WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL TWO RIVERS WI CLASS OF 1989
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
ANGIE OWENS
If memory serves, Angie joined us in our sophomore year. Where she came from, I don't know. But I'm glad she did.
In my opinion, Angie was one of the prettiest girls in my class. She's definitely top-5. Hell, she might be #2 behind Jenny. She was a really nice person too.
My first real memories of her are from junior year. I had Angie in the now-famous creative writing class with Ms. Sapa. One day Richard used the phrase "put a broom up her snatch" in some context - unrelated to Angie. Angie hadn't heard that phrase before, and asked, "What's a snatch?" Anyone within earshot started to laugh. Someone (perhaps Tim Koeser?) replied, "You don't know what a snatch is?" To which she responded (a bit louder) "No, what's a snatch?" Everyone was laughing at that point.
During that same year, I think she began going out with fellow graduate Brett Gruetzmacher. In fact, I can't recall who it was. But someone once told me that the two of them were practically attacking each other on a couch at some party, to which they were told to "go get a room."
Angie went out for sports. I believe she was on both the softball and swimming teams.
I think Angie lived next door (or at least in very close proximity) to fellow graduate, Nick Novachek.
I ran into Angie and Brett countless times at the video store. They were always very nice. In fact, I can remember Angie wanting to rent some chick flick one evening. She asked if the film was in. Brett was standing behind her, motioning for me to say no. So I stuck up for him. My boss happened to be there, and was unaware of Brett's pleas. He confirmed my mistake and said that it was in. So Brett watched a chick flick that night.
I believe Angie attended college somewhere. I think she had plans to become an interior designer or something. I don't know if that ever came to be. I do know that she and Brett did end up getting married, and moved to west-central Indiana. Angie was some sort of head planner in a children's learning center for six years. But I think she left that position after having a couple of kids. They still live in Indiana today.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 1:35 PM 1 comments
MAY SOM HER
Had it not been for his picture in my senior yearbook, I would have no knowledge that this guy ever existed. Who is he? Where did he come from?
It seems like every predominantly white small town high school has a "token Asian" (is that politically incorrect?) in their class. I guess May was ours.
I know nothing about him. I have no memories of him. I don't think he joined us until our senior year. I know I never had him in any classes. Since our homerooms were alphabetical, perhaps Erin Hynek remembers him. Maybe Ross Hofmann remembers him too. Ross? Ross? Nevermind.
It looks like May's full name is Maymee Som Her. He may have married someone named Blong or Doua. I've never met any Blongs or Douas. So I don't know what gender those names would be associated with. Anyway, it looks like May now lives in Wausau, and has for many years.
UPDATE - 3/1/06 - Boy, did I screw up. I must have been picturing someone else. The "Som" threw me. May was not a boy. She was (and presumably still is) a girl. In fact, I remember her quite well. She was actually part of the class of 1988. She must not have had enough credits however, as she technically graduated with us. I had May in speech class, junior year. I think I had her in a few other classes as well. She was quiet and shy, somewhat meek. But she seemed nice.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 8:57 AM 3 comments
CLASSMATE BLOGS
The creation of this blog has inspired some of my readers to create their own blogs. Jason Anderson was first, followed by Greg Pagel and Tammy Swoboda. I have added links to their blogs on the right side of this page. Give them some traffic, and check them out!
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:19 AM 0 comments
Monday, February 27, 2006
LORIE ALAPERET
What can I possibly say about Lorie? Little, very little.
I think Lorie joined us in our sophomore or junior year. I don't think I ever had her any classes. I could be wrong though. If I did, she didn't stand out to me.
She wore glasses. I personally didn't find her attractive. But hey, maybe that's just me. I don't even recall seeing her in the halls, let alone in any classrooms. My only memories of her are from the yearbook. She's pictured.
After high school, I'm pretty sure I never ran into her. It looks like she got married and became Lorie Novak. It also looks like she's gotten in trouble for not paying child support. She even got a jail sentence because of it. The proceedings took place in Manitowoc. But it looks like she may have relocated to Kansas - in the middle of nowhere.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 1:22 PM 12 comments
JAMIE GRAINGER
Jamie Grainger started out as a member of the class of 1988. But as a sophomore or junior, I think he was a foreign exchange student. I was under the impression that foreign exchange students got credit for "time served" (so to speak) overseas. Apparently this was not the case with Jamie. He lost a year, and ended up in our class.
I know nothing about Jamie. I may have had a class or two with him my senior year. But I really don't have any memories about him. Although he seemed like a nice enough guy.
On our senior video, Jamie and Dave Kanera joked that they were going to Berlin to tear down the wall. Not long after, that wall did in fact come down? Did Jamie have anything to do with it?
I don't think I ever ran into Jamie after high school. I assume that he went onto school somewhere. Today he appears to work for the Wisconsin Department Of Transportation. I believe he married a woman named Danielle, and now lives near Madison.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:36 PM 0 comments
ROSS HOFMANN
I believe Ross joined me at Clarke in 6th grade. He may have had Mr. Burnstad.
Ross was kind of a studly-looking guy, quite popular with the ladies. He was also a jerk.
Dave Svatek once told me that Ross was the first person he knew to lose his virginity. Apparently Ross lost it when he was 11 or 12 years old. If memory serves, Ross was older than most of us. I think he was actually 19 when we graduated. So if Dave is right, that puts Ross at "becoming a man" possibly as far back as 1982. Wow. Throughtout most of 1982, I was 10 myself. Sure, I got boners. But I wasn't actively looking to stick them anywhere.
In 8th grade, Ross and I got into a brief argument in the lunchroom. I told him to fuck off. He responded with the oh so typical, "You're dead!" Whatever. Later that day, after school, I walked out the doors with Greg Flemal. Ross rode up on his bike to confront me. He basically badmouthed me, questioned why I'd said what I said, and threatened to hurt me. All the while, some friend of his was laughing at the situation. Ross offered me a deal. He said that he wouldn't touch me, and would let me go, if I were to run around the tennis courts five times. I looked at the tennis courts, looked back at Ross, and said, "Beat me up." The look on Ross' face was precious. He wasn't expecting that from me. I never got the impression that Ross truly wanted to get into a physical altercation with me. So he thought he'd be smug. So be it. I wasn't about to be bullied by this asshole. I repeated it again, "Beat me up." A beating would have been far more dignified than being humiliated by running around the tennis courts like a fool. I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction. Ross didn't know what to do. So he just warned me not to be cocky or anything towards him anymore. Whatever. I just walked past him and went home. I'm sure it was a major blow to his ego.
I had Ross in Mr. Swokowski's art class that year. I remember him telling Nick Novachek that he'd bought a smokeless ashtray for his dad - for Christmas or something. Of course he mentioned that he was planning on using it himself, if it truly worked, so his parents wouldn't know he was smoking in the house.
In our freshman year, Ross and I somehow got teamed up together in two-on-two basketball in gym class. We slaughtered our competition. Well, I should say HE slaughtered our competition, with just a little help from me. But I made a few baskets too.
In our freshman year, our school was hit with a plague of suicide attempts. Ross Hofmann was one of them. I never knew the circumstances involved. But I think he shot himself in the chest or shoulder or something. Rumor was that he lost a lung. He was out of school for several weeks. When he returned, I heard some people mention that they were "shocked" that he was still smoking. Dave told me that Ross mentioned to him that he got tired of people asking to see his scars. Can you blame him?
As a sophomore, I had Ross in Mr. Conrad's biology class. The only thing I remember about him is that one day he began mocking Sheila Vanne. Sheila had some sort of obsession with her boyfriend, and was always going to the door to see if she by chance would catch a glimpse of him. Ross paraded himself and did a great job being Sheila. It was pretty funny - to everyone accept Sheila. Perhaps Ross did have a good sense of humor. But I'd guess that only people who were close to him ever got to see it.
In our junior year, both Richard and I found a class picture of Ross. So we each put one on our respective trapper keepers. Why? Who knows. Ross knew about it and said to me, "I know you have my picture on your trapper." He statement sounded sort of ominous. But he said nothing more than that.
I think in our junior year, Ross started going out with fellow graduate Lisa King. I think they remained a couple throughout our senior year as well.
In our junior year, Richard and I would sometimes accompany Dave's sister Kelly, and go to the Coommunity House to watch Dave play basketball in some sort of rec league. One night, Ross was there as well. He and Lisa (and a few others) were on the stage, on the other side of the room, far away from the bleachers where we sat. I think Kelly had left to go to the bathroom or something. For whatever reason, Ross took this opportunity to whip a basketball at me. So he flung this ball from quite a distance. His aim was good. Of course as the distance was so great, I could easily see it coming for quite some time. I casually moved to the side, as the ball clanged against the bleachers. Why did he do this? No reason - other than the fact that he was an asshole.
At the very end of the year, I was sitting in study hall. I was at the front table, close to the pencil sharpener. Ross came up to sharpen his pencil. As he was doing it, he turned to me and said something like, "I'm getting sick of your shit!" He then went off on me about absolutely nothing. When he'd finished his infantile tirade and walked away, I turned to Richard and said, "What the hell was that?" I had done nothing to Ross. I had said nothing to Ross. I had no contact with Ross whatsoever. He hadn't even accused me of anything. So what the hell was he talking about? Nothing of course. Ross was just an asshole.
According to Dave, during the senior lock-in, Ross and Lisa allegedly got caught having sex in the balcony of the basement gym.
Ross was very athletic. He was perhaps the star of the track team. But as a senior, his fellow teammates voted Dave Svatek as MVP. According to Dave, Ross was a little miffed about that, feeling that he should have gotten the award. Dave thought that Ross should have won as well. But it was a popularity contest. Dave was well-liked. Ross was not. Sorry Ross. You lose.
Ross was planning on becoming a mortician. I don't know if he ever did. Did his parents own Hofmann Monuments? I ran into Ross a couple of times at the video store. He never talked to me. Eventually he got married to a woman named Barb. I believe they live in Manitowoc today.
UPDATE - 4/11/06 - Cindy Rohrer has provided me a copy of a "love letter" that Ross sent her. Good stuff! Although I think Ross should have been boning up on his spelling, as opposed to worrying about boning. See it below.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 9:45 AM 7 comments
HEATHER BAILEY
This one is a bit of a stretch. But I remember her.
If memory serves, Heather moved to Two Rivers just in time for 7th grade. I believe I had her in every class in 7th grade. She was a really cool, very friendly. She had a southern accent, and had moved from Mississippi - I think.
For awhile, she sat right behind me in Mr. Longhini's math class. We talked a lot. I remember her telling me that her ex-boyfriend from Mississippi was named Isaac. The only Isaac I knew was the bartender from The Love Boat. I kidded her to no end about that. It seems pretty dumb today.
Heather lived in an apartment on 40th street, just off of Mishicot road. I had a friend who lived in the complex next door. So I ran into her quite a bit. On occasion she would come to my friend's apartment and play Atari. And God bless her, Heather rarely wore a bra. Loose T-shirts and buttoned shirts would quite often provide me a nice glimpse of her boobs. Heather was an attractive girl too. I was often aroused around Heather.
In 8th grade, I had Heather in Mr. Martell's gym class. She got mad at me once because during some square dancing she was my partner. And one day I had sweaty hands. I don't blame her.
My last memory of her is also from 8th grade. I recall seeing Heather walking across Mishicot road, on the way to her apartment. Fellow graduate Randy Ertman had his arm around her. His other arm was around another girl. Lucky guy! I don't know what went on in that apartment. But I would have loved to have traded places with Randy.
After 8th grade, Heather moved. I have no idea where she is today. Although around 1989 or 1990, Meff told me that he was watching David Letterman. And that night's top-10 list was something like the top 10 prettiest girls in the audience. Number 2 was a girl named Heather Bailey. Meff insisted it was the same Heather Bailey that we went to school with. I don't know if that's true. But I can believe that.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 8:04 AM 4 comments
JILL JANSKY
I seem to recall Jill at Clarke. Although she's another person I had little or no contact with.
In high school, I believe Jill hung out with the smoking crowd. I think her friends were Sheila Vanne and Becky Cookle. She seemed happy enough. I can picture her smiling. But I never really knew her.
Jill had an older brother, class of 1988's Jack Jansky. She also had a younger sister, class of 1990's Josie Jansky. Josie was an interesting girl. I had her in Spanish class. I can recall her wearing a dress to school, then sitting in her desk with her legs spread wide for anyone to see her goodies. I looked. I looked a lot.
After high school, Jill married class of 1985's Kyle Feest. In fact, I seem to recall reading a newspaper article about her. Apparently she was showing of her engagement ring to her friends, when she somehow lost it. I don't remember the details. But it was apparently newsworthy enough for the Herald Times Reporter. Eventually the ring was found. So the piece had a happy ending. I believe Jill lives in Two Rivers, and is a stay-at-home mom with five kids.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:32 AM 2 comments
BECKY COOKLE
I know very little about this girl. I think she may have joined us at Clarke. But I could be wrong about that.
Becky seemed to hang around with the smoking crowd. As I recall, she was friends with people like Janice Ericson and Sheila Vanne - and perhaps Jill Jansky.
I certainly never knew her or associated with her. But she always seemed kind of bitchy to me. She had a lot of hair, and a lot of attitude.
I don't recall ever running into her after high school. Although I don't think she left the Manitowoc/Two Rivers area. It looks like she got married and became Becky Becker. I don't see any evidence of a divorce. But in 2001, she went to court to pursue a different guy for birth expenses and child support. Sounds like a soap opera plot. Becky may have very recently relocated to Minnesota.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:17 AM 1 comments
Saturday, February 25, 2006
WELCOME - ????????
Someone going by the name of "2time ace" has logged in and left a comment in Tammy Swoboda and Ann Rank's entry. I have no idea who it is. But welcome, nonetheless.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 9:50 PM 0 comments
Friday, February 24, 2006
DON CIHA
I think Don joined us at Clarke. He was sort of a hefty fellow who wore glasses. He was a card carrying member of the nerd club.
I could be wrong, but I believe in 8th grade, when Clarke held that ridiculous mock presidential debate, Don was on the panel for the democrats. He was an intelligent guy. It wouldn't surprise me.
In my freshman year, I often sat across from Don at lunch. He and David Duvall were good friends. Everyday Don would give me his potato chips. Thanks Don! And no, I didn't bully them from him. Bullies suck. Don was just a nice guy. He used to mention that although he didn't have an allowance or anything, his parents would usually get him what he asked for. What a score! Of course Don wasn't the type of guy who would take advantage of them. For if he did, he might lose his nerd card.
One day I saw a really goofy side of Don. For whatever reason, the discussion of porno films came up. And the usually shy Don said that he'd heard of a movie title called "Fucking In The House." I laughed. Don laughed, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed. What the hell was wrong with him? I don't know. But the idea of a movie with that title put him into near convulsions. I was laughing at him at this point. 20 minutes later, as we all headed back to our respective classes, I ran into Don in the hall once again. He was still doubled over in laughter.
Don was on the chess team. I think he was on the math team as well. What exactly does the math team do?
I have to guess that Don went to college somewhere. he was pretty bright. He may have attended UW Green Bay. For awhile, I think he lived near the border, close to Minneapolis. Today I believe he lives in the Bloomington, Illinois area. To my knowledge, he has never married.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:40 PM 0 comments
BECKY PRAUSA
Becky is a girl who joined me at Washington. I knew her name. I'd hear her mentioned. But I never knew her. In fact, I don't think we had any classes together until our senior year. Man, was I missing out!
I would see her picture in past yearbooks, and think, "nothing special." But as a senior, I sure took notice. I had her in Mr. Rausch's consumer economics class. We were in a small in-class project together once. She and I had to play the part of employees who were about to go on strike, unless we could come to an agreement with management. I think our management opponents were Jay Rozmarynoski and Jeff Gordon. Jay and Jeff got the upper hand on us. Becky and I got killed by them.
I must admit. I had a thing for Becky. She was a big girl - not overweight mind you. Just a big girl - tall, big boobs, and just right. She was the kind of girl I just wanted to grab and have my way with. There, I said it. So sue me. What made her the full package was that she was very sweet too - just an overall nice person.
Becky was a cheerleader. In fact, for whichever squad she was on, I think she and Lisa Koch were the only seniors.
I believe Becky went out with class of 1988's Doug Szopinski. Lucky fellow, that Doug.
In our senior year, fellow graduate Toby Schwartz "acquired" one of Becky's journals. He said that Becky had written stuff about her and Doug screwing in the shower. Why do people put that sort of stuff in school journals, when they have to know that they could end up in the wrong hands? Regardless, that story made me tingle. What I would have given for a shower date with Becky.
After high school, I believe she went onto school somewhere - perhaps in Minnesota. I ran into her a few times at the video store. In fact, the last time I saw her, she had cut her hair really short, and was wearing a lot of leather. She looked like a stereotypical biker chick. She eventually married, and became Becky Price. I could be mistaken, but I thought I read somewhere that she and her husband had opened up a bar - or were in the process of doing so. For a time, they may have lived in North Carolina. But today, I believe they're in the Milwaukee area.
UPDATE - 11/16/06 - I heard from Becky this past weekend. Apparently she and Shannon Koch, Becky Monka, Lisa Pauze and Mindy Moore got together for a mini-reunion, and tried to reach me to come document it for the blog. They weren't able to find me. So I missed out. But I have E-mailed Becky a few times. She said that the Doug she dated was not in fact Doug Szopinski. It was a different Doug. I guess Toby was wrong.
UPDATE - 11/20/06 - I've shared a few really nice E-mails with Becky over the past week. She's filled me in on some details of her life since high school. Her husband works in tobacco sales. While Becky works for a place called "The Association Of Equipment Managers." I don't know what that is. But it sounds important. She and her husband are raising three daughters. Wow. There must have been something in the Two Rivers water supply. Our class seems to have produced a lot more daughters than sons.
Anyway, as some might know, Becky was diagnosed with rectal cancer about 2.5 years ago. After a long battle (8 weeks of radiation followed by surgery, 6 rounds rounds of chemotherapy, and another surgery), she can finally say that she is cancer free. So that's great to hear.
In addition to her job, she sells sex toys on the side - but from a different company than the one my wife does.
Oh, and as a side note to a previous comment - she has no knowledge of it.
Lastly, Mindy Moore's middle daughter was actually named by Becky. The girl is Becky's godchild. For a picture of Becky and her own family, look down.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:22 PM 5 comments
DAVID DUVALL
David Duvall was a nice guy. He was also a nerd. That seems like such a strange word today. But by every definition, that was Dave.
Dave was with us at Clarke. Although I have no memories of him there.
In our freshman year, I actually sat across from Dave at lunch, many days. Dave was a nice guy - very friendly. He was good friends with Don Ciha. Over the years, he was a member of the chess team, as well as an active member of the school newspaper staff - I think.
I remember him telling me once that George Lucas had allegedly said that "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return Of The Jedi" would never be allowed on cable. About a month later, "Empire" premiered. Oops!
In junior year, Richard and I used to call him "pickles." Don't ask me why. There is no reason.
I had Dave in Mr. Hensel's class, senior year. Hensel would often chide Dave by saying, "Don't smile when you talk!" This exchange went on all year long. Dave couldn't help it. He had a bit of an underbite. So he always looked like he was smiling. It was kind of funny to see Hensel's frustration.
Dave was kind of a lanky guy - tall and lanky, very thin. Picture Gilligan without the hat.
On our senior video, Dave cracked some sort of joke where he said his full name - which consisted of about eight or nine long names. I didn't get it.
In addition to Don Ciha, I think he also hung around with people like Carrie Franz, Rod Lumaye and Debbie Lumaye.
After high school, I assume he went onto school somewhere. He married a woman named Denise. Last I knew, they were living in the Neenah/Menasha area.
UPDATE - 11/10/06 - Here is Dave on our senior video. Check out the name he gives. I still don't get it.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:56 AM 0 comments
Thursday, February 23, 2006
UPDATE - TAMMY SWOBODA
Tammy has signed on and left a few comments here and there. Welcome Tammy.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 2:37 PM 1 comments
BETH SULLIVAN
I've had a couple of requests for her. So here's Beth.
I first remember Beth at Clarke. I don't believe she was at Magee. Beth was small in stature. One might even describe her as meek. She was short and thin. She was also quiet. But more than anything, she was smart. She was "Larry Daffner" smart. If this girl ever got a grade lower than an A, I'd be shocked.
Beth's mom was a substitute teacher in Two Rivers. She was probably the most popular of them all. In fact, she was dubbed "Sergeant Sullivan." She used to play a game with the class called "Sullivan says" - which was more-or-less the same as "Simon says." But I digress.
I'm not sure how popular Beth was. She certainly wasn't mean or anything. Everyone accepted her. But I think some may have been intimidated by her all-around smarts. Let's face it. beth was about as straight-laced as they come. She was the girl who you'd expect to never get in trouble, never miss a day of school, be a perfect student, and stay a virgin until she got married. I reckon she did miss a few days of school. Everyone gets sick. But I'd bet money the rest of that statement came true.
I think Beth was friends with Sheila Zach. I know the two of them went on the senior trip to Mexico with the Spanish class.
I ran into Beth once or twice at the video store. The last time I saw her, she had let her hair grow way out - and big! I think she went to college at Princeton. She ended up getting maried and became Beth Hellman. I think they have at least two children, and live in the Milwaukee area. I believe Beth works for Wisconsin Electric. I'm not sure what she does for them. But I assure you, she doesn't answer phones.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 1:13 PM 3 comments
ELLEN DAWIDOWICH
Ellen is someone I first recall being with at Clarke.
She wore glasses. To me she looked like she was halfway between a nerdy look and a pretty girl look. I could never decide.
About the only thing I can recall about her is that sometimes people would purposely mispronounce her name by saying, "Duh - widdawich."
I don't recall having one single conversation with her. In high school, I believe she hung out with people like Anne Wetenkamp, and Jill Jansky.
To my knowledge, I have not seen her since graduation. She went onto college at UW Platteville. Eventually she got married and became Ellen Hoffman. I think she may have lived in Illinois for many years. But now it appears as if she and her husband have moved to Wyoming.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:19 PM 4 comments
TAMMY SWOBODA
Tammy is another classmate I had little or no contact with. I know she was at Clarke. She may have been at Magee too. But I don't recall having any classes with her at any level.
I do know that she and I shared a homeroom at Washington. Tammy seemed like a shy person, somewhat on the middle to lower levels of the popularity ladder. I seem to recall her being friends with fellow graduate Lori Wavrunek.
Perhaps in our junior year, I kind of recall a transformation taking place in Tammy. She started to wear a lot more makeup. And she dressed a little trashy. I'm not sure she even made it through the full senior year. She simply disappeared. Did she drop out? I don't know. I do recall overhearing Lori telling someone that Tammy wasn't her friend anymore. I think she even referred to her as a slut. Strong words for the likes of Lori Wavrunek!
It doesn't look like Tammy graduated with us. Perhaps she graduated elsewhere. perhaps not. I haven't seen Tammy since high school. But it looks like she ended up getting married, and became Tammy Hanes, thanks to Todd Hanes - who would have graduated with the class of 1988. But I don't believe he ever did. It looks like she divorced in 2004. It appears to be a bitter divorce too. It looks like Tammy has spent considerable time in Missouri, but may have recently returned to Wisconsin. I think she has four kids. Below is a picture of Tammy and her fiance.
UPDATE - 7/20/06 - Kevin Dehne and I ran into Tammy on July 15th. She works at Family Dollar in Two Rivers. She's apparently there more often than she's not. She's going to be working at the Family Dollar in Sheboygan very shortly as well. The two shots below were taken in the store.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:37 AM 13 comments
JASON GRENIER
Admittedly, I don't know much about Jason. I think he joined us at Clarke.
Jason was a card-carrying member of the black T-shirt crowd. I believe he also was one of the smokers - early on. To be honest, I don't think he and I ever spoke. I tend to think that he was a bit of a jerk. But I have no memories to back that up.
With his long curly hair, I'm reminded of Peter Frampton - circa 1976.
Jason actually didn't graduate with me. He must have been a few credits short. Because he officially graduated from Washington with the class of 1990.
I think I occasionally ran into Jason at the video store. He eventually married class of 1992's Heidi Krieser. Jason filed divorce papers in August, 2005. I don't know if there are any children. However, it looks like she was pregnant at the time of the filing. Interestingly, although the divorce is not yet final, she has been ordered to pay him for child support.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:04 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
WENDY KAPPELMAN
Boy, this is a tough one. I think she was with us at Clarke. But I'm not sure. Did I ever have any contact with this girl? Not that I recall.
Wendy was a somewhat lanky girl - kind of tall, and very thin. She had a runner's body. Hence she was a member of Mr. Wheeler's track team.
Other than that, I really have no memories of her. I think I may have had her in Mr. Hensel's class in our senior year. But that's it. Oh wait. I think I had her in Ms. Neveau's speech class junior year as well.
As far as I know, Wendy has never left the city of Two Rivers. She married class of 1988's Brian Kohlmeier. In fact, did I have both Brian and Wendy in that speech class? Anyway, I ran into Wendy a few times at at the video store. The two of them rented movies from time to time. In fact, Brian was quite late with a few tapes once. So my boss sent him one of those standard letters which threatens calling the police or taking legal action. He laughed when I told him that Brian was a cop. The letter worked though, and the tapes came back. I believe they live in Two Rivers to this day.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 2:21 PM 1 comments
NICK NOVACHEK
In honor of my 100th different classmate entry, here by request is the one and only Nick Novachek.
From what I can recall, Nick joined me at Clarke. I didn't have him in class. I think he had Mr. Burnstad - who was right on the other side of the curtain of Mrs. Casey's class, where I was.
One thing I remember from that year is a fight. Outside, to the north of the bike racks, Nick got into a fight with another sixth grader. I don't know how to spell his name. But the guy's name was Jim Tudje. On a side note, I have tried to track down Jim, to no avail. He left us after that year. Perhaps if I knew how to spell his name, I'd have more luck. But for now, Jim is gone. Anyway, the two of them went at it on the grass. It was cold outside. And I think I was actually holding Nick's hat during the fight. It was a pretty decent one. The two of them pounded on each other. Then as quickly as it started, it stopped. In an unusual move, the two combatants didn't shake hands and become friends. What's up with that always happening anyway? Nick stormed off, and looked like he was close to tears. But he fought them off and saved face.
If one remembers Clarke, the main area was a square. Each corner had six classrooms. The 24 classrooms surrounded the library. Each corner was divided into three as well, with a curtain (which could be opened) dividing the room. There was also a backroom which connected the two. Anyway, one day I was stuck inside during recess, doing work in Mr. Burnstad's room. Suddenly Mrs. Casey stormed through the backroom, dragging Nick in tow. Apparently Nick had taken several pieces of gum - and I'm talking 15 or 20 pieces, and was wadding them into his mouth. Is this really a crime? To Mrs. Casey it was. Mr. Burnstad also thought so. He tore into Nick, who sheepishly sat down, red-faced and scared. A minute or two later, Burnstad went one step further. He went into the garbage can, dug out the giant wad of green gum, and pressed it onto Nick's nose, telling him he had to keep it on there for the rest of the day! That was a new one on me. I'm sure he was humiliated at first. But as the day progressed, it became a badge of pride and much amusement. Several hours later, he still had it on.
In 7th grade, Nick was a witness to when Tom Grassman and myself trashed the music room. The next day, after we'd been caught, I saw Nick in the hall, who asked me about it. I was pissed because I thought he'd told on us. I screamed at him, "You narced on us!" Nick insisted that he hadn't. And truth be told, he didn't. Sorry Nick.
One day in 8th grade, Nick was whipping pennies in the lunchroom. I guess his aim was off, because one of them hit me square in the eye. Oh my God did that hurt! I dropped to the ground. Nick came over to see if I was ok. I told him to get away, as I knew he'd get in trouble if he hovered over me like he was. Nick truly was sorry for nailing me. I ended up getting taken to the office and given some ice for my eye. They pressed me for information as to who hit me. I simply said that I didn't know. I don't think they believed me. But what were they going to do? You're welcome Nick! My eye was red for a couple of days.
Later on that year, I was in detention (in Mr. Kern's room) when Nick came in. Mr. Kern had a rule. If you tossed a piece of paper towards the garbage can, and missed, you would have to come after school, and hit 10 shots in a row from the point where you had tried and failed earlier. Nick had tried and failed. So he came in, all confident, with 10 wads of paper. All he had to do was hit 10 in a row in order to go home. It was a lot harder than he anticipated. One time he got up to nine, then missed. He was there about 40 minutes. The detention kids were having a blast! Finally he asked Kern if he could use the wadded-up big ball of tape that he kept in his drawer. Mr. Kern relented. And Nick made 10 shots in a row.
Nick was a fun-loving guy. Most everyone liked him. But he was loud - sometimes way too loud. He sat across from me in Mr. Swokowski's art class that year. Ross Hofmann gave Nick some money for some reason. Then he asked Nick, "You know what you can do with that money, right?" Nick responded, "Buy some pussy?" It's not what he said, but how loud he said it. It was full voice and then some. Somehow Swokowski didn't hear him. A minute or two later, Ross and Nick had the same exchange. Nick bellowed his answer even louder that time. And Swokowski heard it and ripped into Nick for swearing. Tone it down Nick! I honestly don't think he knew how loud he was... all the time.
I didn't have Nick in class. But both of us had Mr. Franke for science. One day Franke was going to be gone for some reason. And he had a thing about abusing substitute teachers. He gave us a stern warning that anyone who causes trouble would be in big trouble when he got back. Well, whoever the substitute was, said that I "fooled around a little bit." Great. Franke made me stay after school to help the janitors clean up for an hour. Nick and Dave Kanera must have fooled around a lot. Because they got a week of cleaning.
I never hung around with Nick. But he had a reputation as being a drinker - a heavy drinker. And by his own words, he loved beer. He could take or leave hard liquor. But this boy loved his beer.
Whether it's true or not, I don't know. But Dave Svatek told me that Nick once got drunk, took off all his clothes, ran outside in the winter, and fell asleep in a snowbank.
Nick always seemed to have a ton of cash on him. His dad ran a business in Two Rivers. I think they did pretty good. I seem to recall during our freshman year, someone stole some money from Nick's locker during gym class, while everyone was swimming. It was a lot of money too - perhaps over $100.00. Eventually people were searched. I think the money was found. But I don't recall who had actually stolen it. I wasn't in the class.
In our sophomore year, I had Nick in Mr. Ertman's pre-algebra II class. I happened to have my micro cassette recorder with me on the day that Nick got yelled at for talking to Pookie Bergeon - who sat right behind him. Ertman swore at him. Nick said, "She's talking to me!" It was true. But Nick was the one who had his back turned. I still have that tape.
Dave Svatek would sometimes give Nick a ride home from school. On occasion, we would all pile out of the car and go in. In fact, Nick loaned me some porno movies once. Apparently his dad had a ton of them taped. But the quality was really shitty. So I didn't copy them. But Richard Wheeler copied them for himself.
There was a rumor that Nick had a home movie of potential fellow graduate Amy Musial doing some naughty things with a bottle of booze. I don't know if that's true. But I suspect it wasn't. If it were true, the tape probably would have ended up in my hands at some point or another. And people would have wanted me to make copies of it.
I think Nick used to work at River Falls Supper Club. If memory serves, he somehow stuck his arm in the grease frier and burned it pretty bad.
In either our junior or senior year, Nick apparently got hurt at school, falling off the bleachers. I think he was helping out with some decorating for a dance. I never knew all the details about it. But I think he missed several days of school. I assumed he was drunk when it happened. But who knows.
I had Nick in Mr. Kakuk's social psychology class in our senior year. We had a little free time one day. And I put my head down to chill out. By the way, when your head is down, it's like you don't exist. People must think that you're sleeping or something. Because they'll say anything around you. Anyway, Nick was approached by Brad Strouf and someone else who I can't recall. Apparently Nick had gotten laid a day or two earlier. Allegedly the lucky lady was fellow graduate Kelly Siudzinski. And Nick said, "She's so loose." To which Brad replied, "I know." Geez Louise, guys! Anyway, Brad has since confirmed that he was never intimate with her. So that leads me to believe one of two things. Either he was bragging a bit to Nick. Or he'd heard from someone else about her. Either way... geez!
At some dance, Nick was elected King. His queen was Erin Hynek.
At the very end of our senior year, for whatever reason, Nick went and jumped into the river - fully clothed. I watched him from the study hall room window.
Nick was a cool guy. I think everyone liked him. Life was a party to him. I wouldn't be surprised if it still is.
I ran into Nick a few times at the video store. he was always friendly. He had at one time planned to become a chef. But I don't think he ever did. He eventually married a woman named Lisa. Today he works in Manitowoc for a company that makes personalized badges and stuff. I believe he still lives in Two Rivers.
UPDATE - 5/17/06 - Cindy Rohrer has sent me this recent picture of Nick. It was taken during Key West's annual Fantasy Fest. My wife and I have been dying to go to this event. One of these years we will. Nick is on the far left. His wife is standing right next to him. Next to her, hiding behind an enermous mask (with fake boobs attached) is Cindy herself.
UPDATE - 7/20/06 - Kevin Dehne and I stopped to see Nick on July 15th. Nick has a very nice home, right on the river. He says he keeps the house simply because of the great party he throws every 4th of July. We sat with Nick for awhile. He's a fun guy to talk to. He has a ton of interesting stories, and some good gossip as well. He also confirmed a few things that have been mentioned in this blog. The shots below were taken in his backyard.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:40 PM 15 comments
UPDATE - LISA KING & MARK GORDON
I found a photo from 1981 that has both of them in it. I put it in Lisa's entry. Enjoy!
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 9:00 AM 0 comments
GREG FLEMAL
Greg was with me at Magee. But I didn't get to know him until 6th grade at Clarke. We had Mrs. Casey together. In fact, over my three years at Clarke, Greg ended up being one of my best friends.
In 6th grade, the trio of Greg, Ken Bartz and myself were good friends. Although the three of us never hung around together outside of school, Greg would often come over to my house, as it was pretty much on the way home for him as well.
Greg was a strong boy - stronger than most people probably realized. And he could push people on that clown swing like no other. He was the man!
This is a bit strange. But at some point that year, Greg and I made a haunted house in my attic. We never got anyone to go through it - save for Greg's younger sister. But what can you do?
Greg often came to my house after school to play Atari. That's pretty much all we did, save for the haunted house thing. On occasion, he would walk to my house before school as well. I went to Greg's house a few times as well. But interestingly, all the times I was over there, I never actually went in his house. His mom always seemed kind of grumpy. So we often played baseball in his backyard.
Behind Greg's house was a wooded area. And there was something cool back there. Greg and his siblings had a clubhouse of some sort. It was a hangout which was literally, a small house. It had a roof. I believe it was heated as well. Greg's older brother would use that place to drink beer with his friends. It really was cool.
Back deeper in the woods was a path of some sort. I went for several blocks, starting around the 42nd street area, and leading all the way down to the river. Well, there was a side path that went right to Greg's clubhouse. One day, perhaps a few weeks after Greg had showed me the place, I was with my friend Bobby Streu. And we used the back path to walk to the clubhouse. So what did we do when we got there? We broke in of course. Some friend I was, huh? We stole a flashlight, a ball, and a case of beer - which was missing one can. Keep in mind, that this theft took place in the spring of 1983. This date is important later on. A few months later, Greg was at my house. He actually saw the flashlight, and commented that he had one just like it. The key word there was "had."
Greg accompanied me in stealing milks for our fellow classmates during the night we spent at Camp Tapawingo. See my Wyatt Wood entry for the details.
In 8th grade, Greg and I ate lunch together. After eating, the students would head into the gym until the lunch hour was over. One day Greg and I were screwing around, pushing each other a bit, as we sat on the bleachers. We weren't fighting or anything. We were just playing. But Mr. Kern sauntered over, put up his hand and said, "five" - as in five detentions - for me, not Greg. What the fuck??? First off, we weren't fighting. Second, why did he single out me? I'll tell you why. Because Mr. Kern was a fucking asshole who hated me. Prick.
In the second semester of that year, Greg had Mr. Swokowski for art class. Apparently several students started to take a bunch of markers and stuff from his classroom. It seemed sort of petty. But allegedly a lot markers and pens were taken. Swokowski noticed. Before long, several students - including Greg, got suspended for three days. It was a minor scandal. I asked Greg about it the day it all came down. He looked scared to death, saying his mom was going to remove his left nut. Greg was not a troublemaker by any means. This was pretty much his first and only act of this kind. He seriously looked petrified. But when it was all said and done, I think he enjoyed the notoriety. He liked being able to brag that he'd gotten a suspension.
Our house got a Beta VCR in October, 1984. I became a taping fiend. In the spring, Greg would come over on either Tuesday or Wednesday nights to watch films. My parents weren't home. So we'd pull out a bunch of cable nudie classics like Porky's, Joysticks or Losin' It.
Once we got to high school, Greg and I stopped hanging around together. It became painfully obvious that Greg wanted to strive for popularity. I had no interest in it. So he had no interest in me. Of course he wasn't going to reach the upper levels of the social ladder regardless. In fact, Mike Clarksen told me that he overheard Greg saying something nasty about me - I was no good, or something like that. Whatever. As high school progressed, I think he hung around with Stan Conrad. He also became a regular wearer of black T-shirts. At the time, I remember thinking that he probably would be mortified if anyone saw him holding a Cyndi Lauper album. But that was then. This is now. The photos below are from January, 1985. In all honesty, I like that album! Click it to see them larger.
In my sophomore year, I had a paper route. I had some major restitution to pay off! Anyway, as I was riding my bike down the street while I was delivering one day, I noticed greg. He flagged me down. Now get this. He accused me of breaking into his clubhouse a few days earlier. What??? I barked right back at him that I hadn't done any such thing. I asked him who had told him I'd done that. His answer? Bobby Streu. Yes, my cohort in crime from three or four years earlier had ratted me out for a crime I didn't commit - a crime that he most likely committed himself. Whatever. I guess I deserved it though. Although I deserved it years earlier, not then.
I had Greg in gym class my freshman year. When we played baseball, he had a very strange stance. He would crouch really low when he swung the bat. I'm not sure why I remember that. But it was kind of funny-looking.
Greg was a good artist. At the very least, he could draw really well.
I don't think I ever ran into Greg after high school. Someone told me that he may have been involved in some behind the scenes work on some documentaries. I believe Greg got married to a woman named Jennifer. Today they appear to live in the Milwaukee area.
UPDATE - 8/15/06 - Thanks to Mark Gordon for providing these two pictures of Greg on his wedding day. He believes these are from the summer of 2001. The second picture features, Greg, Mark and Chip Pelnar
UPDATE - 5/18/07 - According to an article I read online, on April 18th, 2007, Greg and his wife participated in some sort of canoe and kayak trip from Mishicot to Two Rivers. The trip was organized by none other than Cindy Rohrer's dad, Phil Rohrer.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 8:44 AM 14 comments
CARRIE FRANZ
Carrie was a staple of the T.R. Public School System. She was there before I was.
I don't think I had her any classes until 8th grade. I think we had a couple of classes together. But we never interacted much. She was somewhat reserved and shy. I was a delinquent. Hence the two shall never meet.
In high school, I think Carrie may have spent some of her time working for the school newspaper. Don't quote me, but I think she hung out with people like Debbie Lumaye, Sara Kvitek and David Duvall. Again, not my crowd. So our oaths rarely crossed.
What I remember about Carrie is that she always seemed to be very friendly. She was quiet. But when she interacted with anyone, it was always pleasant.
At some point, Carrie began going out with class of 1988's Steve Welnicke. Eventually they got married. I can't tell you the number of times I ran into her at the video store. Steve was a video fiend and rented all the time. I think he copied them for his personal collection. I think they have two kids. Last I knew, Carrie worked for the nuclear plant. I believe they reside in Two Rivers.
UPDATE - 6/14/06 - Carrie has provided a recent photo of her family.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 6:39 AM 3 comments
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
UPDATE - CARRIE FRANZ
Carrie has chimed in with some comments in Rod Lumaye's entry. Welcome Carrie.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 8:09 PM 2 comments
UPDATE - CRAIG RYSTICKEN
Based on some E-mails from different people, I've learned two things in the last few days. For one, Craig is reading. Hi Craig! Second, he used to eat bugs. The bug-eating E-mail jogged a memory for me. I put it in his entry.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 1:50 PM 0 comments
MARK CIHA
Mark Ciha was with me at Magee, Clarke and Washington. My first experience with him came from either 4th or 5th grade. My friend Chris Storlie mentioned to me that Mark wanted to beat him up, due to the fact that Chris had called him "a fat tub of lard." Mark was somewhat of a big guy.
Over the years, Mark seemed to have total disdain for me. I never understood why. I never did anything to him. But he always acted like such a prick towards me. Maybe he was that way with everyone. I don't know.
In our junior year of high school, Mark and I had some mutual friends - or at least "friendlys." Dave Svatek would occasionally give Mark a ride home. Since I was a regular passenger also, our paths did cross. I'm sure Mark was thrilled.
During the winter of our senior year, we had an enormous number of snow days. We'd get a few inches, and the school would announce they were shutting down for the day. Complaints? Not from me! Although I do recall Mrs. Kluczinski bitching about the high humber of days. Whatever. Anyway, on this day, a bunch of us piled into Dave's ancient station wagon. We were having some difficulty getting through the snow. At one point, Mark told Dave that he was hooked onto Brad Strouf's car. But he said it so calmly, as if it were a joke. Dave finally got the wheels to stop spinning, and inched forward - with a heavy load. No, the heavy load wasn't Mark. It was in fact Brad's little blue Chevette. Somehow the cars got hooked together on the side. Mark simply said, "I told you so."
Later on that year, I was desperate for a ride home one day. Dave wasn't around. So I asked Brad. But he was without a vehicle that day as well, saying that Mark was driving him home. So I sheepishly asked Mark if I could tag along. Mark somewhat shook his head no, but basically ignored me. I was pretty much insignifigant to Mark. I ended up walking that day.
If memory serves, Mark had a small, thin ponytail-type thing on the back of his hair. How cute.
I think in our junior year, Mark purchased a motorcycle.
After high school, I don't think I ever ran into Mark again. I'm sure both of us were happy about that. Eventually he got married to a woman named Heidi. To my knowledge, they have two kids. Based on the names of those two kids, I suspect Mark may be a fan of Aerosmith - or at least a fan of the lead singer. A few years back, Mark was a schoolteacher in Mayville. But now he teaches in Iowa. A found the recent photo of him below.
UPDATE - 4/13/06 - Mark provided some family photos. You can see them below.
UPDATE - 8/16/06 - Mark wanted to share some photos of his hunting trophies. You can the pictures below. If you have a problem with hunting, then you might not care to look. What you're looking at is Canadian geese, mallards, pintails, a turkey, pheasants, and a couple deer.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:04 PM 13 comments
ROBERT PILZAK
By request, here's Bobby.
I remember him at Clarke. Perhaps he was at Magee too. Beyond that, I have very little.
Looking back at Bob Pilzak, I think the metrosexual label could be applied to him as well. He seemed to regard grooming as an artform.
I have one vague memory of him from high school. It was perhaps in our sophomore year. I saw him kiss some girl before heading off to class. That's it. That's all I got.
From what I remember, Bob had braces his entire life.
I ran into Bob a few times at the video store. He was always friendly enough. I remember him being shocked to see that a sequel to The Beastmaster had been made. Although I don't think he rented it.
On our senior video, Bob started off his introduction by saying, "Hi. I'd smile, but I just ate a Snickers bar." Then he smiled anyway. Not exactly A-list material there Bob. Anyway, he went on to say that he planned to marry his girlfriend - someone named Rhonda. In fact, it almost seemed like he was bragging about it. It's as if he wanted the world to know that he had a girlfriend. Did he have self esteem issues? I don't know. But sure enough, he did marry that girl. Today I believe they live in Sheboygan. They appear to be involved in a local Lutheran church. I'm pretty sure Bob works for The Kohler Company.
UPDATE - 11/9/06 - On August 12, 2006, Kevin Dehne and I took another trip to the homes of unsuspecting classmates. In a pretty new subdivision north of Sheboygan, we found Bob's home. Needless to say, the lawn was a sea of weeds. No grass had ever been planted there. It looked like no one was home. But it was worth a try. We rang the doorbell. Moments later, Bob answered. He had a look of confusion at first. But then came the smiles as recognition slowly crept in. He invited us in. We saw his wife (pretty woman) - although she didn’t want to be photographed. They were just on their way out the door, as they were having a family day at the Milwaukee Zoo. But nonetheless, Bob posed for pictures on his front porch and in his backyard. He was a bit startled, but was quite happy to see us. We talked for maybe 20 minutes. I can't recall how many kids they had. It was at least one though - probably two.
UPDATE - 11/20/06 - Here's some video from that 8/12/06 visit.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 9:32 AM 2 comments
DEE DEE DREXLER
My first memories of Dee Dee are from 8th grade. I had her in Mr. Kern's english class. All I can remember is that she would often wear a pair of gray parachute pants. She looked good in them.
In our freshman year, I had Dee Dee in gym class. And she was a bundle of energy. She would just zoom around all over the place. It's like someone wound her up and let her go. Everyone seemed to enjoy her antics. If we were playing volleyball in the basement gym, and the ball got stuck up in the balcony, she would pounce after it before anyone else could even think about it. And she would sprint up those stairs.
Did Dee Dee have braces for a long time?
Dee Dee and I never had a whole of contact with one another. But she always seemed warm and friendly. I liked her. She seemed to be somewhat independent, and not part of any given clique.
I ran into Dee Dee just once after high school. I rented a VCR and some movies to her. I'm not sure if she ever went to college. She may have spent some time in both Texas and Minnesota however. Today I believe she lives in the Milwaukee area. She appears to now be known as Dee Dee Allison. Although I don't find any evidence that she's ever married. I don't know what to make of that. What she does for a living is unknown to me.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 9:01 AM 1 comments
UPDATE - CHRIS THEE
I added a Valentine's Day card to my entry on Chris Thee. Enjoy!
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:05 AM 3 comments
RON GRETZ
I've had several people request information as to what exactly went down with the ceiling tiles in freshman year. So I've incorporated it within my entry on Ron. Here you go.
I first met Ron in 7th grade. We had every class together. At that time he was known as Ron Cuyler. By freshman year, he had become Ron Gretz. I don't know.
In 7th grade, Ron and I always got along. I'm not sure what it was. He was a farm boy. I was born cable ready. But we got along quite well. We weren't friends outside of school. But in school, we were buds.
In study hall that year, Mrs. Westburg was our monitor for one week. Ron was licking his fingers and slapping his wrist, making a loud noise. Westburg thought it was me, and gave me a detention, despite my pleas. Bitch.
I had Ron in Mr. Monka's 8th grade history class. Monka loved to toss erasers at us if we weren't paying attention. One day he nailed Ron in the eye. Ron was pissed, and whipped it right back at him - which wasn't appreciated. But under the circumstances, Monka basically let it slide.
At some point in 8th grade, Ron and Kevin Dehne skipped out of school, took the city bus to Manitowoc, and hung out downtown all day. I was invited to go along, but declined. I always regretted not going. It sounded like they had a great time causing ruckus.
On the day of our freshman orientation, in August, 1985, Ron and I sat together in the auditorium, and pretty much paid no attention to whatever was said. We then walked around the school trying to figure out just where the hell we were supposed to go once school started. In what was perhaps an omen of things to come, Mike Zeman joined us. I think Mike and Ron lived close to each other. I couldn't stand Mike. So it's strange that the three of us got together that day. It wouldn't be the last time.
Somehow Mike and Meff became in-school friends. And Meff shared a locker with Mike up on the the 3rd floor. So Mike and I got to know each other. Ron and I used to hang around together at that time as well. Pretty soon the three of us were hanging around, causing trouble. We would hang out before school, during lunch and after school. We explored every square inch of that school. We found hidden rooms, tunnels, and of course the place where you could actually spy on the girls in the shower. Although in all honesty, none of us ever did.
One day we found ourselves sitting on some steps in the balcony of the basement gym. The steps led up to the back of the stage on the second floor. The balcony was basically used as a storage area for stage props. There was a ceiling tile missing. And one of us put our hand up to one of the other tiles and ripped it down. Why? Who knows. So the three of us started yanking down more and more tiles. It became a game to us. Pretty soon it became a mission to remove as many tiles as we could. Ron was the bravest. He would actually stand on the balcony railing, lean out over the gym, and try to get the tiles out there. One slip, and he'd be dead. They would loosen, then fall to the gym floor causing a racket. Before long, we had quite a pile. So we started stacking them on the stairs. I decided to count them as we went along.
But the vandalism didn't end there. The three of us seemed driven to destroy. In the northeast corner of the balcony was a dead end. There were piles of desks back there. We would crawl under those desks in order to get to the wall. On the other side of that wall were some offices. We came up with a plan to try and cut through the wall in order to break into the offices. Mike even brought a little saw from home. We made a huge hole in time, but never got a chance to finish it.
Every once in awhile, the auditorium was unlocked. So we went in there and made sure the door to the stairs was also unlocked. So we could then always get into the auditorium through the basement balcony, even when the main doors to the auditorium were locked. So we would sometimes hang out in there as well. We were on the stage once and noticed a tiny hole in the curtain. I put my finger in the hole. So did Mike. We then walked in opposite directions. The shredding sound was like something you'd hear out of a movie. It was almost surreal. When we were done, we had a full-length rip in the curtain. Not being satisfied, we did it five or six more times. We essentially ruined the entire curtain.
The ceiling tiles remained our focus. We took down hundreds - 753 by my count when it was all said and done. I don't know what our goal was, or why we continued to do it. We were just driven to destroy.
I learned early on in my childhood that if you want to be a good criminal, you have to keep your mouth shut. But none of us followed that rule. A few people knew of our exploits - Kevin Dehne, Mike Clarksen, Richard Wheeler, Lenny Lewis... The end of the year was approaching. And I couldn't wait for it to come. I was getting scared that we were going to get caught. But did that stop us? No. We kept going. In fact, a red light should have gone off on May 20th. After school that day, Ron and I headed down to the gym. The lights were on. So we loudly messed with the control box until we were able to flip off all the lights in the room. Then we headed up to the balcony to do some more damage. We ran right into the janitor and someone else. They were looking at the ceiling, and talking about the damage. Ron took off running back down the stairs. I calmly walked right by the two guys, out into the first floor area. I was shocked. According to what we found out later, Mr. Wood had put the staff on alert for any suspicious activity. Wouldn't turning off all the lights then heading to the balcony be labeled as "suspicious?" Apparently not. Anyway, not even that stopped us. We kept going until the next day - Wednesday May 21st, 1986. That morning found the three of us in the auditorium. We were in the back, and broke down the door, breaking into the storage area where they keep all of the electronics. I'm not sure if Kevin Dehne was with us that day or not. But he knew what we'd done, and wanted a couple of microphones. His locker was right outside of the auditorium doors by the study hall room. So we got two microphones, brought them to the door, then stuck them in Kevin's waiting duffel bag. A clean crime.
At lunch, the three of us ran into Kevin again. He asked to see the damage we'd done in the gym. So we took him along with us as we entered the balcony area. We didn't do any damage while we were there, nor did we talk about doing anything. I think we were then going to show Kevin the hole we were working on. Mike led the way into the darker area where the props were stored. Suddenly Mike stopped and said, "Hi Mr. Wood." For about half a second I thought to myself, "Yeah right." Then out of the darkness I see a shadowy form step up and proudly yell, "Hello gentlemen." My heart just about stopped. Before Ron could finish his line of "I didn't do anything" Wood continued with, "You boys have caused $5000 - $8000 damage here." Now I'd spent my entire childhood getting into trouble. But I knew this was trouble was to a new degree. I blacked out. Seriously, the next couple of minutes are a total blank. Apparently Wood lead the four of us up to the second floor and separated us. The next thing I remember was sitting in the guidance office. I sat alone and was beside myself, almost in tears. Mr. Boehlke came by at one point and tried to console me. I was choked up and could barely speak. It wasn't pretty.
Apparently Mr. Wood spoke to each one of us separately. He even spoke to people like Lenny Lewis and Mike Clarksen. He took "depositions" from all of them. I was the last one he spoke with. About 90 minutes had passed. And by that time, I had regained my composure and was ready for a fight. He sat me down in his office. The initial conversation went like this:
WOOD: "Spit!"
ME: "What?"
WOOD: (Louder) "Spit!"
ME: "What are you talking about?"
WOOD: (Loudest) "SPIT!"
I had never seen Wood this angry before. His face was a solid red. He was a tomato with hair. Thankfully I'd spent many times in his office in the past. And his intimidation skills were lost on me. I was immune to him by now. Anyway, he went off on me demanding to know what I had done. I stuck to my guns and said I was innocent. He then read me the depositions of the others. They all read pretty similar.
"Burt and Mike took down the ceiling tiles and ripped the stage curtain) (Ron's)
"Burt, Ron and myself took down the ceiling tiles and ripped the stage curtain) (Mike's)
He asked how I could explain those remarks. I told him point blank that he probably scared them into saying something that wasn't true. That made Wood even more furious. After maybe 10 minutes, he realized he wasn't going to get anywhere with me, then screamed, "Get back down to the guidance office!" I was pleased with my performance. But I was pissed at what Ron and Mike had allegedly said. When I got back to the guidance office Mr. Parkinson walked in and placed a phone call to someone. Whoever he was speaking with, he inquired about some microphones that he thought had been misplaced from the auditorium storage room. When it rains, it pours.
About an hour later, the three of us along with Kevin were reunited in Wood's office. This time a police officer was there. Mike was beyond depressed. He fully admitted to everything. Ron then did as well. I was so pissed at them. Honestly, they really had nothing on us. Had we all stuck to our guns, we'd have been free. But I knew I was sunk. Wood was screaming at the officer that since Ron and Mike had cooperated, they should be given special treatment. But I was to get no breaks. As if Wood had any power... Finally I followed suit. The one who was really pissed was Kevin. Save for the microphones, he was innocent. But it looked for awhile that he might take the fall for the vandalism as well. As we all stood up, he grabbed Mike, shoved him to the ground, and yelled, "Nice fuckin' job Zeman!" The cop didn't do anything.
Do you want to see the police report? Look below. At the time, I underlined a couple of things that were wrong. By the way, look at my birth date. I'll bet that I was the youngest member of the class of 1989. Click it to see the full-sized version.
All of our lockers were searched. And Wood recovered the stolen microphones.
Rumors must have spread through the school. Because between classes, wherever I was, I was getting a lot of curious looks. I was not enjoying the attention. By the time 7th hour began, Chip Pelnar came and brought me my books. I'd left them in Mrs. Fischer's french class during 4th hour, as our lunch break split it. Chip and I actually had 7th hour together - in Mrs. Fischer's class, for language. I know Chip wanted some inside information. But I wasn't able to tell him anything at that point. Finally at about 2:45, we were all free to go back to class. Boy did I get the stares when I entered Mrs. Fischer's room. In the interim, Wood called all of our parents and made them come down to the school, where he showed them the damage. When my mom came home, she just asked me why I had done what I did. I had no answer. I couldn't even look at her. It was not a good time. However, my mom saved us a lot of money. Wood had wanted the stage curtain replaced. My mom touched the fabric and accidentally put her finger right through it. The thing was about 50 years old, and was just about worthless. It was falling apart before we ever shredded it. She pointed out this fact to an obviously displeased Wood. And we only were charged the amount of what the curtain was worth at the time we shredded it - about $500.00. A new one would have cost thousands.
My mom was a social worker. So she dealt with the police and the court sytem on a daily basis. And she said that they could have gotten all of the charges thrown out, due to the fact that we were minors, and were never given the opportunity to consult with parents or attorneys before speaking to the police. So our admissions were invalid - from a legal standpoint. But we were guilty as sin. So she and my dad discussed it, and decided it would be good for me to be charged and pay it all back. Also, she informed me that Kevin Dehne was given a deal to "testify" (so to speak) against the three of us, in exchange for not being charged with theft for the microphones. He took the deal. But since we all admitted our guilt anyway, they didn't need him. I never held that against Kevin. That's just the nature of the game.
On Friday, our exploits made the papers. Below is the article from the Herald Times Reporter. Thankfully Mr. Wood pointed to where the tiles were located. Otherwise the readers would never be able to see them. (Yes, that's sarcasm). Click it to see the full-sized version.
In the end, the final tally came to $2133.33. So each of us had to pay $711.11. I also plead guilty to theft and paid a small fine - maybe $30.00. Being 14, I was forced to get a paper route. I'd always wanted one. But my parents wouldn't let me. Now they had no choice. And even though I was paying 75% of my earnings towards the restitution, between the remaining 25% and my allowance, I was rolling in dough. So I would always tell people that if I had the chance to do it all over again, I would.
I signed a consent degree, along with my parents, my social worker, and the judge. It spelled out the terms of my juvenile probation. You can see it below. Click it to see the full-sized version.
As a footnote to the tile incident I told some people that I was going to remove five more tiles just for the hell of it. I got sent to summer school that year. And sure enough, I did it. I also discovered one tile that didn't get counted. So in the end, a total of 759 tiles were removed. I also took one of the tiles home as a souvenier. I still have it.
After freshman year, Ron and I stayed cordial, to be sure. But we didn't hang out in any capacity. I think Ron's best friend was fellow graduate Brian Klein.
Ron had plans to go into the army after high school. It was all set. But he nearly didn't make it. In our last semster, I had Ron in Mrs. Kluczinski's composition class. For me, it was the fourth time I had her over the years. And it was the first class I ever passed with her! Ron wasn't so lucky. He was struggling. And he had failed. By failing, he wouldn't graduate - and wouldn't be able to enter the army. I happened to be in Mr. Boehlke's office the last week of school. When he left the room for a minute, I noticed a note on is desk that said "Ron Gretz - F in composition." I asked Ron about it. And he assured me that "Boehlke had fixed it." I don't what exaclty he did. But Ron graduated with us.
As far as I know, Ron did enter the army. But he didn't make a career of it. He was back in Two Rivers before too long. I ran into him from time to time at the video store. We never talked much. He had a scruffy beard and an infant. He also looked like he may have been kind of smelly. He ended up marrying a girl named Michelle. They eventually divorced. And she's been after him for child support. It looks like a second woman has also gone after Ron for child support. Last I knew, Ron was still living in Two Rivers.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 6:44 AM 7 comments
Monday, February 20, 2006
TROY MESSMAN
I had little contact with Troy in school. I think he may have frequented the special education classes. Was he at Clarke with us? I think so. At the very least, he was at Washington.
I remember Troy as being a thug. I believe he hung out with the headbangers and the smokers. He seemed to constantly be wearing a sweatshirt. And he always looked lke he was in a constant state of irritation - like there was a tiny man feverishly swinging a tiny hammer on his balls. He just looked mad. I don't know if he was capable of smiling.
In our freshman year however, Troy opened up a bit to me. When you ask? It was right after I got into trouble with the ceiling tiles incident. Troy seemed to appreciate the vandalism, and gave me a ton of respect. He asked me all kinds of questions and details about the events. From that point on, Troy never seemed grumpy towards me again. We weren't friends or anything. And we never really spoke. But there always seemd to be an underlying respect towards me.
I think Troy stayed in school through our junior year - or part of our junior year anyway. I don't think he was there at all for our senior year. And I know he didn't graduate with us.
I don't think I ran into Troy after high school. That seems odd, as I don't think he has ever left Two Rivers. In fact, I think he still lives in the same house he always did. To my knowledge, he's never married. What he does for a living is a mystery to me.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 9:35 AM 1 comments
UPDATE - MARK SCHREIBER
In my entry on Mark, I added a story about a urine-filled squirt gun.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 8:42 AM 0 comments
WYATT WOOD
Back in the day, I liked Wyatt. But I couldn't stand his father. I could write several paragraphs on the man who gave life to Wyatt. In fact, you can bet that I will in time. But for now, let's talk about his son.
I met Wyatt in 4th grade. We had Mrs. Schmidt together. On day one, when she went around introducing everyone to me, she accidentally called him "Woody."
At some point that year, Wyatt, Chris Storlie, myself and someone else who I can't recall performed some sort of skit together where we were pretending to drive down the road, drunk and cracking jokes. I wonder if that sort of act would be allowed today?
I don't think I had Wyatt in 5th grade. But I did have him in Ms. Hynek's reading class. About all I remember is that he and I were seated at the front table once. And for whatever reason, we got a serious attack of the giggles. It lasted a long time. Somehow we suppressed it enough to avoid Hynek's horrible wrath.
In the summer of 1982, I ran into Wyatt at the Family Swim Club. As it turned out, both of us were going to have Mrs. Casey together in 6th grade.
In Mrs. Casey's class, we were watching a film strip once. As was the norm, inevitably several students would grab a chair and move up closer. I was next to Wyatt. For some reason, one of us had a string that needed to be cut. Wyatt pulled from his pocket the largest knife I've ever seen. We both chuckled at this. That would probably have gotten him suspended, had it been discovered.
Near the end of 6th grade, we all spent a night at Camp Tapawingo. Each sixth grade class spent a different night. Our class was the last to go. I almost didn't get to go because of some trouble I got into. When I get to writing about Randy Ertman, I'll cover that. But nonetheless, I was able to go.
Late at night, as most people refused to go to sleep, I offered to run upstairs and steal some milks. Everyone was happy about that. I made Greg Flemal come with me. And the two of us pilfered several milks and brought them back down for the others. Mr. Burnstad most have overheard this. He came out of his private room, and bellowed into the darkness, "Where's the big Burt?" Greg of course had no repercussions. But I walked towards Burnstad's voice, and was met with a finger in the eye - accidentally of course. It was very dark. Burnstad threw me into a bunk and said, "Move out of there and your ass is grass!" The room was deadly silent from that point on. And everyone drifted to sleep - except me. Telling me not to move was practically an invitation for me to get up at least once. I waked over to where most of the others were sleeping. And there was Wyatt, on a lower bunk. My presence obviously woke him up. With the moonlight casting an eerie glow on me, Wyatt stared, was startled and said, "Who's there?" I responded, "You know who it is." Wyatt said, "No I don't." Then I walked away. The next morning, Wyatt was telling everyone that he'd seen a ghost or something. I of course chimed in and told him I'd seen it too. Over the years, I would occasionally bring this incident up to Wyatt. And the two of us would reminisce about the ghost we both saw. Finally in our junior year, I admitted to him that it was me. But despite my admition, Wyatt refused to believe me! He insisted that whoever he saw was glowing. I asked him if he found it odd that I was the only other person who saw this "ghost" and brought up the incident every once in awhile. But he still wouldn't believe me. Wyatt, if you're out there, it really was me. Sorry.
Wyatt was one of the guys that I had every single class together with in 7th grade. Near the beginning of the year, in Mrs. Westburg's chorus class, I was seated next to Wyatt. Westburg was going up and down the class, making everyone sing something solo, so she could position us in the room accordingly by our voices. She remembered Wyatt from the year before, and was familiar with his vocal tones. So she had something specific she wanted him to do. But Wyatt couldn't do it. His voice was cracking. Picture Peter Brady singing "When it's time to change, you've got to rearrange." Wyatt had obviously gotten pubes since the previous year, and his voice was deeper. Westburg kind of smiled to herself, but didn't say anything.
In high school, Wyatt and I shared homeroom all four years. He and I always got along. Wyatt was well-liked by all. And he treated nearly everyone with equal respect, regardless of social status.
In our freshman year, we were handed ballots to vote for class president, vice president and treasurer (I think). There were only two people running on each. The three big names for each position were Josie Scott, Julie Scott and Paula Jonas. People were saying, "We'll have dances every week." As if they had that power anyway. Wyatt was the only non-girl running, as he was up against Julie for vice president. Based on his being a male, I figured he was a shoo-in to win. And he did.
In our junior year, I had Wyatt in Ms. Neveau's speech class. Every Friday, we would have basically a free day, where each student would take turns, pick a topic, then lead a discussion with the class. I think Wyatt's topic was teen pregnancy. We happened to have Keith Welnicke in that class. At the time, Keith was an expectant father. Keith had mentioned that Mr. Wood had approcahed him, grilling him about the specifics regarding the alleged pregnancy. Keith refused to tell him anything. Wyatt sided with his dad. And the two of them verbally went at it in class. Wyatt maintained that the school needed the information for insurance issues. Keith maintained that it was none of his business, and that he should ask his girlfriend - class of 1990's Dawn Love. It was a great exchange. At one point, Wyatt yelled, "He doesn't fuckin' listen." Neveau let the comment ride. For the record, I sided with Keith on this one.
At one point in high school, I asked Wyatt if it bothered him that everyone hated his dad. He kind of laughed at me. But I don't think he appreciated the question.
If memory serves, during our senior year, he may have gone out with class of 1990's Pam Schmidt - sister of Amy.
I also recall during our senior year, Wyatt was talking to Angie Owens and perhaps Brad Strouf in Mr. Kakuk's psychology class. Wyatt was talking about bringing a bottle of peppermint schnappes to some sort of bonfire party they were going to have in someone's backyard.
As a senior, I did everything I could to avoid Mr. Rusch's consumer economics class. I often missed tests. So I'd have to leave the room to take them in the guidance office. Wyatt would always loan me his notes from the class, which I took with me to the guidance office when I took the test. It really helped. I ended up getting a "D" for the semester. But it was a required class to graduate. And I had it in the last semester of our senior year. So Wyatt may have helped me graduate. Thanks Wyatt!
After high school, I believe Wyatt attended UW Eau Claire. Beyond that, you've got me. However, I think he may live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area today. It looks like he may have been married to a woman named Lisa. But they may be divorced now. He appears to be the director of sales for some company in Minneapolis that specializes in information technology.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 8:07 AM 0 comments
JILL GRENIER
I met Jill in 4th grade. We had Mrs. Schmidt together. We never got along. That never changed.
From day one, Jill had a distincitve feature - she was a giant. She was about eight feet tall in grade school. So she was always looking down on everyone - in every way.
As far as I'm concerned, Jill was a bitch. She thought she was better than everyone else. And she was really snotty. Seriously, she always seemed to be annoyed. I couldn't stand her.
Over the years, our paths rarely crossed. I think I had her in one of Mrs. Kluczinski's classes in high school. Two of my favorite people... I think they got along swimingly. Swell.
As we progressed through high school, Jill apparently got into modeling work. She certainly had the figure of a supermodel. She was very tall, very skinny, and had no chest. She apparently had a portfolio and everything. But from my point of view, she would never make it as a model. Why? Because she lacked one important aspect - looks. I thought Jill was butt ugly. And there's nothing worse than a butt ugly, holier than though type who unjustifiably thinks she's better than everyone else. Yuck!
Perhaps her overall attitude contributed to her ugliness. I don't know. But I saw nothing good.
Anyway, although I think she had dreams of being a model, she instead got a job working at Prange Way. To the best of my knowledge, she never attended college. And I don't think she's ever left the Manitowoc/Two Rivers area. Although I don't think she's ever gotten married, I think she does have a daughter. Today I believe she works at a factory, and lives in Two Rivers.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:08 AM 1 comments
TROY GREENWOOD
I think Troy joined us at Clarke. Troy seemed like a tough kid. But there was a friendly guy beneath that tough exterior. He was certainly a lot more personable than some of his peers.
About the only real memory I have of Troy was from Thursday, May 22nd, 1986. This was the day after I had been caught in the ceiling tile scandal. I was in the process of locking my bike up, when Troy looked down from a second floor window. I think he had Ms. Sapa's class for homeroom. He asked me if I could loan him $5000.00. But then he said, "Oh wait, nevermind." He was of course alluding to the fact that even if I'd had the money, it'd be going towards repairs. Funny guy that Troy.
I ran into Troy many times at the video store. He always remained cordial. To my knowledge, he has never left Two Rivers. I don't think he's ever gotten married. But he has been arrested four times for drunk driving. Today I believe he lives with his sister, class of 1986's Brenda Greenwood. He may work for Eck Industries.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 6:57 AM 1 comments
Saturday, February 18, 2006
UPDATE - JEREMY KARMAN, MARK GORDON & JEN ANDERSEN
Jeremy has signed on and has left some comments in his entry. Welcome Jeremy. It's great having you here.
Also, Mark Gordon has stopped by. He's E-mailed me some pictures to - which are now up.
There are also some recent photos of Jen Andersen up as well.
Enjoy!
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 3:16 PM 3 comments
Friday, February 17, 2006
BECKY KOEPPEL
I first met Becky in Ms. Krause's 5th grade class. Becky was taller than most everyone - including the guys.
My only memory of her from that year was when the class was talking about a possible skit or something involving playing the parts of food or condiments. Ms. Krause suggested that Becky play the part of a vegetable. Ken Bartz then proclaimed, "She looks like a vegetable." The class laughed. Ms. Krause smiled, paused a bit, then said, "I don't think that's funny." In Ken's defense, I don't think he meant anything negative by it. Becky had curly hair. And to be honest, I always thought she kind of reminded me of a carrot.
At Clarke, I know I had Becky in some classes. I think we had every class together in 7th grade. In fact, if memory serves, Jenny Malley told me that she and Becky were on the basketball team. And Becky used to fool around in the locker room after showering, flashing her butt, saying "This butt's for you."
In 8th grade, Becky got contact lenses. I remember her having to leave Mr. Monka's class one day, because she was having problems with one of them. I've had Lasik recently. I don't miss the days of contacts.
In high school, Becky excelled at sports - volleyball, basketball, softball, just about any ball she touched. She was the female sports superstar.
Becky was one of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet. I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who didn't like her.
In our junior year, Richard and I decided to thumb our nose at the school by playing cards during a pep rally. I brought a deck from home. We positioned ourselves right in the middle between the juniors and the seniors, so everyone could see what we were doing. Dave Svatek and a giggly Brandon Podhola also joined us. As we started, an irritated Becky came over and asked us to move out of sight, if we truly were going to play. We declined.
To my knowledge, Becky's long time best friend was fellow graduate Brenda Dax.
After high school, I believe Becky went to St. Norbert's, where she continued to excell in sports, even setting some softball pitching records. Eventually she got married and became Becky Lueck. I think she has at least two kids. Last I knew, she was living in the Green Bay area.
UPDATE - 4/10/06 - Cindy Rohrer sent me the picture below of Becky and Brenda Dax. I believe that's Tammy Franzen in the background. This was from 1989.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 9:56 AM 4 comments
CATHERINE MUSHERO
Who? Good question.
This chick is in our senior yearbook. I think I had her in Mrs. Kluczinski's class in the first semester of that year. Other than that, I have not one single memory of her.
I must admit defeat on this one. My people finding skills have been no match for the mysterious Ms. Mushero. I can't even find a single listing in the entire United States for a girl with that name - ever!
Who the hell is she? Where is she? I'm clueless. Her parents names may have been Rod and Sandy. There is a Rod Mushero in Kewaunee. On a whim, I called it and asked for Catherine. A woman said there was no one by that name. She then put me on hold for about 30 seconds, came back, and again repeated that "There is no Catherine." Seems sort of fishy to me. There is a very slight possibility that she may have gotten married and become Catherine Granger. But that's a shot in the dark.
I'm lost on this one. If anyone knows anything at all, let's hear it.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 8:16 AM 3 comments
SHANE PETERSON
I first got to know Shane in 5th grade. We shared Ms. Krause together.
Shane was pretty much liked by all. He was part of the whole football card trading crew that was in that class. Other members included myself, Andy Reinhart, Jason Anderson and Dean Lichterman. Shane was obsessed with the Dallas Cowboys. He stated time and again that when he was older, he was going to move to Dallas.
At Magee, there were various display cases scattered around the school. The school would let students decorate them from time to time. Some really cool stuff was sometimes placed in them. Someone once created a Star Wars display with various Star Wars toys. That was cool. Shane got the opportunity to do one once. Of course his choice was an homage to the Dallas Cowboys. In fact, he even had a poster of the Dallas Cowby cheerleaders that all of us boys fawned over. One of the cheerleaders appeared to have her hand slighly embedded in the back of her shorts. We liked that.
If I'm not mistaken, Shane and I spent 6th grade together with Mrs. Casey. Although I have no memories of him in there. So maybe I'm wrong about that.
In 7th grade, when Tom Grassman and I trashed the music room, we were witnessed by Shane and Nick Novachek. See my Tom entry for details of that event. Both Nick and Shane were amused, and supported our actions.
In 8th grade, I had Shane in Mr. Swokowski's art class. Two things come to mind. At some point that year, Sammy Hagar's "I Can't Drive 55" was climbing the charts. And one day everyone seemed to be singing it - only changing "55" to much higher speeds - 85, 95, 105... whatever. Then Shane piped in with his rendition, singing "I can't drive" - and leaving it at that. No license you see. Pretty funny.
Later on that year, the class started to get a little loud at some point. Swokowski had a few things he would say in times like that. But on this day, Shane beat him to the punch. Shane Belted out, "People!" Then a minute or two later, he followed with, "I tell ya what, people" - in perfect Swokowski drawl. It was very funny to everyone but Swokowski, who chided him for mocking him.
If I'm not mistaken, during our freshman year, Shane broke his leg or something.
I honestly don't recall having Shane in any classes in high school. He and I didn't associate. Although he seemed to be a decent enough guy. I think Shane was a member of the basketball team. I could be wrong about this, but I think for a time he dated class of 1990's Tina Kust. I think he also still hung around with Nick Novachek. lastly, I believe he drove a black Volkswagon Beetle.
I have no clue if Shane ever went onto college somewhere. For a time, he worked at Mirro. He eventually married class of 1993's Jennifer Mittag. They divorced in 2000. To my knowledge, they did not have any children together. He then married class of 1992's Gwen Gates. Today I believe they live in Sturgeon Bay.
UPDATE - A few hours after posting this entry, I got an E-mail from Shane. If it is in fact him, he apparently was alerted to this blog by a former classmate. Anyway, he sent me the image below. He has some sort of website that he's created. And he drew a picture of himself for it. He's apparently still rooting for the Cowboys. Note the Roy Williams jersey. Nice to see you Shane. Click it to see it larger.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:22 AM 4 comments
Thursday, February 16, 2006
UPDATE - JEREMY KARMAN
Some people have asked, "Where's Jeremy?" Well, I can tell you that I looked him up and called him. He was as nice as ever. He was unaware of this blog. But he knows now. He promised to stop by and leave some comments. I for one look forward to it.
Welcome aboard Jeremy.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:40 PM 3 comments
ANN RANK
Ann Rank is someone I first came in contact with at Clarke. We may have shared Mrs. Casey's 6th grade class together. I think we did. If not, we definitely shared every single class together in 7th grade.
A few memories come to mind. The first big one was in 7th grade. In Mrs. Westburg's chorus class, we all had to participate in a musical play called "Teen." I could never keep myself in class long enough to earn a role. So I was relegated to just the chorus. "Starting in green. I can't imagine me, being a teen." Anyway, Ann got one of the roles. And she had to sing a song by herself. I don't remember the title of it. But one of the lyrics was "It's all right to cry." And for the weeks leading up to it, we sang these songs every single day in class. Ann had to do her solo as well. And for whatever reason, when it came to the lyric of "cry" her voice would crack - horribly. The funny thing was, the note wasn't difficult at all. But for whatever reason, her voice simply couldn't reach it. I felt sorry for her. Everyday, for weeks, she would try to belt it out, and would just crack at that lyric. It wasn't just a small crack either. This was a big, big voice crack.
I was eager to see if she would be able to pull off the note once it came time to perform the play. The first performance was for the students one afternoon. Unfortunately, myself, along with Doug Wall and B.J. Lutterman got in trouble, and spent most of the play in Mr. Vogt's office. So to this day, I don't know if she ever nailed that note.
Our paths never crossed much in high school. But I do have a visual memory of her in Mr. Hensel's class, senior year. Hensel went off on some sort of tirade, (no doubt brought on by the mashed potatoes and gravy in our heads) and got really animated, flopping his arms and legs around like a baboon. Ann turned to her left and did her best to contain her giggling - which was justified. I too was doing my best not to lose it. Ann's reaction wasn't helping me any.
At some point in high school, Ann started going out with fellow graduate Mike Polich.
I recall sitting in Mrs. Kluczinski's class in our senior year. She would make us keep a journal of some sort - a diary or whatever. We were required to write at least one page for every day of the semester. She collected them at the end of the semester to grade them. Now, she insisted that she never read them. She just wanted to make sure we had enough pages for each day. Why she couldn't count them at our desk is a mystery to me. Whatever. I know damn well she read them. Bitch. How do I know? Two reasons. For one, I tended to fill my journal with song lyrics and vile poetry. Many days I just wasted space so as to get a full page. She gave me a "C" on it. What the fuck??? I had more than enough pages in that damn thing. The only way she could downgrade me was for the content - or lack thereof. Bitch! Anyway, for some reason, though she was not a member of that particular class, Ann Rank's name was mentioned by someone. Greg Pagel than commented, "I read her journal once. She's not the little miss innocent people might think she is." Mrs. Kluczinski laughed. She then said, "I remember her journal" - with a big emphasis on the "I." So how the hell would she remember her journal, if she didn't read the damn things? Yeah... right. Bitch. That fuckin' bitch failed me three times over the years. But I digress.
I ran into Ann just once after high school. It was the spring of 1994. I came to work at the video store, and my boss asked me if I knew someone named Ann Rank. Apparently she was looking for me. Huh? Sure enough, about an hour later, Ann showed up to personally hand me an invitation to our fifth year high school reunion. I thanked her, but didn't go.
After high school, Ann and Mike eventually married. I believe they have three kids. I don't know if she ever went onto school somewhere. Last I knew, she was working for a dentist, and still ived in the Manitowoc/Two Rivers area.
UPDATE - 11/13/06 - On Saturday, July 15th, 2006, Kevin Denhe and I stopped by the home of Ann and Mike. Unfortunately, they weren't home. However, on August 12th, 2006, when we took our second trip to Two Rivers, we caught them - barely. We had caught them moments after returning from a camping trip. They were still unpacking their vehicle. Feminine vanity showed its face again, as Ann mentioned that she hadn't showered or anything. But she of course posed for pictures. She gave us a each a soda as well. She offered me a wine cooler. But I had to pass, as one drink can make my head start to buzz a bit. So I drank a Sunkist. Ann let me use her bathroom. Of course as she let me in, she said, "Ignore the mess. We just got home." I of course said, "Everyone's home is messy when they're not expecting company." Of course when I walked in, I said, "Oh, I take it back. This is really messy." Ha ha! It's a laugh-a-line with me. Anyway, I filtered out Phil Rohrer's Mello Yello and the Sunkist, the joined Kevin in the car. Before we left, Ann gave us each a hug. As I said to her, "That's our first public hug." Mike and Ann had mentioned that Mark Gordon was at his parents' house - which was a block away. So we decided to stop by.
UPDATE - 11/15/06 - Here's a video from August 12th, 2006. Rumor has it that Ann isn't happy with the way she looked in the photos. But come one! She looks fine. Besides, as she mentions, they had literally just returned from a week of camping - well, five days anyway.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:41 AM 12 comments
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
CHRIS THEE
Chris Thee was around at Magee, Clarke and Washington.
Prior to high school, I have few memories of him. Although Meff once told me that in 5th grade, he and Chris used to run down the hall after lunch, jump at the end, and touch the exit sign. One day, for whatever reason (perhaps a sixth sense) Meff decided not to take that leap. But Chris did. On his way down, he ended up tackling Mrs. Maki - who had just walked around the corner. They came down in a heap together. Maki was fuming - and possibly swearing. Her glasses may have broke. At some point in high school, I asked Chris about that incident. He started smiling before I'd even finished telling the story.
Chris was affectionately known as "Kiffie." I was told that he was called that due to the fact that there was another Chris (Chris Lohr) in the same grade. I don't know if that's true however.
Meff told me that he, Greg Pagel and Chris all had a piano recital together, sometime during the Clarke years. At one point, Chris disappeared. According to Meff, Greg opened a door, burst out laughing, then closed it again. According to Meff, Greg saw Chris "fucking under a piano" - allegedly Chris' first time. Again, according to Meff, Chris was silent the entire car ride home.
In high school, Chris had a reputation of being somewhat of a casanova. He sat next to Richard and I in homeroom. He would often talk about some bizarre stories he'd lived - women, drugs, slurping (yes, slurping) a wad of cocaine... He seemed to lead an interesting life. Hell, most of it was probably true.
Looking back on Chris, I think one could label him as being metrosexual. He seemed to dress impeccable, and was always perfectly groomed. Personally, he kind of looked like a vampire to me. But that's just me.
In our junior year, Chris showed me a Valentine's card that fellow graduate Trina Taddy had given him. It was done in Spanish. As it turned out, Chris had not done an assignment in Spanish class that required him to make something. So he signed his name on the front of the card, and turned it in for a grade! He was quite impressed with himself for that. I thought it was cool too. I must have known I was going to do a class blog 20 years later. So I asked him if I could have it. He complied. You can see it below. Click it to make it bigger.
Chris had an older sister - class of 1987's Joanna Thee - one of the scariest senior pictures I've ever seen!
According to Meff, Chris' house had several secret passages behind the walls.
I'd heard that Chris was once arrested for stealing a car. Somewhere else in this blog, Drew Konop mentioned stealing a car with Chris. Is this the same event? Or did Chris perhaps steal cars for joyrides on more than one occasion?
What became of Chris after high school? I don't know. I don't think he ever went onto school. But don't quote me on that. I also don't think he ever married. It looks like most of his time has been spent in Door County. He's had a few run-ins with the law, including being cited for paraphernalia. He also got sued by Discover Card. But that lawsuit was dismissed when a resident at Chris' address told the process server that Chris had moved to Vermont - which by the way appears to be total bullshit. Today, it looks like Chris has recently relocated to the state of Washington, perhaps living with an older woman.
UPDATE - 8/30/06 - I have heard from Chris. He now lives on Orcas Island, which is in the middle of a group of islands off the northwest shore of the state of Washington. He works as a chef at the Rosario Resort & Spa. He has given me permission to share his E-mail address. So if you care to write to him, feel free to do so at cthee1111@yahoo.com.
UPDATE - 12/15/06 - Rumor has it that Chris very recently got married. I haven't been able to confirm that though. Also, I have an anonymous comment about him. Well, it's not really anonymous. It comes from Dave Svatek. Here it is.
"I was just looking at Chris Thee. My funniest memory of him was freshman year in Algebra. He sat in front of me and started falling asleep. I just happened to have my pencil pointed upright (eraser down). His head fell back right onto my pencil. He lifted his head up and the pencil went with him. I still laugh to this day."
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:01 PM 13 comments
MARKUS PETKEVICIUS
I first met Markus in 6th grade. We had Mrs. Casey's class together. I liked him. I think most people did. He was good natured and was generally fun to be around.
Markus had a magic trick he could do, that involved making a penny disappear. It was actually very cool. But he would only do it once at a time - obviously to prevent people from figuring out how he did it.
After 6th grade, Markus and I had little contact with each other.
One of the funniest things was when Ms. Koeppe made her morning announcements, and had to call Markus's name for some reason. Hearing her struggle was a blast. "Would Markus Pet-ka-vee-see-us please come to the office."
I remember sitting next to Markus in the high school's computer lab one day. For whatever reason, he could not stop using the word "bogus." Everything - seriously, EVERYTHING was bogus. Not a sentence came from his mouth without the use of the word.
By the time we graudated, Markus had let his hair grow very long. I think he had a moustache as well. Actually, he looked like one of the Doobie Brothers - or even an early 1980's gay porn star.
Markus' senior sweatshirt was adorned with the word "Vytautaus." Apparently there was an explanation as to what the hell that meant. But I wasn't privy to it.
I believe Markus's friends were people like Mike "call me Bruce/don't call me Bruce" Schroeder and Scott Stephens.
After high school, Markus had planned to get involved in broadcasting - perhaps TV or radio. He certainly looked like a DJ. I don't know if he ever fulfilled those dreams though. I do know that he has had a few minor skirmishes with the law - once for possession of THC. He's also gotten married, and has at least one child. Last I knew, he was stil living in the Manitowoc/Two Rivers area, where I believe he is working at a factory.
UPDATE - 7/20/06 - Markus is currently separated from his wife,and has been for about a year. He's now back living in Two Rivers. He recently broke his ankle. He said it was after a night of heavy drinking. On July 15th, Kevin Dehne and I stopped in to see him. The pictures are below.
UPDATE - 11/22/06 - Here is some video from that July 15th visit.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 8:19 AM 9 comments
CHRISTINE SOPPE
Chris Soppe is someone who I believe I first encountered at Clarke. We had little or no contact with each other. But I found her to be nice enough.
Chris wore glasses, and had a bit of a "brainy" look. But there was a certain prettiness to her as well.
In sophomore year, Chris and I found ourselves seated next to each other in Mr. Conrad's biology class. I think we were partners for the entire year. So we obviously had some contact with each other then. Although both of us were somewhat quiet. So there was never a lot of small talk. But I found Chris to be very friendly.
At some point that year, we had to dissect a frog. Being a typical girl, Chris was repulsed by this. Being the macho man that I of course was, it was my duty to do the dirty work. I put on a brave face. But inside, I was disgusted by it too. I can still smell that formaldehyde. Being a student who didn't give a rip about school, I was in an awkward position. Chris was an honor role student. And I didn't want to disappoint her. So I actually had to do some work in that class. And yes, I did all the cuts and snips on that poor dead frog. We did pretty good up until the time we had to find the frog's brain. I dug and dug in that head. But I swear, we were given a brainless frog. Either that, or I somehow ground up its brain in the digging process. Oh well. We ended up getting a B+ for our dissection. The lack of a brain on my (and the frog's) part cost us an A.
As mentioned in my Ben Franco post, he and Chris used to have a friendly rivalry with each other when it came to test and quiz scores. Believe it or not, Ben usually won. Chris was smart. But Ben had a knack for science.
Chris had a long time boyfriend throughout our high school years. I believe it was class of 1990's, David Yauger.
I'm not sure where Chris went after high school. But at some point in the early 1990's, my friend Dave happened to run into her. I believe she was working at a mall - perhaps in Fond Du Lac, perhaps at Prange Way. I think she told him that she was married with two kids. That's a fast worker!
I do know that Chris got married, and became Christine Walczak. It looks like their divorce was finalized in 1999. Since then, it appears as if she's remarried, and is now known as Christine Oasen. I believe she lives near Madison.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:00 AM 3 comments
MAGEE, 1ST GRADE
Greg Pagel has donated the picture below. This was three years before I moved to Two Rivers. So some of the photos are unrecognizable to me. Can anyone help identify everyone pictured below? I think I see Drew, Greg, Richard, Tom, Jenny, Carrie Franz, Randy, Bill Kaderabek (SP) Cindy Rohrer, Dave Kanera, Sandy, Jill Grenier, Jeremy... From left to right, let's identify. I need some help. To see the full version of the photo, just click it.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 6:26 AM 15 comments
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
UPDATE - JEFF GORDON & JENNIFER ANDERSEN
No sooner had I made an entry on Jeff Gordon, then he chimed in with his response. Seriously - less than 45 minutes after my post, he was here. I get the feeling he's been patiently waiting for my take on him. I wonder who else is lurking in the shadows?
Welcome Jeff. Nice to see you.
As for Jen, nothing to see yet. But she has promised to send me a recent pic of herself. Stay tuned.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 1:51 PM 3 comments
PAM SCHLEY
I first encountered Pam in 4th grade. We shared Mrs. Schmidt's class together. If memory serves, she was good friends with Amy Schmidt - no relation to the teacher.
At some point that year, the class got into groups and performed a bunch of skits. I distinctly remember that Pam performed a ballerina routine or something. She wore some sort of red, white and blue tutu. At this point in the year, I had been placed in the very front row, so Mrs. Schmidt could keep an eye on me. On this day, it gave me a front row seat to Pam's performance. And I remember looking at her and thinking, damn, this girl is hot! Well, that's probably not exactly the words that were in my mind at the time. But I do remember thinking she looked really good. It seems weird now. But my nine-year-old mind may have been having some impure thoughts that day - or whatever the 4th grade equivalent of impure thoughts would be.
Pam was one of the classmates who I shared every single class with in 7th grade. She was still hanging out with Amy Schimdt, and seemed to have little use for me.
In Mr. Longhini's class, we were initially seated alphabetical. Toby Schwartz sat right behind Pam. I sat to the left of both of them. At least once per day, Toby would reach forward and snap Pam's bra strap. We were amused by it. Then one day Brenda Dax got in trouble and was moved to the desk in front of mine. The next time Toby did it, Brenda yelled out, "Toby! He's pulling Pam's bra strap!" Mr Longhini gave Toby a stern warning. And Toby's bra-strapping days were over.
At some point, perhaps at Clarke, perhaps at Washington, Pam began to go out with class of 1988's Scott Langman. I never liked the guy. He seemed to be in a constant state of pissed-off.
As high school progressed, I think Pam's hair got shorter and shorter. Personally, I think she looked better when it was longer.
Pam had a younger sister, class of 1992's Cindy Schley.
After high school, Pam and Scott got married. If I'm not mistaken, they married not long after high school had ended. To my knowledge, they have two kids. Last I knew, they still lived in Two Rivers. I don't know if Pam works. But Scott is the captain of a fishing boat.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 1:00 PM 3 comments
JEFF GORDON
Jeff Gordon was a guy I first encountered at Clarke. But to be honest, I can't really picture him there. But I remember the name quite well.
In 7th grade, I was sitting in Mr. Longhini's math class during 5th hour. Jason Anderson was at the desk in front of me. Suddenly Ms. Koeppe made an annoucement of some sort, and Jeff Gordon's name was mentioned. Jason then quipped, "Jeff Gordon that bate."
Now, what exactly a "bate" is I still don't know to this day. But for whatever reason, that quote amused me. For the rest of the year, Jason and I would say that quote back and forth to each other on a daily basis. We would take turns. I'd say "Jeff." He'd say "Gor." I'd say "don." He'd say "that." Then we'd both say "bate" at the same time. Sometimes we "coughed" it instead of speaking it out loud.
What the hell is a bate????
My first real visual memories of Jeff are from sophomore year. He sat in front of Dave Svatek in Mr. Scriver's history class. I sat to their right. Dave and Jeff had a mutual interest in skiing. I had no mutual interest with either of them. Although Jeff was one of the few students that I was actually taller than. Anyway, as the year progressed, the three of us often engaged in conversations with each other. I ended up liking both of them.
At some point that year, Jeff asked if I would make a copy of the film "Hot Dog: The Movie" for him. No problem. He brought me a tape. I taped it and gave it to him the next day. I remember him saying that he was going to watch the film as soon as he got home, so he could get "pumped up" for some skiing trip he had planned the next day or something.
I can't say that Jeff and I were ever friends. But we were certainly on friendly terms with one another. I know I made him laugh on occasion. But I'd guess that some of those times he was laughing at me, and not with me. But a laugh is a laugh. Who cares.
I don't know what year it was. I suspect it was our sophomore year again. But I have a vague memory of riding my bike over to his house to drop off yet another tape to him. I don't recall what it was. But it's possible it was some porno films. I think I'd forgotten to take it to school, and felt guilty about it, and made a special trip to drop it off to him personally. Jeff lived by Magee, right across from Uni Mart.
At some point in high school, Jeff started going out with fellow graduate Brenda Gordon.
I ran into Jeff a couple of times after high school. He went onto school, possibly to UW Milwaukee, to become an engineer - the good money kind, not the choo choo kind. Jeff and Brenda continued their high school romance all the way to the altar, getting married in July, 1994. Today they live in Two Rivers along with their two sons. I believe Jeff works in Manitowoc, as an engineer.
UPDATE - 2/16/06 - The Gordon's have sent their recent Christmas photo. Thanks guys. Click it for the full-sized version.
UPDATE - 4/27/06 - I found a picture of Jeff online. It's from some golf outing in the last year or so.
UPDATE - 7/20/06 - On July 15th, Kevin Dehne and I stopped in to see Jeff and Brenda. Jeff was making a pizza. Their house is currently up for sale. Even though they'd spent three years at Clarke and two years at Washington together, Jeff had no recollection of Kevin. Before we left, we snapped the picture you see below.
UPDATE - 11/23/06 - Here is some video from that July 15th visit.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:30 PM 18 comments
JACQUELINE NIEDZIELSKI
Not much can I say about Jacquie. She and I coexisted through three years of Clark and four years of Washington.
About the only specific memory I can recall is that I had her in Mr. Monka's 8th grade social studies class. Mr. Monka was Polish - and damn proud of it. I believe Jacquie was too. So Monka would often make cracks about their shared heritage.
Jacquie seemed to be as happy as anyone you'd ever meet. She was always smiling. It was an endearing quality. To my knowledge, she didn't belong to any specific clique. She seemed to be accepted by just about everyone.
I ran into Jacquie many times at the video store. She got married and became Jacquie Daron. To the best of my knowledge, she and her husband still live in Two Rivers to this day. What she does for a living, and whether or not she has any children, I do not know.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:08 PM 2 comments
Monday, February 13, 2006
BECKY MONKA
Here she comes again. When she's dancing 'neath the starry sky...
Becky Monka is a girl that shared a close mutual friend with me in Dave Svatek. The relationships were quite different for obvious reasons. But despite the close proximity to one another, we really never engaged in much conversation.
I'm pretty sure Becky was with us at Clarke. I don't think she was at Magee however.
As stated earlier, my first memory of Becky was in freshman year, in Ms. Sapa's literature class. Two things stand out. For one, I think she kind of had the hots for Chip Pelnar. The second thing is that I once heard her comment "There's a lot of strange people in here." I think that comment was at least partially directed towards me.
I believe in Febraury of our senior year, my friend Dave went out with her. And they hit it off, quickly becoming a couple. Dave even mentioned to me at one point that he was "her first." I really wasn't interested to know such details. But now, 17 years later, it makes for an interesting anecdote.
Becky was friends with fellow graduate Brenda Gordon.
In our senior year, Becky had some sort of beefcake poster in her locker.
Near the end of the year, after some dance (prom?) Becky and Dave spent the night in a hotel near the end of Calumet Ave. in Manitowoc. They ate breakfast at the former Raodhouse Inn next door.
At some point in the summer of 1989, Dave told me point blank that Becky was "the one" and that he was planning on marrying her.
After high school, I believe she planned to go onto school in Minnesota, possibly to become an airline stewardess. Despite a recent comment by Brenda Gordon, I do believe that Becky DID in fact go onto college. But I don't think she was there long at all - perhaps days, perhaps a week or two. From what Dave told me, the two of them were miserable being apart from one another. She wanted to come home. And Dave did not discourage her. He made no apologies about it. He simply said that that was the way he felt. You can't blame him for that. But I often wondered how Becky's parents felt about the situation, as she did in fact come home.
I don't know how long their relationship lasted. But it may have been less than a year. They broke up at some point. And Dave took to whoring around a bit. Dave said that shortly after the breakup, Becky still came over from time to time to hang out with his parents. I did it myself on occasion. His parents were cool. So I can understand that. But Dave said he was uncomfortable with her visits.
In 1992, Dave and Becky hooked up once again. By this time, Becky was living just off of Washington Street in Manitowoc. She had an upper apartement with one of those ancient bathtubs that was up on four legs. You could fit a family of four in it - or perhaps one Miss Hynek. (The teacher) But I digress.
Dave had hinted that he might be moving in with Becky. But it was not to be. The reunion didn't last all that long. If I'm not mistaken, Dave broke up with her and started seeing his future wife immediately - perhaps on the same day.
I ran into Becky a few times at the video store. Eventually she got married and became Becky Thompson. I ran into her again at the 1995 wedding of Dave's sister Kelly. Dave introduced Becky to his then-fiance Jessica - who looked a bit uncomfortable, but was friendly nonetheless.
The last I knew, Becky was living in Manitowoc, working as a stay at home mom. I think she has two kids.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:14 PM 2 comments
TINA SHORT
I really don't have any memories of Tina until our junior year. She was with us for all four years of high school, and probably came to us from the catholic schools.
At some point she was going out with fellow graduate Randy Ertman - a guy who could scare the crap out of you with just a look. A friend of mine (class of 1990's Jason Krings) told me one day that he was going to go out with her. Apparently her romance with Randy had recently ended. My friend Dave kind of warned him not too. Like that was going to stop him. Anyway, the two hit it off, and stayed together for at least a couple of years - despite some initial threats from Randy.
Richard and I gave nicknames to a lot of people. Tina we dubbed "Satin." I don't know if she ever fully comprehended that. But Satin she was.
In our senior year, Tina, Jason and I sat together in Ms. Neveau's mass media class. We had a blast. There were tons of group projects and things. And we always teamed up. Jason and I also had a study hall together. We'd get a pass, go to the library, and do the newspaper's crossword puzzle. The fricken' thing was hard. I'm not sure where she came from, but Tina would sometimes find a way to join us. Well, join Jason actually.
Tina had a habit of petting my hair. She always said it felt like cat hair. Now, as hideous as my hair may have looked, I can assure you, it was always clean. My hair has always been somewhat thin and wavy. And yes, it does kind of feel like petting a cat. Tina seemed to dig it. I had no complaints. In fact, she even wrote a message in a book I brought to school one day. The message is scanned in below. I guess Jason was a fiend! Click it to see a larger version.
I don't know where Jason was. But Tina and I paired up to write a song in mass media one day. No, we weren't aspiring songwriters. It was in fact an assignment. It was entitled, "A Woman Is Only A Woman. But A Good Cigar Is A Smoke." Reading it now, it seems pretty cheesy. But at the time, we liked it. And hell, Ms. Neveau gave us 10 out of 10. You can see it below. Click it to see it bigger.
After high school, Tina went onto school somewhere. I know she was still with Jason for awhile anyway. Dave and I were at Jason's house one day the year after high school. And she called him while we were there. A few years later, I ran into Tina at UW Manitowoc, coming out of professor Emmett's office - who happens to be the coolest teacher I have ever had at any level. But I digress.
Finding information on Tina has proven to be quite difficult. She seems to have disappeared. However, I think at one point in the mid to late 1990's, she moved to Texas - possibly to attend Texas Tech. To my knowledge, she's never married. And I think she may now have moved to Florida. Based on some very recently obtained information, it seems like Tina enjoys running, and is actually in touch with several female members of my graduating class.
All in all, Tina was a really cool chick. I liked her a lot. She was fun, and had a great carefree attitude. If memory serves, her birthday is next month. So happy 35th Tina. Wherever she is, I wish her well.
UPDATE - 8/14/06 - Thanks to both Erin Hynek and Tina for providing this picture, and giving me the ok to post it. This was taken in September, 2005. In addition to Tina (on the left) you can also see Erin, Josie Scott, Paula Jonas and Lisa Koch.
UPDATE - 11/11/06 - Here's Tina from our senior video. Joining her is Pookie Bergeon.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 6:45 AM 17 comments
PAULA JONAS
The quickest way to get me to write about someone is for that person to come on my blog and post some comments. In honor of Paula's appearance, this is what I recall.
I first remember Paula in 7th grade. And it's an odd, ongoing memory. At some point that year, Paula decided that she was in love with me - or so she said. Granted, she wasn't serious, obviously. But nonetheless, whenever our paths crossed, she would declare her undying love for me. I have to wonder if she even remembers that. But it lasted for months. What was her motivation for it? I don't know. Was she egged on by a few select friends? I don't know. I kind of liked the attention. Although I was embarrassed by it too.
By 8th grade, all the love was gone. (Sigh) I had her in Mr. Stodola's math class. For whatever reason, one day I had the word "Borf" written on my paper. She walked by and said, "What's that... boy?" The attention-starved Dave Kanera then walked by and said something like, "Yeah, it's Boy Burt. He has to say that so he knows what sex he is." For several months, Dave and Paula referred to me as Boy Burt. Whatever.
I don't know which year it was. But I know it took place at Clarke. It was a Monday. We were in the hot lunch line near one another. And Paula had spent way too much time in the sun over the weekend. Her arms were burned as bad as I'd ever seen anyone's. Honestly, they were as red as tomatoes. You could tell she was in pain too.
In high school our paths didn't cross too much. Initially, I thought of her as being really snobby. However, from what I saw, she got much nicer with age. In fact, she was quite charming and friendly by the time high school ended. I found her to be very pleasant.
At some point during high school, she began to go out with class of 1990's Cory Shimulunas. I don't know if it's true or not. But in our senior year (I think) I heard that the two of them had some sort of argument and broke up - allegedly right before a big basketball game. And the basketball coach, Mr. Wegner was pissed at Paula for doing it at that time. So much drama! Did it happen? Who knows. But if it did, it obviously didn't last long. They must have made up. Because eventually they got married, and remain so to this day.
I ran into Paula and Cory hundreds of times at the video store. Both of them were as nice as could be, and were always smiling and happy. To this day, I believe they still live in Two Rivers. I think they have three children. Last I knew, Paula worked for Aurora.
UPDATE - 2/15/06 - Paula has provided a recent picture of her and her daughter. Thank you Paula! (Click it to get the full size).
UPDATE - 7/20/06 - On July 15th, Kevin Dehne and I stopped in to see Paula. We met her three kids as well. Although her husband was out of town at the time. We sat and talked (and gossiped) for maybe 25 minutes, and had two sodas as well. Before we left, we snapped the photo below.
UPDATE - 11/20/06 - Here's some video from that 7/15/06 visit.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 6:32 AM 17 comments
Friday, February 10, 2006
BETH KLEIN
This is a tough one. I got almost nothing on her.
If I'm not mistaken, Beth was with us for all four years. She was a big girl. She seemed like she was nice enough. I don't know if I ever spoke with her though.
From what I recall, she was somewhat of a quiet girl. She did appear on the senior video, and wished everone good luck.
After high school, your guess is as good as mine. It looks like she got married in the last five years or so, to a man about 15 years older than her. She's now known as Beth Czekala. I think she has at least one child. She currently lives in Manitowoc, within spitting distance of Roncalli High Scool.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 2:14 PM 1 comments
UPDATE - JULIE SCOTT
I've been a bit hard on the Scott girls. But hey, those were just my opinions from many years back. It's no reflection on who they may be today.
Anyway, I added a bried story about Julie getting a detention - perhaps the only one she ever had.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 1:47 PM 2 comments
ERIN HYNEK
In honor of Erin's appearance yesterday, here's what I remember about her.
My first memories of Erin are from Clarke Middle School. She may have been with us at Magee. But I don't recall. Quite honestly, I don't think our paths crossed until 8th grade.
I had her in first hour math class with Mr. Stodola. It also happened to be our homeroom. During the morning announcements (if any) Mr. Stodola would read off the names of anyone in his class that had an overdue library book. This would sometimes prove embarrassing to people, as he would also read the name of the book. Thus if you happened to be reading something that others might deem uncool or something, it could be embarrassing. Erin was in this situation once. I don't recall what the book was. It was probably no big deal at all. But once her name was read, Erin told Stodola that she knew what book it was, and that he didn't need to read it out loud. No sooner were the words out of her mouth, when he rattled off the title anyway.
Also in 8th grade, when Ms. Koeppe read the morning announcements over the loudspeakers, she would always end it with, "Will the following students please report to the office..." This was usually not a good omen. Surprisingly, Erin's name was called on occasion. But most of the time, it was in error. Because while we were in 8th grade, there was also a 6th grade male student named Aaron Hynek. Eventually Ms. Koeppe figured it out and would then say, "Aaron Hynek... the 6th grader."
In our freshman year, our school had at least three suicide attempts. One of them was successful. Suicide is contagious. When one does it, others inevitably try it as well. I think that school officials went into some sort of panic mode. At one point, a list of phone numbers was handed out to every student. We could call any of the numbers to speak with someone if we had any suicidal thoughts or something. The phone numbers were those of student volunteers. If I'm not mistaken, Erin was one of them.
See my Jason Anderson entry for a funny story involving Jason tying Erin's shoelace to her desk.
Throughout my childhood, I did a lot of bad things. I did a lot of strange things. I've grown up since then, and am a pretty decent citizen today. I've always maintained a strong belief that I should never have to apologize for anything that I may have done prior to adulthood. What's the point? I'm an adult now. Why should I apologize for something I may have done 20-25 years ago when I was a stupid kid?
There is one exception.
If you read my entry on Richard Wheeler, you'll see a detailed description of our mock suicide pact. Richard and I enjoyed playing with the heads of anyone we came in contact with. Like they say, it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt.
Erin went up to Richard one day and asked," You're not really going through with Burt's plan are you?" To which Richard blasted back, "Are you kidding? This is all my idea!" Erin walked away dejected. A few days after the suicide date, I'd heard that Erin had dedicated her entire creative writing packet that week to our suicide plan. I asked her to show it to me. She reluctantly did. Her words hit me like a bullet to the head (no pun intended). "They say he's the walrus. And the walrus means death..." Ms. Sapa sympathized with her in the notes she scratched on the pages. I felt like total shit. Richard and I never wanted to hurt anyone - least of all someone as nice as Erin. I was just stunned over her words, and sheepishly handed them back to her when I'd finished. I was too shocked to even tell her I was sorry. Although I didn't dwell on it, not apologizing to her bugged me for years.
In our senior year (I believe) Erin was elected queen of one of the various dances - prom or homecoming perhaps. Her king was Nick Novachek. I don't believe they were a couple though. Perhaps at that dance or a different one, Erin also helped out decorating the gym. She and her fellow classmates enjoyed the moment when it was all finished.
About two weeks before I started this blog, I happened to see Erin's name on CLASSMATES.COM. I siezed the moment, dropping her a line, and apologizing for the stupid event from December, 1987. She wrote me back, cheerful as ever, saying there was no need to apologize, and that she was very happy that it turned out to be a joke. Too cool Erin.
I ran into Erin many, many times at the video store. She remained friendly as always. I think she went onto school somewhere. Eventually she married, and is now known as Erin Meara. I believe she has three kids and a dog. Last I knew, she was working in some sort of medical field - perhaps in the area of hearing defects. She now lives in the St. Louis area.
UPDATE - 2/13/06 - Erin has joined the ranks of the brave souls who have sumbitted a photo. She gave me three. I chose the one with her and her daughters - presumably at Busch Stadium. Is it just me, or does she look exactly the same as she did 17 years ago? Remarkable. Thank you Erin.
UPDATE - 8/10/06 - Another recent picture of Erin can be seen below. It was taken in Colorado last month.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:47 PM 22 comments
JOSIE SCOTT
By request, here's what I remember about Josie.
Josie was the twin sister of fellow graduate Julie Scott. Although they were not identical twins. In fact, I personally didn't know she even existed until we were in 6th grade. But she did go to school at Magee. So how I didn't know about her is a mystery to me.
Josie is someone that I don't think I ever really had any meaningful contact with. We weren't in the same circles, to be sure. From what I saw, she seemed to carry herself with an air of superiority - like she thought she was better than a lot of the people on the lower end of the social scale - people like me. I loathed attitudes like that.
See my Jennifer Andersen post in the January archives for basically my only confrontation with her. It wasn't a positive one.
I don't recall any specific incidents with Josie. But I do know that on the rare occasions that we were both together at the same time (as in a group project or something on a given day) she seemed to have utter contempt for me. I couldn't joke around with her or anything. She was all business. And she had no time for me. Now if someone a little "higher up" wanted to joke around with, she was fine with that. To me, that's rude.
About the only other memory I have of her is from around 8th or 9th grade. She moved into an apartment building on Mishicot Road, right across the street from the cemetery. I had a friend who lived in the apartment right below theirs. For whatever reason, one night I decided to take all the garbage bags that were on the curb, and throw them in the street - in hopes that a car would run into them. Why? Who knows. Such is the senseless mind of a troublemaker. Some cars swerved through the maze. Some cars hit the trash dead on. The fun came to an end when I looked up in the window and saw Josie staring at me. I was sure that she would call the cops. If she did, I never knew about it. I simply left and went home.
Josie was heavily involved in school activites. I believe she was president of the student council (or whatever it was called) during our senior year. Hell, she was probably president all four years.
After high school, I can only assume that she went onto school somewhere. Eventually she married, and is now known as Josie Matuszak. I don't know if they've been blessed with children. But she appears to work for a credit union in Madison.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:04 PM 6 comments
Thursday, February 09, 2006
UPDATE - ERIN HYNEK & BRENDA GORDON
I haven't profiled her yet. But Erin Hynek has stopped by and commented within Greg Pagel's entry, and elsewhere. How she found my blog is a mystery to me. Welcome Erin! Nice to have you here. Please comment as often as you like.
Another creative writing class member - cool. Now all we need are Richard and Jeremy.
And also welcome Brenda Gordon who has come out of the shadows now that I've written about her. And she's offered some corrections on Pookie Bergeon and Sharla Peters. Nice to have you here Brenda.
On another note, the "non-divorce rate" has jumped to 71% now. Impressive!
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 2:23 PM 0 comments
JEFF REHRAUER
Jeff Rehrauer was nice guy. He was good-natured and always smiling. I believe he came from the catholic schools, as I never saw him prior to our freshman year.
Jeff was good friends (perhaps best friends) with my friend, Dave Svatek. I guess in a way, I sort of replaced Jeff in that department.
Our paths did cross quite a bit though. There were times when Dave would drive all of us home after school. In fact, I have a vague memory of briefly being in Jeff's house one night. I think he had an older brother and sister.
According to what fellow graduate Laura Fowler told me (well, a couple of us actually) she once gave Jeff a handjob - which may have been his first sexual experience. According to Laura, it was over very quickly. That's nothing to be ashamed of actually. My first time lasted about a minute.
Possibly in our sophomore or junior year, I believe Jeff became best friends with fellow graduate David Kanera. That's too bad. Jeff was a nice guy. I thought Dave was an ass.
According to my friend Dave, Jeff and Dave Kanera smoked a lot of pot - a LOT of pot. My friend Dave was turned off by this, and sort of gravitated away from Jeff's circle. Although I believe they were still on friendly terms. Again, according to my friend Dave, Jeff and Dave Kanera allegedly spent a weekend up north somewhere, and tried to see how much pot they could actually smoke. From what I was told, they then tried to either fix or do something to the dock - which they had difficulty with, due to excessive giggling.
As I recall, Jeff really enjoyed skiing, and often went on school-sanctioned trips.
After high school, I think Jeff went onto school - possibly in Oshkosh. I believe he married a woman named Nicole. They appear to still be married. But I don't know if they have any children. I have no idea what Jeff does for a living. But I believe his wife is a teacher in the West Bend area - where they currently reside.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 1:12 PM 2 comments
BRENDA GORDON
Brenda Gordon is someone I don't believe I had any contact with whatsoever - zilch, nada... nothing. Oh wait, I remember that she wore glasses.
I think she was there with me all four years of high school. I don't think she was at Clarke, which leads me to believe she was a product of the catholic schools.
At some point in high school, she began to go out with fellow graduate Jeff Gordon. Perhaps they met in homeroom. They no doubt shared homeroom for four years.
I believe Brenda was friends with fellow graduate Becky Monka. In fact, as I recall, the two of them were both going to go on to college in Minnesota - probably to be roommates. I assume Brenda went. But I don't think either one of them stayed in Minnesota for too long.
When my friend Dave reconnected with Becky in 1992, she was still friends with Brenda. I heard a voicemail she left on Becky's answering machine. In fact, Dave referred to her as an "airhead." But in Dave's defense, I think what he meant was that she was "book smart" - but a little ditzy as well. I don't know. I never knew her enough to judge. She seemed pleasant enough to me.
Eventually Brenda and Jeff got married. What's so cool is that she didn't even need to change her last name.
I don't recall if I ever ran into her at the video store. But I did run into Jeff once or twice over the years. I believe he mentioned that they were living in Cedarburg at the time. But since then, they have moved back to Two Rivers. They have at least two kids. And if I'm not mistaken, Brenda once worked at our old high school. I don't think she's there now though. But she may still be in the teaching field somewhere in the area.
As a last bit of trivia, I can say that I have been in her current residence on several occasions. That might shock her to know. But she shouldn't be. The house she and Jeff live in was in fact owned by the grandparents of my friend Meff (Jeff Messerman) - a regular contributor on this blog. Small world.
UPDATE - 2/16/06 - The Gordon's have sent a group photo of class of 1989 offspring. From left to right are the children of Jeff & Brenda Gordon, Paula Jonas, Erin Hynek, Paula Jonas, Jeff & Brenda Gordon, Lisa Koch, Lisa Koch, Paula Jonas, and Erin Hynek. Call them the class of 2013-2019. All is well, save for that Chicago Bears helmet. What the hell??? (Click it for a larger version).
UPDATE - 7/20/06 - On July 15th, Kevin Dehne and I stopped in to see Brenda and Jeff. We caught her just as she was leaving for an in-home party - candles or Mary Kay or something. It was the first time in my life that I'd ever spoken to her. A picture from that day is below.
UPDATE - 11/23/06 - Here is some video from that July 15th visit.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:05 AM 22 comments
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
UPDATE - RANDY KLEIN
No, he has not joined us. But there is a really cool comment that has now been left. Enjoy!
"Tommy" Grassman has invited others to E-mail him in his entry, and has made a Miss Hynek comment in Larry Daffner's entry.
Incidentally, up until about a week ago, the number of "profile views" this blog had was stuck on 20. It's now jumped to 225. I may have some anonymous people lurking... watching...
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 1:21 PM 3 comments
KEVIN MINKEL
Kevin joined us in 8th grade. Where he came from is a mystery. As I recall, two new students joined us that year. One was Jim Sanford. The other was Kevin. I liked one of them. I didn't like Jim.
Kevin was kind of a big guy - not overly fat mind you, just a tall, thick guy. He was a big fan of professional wrestling. He and I used to talk about the WWF - especially around the time of the first Wrestlemania, which took place in the spring of that year. Wrestling was such great campy fun back then. Roddy Piper was the man! Anyway, I digress.
I don't have much to say about Kevin. For the most part, he and I got along just fine. But we were never friends or anything.
In gym class, perhaps in our freshman year, I believe we were playing two-on-two basketball. I think my partner was Mark Schreiber. Kevin was partnered with Chuck Yauch. Mark and I were trying to be annoying as possible, cheating, running around while holding the ball... whatever. The more I think about it, it may have been Richard and I. If so, it was sophomore year. Anyway, Kevin and Chuck really got annoyed with us. So I guess we were happy.
One thing I cannot forget is something that happened in our freshman year. Kevin and I sat in study hall together. He sat directly across from me. One day he was talking to me, and I swear to God, his breath smelled like semen - freshly squeezed semen. It was so nasty! Of course being the super macho male that I was, I could never ever tell this story to anyone, for the reason of course that I would have no clue as to the odorous qualities of such a substance. Whatever... My inhibitions on such things have long since vanished. I can say it now. Yes, on that given day, Kevin's breath smelled like cum. How it got that way, I don't know. I don't think I care to know. But I doubt it got that way in the way that a pervert might think it did.
Kevin was sometimes referred to as "tinks" - which was actually short for "tinkle." I'd prefer "tinks." Although it is a clear violation of the rules of nicknaming.
In our sophomore year, I had Kevin in Mr. Conrad's biology class. One day Kevin's zipper was open. Ross Hofmann began to make a few jokes about not wanting to see Kevin's "big snake" come flying out. It was funny. Who knew that Ross had a sense of humor?
I ran into Kevin many times at the video store. He was always friendly. To my knowledge, Kevin has never left Two Rivers, and may presently work at Lakeside Foods. I don't think he's ever married.
UPDATE - 10/20/06 - Kevin's is a new daddy. According to the Herald Times Reporter, Kevin (who now lives in Manitowoc) and his wife Tina (apparently he did get married at some point) gave birth to a son on October 17th. The kid's name is Dulton Ray Charles Minkel. Wow.
UPDATE - 4/16/07 - Kevin Dehne found two pictures of Kevin. They date from sometime in the 1990's, probably at some party Kevin (Dehne) had. Kevin believes that the woman in the photo is the woman Kevin (Minkel) is now married to.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 11:54 AM 1 comments
STAN CONRAD
He was actually Stan Conrad Jr. His father taught biology at our high school. I had his dad as a sophomore - nice guy.
For the life of me, I don't recall where Stan came from. Was he at Magee? Was he at Clarke? I think yes to both. But I can't be sure.
I have very few memories of Stan. But I do recall something from our freshman year. He and I shared Mrs. Mull's study hall together. One day Mrs. Mull blew up at Stan and took something from him. Whatever it was, she found it disgusting. After stewing over it for a few minutes, she then yelled, "I think I should tell your father. That's what I think I should do. I'm gonna tell your father..." To this day, I have no clue what kind of object she confiscated from him. Does anyone know?
What I remember most about Stan was that in high school, he ended up having some really funky hair. I can't even begin to describe it.
Stan and I were never friends. But we seemed to get along well enough. As high school dragged on, he and I had some mutual friends. In fact, as a senior, class of 1990's Jason Krings invited me to go on some sort of camping trip with he and Stan, and a bunch of others. I ended up declining. When Jason got back, he said that Stan had done "quite well" with the ladies.
After high school, I think Stan went onto college somewhere. I don't believe I have ever run into him. However, I think he married a woman named Shawn, and moved to Arizona. Did Stan follow in his father's footsteps? I believe so. It looks like he's now a college professor.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 11:29 AM 4 comments
PHOTOS
Alright brave souls. I have produced my mug for this blog. I've also got photos of Brenda Dax, Larry Daffner, Tom Grassman, Lisa Koch, Jeremy Karman and Jenny Malley.
Let's see who you are today. Send an updated photo to me at WALRUS20000@YAHOO.COM
Brownie points and maybe a buck or two will be given to cute chicks with risque photos. (I'm a guy. I'm required to say that).
Let's see who we are today!
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 8:25 AM 0 comments
JOY HOLTZ
Reading Jason Anderson's apple throwing story reminded me of my own apple throwing incident - which has a Joy Holtz connection. So here it is.
Probably every high school has one - the girl with the bad reputation - the class slut, if you will. Whether justified or not, Joy Holtz was that girl. Obviously I have no way of knowing if her reputation was based on fact or fiction. It's probably not true at all. Whatever the case, that's what a lot of people thought about her.
My first memories of Joy are from 7th grade. We never shared any classes together. But Joy was well known. She had a mouth on her. She was brash and cocky, and got in as much trouble as any of the "bad" guys in school. While detention tended to be a "boys only" club, Joy would be in there with us just as much as anyone. She took the bus to school. Kevin Dehne took the bus as well. One day on the way to school, Joy nailed Kevin in the face with her lock. Kevin required stitches and missed two days of school.
I'm not sure when exactly it happened. But Meff told me that he and Tom Grassman were at the annual Snowfest in Two Rivers, and were riding on the ferris wheel. Joy was in the cart right behind them, apparently with her sister (Letty?) and their mother. The three of them were teasing Meff and Tom, saying stuff like, "You wanna fuck us?" Mother and daughters... can you imagine?
I had Joy in Mr. Stodola's math class in 8th grade. My only real memory of her (save for her loud mouth) was that she loved the song "We Are The World" - especially Cyndi Lauper's part.
In our freshman year, I found myself eating lunch in the basement with Mike Clarksen, Greg Flemal, B.J. Lutterman, and Kevin Dehne. We were "the lunch bunch." Anyway, Mike mentioned that he had been to a party recently and saw a guy come downstairs after being with Joy in some bedroom. The guy was allegedly dejected because "Joy didn't swallow cum anymore." Again, I have no idea if this alleged event ever took place. But Mike insisted that it did.
In our senior year, Joy and I actually formed a bond in Mr. Burns' business math class. In the 4th quarter of that year, the class spent the last several weeks on some sort of project where we learned about checkbooks and stuff. We had mock checkbooks and had to make withdrawls and payments. It was incredibly simplistic. But the class was filled with dregs. So that's what we did. Anyway, although it was simple, we had an enormous amount of busy work - tedious adding and subtracting and such. If you made a mistake somewhere, you might have to go way back and start over. And that would suck. Joy sat right next to me. She and I decided that we would both do our own thing, but compare numbers as we went along. Mr. Burns was ok with a little comparison between students. I caught Joy making some mistakes along the way. And in all fairness, she caught one or two that I made as well. So we worked well together.
Anyway, after our final exam in that class, Mr. Burns slipped her a note which said something like "You copied the entire assignment from Burt, didn't you?" Joy told me about this after the exam. Joy said she wrote him a page-long response ripping him for his accusations. I think he was humbled by it. Had he questioned me, I would have stuck up for her.
To my knowledge, that's the last time I ever saw Joy Holtz. She must ended up being a credit or two short. Because she technically graduated with the class of 1990. Later on, I think she may have gotten a job in some capacity at Holy Family Hospital in Manitowoc. Last I knew, she was married, and is now known as Joy Herrera. I believe she lives in Manitowoc to this day.
Which leads me to my apple story. I believe Joy had a little brother. His name was Ricky Holtz. Ricky was four or five years younger than me. At some point around 6th or 7th grade, he was friends with a neighborhood kid (and friend of mine) named Bobby Streu. Ricky had come over to show off his new puppy. They came over to my house. Bobby and I came up with a plan to throw an apple at a car. So we walked in the field behind my house, stopping in an empty space three houses down (where a house actually stands today). We saw a school bus - a perfect target. We threw our apples. Bobby's toss sailed over the bus (probably on purpose). Mine hit square on the window, breaking it. I must have really tossed that thing hard, as school bus windows are tough. The bus was empty. And it screeched to a halt right in front of Mr. Myers' house - which was actually right across the street from Brad Strouf's. We took off running. A few minutes later, the police were on the scene. And despite my stance that whenever ANYTHING happened in my neighborhood, the cops would pay me a vist, for whatever reason, this time, they didn't. I got away with it.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:18 AM 4 comments
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
JULIE SCOTT
I met Julie in 4th grade. We shared Mrs. Schmidt's class. At that time, her best friend appeared to be Pookie Bergeon.
Julie and I never got along all that much. But we weren't unfriendly either - for the most part. Julie had a twin sister named Josie - who I didn't even know existed until the 6th grade.
In 5th grade something happened to Julie that will forever be remembered as the start of something big. And when I say "something big" I'm of course referring to her chest. Yes, at a time when most girls weren't even wearing bras, Julie had a couple of mounds popping out. And they didn't stop popping until they were huge. Let's be honest. When you thought of Julie Scott, the first thing you thought of were those big boobs.
In 7th grade, my mom and I were taking a tae-kwon-do class at the YMCA. I saw Julie there sveral times. Apparently she liked to hang out there quite a bit.
Later on in 7th grade, Julie and someone else (perhaps Pam Schley?) got into a small bit of trouble in Mr. Wolff's gym class. They may have walked in late or something. He sent them to the office to get a tardy slip - which would result in a detention. A few minutes later, the two of them came back. When Wolff asked to see the slip, they responded by saying that Ms. Koeppe hadn't given them one - "Out of the kindness of her heart" - as Julie put it. Wolff wasn't going to be denied, prick that he was. He marched them both back down to the office and insisted that they each get a detention - which they did.
In freshman year, I sat next to her in Mr. Wheeler's science class. Once in awhile, she would criticize me for not taking notes. As if that were any of her business! She was the honor role student, not me. Leave me alone.
See my Jennifer Andersen entry for a description of a rather unfriendly encounter with Julie during the freshman year showing of Fletch.
To be honest I think Julie was more sought after because of her boobs. Richard used to say that she had an incredible rack, but that the face didn't match. I don't know if that's totally fair though. Julie wasn't a dog or anything.
As far as I'm concerned, in my experience, Julie was a little bitchy. If you were a friend of hers, I'm sorry. But she was not nice to me. She seemed to have utter contempt for me. In my opinion, she always carried herself like she thought she was better than everyone else around her.
After high school, I believe she went on to school somwhere. She got married, and is now known as Julie Moran. The last I knew, she was living in the Milwaukee area, and was working as some sort of pathologist in a local hospital.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 2:35 PM 3 comments
CHRIS STORLIE
The man of 1000 names.
I moved to Two Rivers in 4th grade. On my first or second day of school, I commented to someone that I thought Chris was a girl. But he wasn't. In fact, within a week or two of my arrival, Chris became my best friend. We had Mrs. Schmidt's class. At that time, his name was Chris Lohr.
Chris and I were partners in crime. Both of us ate hot lunch at school. At that time the price was 25 cents per day! Anyway, Chris and I used to make a habit of always throwing away our silverwear. One day, the janitor came into our class and showed us several pieces of silverwear that had gone through the incinerator. Blabbermouth Amy Schmidt cackled that Chris and I were to blame. She was right of course. But she had no proof.
Chris and I also used to like to take paper towels from the bathroom and flush as much as we could down the toilet. That too brought on some accusations, as plumbers had to be brought out more than once to fix the damage. We never got caught for that.
Chris used to walk home to my house after school - which was kind of odd, as he would then have to walk over a mile back to his house. He lived near Magee. I lived on the far north side. I can recall in December, 1980, constantly listening to the Beatles' "Rock & Roll Music" over and over again. We dug that tune!
In the summer of 1981, Chris and I went to see the film Raiders Of The Lost Ark. When we got back to his house, we were playing outside. I was climbing a tree, when I reached out and grabbed for a branch - but missed. I fell about 15 feet onto my back and head - knocking myself out cold. I came to a minute or two later. But I had a concussion. Prior to my fall, Randy Klein and a friend of his had stopped by on their bikes. As I lay there paralyzed and half conscious, I can hear Chris and Randy talking about some holes that Chris had dug. Meanwhile, Randy's friend is screaming at them for not paying any attention to me. What a couple of worms! Anyway, my dad came and took me to the hospital. In addition to the concussion, I had a sprained back, sprained ankle and sprained fingers. I "came out of it" at about 3:00 in the morning. The next day, as I had some sap on me, so I was given a sponge bath by two nurses. I fought like hell not to get an erection. But I think I had a half-loaf floting there. Imagine getting a sponge bath my two nubile young nurses, and being too young to know what to do about it. That was me.
Chris and I used to walk through the cemetery on the way home. We would raise hell wherever we could. We would swear at anybody we saw. One time some elderly man started chasing us. We easily got away.
At some point that year, Doug Wall joined our little circle. Now there were three hellraisers. Everyday we would walk home to my house to play Atari or whatever. This lasted through 4th and 5th grade. There was a new house that was being built nearby. The three of us used to crawl down into it and knock down the foundation every single day. We did this for about a week. Then one day the construction workers were hiding out in a truck, just waiting for us. When they popped out, Doug took off like a shot. But Chris just walked right over to them, and gave up. I was so pissed at him for that. I calmly walked home, knowing full well that Chris would give up my name to the cops - who came and visited my home a few hours later.
Chris would always maintain that his mom was a tyrant. I was over at his house one day and witnessed it firsthand. Chris' little brother Jonathan got in trouble, and got whipped with a belt. The poor guy was screaming. Chris and I sat in the living room while this was going on. Then Chris said that his mom was a witch. Unfortunately, she heard him. Then Chris got it with the belt as well. He was crying his eyes out.
In 5th grade, I believe Chris' mom remarried. And for a short time, he went by the name of Chris Sauer.
At some point in 5th grade, Chris and Doug began smoking. They were always trying to get me to smoke as well. But I had no interest, thank God. Eventually the peer pressure wore off, and they accepted my stance. Note to everyone - your friends WILL accept you, even if you choose not to take up smoking with them.
The two of them used to smoke in my garage. My garage was a great hangout. We had a bit of a clubhouse in there. Plus, I used a pick axe and smashed a hole into the roof, creating a way to get in and out. That hole lasted for several years, before my dad finally fixed it. Anyway, one day, for whatever reason, Chris and Doug decided to remove all their clothes. For the life of me, I couldn't tell you why. We were all kind of odd. But I dared them both to go onto the roof once they were naked. Much to my perverted pleasure, they did. Chris went so far as to jump off the roof, into my neighbor's garden. As it turned out, the neighbor was watching the whole thing from her kitchen window. Chris barrelled around the tree, back into my yard, laughing like a girl (a girl with a hard-on no less) saying, "The neighbor's in the window." Apparently this entire episode was also witnessed by a couple of giggly fellow graduates across the street, as well as another fellow graduate (Brian Belongia) across the field behind my house. My neighbor called the police. Chris and Doug were long gone when the cop arrived. But Brian and I told him where to find them. A few months later, our neighbors put up a giant wooden fence (that you couldn't even see though) between their yard and my driveway. I wonder why?
At some point in 6th grade, Chris and I started to grow apart for whatever reason. He was in the neighborhood some weekend, and the two of us started arguing about something. I was playing catch with my friend Bobby Streu. As Chris got on his bike and drove off, I whipped the baseball as hard as I could, nailing him square in the back. The next day in school he said some pretty nasty things to me. That was pretty much the end of our friendship. Although there was a day or two in 7th grade when Chris came over to my house after school.
At some point during 7th grade, I found myself kicked out of Mrs. Westburg's chorus class. Chris happened to be walking down the halls. I noticed that Jason Anderson had placed his math book on a shelf in the hallway leading into the music room. I gave Chris the book and told him to hide it. Chris took it and hid it in the janitor's room - just inside the door, up against the wall. I told Jason that Chris had taken his book. Jason was not pleased, and told some authority figure after class. So Chris, Doug Wall and I got called into the office at the start of sixth hour. Mr. Slattery made us "search" the area for the missing book. We even searched the janitor's office - where the book was in plain view. Somehow it wasn't in plain view to Slattery though. I fingered Chris. He fingered me. Doug fingered Chris. So Doug and I were free to go. About 15 minutes later, Jason's book magically appeared and was brought back to him.
Later on in 7th grade, Ms. Koeppe made a morning announcement warning the students about throwing pencils up into the ceiling. For L.B. Clarke students, she may as well have given us an open invitation to do it more. Between classes that very same day, Chris (who had his locker a few down from me, towards the library) faced me, was laughing hysterically, as he was wildly swinging his arms between his legs and torso several times, before flinging a pencil up into the ceiling. I was laughing my ass off - not so much at his antics, but because I was aware that Mr. Stodola was standing right behind him. I shit you not, Chris turned around after being confronted by Stodola, and said, "I didn't do anything!" As Stodola dragged him away, he looked at Chris in stunned disbelief that he could have said something like that.
I believe it was in 8th grade when Chris suddenly had a name change to Chris Storlie. By this time, he was hanging out with people like Randy Klein and Kurt Psenicka.
By high school, our friendship was completely done. Chris let his hair grow out so long that it looked like he had a lion's main going down his back. Richard and I used to mockingly refer to him as "Ringo" since he played drums in the band.
Chris moved to Manitowoc for his senior year. I would assume he graduated, as he was pretty smart. I really don't know much about him beyond that. However, I believe he attended UW Manitowoc, as he was a member of the Lakeshore Wind Ensemble - of which my parents are members of to this day. So I did run into Chris a few times. We never talked.
The last time I saw Chris, he was delivering a package to my parents' house. This was around 1991 or 1992. He was working for Fedex or UPS or something. Today he appears to be in Manitowoc, possibly married to a woman named Cathleen. And it also looks like he might now be going by the name of Chris Brooks.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 1:53 PM 2 comments
SHEILA ZACH
I must admit, when I first moved to Two Rivers in 4th grade, I had a crush on Sheila Zach.
One of my earliest memories of her is from 4th grade. We had Mrs. Schimdt's class together. Sometimes she would give us free time. And on occasion, we would play a game called 7-up. This involved everyone putting their heads down, but keeping a thumb up. Those four or five people who were "it" would walk around and pick someone's thumb to push down. When everyone had finished, the lucky ones who got their thumbs pushed would then have to guess which person did it. On this one day, I chose not to play. I just watched. Sheila sat right behind me. And a couple of times, I would psuh Sheila's thumb down, which created an odd number of people to guess, and realy confused the class. Eventually Mrs. Schmidt caught on and reprimanded me. Oh well, I had my fun.
Sheila was a small girl. If I were a betting man, I'd put her at 4'10.
Sheila was a very nice girl. She was always friendly to me. She didn't seem to belong to any particular clique. She just got along with pretty much everyone.
In our senior year, I had her in Mr. Burns' business math class. I was in that class because I was 1/2 a credit short on math, since I'd failed the second semester of algebra my freshman year. The class was full of rejects from mostly the class of 1990. But there I was. Mr. burns had to dumb down his lesson plans based on the quality of students. Needless to say, I aced that entire year. What Sheila was doing in there was a mystery to me. At one point she even asked me what I was doing in this class. She said, "You're smart." I told her that she was smart too - which she was. But she countered with, "Yeah, but you're smart smart." Maybe Sheila just had a problem with math.
Later in that year, Sheila was one of the students that got to go to Mexico with the Spanish class. I remember seeing a photo of her down there. She was lip-locked with some hottie muchacho.
Sheila's senior sweatshirt said "Shei-La-La."
I really don't know much about Sheila post high school. I do know that she got married and had at least one child. A few times in the last several years, unbeknownst to me, I actually lived within minutes of her. One time, I was a block away. Her married name was Sheila Kubichka. It looks like their divorce proceedings lasted 2.5 years, finally ending in 2003. It looks like Sheila has gone back to her last name of Zach.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:53 PM 3 comments
CLASS OF 1989 DIVORCE RATE
A few people have mentioned an alarming divorce rate amongst this class. However, upon closer inspection, it seems to be just the opposite.
My numbers might not be 100% accurate. But from what I believe I've gathered, there have been 45 people (that I've made an entry for) who have been married. Out of those, 14 have gotten divorced or are currently going through a divorce. While 31 remain married. That's a stunning success rate of 69%. Since the national divorce rate average is (I believe) just over 50%, I'd say our class is bucking the odds. It should also be pointed out that at least two of those 14 divorced people have remarried.
I don't know what that all means. But I just thought I'd share it with you.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:25 PM 0 comments
TIM KOESER
A couple of people have requested I write about Tim. So here you go.
I first met Tim in our freshman year. Tim hailed from Papua New Guinea. And he had arms the size of oak trees.
Tim was a cool dude and was pretty laid back. You could inevitably see him strolling the halls in one of his "Rude Dog" T-shirts. I liked him.
Tim was a member of the football team. He was quite a strong guy. In our senior video, he mentions that a friend of his told him to say that he had the strongest legs in the history of Washington High School. I'd be willing to bet that that friend Was Richard Wheeler. And Richard may have been right.
In our junior year, Richard told me that Tim had gotten irritated at a friend of his, class of 1988's Scott Langman. Apparently Tim even suggested that Scott was on steroids, as his mood swings were very annoying. For a time, he allegedly thought about beating the crap out of Scott. Richard and I never cared for Scott ourselves. So we came up with a plan to actually pay Tim to do it. Of course that never happened.
After high school, Tim's life has been a very interesting one. He left Two Rivers. According to his own words, Two Rivers was full of a bunch of racists. In my opinion, Two Rivers was fairly liberal and accepting. Of course I never lived there as a minority either. Tim initially got a job on a Florida fishing boat, where he apparently found God. He also painted quite a bit. If you search the internet, you can find some of his artwork displayed.
Feeling homesick, he visitid his mother and uncle in Papua New Guinea. His uncle has been the prime minister of the nation three times, and is in fact the current prime minister. Anyway, despite promises by his uncle of a good job, as Tim puts it he was abandoned by him - as well as by his mother. In all, he spent a year there. During that time, he met his wife Dianne.
In 1993, Tim joined the army and settled in Tennessee. He and his wife had a daughter and a son. Tim became born again in 1996.
In 1999 and 2000, Tim helped negotiate a peace treaty that ended a 10-year war on the island of Bougainville - an island in Papua New Guinea. Tim apparently penned the words of the treaty. But he had to do so in secret, as his uncle was "on the other side" so to speak. The treaty was recognized by the United Nations.
Impressive! Way to go Tim!
Today I believe he and his family live in a Tennessee home. I think he works in security for nearby Fort Campbell.
UPDATE 5/18/06 - I found two photos of Tim. One is from when he was in the army. The other is obviously of his family.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 9:40 AM 12 comments
JIM MESSMAN
I first met Jim in our freshman year of high school. He was a smaller guy, with somewhat of a barrel chest - built along the lines of someone like Barry Sanders.
Jim and I never crossed paths a whole lot. But the few times that we did, I found him to be a really nice guy, and not judgemental in the least. He always smiled, and seemed to be having a good time.
Not that I personally paid much attention to it, but in our junior and senior years, our school had an excellent basketball team. Jim was one of the stars. From what I heard, he was like a gnat out on the court, always causing havoc to the other team.
In our senior year, Jim dated fellow graduate Lisa Koch.
After high school, I believe I ran into Jim a few times at the video store. I think he was going to college - possibly in Whitewater. In the late 1990's, it looks like he may have been a roommate of fellow graduate Drew Konop. Today I believe he lives in New Berlin, and works as a sales manager for a Milwaukee clothing company. As far as I know, he has never married.
UPDATE - 12/5/06 - Jim did indeed attend UW Whitewater. He's been working at that Milwaukee clothing company for 11 years. After digging through the company website, I found this photo of him.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:41 AM 8 comments
NICOLE BERGEON
I first met Nicole in 4th grade, in Mrs. Schmidt's class. On my first day, she walked down the aisles introducing everyone to me. I was informed that Nicole actually went by the name of "Pookie." I never knew how exactly how she came to be known as Pookie. But Pookie she was, and probably still is today.
At that time, Pookie's best friend appeared to be Julie Scott. I don't think that friendship was maintained as the years went by.
Later in that year, my friend Chris Storlie and I used to check out library books in her name. We thought it was a great scheme. But somehow we got caught for it. Perhaps it was our sloppy penmanship.
In 5th grade, Chris somehow took a fancy to her, even though I had Pookie in Ms. Krause's class, while Chris had Mr. Tisler. He got the hots for her rather quickly, as Chris invited Pookie to his birthday party - which was on September 16th. Pookie was somewhat mortified about the whole situation. But she told me that her mother forced her to go. So in order to dull the pain, she took her friend, fellow graduate Treesa Carron along. I couldn't go, as in the 10 months I'd lived in Two Rivers, Chris and I had already gotten ourselved banished from hanging out together by both his mom and my parents.
During the first few days of 5th grade, Ms. Krause actually called her Pookie. But by accident, she once blurted out "pukie." From that day on, she stuck with Nicole.
In 6th grade, I had somewhat of an incident with Pookie during recess. She and a friend had taken my gloves. I got one of them back. But Pookie took the other one and stuffed it down her shirt, saying that there was no way I would attempt to get it back.
Wrong!
I was in a great position. I found myself with a justifiable reason to stick my hands down a girl's shirt. So I went for it. After a brief struggle, Pookie realized that I wasn't going to be deterred by her actions, and gave me my glove back.
As we got into high school, Pookie excelled in several sports, including softball.
I think many people regarded Pookie as being slightly bitchy - just slightly. She certainly had an attitutde. Or perhaps it was just confiedence. Picture her as a slightly smaller version of Brenda Dax.
During our senior year, my friend Dave Svatek mentioned that Pookie had given him a blowjob at some point that year. I don't know if that's true or not. But that's what he told me. He specifically said that he "lusted" after her.
Pookie's senior sweatshirt was adorned with the name "Pooks." I had a big problem with that. "Pooks" is a clear violation of the rules of nicknaming. Basically, nicknaming 101 states that you cannot have a nickname for an already existing nickname. Her name is Nicole. Her nickname is Pookie. Pooks would be a nickname of Pookie. And that's just not right. Because where does it end? Is she known as "Poo" today?
I ran into Pookie a couple of times at the video store after high school. I distinctly rememember her coming in with a baby. And if memory serves, it was not long after high school at all. She asked me if I had any kids. I said, "Not that I know of." She was still using the last name of Bergeon. So it appears as if she wasn't married at the time. However, in time, she appears to have married class of 1991's Roy Plasky. I believe she remains Nicole Plasky to this day. To my knowledge, she has two children. Last I knew, she was still living in Two Rivers, possibly working in the dentistry field.
UPDATE - 11/11/06 - Here's Pookie from our senior video. Joining her is Tina Short.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:24 AM 9 comments
SHARLA PETERS
Here's another longtime member of the Two Rivers public school system that I somehow have little or no memories of. She came up through the ranks of Magee, Clarke and Washington.
Sharla was a very petite girl, small in both size and stature. She was friendly enough, and usually had a smile on her face.
As far as I know, our paths never really crossed. I may have had her in a class or two at Clarke. But that might be it.
During the end of our freshman year, Mike Zeman, Ron Gretz and myself vandalized the ceiling of the basement gym. We used to do a lot of the damage early in the morning. But the gym actually had a homeroom class in there. Sharla tended to be the first one to show up. So when Sharla arrived, our destruction of property was put on hold for another day.
I believe that Sharla had an older brother - class of 1987's Dan Peters. I believe the two of them are roommates today, living in Two Rivers. To my knowledge, Sharla has never been married.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:20 AM 5 comments
ELMER MIKEAL
My memories of Elmer are pretty slim.
Elmer was a bit of a hefty guy - not overly so however. From what I recall, Elmer often wore jeans that were a bit too big for him. And that would ultimately lead to the problem of "plumber's crack."
In 8th grade, Elmer somehow got his finger in an accident - perhaps with a saw. Apparently it was pretty bad. He proudly showed off his stitches to me when I asked him about it.
If memory serves, Elmer was in some special education classes in high school. I could be wrong about that though. Throughout his high school years, his appearance never really changed. He always looked the same. He always looked like an Elmer.
After high school, Elmer went on to marry fellow graduate Jennifer Hansel. That one was a shocker to me. They still live in the Manitowoc/Two Rivers area. I believe they have two kids. Elmer is involved with his church, acting as a council member of the property board. Speaking of property, it looks like Elmer might own some, as he's had to evict some people over the years.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:12 AM 1 comments
Sunday, February 05, 2006
TOM GRASSMAN
After a couple of requests, this is Tom.
Tom's dad was the city manager of Two Rivers.
I never got to know Tom until 7th grade. But in 4th grade, he used to come into Mrs. Schmidt's class for reading. He often reminded me of an incident I'd had with her. Whenever I got out of line in class, she used to say, "Mr. Wardell." No sooner would she say that than I would correct her with, "It's WarDALL." Despite my cocky pleas, she never got it right. Finally after several "Wardell's" she caught me doing something, and she said "Mr. Wardall." My response? "It's WarDELL." Tom laughed his ass off.
Tom and I became friends in 7th grade. For the most part, the same 25-30 classmates shared all of our classes together. But in a few different classes, a few others would join us. One of those classes was Mrs. Westburg's chorus class. Tom shared that class with us. My friend Doug Wall was in that class as well. Doug and Tom were neighbors. So I may have gotten to know Tom through Doug.
Tom was a little tame. But he had a wild streak in him. I was just the guy to bring that out. We would spend the singing moments coming up with bizarre dances, or pretending to play an invisible saxophone. It was all stupid fun. But Westburg was never amused. The woman seemed to despise kids.
Mrs. Westburg had her own detentions for kids who got unruly in class. Needless to say, after school, her room was never empty. The teachers used to have to take turns supervising the students who waited in line for the buses to come. This particular week, she was in charge. So instead of monitoring her detention, she instructed everyone to write a 100-word essay on the importance of music. Then she left us alone.
Tom and I took advantage of this time to trash the music room. As Shane Peterson and Nick Novachek watched, we tore band schedules off the wall, filled her attendance slip with obscenities, turned her piano around, threw hundreds of papers all over the room, and generally made a colossal mess. As a finishing touch, I told Tom to throw the attendance slip down the tuba. Tom tried to somehow "set" it just inside. But it was to no avail. It fell down deep inside of it. Then we left.
From what I heard, Westburg came back into the room, surveyed the mess, and said, "Only Burt and Tom could have done this." Power to her. She was right. As Tom and I walked home to my house, he was a nervous wreck.
The next day, we were called into Mr. Vogt's office first thing in the morning. It was over very fast. We sat down and he asked, "What happened?" I said that we hadn't done anything. Mr. Vogt then launched into a tirade, leaving us speechless. Before we could even respond, he kicked us out of his office. We somehow dodged a bullet - no detentions, no suspensions, no nothing. What the hell? When it came time for chorus class, Westburg stopped us at the door, refusing to let us in. We were kicked out of her class for one week. What a punishment...
Westburg's class was a fun one. But my time in her room never lasted long. Inevitably, the likes of myself, Kevin Dehne, and Doug Wall would get kicked out. On occasion, Tom did too. One of things we would often do is go into the lunchroom and play tag. It was great. Tom joined us many times.
A few weeks after the trashing incident, word got to me that the band teacher, Mr. Schnel had discovered the attendance slips in the tuba. And he was pissed! Tom confronted me alone and asked me to take the rap for it. His theory was that I was in trouble all the time, and one more thing was no big deal. While Tom on the other hand was a good kid for the most part. Sorry Tom, I couldn't play that game. Too often I ended up taking the rap for shit I didn't do. There was no way I was going to do it willingly. Tom pleaded with me. But I wouldn't budge.
Later that day, just prior to chorus class, Mr. Schnel took us into his office, closed the door, and lit into us with a fury. "Look what I fished out of the tuba today!" I played it cool and defended not only myself, but Tom as well. I told him that I hadn't done it, and was sure that Tom hadn't done it either. Tom on the other hand simply confessed. Quite honestly, I think Mr. Schnel was disappointed. But I was free to go. Tom on the other hand wasn't so lucky. At the time, he had been given the lead role in a play that the chorus class was doing. The play was entitled "Teen." I still have the program, and will scan it in someday. Anyway, as I recall, Tom's grandma had just come into town special to watch him play the part. But it was not to be. Tom's punishment was getting kicked out of the play. At the last minute however, Mrs. Westburg relented and let Tom back in - but in the chorus only. Instead, Brad Van Cuyk got the role. Tom was really pissed off at me, and didn't speak to me for a couple of weeks.
Tom happened to tag along with Jason Anderson, Doug Wall, Jim Colby and Kevin Dehne, when they came over at lunchtime to visit me when I was suspended from school. Read Jason's entry for the details of that day. Needless to say, when the police called Tom's mom, she took an immediate dislike to me. Not long after, I was over at Tom's house. And wherever I went, his mom just glared at me with one of the worst cases of stink eye you can imagine. You could just see the hatred in her face.
Tom was the first person I knew who had a VCR. Although his parents banned him from watching R-rated movies and such, he found a way to access them anyway. And when he was sick from school, he would raid the VCR library. One of the films he watched was one of Tom Cruise's first - "Losin It." It was about a bunch of horny kids who go to Tijuana to get laid. There was some great music in it. Tom memorized it, and taught it to us. We would often sing it in chorus class - not sanctioned by Westburg of course.
"Knock Knock"
"Who's there?"
"Tijuana"
"Tijuana who?"
"Tijuana bring your mother to the gang bang. Yes you do. It's been a long time since she had a screw. When she was younger, and in her prime, she used to gang bang all the time."
In 8th grade, Tom sat behind me in Mr. Monka's social studies class. Monka used to throw erasers at kids who weren't paying attention. I used to turn around and talk to Tom, and whisper stuff like, "I'm seeing if I can get him to hit me with an eraser. Is he heading towards the chalkboard now?" Sure enough, I got nailed a few times.
After 8th grade, Tom moved to Urbana, Illinois. But we had a mutual friend in Meff. And Meff occasionally had contact with Tom.
In high school, Tom got heavily involved in music. Meff would sometimes visit him. And Tom would take him to other friends of his and jam in a garage or something. Allegedly, Tom got a little involved with drugs too - pot and acid, and who knows what else.
I believe the last time I'd seen Tom was in my junior year. He was staying with Meff. And the two of them came up to Two Rivers for a visit. Tom was morphing into the rocker mode. He was wearing bandanas on his pants. And his hair was growing longer. Prior to his visit, I had called him, and asked if he could score some acid for Richard and I. Alas, he wasn't able to.
Tom eventually started playing in bands. One of his bands was named "Two Rivers." He still plays today. It looks like his current band is named "The Brat Pack." He's even recorded his own music. He's travaled all over the country, and has even had the honor of opening for such bands as "Tool" and "Motley Crue." Apparently Tommy Lee is an ass. And Vince Neil stands about 5'2. You can visit his website here.
TOM GRASSMAN
In researsching on Tom, I discovered that he was returning to Two Rivers on February 3rd, to play a gig. So Meff and I drove up to watch him play. When we got there, his mom walked over. She recognized Meff. When Tom introduced me, she looked a little shocked, turned to whisper in Tom's ear, and said, "Is he the one..." Yes, Mrs. Grassman, it's me!
Tom said I looked exactly the same as I did 20 years ago. I guess I should be flattered. Now that I think about it, about two years ago, I got carded at Shopko when I bought an R-rated movie. "Yes maam, I'm 32 years old."
When Tom was done with his set, he and his wife joined the two of us. We sat around talking for several hours. I drank 11 orange and malibus. Meff had to drive home, to be sure. We reminisced about the old days. And we even sang the "Tijuana gang bang" song. It was a good time. Needless to say, Tom's wife is a hottie. Check out the photo below. From left to right, it's Tom, Hottie and me. Tom said he'd stop by the blog and say hi.
UPDATE - 10/23/06 - Although I'd E-mailed him from time to time, I hadn't actually spoken to Tom since last February. Then out of the blue, he called me on Saturday afternoon to tell me that he'd had a baby the day before. It is his first child.
Tom and his hottie wife had a daughter. They named her Veronica Moon Grassman. Tom's a musician now. And true to his rocker form, he drove to Indiana on Saturday night to play a gig. He did however stay home on Friday.
Rock & Roll!
Congratulations Tom.
UPDATE - 10/30/06 - This is a video from this past summer, of Tom Grassman performing the national anthem at a Schaumburg Flyers minor league baseball game.
National Anthem
Add to My Profile | More Videos
UPDATE - 1/7/07 - Tom just sent me a video montage of some of his recent performances. So I uploaded them onto Youtube. You can see them below.
UPDATE - 4/29/07 - On Sunday, March 25th, I was invited to a surprise 60th birthday party for Tom Grassman's father. Tom played a short set of songs - mostly Buddy Holly stuff, as that is his dad's favorite. I have several clips from that day. Here's one of them.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 2:44 PM 11 comments
Friday, February 03, 2006
KEN BARTZ
I first met Ken in 5th grade. At that time, he was kind of hanging around with Randy Klein. Ken and I got along great. And we remained friends (mostly in school) throughout the rest of our scholastic careers.
Ken was kind of a bundle of energy. He wasn't the smartest guy in the world. But he was a lot of fun to hang around with. I also had him in Mrs. Casey's class in 6th grade. Along with Greg Flemal, the three of us hung out together all year.
At some point in 6th grade, Ken started bugging me about having some sort of fixation about Patti Malley. It wasn't true. But Ken wasn't shy about vocalizing it. I wanted to kill him sometimes.
We went to Mr. Burnstad's class for spelling and language. One day he gave us a bunch of tricky questions. Ken came to me for help. The question he got was something like, "How much dirt is in a hole eight feet deep with a circumference of 12 feet." He asked me how to calculate that. I told him, "Ken, there is no dirt in a hole."
Ken and I used to play rock, paper, scissors in class. We would add a few things though. First off, nothing ever beat "rock." We would simply slam our fist down on the hand of the other person. In addition to the three basics, we also added Pac-Man, Frogger and Donkey Kong to the game. It was never established what beat what - with the exception of "rock."
Speaking of Pac-man, we had Mr. Kjelstrup for art class. We once had to carve an object out of plaster of paris. For the life of me, I just couldn't do it. So the day before it was due, Ken took my chunk home, and carved a Pac-Man for me. It was brilliant! The lighting is bad. But you can see it below, along with a frog made in Mr. Spatz' class the year before.
Ken and I invented something that I referred to as "cough talk." Now I've come to realize that John Belushi did the same thing when he coughed "blowjob" in "Animal House." Of course other people have probably done it too. But we weren't aware of any of that at the time. We would either, cough, clear our throats or even sneeze, while saying a word. It was a great form of communication. Although years later, Mr. Longhini figured it out.
Sometime in 7th or 8th grade, Ken, Chad Daffner (the two of them were freinds for years - probably due to their involvement in wrestling) and myself went over to one of my neighbors, Bobby Streu. Bobby's dad owned a construction company. And they were pretty well off. They had three or four ATV's in their backyard. Somehow all four of us piled onto one vehicle and tore off in the fields and "pit" area between Bobby's house and Clarke school. That thing could go about 50 MPH. And Bobby wasn't shy about opening it up to top speed. All was fine until he drove us into a ditch - sideways. My teeth slammed into Ken's skull. How I didn't lose any is a mystery to me.
Ken and I had a few classes together in 8th grade - including Mr. Franke's science class. We shared a table together and used to torment (along with Mark Schreiber's help) Peter Flora and Robin Richmond.
One day I was in Mr. Kern's english class. Ken was next door in Mr. Fencl's reading class. Ken and I would sometimes cough back and forth with each other. One day Ken went nuts. He began coughing and hacking my name over and over again. He was so loud that he could be heard in all of the classrooms in the area. Everyone in Kern's class were laughing their asses off. They knew what was going on. But the teachers had no clue.
Ken and I use to play this game. I think we simply called it "points." We made up a chart with various activities we could do. It ranged from swearing loudly in class, all the way up to kicking the teacher. We had about 100 things on the list. Of course we would sometimes go off the list as well, and play it by ear. One day I had a hardcover "Which Way" book. Ken dared me to fold it in two. Of course all of this was taking place as Mr. Franke lectured. And Ken and I sat at the first table in the front of the room. I put the book in my lap, tried in vain to fold it. After working on it for a few minutes, this impossibly loud ripping noise took place. A few people looked at us. But somehow Mr. Franke didn't hear it. For whatever reason, Ken and I couldn't stop giggling. We tried and tried to stop. But once we started, we just couldn't let up. Things got worse for us when I pulled the book out of my lap, and saw that indeed, I had ripped through the hard cover and had managed to somewhat fold it in two. Then Mr. Franke gave us that "look." He had a blank, silent stare that he gave when he got really angry. We were getting that look. I looked right at him and burst out laughing. Then Ken did the same. He was not amused. I ended up getting banished to a table in the back, with Ann Rank. He told her that if I got out of line, she had permission to smack me.
Later in the year, Ken and I were in the back of the room. Mr. Franke had put Ken in charge of the remote control for the filmstrip. All he had to do was press "forward" everytime we heard the beeping sound. What Ken didn't know is that there were buttons on the projector itself - which was in my reach. I would sometimes press "reverse" or press "forward" before the beep. Ken got a lot of stares. But he didn't get in trouble. Eventually he figured out what I was doing.
Ken's dad was a truck driver, and was on the road a lot. He was gone so much that when his dad came home, Ken got to leave school early to go see him.
In our freshman year, Ken was on the wrestling team. But something happened in the second half of the year. I don't know if a bunch of the team had a wild party or something. But several of the members got kicked off the team - including Ken. I remember Ken getting called out of Mrs. Fischer's language class. She asked him if there were any guys left on the team. Ken said, "a couple."
I also had Ken in Ms. Sapa's literature class that year. One day, Ken pulled out his student I.D. card, and began reflecting the sun into Sapa's eyes. He only did it periodically. So he got away with it for awhile. When she finally caught him, she chewed him out. Later on in the semester, when progress reports (deficiency reports for those who aren't doing so well) came out, Ken got one from her. There were various categories which could be checkmarked for areas of improvement. Sapa had checked "maturity." She had also circled it!
In our junior year, Ken would often hang out with Kevin Dehne. In reality, Kevin was hanging out with Ken's sister Dawn. Kevin had been a runaway, and I think he stayed with her for some time. Dawn had somewhat of a "tramp" reputation. Anyway, Ken and Kevin would often call me on the phone, claiming to be the "Phantom caller." One night that fall I ran into both of them. Ken was drunk out of his mind. I happened to have my micro cassette recorder with me. Ken came up to the car blabbering "Phantom caller, phantom caller... I gave up my identity." When asked who he was now, he replied, "I'm the fuckin' swiss cheese man." I still have the tape.
Ken wasn't with us our senior year. I guess he just dropped out. Over the years I ran into him from time to time at the video store. He had married a woman named Laura, and had two kids. He wasn't very talkative. They divorced in 1998.
In 2000, Ken got cited for killing a bear without a license. That cost him a hefty fine of over $2000.00. Ken has found himself in and out of trouble - mostly for minor offenses. But he has spent a month or two in jail.
I ran into Ken in 2003, at Ponderosa in Manitowoc. Despite the divorce, I believe he was with his ex-wife and their kids. We spoke a little bit. I ran into Ken about a year later as well, at a video store in Two Rivers - in the old Coast To Coast building. He was goofy and friendly. Last I knew, he was still iving in Two Rivers.
UPDATE - 7/20/06 - On July 15th, Kevin Dehne and I stopped in to see Ken. He's currently living in the trailer park, just north of Two Rivers. He's been there for several years. In fact, he's turned his trailer into somewhat of a mini-fortress. It even has a "basement." Ken has a million stories to tell. He currently has a girlfriend of three years. Ken refers to himself as a "cheap date" - having "for the most part" given up drinking. Now he prefers Kool-Aid - but only green Kool-Aid. He gave me a glass, just prior to the below picture being taken.
UPDATE - 11/11/06 - This is the video from the day Kevin and I went to visit Ken. The video was too large for one Youtube clip. So I had to break it down into parts one and two.
PART 1
PART 2
UPDATE - 4/16/07 - Kevin Dehne found a photo of he and Ken. It was taken at some point in the 1990's. Look down to see it.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 2:08 PM 3 comments
DREW KONOP
After multiple requests, this is Drew.
His name was Andrew. But he went by the name of Drew. My first time meeting him was in 4th grade. We shared Mrs. Schmidt's class together. I found him to be a decent guy. But we weren't friends or anything. At that time, I believe he was best buddies with Jeff Salstrand. At some point that year, I ran into the two of them at Prange Way. We were all looking at Star Wars figures.
Near the end of that school year, our class went on a field trip somewhere. Drew's mom came as a chaperone. For some reason she loaned me a quarter for something. I was supposed to pay Drew back the next day. I never did. Drew pestered me for it for awhile. But I never paid up. It wasn't out of malice. I just kept forgetting. Eventually, so did he. With Wisconsin's 12% post-judgement interest rate, that comes to an additional 75 cents I owe. So Drew, as of today, I owen your mom $1.00. Don't pester me about it. I'm sure I'll remember to pay up one of these days.
After 4th grade, I had little contact with Drew. Apparently sometime either before or during 6th grade, he met fellow graduate Brett Gruetzmacher. The two of them became fast friends, and remained that way all the way through graduation. Drew and Brett shared a table together in Mr. Franke's 8th grade science class.
In high school we pretty much stayed apart from one another. Drew hung with the more "in crowd" people. And he had a moustache.
After high school, I believe Drew went on to college somewhere - perhaps majoring in business. He had aspirations of taking over companies, and working for the "Big 8" in Chicago.
Drew once got in trouble for carrying a phony ID.
While working at the video stroe, I had the opportunity to run into nearly everyone I went to school with. And with only one exception, everyone was cordial. Drew was the one exception. He was with a friend - or perhaps a girlfriend. I don't remember. But I didn't get a "hi" or a smile - nothing. In all fairness, I didn't initiate anything either.
In 2004, it looks like Drew donated $100.00 to those "swift boat" people who were trying to smear John Kerry.
Today I believe that Drew lives in the Milwaukee area. As far as I know, he is not married.
UPDATE - 11/10/06 - Here is Drew, along with Brett Gruetzmacher, from our senior video.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 11:34 AM 10 comments
JOE ANTONIE
I often would describe Joe as a "gentle giant." Joe was a big man. He wasn't fat. He was just big. To me he always seemed to be about eight feet tall. Of course he was probably no bigger than 6'4. But still, he seemed to tower over everyone from an early age.
Picture Shaquille O'neal's body. That is Joe Antonie.
I went to both Magee and Clarke with Joe. Although we were never friends or anything, what limited contact we had was certainly friendly. Joe was that way with everyone. Had he chose to, he could carry with him an intimidating presence. But he didn't. Joe was pretty soft spoken and kind to everyone.
I got to know Joe a bit in our junior year, in Ms. Sapa's creative writing class. It was there that I found that Joe was a pretty cool guy. He was into a lot of the same music that I was. I think he had a thing for Pink Floyd. We had a mutual friend in class of 1990's Jason Krings.
Joe once created the title of "Bad Burt" for me. The document is scanned in below. Joe gave it to me. He signed it "King Siem" - which was some sort of nickname he would occasionaly go by.
On an unrelated note, Richard created a deed to the Earth for me. In Sapa's class, she once responded to something vile I said, by asking if I owned the Earth or something. I said that I did. I then showed her a document. Sure shit, she said, "I guess you do." The deed is below.
As seniors, Joe invited Dave Svatek and myself over to his house for some Dungeons & Dragons. According to some of the prior comments around here, we weren't the first. Larry Daffner joined us as well. Joe was in charge, and guided us through the game. Two things about those games come to mind. For one, I broke the house record for stacking dice. And two, I poked a hole in a candle. Larry somehow pulled the pencil out, and was met with a stream of rushing candle wax. All the while, Joe's brother Tom was upstairs playing the drums. At one point, Joe's other brother Bob came in with a few of his friends to watch us play. After they left, Joe commented that he was a bit annoyed that they'd interupted us.
Up in his room, Joe had this gigantic felt poster or something of Pink Floyd's "The Wall." I think he said it cost about $200.00.
Joe lived next door to fellow graduate Al Wegner.
Joe was dating a girl from the class of 1990. I think her name was Krista Ries. He also dated Jen Owens, another member of the class of 1990. Although I believe that happened during our first year out of high school.
After high school, Joe went on to college. He eventually became a chiropractor. I believe he has his own practice, in the city of Galesville, Wisconsin. He's married and has one daughter.
A few weeks ago, my wife and were having a discussion as to what profession we would like to know someone that works in it. In other words, what perks could we get? My wife's answer - chiropractor. Now we know one.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 9:16 AM 8 comments
Thursday, February 02, 2006
ME
Ok, if my count is correct, I've now done 56 biogrpahies thus far - about 25% of my goal. Jesus, there's still so many...
Anyway, I've painted some people in a positive light. I've painted some people in a negative light. Either way, I've been as honest as I possibly can be. My memory's not perfect. But it's pretty good. I have made a mistake or two. But I have never purposely written anything false.
So now it's your turn. Tell me what you remember about ME. And don't hold back. If I can dish it out, it would be hypocritcal of me not to be able to take it as well. It's all water under the bridge anyway. Was I cool? Was I a dork? Was I scary? Was I someone to be avoided? Was I misunderstood? Did you not "get" me? Did you like me? Did you hate me? Was I cocky? Was I obnoxious? Let's hear it. Take yourself back 30 days (pre-blog). Now put my name in your head. What do you remember about me? Let's hear some incidents!
In the meantime, here's a little story to tide you over. I'd love to write about it within someone's entry. But no one but me was involved in this one. It's already been alluded to twice in this blog already. And like my incident with Brad Strouf's porch, this one was also a bit of a legend. Did Burt really do this? Let's talk about the shit in the microwave.
Those of you who remember early cable, may remember a film called "The Hollywood Knights." That film introduced me to the concept of taking a bag of dogshit, starting it on fire on someone's porch, then ringing the doorbell. Well in all my wisdom, I wanted to do something more.
I'd love to tell you I did this when I was 10. But no, I was in eighth grade. So I was 13. It was February. I wanted to do something nasty to my next door neighbor. That's when I hatched my plan. Instead of the burning bag, what if I could somehow get a hold of some liquid shit? Then I could splatter it on their window. It would freeze up and be a nasty thing to try and clean up. My plan was set. Now all I had to do was pull it off.
My first problem was that I didn't know how to get liquid shit. Then it dawned on me - the microwave! I could melt it down!
My second problem was that I didn't have a dog at that time. So if I wanted a turd, I had to do it myself. I got a cereal bowl from the cupboard, removed my pants and underwear, got a baggie to cover my front - just in case I couldn't hold back a little pee, then I squated down and let it go.
NOTE - There's a reason why toilets have water in them. It masks the smell. An open-air turd reeks.
Anyway, I took the bowl over to the microwave, set it inside, then turned it on. I peered through the glass and watched it spin. Hmm... it wasn't melting. Perhaps it's going to take a few minutes. So I left the room for a bit.
Imagine my horror when I came back in the kitchen, only to find some small clouds of smoke creeping out through the cracks in the microwave. What had I done? I turned it off, opened the door, and was met with a thick black cloud of the most putrid stench you can possibly imagine. It enveloped my head, as well as the whole kitchen. I grabbed the bowl, and coughed my way to the backdoor, where I promptly threw the offending mass into the snowbank. It immediately sank right to the ground. That sucker was hot!
I learned a valuable lesson that day. Shit doesn't melt. It burns. Don't try it yourself. Please, for the love of God, just trust me on this one.
I opened a few windows and cleaned up whatever needed to be. About an hour later my dad came home. When he walked in the kitchen, he grimaced. Then he said the following lines, "Jesus Christ! ... Jesus Christ! ... I gotta clean that catbox!" I just about died from holding in my laughter.
So there you go. That's the story. Was I fucked-up, or what? Needless to say, I have changed quite a bit from those days. That sort of behavior left me many, many years ago.
So now that I've brought you back to the "me" that you might remember, let's hear what you have to say. Pull no punches! Who was I?
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:44 PM 14 comments
GREG PAGEL
Greg Pagel was one of those "fringe" people for me. We seemd to have some similarities. But ultimately our vast differences kept us from ever becoming friends - even though we have had some mutual friends.
You couldn't miss Greg. He generally had the Buddy Holly glasses look. He was always amiable, and had an intelligent sense of humor.
According to Meff, the 5th grade behemoth known as Ms. Hynek apparently gave him a bad grade in something one day. Greg allegedly had some sort of breakdown about it, and got into a shouting match with her. I would have loved to see that.
I really don't have any memories of Greg from Clarke. However I believe that he was involved in band. Greg was a master on the piano.
In freshman year, I used to walk home with Meff everyday. One day Greg joined us. Now Meff and I had a twisted way of looking at life. And I of course was nuts. Somehow the subject drifted towards pee. Greg had been silent for awhile, and was no doubt shocked at whatever it was we were talking about. Anyway, as I casually mentioned that I had once tasted my own pee (NOTE - I do NOT recommend this. The saltiness is overwhelming and sickening. How the people into "watersports" deal with it is an absolute mystery of the cosmos) Greg collapsed to the ground in a state of panic. He composed himself before rejoining us and walking to his own home.
Apparently Greg either called Meff, or spoke with him the next day. And Greg gave him the usual riot act I often was the subject of. "Who the hell is that guy? Why do you hang around with him? Is he insane?" Ah, such was me. If I had a nickel for everytime my friends heard lines like that...
In our senior year, I had Greg in Mrs. Kluczinski's class. Previously she was known as Ms. Wisnicky. Anyway, Greg used a term that I still use to this day. In fact, I think I used it in my post on Ben Franco. The term is "black T-shirt crowd." It's used to describe the headbangers in society. Thank you Greg.
After high school, I believe Greg went on to Lawrence University to presumably study music. My friend Dave used to say that the reason Greg was so good on the piano was because he had pudgy fingers.
I ran into Greg a few times at the video store. We exchanged a few words, but never said much. I do regret one thing though. He came in once, looking for the Disney film, "One Magic Christmas." I looked in the back, and had to inform him that we didn't carry it. So Greg looked around for awhile, eventually coming up with the box for the film. I was perplexed. I looked again - still nothing. Later on I found out that my boss had filed the film in the M's - for "Magic." Greg, it was not my fault.
Today I believe that Greg is married with two kids, one son and one daughter. He lives in Manitowoc, teaching piano out of his home. He also plays various gigs with a jazz band. If you want to see what Greg looks like today, here's a link to his personal website: GREG PAGEL
UPDATE - 2/10/06 - Greg has provided a family photo. Look down. You can't miss it. Click it for a larger, clearer version.
UPDATE - 7/20/06 - Greg recently wrote and performed in a local Manitowoc musical entitled "Honkytonk Angels." On July 15th, Kevin and I stopped in to see him. The results are below.
UPDATE - 8/28/06 - Greg and his wife went to Madison yesterday and met up with fellow graduate Jenny Malley, and her husband. The four of them hung out all day, and listened to some live blues music in a park. The two pictures are below.
UPDATE - 9/8/06 - Greg has started another job. He's teaching a music course at my alma mater, UWGB. His first class was on Tuesday, 9/5/06. The day was filled with a comedy of errors. Perhaps he'll tell you about them. Needless to say, day 2 went much smoother.
UPDATE - 10/9/06 - On Saturday October 7th, 2006, Greg and his band performed at The Sands in Green Bay. Fellow classmates Lisa Pauze and Brandon Podhola also showed up to hear him. You can see the pictures below.
UPDATE - 11/22/06 - Here is some video from that July 15th visit. It's preceded by some footage of me picking up Kevin that day. Greg's was the first house we visited. "Our first victim!"
On Friday, April 13th, my family and I drove all the way up to Depere to see Greg Pagel play at some fancy restaurant where the waiter places the napkin in your lap. I had a really good burger. Anyway, it was sort of dark. And I didn't actually tape more than a 30-second hello from Greg. But, you can see it below.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 9:32 AM 30 comments
DAVID SVATEK
Sit back, relax, and get some popcorn. This is going to be a long one.
I first met Dave in freshman year. I had him in Mr. Heuer's algebra class. I didn't care for him. He seemed somewhat snobby to me.
My first memory of him was from a pep rally. It may actually have been our very first experience with a pep rally. Early in the year, the freshman were brought into the gym, and sat down on the bleachers. A couple of the cheerleaders taught us all the school cheers. I suppose that was a good idea - not that I gave a shit. I can count on no hands the number of times I cheered at a pep rally in my four years of high school.
So while most of the class was standing, learning a cheer of some sort, I of course was sitting. Kevin Dehne was seated behind me. Dave Svatek was standing in front of us. He had his books and stuff with him. So Kevin leaned over and pushed Dave's books off the seat, and under the bleachers. Several minutes later, when Dave finally turned around to gather his stuff, he was obviously dismayed to see where his stuff had gone too. It had spread all over under the bleachers, making a huge mess. He immediately accused me, and said he would "beat the shit out of me." I laughed and told him point blank that I hadn't done it. Later on in algebra class, he asked me if Kevin had done it. I told him yes. Dave never did anything about it though. A Dave/Kevin fight would have been a good one. I suspect Dave would have won. But who knows.
My next memory is also from freshman year. In second hour, I had Mr. Wheeler's science class. Toby Schwartz came in one day and slammed his books down in a huff. I asked him what was wrong. And he started bitching about Dave. Apparently he'd just come from gym class. The class was playing basketball. And for a time, the gym teacher had left them on their own. Dave allegedly assumed some sort of leadership role, and announced that because there were no authority figures, they would have to call their own fouls. I would have been annoyed too. What kind of crap is that?
In our sophomore year, I had Dave in gym class. Early on, we had volleyball. Dave was on my team. The ball was headed in my general direction. But it was actually closer to someone else. So I backed off. The other person screwed up and missed it. Dave went ballistic on me. "What are you hear for?" "Why don't you just go home?" You get the idea. The ironic thing is that it wasn't even my fault. And truth be told, I was actually very good in volleyball. What an ass.
Later on during our sophomore year, in Mr. Scriver's history class. I sat on the right, up against the wall. Dave sat next to me, on the left, right behind fellow graduate Jeff Gordon. At one point, the three of us were laughing about something, when Dave out of the blue asked if I would make him a copy of the film "Bloodsucking Freaks." I was well known as having a vast movie collection, and had taped lots of things for people. So I said I would. From that point on, Dave and I were good friends - in school. Dave, Richard and I also shared gym class together. The three of us became a trio.
As our junior year began, the three of us were best friends. Of course if you've read my post about Richard, you'll know that he and I never treated Dave as our equal. We would often belittle him for being one of the "beautiful people." We insulted Dave quite often, and I know for a fact that sometimes we really hurt his feelings. Quite honestly, I don't know why he put up with our shit. But he did. And in time, our teasing subsided quite a bit.
In October of our junior year, the three of us went driving around one night. We were accompanied by Dave's older sister Kelly, and her friend Rob Stangel - older brother of former T.R. public school, and would be class of 1989's Craig Stangel. Anyway, we were coming down Washington street in Manitowoc. We stopped at a red light on the corner of Washington and 8th Sreet - facing the greeat big Budwesiser murals. Richard was driving. I was shotgun. Rob leaned over, handed me a donut, and told me to toss it at the car right behind us. Without asking why, I obliged. My awkward toss nailed one of the headlights. When I asked Rob why he wanted me to do that, he stated that it was a guy used to work at his dad's store - some asshole named Ted Fricke. An asshole, huh? I made Rob give me another donut. By this time, we had turned the corner and were now in front of the Capitol theater. I crawled out the window and tossed it, nailing the passenger side of his car. To my horror, the maniac started to jump out of the moving car. We sped off, and the chase was on.
They followed us down Memorial Drive, where I tossed a few soda cans at them. The chase wove through Two Rivers and Mishicot, before finally being stopped by some police near Shoto. I was ticketed for "throwing a missile from a moving vehicle." The cop warned us that Ted was some sort of psychopath, and that we should consider ourselves lucky. As we were sitting in the car, awaiting our fate, Dave teared up a bit. I wanted to tell him that this was no big deal. Hell, I had police run-ins all the time. But he wasn't in the mood. With the exception of Rob (who had switched drivers with Richard, and was cited for speeding) everyone agreed to help me out in paying my $80.00 fine. Kelly gave me $10.00. No one else ever did. Richard, Dave... you owe me!
See my Richard post for the particulars, but as the summer approached, Dave and I got a lot closer, as Richard and I grew apart. Along with Scott Jaklin, the three of us hung out together nearly everyday. Of course on weekends, I would usually hang out with Dave and his family at their cottage near Sturgeon Bay. Scott was jealous that we never included him. But I guess we were just assholes.
As our senior year began, Dave and I were as tight as ever. It almost got to be too much for me. Dave was the kind of guy who needed people around him. He needed friends. I was a loner. Dave wanted to hang out almost every night. I usually obliged. But there were times when I just wanted to stay home, relax, and watch the Brewers' game or something. I got a reprieve in February.
At some point that year, in Mr. Hensl's class, we all had to recite some poem from memory. For whatever reason, on this given day, Mr. Hensl decided to sit at his desk to listen to us. Dave sat in front of me. When it was his turn to recite, he stood up, turned around, and faced Mr. Hensl. And despite the fact that he hadn't really studied the stanzas, he recited his poem perfectly. How did he pull it off? I had his notebook sitting on my chest for him to glance down and read. Score!
In February, on the night of one of Mike Tyson's famous one or two-round knockouts, Dave went out with fellow graduate Becky Monka. They obviously hit it off and became a fast couple. In doing so, my time with Dave was reduced quite a bit. At first I was a bit jealous, no doubt. But in a way, I enjoyed the free time I got back again. Don't get me wrong. Dave was my best friend. And I enjoyed hanging out with him. But having some "alone time" was nice too.
After high school, Dave attended UWGB. He actually had a math class taught by my dad. After awhile, he stopped going to class. But he showed up for the tests, and wound up with a 'D'. After two years, he dropped out, and got a job working for some Chemical plant or something, in Sheboygan County. He still works for them today. Although now he works in their Milwaukee location.
For the first couple of years after high school, I saw Dave sporadically. Sometimes it was in spurts. We would go months without seeing each other. Then we'd hang out quite a bit for several months at a time. Dave had a tendency to frequent bars a lot. And although I was never one who cared to know, I know he had quite a way with the ladies. I believe many a young lady got some Dave lovin' over the years. (See my entry on Treesa Carron). Obviously this was after he'd broken up with Becky. For awhile he was with class of 1991's Christy Peterson, and (did she graduate?) Kelly Haataja.
In 1992, he hooked up once again with Becky Monka. It was short-lived. I think he dumped her and hooked up with another girl on the same day - or at least within a day or two of each other. The new girl was a senior at Roncalli named Jessica. She worked at the Manitowoc Public Library. I was hanging around with Dave a lot at this point. So I met Jessica shortly after he did. I remember feeling sorry for her because she was so nice. And knowing Dave's track record, it wasn't going to last.
I was wrong. In the fall of 1992, Jessica went off to school in Fond Du Lac. Within a week of her departure, Dave showed me the engagement ring he'd gotten her. I was surprised. But I was happy for them both. They were married in August, 1995. Yours truly was the best man. The fricken' church was hot as hell. And those damn catholic ceremonies last for an eternity!
In the summer of 1996, Dave and I went skydiving with Jenny Malley's older brother Steve.
At this point the two of them were living in an apartment in Sheboygan. When I got my first post-college graduation job (in Milwaukee) they invited me to move in with them. It sounded like a good idea at the time. I moved in some time in March, 1997. The place was temporary, as we'd talked about moving to the Ozaukee County area and finding a bigger place together.
It was during my stay in Sheboygan that I discovered a few things about Dave. For one, he and Jessica would literally go up to Manitowoc and Two Rivers every single weekend. It was like they were tied to Dave's family. Now I knew firsthand that Dave was very close with his family. That's fine. Dave's family were nice people. I liked them all too. But I found it odd that they didn't seem to have a life outside of them.
The other thing I discovered was that Dave has a really jealous side. During my time living there, Jessica and I got really close. Mind you there was never any sort of romantic notion on either of our parts. We were literally just friends - good friends. To be honest with you, I couldn't even tell you if she was an attractive girl, as I never saw her in that sort of light. She was like a sister to me - someone I trusted, someone I could confide in. Dave never thought for one moment that there were any sort of "sparks" between myself and his wife. At least I assume he didn't. But he was clearly jealous of our friendship, and I believe he thought we were too close. He openly told me that he's the jealous type, and a bit possessive when it comes to her. She was aware of it too. She was just the opposite. She said she could care less if Dave playfully flirted with other women - just as long as it never went beyond that - which of course, it never did.
Anyway, Dave decided that when they moved in June, that I too should find a place of my own. I was hurt by this. I didn't understand his jealousy. It was baseless and ridiculous. At that point, my whole life was a mess. And this event just pushed me over the edge. One bad thing after another had happened to me around that time. And I had some sort of breakdown. I was absolutely furious with Dave. But I got over it in time. We eventually patched things up. And each of us got an apartment in Grafton.
They stayed there for a couple years. Then they moved to an apartment in Wauwatosa. By this time, I was engaged and living together with my fiance. As we were young and without kids, we often had parties on the weekends. We always invited Dave and Jessica. And they always turned us down. Remember, if it was a weekend, they had to go up to Two Rivers. It was insane. My wife seriosuly thought that they simply didn't like her.I had to reassure her time and again that no, they like you just fine. They simply feel the need to go back home every weekend. Jessica once confided to my wife that she really didn't enjoy (for the most part) going up to Two Rivers every weekend. She said that while there, they would mostly just sit around and do nothing. So she read a book or something. The point she made was that she could have just as easily done that at her own home.
Whenever we invited them over (on a weekend) we never expected them to show up. But every once in awhile, they would say that they would come. But even then, they would often have a "last minute" thing that would come up which caused them to have to go up to Two Rivers. Whatever. I never minded. It was just expected. It became a joke between my wife and I.
In September, 2001, my lovely wife planned a surprise party for my 30th birthday. She invited everyone. Obviously she invited Dave and Jessica. Of course since my party was on a Saturday (a weekend) she knew they wouldn't come. But of course she was going to extend the offer. She also sent an invitation to Dave's sister Kelly. On the night of the party (which was great by the way) she whispered to me that not only did Dave and Jessica not come, but that they hadn't even responded to the invitation. That pissed me off! Now those who know me know that I almost never get angry. So it takes a lot to get me riled up. But this did it. I simply said to her, "Fuck them. I'm through with them." And I meant it. My wife felt really bad, and said she'd wished that she hadn't told me she'd invited them. But really, by losing them as friends, do we really lose anything? We saw them maybe once or twice a year. To me, it was no big deal to cut them off. If it had been an isolated incident, it would have been fine. But this sort of behavior had been an ongoing pattern for years. They'd broken promises at the last minute on several occasions before. But this time, they didn't even have the courtesy to respond. I suppose they could say that perhaps they never got the invitation. But my wife not only mailed an invitation. She E-mailed. And since Dave's sister was also invited (and also never responded) there's no way he couldn't have known.
My last contact with Dave was on a Saturday afternoon in July, 2001. We were having our housewarming party. And miracles never cease. Dave and Jessica showed up - on a Saturday. Quite honestly, I think the main reason they showed up was to show off their first child, who'd been born a week or so earlier. Of course they only stayed an hour or two. They had to leave to head up to Two Rivers. As he left, I said to him, "Don't be a stranger." Those were my last words.
In 2001, Dave and Jessica moved to a house in the Racine area. They have since had two more kids. In September, 2005, Dave's mom died. Very sad. To my wife's surprise, I sent some flowers to the funeral. And they sent us a thank you note for them. But other than that, I've had no contact with them whatsoever.
I was friends with Dave for about 15 years. It's the second-longest friendship I've ever had. It's a shame that it had to end on such a sour note. Overall, Dave was a good guy. We had a lot of fun together. The good memories far outweigh the bad ones.
UPDATE - 11/16/06 - Out of the blue, I got an E-mail from Dave. He apparently discovered the blog this morning. With his permission, here's the first E-mail I received from him. He's also sent me two pictures - one of of his three kids, and one of his oldest daughter. You can see them below.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I got an email from a blog spot. I don't know much about blogging so I thought I would send an email instead.
Well, I guess that I should comment on this, seeing as though this one is about me. It really brought back alot of memories, obviously not all good. Mostly everything stated is true.
One thing that is slightly incorrect. It's not that I was jealous, I was very insecure. I suppose jealousy is linked to insecurity. My earlier years in high school I was a jerk. I was mean and hurtful. I took to the offensive so I wouldn't be attacked. I really don't like the person I was early in high school. That's one of the reasons I don't go to the reunions. I wasn't nice to nearly enough people so I always felt "too little, too late".
Same thing for when Jessi and I lived in Sheboygan. I wasn't confident enough to accept the situation of having a roommate.
Confidence. That's what first drew me to Burt and Richard. They were so confident in who they were that it just didn't matter what others said or did. I wanted to be more like that. That's why I took the "hurtful" things from them. I felt if I try to let it "roll off" that eventually it would. I have many good memories of our times in high school. From Richard's cartoons, their creative writing packets, funnel ball... My friendship with them is truly one of the highlights of my time in high school.
I really don't know why I did not keep the friendship going. I do regret this. There is no reason about why this happened. I had good intentions to keep up or to even call, but as time went on it seemed a larger task to try to break the ice again and try to explain why I lost touch.
True, my family is very important to me. I won't apologize for that. With Mom dying, it just emphasized how important my time with them was. But things do change. Now I have three kids of my own so we don't have nearly as much time for out-of-town family visits.
Well, thanks for bringing back some memories. I appreciate the kind words and understand the negative, but truthful words.
If you want to write back, it would be wonderful. If not, I understand.
UPDATE - 2/16/07 - Two days ago, Dave and I had lunch together. I hadn't seen him in 5.5 years. We went to Oakland Gyros - the greatest restaurant in Milwaukee. Anyway, I snapped the picture below.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:05 AM 7 comments
WILLIAM PELNAR
Ok, so no one ever called him William. He was "Chip." And he's probably still Chip today.
I met Chip in sixth grade. We shared Mrs. Casey's class together. I always found Chip to be kind of a cool guy. We were never friends or anything. But he was always nice enough to most everyone.
Surprisingly, despite going to school with him for seven years, outside of 6th grade, our paths rarely crossed in school. I remember having him in Mr. Swokowski's art class in 8th grade, as well as Ms. Sapa's language class in freshman year.
Although I wasn't involved, I believe in 8th grade Richard and Meff tried to mount a campaign to get Chip Pelnar and Lenny Lewis elected as class president and vice president. Of course Clarke had no such student officials. But that didn't matter.
In Ms. Sapa's class, I seem to recall Becky Monka being a little fixated on Chip.
Boy, I got nothing else. I ran into Chip a few times at the video store. He remained friendly enough. He went on to marry class of 1990's Melissa Kaczrowski. Interestingly, Melissa (Missy) shared 8th grade study hall with me in Mr. Trembley's room. She sat in the front desk in the middle row, right in front of fellow graduate Jen Andersen. I overheard the two of them talking about kids. Both of them stated that they didn't want to have any kids themselves. But Missy didn't follow through. She and Chip have at least one child.
Last I knew, Chip was working for Burger Boat in Manitowoc, and living in Two Rivers.
UPDATE - 6/26/06 - Yesterday, Kevin Dehne went to Chip's house for a barbecue. He brought his camera. The results are below. Apparently Kevin and Chip were friends for many years, back in grade school. I believe Chip looked Kevin up, shortly after reading about him in this blog. Cool!
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 6:43 AM 3 comments
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
UPDATE - JEN ANDERSEN
I feel like I'm on a mission now. I just spoke with Jen. Check out her post in the January archives for an update on her current life.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 1:41 PM 13 comments
AL WEGNER
In our senior video, Al mentions that "many" of us knew him as "Mel." But it was a long story that he didn't want to get into.
Mel? That was news to me.
I met Al in freshman year. We shared a homeroom together throughout high school. Al seemed like a nice enough guy who wanted to fit in and be accepted. But overall, he was shunned by the masses. Perhaps it was because he was somewhat on the larger side. I don't know.
In homeroom once, Mike Zeman came up to Richard in hysterics. He handed Richard Al's glasses, and said, "I just took these right off his face." Why Mike found that to be as incredibly funny as he did, I'll never know.
Al was not the athletic type. But wanting to belong, he became one of the student managers to some of the school football or basketball teams. He was also in charge of some video equipment, and had the job of filming many of the school's activities.
In our freshman year, I once heard Al mention to someone that he used to be really good friends with Shawn Rappley. But he was saddened by the fact that for whatever reason, Shawn didn't talk to him anymore. I got the feeling that once high school began, Shawn had aspirations of popularity. And hanging out with Al Wegner would hold him back. That's sad. In fact, I had Shawn in algebra class that year. And I overheard him say to Jeff Bodwin (talking about Al) "That kid has tits!" As mentioned above, Al was a little on the big side, and apparently was cursed with "man boobs." That's probably why Al always (and I do mean always... every single day) wore two layers of clothes on his upper torso. He either wore a T-shirt and a big flannel shirt, or a T-shirt with a sweatshirt.
In our junior year, Joe Antonie told me something interesting about Al. Joe lived right next door to Al. Apparently as kids, Al was a beanpole, and was the most athletic guy in the neighborhood. I was shocked! Then Al developed kidney stones. It sent him to the hospital and laid him up for quite awhile. For whatever reason, it seemed to screw up his body, as Al gained a massive amount of weight in a very short time. He never lost it.
In our junior year, I had Al in Ms. Neveau's speech class. For his first few speeches, Al would finish by saying something like "It wasn't very good." This drove Ms. Neveau nuts! You never end a speech by critiquing your own performance - and critique it in a negative light at that. Despite being scolded, Al continued to say something similar for two additional speeches before finally wising up. The last time he did it, his speech was a demonstration speech on how to use the school's video camera. He wrapped it up by explaining what he'd just demonstrated, and finished again with "It wasn't very good." Ms. Neveau put her head down and shook it back and forth.
In our senior year, I happened to find myself over at Joe Antonie's house. Joe had told me that from one of his upstairs windows, he could see right into the Wegner's bathroom, and could actually watch them take a shit if he wanted to. I was anxious to see. But alas, the Wegner's had put up a curtain by that time.
After high school, I ran into Al many times at the video store. I think I even rented him some porno films on several occasions. He was working at a factory of some sort, where I believe he still works today. I don't think he's married or has any children.
Here's a tidbit. Five years after graduation, our class had a reunion. I did not attend. However, the weekend of the reunion, Meff just happened to be in town. So on a whim, after work (I was still working at T&R Video) we drove over to the VFW Hall where the reunion was taking place. I was in my dad's truck. And he happened to have binoculars in there. So we spied on the festivities for awhile. I'm pretty sure I saw Lee Jacquart and Mark Ciha take a piss outside. But I digress. We noticed that Al was in attendance. Several hours later, at about 3:00 in the morning, we decided to call Al to quiz him on the events of the reunion. We woke him up. But he spoke with us for about 20 minutes. Not once did we mention who we were. And not once did he even care to ask. Perhaps he was still half alseep.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:02 PM 5 comments
BRENDA DAX
Brenda was a tough girl. She was the kind of girl who wasn't afraid to at least threaten to get phyically involved with the guys - in a fighting sense.
I've known Brenda since my first day of school in Two Rivers - Monday, 11/10/80. I had her in Mrs. Schmidt's class. At that time, I believe her best friend was fellow graduate Colleen Krejcarek.
I have a vague memory of her from that year. Each week we would get one of those "Junior Scholastic" magazines in class. And as a class, we would read them out loud. Brenda had to read an article about an old time telephone. And where she was supposed to say "crank it up" she instead said "crack it up." The whole class laughed. Why I recall that is a mystery to me.
Brenda was one of the classmates that I shared my entire 7th grade with. In Mrs. Westburg's chorus class, I remember her once chasing Doug Wall. Doug ran away, fearing for his own safety. I kidded Doug about that forever. He would always come back with, "You would run too!"
Speaking of Doug and Brenda, they had another close encounter. Egged on by the likes of Jason Anderson, Kevin Dehne and myself, we got Doug to drop his pants and moon Mrs. Westburg while her back was turned. Brenda had the unfortunate position of being mere inches from Doug's ass when he bared it a few times. Poor girl.
In that same 7th grade, I can recall Brenda wearing some gray parachute pants.
Our math teacher, Mr. Longhini used to often refer to her as "Brenda Da-axe." One day Brenda came back with, "I could say something funny about your name too." Think about it.
In Mr. Schambureck's social studies class, I was standing near her one day, in charge of keeping score on the blackboard for a trivia contest we were doing. I was wearing some sort of khaki corduroy pants. She kept asking me if those were "fag pants." Incidentally, I never wore them again.
I seem to recall that she had a thing for class of 1988's Scott Schweiger.
Brenda was great at ping pong. When we had it in gym class, she kicked ass. She was so good that Mr. Wolff said we would get credit for any points scored against her. I was actually pretty good at ping pong, and was able to score on her. But in the end, she beat us all.
Jenny Malley told me that she had hung out with Brenda at her home once - where she had a ping pong table, and obviously became an expert at it. Jenny complained that Brenda would cheat.
In high school, she was heavily into sports. I believe she was into basketball, softball and volleyball. She excelled at all of them.
Dave Svatek told me that HE had heard a story about her. So obviously I don't know if any of this is true. This may have happened in our junior or senior year. Apparently several females were having some sort of party/sleepover. In Brady Bunch land it would be called a slumber party. Anyway, legend has it that the conversations got a bit racy. And at one point, Brenda (who was allegedly wearing some sort of oversized nightshirt) pulled it up, revealing a wetness "down there" and saying, "God, I'm so horny right now."
For the record, the "scandal" was that she said this amongst a group of females. And the insinuation was that she may have "swung the other way from time to time." That my friends is no scandal. That's hot!
That's a good story. But again, I have no idea if it ever took place. It's just something Dave told me in school.
I believe that Brenda's best friend was fellow graduate Becky Koeppel.
After high school, I think she went on to college - possibly to UW Madison. But I'm not sure. She eventually married, and became Brenda Turner. They had at least one child before they divorced in 2000. I believe she now lives in the Milwaukee area.
UPDATE - 2/2/06 - Brenda went to UW Milwaukee. She is now a vice principal in the Milwaukee area. Here's a recent photograph of her. Click it for a smaller, clearer version.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 8:35 AM 3 comments
SHAWN MEHLHORN
By request, here is the immortal Shawn Mehlhorn.
It's hard to describe Shawn. Shawn was a little slow I think. He wasn't the nerdy type. But the poor kid got picked on unmercifully. To be honest with you, I never understood why. It's not like Shawn ever did anything to anyone. He was just a whipping boy for the macho types like Jamie Tadych and Craig Rysticken. People would routinely punch Shawn on the arm. The kid probably had bruises all year round. Not that Shawn was physically able to retaliate, but he never did anything about it. He would simply laugh, or try to run away. I honestly felt sorry for the guy.
I think Shawn was in a lot of the special education classes at school. Because of that, I think the one and only class I ever had with him was in our sophomore year, in drivers' education with Mr. Noll.
I think Shawn's parents were much older than most other students'.
I believe Shawn lived four or five blocks from the high school - somewhere in the "Joe Antonie" area. I remember riding my bike to school one day, and seeing Shawn walk out the door. He was probably mortified when his mom began saying, "Have a good day. I love you." All parents say that. You just shouldn't say it when your kids' peers are around.
I ran into Shawn several times at the video store. We never said a whole lot. But it was always friendly.
Last I knew, Shawn had married a woman named Peggy, and was living in a mobile home in Manitowoc. I don't know if they have any kids.
UPDATE - 8/12/06 - Kevin Dehne and I hit Shawn's house on our second trip to Two Rivers. Shawn is actually in Manitowoc. So he was one of our first stops. We found his home. There was a camper in the driveway that had suffered some serious hail damage. We knocked, but no one was home. Later on in the day, we tried again. It looked as if someone had been home in between our visits. But they must have left again. Before we left, we snapped a picture of the wlecome sign near the front door.
UPDATE - 10/4/06 - Sad news, as Shawn lost his battle with cancer this morning. Here's the obituary from the Herald Times Reporter.
Shawn A. Mehlhorn, age 35, of 1412 S. 31st St., Manitowoc, died Wednesday morning, Oct. 4, 2006, at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison, after a courageous battle with cancer.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, Oct. 9, 2006, at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Two Rivers. Officiating at the service will be the Rev. David Scherbarth, with entombment to follow in Knollwood Chapel Mausoleum, Highway 310, Manitowoc.
Shawn was born Feb. 17, 1971 in Two Rivers, a son of Ruth (Boettcher) Mehlhorn - Miller, and the late Arnold Mehlhorn. He attended schools in Two Rivers, graduating from Washington High School with the class of 1989. He was employed at Lakeside Foods in Manitowoc for several years, prior to his illness. Shawn was a lifetime member of St. John's Lutheran Church, Two Rivers, where he married Peggy Walters on Oct. 11, 1997.
Survivors include his wife: Peggy; his mother: Ruth Mehlhorn - Miller, Two Rivers; one brother and sister-in-law: Terry and Susette Mehlhorn, Mishicot; two sisters and brothers-in-law, Sandy and Neal Daffner, Two Rivers; Deb and Gordy Peppler, Oshkosh; several nieces and nephews which include his godchild: Kelsi Daffner; Shannon (Brett) Peitersen, and their children;, Trey, Kendal, and Kaden; Sarah (Tim) Kupsky, and their children: Justus and Brylee; Brian (Angie) Mehlhorn, and their daughter: Mallory; Garrett Piester; Tammy (Elliot) VanderBloomen, and their children: Bryn and Alexis; and Patti (Dan) Bassett. He is further survived by his father-in-law and mother-in-law: Todd and Robin Garrigan, Manitowoc; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law: Janise Walters; Michelle (Aaron) Wodsedalek, and their children: A.J. and Sharlotte; Chris (Alicia) Walters, and their daughter: Vanessa; and Todd Garrigan, Jr. all of Manitowoc; uncles, aunts, cousins, and many friends also survive. He was preceded in death by his father: Arnold Mehlhorn; a sister-in- law: Kayla Garrigan; and his stepfather: Herbert Miller.
Friends may call at the Deja & Martin Funeral Chapels, 1506 - 18th St., Two Rivers, from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday evening, and at the church Monday morning, after 10 a.m. until the time of service at 11 a.m.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:45 AM 7 comments
CHRIS STAUDINGER
By request, here's Chris. Or should I simply call him "Staudt?"
I don't have a wealth of information about Chris. My first memories of him are from our days at Clarke. Chris was a big guy. And at that time, I didn't much care for him. I think the feeling was mutual.
I believe Chris hung around with Scott Jaklin quite a bit. If memory serves, they were both involved in band - perhaps playing trumpets.
In 8th grade, I had Chris in gym class. One day we had a substitute - Ms. Sigourney. We were bussed over to the high school for swimming. And I recall Chris from the back of the bus, bellowing "SIGOURNEY," and sounding like a rooster crowing. It was funny as hell.
In 8th grade, my friend Kevin Dehne somehow got a hold of Chris' social studies book. As a joke, I told Kevin to bury it. Actually, I didn't quite vocalize it to him. Instead, I "coughed" it. Cough talk was big in those days. Kevin laughed. But sure shit, he went home and buried it in his backyard. Somehow Chris found out about it... and blamed me. The last memory I have from that incident is Chris bending down to me and whispering, "You're dead." Nothing more came from it.
I found a photo from Mr. Ashenbrenner's class in 8th grade. Chris is on the far right, From the left is Dave Kanera, followed by Scott Stephens and myself.
As juniors, Chris and I actually found a common bond. Dave Svatek would drive both of us home from school. Chris lived near Dave. We then discovered that we had a mutual love for Nintendo. We would talk about the ins and outs of The Legend Of Zelda, as well as how to find the secret "minus world" in Super Mario Brothers. I think I may have actually spoke to him on the phone once or twice to get/receive some hints on games.
After high school, I think Chris went on to college somewhere - perhaps to learn stuff about computers. But I could be wrong about that. I think for a time in the late 1990's, he lived on the east side of Milwaukee. Today he resides in Cleveland, Wisconsin. I don't think he's married or has any kids. But if you're interested in knowing more, you can call him at 1-920-693-2161.
UPDATE - 6/26/06 - I found two recent pictures of Chris. You can see them below.
UPDATE - 10/9/06 - Chris and Kim Nokes attended a wedding in Manitowc on Saturday, 9/30/06. Afterward, they drove down to my house for the double birthday part for my wife and I. Jeff "Meff" Messerman was also there. You can see five photos from the evening below.
UPDATE - 11/13/06 - On Saturday, August 12th, 2006, Kevin Dehne took another trip to knock on the doors of fellow classmates. Northwest of Sheboygan, we found the homestead of Chris Staudinger. It’s a sprawling area in the country. It was obviously a farm at some point. But I think it’s a non-working farm today. I knocked, and was greeted by a woman – Chris' mom. She informed us that Chris was working. So we missed him. So it was back in the car and on our way to Manitowoc. But Kevin did snap a picture of me, as I peered into the window and spoke with Chris' mom. You can see it below.
posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:24 AM 10 comments
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