Mother and the Class of ’66

Mary Steinhoff at CHS '66 lunch 07-28-2014I hadn’t planned to go to the Class of ’66 lunch when I was in town. I had too much going on, the ’66ers are young whippersnappers, and the affair was being held at a place where I swore I’d never spend another penny after two bad experiences.

Then, I got this Facebook post from Jane McKeown Neumeyer: Ken, ask your Mom if she would like to be my guest at Monday’s Class of 66 Luncheon. I could swing by to pick her up. She is definitely an honorable member and more honorable than most of us. If not, maybe, you could drop by with your Mom during lunch sometime so that those of us who only know her through your blog could meet her. Oh, and we could see you, too. LOL!

Marilyn Maevers Miller puts on the pressure

Mary Steinhoff at CHS '66 lunch 07-28-2014Marilyn Maevers Miller weighed in: Thank you Jane, what a lovely idea!!!! By the way….she is so much fun!!

Wife Lila and Mother went down to Marilyn’s joint in Charleston one time and I understand that there was much hooting, hollering, hijinking and hilarity at the meeting. They laughed about it for days.

Marilyn, in the striped outfit, was on her best behavior today so I’d trust Mother to go down to Charleston for another play date.

Sally Wright Metz tugged on her arm

Mary Steinhoff at CHS '66 lunch 07-28-2014Sally Wright Metz tried to figure out which of Mother’s arms was the fake. She gave them both a pull, I think, but they stayed on.

Bob and Dick

Mary Steinhoff at CHS '66 lunch 07-28-2014Dick McClard, left, wonders how such a delightful woman could turn out a commie pinko son. Bob White is less judgmental.

Jane wouldn’t let go

Mary Steinhoff at CHS '66 lunch 07-28-2014I didn’t know if Jane McKeown Neumeyer was pulling a Sally Wright Metz arm check or what, but I didn’t think she’d ever let go of Mother’s hand. I’m glad she pressured me into bringing Mother, though, she enjoyed the celebrity treatment.

Brune Standard Time

Brad Brune '66 lunch 07-28-2014_7373Brad Brune, operating on his normal Brune Standard time, arrived late and after the group photo had been taken. He always likes to make a grand entrance.

The Group

Mary Steinhoff at CHS '66 lunch 07-28-2014Here are the folks who showed up (minus Brune). It looks like Mother has been accepted into the Class of 1966. I just hope they can keep up with her. (Her October Birthday Season is approaching. She’ll be 93.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birds on the Beach

Lake Worth surf before sunrise 01-01-2011 by Lila SteinhoffWife Lila sent me a text this morning: “Can you be spontaneous? Put your pants on and come to the beach to take pictures.”

I’m glad she sent it at mid-morning on New Year’s Eve. The last time she got one of those “spontaneous” urges, I found myself at Lake Worth Beach on New Year’s Day 2010 confirming that, yes, indeed, that bright light in the sky pulls itself out of the ocean at ye god o’clock in the morning. As much as I hate to admit it, she and I took some really nice photos that day. (That’s Lila’s shot above, by the way.)

She wanted promo photos

Lila Steinhoff - Bill Jackson promote 66 Fla reunion LW Beach 12-31-2013She wanted photos of her and Neighbor Jacqie/Bill Jackson wearing reunion T-shirts to promote the Class of ’66 Florida February Extravaganza. What would be better to make people with frozen nose hairs envious than by posting New Year’s Eve beach photos? (You can click on the photos to make them larger.)

Here’s an announcement she put up on the ’66 Facebook page: Classmate Jane McKeown Neumeyer will be in Sarasota, FL during February, so we are planning another luncheon. So far, the details consist of the date… February 6, 2014 … at a restaurant in or near Sarasota. For more information as it becomes available, keep checking Terry Hopkins’ website.

She’s become a Class of ’66er

Lila Steinhoff - Bill Jackson promote 66 Fla reunion LW Beach 12-31-2013Several years back, she and some of her Central High School Class of 1966 grads (and a few stragglers from other classes) started getting together for lunch once a month in cape. She always made it a point to go when she was in town. When she realized how many Cape folks had moved down to the Sunshine State, she and her Florida cohorts decided to start meeting down here.

Here is an account of their first get-together: The original Florida group members; Lila Perry Steinhoff, Jane Rudert McMahan, Bill (Jacqie) Jackson, and Terry Hopkins met for an inaugural lunch at Dunedin on the west coast of Florida in July. It was a fantastic day with friends, food and so many memories and stories. We talked and laughed for more than four hours and decided we had to do it again. Once we put the word out on Facebook and on the 60s’ email list, we started picking up more classmates.

After months of planning and juggling of time schedules, the logistics finally settled and… those living in, visiting, or driving to the Tampa, Florida, area met for lunch at the Thirsty Marlin in Palm Harbor, Florida, on September 9. It was a pretty fantastic day. There was a lot of laughter and memories were shared and stories swapped. Attendees were Jane McMahan, Lila Steinhoff, Bill Askew, Jesse James and wife Margaret, Bill (Jacqie) Jackson, Don Wareing and wife Peggy, Mike Riley and wife Sheila, and Mike Heron.

You can see videos and still photos of the group on Terry’s page.

Florida Pigeon

Birds Lake Worth Beach 12-31-2013The beach is usually the domain of seagulls, but this morning a contingent of what Wife Lila thought were Florida pigeons had moved in. She thought that because, even though the temps were in the mid-70s, they were all puffed up and some were huddling in deep footprints in the sand.

Bigger than average gull

Birds Lake Worth Beach 12-31-2013This was a bigger than average gull and one with a slightly different color than I’m used to seeing.

Speaking of gulls….

60's Reunion Promo 12-31-2013_1783I wasn’t really happy with what I had shot of the T-shirted couple so far. That’s when I turned and spotted a young woman hauling her surfboard to the water. I walked up, said, “Could we borrow you and your board for a minute?”

With only a second’s hesitation, Rachel tucked herself between the old geezers and I made a photo that should entice at least a few members of the Class of 66 to come down.

I sent Rachael a thank-you email, a copy of the photo and some words of wisdom: “I hate to tell you this, but you’re going to look like these folks in a blink of an eye. Enjoy life while you can.”

 

Student vs Faculty Basketball

I see some of the Central High School coaches and teachers playing against students in these photos from, I’m guessing, 1966 or 1967.That’s Coach Robert Goodwin in the background. He and I had an uneasy relationship as I described in my PE experience story.

The scoreboard showed the Visitors ahead 20 to 14, but I don’t know who was considered Home. If the faculty was ahead, they worked for it: they appear to be sweating more than the boys.

Math teacher Ralph Ford

Math teacher Ralph Ford looks like he’s revving up for takeoff . He doesn’t seem to notice the ball is behind him.

Stands are full

The stands are packed, but I must have caught them in a calm moment. I think I recognize Jane McKeown and Tom Mueller in the crowd, but I’d hate to put money on it.

Photo gallery of basketball game

Since I’m weak on the IDs, I’ll just post a gallery of photos. Feel feel to identify the players and students. Does anyone remember who won and by how much? Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side of the image to move through the gallery.

 

 

The Neumeyers Visit Florida

When we moved to West Palm Beach in 1973, Wife Lila and I discovered something curious: folks who hadn’t bothered to call us collect when we lived in Gastonia, N.C., suddenly started showing up on our doorstep as soon as the temps started dropping up north. We were usually happy to see them.

Over the years, the visits started tapering off. Maybe it was the bricks we put under the mattress, maybe it was because we pointed out the bullet hole in the window above where they were sleeping. Who knows what actually worked?

Neumeyers were welcome visitors

When Jane McKeown Neumeyer said she and her husband Don were going to be down this way from Madison, Wisconsin, to take in some spring training baseball, we said we’d be happy to meet up with them at The Loggerhead Cafe on the beach at Carlin Park in Jupiter (that’s a town, not a planet. It got its name because it was a stop on the Celestial Railroad, along with Juno, Mars and Venus).

Headed for the beach

After an excellent round of dolphin sandwiches, we decided to check out the beach. It was a perfect, if windy, Florida March day.

Watch out for the Wave God

Jane rolled up her pants, but not quite enough. (She’d have been fine in her high school majorette skirt, but she said she didn’t bring it with her.)

Folks from the Midwest take some learnin’ before they understand waves. I had an assignment to check out a report of a beached whale. When I arrived, I saw some helpful spectators who were trying to to push the grounded mammal back out to sea. The swells were long and gentle, so it looked like I’d be able to wade out quite a way into the water to be able shoot back toward the shore for a better angle. I had just turned my back on Europe and started to punch the shutter release when a rogue wave picked me up and deposited me next to the whale.

Fortunately, nothing was damaged but my pride. That’s about the time I started going to the beach about as much as if I lived in Kansas. Somebody or something out there wanted me and I wasn’t about it give it another shot.

Marilyn Monroe imitation

The wind was whipping Wife Lila’s skirt around, so she tried to imitate Marilyn Monroe’s famous steam grate pose with stage directions from Jane.