20 Cases of Bean Dip

CHS canned food drive c Dec. 1964I don’t know if I’d call it the Class of 1965’s finest hour, but what happened during a Christmas food drive stuck out in some students’ memories 10 and 20 years later.

When it came to for people to come up with their memories of Central High School for the 10th reunion, Lee Dahringer listed “20 cases of bean dip.” Louie Ervin also listed the canned food drive (along with Twirp Week, baseball, football, student council and Tiger Den).

Treasure trove of 65 students

CHS canned food drive c Dec. 1964I’m assuming this is the infamous food drive because I don’t see anyone from the Class of 64, but there’s a smattering of the Class of ’66 lurking around.

I’m pretty sure that’s Joni Tickel in the dark sweater in the foregound (Wife Lila wasn’t quite as sure), with Carole Rapp behind her. I see Louie Ervin, Lonnie Blackwood, David Hahs, Betsy Ringland, Charlie Baldwin and Jackie Knehans among the group.

 What was the story of the bean dip?

CHS canned food drive c Dec. 1964I don’t have first-hand knowledge of the whole story, but as I recall, there was a contest to see which class could bring in the most canned goods to distribute to the needy. Whoever set up the contest must have not thought about the devious devils in the Class of ’65 because the rules (if there were any) were extremely lax.

At the last minute, some folks showed up with 20 cases – 20 cases, not cans – of bean dip they had purchased cheaply. (Or knowing these guys, the cases may have fallen off a truck.)

That was more than enough to seal the deal for the Class of ’65. It wasn’t what I would consider a classy move since bean dip may not have been the highest priority for hungry families, but it won the contest.

I see Charlie Duncan, Jim Feldmier, Brad Wilson, Ron Marshall, Jim Lorberg, Walter Stafford and Tom Holt in the mix.

Halls were packed

CHS canned food drive c Dec. 1964The halls were packed. Faithful Reader Terry Hopkins, ’66, is more or less in the middle of the melee.

Ranked right up the with The Hearse

CHS canned food drive c Dec. 1964For the 20th reunion, Pat Sommers listed his CHS memories: “The Dances, Senior Skip Day, Wimpy’s, school plays, canned food drives, Debate trips, Mr. Chapman, Kennedy’s death, and the dress-up day when Randy, Mike, Paul David, Phil and I brought the Hearse to school!!”

I think I can pull Ken Trowbridge and Steven Crowe out of this crowd, along with Craig Brinkman.

Click on the photos to make them larger and add your own IDs, plus correct my errors.

 

The Heritage Trio

Crystal Lander - Jackson and Anna Nice - Cape- 11-01-2013I posted a shot the other night of a couple of young women playing a guitar and singing on Water Street.

Well, with my readers, you never know what kind of memories are going to get triggered. Brad Brune posted a long, hilarious account of his musical career that I’m going to let you read under the original story. You might have to press Ctrl-F5 to refresh your browser to see all the new comments.

To give you a hint at his prowess, after taking a test in his early grade school days and asking how he did, he was told, “Don’t worry, Bradley, Brunes are good at sports.”

Linda Stone weighs in

Heritage Trio Professional Picture revBefore long, Linda Stone Schrimsher said she had a photo of the The Heritage Trio, a band featuring Gary Fischer, David Hahs and Brad. Here’s what the boys looked like.

A more cleancut set of lads could not be found in Cape County. (Here is Brad today.)

Other stories about music in Cape

 

 

True Confessions

Central High School pep rally c 1965

I have a confession to make: I’ve been binge-watching Friday Night Lights, the TV series about high school football in a small Texas town.

“Why in the world are you watching that?” a friend asked. “You don’t even like sports.”

My only excuse is that I like the photography and lighting and it reminds me of the scores of high school football games I covered. I always said I would rather cover high school sports than college or pro games because the players are real. They may have grandiose ideas about getting rich in the future, but on Friday night, it’s all about playing for their team, their school (and to get girls).

High school soap opera

Central High School pep rally c 1965Think of Friday Night Lights as a soap opera set in high school. It’s kind of like Glee, except they don’t break out in annoying singing and cavorting. I hate lip synching, particularly when the actors over-emote and look like a poodle passing peach pits in the close-ups.

Anyway, I scanned this pep rally a long time ago, but held off running it because a lot of the negatives were in really bad shape.

Coach Goodwin wasn’t Coach Taylor

Central High School pep rally c 1965

NBC’s Coach Taylor character was a tough, but compassionate coach who managed to turn the role into an 2011 Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and was nominated for another one in 2010.

As a non-jock, I generally flew beneath the radar of Cape Central’s Coach Goodwin. I didn’t get to see his compassionate side. I shared some of my phys ed experiences earlier.

Narrow ties and white socks era

Central High School pep rally c 1965It looks like white socks and narrow ties were the uniform of the day.

I recognize some folks

Central High School pep rally c 1965I have the luxury of being able to blow up the film like it was a crime scene photo on a TV show. When I  enlarge it way, way up, I think I can pick out some of the members of the pep band: David Hahs, Lee Dahringer and John Ueleke. I’m pretty sure Joan Earley is sitting next to the band. You’ll just have to take my word for it. You CAN click on the photos to make them larger, but you won’t be able to take them up as much as I can with the raw film.

1965 Majorettes

Central High School pep rally c 1965The majorettes in the background were part of the Class of 1965, so these were probably taken in the fall of 1964 or early in 1965. I can’t remember when football season ended and basketball started. I don’t recognize the girls in the football uniforms.

If I hurry up and post this, I might be able to knock off the rest of Season 2 before I go to bed.

 

 

 

 

Meeting and Greeting

Faune Riggin in KZIM - KSIM radio studio w Ken Steinhoff 07-05-2013I usually post the blog sometime after 1 a.m., so I’m not a morning person. Still, I couldn’t pass up a chance to appear on Faune Riggin’s KZIM/KSIM morning show the day after the 4th to talk about Smelterville: A Work in Progress. The station and the host are a bit to the right of what I’m comfortable with, but Faune did a good job of playing it down the middle. She seemed to really like the photos and asked good questions.

I gained a new appreciation for what happens when the station in short-handed and the host is simulcasting on two stations, doing promos, reading the news, giving the weather and screening telephone calls. She had a lot of balls in the air, but still had time during pauses to talk about how we were going to do the interview.

First Friday at Annie Laurie’s Antiques

Jon Selph at book signing 07-05-2013Laurie Evert, my wife’s niece, was kind enough to give me space (and sweet iced tea) at  Annie Laurie’s Antiques to meet folks who were interested in the book and the Snapshots of Cape Girardeau calendar. Jon Selph, Class of 1964, showed up a little early.

Fast and furious

Annie Laurie's book signing 07-05-2013After Jon got settled in, there was a steady stream of former classmates, some, like David Hahs, who went back to Trinity Lutheran School kindergarten days. I discovered that I have lost the ability to talk and take pictures at the same time. I kept kicking myself for not shooting (photographically, that is) the folks who were kind enough to stop by to say a nice word and to pick up a book or a calendar.

I loved it when someone said this blog was her morning newspaper. Looks like I’m back where I started in 1959, except that now I’m pitching prose and pictures into virtual puddles instead of the kind that go “Splash!”

How do I get one?

Annie Laurie’s is going to carry a limited supply of books and calendars. If you can catch me before I leave Cape in a couple of weeks, we can arrange to meet. Or, if you aren’t local, Wife Lila is standing by to take your order. If I can hand you the publication, the price is $20 for either. If it has to be mailed, it will be $25. The easiest way to handle the mail order is to press that Donate button at the top left of the page. Make a $25 donation per book or catalog, tell us what you are ordering, your name and your mailing address. Wife Lila will get your book or calendar in the mail as quickly as she can saddle up the horse.

Also available at the Cape Convention Bureau in the H&H Building on Broadway

Calendar sample pages

The calendar covers October 2013 through December 2014, so you can start filling in appointments right away. Here is what it looks like. Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the sides to move through the gallery.