I'm not sure if this is what you're gunning for, Andrea, but I'll start:
A February Saturday in 1974. We had snow throughout most of the previous night and into the day, but our N.H.S. baseball team still ventured out by bus to Bloomsburg State College that day for a baseball clinic, in which the ex-major leaguers Hoyt Wilhelm and Buddy Harrelson were there as special guest instructors. Hoyt was the nicest guy you could ever meet, and showed us his major league knuckleball inside that gym. Buddy might have been the meanest guy, as he yelled at coaches and kids who asked the most simple questions. He was having a bad day.
Anyway, that night was the senior prom in Whippany, and because of the weather, it was not known throughout most of the day whether it was on or off. It stayed on -- people tuned in to WNNJ radio to get the updates; nowadays, we'd just text or e-mail -- and I recall driving with my prom date, Michele E. (in my father's Chrysler Cordoba; he had waited in a gas line earlier in the day to get enough for gas to be able to travel that far). We slid off the road and spun around, almost hitting a tank at an out-of-business gas station in Springdale. We got there, and it turned out to be a great night and a fun prom. But what a (long) day and night.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
unfortunately since I cant be cloned..and my hands are outstretched w/children and grandchildren...i will post a few ( or one) at a time....
ReplyDeleteLets see,,,one vivid memory is disgustingly watered down hot chocolate that was so welcome during the very cold days that we played our band instruments during football games.
that small room with the beat-up couch,attached to the chorus room..where some very talented musicians would jam and we would sing along !
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSome of the highlights I remember;
ReplyDelete- Someone* putting a dead skunk in a locker on F level and the smell being so bad school was dismissed early.
- The "burning rubber" competitions in front of the Campus Shop. I think people use to pour clorox on their tires to cause more smoke.
- Chip Storms chugging a quart of Jack Daniels outside the Campus Shop on a dare. Supposedly his heart stopped in the ambulance enroute to the hospital and they had to use the "shockers" on him. Until then, I didn't know that alcohol could literally kill you.
- Lou Gombosi making kids he found fighting come to the metal shop area, put on 16oz gloves and duke it out for a few rounds. Lou was not a man to be trifled with!
- Various kids* tormenting Mr. Hollenbach by yelling out his nickname, "Josh" - causing him to turn around and look for the offender. Very difficult trying to keep a straight face while he scanned the cafeteria looking for the culprit!
- Watching kids inhale helium in metal shop and make their voices "squeaky" for a few minutes afterward. Hilarious, but as we now know, so dangerous to the inhaler.
- Patty Gray's dance at the talent show in the auditorium. Meant a lot to most of us 14-17 year old boys!
- Jeff Decker stealing and hiding my glasses while I was in the shower after wrestling practice and refusing to give them back to me.
- Mr Guidi pulling me off Jeff Decker a few minutes later, saying as only he could, "Gentlemen - this is unacceptable!"
- Jeff Decker giving my glasses back to me and me giving him an ice-pack for his swollen eye.
- Working* the "Varsity N" candy stand during basketball games. With the amount of stuff we ate, I cannot believe that a profit was still made on those nights!
- Signing bogus names* on the attendance sheet when we had substitute teachers. Some of the names were hilarious! I can still remember trying not to laugh when one flustered woman, trying to take attendance and reading from the sheet that had been passed around looked up and said - "Raise your hand if you're Dick Hertz!"
Memories - Part Two
ReplyDelete- The game we played in gym class called "elimination", a form of dodgeball. We used to hoard the balls on one side, pick someone on the other team and let fly a murderous barrage of volleyballs at that one kid! Head shots were common and even Mr. Guidi and Mr. Wikander would chuckle when someone caught one in the face and went down hard! The kids who refused to dress for gym class had to sit in the bleachers behind each team. They were also fair game and were considered what were called in my subsequent profession "targets of opportunity"!
- Patty Gray's dance at the talent show. Yes...it was special enough to mention it here twice!
- Bomb scares - We usually never knew who phoned them in, but we were often glad they did!
- Receiving a recruiting letter from Cornell during wrestling season my senior year. Coach Wikander gave me the letter and after I read it he looked at me and said in a stern voice, “Mike - you are not going to Cornell.” As if I’d even consider attending an Ivy League school!
- A truck that looked like the one Frank Space used to drive, repeatedly circling around the school during late May when all the windows were open. The occupants of the truck were all wearing hoods and bandanas to conceal their identities, and playing at full volume on an 8 track playing the part of the “Fish Cheer” song that said “Gimme an F", etc. The students in the classrooms all heard the sound track and some teachers ran outside to try to identify the hoodlums* in the truck but they got away after deciding not to press their luck with a 4th lap around the school.
- The math teacher, "Doc" Dambrosio who was also not a man to be trifled with. He'd swear in Italian at kids who were acting up - until he realized that I and a couple of other kids had heard the same words at home and knew what he was saying!
- Going to nearby high schools to walk the halls and sometimes sit in on classes or go on their gym class as if we were students at that school. I'll admit to this one - Vic Paternostro at Pope John spotted me and collared me and a few other "temporary students". After that the focus of our "student exchange visits" was on High Point, Vo-Tech and Sparta.
- Going back to the high school office when I got out of the Marines in 1978 and asking for a copy of my transcripts (the East Stroudsburg admissions office needed a copy). Some of the office ladies recognized my name and for a minute or two whispered to each other (one can only wonder what they were saying). I remember that the lady had her back turned toward me as she was using the Xerox machine to copy my transcripts and she appeared to be laughing hard enough to cause her shoulders to shake a bit. I took the copy and when I got in my car I took a look at it. Suffice it to say that even I was shocked at how bad the grades were – I mean they were really terrible! The women in the office probably had a good laugh when I left saying something like – “Can you believe he actually thinks he’s going to make it through 4 years of college?”
- Seeing the look of utter disbelief on the faces of the previously mentioned office ladies when I showed up at the office during my senior year of college to report in as a student teacher and assistant wrestling coach. I remember throwing a wink at Mrs Toker and she turned beet red!
Trying to drive a substitute French teacher crazy by crossing and re-crossing our legs (as a class) at every tick of the minute hand of the classroom clock.
ReplyDeleteI'm back from a month on the road.
ReplyDeleteI will never forget Diane K. pushing me down the E level steps after I 'fessed up to a joke I had played on her. . . for the record that was about the right punishment.
Pulling freshman into the Senior lounge to sing. The mousies in said lounge's couches.
Everything Mrs. Bedell said - She was a goddess to me!
Being responsible for all of French III class receiving a detention because I convinced them it would be funny if we all left the room through the back door while Mademoiselle was at the door speaking to Mr. Duane. She didn't think it was the least bit funny.
Our French I class with Mr. Bensen beating the French II class (always!) in vocabulary contests.
Yvette Small cathing a high fly softball in her sweatshirt and Mrs Trudgeon not counting it as an out because she didn't use a glove. As I recall that was the most athletic act Yvette had ever accomplished.
Making it through gym class because I paired up with Ellen A. Mrs. T said 'The more Cafasso girls I have the worse you get!' (Sorry Jeannie!)
As Maggie stated, I remember gym class with Mrs. T. (Maggie always said I was a "class pet"!) Now that I think about it, I guess I was. But I also loved gym class and Maggie did not! I also remember being in the locker room with Barbara Scales...she would always have her gym suit on (those ugly one piece blue things!) with her combat boots! I wish I had taken a picture of that way back when....
ReplyDeleteBomb Scares! As you all know, whenever there was a bomb scare we had to head up to the football field until the school was checked out and it was safe to go back inside. It always took so long, so I along with my friends would head up to my house as some of you may remember butted up with the football field. We would go have some snacks/drinks (non-alcoholic) and keep a look-out to see when the lines of students started heading back into the school! Then we would hurry our little buts up and get back to our classes before the bell rang! Funny how my list of friends grew over the years! (especially during a bomb scare!)
Typing class with Mrs. Redden. I loved typing class and Mrs. Redden was an awesome teacher! I will never forget though, the day we walked into her class and the diagram of the keyboard in the front of the class was covered by a drop down screen! That meant we were having a test to see how well our typing drills stuck in our heads. I was very nervous, however, I must say that mine have stuck with me all these years! Thanks for insisting that I memorize the keyboard Mrs. Redden. I watch Joe on the computer and he still uses his pointer fingers to type. I just smile and walk away...unless of course he is typing something for the two of us and I get impatient, make him get up, and I do the typing!!!
Running track alongside my sister Janet who was unbeaten in the 440 all four of her years at NHS. I was a sprinter, however, I was asked by Mrs. Preuss to run the 440 with my sister at one of our meets since the other runner who usually runs this race was not present. I reluctantly agreed. Of course, Janet won the race and I actually stayed in second place up until about 10 yards before the finish line. All of my team-mates were standing along the inside of the fence rooting me on and telling me how close the runner from the other team was to me. Janet had already crossed the finish line and had turned around to see where I was and to root me on also. I was so confident that I was going to come in 2nd place and I pushed myself so hard at the end. Well, it was not to be...I came crashing down, elbows and face into the track which at that time was made of cinder. My sister came running over to me and peeled me up off of the track. As she held me and walked me off of the track I turned to the side and there I saw Joe! I was so embarrassed over the whole ordeal that I made sure to tell Mrs. Preuss to please never ask me to run that race again!! 35 years later I still carry with me under the skin of my right elbow a piece of cinder from the NHS track!!!
The Campus Shop, sitting in the back corner before class, at lunch and after school. Sometimes during class when I could slip away. What have they done to the wonderful NHS institution? It should be criminal!
ReplyDelete