School Story:
First, I want to remind everyone that the class of 1971 voted Marty and me “Most studious student.” Keeping that in mind, my stories are probably rather dull in comparison to what others have to tell in our class, but I’ll make up for that in volume, as you will see. Further, unlike Marty, I do not hold a patent for the invention of anything, nor do I have any big deal breakthroughs to tell you about. I let you down, but we can all be proud of her!
Here are a few memories, mostly happy, starting pretty far back.
In early elementary school, I played house with Janis and Janet on the play ground. I think I owe them a thank you for setting me up to have a lasting and happy marriage.
Those of you that were in Mr. Nolan’s class in junior high might remember the KKK – the Karp Killer’s Klub. I think that was his inventive, if perhaps politically incorrect, way of getting us to participate in social events like selling things at football games. The club included a voluntary ‘hunt’ for Karp (I actually don’t remember if we ever even saw a carp). This included carrying a metal pole with a spear on the end of it and trudging through marshland. My most clear memory of that time, however, involves the moment I tried to cross an electric wire, with one foot and the metal pole firmly in the water and a mistaken belief that the wire would be low enough to allow me to straddle across the top of it. Let’s just say that I was thankful many years later to learn that I could still father children.
One of the saddest moments I remember was being told at a football game that Mr. Parr had been killed in a car crash. He was a wonderful man; he taught me health and science.
I remember Ms. Draper’s biology class and the wonderful dissecting needles stuck in the ceiling.
I liked most things about band; I didn’t realize I have no musical talent until I was a ways into college. I sat next to Marty Somers and Lurelle most of the time and enjoyed their company. I memorized most of the music so I could stare at Shan, who played flute across from us. Stage band, pep band and the parades were the best – especially the trips to OSU and to Calgary. My favorite concert was the one when we played the 1812 overture. Someone had the honor of shooting blanks from a shotgun into a trash can at the points in the song when the cannons blast (the song is about the war of 1812). Watching the parents lift off of their seats in shock was great. Watching the bottom of the trash can get blown off was even better.
Lurelle and I lettered in wrestling. We are probably members of a very small club of people that have done so without ever actually wrestling. We helped Mr. Calhoun organize and run a wrestling competition, which was great fun. I’m not sure the real wrestlers appreciated our letter, but no one probably wanted to cross Mr. Calhoun’s judgment, as I understand he was known for hanging kids out over the balcony in the gym if he was mad at them (did he really do that?). I also remember taking driver’s education from Mr. Calhoun. He would sleep in the back seat while we would drive the back roads to and from Adrian.
Once we had our driver’s license, a lot of fun things happened, as I am sure is true for most of the rest of you. For example, I remember one time when Lurelle was driving and there was a car load of us as passengers. He missed a stop sign, realized it, slammed on the breaks, backed up through the intersection, and stopped at the sign before proceeding through it properly.
Jeanine probably doesn’t know this, but she is the reason I ended up with the most studious student award. Those of you that know Jeanine know that she is brilliant, as well as very nice. Because my name was next to hers in the alphabetical line up of most of the classes we had together, we sat next to each other often and I got to witness up close just how talented she is. I was so impressed for all those years that I studied like mad just so I wouldn’t look foolish in her shadow. It didn’t work, but I did get better grades than I would have otherwise.
I worked at the public library after school. So did a bunch of you girls. As the only boy working there, Mrs. Urry gave me wonderful jobs like taking out the trash, painting, straightening books on the shelves, and carrying boxes. It was worth it, however. I was paid to be around you girls.
Lurelle, Janis, Janet, and I double dated for the junior prom. For dinner we went to the Eastside Cafe. I ate sukiyaki and tried to impress the girls by using chop sticks; not a good idea in a tux. As we drove home after the dance, we somehow got to telling ghost stories. That stopped when we saw a green light float over the hills, lazily following us all the way to the twin’s home. Freaked us out.
Perhaps the most dubious highlight of my contribution to our senior year was the Christmas play Mr. Swisher’s English class was required to put on. Jeanine, Lurelle and I paraded around in tutus to the tune of the Nut Cracker. My strap broke – unplanned and certainly not ‘G’ rated. I later sat on Keith’s lap, who played Santa, and asked him for a new tutu. The whole play was fun but it was hard to explain to my kids when they were young what was going on when they saw a picture in the Tupelo. Heck, it's hard to explain it to them now as adults.
My favorite memory of graduation is Jeanine’s poem. She predicted the future for each and every one of us. I don’t remember any of the details, but it was fun and, of course, impressive.
Probably the best thing that happened to me in Nyssa was being fortunate enough to be Mardi’s cousin. She really is a wonderful person and was/is a joy to be around.
