Author: Ken Steinhoff

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“Bye, Bye, Birdie” 1967

One of my photos illustrated a an April 7, 1967, Margaret Randol feature on “Bye, Bye, Birdie” on The Missourian’s Youth Page.

The caption read, Bruce Huebel, Gary Sides, Richard Harter and Charles Holt, who are playing Shriners in Central’s “Bye, Bye, Birdie,” look up in confusion at Rosie (Miss Barbara Nunnelly), who broke into their meeting room and started dancing on their table. Bruce is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Huebel, 1109 North Main; Gary is the son of Mr. and Mrs. W.E. Side, Jr., 221 East Cape Rock Drive; Richard is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Austin G. Harter, 2526 Jonquil; Charles is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Grant T. Holt, 1835 Lacey, and Miss Nunnelly is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Gordon M. Nunnelly, 1432 Themis.

How do you serve a “Birdie?”

Miss Randol posed that as a question. Her answer:

Like any other delicacy you would prepare, a successful and appealing “Birdie” begins with the fixin’s.

The recipe calls for these ingredients:

  • 3 fresh young directors
  • 1 prepared orchestra
  • 2 cups of talent
  • 1 cup of patience
  • 70 assorted (interested) pupils

Blend these ingredients for three months and add the support of the whole school to make the spirits rise.

Place this combination in a large, well-filled auditorium and serve.

Most successful musical ever produced

The directors, Mrs. Judy Williams, Mrs. Madeline DeJournett, and Bill Ewing, along with 70 members of the “Birdie” cast, have sacrificed leisure and work time – plus hours of sleep – to make “Bye, Bye, Birdie” the must successful musical ever produced at Central High School.

Rehearsals far from uneventful

The rehearsals have been far from uneventful, testifies Miss June Siemers, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. R. Siemers, 1635 Brookwood. She said she was supposed to run the length of the stage into the arms of her waiting partner.

The running went fine, she explained. The flying through the air part was all right…it was when she missed her waiting (??) partner’s arms and landed on the opposite end of the stage that presented the difficulty, Miss Siemers related.

Production threatened by measles

The entire production was threatened when one of the cast came down with a case of measles. (But not everyone saw red and things have apparently turned out all right.)


 

 

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Main Street, 1967

Here’s a semi-mystery. The negative sleeve just had a date – March 27, 1967 – written on the front of it. The setting is Main Street, but I don’t know why the two photos were taken. There’s a huge gap in the Google News Archive for the month of March 1967, so I couldn’t even search for them there.

Cherrydale Farms confections

These women were set up in front of what looks like a hardware or sporting goods store. When I flip the photo around so I can read the printing on the signs on the table, one reads, “YOU can help us meet our GOAL. Cherrydale Farms confections ON SALE HERE!”

I’d never heard of Cherrydale Farms, but they’re still around on the web selling fundraiser supplies.

The sign on the side of the table says “…Easter Eggs.” I hope they made their goal.

Main Street looking north

If the sign on Cape Federal is correct, the photo was taken at 4:08 in the afternoon on a day that was chilly, but not cold and windy enough to really bundle up.

I don’t see much of a news peg in this photo. There’s a plywood wall on the left side of the photo. That’s about where the St. Charles Hotel would have been before it was torn down. I may have taken this to burn up film before I processed the roll.

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Weather’s Great, Snow Foolin’

OK, I played hooky this weekend. The weather was great and I needed to cover the 8th Annual Okeechobee Rotary Club Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail Ride-Run-Walk charity event for my bike blog. Plus Mother is in town, it was my birthday and Bro Mark is shoveling snow in St. Louis.

Gators and birds

Here’s what it looked like down here Saturday morning. Click on the photo to make it larger. The things that look like horizontal black specks are alligators.

This is the same place where an 18-year-old swimmer got an arm ripped off. At 2 a.m.. Alcohol, as you might suspect, was involved.

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Birthdays and Scrapbooks

Based on best wishes I’ve received from friends on Facebook, a lot of folks thought it was my birthday yesterday. Because Bad Guys use social media to sniff out all kinds of personal data I will neither confirm nor deny that.

Y’all have figured that I’m a bit of a pack rat.You might have figured that out when I posted Valentine’s Day cards from elementary school.

I got it from my parents. Being the firstborn, everything associated with my young life was recorded in detail in a number of scrapbooks. By the time Number Three, Bro Mark, came along, his scrapbook just said, “See Previous.”

This wasn’t just Mother’s project, either. That’s Dad’s handwriting. When I really dive into the Baby Book, I’ll post the great diary he typed of my early years.

Make no bones about it

When I say EVERYTHING was recorded, I mean EVERYTHING

First Birthday

The house trailer that moved from town to town while Dad was building roads and bridges is behind me.

What are you doing with those balloons?

Birthday cakes are cool. This was shot in my grandparents’ yard in Advance.

OK, one balloon is fun, but what is my grandmother, Elsie Welch, doing behind my back?

Once I figured they were trying to launch me into the air, I decided a protest was in order.

Celebrating higher education

There are a bunch of me dressed in a cap and gown and holding my Trinity Lutheran School Kindergarten diploma. I think my parents were afraid that might be the only time I’d wear a cap and gown, so they wanted to make the most of it.

Actions have consequences

On what appears to have been my sixth birthday, I made the mistake of (A) wearing a funny hat and (B) chewing with my mouth open.

The next thing I know, I’m dressed with some kind of funky collar around my neck (left) and dragooned into a Trinity Lutheran School play with some equally excited kids.

I recognize, in no particular order, Jerry O’Connell, Della Heise, Cheri Huckstep, Judy Schrader and, maybe, Bonnie Strom.

Career Choices: Jockey?

Before long, it was time to think about career choices. Dad made it clear that he didn’t want us boys to follow his tracks into the construction business, so he first sized me up as a jockey. That wasn’t a good fit.

How about cowboy?

I tried the Hopalong Cassidy look for about a year, but that was too much like my jockey experience. Not for me.

How about  the Air Force?

This was my favorite outfit. I still have it. We dressed Grandson Malcolm in it when he was the right size. It’s as close to military service as I ever got. (Except for that trip to National Guard camp.)

Trust me, this is NOT the last time we visit my childhood scrapbooks. I haven’t looked at them in years, but they contain a wealth of photos worth sharing.

Learn from others

Learn from others: that was the most important lesson I learned in my childhood. I found this expression equally useful against recalcitrant public officials, obstreperous editors and tight-fisted vendors.

 

 

a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing!
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