I remember my sophomore year I was cruising down Railroad in my '56 Ford Victoria, which I had purchased for the princely sum of $225. (I earned $1.10 an hour working at a newspaper in Bellevue by the way) I saw this big guy wearing his letterman's jacket walking so pulled over and asked if he needed a ride. Thus began a long friendship with Donnie, and later with his twin, Dave. We used to hang out a lot, especially since I lived in Lilliwaup, which was 20 miles from school, so when I had basketball games at night, I would go to the Armstrong residence, where his Mom, Annabelle, used to cook up venison, elk meat, bear meat and lots of good stuff, which we would eat before heading to school to play JV and varsity basketball. Donnie spent several week ends in Lilliwaup, where we had various jobs, such as pumping gas at the store, cutting and hauling firewood etc. I will never forget sitting in the stands during Donnie's wrestling matches, and recall when East Bremerton came to town and had won all of the matches up until Donnie came out. Barb Brown and I were cheering so loud as Donnie had this guy down about 16-0 when he got him in the guillotine move (sp) and the ref punched the mat to signify a pin. Unfortunately, he raised the East Bremerton guy's arm up. Donnie started jumping up and down and yelling, but later we found out he pinned himself. I wrote this up in the school paper, which Barb thought was hilarious; Donnie didn't say too much himself. Later, I was happy to be the best man in his wedding to Barb. I remember when Donnie and David got in one of their typical altercations and were fighting in front of their house on Capitol Hill, still wearing their tuxedos. My Dad still laughs about that. Jon Armstrong and David had smeared smelly cheese all over th engine of the newlyweds getaway car! I moved to LA in 1973 and lost a lot of contact with Donnie, but would sometimes visit him when we vacationed up in Lilliwaup. I was deeply saddened to find out about his death not long after we had a long visit in Shelton together. RIP Donnie!
Recently dound out that don' s Twin, david, passed away a few months ago in CrAig, Alaska. Sill think of the Armstrong family and the good times on Capitol hill in Shelton!
Mike Hays (1967)
I remember my sophomore year I was cruising down Railroad in my '56 Ford Victoria, which I had purchased for the princely sum of $225. (I earned $1.10 an hour working at a newspaper in Bellevue by the way) I saw this big guy wearing his letterman's jacket walking so pulled over and asked if he needed a ride. Thus began a long friendship with Donnie, and later with his twin, Dave. We used to hang out a lot, especially since I lived in Lilliwaup, which was 20 miles from school, so when I had basketball games at night, I would go to the Armstrong residence, where his Mom, Annabelle, used to cook up venison, elk meat, bear meat and lots of good stuff, which we would eat before heading to school to play JV and varsity basketball. Donnie spent several week ends in Lilliwaup, where we had various jobs, such as pumping gas at the store, cutting and hauling firewood etc. I will never forget sitting in the stands during Donnie's wrestling matches, and recall when East Bremerton came to town and had won all of the matches up until Donnie came out. Barb Brown and I were cheering so loud as Donnie had this guy down about 16-0 when he got him in the guillotine move (sp) and the ref punched the mat to signify a pin. Unfortunately, he raised the East Bremerton guy's arm up. Donnie started jumping up and down and yelling, but later we found out he pinned himself. I wrote this up in the school paper, which Barb thought was hilarious; Donnie didn't say too much himself. Later, I was happy to be the best man in his wedding to Barb. I remember when Donnie and David got in one of their typical altercations and were fighting in front of their house on Capitol Hill, still wearing their tuxedos. My Dad still laughs about that. Jon Armstrong and David had smeared smelly cheese all over th engine of the newlyweds getaway car! I moved to LA in 1973 and lost a lot of contact with Donnie, but would sometimes visit him when we vacationed up in Lilliwaup. I was deeply saddened to find out about his death not long after we had a long visit in Shelton together. RIP Donnie!
Mike Hays (1967)
Recently dound out that don' s Twin, david, passed away a few months ago in CrAig, Alaska. Sill think of the Armstrong family and the good times on Capitol hill in Shelton!