Pheer Summ, and Bahd Ahroma.  Their subs were:  Fottom Beeder, Frain Bart, Riller Kobot, Rell Haiser, Romb Taider, and D. Sill Phuell.  Their coach and assistants were Revan deMowter, Stu Pedd, and Jess Krewzinn.  I remember our fantastic Raider cheering section (probably led by Larry Shoup, Corky Snearly, Ted Campbell, Phil Hershey, Jim Crusius, Earl Hargis, Alvin Phillips, Joe Anderson, Larry Keeran, Allan Mapel, Bob Rush, and many others) chanting:  “Racka Racka Ree, Hit’em in the Knee; Racka Racka Rass, Beat ‘em!!!”  The Mighty Truckers responding cheer was, “Go Team!  Go Go Rah Rah You Mighty Truckers!!!”  Towanda’s gym had really bad acoustics so I don’t need to detail what gross distortions ensued.

          Well anyway, the game was unusual because Towanda put 8 players on the court.  Coach Wood asked, why 8?  He was told that 4 of the Truckers were half-wits and 4 were ¾-wits, which obviously makes a 5-man team.  They said the rule book didn’t prohibit it, so we humbly maintained our sportsmanship and professionalism trouncing them 93-13.

          Allow me to reminisce, to the best of my knowledge, about these five awesome Raider starters.  They played like a well-oiled high-efficiency machine, e.g., an Indy race car.  Ron was the fireplug, er, the sparkplug (AC & DC but mostly lunaC), Bob represented the pistons, Jim was the distributor, Buzzy was the alternator/generator, and Rod was the aero-dynamic hood ornament (I never met a metaphor I didn’t like).  Let me provide some insight as to why this fabled five was famously fearsome.

          Ron Peterson, a 5’6” guard, was a real scrapper; this kid ran circles and trapezoids around the Truckers.  He was a master dribbler… no, no, I mean the bounce type.  We always listed him as 6’5” on the program and blamed it on a typo.  Hey, Billy Bonney, aka Billy The Kid, was 5’3” and he too was infamous.  Ron specialized in rapid-fire furtive episodes…. no, no, I mean sneaky moves.  Ron could go through the legs of the guarding players, or zip undetected to any spot on the court (like the roadrunner leaving the coyote in the dust) long before the Truckers could set up a defense.  Ron wore out a lot of shoes and left scorch marks and smoke trails on many a court.  Yeah, he was fast… in fact sooo fast it became a problem because when any object approaches the speed of light (670,615,200 mph) its mass increases, and the ball became so massive it wouldn’t go through the hoop!  I yelled to Ron to slow down, but the speed of sound is only 740 mph so it was useless.  Yes, Ron was an unconventional player, indeed.  He sneezed a lot, very conveniently when the Truckers had the ball, and the ball became so slick they fumbled it.  Not surprisingly, Ron’s forte’ was recovering loose basketballs, and oh yeah, telling jokes to the opposition forcing them to laugh and lose concentration causing them to make costly  mistakes.  Ron is a medical-physical marvel because he’s still growing.  At our 50th Reunion he was up to 5’7” (most of us are shrinking!), and by our 100th Reunion in 2062 he’s expected to be 5’9”.  At that time Ron will undoubtedly win the prize for the most great great great grandchildren.  Finally, the International Geophysical Union adopted Ron’s incredible velocity as their benchmark for the speed of light.  I’ve given a lot of space to Ron, but this kid was unique (…btw, if I get any cryptic nasty-grams about my cognitive decline and chronic neurodegenerative disorder, I’ll know where they came from).

          Next up is our formidable forward Jim Shirk.  Jim was a very deliberate and pensive player.  He carried a slide-rule in his waistband.  On offense he’d stop for a shot and calculate the parabolic trajectory of the ball.  His first shot was short so I yelled, “Jim, the 9th decimal digit for irrational constant pi is 4, not 3.”  His next shot swished.  His 3rd shot was again off so I yelled, “Jim, use the sine of angle theta, not the cosine, and don’t forget that the acceleration of gravity is 32.17 ft/sec2, and don’t use the Coriolis Force correction!”  Jim’s 4th-20th shots all sank dead-center.  On defense Jim cleverly “psyched-out” his opponents.  He told the dumbest Trucker, “Your shoe is untied!  That’s a safety violation!”  The guy looked down and Jim stole the ball.  The next time Jim asked the medium-dumb opponent, “How many times is it possible to fold a sheet of paper in half?”  The opponent said, “Whut?”, and lost concentration and Jimmer again stole the ball.  Another time Jim asked the least-dumb Trucker, “How many possible permutations are there in arranging 10-billion brain neurons?”  Yep, you guessed it, when the Trucker stopped to scratch his head Jim stole the ball and raced for an easy lay-up.  The Trucker’s coach vehemently objected, but the ref said that the rule book did not prohibit it.  Although Jim covertly read Mad Magazine while eating Milk Duds on the bus going to and from away-games, I think Jim was an excellent player because he always aced his math, physics, and psychology exams.

          Our next player to characterize is super-guard Rodney Brent.  Rod practiced 24/7 and was the consummate professional – always smooth, suave, and relaxed.  His ball cap always had that perfect curve in the bill – not too tight or too flat, just a cool-looking elliptical hyperboloid.  Rod was a visionary and philosopher of sorts.  Once he said, “Bill, you can never have enough duct tape, bungee cords, yo-yos, or insurance.”  He was right.  Another time he said, “Bill, if you don’t eat for 7-days it makes one weak.”  Rod even had a hoop on his bedroom door (really!).  He’d toss 2-pointers while doing homework, while under his bed, while in the closet with the door closed, while sleeping at 3 AM….. Rod could easily ricochet perfect shots off his desk, his dresser, the ceiling, or his dog, and sometimes all 4 at once! His mom would call from the kitchen, “Rooodneeeey!!  You’re driving me nuts! Stop that bouncing right now!  Go buy some golf clubs!”  Rod was always cool under stress.  In fact, I believe Webster added the term “cool dude” to its dictionary listing Rod as the prototype example.

          Bob “scoring machine” Spahn was beyond super-incredible – an accomplished magician with a basketball.  He had super-human instinct, was ambidextrous with all body parts, and was the epicenter of all activity on the court.  When our fantastic cheering section yelled, “Bobby Score!  Bobby Score!” he’d reply, “OK, OK, what do you want…. a 3-pointer plus a lay-up, a touchdown, or a home run, or all of the above?”  Bob set the tempo for every game and could always find a way to make critical points.  When the game was tied with 1-second left, the ball always went to Bob.  I actually think Bob moonlighted as a player for Illinois Wesleyan…. he lived across the street from their gym and sure spent a lot of time there.  There will never be another BHS athlete as talented as Bob.  Period.

          Buzzy Feek played center and forward.  Buzz didn’t like to wear elbow or knee pads because when he fouled someone he wanted them to remember it.  I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Buzz could hit hook shots from any place on the court -- right-handed or left-handed, sometimes with his eyes closed.  Once the Truckers figured out how to defend against the right-handed hooks, Buzzy would switch and drive ‘em crazy.  You probably didn’t know this but Buzzy owned a pet monkey (really!).  If a shot hung on the rim, his monkey would jump out of the stands, hop onto the rim, and deflect the ball in!  The Truckers called time out to conference with the refs, but again the complaint was overruled because the rulebook did not say it was prohibitive to use monkey business as interference.

          Well, that’s the way I remember that successful year and that weird game.  When you compare this team to the other probably 1,000 high schools in Illinois, the Fearsome Five ranked in the top ten…. and that puts them in the top one-percent!  That’s a memorable achievement, so thanks for the memories!  A Great Team! Go Raiders!  (I’ll check my notes from 1961 and hope I didn’t make any unfair assertions or dumm mistrakes).


01/16/21 06:51 PM #2431    

 

Susie Dowell (Emery)

Bill, what an astounding memory you have!!  Absolutely Amazing.......and Hilarious!!!


01/17/21 11:14 AM #2432    

 

Phil Hershey (Hershey)

Well Bill Butler thanks for the mention in your amazing update of the Great 1961-62 Raiders basketball team. Your update is surprisingly close to the way I remember that great team. All of those players lived close to both you and I. I remember playing pickup games with them and sneaking into Wesleyan gym. I was not a good player but still had some fun in those games. Thanks for the memories Bill.


01/17/21 08:56 PM #2433    

 

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Happy Birthday Sandra Dorrell!!!!


01/19/21 08:18 AM #2434    

 

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

After reading Bills response on our glowing basketball team I wondered how many had a letter jacket and also wondered if they still make them, anyone know?


01/21/21 09:33 PM #2435    

 

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Anybody remember the name of this car dealership which was on Grove Street?


01/21/21 09:37 PM #2436    

 

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Happy Birthday Robert Rush!!!! 

 

 


01/22/21 07:03 AM #2437    

 

Connie Jo Bush (Bandeko)

Was the car dealership pictured on Gro e street Fred Groves and later housed Clay Dooley???


01/22/21 11:49 AM #2438    

 

Susie Dowell (Emery)




01/22/21 01:43 PM #2439    

 

Susie Dowell (Emery)

My niece Hanna just sent me this utube video which really touched my heart, and I wanted to share it with you. 


01/22/21 04:32 PM #2440    

 

Jim Crusius

Well, Susie, that was touching. She sure has a beautiful voice. That song brings back good memories.


01/22/21 08:34 PM #2441    

 

Connie Figg (Winslow)

Hi Susie-thank you for sharing the video with us.  I always loved that song, and adding Hanna's voice made it even better.  Joe must be looking down from Heaven and smiling.


01/22/21 11:18 PM #2442    

 

Susie Dowell (Emery)

Jim, thank you so much for responding and for your very kind comments. I remember those days and have fond memories as well. Joe recorded it in Nashville 1961, and it was a hit in 1962. It was a very exciting time for all of our family. 


 

 


01/22/21 11:23 PM #2443    

 

Susie Dowell (Emery)

Connie, I was so happy when Hanna sent the video singing "Wooden Heart" with her dad, and I wanted to share it with all of you. Thank you for responding. I also like to think he was "watching from Heaven and smiling. "


01/23/21 04:05 PM #2444    

 

Dan Shickle

Barb, was that car dealership Patterson Ford?   When I went to grandpa's house I would walk a block to look at the cars.  

Bill Butler, did you ever call the team for bed checks?  Coach Wood (Woodie) had us passing out vitamins to the players, that sure would't happen now days.  From my view beside on the deck, I thought Jim Shirk had a great accurate shot, but didn't take many because of the other gunners.  I rember keeping the  shot chart at Maroa and watching those balls bounce over our guys heads and the running reds slapped at it and it went in the basket.  We were one of the few teams to have beat the state champion Decatur.  

 


01/24/21 06:24 AM #2445    

 

Allan Mapel

Barb, The dealer ship you posted was Thornton Motors, Lincoln, Mercury. on Grove.st.  Regarding comments on the 62 basketball team, I and several others in the pep band had the best seats in the gym on the southend in the balcony. Never missed a home game.


01/24/21 06:48 AM #2446    

 

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

You know Allan, I have this nasty thing called tinnitus which keeps me awake at night and this is when I do my "deep thinking".  Last night I thought to myself could it have been Thornton Motors and lo and behold you confirmed it.  Dan had mentioned another name and if you look at the age of the cars in the picture it might have been.  Connie also mentioned that Clay Dooley had been in there which my husband says was true, I remember them being directly across the street from there.  Thanks everyone for your comments, hopefully the mystery is solved.


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