MAY, 2006

WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL TWO RIVERS WI CLASS OF 1989

Thursday, May 25, 2006
UPDATE - KEVIN DEHNE, DAVID KANERA, JENNY MALLEY, DOUG WALL & PICTURES

I added 21 stories about Kevin Dehne. I added a brief story about Dave Kanera and a rumor which circulated after a potty break. I added a very brief story about Jenny Malley and Slade. For Doug, I added two stories - one about his nickname of "cock." The other was about his plan to dig up a grave. Lastly, I added a link on the side of this page, which will take you to every single picture or scan that has been posted on this blog - 114 in all. I used an old "update" post from March. So ignore the date. In addition to future posts, I will also place all new pictures into that picture link as well.

Enjoy!

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 2:18 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, May 24, 2006
THAT'S ALL THERE IS. THERE AIN'T NO MORE.

It took 4.5 months. But I have now blogged about 259 former classmates. As far as I know, I got them all. It's been quite an experience. When I started this quest, it was merely meant to be a diary of my life - or at least my school life, with my former classmates. As I've stated before, I never expected any of the people I wrote about to actually discover the blog, let alone contribute with comments of their own. I never wanted the attention. But I'll admit that I've enjoyed the little bit of fame I've gotten from this.

I've come to realize that in some cases, my comments have hurt some feelings. I truly am sorry for that. It certainly was never my intention to cause anyone to feel bad. I would hope that everyone takes this blog in stride, and wouldn't hold it against me. After all, these events happened back in the 1980's. That's a long time ago. And what happened back when we were kids really means nothing in the context our lives today.

I want to give thanks to the 35-40 people who stopped by to leave comments of their own. Your contributions are just as good as mine.

As I stated on day one, I never thought of myself as a member of the class of 1989. But I feel a little different today. At the very least I think I've made a personal connection of some sort to many of my former classmates. That's been really cool.

I need to give out some special kudos to a few people as well. In alphabetical order:

ERIN HYNEK - Erin has E-mailed me every week or so since she first started commenting on the blog. Whether it be ask me a question, brag about the St. Louis Cardinals, or to simply ask how I'm doing, she's made a point to stay in touch. And that's been very nice. Erin deserves all of the accolades that have been bestowed upon her by her fellow classmates.

JENNY MALLEY - A girl I had a crush on for my entire childhood. We haven't just gotten in touch with each other. We E-mail nearly everyday. Today she is no longer the pretty girl that I admired from afar. She's now someone I consider to be a good friend. Personally speaking, getting to actually know Jenny and befriend her has been the coolest thing to come from this blog. Quite simply, the girl friggen rocks!

GREG PAGEL - A guy I considered a fringe person for me. I always thought that back in the day, we could have been friends - if only I'd have been a little more "normal." Today I know we could have been. I'm just a tad more normal today. And he and I are now getting along swimingly.

CINDY ROHRER - The girl has perhaps millions of photographs in her possession. The candid shots from her days in school are priceless. Thanks to both her and her father for some of the great photo contributions to this blog.

BRAD STROUF - A guy who's been here since close to the beginning. Some have come and some have gone. But Brad is a staple. And his contributions have been great. He also deserves special thanks for getting my butt in gear again when I started to slack off.

In case anyone's interested, I've actually met three of the classmates during this process. Those three are Kevin Dehne, Tom Grassman and Toby Schwartz. Toby I just happened to run into. Kevin and Tom both knew I was coming. Without this blog, those two mini-reunions never would have happened. I also look forward to future mini-reunions which I know are going to occur. Whether it be one-on-one, or when Kevin and I do the town, they will happen. And I'll be posting all the pictures.

I've also talked to a few people on the phone as well. Those people are: Jen Andersen, Joe Antonie, Kevin Dehne, Jeremy Karman, Jenny Malley, Cindy Rohrer and Brad Strouf.

I've also gotten E-mails from the following people: Jen Andersen, Jason Anderson, Joe Antonie, Treesa Carron, Mark Ciha, Carrie Collard, Kevin Dehne, Laura Fowler Jeff and Brenda Gordon, Mark Gordon, Chad Hoerth, Erin Hynek, Scott Jaklin, Lisa Koch, Kelli Kupsch, Jenny Malley, Greg Pagel, Shane Peterson, Cindy Rohrer, Toby Schwartz, Brad Strouf, and Tammy Swoboda.

Lastly, in trying to confirm information about people, I've often called their homes or offices. If someone answered, I would simply pretend that I'd dialed a wrong number. But the voices or voicemails of classmates I've heard are: Larry Daffner, David Duvall, Randy Ertman, Stephanie Gardner, Jamie Grainger, Dana Grasee, Terry Hug, Brian Klein, Shannon Koch, Kelly Kotarek, Sara Kvitek, Dean Lichterman, Jim Messman, Nick Novachek, Angie Owens, Robert Pilzak, Shawn Rappley, Andy Reinhart, Dawn Schmidt, Josie Scott, Chris Staudinger, and Tina Short.

And thank you to all of the rest of you who are reading, but have chosen not to say anything. I know who many of you are!

This quest is not over. Now it's time to start writing about the teachers. But first things first. We're going on a vacation next week. But upon my return, the writings start again.

So now that the classmate blog is done, tell me... how did I do?

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:06 PM 13 comments

JEFF MESSERMAN

Affectionately known as "Meff." Some friendships are written in blood. Ours is written in vomit.

Meff is a guy who was at Magee. But I knew nothing about him. At that time, he was hanging around with Richard Wheeler. He had Mrs. Charter in 4th grade, Miss Hynek in 5th grade, and Mr. Stodola in 6th grade. I didn't get to know Meff until 7th grade.

For the most part, my classes in 7th grade had the same 25-30 kids in every class. But in a couple of the classes, a stray student or two would join us. One of those classes was science class, with Mr. Stodola. I sat in the front row. Toby Schwartz sat behind me. Jenny Malley was on my right. And Meff was on my left.

I'm not sure exactly what caused us to "hit it off" so to speak. But Meff and I got along great. He wasn't the troublemaking type. So he was a nice change of pace for me. Both of us had an interest in Atari. Meff also had a huge interest in computers. He wanted to see my Texas Instruments computer, and the various games and stuff I had to go with it. So I invited him to come over one day after school.

It was an odd time. I had some sort of weird cough thing going on. For a couple of weeks, everytime I coughed, I would come close to throwing up. Some sort of gag reflex was going on. Meff and I were in my room, when I started coughing. As was the norm, I tried to refrain from barfing of course. It had actually only happened once - and then, it was only one tiny bit, not much more than a big spit. But I wasn't so lucky this time. I was sitting on my bed, when it happened. I tilted my head to the ceiling. Then like an erupting volcano, waves of puke came spewing out of my mouth. Meff looked frightened, but calmly said, "And he's throwing up on his bed." That struck me funny. So as I was vomiting, I began to laugh like a maniac. I can only imagine what was going through Meff's mind, as this maniacal kid spewed vomit while laughing hysterically. But whatever the case, he chose to stay. I washed up, changed my shirt, and was no worse for wear. I think Meff came over a few more times that year. I never puked in front of him again.

One day in Mr. Fencil's class, Toby Schwartz and I began to experiment by changing the first letter of our fellow classmates' first and last names - "Devin Kehne, L.J. Butterman" and so forth. We then came up with "Meff Jesserman." And thus, "Meff" was born.

One day in Mr. Stodola's class, I decided to show Meff this new maze I'd created. So I knelt next to his desk. When Mr. Stodola moved to the front of the room to start lecturing,I stayed put. Yes, I wanted to get a reaction out of Stodola. Meff kept whispering for me to go away. But I refused. For about five minutes, Stodola never noticed. Was he blind? I was getting tired of squatting. Finally he saw me, and erupted. I smirked and went back to my desk. Then Stodola tore into Meff. He took the worst of the yelling. Meff... welcome to my world.

Meff and Richard came up with strange plan that year. It was the 1983-1984 school year. And they wanted to turn L.B. Clarke into the society that was protrayed in George Orwell's book, "1984." We were supposed to be some sort of strange society run by "Big Brother." They drew comics, charts, and all kinds of stuff. They chose various students for different rolls within the organization. Surprisingly, it took off. But before long, and enemy of Big Brother came around - the posse. The next thing you know, people were choosing sides. It was Big Brother versus the posse. Tons of people were involved. Of course nobody knew exactly what anything meant. But I can recall rumors that Jeff Gordon (a member of Big Brother) got beat up by a member of the posse, after it was revealed that he was one of the highest ranking officers in the organization. I recall that Jim Colby blamed me, and was planning to tell Meff about it, in order to have me kicked out of my high rank - so he could then take my place. What the hell was all this shit about anyway? I have no idea. But for a few weeks that year, it was a lot of fun.

Meff and I didn't have any classes together in 8th grade. But we stayed friends.

In freshman year, we had Mrs. Sapa's literature class together. We also had a study hall together. Plus we walked home from school together everyday. We sometimes had this game we would play. If we saw a young kid walking home, and in front of us. We would strike up an audible conversation, in which we described how we would rape our mothers and chop them up into stew. Man, did we get some frightened looks from some poor kids. Yes, we were bastards.

Meff had written two phrases on the wall in his garage. One said, "My kingdom for a VCR." The other said, "If you can read this, you didn't go to L.B. Clarke School." Meff finally did get that VCR in December of our freshman year. He then joined me as a movie fiend. We were obsessed with movies - especially horror movies. Both of us used to rent movies and copy them all the time.

In the second semester of our freshman year, we had Mrs. Fischer for English class. We had to give a few speeches in the class. For one, I recall Meff talking about how he had spilled a tub of popcorn while going to see the film "The Gods Must Be Crazy." I also recall him writing a story about an ugly potato that wanted to kill itself by jumping onto a knife. Mrs. Fischer had brought in a sack of potatoes and passed one out to everyone, with instructions to have them write a story about it.

Meff's dad ran Messerman Furniture, in downtown Two Rivers. It had been a family business for years. But by this time, business wasn't good. Meff's parents sold the business. Then Meff's dad found a new job at a carpet store in Milwaukee. So after freshman year, Meff's family moved. I think Meff's mom was happy about that, as she wasn't exactly pleased with my involvement in that ceiling tiles incident. Plus Meff's parents still kept in touch with Tom Grassman's parents. And Tom's mom had nothing but hatred for me. Did anyone's parents like me, other than my own?

So Meff moved to Thiensville. My best friend was gone. That sucked. But we obviously kept in touch. We sent each other audio tapes in the mail. Plus we racked up a lot of phone bills between us. He had it worse though. Because he was calling Richard as well. In addition, Meff's orthodontist was in Manitowoc. He seemed to have an appointment there at least once every month. And of course his grandparents still lived in Two Rivers. So he came to visit all the time.

In the summer between our sophomore and junior year, both Meff and I (as well as Richard) were getting heavily involved with The Beatles, Charles Manson, witchcraft, the occult... One night when Meff was over, we decided that we were going to perform a satanic ritual. We had a copy of the satanic bible, which gave instructions how to do it. But we didn't have some of the things one needed - a bell, a gong, a phallic symbol... So we took a Green Bay Packer glass, taped a spoon inside of it, and hung it upside down. That was our bell. I rode my bike into the cemetery and stole the cover off of a garbage can. We used electrical tape to put an upside down star on the inside part of it. We then hung it from my basement ceiling. That was our gong. For a phallic symbol, we carved a dick out of a candle. We also needed black candles. So we took some white ones and covered them in black electrical tape. Yeah...this was going to work. And what was the point of our ceremony? We decided to wish death upon someone. Who was the person we chose? It was none other than fellow graduate, Craig Rysticken. We set up a tape recorder to doucment the event. And let me tell you something, it's one of the funniest things I've ever heard. We were out of our minds! Were we on something? I don't think so. We needed "elixer" for the ritual as well. Our susbstitute - diet orange Slice. We had to have an object represent Craig. We chose a potato. As the ceremony went on, we stuck that thing with tons of pins, then took a hammer to it as well. Needless to say, Craig was no worse for wear. Neither of us took it seriously. I still have that potato to this day - pins and all, sealed in a bag. I'm sort of afraid to throw it out. So it sits in the bedroom closet of my parents' house. In the summer of 1989, when we were in the process of moving, my dad threw the garbage can cover out by the street for the garbage. The pentagram faced the street, and was a hilarious sight to see prior to the garbagemen picking it up.

In our junior year, Meff spent his Easter break at his grandparents' house. But his week off was different than ours. So Richard and I skipped out one day. The three of us drove around, and actually went all the way up to Green Bay. But we didn't do anything. We simply came back. We spent the afternoon at Richard's house eating Easter candy and making prank phone calls. I got Richard to sign a note "from my parents" for my absence. And we got away with it.

Senior year was weird. Richard and I were no longer friends. But both of us were still friends with Meff. Both Richard and I would occasionally (but not often) badmouth the other, through Meff. And he had to sit and listen to all of it. Thankfully he never chose sides.

Meff's parents moved to Brown Deer for his junior and senior year. So Meff is a 1989 graduate of Brown Deer High School.

In my senior year, I almost joined the navy. I even got dragged sown to Milwaukee to take the ASVAB test and get a physical. I made sure it happened on a school day, as opposed to the weekend. Meff happened to be home sick from school for those two days. So I called him several times. He pleaded with me not to join, repeatedly asking me what the fuck I was doing. As bullheaded as I usually am, I came to realize that he was right. I wasn't suited for the military. 90% of it is following directions and taking orders. That wouldn't have worked with me. And I'm sure I would have gone awol at some point. So I refused to sign. And holy shit were the navy guys pissed at me. But they did give me a bus ticket home.

It was never a well-known fact. But Meff is adopted. He was adopted as an infant (perhaps newborn?) Apparently one of his birth parents was Jewish. I think they came from the Brookfield area. Meff has never known who they are, nor as he had any interest in knowing who they are. I don't believe he holds any ill will towards them. But his adopted parents are the only mom and dad he's ever known. And that suits him just fine.

Meff was raised Jewish. Although for years, you'd never know it. I've seen him eat many slabs of bacon over the years. He just didn't care enough to be bothered with those sorts of traditions. Amen brother! Plus I think it irked his mother to do stuff like that. I think he got some perverse pleasure from flaunting himself in the face of certain Jewish traditions.

After high school, Meff enrolled at MATC in Milwaukee. His plan was to become a mortician. He went to school for one year, then got an internship at a Jewish funeral home in the Milwaukee area.

He lasted about a week.

The stories he has from that week are both amazing and funny. It was summer. And he had to pick up dead, elderly people from nursing homes. Often they were soaked in sweat and urine. Plus corpses tend to emit gas from down below. And you think gas from the living smells? Think again. Plus there was the time that he had to struggle to clothe an incredibly obese man. I think he nearly dropped him on the floor. Clothing a stiff body is no easy task. And of course there is the awesome experience of leading a funeral procession, not knowing where the cemetery was. He took a wrong turn down a dead-end street. One week was all he could stomach. It makes me wonder about the people who do that sort of thing for a living. If Meff can't do it, who can?

Meff had a "stupid human trick" that impressed me. He would take the tip of a pin and rub it across his eyeball. Why? Who knows. But it creeped me out. I've stopped many a moving fan with my tongue. But I'll never put a pin on my eye.

For his next year in college, Meff decided to do some sort of land surveying thing. I have no idea what that was all about. Neither does he. That too lasted one year, before he moved on. For the next few years, Meff was involved in TV production at MATC. He did a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff at channel 10 in Milwaukee. But again, he never actually graduated with a degree. I'm not exactly sure what went wrong there. But he left the program at some point.

Finally, I believe he enrolled at UW Milwaukee. I think he lasted a year or two. I don't know what exactly he was going to school for. It could be that it was just general courses, as he essentially started over with his college career. Eventually he tired of school and gave it up.

In 1994, Meff moved out of his parents' home. He ended up living with a long-haired comic book guy, and the guy's girlfriend. I called him "hairhead." He lived with them in Germantown for one year. Then he found a new roommate named Chuck. The two of them live together in Grafton for maybe five years. Chuck was a cool guy. I have always called him "The Frogman."

Between 1989 and 1997, Meff came up to Manitowc quite often. He'd usually hang out and spend two or three nights at my parents' house. We had a silly existence. He'd join me for work at T&R Video. But when we weren't there, we could be found hanging out at our friend John's house. Or we would be back at my parents' house watching vile movies all night. However there were several years where every single night, we would tune into Dr. Gene Scott. He came on at 1:00 AM on channel 5 out of Green Bay. We were fascinated by this religious madman. This guy would yell, swear and demand that his followers "get on the telephone" and give him money.

When we weren't watching TV, we'd be on the phone prank calling people in the middle of the night. Our calls were ridiculous, but very funny. We have several tapes to this day. It's a shame that caller ID has ruined the prank phone call business. Man, did we have fun.

Every night we had a ritual of driving around, occasionally yelling at pedestrians. Then we went to Coppes and bought three candy bars for $1.00. Then we'd sit and eat them in the Country Kitchen parking lot, while we poked fun at the staff and patrons inside. Oh yes, we were cool!

For a period of time, it seemed that everytime Meff was up, there would be some sort of police involvement. But it was always very minor. And we were always innocent. I loved it! Meff hated it. I would sometimes do things that caused the police to notice us for some reason. But upon investigation, we were obviously free to go on our way. To me, there was nothing more gratifying than being detained by a cop, knowing full well that I was innocent of everything - and would be able to prove it. Meff never understood my train of thought. But then again, he never got in trouble as a youth.

In the summer of 1994, I won a radio contest for an all-expense paid trip to Woodstock '94. It was a trip for two. Obviously, I took Meff. So we flew to New York and lived in a tent for three days. Thankfully we had security around our stuff. We also had VIP passes. For the record, Metallica put on the best show. They kicked ass! Our shoes were quite muddy upon our return.

Meff has always had one very annoying habit. He's unreliable. He's the type of guy who'll tell you he'll do something, then won't. And he won't even call to tell you that he won't be doing it. My wife and I have coined a word as an homage to him. The word is "meffinitely." It's just like "definitely" but without the assurance that defines that word.

Many, many times Meff told me that he was coming up to visit for the weekend. Then he wouldn't show. I'd say it was about 50/50. And for those times that he didn't show, I'd say maybe half of them he never bothered to call. But, that's just him. Over the years I've come to exepct it. There's no sense in getting angry about it. Because that's just the way he is. If you can't accept that about him, then don't befriend him.

The other big characteristic about Meff is his forgetfulness. In terms of memory, the guy is a polar opposite to me. He can't remember shit. He can't remember important family functions that he needs to attend. He can't remember anything. One must constantly remind him of things in order for him to recall. He'll be the first to admit this as well. It's just who he is. I've sometimes described him as scatterbrained. He's not stupid. There is a fine mind in that head of his. But sometimes I just shake my head at his constant forgetful and unreliable nature.

In the spring of 1996, Meff called me and suggested that the two of us move to California once I was finished with college. I only had a month or two left. And California sounded good to me. Other than my family, I had no ties to Wisconsin. Meff, myself and Richard had always had something in common. We were all good writers. In fact, I think it's safe to say that we were all great writers - especially creative writing. But Meff continued his craft beyond high school and college. He wrote screenplays. He always wanted to break into the movie business. He always had one idea or another on how to do it. But nothing ever came to be. He never had any follow though.

Anyway, California sounded like fun. Meff obviously wanted to break into film. That sounded like a good line of work for me too. When we next spoke a few days later, I discovered that he had forgotten about it. Geez! I suppose I shouldn't have been shocked by that. But nonetheless, I continued talking about it for the next few months. And Meff seemed to be liking the idea more and more. But he always wanted to push the date off. He always had an excuse like, "If this doesn't pan out" or "I've got this thing I'm working on now... But if nothing becomes of it..." By the fall, nothing had happened. Something else then happened. I was convinced that the Green Bay Packers were going to win the Super Bowl that year. So just prior to the season, I told Meff that I didn't want to go until after the football season. If the Packers were going to win the Super Bowl, I wanted to experience it in Wisconsin. Of course they did just that. I think Meff was happy to hear my announcement. It gave him more time to push the date ahead.

Once the Super Bowl was over, I renewed my push to move. I even went so far as to tell him that I'd placed ads looking for a roommate. I told him that I was going to go whether he came with me or not. I was doing everything I could to get him to go. But I was met with the same round of excuses. Finally it dawned on me that he would never get his ass in gear. He simply didn't have the guts to pack up and leave. And that's fine. It's not an easy thing to do by any means. So I went out and found a "real" job in Milwaukee. From that point, I was grounded. The California dream was over.

After a short stint in Sheboygan, I moved to Grafton, a few blocks away from Meff. So we saw each other all the time. It was nice to actually have a social life for a change. There were parties at my apartment, and parties at his. We watched movies all the time.

Things changed a bit in the spring and summer of 1998. That's when I met the woman who eventually became my wife. Meff didn't have a girlfriend at the time. And he experienced some of the tpyical jealousies that sometimes come with a new person. Call it the "best friend syndrome." In essence, she intruded on my time with him. But let's face it. I never had sex with Meff. This girl had sex with me all the time. And like most guys, I often chose the prospect of sex.

We got engaged in September of 1998. We moved in together a month later. Now she was "intruding" more and more. But to her credit, she tried so hard not to step on Meff's toes. She wanted me to have a life outside of her. And really, that's the way it should be. I couldn't be with someone who told me what to do or had me henpecked. But nonetheless, Meff had a problem with her existence. Finally I snapped at him and told him that we were through as friends. This happened around the summer of 1999 or so. It was sort of funny. I was E-mailing his roommate (the Frogman) about it. And he commented that Meff had actually turned into the kind of guy that he was accusing me of being. For Meff had a girlfriend at that time. She was a half Mexican/half American girl named Chana. Anyway, I forwarded that E-mail to Meff. And perhaps it struck a chord. Because a few days later we "made up." And everything's been cool ever since.

Meff and Chana got engaged in November, 1999 - I think. If I'm not mistaken, they got engaged at a Glen Campbell concert. I think they got married in March, 2000. And believe it or not, I wasn't invited! However, truth be told, it was a very samll affair with only family. So I didn't take it as a slight. Needless to say, when I got married in June of that year, he was my best man.

How these two found each other I'll never know. In terms of characteristics, they're exactly the same. Both are unreliable, as my wife can attest to. Many a time she has left her hanging without explantion as to her whereabouts when plans were made between them. It's amazing how similar they are in that respect. She isn't as scatterbrained as Meff though. She also decided to become Jewish. And her newly-found faith restored his for a time as well. Although I think Meff may be a bit bored with religion these days. I don't know. I could be wrong.

In march, 2001, Meff's daughter was born. About a year later, he and his family up and moved to Maryland. There was some sort of half-baked plan that living with his wife's uncle (rent free) would somehow get them to be more financially stable - even though Meff gave up a pretty high-paying job to do so. It made no sense to me. And I told him so. I even ran the math by him. But it didn't sink in. Needless to say, the Maryland experience didn't last. They came back about five months later. Meff told me that the whole experience ended up costing them around $5000.00 in the long run. See, I told you so!

Meff ended up getting a job as an IT guy at a car dealership in Hales Corners. He has that same job today.

In December, 2004, Meff had another daughter. She arrived just in time for tax purposes. And as I type this, there is yet another child on the way. And it looks like it's going to be another daughter. I think she's due in September, 2006.

In January, 2006, Meff and his wife bought their first house. They now live in Cedarburg. Although it is so far on the outskirts of town, that I personally consider it to be Grafton. But that's just me.

Meff has been the longest running friendship I've had in my life. It dates back to 7th grade - 21.5 years and counting. That represents about 60% of my entire life. Though he sometimes frustrates me, the good times far outweigh the bad. The two of us can gab on the phone or in person and can laugh ourselves silly talking about nonsense. I can't imagine my life without his influence. In fact, at the moment, he and I are trying to get funding for a screenplay he's written. We plan to film it ourselves in and around the Milwaukee area. Fellow graduate Greg Pagel is set to score the soundtrack. But first things first. We need money to do so. So if anyone knows some potential investors, please contact me! Who knows. 20 years from now I may look back at these memories and laugh. Hopefully I'll be some sort of success in the film business. And rest assured, Meff will be right there with me.

UPDATE - 9/5/06 - Earlier this morning, Meff & Mrs. Meff gave birth to daughter #3.

UPDATE - 10/9/06 - On Saturday September 30th, 2006, Meff showed up for the double birthday party for my wife and I. Fellow graduates Kim Nokes and Chris Staudinger were also there. You can see the results below.











posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:26 PM 9 comments

WELCOME - NICK NOVACHEK

Well, well, after lurking in the shadows for quite some time, jolly old "SAINT NICK" has logged in and has left some comments in his entry, the "Lurking In The Shadows" entry from May 17th, and in Stacey Erickson's entry as well.

Welcome Nick!

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:40 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, May 23, 2006
UPDATE - RANDY ERTMAN, B.J. LUTTERMAN, TROY REZACHEK, & MIKE ZEMAN

I added a couple things about Randy - including getting yelled at by his father. I added two stories about B.J. - one involving Mr. Stodola. The other involving Glenn Soucoup. For Troy I added a brief bit about taping movies. And for Mike, I added a story about "Texercise."

I have one final classmate entry to make. I had hoped to get it done today. But it's a long one. I'm working on it. It won't be done until tomorrow.

Enjoy!

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 9:11 PM 2 comments

B.J. LUTTERMAN

B.J. is a guy who showed up at Clarke, in 8th grade. To me he was just a face in the hall until 7th grade.

In 7th grade, B.J. was one of nine males (including myself) that shared all of their classes together. I got to know B.J. quite well that year. And in all honesty, you'd be hard pressed to find a more friendly person. What can I say? It was impossible not to love the guy.

B.J. was always smiling, always laughing, always having a good time. He had the uncanny ability to step on every rung of the social ladder. Everybody liked him, from the dorks, to the elite, to the smokers, to the headbangers... everyone. And he seemed to like them all too.

Near the beginning of the year, B.J. found out that it was my birthday. So he reached into his pocket and gave me all the money he had - 10 cents. It was just a dime. But you could tell he was being genuine. I don't know why. But I was actually a bit touched by that gesture. I kept it in my trapper keeper for most of the year.

B.J. was generally well-behaved. But there was certainly a touch of naughtiness in him as well. I remember being in Mrs. Westburg's chorus class one day. He had brought in a snowball from outside, and whipped it at the chalkboard when Westburg's back was turned. Westburg turned around fuming. She demanded to know who had thrown it. She sat there and stared, and wouldn't continue class until someone told her. For once, the class remained silent. Keep in mind that the west side of the room was full of girls. If Kevin, Doug or myself would have thrown that snowball, we would have been fingered out by any number of them. But no one spoke out against B.J. Eventually Westburg gave up.

I remember another day in Westburg's class, where all those girls decided to mimic B.J.'s every move. B.J. was amused by it. Finally I told him to grab his own boob, to see if they would follow suit. B.J. lifted his shirt and did just that. But not of them copied that move.

Every morning before school, you could find B.J. out by the green fence, across from Kevin Shillcox' house, smoking with all the 8th graders.

There was a brief period of time, where a couple people in class hired a "manager." We even had contracts written up. I still have some of them. In addition to Jim Colby, I was B.J.'s manager. What were my duties? I have no idea. But one day I put my managerial duties into effect.

B.J. was having an argument with Mr. Fencil. And everytime B.J. would say something, I'd yell, "Yeah!" or "You tell him!" Fencil was not amused at all. After about the fourth or fifth time, he marched over to my desk and began to choke me. Then he started shaking my head while he was doing it. I was starting to turn red when he let go, then gave me a really hard slap across the face. I was kind of stunned. But before the day was out, I was choking myself and mocking Fencil about it.

B.J. was one of the guys who sometimes came over to my house for lunch.

One day I bumped into class of 1988's Glenn Soucoup in the hall. His books went flying. It was an accident. But he wanted to kill me. He followed me back to my locker - which was right next to B.J.'s. B.J. pulled Glenn aside and simply told him to leave me alone. Glenn walked away.

For some reason, this memory of B.J. sticks out. He told me of some black guy who worked at a gas station in town. And the guy used to sing, "I don't care what the white man says. Santa Claus was a black man." B.J. sang it to me. And I still sing it to this day.

In Mr. Stodola's science class, we once had to give speeches about something. Everyone had to do one. B.J. sat in the front row. And when Cindy Hayes went up to do her speech, B.J. made faces at her and tried to make her laugh. And he succeeded. Stodola wasn't amused. He made B.J. give his speech right away. While B.J. attempted to talk, Stodola started making faces at him, and disrupting everything. It was funny as hell. He had the whole class laughing. Finally after a few minutes, a dejected B.J. sat down, obviously hurt and humbled by the experience. Stodola had made his point.

Soemtime in the sprng of 7th grade, I was in my backyard. I was with two neighborhood kids, Bobby Streu, and Danny King (younger brother of fellow graduate Lisa King). B.J. just wandered into my yard and stopped to see what we were doing. The next thing I know, we're all hanging out in my garage. The three of them started smoking. Although I refrained. Danny may have only taken a puff or two himself. When he found out that Danny was Lisa's brother, I remember him saying, "You're Lisa King's brother? She's a little miss prissy, isn't she?"

Below is a picture of B.J. and Jen Andersen. This looks to have been taken in perhaps 6th or 7th grade.



B.J. looked like he had short hair. But in reality, it was really long and somehow combed over. It was quite an illusion. He could also do this "hair flip" to make everything go back into place.

B.J. stayed at school through our freshman year. Then he disappeared. I don't know what happened to him. I was once told that he moved to Sheboygan and became a cokehead. But the person who told me that was known for being full of shit. It's the same person who told me that Kevin Dehne punched a cop at a Dio concert. That story wasn't true. I doubt the B.J. story is true either.

On the day we came to register for our sophomore year, I was standing behind Rod Lumaye. He was talking to someone, saying that he couldn't stand B.J., and that he hoped his locker wouldn't be by him this coming year. That one statement by Rod is the only bad thing I've ever heard anyone say about B.J.

I ran into B.J. around 1992. I was walking out of Big Lots, as he was walking in. I think he had a girlfriend with him. He was the same old B.J. He had the same laugh and smile. We only spoke for a minute or two. But it was really cool seeing him again.

According to Kevin Dehne, he and B.J. actually lived together for a short time.

I ran into B.J. just one more time. It was around 1995 or so. He came into the video store to rent some movies. He was with his girlfriend - who I believe was very pregnant at the time. By this time he had really long hair - like hair band hair. We spoke for a minute or two. Then he turned to the girl and said, "This is Burt. He's cool."

It looks like B.J. was married to a woman named Stacy. They divorced in 2003. They have at least one child together. Today it looks like B.J. lives in Manitowoc. I have tried in vain to contact him. Thus far, I've been shut out. B.J. is one guy I would love to talk to again. I hope he's doing well. I'm going to keep trying to reach him.

UPDATE - 7/20/06 - After a lengthy search, Kevin Dehne and I tracked down B.J. in Manitowoc. He's still got the same smile and laugh. B.J. has four kids, by three different women. His youngest is one. His oldest is 16. He's currently unmarried. B.J. got his GED in 2000, and also attended Silver Lake College for a year. He currently works in construction. He has a million stories to tell. Now that he's aware of this blog, maybe he'll share some of them. He's got some interesting memories of Scott LeCoque (who was a recent next-door neighbor of his) and Wayne Rebarchek. The Wayne story is a classic. But I don't know if he'd want to share it publically. B.J. is as good a guy as you'll find. The five shots below were taken July 15th, 2006.











UPDATE - 11/11/06 - Here's some video from the day Kevin and I visited B.J.



posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:47 PM 3 comments

RANDY ERTMAN

Randy is a guy I met in 6th grade. He had come from Koenig School. We had Mrs. Casey together.

Randy and I got along really well that year. He was a fun guy. He was also huge. He wasn't fat. He was just a big, tall athletic kid. I remember being outside in gym class, and Randy would pick me up, flip me in the air (head over feet) and land me back on my feet. He did this to a couple of people. But he could really launch me. It was quite a feat of strength.

I remember one day where he and I were partners in some sort of science experiment. Randy was especially jovial that day. It was like he was tipsy or something. When science came to an end, Mrs. Casey announced that it was time to start cleaning up. Then Randy yelled, "Ok Joe, pick 'em up" in his best construction worker voice. Mrs. Casey looked at us and demanded, "Who said that, Burt or Randy?" Randy fessed up. Mrs. Casey just turned away, loking annoyed. Now that pissed me off! She and I had battled each other all year. And I know damn well that if I had been the one to say that, she would have punished me in some way. Teachers do play favorites.

Randy and I sat next to each other in Mr. Kjelstrup's art class as well. One day we were fooling around during the begininng of class, when Kjelstrup was talking. He got really mad at us, and forced each of us to write 200 times: "I will pay attention during morning announcements." That's a lot of words. It was the end of the year, right before we went to Camp Tapawingo. Neither of us could go until we actually finished it. I took mine home, and finished it the night before.

Also near the end of the year, we had an art class outside. This time it was with the other art teacher, Mr. Swokowski. We were all laying on the ground near the bike racks. Randy blurted out the "F" word at some point. Swokowski overheard him, and violently grabbed him on the ground. Randy didn't struggle or anything. It was probably the last time he ever backed down from a teacher.

One day as I was on my way to the garbage can after lunch, to dump my tray, Randy spied that I had some chili left in my bowl, and promptly grabbed my spoon and helped himself, as I was walking along. It was rather humorous.

When we were at Camp Tapawingo, Mrs. Casey took us on some sort of nature hike. Randy and Chad Bennin must have run ahead. Then as we passed this beat up old building, Chad started saying, "Where's Randy? Where's Randy?" Randy then popped out on top of the bulding, screaming "Arghhhhh!" Mrs Casey was surprisingly amused. If it were me, she would have had me arrested.

In 7th grade, I was on my way to Mrs. Westburg's class for a detention. Randy was maybe 10 feet behind me. I passed Wade Wachholz going the other direction. Suddenly I heard Randy's extremely loud, "FUCKER!" Wade had kicked him in the leg, and was laughing at him. Randy was in obvious pain. Mr. Stodola was not amused. He yelled at Randy to "come here." Painfully, Randy said, "No." I don't know what happened next. I just continued on to Westburg's room.

At some point during my senior year, Scott Jaklin and I went to Clarke, and wandered around a bit. We ended up talking to Mr. Schambureck. Schambureck told us that Randy, Ross Hofmann and perhaps someone else used to smoke pot after school, prior to coming back into the gym to practice basketball. He said that Randy and Ross were literally bouncing off the walls, and were sometimes so high that they could barely function.

At some point in the spring of 8th grade, Kevin Dehne and myself conceived a plan to do the ultimate book burn. We dubbed it "the super burn." For those who never attended Clarke at that time, a book burn was simply tossing someone's books or papers all over the floor. Anyway, Kevin had one or two empty lockers near his. And we constantly filled them with whatever scrap paper we could find. Once they were full, one of us would take them out, and slam them to the floor, right before the halls became filled with students on the way to their next class. The problem is that way too many people knew about it. So Mr. Kern found out as well, and stood in the hall on the day of the planned event, moments before it was to go down. That didn't do anything but delay the inevitable. A day or two later, Randy took it upon himself, and made one colossal mess. It was great! Everyone was sliding around on the papers. I pity the janitors who had to clean up that one.

In lunch one day, I went up to the hot lunch table, and helped myself to some more potatoes. There wasn't a whole lot left. Randy was nearby, and said, "Don't eat anymore of those. They're mine." I told him to fuck off, and took what I wanted. After lunch, as I was by my locker, Randy stomped around the corner, and backed me into Mrs. Anderson's health room, where he promptly punched me in the arm, and said that he was sick of my shit. Honestly speaking, that may have been the hardest punch I ever took in my life. But I took it and said nothing. Randy was not a guy I was going to tangle with. As he turned and left, Mark Ciha shouted to Randy, "He's laughing at you." That was NOT true! But Randy marched on, fully satisfied.

On the last day of school, in 8th grade, Randy got into an incident with Mr. Monka, the history teacher. Mr. Monka had a rule. If he caught anyone with a squirt gun, he took it away, then stomped it into little pieces. I wasn't in the class. But I heard about it. It was at the beginning of 3rd hour. Apparently Monka had seen Randy use his squirt gun, and demanded that he turn it over to him. Randy said that he didn't have one. When Monka asked again, Randy allegedly said, "Fuck you! I don't have one!." I think Monka tried to physically find it on Randy. And that's when Randy allegedly punched Monka in the face. I heard that it took multiple teachers to get things under control. But when they finally did, they simply told Randy to leave the school. Those of us in Mr. Ashenbrenner's classroom actually saw Randy calmly walking home. I had Mr. Monka for 4th hour. He looked different. Specifically, his glasses were nowhere to be seen. I suspect they were smashed.

In freshman year, I had Randy in Miss Sapa's literature class. She and I got into an argument one day. And at one point she asked me to move to another desk. I refused. She put the whole class on hold until I relented. Then Randy kicked my desk and told me to move. It's a sad state of affairs when a fellow classmate has more influence than a teacher. But I moved.

I also had Randy in Mr. Heuer's algebra class. I remember Randy falling asleep in class one day. When people noticed, everyone started to laugh. Heuer simply said, "Let him sleep."

In our sophomore year, I had Randy in pre-algebra II. He'd obviously failed at least one semester of algebra the previous year, just as I had. Perhaps he slept in class too much. Anyway, our teacher was Randy's own father. One day we took a test. Mr. Ertman announced prior to class that there would be absolutely no help given. No one was allowed to come up to him and ask him any questions at all. Randy must not have been paying attention. Because about 20 minutes later, he got up to ask a question. Mr. Ertman looked at him and said, "Are you stupid? What's the matter with you? Are you stupid? What are you doing?" Randy suddenly realzied what was wrong, and started to laugh. He looked really embarrassed too, as he went back to his seat.

At some point in our junior or senior year, Randy started going out with fellow graduate Tina Short. After they broke up (in senior year) Tina started seeing my friend Jason Krings. Jason said that Randy threatened him all the time. But Jason stood firm. I don't think any physical confrontations ever took place.

I remember telling Richard that I thought Randy would kill somebody someday. I figured it would be some sort of rage, as opposed to anything planned. I just pictured him getting really angry, beating the crap out of someone, and not realizing his own brute strength.

The character of "Meat" in the Porky's movies always reminded me of Randy.

At some point during our senior year, Randy came into the guidance office to use the phone to call his boss. I was sitting in there at the time. It must have been the first Wednesday of the month or something. Because all of a sudden, the tornado siren went off, for it's monthly test. It was right outside the window of the guidance office. And the window was open too. Randy literally screamed, "I'LL CALL YOU BACK!"

As a senior, Randy was 18, and actually moved out of his parents' house. That afforded him the luxury of "calling in sick" to school. I recall Randy missing a lot of school that year. But he did graduate.

I ran into Randy from time to time at the video store. He was always friendly enough. But he seemed to always come in with some very shady-looking characters. To the best of my knowledge, Randy has never married. He has however been arrested several times for drunk driving. In fact, when I looked him up a few months ago, I'm pretty sure I saw nine arrests! However, when I looked him up today, I "only" found eight. So he's either tied with Tony Trzeciak for the class record, or he's one ahead of him. Either way, that number is ridiculous. Randy has spent time in prison, as well as paid more than $10,000 in fines based on all of these drunk driving convictions. He may have just recently been released. It's hard to tell. I hope he has no more problems with this. And I wish him well.

UPDATE - 11/30/06 - As per Sally's comment, Jenny Malley told me that she too ran into Randy recently. She also confirmed that he was looking great. In fact, she said he actually looked younger now than he did when he was 16.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 10:55 AM 13 comments

SHAWN RAPPLEY

Shawn is a guy I met in freshman year. He was probably a product of the catholic schools.

Shawn and I had each other in Mr. Heuer's algebra class that year. He sat in the front row, right in front of Jeff Bodwin. The two of them talked a lot. I eventually moved close to them as well. So the three of us gabbed the entire year.

I'm pretty sure that Shawn had been friends with Al Wegner prior to high school. But I got the impression that Shawn wanted to try to crawl his way up the social ladder. I think he dumped Al in the process.

If memory serves, Shawn hated his stepdad. He talked bad about him all the time. Apparently the guy way very strict as well. It seemed like Shawn was happier being in school than he was at home.

Shawn had a Beta VCR, just as I did. I loaned him some movies from time to time - on nights when his stepdad wasn't home. But Shawn always wanted more. So a deal was struck. Near the very end of the first semester, Heuer passed out a paper to each student, letting them know which assignments they had failed to turn in. I had about 25 of them. If I didn't turn them in by the next day, I would fail the semester. I had no intention of even attempting to do them. It was algebra. And I was already lost. Once you're lost, you're sunk. You can never catch up. So I told Shawn that if he did those assignments for me, I'd loan him any of my movies, anytime he wanted them. Shawn thought it was a good idea. I was sort of surprised at that. Truth be told, I would have loaned him the movies anyway. But man, if he'd do my past due work, that'd be cool!

Anyway, Shawn literally stayed up until something like 3:00 in the morning doing my work. The next morning, I met him at his locker. And he turned over a huge stack of papers. He had managed to do all but one or two of the assignments. And did he look tired! Shawn wanted me to redo them in my own writing. I made a half-baked attempt to do so in study hall. But there was nowhere near enough time. So I didn't even finish one of them. I simply turned them all in as is. Heuer apparently never noticed the difference in writing. I got credit for all of them, and passed the semester. Without Shawn's help, I had a zero percent chance of doing so. Thanks Shawn!

I can recall Shawn and Jeff talking one day. Shawn mentioned something about a name change. Apparently in grade school, he had a different last name. Jeff remembered it too. But for whatever reason, Shawn told Jeff not to tell me what it was. Was it a secret of some sort? I don't know. I assumed that his mom remarried, and that he took his stepdad's name.

At some point in high school, perhaps in our junior year, Shawn began dating Cindy Hayes. I never understood that. She seemed out of his league. But, so be it. Lucky guy.

I ran into Shawn many times at the video store. He and Cindy came in a lot. I also had both of them in a math class at UW Manitowoc. I think I had them both in a history class as well. I'm pretty sure they were engaged at some point. When I got to UW Green Bay in the fall of 1994, I had Cindy in a class. I believe she mentioned Shawn. And I think she still had a ring on her finger. But the marriage never happened. They parted ways at some point.

I believe in the late 1990's, Shawn changed his name. He became Shawn Engleman. I suspect that was his birth name, and he wanted to go back to it. Shawn went on to marry a woman named Sandra. I believe they have three kids. Shawn also became a police officer. Today he works as the liaison officer at our old high school. Below are two pictures of him.





posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:13 AM 2 comments

UPDATE - MYSELF, TROY REZACHEK & CINDY ROHRER

I added some pictures of my daughters and my tattoo. You can see them in "MYSELF #1." As for Troy, I added a small bit about his favorite movie. And for Cindy, I added an update about Michelle Nicolas - a girl who left Two Rivers before I arrived. There's a recent photo as well.

Enjoy!

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 6:32 AM 0 comments

Monday, May 22, 2006
CHAD DAFFNER

"My name's Chad Daffner. I'm 130 pounds."

Chad is a guy I met in 5th grade. We both had Miss Krause.

Chad was kind of a small, thin guy. Somehow he and I began to hang out that year. My friendship with Chad was probably one of the shortest I ever had. But he and I had a lot of fun together.

If memory serves, when Chad and I hung out, it was usually at his house. I don't have any memories of his mom. But Chad's dad was a cool guy. Chad's sister Kris (class of 1987) was really cool too. Plus at the time, she was easy on the eyes as well.

I can remember sleeping over at Chad's house one night. He and I watched a horror movie called "Ants." Or perhaps it was "Empire Of The Ants." There were two killer ant movies. We watched one of them. Chad's parents weren't home. So his sister was in charge. In other words, we had no rules. I spent about an hour making prank phone calls, while Chad and Kris laughed their asses off listening to me. I can also remember getting excited because we had planned to watched Playboy's 25th Reunion, which was on one of the cable channels that spring.

As the summer began, Chad and I started to drift apart for whatever reason. We just didn't have a lot in common. I do have a very odd memory though. See my entry on Chad Bennin for the details.

In the summer of 1983, I found myself on a little league baseball team. Chad was a pitcher on an opposing team. And he was a superstar. He would strike out nearly everybody. Why? Because he was throwing a curve ball. And if anyone knows baseball, you'll know that throwing a curve ball is an absolute no-no for kids. By throwing it, it can make a little league pitcher sometimes invincible. But it also ruins their arm. Throwing a curve ball as a youngster will virtually assure that the kid will never become a professional player. It's a horrible thing to do. Chad's coach should have known better. Come to think of it, I think Chad's coach was his own father.

A few years later, I found myself at the home of my friend Bobby Streu. He was a couple of years younger than me, and lived in my neighborhood. Bobby's parents were gone. Somehow Chad and Ken Bartz came over as well. The three of us got really rowdy in the house. Poor Bobby was defenseless. Chad and Ken kept raiding the liquor bottles as well. I think Chad had a good buzz going.

From third grade through senior year, Chad wrestled. That's where his friendships with Chad Bennin and Ken Bartz came from. All three of them were short and thin. As a senior, Chad weighed 130 pounds. I know this because that's what he says on the senior video.

I ran into Chad on occasion at the video store. He never said a whole lot. I do remember him coming in with a friend once. But he said he didn't want to rent anything, as he was hoping to catch the baseball playoff game that was going to be on that night. I think they did end up getting something though, as his friend obviously wasn't interested in baseball. Chad eventually married class of 1993's Kari Pekarek. I think they have three kids. They live in Two Rivers to this day. I think Chad works in a factory, perhaps with Krueger. As a side note, while looking up information on Chad, I discovered that his sister Kris died in September, 2005. Very sad. I don't know what the circumstances were. But she was married, and had three kids of her own.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:42 PM 1 comments

DEAN LICHTERMAN

Dean is a guy I met in 5th grade.

Dean was a nerd. That's such a childish word. But really, that's what he was. Personally, I think he was a higher up on the nerd totem poll than most of the others. But he was still one of them.

Dean had very large glasses. And he always had a look on his face like he was in pain. I got along with Dean for the most part. I'm pretty sure he was involved in all the football and baseball card trading that went on that year.

Dean was also a pretty smart guy. He was into athletics. But I'm not sure if he participated much. Something tells me he may have played football a year or two. He kind of had a wide frame.

In the summer of 1982, I ran into (or swam into) Dean at the family swim place by Magee. He and I started talking. Then I went over to his house. That was an interesting experience. The house was filthy. It was also one of the messiest homes I'd ever seen. More than once I had to dodge some cat shit that was on the floor. I even noticed a pile of cat ship resting on the vacuum cleaner. I guess it hadn't been used in awhile.

Dean and I stayed in his room and played Atari. I remember we played Keystone Kapers quite a bit. Then Dean showed me something I'd never seen before, and have never seen since. He opened up the refrigerator and showed me a chocolate penis. Yes, I said chocolate penis. You don't see those two words side by side very often. It belonged to his parents. I have no idea where one would go to get such a thing. But they found a way. Awhile later, his parents came home. And I kept talking about the chocolate dick in the fridge. Dean kept telling me to be quiet. But I was having too much fun being loud. I'm sure they heard me.

Dean always had great big glasses, even as the years went by. To me, he sort of looked like an owl. He also seemed kind of stiff, as if he were standing too far upright, so as to actually bend back a little bit.

I had Dean in 6th grade as well. Or perhaps he only came into my class for reading. No, I think he was there all day. The only thing I remember is that he once did a report on the guy who started the game of basketball. Dean was a big basketball fan.

After 6th grade, Dean and I didn't talk much. We always got along. We just didn't mingle. In high school, I'm not sure what sort of crowd he hung with. Maybe he was his own clique.

On our senior video, Dean mentions that his plans for after high school are to make a ton of money, buy the Milwaukee Bucks, and have more cash than Donald Trump. I'm pretty sure he hasn't fulfilled any of those goals. Instead, I think he went to college somewhere, with ambitions of becoming a journalist. It looks like he landed a job at a newspaper in Fairbanks, Alaska. But now it looks like he's writing for a paper near Rochester, New York. It looks like he's married to a woman named Lori. But I don't think they have any kids.

UPDATE - 1/26/06 - I uploaded Dean's clip from the senior video. Also, I found some additional information about him. He attended Cornell College. Today he still lives in New York, with his wife, one cat, and three fish. He writes for the Messenger Post Newspaper, which apparently is an online newspaper in New York. He's the sports reporter. A recent photo of him can be seen below the Youtube clip. He looks pretty much exactly the same.





UPDATE - 4/13/07 - Well, Dean's wife came by and left a comment. She also E-mailed me, and provided me with a link to their website, as well as a bunch of photos. You can check out the website here. THE LICHTERMANS

The website has a detailed story of how Dean and his wife met. It also has tons of pictures - some of which I've posted below.

2ND GRADE?



RAMBLERS?



HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION



COLLEGE GRADUATION



DEAN & WIFE (WEDDING DAY - JUNE 10, 2000)



DEAN & WIFE (2001)



DEAN & WIFE (2003)



DEAN & CAT



UPDATE - 6/13/07 - Dean no longer works for that particular newspaper. I don't know where he works today.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 1:54 PM 6 comments

UPDATE - SHAWN PICKARD

I added a small blurb about a fight with Jon Kern.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 1:51 PM 0 comments

TROY REZACHEK

Troy is a guy I met in 5th grade. We shared Miss Krause together.

Troy and I always got along. It surprises me a bit, now that I think about it. Troy was kind of a tough kid. He didn't seem like a big bully. But he seemed like a guy who could take care of himself if you messed with him.

In the spring of 5th grade, I was hanging around Chad Daffner a lot. I'd ride my bike to school. And every morning, we would ride over to Troy's house, and more-or-less pick him up too. Troy had his own bike of course. Soemtimes Doug Wall would ride on the back of mine.

As the years rolled on, Troy and I didn't have much contact with each other. We never had any mutual friends. If I'm not mistaken, during the day of the 8th grade picnic, I think Troy brought his boombox to school. Troy and myself (as well as several others) found ourselves banished from the picnic for having multiple suspensions or in-school suspensions during the year. We spent a good portion of the day in Mr. Franke's room. And he let us listen to music, while he babysat us. Now that I think about it, could it have been Randy Ertman's boombox? No, I'm sticking with Troy.

I also remember being in detention with Troy, in Mr. Kern's class. Kern started talking about movies, and asked Troy what his favorite was. Troy's answer - "Footloose." Speaking of detentions, Mr. Kern made both Troy and myself stay after shchool on the last day of 8th grade.

See my entries on Mark Gordon and Stacy Erickson for other stories about Troy.

In our freshman year, I had Troy in Mr. Wheeler's science class. We were talking about horror movies one day. He mentioned "The Evil Dead." He said he had it on tape. So I knew full well he had rented it and copied it. He said that he hadn't, insisting that he taped it on cable years earlier. I knew that was bullshit, as that film never appeared on cable. But Troy was apparently worried about revealing his lawbreaking ways I guess.

Dave Svatek told me a rumor (that he'd heard) about Troy. It seems ridiculous to me. But anyway, the rumor was that Troy drank nothing but beer for a long time. And because his body got no nutrients from it, he became dehydrated.

In high school, Troy got the nickname of "razor." I suspect a big part of that was due to his very short hair.

In our senior year, I believe someone reported to Mr. Wood that Troy and Nick Novachek were drinking beer during lunch one day. I think it was those two anyway. For sure, Nick was involved. But it wasn't true. I had Nick in class when he got pulled out, and was asked to breathe on Mr. Wood - who detected no odor of alcohol. Nick was pissed!

I ran into Troy perhaps over 100 times at the video store. He rented quite often. In fact, there's probably no other classmate I saw more than him. He was always friendly with me, and would flash a smile. But he didn't talk too much. He eventually married a woman named Deana. They have at least one child. Last I knew, Troy worked for Eck Industries.

UPDATE - 7/20/06 - On July 15th, Kevin and I went to visit Troy. His 13-year-old daughter answered the door. Troy lives in the same trailer park As Ken Bartz. The place was immaculate. Troy mentioned that shortly after high school, he shared an apartment with fellow graduate, Robin Richmond. After giving us a soda, the four of us posed for some pictures on his deck. You can see them below.





posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 1:34 PM 1 comments

KIM NOKES

Kim is a girl who joined me at Washington. I think she went to one of the catholic schools in town.

In my opinion, Kim was a very pretty girl. And to top it off, she was also one of the nicest girls you'd ever care to meet. She was so friendly and outgoing. From what I could tell, there were no cliques with her. She treated everybody equally, regardless of where they stood on the social ladder. She was a sweet girl. There's no other way to describe her.

During our freshman year, it was nearly impossible to see Kim without seeing Jeff Bodwin trailing her. What was the deal with that? You could be talking to Kim in the hall, then suddenly you'd be accosted by her big fat shadow. They couldn't have been a couple. Could they? Were the related in some way? Were they good friends? I don't know. But when you saw Kim, Jeff was sure to follow.

Kim got involved with plays and musicals. I think she had the lead in one of the productions during our senior year. Was it "The Music Man?" Kim can also be seen on the senior video singing with Julie Landon and Kelli Kupsch.

I believe in our junior year, she began to go out with fellow graduate Chad Bennin. Richard and I would sometimes kid her about that. They seemed like polar opposites. Chad had an out-of-control ego. While Kim was... well Kim. We used to refer to Kim as "Cookies." Why? Who knows.

I ran into Kim several times at the video store. I rented to her dad and little brother too. She was always a delight to see. She had a great smile, and was very nice to to talk to.

Kim may have gone to school in Green Bay. I'm not sure. She may not have gone at all. It looks like she stuck around the Manitowoc/Two Rivers for many years. However she appears to have stayed in Oshkosh for the last several years. For a time she was an assistant manager at a bar there. But I don't think that bar exists today. Surprising (to me) it doesn't look like she's ever married. Maybe she has no interest to. I don't know. But if she's still the same girl today as she was in high school, then she's a major catch.

UPDATE - 6/26/06 - I found the recent pictures of Kim. You can see them below. Apparently she now lives in Neenah.











UPDATE - 10/9/06 - Kim and Chris Staudinger 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.











posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 11:53 AM 10 comments

Sunday, May 21, 2006
IT WAS 20 YEARS AGO TODAY

Today marks an interesting anniversary in my life. 20 years ago today (May 21, 1986) I got into what was probably the biggest trouble of my troublemaking youth. That was the day that Mike Zeman, Ron Gretz and myself got caught for the ceiling tiles. You can throw Kevin Dehne into the mix as well. For he was involved in the theft of some microphones on that same day as well. You can read about that day here: RON GRETZ

That day was definitely a low point in my life. It happened at the end of my freshman year of high school. At that point, I was really looking forward to the end of the school year. For my parents were taking us on a trip to Florida. In the two weeks or so that were left of school, my parents gave me a proposition. They would give me the money to take care of my portion of the restitution. But I would have to stay home while they went to Florida.

I had never been to any state that didn't border Wisconsin. I was REALLY looking forward to that trip. So I turned the offer down. Instead I came up with a new plan. I would go on the trip. Then when I got home, I would kill myself. It was my own little suicide solution.

I can recall riding on the plane on the way back home, thinking to myself that I only had a few days of life left. I had a bizarre plan to do it. I was going to raid our medicine cabinet, and empty every single pill bottle - half-used medication, aspirin, ibuprofin... whatever. I would place all of those pills in a bucket, then soak them in bleach. After they'd soaked for awhile, I would take the pills and swallow every last one of them. Looking back on that, it probably would have been an awful way to go. That bleach probably would have shredded my stomach, and induced some pretty violent, bloody vomit.

So what happened? Well, just prior to the year ending, Meff had given me an audio tape of a bunch of 50's and 60's songs. I would listen to that tape as I went to bed. It put me to sleep every night. But I loved it! I loved the songs. And it became a nightly ritual for me. I would actually look forward to bedtime, just so I could listen to that tape. And as strange as it sounds, having something to look forward to actually kept me going. I didn't want to kill myself anymore, simply because I wanted to listen to that tape at night.

The summer continued on. But as September started, I found myself with a paper route. My parents had stopped giving me an allowance, and put it towards the tile bill. But once I was making my own money, my allowance came back. Plus I suddenly had paper route money too. I had to give up 75% of it towards my restitution. But that still left me with 25% - which was more money than I'd had before. So I suddenly felt rich. People would look at me like I was deranged when I'd tell them that if I had to do it all again, I would. But I'd do it in a heartbeat. Besides, 20 years later, it makes for an interesting reflection.

So what did I do to commemorate this historic event? Well I looked up one of the day's participants, Kevin Dehne. And we got together. 20 years ago today, we sat in Mr. Wood's office with a police officer, getting berated. Today, my daughters and I posed for pictures in his backyard. Life is interesting.





Kevin and I decided something as well. Some Saturday this summer, he and I are going to do the town. That town being Two Rivers. We're taking our digital cameras, and plan to knock on a few doors of fellow classmates. So be on the lookout for us. We may be coming for you!

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 2:47 PM 4 comments

Saturday, May 20, 2006
LAWN MOWERS SUCK!

I've had a rotten afternoon. I've had a bit too much to drink this evening. I never do this. So you can forgive me. I feel better now. But if anyone cares to call me and say anything positive or negative, feel free! I can be reached at 1-414-403-6088. Call now. Call often.

I love you all.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:30 PM 2 comments

Friday, May 19, 2006
MYSTERY GIRL

This was a girl who was around in 6th grade. I know nothing about her, other than the fact that she was black. In fact, she had really dark skin.

I can't recall her name. But I know that she had Mr. Burnstad. I don't think she finished the year.

In 7th grade, someone mentioned her name one day. And then when I recognized the name, I said, "Oh, she was that black girl." I don't recall who it was. But after I said that, someone said something like, "You could have at least said something nice."

Excuse me? That really pissed me off! I hadn't said anything insulting. I simply mentioned that she was black. Whatever.

Obviously I have no idea where she is. So I'll speculate. I'm guessing she moved to the Milwaukee area, got married, got a job, and has two dogs. Someone prove me wrong.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 1:27 PM 0 comments

MIKE PROCHNOW

Consider this another bonus entry. A scan of the yearbooks brought him to my attention.

Mike was the twin brother of Mark Prochnow. Both of them appeared in high school for a short period of time.

I never knew Mike or his brother. They were both around for only one year. It was either my sophomore or junior year. One of them had a picture in the yearbook. One of them didn't. But being twins, I think they looked alike.

At some point Mike moved up to the Superior/Duluth area. Since Mark went up there as well, it's probably reasonable to assume that their family simply moved. Today it looks like Mike lives in Duluth. It doesn't look like he's ever married.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:32 PM 0 comments

SHAWN PICKARD

Shawn is a guy I met in grade school. He had Miss Charter for 4th grade and Miss Hynek for 5th grade. So I didn't cross paths with him too much.

I have heard stories that Shawn and Miss Hynek didn't get along. In fact, I've been told that she tormented him to no end. Of course I'm sure Shawn had most of it coming. But I think Shawn was Miss Hynek's person whipping boy all year long.

I had Miss Hynek for reading class. She taught the "smart" kids - or at least the ones who were supposed to be the best readers. Shawn wasn't in there. he either went into Mr. Tisler or Miss Krause's room. I think it was Tisler. Anyway, he somehow got kicked out of reading class one day - literally. And he didn't know what to do or where to go. So he wandered back into Hynek's class, mumbled something about being kicked out, then sauntered over to the book shelf to stand. That class was packed. So there was no place to sit. And someone was obviously in his seat. So he grabbed a paperback book, leaned against the wall and started reading. About five minutes later, Miss Hynek blew up at him. And she really tore into him! She had no idea what he was doing or why he was there. Why she let him stand there for five minutes is a mystery though. I thought Shawn would going to need therapy after that. Whatever the case, she got rid of him, and he was gone from our room for the rest of the period.

Shawn lived pretty close to me. He was actually our paperboy for awhile. In fact, I can recall sitting on my front porch, looking at the May cable guide (which showed all the movie lisitngs for the movie channels that we had) that had come in the mail that day. Shawn sat down and looked at it with me. There was a picture for the HBO series "Aerobicise." It was a 20-minute workout show. Shawn commented, "I don't like it. All they show is butts."

Shawn was neighbors with Scott Jaklin. Scott had some interesting stories about Shawn. I don't recall much. But perhps he'll chime in with some memories.

Scott did tell me that he ran into Shawn one day after school. This was during middle school. Scott would walk home through the field behind my house. Near the end of that field was a very small, wooded area. As Scott walked by, he heard, "Hey Scott!" Apparently Shawn had decided to skip school, and spent the entire day in this woods. I think he was asking for some food too, as he was quite hungry. He must have been bored out of his mind sitting there all day.

Shawn had his picture in the paper once. It was an ad looking for a big brother/big sister for him. Shawn got teased over that.

I'm not sure when Shawn left school. I'm not even sure he made it though 8th grade. If I were to guess, I'd say he didn't graduate anywhere. I take that back. He did make it through 8th grade. I recall that at some point that year, he got into a fight with class of 1990's Jon Kern. Both of them got suspended. Both Shawn and I were banned from the end-of-the-year picnic due to multiple suspensions received that year.

I ran into Shawn once or twice at the video store. One time he'd rented three films. But he didn't bring them back on time. They were only a day or two late. But for whatever reason, he wrapped them in a paper bag and mailed them back to us. The cost of postage was probably more than his late fees would have been.

I think Shawn was in the navy for awhile as well. Shawn eventually married a woman named Andrea. Today they live in Two Rivers. According to Kevin Dehne, he and Shawn were in the same alcohol rehabilitation class. I don't see any drunk driving offenses for Shawn. So perhaps he just had a drinking problem.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:22 PM 4 comments

MIKE SCHROEDER

Mike was a product of Koenig grade school. So I never knew him until he got to Clarke.

Mike and I never got along all that well. Although we were never at each others' throats either. We each just did our own thing.

I had Mike in 8th grade gym class. When it came time to do gymnastics, the door in the southwest corner of the gym was unlocked and open. That's where they kept the equipment. It was also a way to get up onto the stage. Myself, along with Ken Bartz, Greg Flemal and David Coenen would sneak in there during class and play tag. We had to come out from time to time also, so as not to get caught. So instead of saying "Ken's it" we would shorten it to, "Ken's I." Of course that made no sense to anyone non tag-player who may question what we were doing. So we then used to say, "Ken's eye hurts." That way we could tell each other who was "it" without attracting attention. Well it was pretty stupid anyway, as when we were out and about in the gym, we were all jabbering so-and-so's eye hurts. To make a long story short, Mike once said to me, "Your eye's gonna hurt if you don't shut up."

In that same gym class, one day Mike asked if I had the Atari game Joust. He wanted to trade (borrow) games with me for awhile, if I did. I didn't have it though. Or maybe he had Joust, and wanted to trade that to me for some other game I didn't have either. I can't recall for sure. But I do know that Joust was involved in some capacity.

Mike was a really tall guy, and kind of lanky.

In high school, I believe Mike hung out with people like Scott Stephens and Brandon Podhola. I think Markus Petkevicius was also part of that crowd.

I forget who told me this. It was either Meff or Richard. Mike was always known as "Mike." But on a piece of paper or something, he listed his name as Bruce. So he (Richard or Meff) asked him if his name was Bruce. Mike said, "Call me Bruce." But later on he changed his mind and said, "Don't call me Bruce. My name is Mike." I think he changed his mind several times. Obviously Mike was playing some sort of game. I tend to think it was Meff, and not Richard. I think Richard would have tired pretty quickly, and simply call him an asshole. In our freshman yearbook, he's listed as Bruce. In our sophomore yearbook, he's listed as Mike. In our junior and senior yearbooks, he's listed as B. Michael. For the record, I believe his actual name is Bruce Michael Schroeder.

In junior year, Richard and I had a little spat with class of 1988's Paul Streubel. After Paul started a war with us, we tormented him every chance we got. We came to find out that Paul wasn't that well-liked by other people as well - including Mike and Brandon. Everyday after 7th hour, the two of them would see Paul walk past and would mock him by saying, "Hi Paul." Paul of course ignored them and pressed on.

One night I was riding around with Richard, Dave Svatek and Dave's sister Kelly. We noticed a rather lanky figure walking over the bridge. We knew instantly it was Mike. As we passed him, I yelled out a series of obscenities, then told him that I was Paul. Stupidly, the next day Monday in school, I asked Mike about it. He went onto say that Paul had swore at him on the street, and that he was going to kick his ass. I was sort of shocked that he believed that it really was Paul. But I was also amused by it. I don't think he ever did anything though.

Mike had ambitions to become a police officer. And he did just that. I think he worked in Two Rivers for awhile. I ran into him at the video store a few times. He was always nice. In fact, he had a girlfriend at that time. I believe her name was Tori Hodek. And holy crap, that girl was beautiful. I even recall that one day he was looking for some "Captain America" tapes. I never realized that Mike was the comic book fan type. Anyway, Mike eventually married a woman named Su Ann. Today he's a cop up in Medford. I could be wrong, but he might actually sing and play keyboards in a local band too.

UPDATE - 5/17/07 - Mike discovered my blog tonight. He left a few comments in his entry. He also sent me a picture of him and his family. He looks pretty much exactly the same. He has three kids - a five-year-old son, and twin daughters. Mike's presence also jogged two more obscure memories for me. I've already got them listed above. One involved Atari. The other involved a girlfriend.



posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 11:14 AM 4 comments

UPDATE - JOHN STELTZ

For what it's worth, I remembered the song he used to air drum to.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 11:12 AM 0 comments

STACEY ERICKSON

Stacey is a girl I met in freshman year. I had her in Mr. Scriver's history class, during the second semester.

I sat in the row right up against the wall. Stacey was on my left. Shawn Olson sat in front of her. Brenda Linzmeier sat behind her. The three of them would constantly jabber all class. I didn't have a problem with the other two. But Stacey was sort of bitchy. She made fun of me from time to time, not that I cared too much. I slept a lot in there. I failed the class actually. In fact, I can remember resting my head on my left arm during a filmstrip. I hadn't quite dozed off yet. But Stacey thought I had. So she yanked my arm away and got a good laugh from it. Whatever floats her boat I guess.

After the incident with the ceiling tiles, Stacey was a lot nicer to me. She had all kinds of questions, and wanted to know the details of what happened. Perhaps I earned her respect. I don't know.

Stacey always seemd sort of trashy to me. At the very least, she was mouthy.

During my freshman year, my school had a plague of suicide attempts. Allegedly Stacey was one of them. It's all rumor. But I heard that she tried to choke herself with her purse, while she was in Mr. Wood's office. I'm not sure how one would go about doing that. But obviously she wasn't successful.

I had Stacey in Mr. Ertman's pre-algebra II class, in my sophomore year. She didn't sit anywhere near me - which I was happy about. I recall that someone (perhaps David Kanera) questioned her about her alleged sexual liaisons. Stacey came right out and denied that she was promiscuous. But she did admit to sleeping with three different guys recently. One of them she named - fellow graduate Troy Rezachek.

At some point during our sophomore year, Stacey got into a fight. I think it was with class of 1990's Tarcy Burgett. I'm sorry to say that I missed the fight. But people talked about it. In that same math class, Nick Novachek told Stacey that during the fight, one of her boobs popped out. Stacey was confused, saying that she had had a bra on. Nonetheless, Nick was insistent that one of Stacey's boobs popped out at some point.

I'm not sure which year it was. But for awhile, Stacey was one of the office helpers. She was in charge of going around picking up the attendance slips during her shift. I can't remember who it was. But she was going to try and cover for someone who had planned to skip out of a certain class. But I think they all got caught.

Stacey is in my junior yearbook. But she's not in the senior yearbook. So at some point, she disappeared. I suspect that she dropped out. I haven't seen her since. It looks like she spent a little time in Colorado. But for the last several years, she's bounced around Sheboygan and Manitowoc. She was married and became Stacey Nighbor. But they divorced. I think they had at least one child together. Since the divorce, she's remarried, and now lives in Manitowc as Stacey Vanderbloomen.

UPDATE - 12/12/06 - Stacey sent me a picture of her husband and three kids. Looking good Stacey! You can see her family below.



posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 8:27 AM 7 comments

SARA PRUST

Sara is a girl I met in 6th grade. We had Mrs. Casey together.

Sara was pretty much a shy girl on the lower end of the social ladder. Her best friend that year was Lori Wavrunek.

As I mentioned in my post on Lori, the two of them became the subject of a daily "newspaper" I put out called "The Daily Schnozball." Sara and Lori were the two schnozballs. Mrs. Casey admired my creativity. But she was less than pleased with my targeting of two fellow classmates. We got into quite a heated argument about it. In the end, she forced me to rewrite it twice, as a punishment. My newspaper only lasted two or three days.

Sara and I never had much contact over the years. I don't know much about her. She was always friendly to me. And she wore glasses. I do recall that she lived in the woods behind Clarke - in a house obviously.

I can't recall anything about Sara from high school, other than the fact that she was there. I don't remember having her in any classes.

To the best of my knowledge, I have not run into Sara since graduation. It appears that for a time, she may have used the name Sara Rantanen. But I don't think it was a married name. She did however get married on November 18th, 2005. Her husband is an ex-marine. So she now goes by the name of Sara Lewis. It looks like they live in Hartford.

UPDATE - 6/4/07 - I recently found several photos of Sara online. I've included some of them here. The first one is from her wedding day. Her husband's name is Earl. The other photos are of the two of them, as well as Sara's parents and family. I believe the child in one of the pictures is Earl's, from a previous relationship.

Good news for the two of them as well - they are pregnant, and are having a baby boy. The due date is between 5/31/07 and 6/7/07. So if she hasn't already given birth, it could literally happen at any moment. Congratulations to them.





















UPDATE - 6/14/07 - Sara and her husband did have their baby - an eight-pound son named Jonathan. Baby and proud daddy can be seen below. Congratulations to them!



posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 6:38 AM 1 comments

Thursday, May 18, 2006
UPDATE - JENNY MALLEY

Yet another photo has been added to her entry. Why? Because she's so gosh-darned cute!

Enjoy!

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 2:40 PM 0 comments

HELP!

I spent about 90 minutes talking to Kevin Dehne this morning. And man, does he have some cool comments to make - when he finds the time to do so. Stay tuned for those.

But he pointed out Rob Ebbole in some of the Koenig school photos. I certainly remember him. He was obviously held back at some point. But when? Was he held back in 7th grade? Or did it happen prior to middle school? Because if he was with us in 6th or 7th grade, then I've got at least one more person to add to my list. Byt the way, the list has been reduced to a grand total of 12. If I add Rob, then it'd be 13.

Any guesses on any of the 12 remaining names? I'll give you a clue. All 12 have had their names mentioned elsewhere in this blog, either in my entries, or in the comments left by others.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 2:29 PM 0 comments

MIKE ZEMAN

Mike is a guy who I first encountered at Clarke. I found him to be an annoying asshole. He was loud and mouthy.

In 8th grade, Mike became good friends with Brad Strouf. I never understood that one. They seemed like polar opposites to me. But nonetheless, there they were. On occasion, the two of them would walk to school together, from Brad's house. I'm not sure how Mike got there, as he lived on the east side of town, while Brad lived up by me. I'll never forget one day that the two of them were walking. They were a bit ahead of me, on the north side of the street. I was walking on the south side - in the street actually, as there was no sidewalk at that time. Out of the blue, Mike came charging across the street, waving his arms and screaming like a banshee. He got right up into my face while yelling. Then he ran back to Brad, laughing about it. I don't know.

During lunch, Mike and Brad often ate at the same table as I did. As I mentioned in Brad's entry, the two of them would be very messy and rowdy. They left a trail of crumbs and whatever else every single day. One day Mr. Schnell asked us (after the two of them had left) who made the mess. When we told him, he went and found them, brought them back, and made them clean the table.

At our freshman orientation in August, 1985, I hung out with Ron Gretz. At some point, Mike joined us. And the three of us explored the school a bit. I didn't care to be with Mike. But whatever. Ron and Mike were neighbors I think. So there the three of us were, wandering around school. What an omen of things to come.

I had Mike in homeroom all four years of high school. During our freshman year, Mike somehow became friends with Meff. And Meff shared Mike's locker, up on the 3rd floor. Since I was friends with Meff, Mike and I became friendly too.

I'll always remember Mike as the guy who gave me an audio tape of a bunch of backwards messages in songs. That tape got copied a lot. I still have it to this day.

At some point in our freshman year, Mike was bragging to Meff about how he was going to rent this really "hot" video tape at Coast To Coast. It was called "Texercise," and was simply an exercise video made by one of the Mandrell sisters. We both told Mike that it only an exercise tape. But I guess he was expecting something more. The next day, he said it sucked. About a year ago, I saw that tape for sale in some old video store. It was only $1.00. I had to to get it just for the sake of memories.

In the spring of our freshman year, somehow Mike, Ron and myself started to pal around together before school. We explored every square inch of that place, finding secret tunnels and everything else. That school was a cool old building. Before long, we started taking down the ceiling tiles in the basement gym. See my entry on Ron for the complete details surrounding those events.

See my entry on Todd Zinn for the story about how Todd wanted to beat the shit out of Mike.

After freshman year, Mike and I didn't hang around at all. In fact, we didn't even speak to each other until perhaps the second semester of our sophomore year. Quite honestly, I think Mike was making a conscious effort to stay away from me. But over time we eventually became cordial.

During our junior year, I had Mike in gym class. In the fall, we had bowling downtown. Mike used to give Richard and I a ride.

In our junior year, I was with Mike after school once. I think he was going to give me a ride. Then he spotted a newer kid named Frank Leach. Frank was rumored to be a group home kid who had killed a baby. But the rumors weren't true. Anyway, Frank had allegedly been picking on Mike's sister Patti. So Mike knocked him to the ground and threatened to beat the shit out of him. I don't think he really cared about his sister being bullied. He just wanted to get physical with someone. Frank was a little guy, and an easy target.

See my entry on Keith Welnicke for another (almost) physical confrontation between the two.

In our senior year, Mike changed. He missed a lot of school, and was partying a lot. He really looked dirty and grungy when he did show up. At one point, he got arrested for something, and supposedly spent a night in jail.

I remember talking to him in Mr. Wegner's current events class. He was talking about being sent to Mr. Wood's office for something. I believe it was for some sexually explicit stories he did for creative writing class. According to Mike, Wood asked him if he was having sexual problems. To which Mike (allegedly) responded, "I'm getting enough pussy. How about you?" I have doubts that Mike actually used those terms. But whatever.

In the second semester of my senior year, I would often get a pass out of study hall and go and sit in the guidance office. Every so often, Ron would come in too. Then one day, Ron and Mike both came in. So the three of us were sitting at the table together. We started laughing and whispering the word "tiles" whenever a teacher walked by. Brian Belongia was also at the table with us that day. But we didn't reminisce with him.

Also in our senior year, Mike told me a story about a certain member of the class of 1990 (who I've decided not to name) that apparently was gang-banged by several guys (including Mike) in a shed, during some party.

Despite the missed days, Mike did graduate with us. I ran into him at the video store once or twice. The last time I saw him, he had a child with him. Today I think he actually has two kids. He was married to a woman named Patricia at one point. But they divorced in 1998. It looks like Mike has spent the last several years in Florida. He may be hanging around with a girl named Erika.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 1:35 PM 4 comments

COLLEEN KREJCAREK

Colleen is a girl I met in 4th grade. We had Mrs. Schmidt together.

I always thought Colleen was cool. She was friendly enough to me anyway. In 4th grade, I believe her best friend was Brenda Dax. I think they grew apart as the years progressed though. Things are funny that way.

I honestly don't have a whole lot of memories about Colleen. Although she was always there, from 4th grade at Magee, all the way through Clarke and high school.

On our senior video, she and Chris Soppe appear together. Colleen mentions that she'd gotten a flower at school that day (an annual event) from her best friend of 17 years. The tape obviously leads you to believe that she was referring to Chris. But was she? I don't know. Chris had a flower too. She mentioned that she and her friends were neighbors. I always thought that Colleen lived near me, up on 43rd street, while Chris lived on the other side of town. But perhaps I'm wrong. I assumed she was referring to Becky Monka, who lived on 42nd street - right behind her, I believe.

Colleen joined the navy after high school. I know this because at the time she joined, all the armed services were pestering me to join as well. But the navy guy was super persistent. He wanted to drag me down to the recruiting office all the time. And I recall that Colleen was in his office when he called me one day. She was shouting out that I should come down and eat pizza with them. I declined that day. But man, I do have a story about almost joining later on.

I'm assuming Colleen went off to the middle east after she was finished with basic training. But I don't know that for sure. I think she only spent two years in the service. After that, I think she lived in Colorado for a short time. Eventually she moved back to Two Rivers. I ran into her at the video store constantly. I believe she was married. I think she had a child also. She still lives in Two Rivers today. I'm pretty sure she's now known as Colleen Skwor.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 1:29 PM 0 comments

KEVIN SHILLCOX

Kevin was a guy I met back in 5th grade. I was hanging around with Chad Daffner in those days. And Kevin was his neighbor.

Kevin was in 6th grade at the time. Despite my friendship with Chad, he and I didn't really get along. We more-or-less tolerated each other. I do remember one day that the three of us (and a few others) all went fishing in the river behind the gravel pits. Someone actually caught one. And Kevin took it home and started to gut it on his picnic table.

Below is a picture from the Magee playground. Kevin is being grabbed by Mark Ciha. Jenny Malley is also in the front. And in back, on the left, is Richard Wheeler. If you look in the near distance on the right, you can see Nikki Baugniet and Rod Lumaye.



Kevin's family must have been obsessed with "K" names. There was class of 1986's Kirk, class of 1988's Ken (who I don't think actually graduated) and class of 1993's Kory a.k.a. "Beaner." There was also a Karen Shillcox from the class of 1987. I don't honestly know if she was his sister. But I'm guessing that she was.

Because of the one-grade diffeence, my memories of Kevin are very slim. But I do recall that in 7th grade, I had him in study hall. The study halls were a mix of 7th and 8th graders. Anyway, he was in the backroom (Mr. Longhini's class) with class of 1988's Brad Anderson. Something happened back there, and Kevin shot out of there, chasing Brad, and shaking a package of Clorox at him. I think Brad had doused Kevin with it first. The two of them got a detention for that.

In my sophomore year (Kevin's junior year) I was in Mr. Ertman's class. Before class started one day, he asked Chad Bennin to tell everyone what had happened to Kevin. The two of them worked together at Stoehr Dairy. And an accident befell Kevin. I don't recall the details. But apparently Kevin's foot somehow got lodged inside some big machine. It either ripped it right off, or severed it so badly that it needed to be amputated. According to Chad, some bone marrow got into Kevin's bloodstream, which almost kiled him.

For obvious reasons, Kevin missed the rest of that school year. But he came back the next year. And he was then a junior, just as we were. He had been fitted for a false foot, and walked with a noticable limp - although he walked pretty good considering what had happened to him.

At some point, Kevin began dating fellow graduate Brenda Linzmeier. The romance has lasted to this day. They are married and live in Two Rivers. I believe Kevin works as a machinist. I think they have three kids. If you search online, you will find that Kevin is also involved in some local car races. I found two pictures. Both are small. In the top one, he's on the right. It looks like he's lost a lot of hair.





posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 9:26 AM 5 comments

UPDATE - ERIN HYNEK, TIM KOESER & JOHN STELTZ

I added some pictures of Tim. I also added a brief memory regarding John's toenails.

As for Erin, she has started her own blog. I added a link on the right side of this page.

ENJOY!

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 9:06 AM 0 comments

KELLY SIUDZINSKI

Kelly is a girl I met at Washington. I never really knew her much. In our freshman and sophomore years, she seemed very quiet and shy.

As a junior, I had her in Ms. Neveau's speech class. And by then, she had come out of her shell - so to speak. In fact, during one of her speeches, she even talked about how grateful she was to one of her friends, for encouraging her to let her hair down a bit and have fun with life. Kelly was even moved to tears. Unfortunately, I can't recall who that friend was. Was it Lisa Moore? I don't know.

I remember another speech Kelly gave. She talked about how she was in a car accident. Then the following year, on the same date, she was in another car accident. I kid you not, I believe it happened a third year in a row too - on the same date as well. Eerie! She stated that she wouldn't get into a car on that date anymore. I wonder if that still holds true?

As mentioned in my entry on Mark Henrickson, the two were apparently a couple at some point during our senior year. I never saw any evidence of that romance. So I suspect that it didn't last long.

I'm not sure if it was junior year or senior year. I think it was senior year though. Two guys (one was class of 1991's Jeremy Aubry) got into a fight - allegedly over Kelly. It was a pretty bloody fight too. I can't recall who the other guy was. But there was no clear cut winner. And I'm sure the fight settled nothing. Such is life.

If memory serves, Kelly seemed to where a lot of makeup - too much, in fact.

I don't know if I've ever run into Kelly since graduation. It's possible I saw her at the video store. Today she's married and living in Manitowoc. Her name is Kelly Spiering. I think they have at least two kids. It looks like she's a stay-at-home mom. But I think she's also the PTA president of the Manitowoc School Board - for Washington Junior High.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 6:46 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, May 17, 2006
LURKING IN THE SHADOWS

I have between 35-40 people who have chimed in with comments of their own. The more the better. I love it! But I've noticed something very interesting. For those people who have in fact left comments, you can click on their name. It takes you to their own blogger profile. It also shows you how many times their profile has been viewed.

Now, with the exception of Jason, Kevin, Greg and Tammy, no one has created their own blog on the blogger website. They've only created a blogger identity in order to leave comments on mine.

If you look at my profile, you'll notice that my blog has been viewed by over 1100 different people. The high number (in comparison to the people who have left me comments) is due in part to the fact that anyone on another blog might stumble onto mine, simply by clicking "next blog" in the upper right corner. But nobody who does that will ever stumble onto people like Meff or Brad, because they don't actually have blogs of their own. The only way their profile views will increase is if someone reads my blog, then clicks on their name from a comment that was left.

I look at those profile views from time to time. Jenny Malley is an interesting one. About a month ago, her profile view was somewhere around 30. Now today it's jumped to 154. Jenny doesn't have a blog. She ony has a blogger identity in order to leave comments.

So what does this mean? It means that in the past month alone, at least 100 people have visited this blog, and have clicked on Jenny's name. Who would do that? Would it be a total stranger who wandered in after clicking "next blog?" Why would a stranger be interested in Jenny Malley - or "Jenny" as she calls herself here? Perhaps one or two people may have done that. But 120? No chance! So what this means is that I have a ton of people who are reading this blog on a fairly regular basis. Yet they've chosen to read it anonymously, never saying a word.

Why? Are they scared to say something? They shouldn't be. There isn't a single classmate commenter that I haven't been kind to. I may have been less than kind to a few people within the entries I created. But geez, I'm writing about stuff that happened back in the 1980's. It's all so old. I wish nothing but the best for anyone I've written about. And there isn't a single person that I wouldn't be nice to if I saw them on the street.

So to the lurkers out there, speak up! If you think I'm full of shit, tell me! If you think I'm full of myself, tell me! If I hurt your feelings in some way, tell me! If you think this blog is cool, tell me! If you have a memory to share, share it! Don't be shy. No one is here to judge. And your words are just as good as mine.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:49 PM 6 comments

LANCE SPRADLIN

His name was Richard. But he went by Lance. I think Lance was his midle name, despite the fact that one of my yearbooks shows him as "Richard T. Spradlin."

I first encountered Lance at Clarke. I assume he was there in 6th grade. But I personally don't remember him until 7th or 8th grade.

As I mentioned in my entry on Cory Schultz, he and Lance got into a small fight one day, outside of Mr. Stodola's room in 8th grade. I was serving a detention with Stodola at the time. He dragged them both in and made them kiss and make up. Apparently Lance punched Cory.

If I'm not mistaken, Lance had an unfortunate incident in 8th grade. My fellow classmates may recall that at some point that year, the science teacher, Mr. Franke, got a hold of a bunch of dry ice. He let us play with it in class. He had several pieces. Dry ice is so cold that you can't hold it for more than a second or two without your skin hurting. Within maybe five seconds, it will actually burn your skin. I think someone took a piece and held it onto Lance's hand - burning it slightly. I don't know who did it. And I'm not 100% sure that it even happened. But I think it did.

Lance stuck with school until my junior year. Or maybe he left after sophomore year. I don't know. But I do know that he didn't graduate with me. I think he dropped out. I seem to recall running into Lance from time to time at the video store. He always seemed friendly enough.

In the late 1990's, Lance worked for Rent-A-Center in Manitowoc. I know this because I worked for another location at the same time. Of course my store was smack dab in the middle of the hood. Milwaukee's inner city - avoid it if you can.

It looks like Lance was part-owner of a business called Round Table Choppers. It was some sort of customized motorcycle place in Green Bay. He's been sued over unapid debt realted to it.

I believe Lance resides in the Green Bay area today. He may be married to a woman named Jo Ellen.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:31 PM 2 comments

UPDATE - JOHN STELTZ

I received an E-mail with a funny comment. But the person didn't want to leave the comment, due to the nature of it. But this person had no problem with me copying and pasting it myself. So I have done so, within the comments section of John's entry.

ENJOY!

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:28 PM 0 comments

JIM BERGSTROM

Jim joined me at Clarke in 6th grade. If memory severes, he joined us mid-year.

Jim seemed a bit slow. But he was a decent guy. He definetely had an edge to him. And he was a guy you'd see in detention quite often.

I don't have a whole lot of memories about Jim. Although I do recall that in 6th grade, he would constantly wear a cap in school. On more than one occasion, Mrs. Casey would scream at him to take it off. I think one day he actually refused - until she removed it for him.

Fellow graduate Greg Flemal was at my house one day. We wandered into the field behind my house. And we noticed someone sitting in the middle of it. We walked up to discover that it was Jim. We asked what the hell he was doing just sitting there. I think he said he was just sitting there for no reason. That was strange.

Jim stayed in school through my sophomore year - I think. Perhaps he was only around for my freshman year. I'm not sure. I assumed he dropped out. But I suppose it's possible that his family moved. Since I last saw him, it looks like he has lived in several places in northern Wisconsin. He even lived in Michigan for awhile. Today he appears to reside in Green Bay. It looks like he might be married to a woman named Terri.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:12 PM 1 comments

CHUCK YAUCH

Chuck (Charles) joined me at Washington. I had him in homeroom all four years.

Chuck seemed a bit dim. He was chubby guy, and usually looked a bit like a slob. Over the years I think he hung around with people like Kurt Psenicka and Jason Radant. He sometimes was called by the nickname of "Chuckles."

Chuck and I had little or no contact over the years. That was fine with me. Chuck generally seemed grumpy about something. He also seemed to strive to be some sort of bully. But from a physical standpoint, it simply wasn't in him.

About the only real confrontation I had with Chuck was from gym class. I'm not sure it if was sophomore year or junior year. But we were playing basketball in the basement gym. It was two on two. Chuck was teamed with Kevin Minkel. I believe I was with Richard Wheeler. At one time I thought it was Mark Schreiber. But I'm pretty sure it was Richard. Anyway, the two of us weren't really interested in basketball competition. So we just screwed around the whole time. We would "travel" with the ball whenever we felt like it. One time I even grabbed the ball and ran into the hallway, only to emerge in a different door. Chuck and Kevin got incredibly pissed off at us. But what could they do? Kevin was too much of a gentle giant to do anything. And Chuck was too stubby to do anything but swear at us.

In my senior year, Chuck and Doug Wall came to school with mohawks - big mohawks. As I mentioned in my post about Doug, the two of them claimed that they were essentially jumped by a bunch of Milwaukee inner city thugs, who shaved their heads that way. Yeah... right. That was the biggest load of shit I'd ever heard. But whatever. If it made them feel cooler...

For whatever reason, I figured Chuck would never graduate. But I was wrong. Chuck did in fact graduate with the rest of my class. Since that time, I'm pretty sure I've never run into him. It looks like he and his dad (Charles Sr.) ran some sort of business called "Chuckles P&M." I don't think they did too well though, as they have been sued over apparent business-related debts. Today it looks like Chuck still lives in Two Rivers - possibly married to a woman named Kathy.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 11:35 AM 0 comments

PATTI MALLEY

This was a request from long ago, that I somehow overlooked.

Patti is a girl who joined me at Clarke, in 6th grade. She wasn't in my class. But she may have come into Mrs. Casey's class for reading. I think she did. Otherwise I wouldn't have had the hots for her like I did. Ken Bartz used to tease me to no end about it. For the life of me, I have no clue how he would have even known. I always denied it. But he was right.

Thinking back, around that time, I think Patti may have hung in the same circles as Carrie Collard, Cindy Rohrer and John Steltz. But don't quote me on that.

Over the years, my liking of her dwindled to nothing. I don't know why. Perhaps it was because I found her to be a bit snotty. I never had any confrontations with her. I simply avoided her. For whatever reason, she seemed a bit intimidating to me.

At some point, she began to go out with Ken Shillcox. I could have sworn that Ken was a member of the class of 1988. But he's not listed. I can only assume that he never graduated. Anyway, they were together a long time. They may have hooked up at Clarke for all I know.

Dave Svatek kind of had a thing for Patti, even though she was pretty much unattainable. But they at least had some sort of friendship. In our senior year, or perhaps the summer before it, Dave and I returned from somewhere and went into his house. Dave's mom informed us that Ken Shillcox and a buddy of his had come looking for Dave. They issued some sort of "warning" for Dave to stay away from Patti. I wish we'd have been home when they stopped by. That would have been hilarious. Had anything physical ensued, Dave would have kicked Ken's ass. Dave was strong as hell. Ken was sort of boney.

Patti and Ken got married not long after high school. I ran into them quite often at the video store. They had at least one child together. But marital bliss didn't last. They divorced in 1995. Patti eventually remarried, and is now known as Patti Wagner, having married class of 1991's Jason Wagner. I believe they have a child living with them. But I don't have a clue if it's theirs, or if it's a child with Ken. She lives in Two Rivers to this day. She may work at Holy Family Hospital. But that could be a different Patti Wagner as well.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 9:39 AM 6 comments

UPDATE - NICK NOVACHEK, CINDY ROHRER & JOHN STELTZ

Thanks to Cindy for once again supplying me with more pictures. I added one to each of their entries. She also provided me the one below. From left to right, we have Pam Schley, Missy Ducat, Tricia Wetzel, Missy Vertz, Sarah Plappert, and Amy Schmidt. In the bottom row we have Tracy Fitzgerald, Kristine Kahlenberg and Jenny Malley. Seeing the curtain behind them, it's clear that this was taken at Clarke. Also, I just happened to have every single one of these ladies in every class during 7th grade. So my guess is that that is when this picture was taken. It must have been "dress like a bum" day or something. Click it to make it larger.



posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 6:26 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, May 16, 2006
JENNIFER HANSEL

Jennifer is a girl who joined me at Washington.

I think I may have had a few classes with her over the years. But not much stands out, as Jennifer was very, very quiet. I couldn't tell you what her voice sounded like.

Jennifer was a small girl. She was thin as well. She also wore glasses. She had a sort of nerdy look about her.

I would never have pictured her getting married to a guy like fellow graduate Elmer Mikeal. They just seemed like total opposites. BThen again, my wife was captain of her cheerleading squad. So perhaps opposites attract. I think they've been married for a long, long time. So they're probably quite happy. The two of them are very involved in their church. It looks like they still live in Two Rivers. Last I knew, they had two kids.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:35 PM 1 comments

DAVID HARTWIG

David is a guy who joined me at Washington.

Dave seemed sort of like a tough guy - or at least like he wanted to be regarded as one. But he really wasn't.

Dave had a similar haircut to myself. So we had that in common. We may have had other stuff in common, for all I know. But I don't. I honestly have no memories of any incidents revolving around Dave.

Dave may have hung out with Mark Schreiber for awhile. I'm not sure.

Dave is one of the few graduates that I never ran into while working at the video store. Although it looks like he spent several years in the Two Rivers area. Today he appears to live in the Mishicot are with his wife Tammy. They live a mile or two from Fox Hills.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:25 PM 0 comments

JOHN STELTZ

I'm not sure if John was around at Magee or not. Something tells me he was. But I don't know for sure. At the very least, he was around at Clarke. I had John in 6th grade, in Mrs. Casey's class.

Well thanks to Cindy Rohrer, I can confirm that John was at Magee. He's in the picture below, in the lower right. I'm thinking this was 3rd grade.



John was kind of a studly-looking guy. At least he thought so anyway. And truth be told, he was quite popular with the ladies. Carrie Collard had the hots for him.

John had a big ego. He was a bit of a jerk to those lower on the social ladder than he was. But for the most part, he and I got along. I didn't have a problem with him.

When we were in Mrs. Westburg's music class that year, we often had to listen/sing to a song. It was Moving Pictures' "What About Me." Anyway, John used to air drum to the song. And it didn't take long before people started to notice. But when they did, he loved it. He was an attention whore, no doubt.

Late in that year, we had some sort of free day. And Mrs. Casey invited the students to bring in any records they wanted to play. Someone (perhaps Ross Remiker) brought in Men At Work's album "Business As Usual." It was brand new and quite popular at the time. John bragged that he had the album too. Of course I found it very curious that John went to look at the lyrics on the inside of the album in order to verify a certain line. Soemthing tells me that if he had the album at home, he wouldn't have done that.

One day John walked up to my desk and jabbed his fingernail into my hand. He actually broke the skin. It hurt for a few days. Why did he do this? Who knows.

Someone (perhaps Chip Pelnar) mentioned that he was really grossed out because John had green toenails. Apparently he'd seen them in the lockerroom.

Below is a picture from Cindy Rohrer's birthday party. If I'm not mistaken, this is from 7th grade. John is in the back, on the left, leaning against the wall.



John's parents shipped him off to one of the catholic schools. I don't even know if he was at Clarke in 7th grade. If he was, that was probably his last year with me. I'm quite sure he wasn't there in 8th grade. John ended up graduating from Roncalli.

Correction, John was at least in 7th grade, as evidenced by the picture below.



After graduating, John started coaching football at Roncalli in the fall of 1989. He was an assistant. John then attended UW Milwaukee. While doing so, he continued coaching football in Whitefish Bay. He also began to cach girls' basketball. He graduated from college in 1994.

Between the fall of 1994 and the spring of 1996 I saw John a few times. Both of us attended UW Green Bay. He was there to earn his teaching certificate. We never spoke or even acknowledged one another. John had very little hair left by then. He was also a bit paunchy. Both of us graduated in 1996.

In 1997, John married a woman named Desiree. I believe they have at least two kids. Today John continues to coach girls' basketball, as well as teach English at Seymour Community High School. The first picture is from maybe three years ago. The bottom picture appears to be the most current.





UPDATE - 11/30/06 - Out of the blue, I got a nice E-mail from John Steltz today. You can see it below. If anyone wants to write to John, you can do so at jsteltz@seymour.k12.wi.us



I am assuming this email is you Burt.

This blog was brought to my attention by one of my colleagues here at
Seymour High School. He is actually a grad of Manitowoc Lincoln (mid
1990's). Anyway, he told me he ran across it and noticed my name and
began reading. At first, when he was describing what he read, I have to
admit that I was a bit skeptical. As I surfed around and found it and
began reading the info on all of these people I was absolutely
fascinated.

I am not sure that I am worthy of being included in this group as I did
graduate from Roncalli High School. However, I am very interested in
reading about all of these people I grew up with. You know what's
really kind of funny about all of this is that your perceptions, my
perceptions, and everyone else's are through lenses of adolescents and
teenagers, only now we articulate those perceptions through mid thirties
experiences and wisdom.

I have very fond memories of grade school at Magee and middle school at
Clarke. Many of those people that are mentioned in your blog were a
big part of my youth. The memories are priceless. Some good, some bad
but all worth thinking about. Thanks for doing this. It has been
intriguing to examine the entries...I just wish I had more time.

John P. Steltz
English Teacher
Girls Basketball
Seymour Community High School

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 8:37 AM 3 comments

CINDY LAFLEUR

Consider this a bonus entry. Thanks to the classmate formerly known as Jenny Malley for pointing her out.

Other than name recognition, I have no memory of this girl. Apparently she was a bit of a tomboy. It looks like she joined me at Clarke in 6th grade. She was on the "other side of the curtain" in Mr. Burnstad's class.

That's all I got.

Her name is a bit more common than one might think. That being said, I think I found her. It looks like her family moved to Michigan. I believe she's still there today, close to Saginaw Bay. It looks like she got married at some point and became Cindy Whipple. Her life today (as it was 23 years ago) is a mystery to me.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 8:27 AM 0 comments

BOB SCHMIDT

Bob was a guy who joined me at Washington for my freshman year.

Bob was kind of odd-shaped. I used to refer to him as "Frankenstien." He had a tall, lanky body. But his arms seemed to be a lot longer that they should have been - a bit out of proportion for his body. If not Frankenstein, than surely it was a Scooby Doo villain.

I got to know Bob a little bit during the second semester of my freshman year. We sat next to each other in Mrs. Fischer's language class. Bob was a pretty friendly guy. He had tinted glasses.

Some may recall that in the spring of 1986, our school became infested with a plague of rubber hands. You could buy them at Sentry for about 25 cents. They were stretchy and sticky. You could hold onto one end, while flinging the hand part several feet. If you hit it just right, you could grab someone's paper with it and pull it back to you. Anyway, Bob had one and let me play with it one day. I remember stepping onto the hand part, then pulling on the chord very slowly, bringing it up to my desk. I had that thing pulled as tight as it would go before it probably would have ripped. Then I lifted my foot and held on. That purple hand swung violently in the air, swooped over our table (Bob was on my right) crossed the aisle and slapped onto the table in front of Chip Pelnar. He got startled and jumped in his seat. But he didn't actually see the hand, as it happened so quickly. He started to look around to try and figure out what happened. But by that time, the hand was back in my hand resting safely, while Bob and I giggled.

I'm not sure if I ever had Bob in any classes after that year. I think he was a veteran of the various shop classes. If memory serves, he may have hung around with Mark Schreiber for awhile. But I can't be sure of that.

To my knowledge, I have not seen Bob since high school. Today I believe he lives in Two Rivers. He's living with a woman named Sherri - who I presume to be his wife. But it could be a sister as well. I don't honestly know. Other than that, I have no clue what Bob is doing these days.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:59 AM 1 comments

CRAIG STANGEL

Craig is a guy I met in 5th grade. We had Miss Krause together.

Craig was a rather tall guy, and very athletic. I remember that in gym class, he could run faster than anyone in class. Jason Anderson was his only competition. Craig would beat Jason everytime - but just barely. I recall that one day, we had to run all the way around the field at Magee. Jason told me that he thought he could beat Craig, as he figured Craig was more of a short distance runner, and not suited for long runs. It was a close race. But Craig did in fact beat Jason - by one second.

We had some sort of dress-up day once. Craig came to school with big clown hair, and sunglasses that had flashing lights on them. If you look in the picture below, you can see a picture of Craig in his costume.

Craig had a T-shirt with a picture of his own face on it.

I know that Craig's parents eventually put him into one of the catholic schools. I have no memories of him at Clarke. So he probably left after 5th grade.

The next time I saw Craig was in my junior year of high school. I was in a car with Richard, Dave, Dave's sister Kelly, and Craig's older brother Rob. We passed him on a road in Manitowoc. I was impressed that Craig remembered me. He saw me and said, "Hi Burt."

Craig's family owned and operated Stangel's grocery store in downtown Two Rivers. Sometimes we would go in there to say hi to Rob, and would run into Craig as well.

I have not seen Craig since probably 1988. He graduted from Roncalli. I think he stayed in the area for the most part, until he married Washington High School, class of 1987's Karen Swoboda. Today they live in Oostburg. I believe they have two kids.



posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:23 AM 0 comments

JIM SANFORD

On our first day of school in 8th grade, two new faces were seen in the lunchroom, where they all gathered us prior to putting us in our classes. One was Kevin Minkel. The other was Jim Sanford. I remember that he was wearing a red spring jacket as he sat there.

Jim was a hefty guy. He was rather large. There's no way to sugar coat that. Because of his size, he would often sweat a lot. I had him in gym class a couple of years. And when we got back into the lockerroom, he would be coated in sweat - big red and sweaty.

In my opinion, Jim was kind of an asshole. He was smug and annoying. I never understood where his bitterness came from. He just treated a lot of people like jerks.

I seem to recall that Jim was into ninja stuff, and collected throwing stars and such.

In my sophomore year, I had Jim in gym class again. I remember being placed onto a volleyball team with him. And he groaned when he saw me. Whatever. Because truth be told, I was actually pretty good at volleyball. Cindy Rohrer was on that team as well. You could tell that Jim had the hots for Cindy. When she screwed up, it was cute to him. If I screwed up, man did I hear it. But it didn't take Jim long to see that I was an asset. And I earned his respect - not that I really gave a shit. Having Jim like me was nothing I sought out to do.

Most mornings in high school, you could find some kids selling donuts. I seem to recall that Jim bought one quite often.

After our sophomore year, Jim disappeared. I assumed that he simply moved. He didn't seem like the type of person who would simply drop out. I'm pretty sure I've never run into him. And he's probably hard to miss. Today it looks like Jim has moved to Manitowoc. I think he's married to a woman named Stacie. I have no idea if they have any children.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 6:50 AM 2 comments

Monday, May 15, 2006
HELP!

I am nearing the home stretch. As of this moment, I have 26 more classmates remaining. That may seem like a lot. But considering the fact that I've already done 230 of them, it doesn't seem so large.

I plan to do at least four per work day. So I should be finished next week.

Here's where I need some help. If you can think of ANYONE I may have forgotten, let me know. The rules are simple. It's people who I would have gone to school with at Washington, Clarke, or 4th & 5th grade at Magee. So names like Mark Butala and Cam Goetz (who were gone before I arrived) don't qualify.

I know for sure that someone is missing. In 6th grade, there was a girl in Mr. Burnstad's class. She was black. I can sort of picture her. I know she wasn't there too long. But she was there. Maybe her name will pop into my head. Maybe it won't. Here's where the lurking Nick Novachek could help. He had Mr. Burnstad. Nick, who was this chick? Did anyone else have Burnstad? Does anyone remember this girl?

I have a list of the 26 remaining names. But there always exists the possibility that I may have missed someone. So if you can, please leave a comment or shoot me an E-mail with any and all names you can think of that I haven't done yet.

Thank you for your support.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 1:41 PM 6 comments

CARRIE HAVEL

Carrie is one of the few classmates who I actually completely forgot about. If not for a scan of my freshman yearbook, she wouldn't be listed here.

I stared at her picture to try and jog some memory of her. And while nothing specific came to mind, I did at least recall her name. As I stared some more, I began to think that possibly she was at Clarke as well. But I don't know. She was sort of cute.

If she wasn't at Clarke. Then Carrie was only around for one year - my freshman year of high school. After that, she was gone, never to be seen again.

I'm guessing that either her family moved to Mantiowoc, or she simply dropped out. Today it looks like Carrie still resides in Manitowoc. As far as I know, she's never been married. But it looks like she has had a roommate for several years. I have no clue what she does for a living. Although "Havel" was a pretty common name in Two Rivers. I suspect she probably has many relatives in the area.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 1:28 PM 4 comments

JEFF SALSTRAND

Jeff was a guy I met in 4th grade. We had Mrs. Schmidt together.

Jeff and I got along for the most part. But we were never friends. At that time, Jeff was best friends with Drew Konop. I have a couple of memories of him from that year.

I was best friends with Chris (Lohr) Storlie. Chris and I used to pass notes all day. One day I took a bunch of them and threw them in the garbage. Jeff then went into the garbage to fish them out. He wanted to read them. I grabbed them, and actually threatened to tell Mrs. Schmidt if he didn't drop them. I'm surprised I would make a such a wimpy threat like that. What's more surprising is that Jeff actually let go of them, and dropped them back into my hands. I quickly shredded them and tossed them away again.

Later on that year, Chris suddenly decided that he had a crush on Julie Scott. I didn't get it. Julie was really bitchy towards the two of us. She couldn't stand us. She was also a year away from getting those big boobs of hers. So what the atttraction was, I'll never know. Anyway, Chris had some sort of half-baked scheme where he wanted me to grab her after school one day, then hold her while he kissed her. Jeff overheard this and wanted to participate. But Jeff had other ideas. Jeff wanted us to grab her, knock her down, puller her pants off, and "lick her puss." Those are his exact words! Being only nine at the time, I didn't understand the magnitude of what he was suggesting. But nonetheless, I was really disturbed by it.

Sometime during the summer of 1981, I ran into Jeff and Drew at Prange Way. We were all looking at the Star Wars toys.

In 8th grade, I had Jeff in Mr. Fencel's reading class. My friend Mark Schreiber was in the class as well. Jeff used to torment poor Mark by pelting him with a neverending supply of spit. Despite my friendship with Mark, I can take some of the blame too, as I would laugh and sometimes encourage Jeff's nasty habit.

In either 8th grade or freshman year, Jeff started hanging around with Chris Storlie quite a bit. But after our freshman year, he was gone. I believe Meff actually ran into Jeff during the summer of 1986, at which point Jeff mentioned he was moving. Apparently Jeff was pretty down about it. Although since Meff didn't care for him, there wasn't a whole lot of sympathy.

I think Jeff's family moved to Iowa. He still lives there today. Although I think his father passed away a few years ago. I don't think Jeff has ever married. But if he has, it was to a girl named Jennifer. I believe Jeff had a younger brother named Andy. What he does today is unknown to me.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 1:05 PM 0 comments

VALORI FRANCO

Valori is a girl who joined me at Clarke. I got to know her a little bit in 7th grade, as we had Mr. Schambureck together for social studies.

Val was dark-skinned. Based on her last name, I'd guess she's hispanic. But I don't know for sure.

Val had a mouth on her. She was as loud and brash as any of the boys. She wouldn't shy away from saying anything. In fact, she was a bit too much. Her outspoken attitude often made me cringe. Sometimes she was ok. But sometimes I didn't want to be around her at all. Not that I was ever the target for her. But she seemed to have a bit of a mean streak in her. And she wasn't afraid to embarrasss someone if she wanted to.

Val and I never had much contact over the years. Although I did see one of her nipples once. It was in the hot lunch line at Clarke - 8th grade I think. She was wearing a pink, buttoned shirt. And it was a little loose or something. Because when she moved or breathed, an area between the buttons would spread, allowing a clear view inside her shirt. On this given day, I had a clear shot of her left nipple - despite the fact that she had a bra on. She had very large areolas as well. I never was attracted to Val. So a sneak peak at her goodies did nothing for me. Still, as a male, I'm required to look.

About the only other thing that stands out with Val was from Mr. Conrad's biology class during sophomore year. Val was being her usual loud self. And she kept repeating the phrase, "Slam bam, thank you maam." She said this several times - quite loudly. Why? Who knows. But at one point, Janice Erison commented to Tammy Franzen, "Isn't is "WHAM bam?" Janice was right of course.

Val didn't actually graduate with my class. She's officially listed as a member of the class of 1990. I'd heard that she was half a credit short, due to failing swimming during gym class of her sophomore year. Can you imagine not graduating because of that? Wow. At least she went back and finished.

I ran into Val many, many times at the video store. By that time she had married and had become Valori Gadzinski. She had at least one child, perhaps more. She ended up divorcing in 2000. Today it looks like she's remarried and is known as Valori Manes. Last I knew, she was living in Manitowoc.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:40 PM 0 comments

LESLIE WEBER

I first met Leslie in freshman year. I'm not sure if this new classmate was new to the area, or was from one of the catholic schools.

I had Leslie in homeroom. And despite what one may think, Leslie was a boy. His parents gave him a name most often associated with females. I'm sure he took a lot of grief over the years because of it.

Leslie was a small guy - small and thin. He was not very intimidating. He seemed sort of meek and quiet. I honestly don't remember much of anything about him. I didn't have him in any classes. Something tells me he may have taken some shop classes. But I don't know.

Leslie had an older brother named Larry. Larry would have been a member of the class of 1988. I had Larry in Mr. Sciver's class during freshman year. Larry sat in front of me, and fell sound asleep during a filmstrip. Scriver woke him up and made him stay after school.

Leslie stayed at Washington for two years. Then I think his family moved. We never saw the Webers again. Trying to find Leslie today has proven difficult. However, I think his family may have moved to Michigan. It's possible that Leslie's middle name was Greg. If so, I think he might go by the name Greg today.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 8:26 AM 0 comments

EDNA RETURNS

Clint Mattrisch's niece apparently wants to keep sparring.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 8:06 AM 1 comments

BECKY SCHMIDT

Becky was at Magee. I know very little about her. But I do remember her.

Apparently she provided Jason Anderson with his "first kiss." It certainly wasn't the last for each of them.

About the only personal memory I have from her is from 5th grade. I had Miss Krause. I think she had Mr. Tisler. One day that year the school took all the 5th grade classes down to Milwaukee to see some play. I think it was at the Pabst Theater. Anyway, we stopped at McDonalds for lunch on the way down. Or was it the way back? Who knows. Anyway, I ordered chicken mcnuggets. This was a brand new food item at the time. McDonalds was really advertising the hell out of them. Yet no one seemed to have tried them yet. But my family had. We liked them. And we ordered them everytime we went there. So I ordered them. Of course everyone wanted to try them. I couldn't really share though. They only gave you six of them. Anyway, I was in a booth with Chris (Lohr) Storlie, Doug Wall and Becky Schmidt. This was my first experience with her. She was sort of a tomboy. She was really cool. I guess Chris and Doug (having been in Tisler's class with her) were sort of friendly with her. So we were all friends that day. So when she asked if she could try a mcnugget, I of course gave her one. She was a girl! What could I do?

After 5th grade, I think Becky's parents shipped her off to one of the local catholic schools. I haven't seen her since. Although I do have another tidbit about her. According to my former best friend Dave Svatek, he lost his virginity to her in the summer of 1985. Allegedly, they were talking on the phone about it. And she had talked about having sex (with others - or perhaps "other") in the past. Dave goaded her on about being "all talk." And at some point she got tired of it and invited him over to prove that she wasn't. And according to Dave, he lost his virginity to her that day. He also said that Becky was the first girl that he "ate out." Is that too much information?

Anyway, trying to find Becky's current whereabouts would be an exercise in futility. There are probably thousands of Becky Schmidt's in the country.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:38 AM 1 comments

Friday, May 12, 2006
RICHARD CROWE

Richard joined me at Clarke in 8th grade. I'm not sure where he came from. He may have had some American Indian ancestry.

I had Richard in a few classes that year. He and I got along pretty well. However, when he first arrived at school, he was "the new kid." And none other than Scott "Gokey" Gauthier befriended him. I remember telling Greg Flemal that that friendship wonuldn't last. And sure enough, it didn't. Richard didn't know Gokey yet.

I had both Richard and Gokey in Mr. Swokowski's art class. One day Gokey was in Richard's way. So he blurted out, "Move Gokey!" What did Gokey do? Well without even thinking (if he was even capable) he turned his body around and threw a punch towards Richard. What Gokey didn't know was that Richard happened to be holding an exacto knife at the time. And he had it pointing outward. Gokey's punch landed square on the kinfe, ripping his hand to shreds, right betweem the thumb and point finger. Blood was everywhere. And Gokey shrieked in pain. He tried his best not to cry. But he didn't do a good job. Gokey had to go to the hospital. He ended up getting a ton of stitches. It was an accident of course. So Richard didn't get in trouble. It was Gokey's own aggressiveness that got himself hurt. But from that point on, Swokowski made everyone walk with their exacto knives pointing down.

Later on that year, Richard and I had Mr. Ashenbrenner together. One dayI got a hold of Richard's "T-Square" and was tapping it onto my trapper keeper. It somehow broke. Ashenbrenner wasn't happy, and said that we each had to pay $3.00 to replace it. I actually paid. But I don't think Richard ever did. Richard wanted to beat me up or something for that. But he never did.

Richard must have moved after 8th grade. Because I never saw him again. Today I believe he lives near LaCrosse, with his wife Wendy. If he has kids or a job, I'm unaware of it.

UPDATE - 9/7/06 - It looks like Richard moved to Manitowoc after leaving Two Rivers. He's listed as a member of Lincoln High School's class of 1989.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 6:00 PM 0 comments

SCOTT GAUTHIER

Based on the photos provided by Kevin Dehne, it looks like Scott was a product of Koenig School.

Scott joined me at Clarke. Although I really don't have any memories of him until 8th grade. I had Scott in a few classes. And bar none, he had to be one of the most annoying individuals I've ever come in contact with. He babbled. He was irritating. He was just an all around pain in the ass. Plus he looked like a monkey. Did anyone like him? I don't know. I honestly don't know if this goof had any friends at all.

It's weird referring to him as Scott. Because everyone called him "Gokey." Where did that name come from? You got me. But he will always be Gokey. Hell, even Mr. Fencl called him Gokey.

In 8th grade, Scott once got into a confrontation with Kurt Psenicka. They were on the bleachers after lunch. They started pushing each other. And Kurt was grabbing at Scott's leg or something. But unfortunately for him, his face was right in the line of fire from Scott's shoe. And Scott started pounding Kurt's face with his other foot, getting perhaps 10 point blank hits. Kurt's face went red, but not from embarrassment. Kurt looked to be on the verge of tears.

On another day, in that same gym after lunch, we all lined up to be let out. Scott was behind me. Somehow he and I got into a shoving match as well. I managed to push Scott to the floor. But as he fell on his ass, he reached out and ripped a slight tear in my T-shirt.

Will the fighting ever end? Not yet. That same year, in Mr. Swokowski's art class, Randy Klein got into it with him as well. Swokowski had left the room for awhile. And Randy ended up tossing Gokey to the floor. The two of them rolled around a bit punching each other. Randy got the better of Gokey. But not much damage was done. The fight stopped before Swokowski got back. But the room was still abuzz over what happened. Then Nick Novachek blurted out to Swokowski, "You should have seen that fight!" Then he went on to say something about Superman and Batman going at it. He never actually mentioned the real fight. But after about 15 minutes, Swokowski knew something was up. And before long, both Gokey and Randy were whisked away.

Surprisingly, Scott somehow became friends with Chad Daffner during the year. I never understood that one.

As I mentioned somewhere else, midway through 8th grade, I was transferred into Mrs. Mehan's class for reading. It was where all the losers were. Scott fit right in. At some point, I stole Scott's textbook. So Mehan got him another one. A few days later, I stole that one as well. Mehan got pissed. But she ended up getting a third copy. Of course I stole that one too - the same day he got it. Mehan then blew up at Scott. She chewed him out for being careless. I think Scott got several detentions for it as well. I thought it was funny as hell. It was all I could do to keep myself from laughing. I think I ended up burying those books in the field in my backyard. I felt no sorrow for Scott. He was an asshole.

Ken Bartz had this magical way of putting his two pointy fingers onto his mouth and lips and made himself look exactly like Gokey. Gokey had really big lips. Like I said, he kind of looked like a monkey.

I believe Scott flunked 8th grade. I didn't see him again until my sophomore year. In high school, we had virtually no contact whatsoever. Scott ended up graduating with the class of 1990.

I ran into Scott a few times at the video store. He had a girlfriend with him once. I remember thinking to myself, "Man, how is it that HE has a girlfriend, and I don't?" Today it looks like he lives in Manitowoc with his wife, Danyell. I tlooks like he once ran some sort of business called Lakeside Communications. It must not have done too well though, as he was sued about a dozen times for unpaid bills.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 5:52 PM 1 comments

UPDATE - BRIAN BELONGIA

Because the world demanded it, I've updated Brian's entry with a relatively recent photo.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 5:51 PM 0 comments

AMY SCHMIDT

Amy is a girl I met in 4th grade. We had Mrs. Schmidt together.

For the most part, I couldn't stand her. She was very bitchy. And she had a cackle of a laugh that was like fingernails on a chalkboard.

I don't recall a whole lot about Amy. But a few things come to mind. For one, she was friends with Pam Schley - at least in 4th grade anyway. I have a strange memory of the two of them talking. They were going to get together one night for some reason. And Amy lamented that she was going to miss the Charlie Brown special that was going to be on that night. But then she said, "Ah, I've seen it anyway." Of course I was quick to point out that she hadn't, as it was a brand new special. She just shook her hand at me as if I were nuts. Sorry Amy. I was right. Check out the release date.

CHARLIE BROWN

Amy was one of the classmates that had every single class with me in 7th grade. We were both thrilled. Although I do recall once when were got along. Richard Pryor's movie "The Toy" premiered on cable that year. And both of us loved that film. I remember sitting in Mr. Swokowski's art class. And she and I would rattle off quotes and laugh. It was the only time we ever bonded.

Amy was with me in high school up through our junior year. Then she disappeared. I don't know where she went. She had a sister - class of 1990's Pam Schmidt, and a brother - class of 1992's Jon Schmidt. And both of them were still at Washington. Amy certainly didn't seem like the type to drop out. I've always wondered what happened to her that year.

I have not seen Amy since our junior year. Trying to find her has proven difficult, as her name is so common. But I think I may have possibly found her. If I'm correct, she's gone by the names of Amy LeGreve and Amy Bogie over the years. Curiously, I see no evidence of marriages or divorces surrounding those names. Today it looks like she's back to Amy Schmidt again - but may in fact be married to a guy whose last name is also Schmidt. She appears to live halfway between Madison and Milwaukee.

UPDATE - 12/12/06 - As you can see from yesterday's comment, Amy has stopped by to say hi. She graduated from Lincoln High School in Manitowoc. She eventually married and became Amy Campbell. Unfortuantely she ended up getting divorced. Today she is back living in Wisconsin. She has three kids. She said she'd try to get me a photo at a later date. Once I get it, I'll post it here.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:59 AM 2 comments

BRETT GRUETZMACHER

Brett is a guy who showed up at Clarke. I believe he arrived in 6th grade.

At some point that year, or perhaps the previous summer, he hooked up with Drew Konop. They were on rival little leage baseball teams or something, and became friends that way.

I'm really surprised that I don't have a whole lot to say about Brett. I had him in many classes. But not a whole lot stands out.

I had Brett in Mr. Franke's 8th grade science class. Two memories come to mind. For one, earlier in one day, Brett had "burned" my books. So I told my friend Mark Schreiber that I was going to do the same to Brett's. Mark thought I was joking, as he viewed Brett as a guy not to be messed with. But tit for tat so to speak. I went up to Brett's table and whipped all of his stuff onto the floor. I think he swore at me. But he didn't do anything.

At some point in the year, Mr. Franke brought in a police officer to talk about alcohol's effects on the blood. Somehow Brett was volunteered to take a breathalyzer test. The cop looked at the reading and said, "Umm... what did you have for lunch?" He was joking of course. Then he proceeded to "arrest" Brett. And as he tried to lead him away, Brett kept jerking his arm forward as if he were resisting. It was pretty funny actually.

For the most part, I always viewed Brett as a pompous guy. However, that being said, in my opinion, Brett is someone who improved with age. He got a lot nicer as high school progressed. Perhaps a woman had a calming effect on him. Who knows? If so, that woman was fellow graduate Angie Owens. I think they started going out near the end of our junior year - or perhaps that summer. They even got a couple of hamsters that they called "their kids."

I ran into Brett and Angie many times at the video store. And both of them were incredibly nice. This is one high school romance that has lasted. They eventually did get married. I believe they have at least two kids.

After high school, Brett planned to become a teacher. He did just that. He actually taught on an Indian reservation in Arizona for three years. He then moved to Indiana in 1996, where he taught social studies for four years. Now he is an assistant principal at that same school. Below are a couple of recent photos of Brett. The bottom one is from one of those polar bear plunges in the middle of winter.





UPDATE - 8/17/06 - Brett has been an assistant principal at his school. However, the current principal is resigning. Starting this coming year, Brett will be the new principal.

UPDATE - 11/10/06 - UPDATE - 11/10/06 - Here is Brett, along with Drew Konop, from our senior video.



posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:41 AM 4 comments

Thursday, May 11, 2006
TRAVIS RIESTERER

Travis joined me at Clarke. Over the years, we never had much contact with one another. I think he thought I was odd. Of course I thought Travis was a bit odd too.

Travis seemed like a strange guy to me. He was short and stubby. I seem to recall that he always wore cowboy boots as well. If you look at our high school yearbooks, you'll see that Travis has the same odd expression on his face every year. Even the senior picture is pretty much the same. Travis has this really long face, a perpetual frown, and a nose that really stands out. Very strange. The pictures sort of remind me of a snobby British man who looks disappointed because his tea isn't hot enough.

I think Travis took a lot of shop classes. Perhaps that's why he and I never had a lot of contact. Were Travis' parents farmers? I don't know.

I don't think I've seen Travis since high school. He has stayed in Manitowoc County his whole life. Today it looks like he lives in an apartment in Mishicot. As far as I can tell, he's never married.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 2:22 PM 0 comments

TRACY FITZGERALD

Tracy is a girl I met in 4th grade. She and I had Mrs. Schmidt together. We didn't get along. I think she couldn't stand me. Although she was really nothing special herself.

I pretty much have only two memories of her. One was from 4th grade. I found a check on the floor. So I put it in my desk. The last name on the check was "Dole." For some reason, I knew it was Tracy's. I remember asking Chris Lohr (Storlie) if her name was actually Tracy Dole. I was new that year. So I wasn't sure. But he said no. Anyway, an hour or so later, Tracy apparently noticed her check was missing, and told Mrs. Schmidt - who asked if anyone had seen it. I think it was for her hot lunch tickets. I pulled out the check and said that I had it. Mrs. Schmidt then started yelling at me, asking why I hadn't turned it in earlier. I didn't have an answer. But geez, if I'd planned to do something bad with it, I wouldn't have turned it in willingly as I did.

My next memory comes from 7th grade. I remember Mr. Longhini used to always say, "You're giving me fits, Gerald." Clever guy that Longhini was... Later in the year, Tracy changed math classes for some reason. And she no longer had Longhini. I remember thinking, "Who is he going to make fun of now?"

Tracy was at Washington for my freshman year. But that was it. She must have moved. I don't think she was the dropout type. Where she is today is a mystery. Her name is far too common to try and track down.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 2:15 PM 0 comments

TIM LOUCKS

Tim is a guy I first encountered at Clarke. He and I only had a couple of classes together over the years, as Tim was a regular member of special education classes. He was also a known troublemaker.

I didn't hang around with Tim. But I actually found him to be a pretty cool dude. He was very likable. He and I actually shared a locker during 8th grade. His was right above mine. Tim often had a lot of unsavory looking characters around him. On more than one occasion, I had to puish my way past some thugs in order to get to my locker.

I don't have a whole lot of memories about Tim. But one thing stands out. In the scheme of life, it's nothing really. But I always felt guilty about it.

I had Tim in Mr. Franke's science class, in 8th grade. At some point that year, we were given a fun assignment - an annual thing for Mr. Franke. Each student was to construct some sort of storage device to house an ice cube. He would check them every hour. And the ice cube that lasted the longest, that person would win a prize.

When it was all said and done, Mr. Franke read a role call of the students in our class, and asked if everyone had done the assignment. When he got to Tim's name, there was no answer, as he was out sick that day. Franke asked if anyone had seen Tim's. No one had. Then he said something to the effect of, "I doubt he did one" - and marked it in his gradebook accordingly. However, truth be told, Tim had done the assignment. I'd seen his box sitting on one of the counters. Yet I didn't speak up. That must have been the shy person in me. Tim probably failed the class. But in all honesty, he probably would have failed it anyway. So at least I can take solace in that. And Tim did get passed into high school the following year.

If memory serves, Tim was only around for freshman year. Then he was gone, having presumably dropped out. I think I ran into Tim from time to time at the video store. And I also think that Tim eventually found his name on the "do not rent" list we had.

Today Tim appears to live in Two Rivers. I don't think he's married. But I could be wrong. Tim has had a few brushes with the law, including five drunk driving offenses. At this moment, it looks like he is in the middle of serving one year in prison for the most recent offense. Although he is allowed out for employment.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 11:54 AM 1 comments

TRACY FREE

Based on a long overdue request, here's Tracy.

I'm pretty sure Tracy dates back to Magee. And she followed right through to Clarke and Washington - at least for our freshman year.

I know nothing about this girl. I'm quite sure I never had her in any class at any level. I knew her name. And that was about it. The only thing I do know is that Meff apparently had the hots for her back in grade school.

Tracy had some pretty funky hair as a freshman.

After freshman year, Tracy moved. It looks like her family moved to Green Bay. It looks like she has continued to live in Green Bay ever since. However today she is married, and now goes by the name of Tracy Konop. She's currently employed as a teacher at a Green Bay middle school.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 9:40 AM 0 comments

THERESA CHASE

I must admit, this girl is someone I completely forgot about until I opened up my yearbooks.

Theresa showed up in my sophomore year. She stayed through our junior year. Then she was gone. I think she remained in Two Rivers. So I'll assume she simply dropped out.

I never had any contact with her. As far as I know, we had no classes together. So I never knew her. In my opinion, she had a slight resemblance to fellow graduate, Brenda Dax. Theresa always looked somewhat snotty to me. But obviously, I have no idea about her personality.

It looks like Theresa stayed around the Manitowoc/Two Rivers area for years, before heading up to the Stevens Point area - where it appears she resides today. At one point she may have been known as Theresa Mueller. Although I find no evidence that she's ever been married. She may have had a boyfriend named John though. Whether she has kids, or is employed, I do not know.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 6:42 AM 1 comments

Wednesday, May 10, 2006
KEVIN KOEHLER

Kevin was around at Magee and Clarke. But honestly, I don't think I had any contact with him until we got into high school.

Scratch that. I had contact with him during the summer of 1983. He and I were on the same little league team together. Jason Anderson was also on that team, as was Chad Bennin, Andy Reinhardt (for one game) and class of 1990's Nick Rogne. Our coach was Conrad Hrdina (a nut). Our team was Sacred Heart Athletic Association.

Anyway, Jason and Kevin were the stars of the team. They could really hit the shit out of a baseball. In fact, halfway through the summer, Jason got kicked off the team because someone complained about his age. Jason was a month or two older than the "legal" age for the league we were in.

I loved baseball. But for whatever reason, that summer, I would freeze up at the plate. I couldn't explain it. I just got scared to swing or something. Well one time I came up, and the bases were loaded. I took a pitch - strike one. Kevin was standing on second base. And he yelled out, "Come on, just swing already!" For whatever reason, that struck a chord in me. The next pitch came and I whacked it into the outfield. Three runs scored, and I cruised into second base with a double - and a new sense of pride. From that point on, I got a hit every single time I came to the plate. That is of course up until the last game, when Chad Daffner and his fricken' curve ball struck me (and everyone else) out.

In high school I had Kevin in a few classes, but not too many. I think Kevin took a lot of shop classes. But I did have him in gym class during my sophomore year. Or was it freshman year? Anyway, one day Kevin shot the basketball from somewhere around half court - and made it. From that moment on, based on that one shot, he earned a reputation of being able to make the ridiculously long shot. So every chance he got, he would launch that ball across the gym. Needless to say, I don't think he ever made another long basket. Finally at some point, the teacher (Mrs. Berg?) told him to knock it off.

I think during our sophomore year, it became known that Kevin had gotten a girl pregnant. The girl's name was Robin. I think she was older than us. But I don't know if she went to our school.

Kevin had a nickname of "whales."

Kevin stuck around through our junior year. After that, I think he simply dropped out. I don't know if I ever ran into him since high school. I don't recall anyway. I do know that he ended up marrying Robin. But they divorced in 2003. Today it looks like Kevin still lives in Two Rivers - in the former home of my friend's aunt and uncle.

UPDATE - 11/13/06 - On Saturday, AUgust 12th, 2006, Kevin Dehne and I took our second trip to Two Rivers. We stopped by to see Kevin. I was familiar with the home, as it had been owned by the aunt and uncle of a friend of mine, back in the 1980's. I was also the paperboy. Kevin was outside, in the garage. The two Kevins joked about the time they had stolen some food off someone's grill. Good stuff! Kevin talked about how he spends time with fellow graduate Dave Hartwig. Perhaps we'll hit Dave on trip #3. Kevin was proud of the fact that his oldest kid was graduating (or just did graduate) from high school. Kevin has another son, who was also hanging around while we were there. Kevin's dog loves to chase a stick. If you don't pick it up and throw it, he'll stare at it forever.







posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 11:34 AM 1 comments

MARK PROCHNOW

I have a vague, vague memory of this guy being in school. But that's about it. He's listed in one of my yearbook as a "photo not available."

Translation - he wasn't around much.

Mark had a twin brother named Mike - who was also in our school just as much as Mark.

If Mark is who I think he is, he was kind of a tough guy - perhaps with a moustache. He may have been a product of the local group home. I don't know. Whatever the case, he came and went quite quickly. He certainly didn't finish school at Washington, if at all.

I think Mark had a few run-ins with the law. I believe there was a battery charge in Manitowoc County. Beyond that, it looks like he moved to the Superior/Duluth area. I can't find anything on him beyond 2002. I don't think he's dead. So perhaps he went to Canada. Chalk up another one into the "who the hell is that?" category.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 11:11 AM 0 comments

TIM HAUSCHULTZ

Bad news.

I met Tim in 6th grade. We had Mrs. Casey together. Tim was a rowdy guy - a big time troublemaker. You'd think he and I would have gotten along. But we really didn't. We weren't enemies or anything. But we weren't pals either.

One day at recess, Ken Bartz and I were having somewhat of a snowball war - which of course was against all the rules. But so what. Well when we'd finished, out of nowhere, Tim came up behind me and completely doused me with an overwhelming amount of snow and ice. He attacked me with it. I was caught totally off guard and fell to the ground. Tim pummelled me with it before I even had a chance to react. I was helpless. I almost broke down in tears from the pain. Tim just laughed like a crazed hyena.

Someone reported the incident to Mrs. Casey - who didn't give a shit. I tried to tell her what happened. And she literally told me that perhaps Tim and I should fight about it. What??? I was floored. By this time, Tim was back in the room at his desk, and overheard Mrs. Casey. So he started yelling, "Yeah! Come on! Let's go!" If I could go back in time, I would have lunged at Tim and taken him up on his challenge. If anything, it would have gotten Mrs. Casey in trouble for actually encouraging and endorsing the confrontation. Several students overheard her. She wouldn't have been able to deny it. But instead of creating a cool memory for this blog, I simply sat down in my own seat.

For the rest of our years at Clarke, I did my best to avoid Tim. The guy was trouble. He seemed out of control and just plain nuts.

Tim probably has the honor of having the shortest stay in Washington High School history. I had him in gym class on the very first day of school, during our freshman year. He was there that day. It was the only day. Tim apparently dropped out after that first day, and never set foot inside an academic facility again.

See my entries on Steve Cook and Kevin Dehne for additional stories about Tim. Tim was one of the guys who beat the crap out of Steve, and wound up in jail for it.

I saw Tim's name in the paper sometime in the early 1990's I believe. He allegedly held up the Manitowoc Super America at gunpoint, got some cash, got out of town, then was picked up and arrested in Kentucky the next day.

Over the years Tim has had several skirmishes with the law. It looks like he has stayed in the Manitowoc area most of his adult life. He was married to a woman named Jodi. It looks like she filed for divorce four times. The last one was finally finalized. It looks like they have at least one child. Despite what I probably would have guessed, it looks like Tim has kept his nose clean for the last six years. So perhaps those rowdy days are finally behind him.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 9:46 AM 0 comments

JON BEQUEAITH

His last name was pronounced "Beck-with." But it's spelled with a "Q" and four consecutive vowels. That seems wrong. But it's not.

Jon showed up at Clarke. I think he arrived in 6th grade. But I could be wrong.

Jon was kind of on the smaller side. I got the impression that he always wanted to be considered a tough guy. But in reality, he just wasn't physically capable. That didn't stop him from shooting off his mouth from time to time though.

I pretty much have only one memory of Jon. It was from 8th grade. I had him in gym class. Jon had brought a throwing star to school. And as we came out of the locker room, he whipped it at the blue pads that were hanging on the wall, by the doors. It stuck in them pretty good.

That's it! That's all I got. After 8th grade, Jon apparently moved. Because he was never to be seen again. I figured I wouldn't be able to track him down, simply because I didn't know how to spell his last name. All I knew was that it had a "Q" in it. But I used a little ingenuity and was able to find him. It looks like his parents moved to Marinette, right on the Wisconsin/Michigan border. Jon still lives there today. He's married to a woman named Donna. Don't believe me? Call him at 1-715-732-2588. Tell him the class of '89 sent you!

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:44 AM 2 comments

KRISTINE KAHLENBERG

Kris is a girl I met in 4th grade, when I first moved to Two Rivers. We had Mrs. Schmidt together.

Kris and I never had much contact with each other. Although she was friendly enough to me. To me she always had somewhat of a plain-Jane look. But what do I know?

In 7th grade, Kris and I shared every single class together. I seem to recall that she and Jason Anderson were some sort of couple for a few days. I distinctly remember the two of them playfully pushing each other around a bit, up against the curtain in Mr. Longhini's room.

At some point Kris got heavily involved in dance. I think she was also involved in some local theater productions. In fact I know she was. Because she ran into a few people in Manitowoc who asked about me, having known me before I moved to Two Rivers. If memory serves, she went away for awhile to some dance school or something - possibly in New York. I recall that when she got back at some point, she mentioned that her parents didn't want her to return to that school because a lot of the students were on drugs. I suspect that either her parents relented, or they found another school. Because after junior year, she was gone. But as far as I know, her parents were still in Two Rivers. I was actually their paperboy for awhile. They had a nice dog.

I can only assume that Kris continued on with dance, and is some sort of teacher today. She's also married, and now goes by the name of Kris Morgan. She currently lives in Tampa, Florida. The pictures below show Kris in a news article from May, 2000. In the first picture, she's in the back, teaching two students some sort of snake dance. In the second picture, she's seated on the right, watching (and judging) auditions for something.





posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:09 AM 8 comments

SHANNON KOCH

I'm not sure if Shannon joined me at Clarke or Washington. I'm leaning towards Washington though.

Boy, I don't know what I can say about her. She seemed nice enough. But did she and I ever have a spoken word between us? Not that I can recall. I can't even recall having her in any classes.

I always considered Shannon to be in the same mold of Chris Soppe or Ellen Dawidowich - big glasses, sort of brainy-looking, but sort of cute as well.

On our senior video, Shannon pulls her hair back and makes a face. I always wondered what the deal was with that. However, I think I figured it out now. She had big ears - or at least ears that stuck out a bit. Actually, had she not paraded them like that, I don't think they would really stand out.

Shannon basically had one plan after high school. She was planning to get married in the summer of 1990. I think she did just that. She now goes by the name of Shannon Peitersen. I'm guessing that her husband went to Lincoln in Manitowoc, and graduated in 1990. I believe they have two kids, and live in Manitowoc to this day - a few blocks from my parents actually. As far as I know, Shannon is a stay-at-home mom.

And for the completists out there, I couldn't find a picture of her. But I did find a picture of her church. Who knows? Maybe she was in the church when this picture was taken.



posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 6:47 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, May 09, 2006
JIM COLBY

Jim is a guy who showed up at Clarke. We had Mrs. Casey together. And he and I got along pretty decently. Although I spent most of my time hanging around with Ken Bartz and Greg Flemal.

In 7th grade Jim and I got to be better friends. We had every single class together that year. For the life of me, I never understood why we hung around a bit. Jim was a pompous ass. Seriously. He had as big an ego as I've ever seen on a human being. He gave Craig Rysticken a run for his money. No joke, Jim once told the tale of how he and his dad wrestled alligators in Florida.

I think Jim's parents had money. Because Jim always did too. He seemed to live the good life. But not all that money was well spent. Jim actually bought one of those sequined Michael Jackson gloves.

Jim sometimes came over to my house during lunch. See my entry on Jason Anderson for a story regarding one of those trips.

For whatever reason, Jim once tried to convince Toby Schwartz that I was an unloved child. He asked Toby to grill me on the subject. Very strange. Rest assured Jim, my parents always loved me. Although there were certainly times that they didn't like me.

Jason Anderson and I found a term in our science book which we dubbed Jim for awhile - "gymnosperm." We thought it was funny.

Jim, Toby Schwartz and myself sort became a trio that year. Although Jim always wanted to be with Kevin Dehne and Jim Colby. But Kevin and Jason didn't think too highly of Jim. But no one really ever put Jim in his place.

One day in gym class, Kevin somehow got a jumprope wrapped around Jim's wrist. And he yanked as hard as he could. Jim screamed in pain, then came over to the bubbler to water down his reddening wrist. The next day, the extent of the damage could be seen. Jim's wrist was all chewed up and scabbed over. It looked as if it hurt like hell.

Jim often hung around with Tom Grassman. But according to Tom, it was not by choice. Tom recently told me that for the most part, he couldn't stand Jim. But both of their fathers were friends. therefore, a forced friendship was forged between the two.

I'm not sure the details, but Jim was apparently staying with the Grassman's for several days. And he played sick one day in order to stay home from school. Unfortunately for him, Meff and Tom were going to a movie that night. And because Jim was "sick" Tom's parents wouldn't allow him to come along, despite his pleas of being "better." But the egomaniac tried to justify his staying home, when upon Tom's return, he bragged about watching some awful science fiction film on TV, called "Saturn 3."

Jim and I actually spent an afternoon together once, wandering the streets of Two Rivers. Jim stole a couple of beef sticks from Super America for us to eat. He also paid a ton of money at Evans for some fancy coat. We ended up dragging that thing around all afternoon. At some point we stopped at Pizza Hut, where Jim challenged class of 1990's Chris Zinn to a few games of Space Invaders.

Toby and I invented a language. It was nothing more than made-up words. I do now that we shared it with Jason Anderson. But we refused to share it with Jim. And he got so jealous! So he and Ron (Cuyler) Gretz decided to create a language of their own, in order to combat ours. They had some sort of bizarre code which featured letters and numbers. Jim would call me a "G-29" or something like that. He and Ron thought it was great fun.

Jason and Kevin planned to beat the shit out of Jim at the end of the school year. We all talked about the upcoming event. But it never happened. And Jim never knew. They never got another chance, as Jim moved away that summer.

Jim's family moved to Illinois. I believe they moved to Moline. Tom's family moved to Illinois a year later. And I think they had a little bit of contact with one another over the years.

At some point Jim got married to a woman named Melissa. Today they are back in Wisconsin. It looks like they're living in an apartment in Delavan.

UPDATE - 6/13/07 - It looks like Jim and family have moved to Fontana, Wisconsin.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 2:32 PM 2 comments

SCOTT LECOQUE

I moved to Two Rivers in November, 1980. That summer, my parents sent me to summer camp for the first time - Camp Sinawa, near Valders. While there, I met Scott for the first time. He was a pretty cool guy. He and I were pretty good pals for the week we spent. We were reunited the following summer as well.

Scott joined me at Clarke in 6th grade. He wasn't in my class though. We associated in different circles. But we remained friendly with one another. Scott was more with the smoker-type crowd. He was a troublemaker like I was as well.

Scott was a spit machine. He was one of those guys who loved to gob on anyone and everyone. It was pretty disgusting.

In 7th grade, Scott's locker was near mine. And again, we remained friendly for the most part - save for one incident. One day as he passed by me, he took his fist and slammed my open locker - which swung and bashed me near my temple. He started laughing like a maniac. I was actually slightly dazed. A huge welt began to form.

I'm not sure if Scott even made it to 8th grade. I know for sure that he wasn't in high school with me. Scott wasn't exactly the brightest of boys. He didn't seem like the kind of guy who wanted too much to do with school.

I ran into Scott once in awhile at the video store. He seemed nice enough. He wasn't a problem.

Scott has had some skirmishes with the law. He's had multiple battery charges. Scott has also apparently had some psychological issues, and allegedly has spent some time in an institution in Madison.

At some point in the mid-1990's, Scott moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia. But eventually he came back to Wisconsin. Eventually he married a woman named Sandy. They divorced in 2003. I don't think they had any children together.

Scott then moved to Nevada and moved in with his father. An elderly man also lived in the home, renting out a room. Scott and the man didn't get along, and argued quite a bit. So one day, in a fit of rage, Scott killed him - with a hatchet, striking him 30 times.

We won't be seeing Scott at any reunions. The following is various articles detailing the incident, the arrest, the trial and the conviction.
-----------------------------------------------

May, 2005

FERNLEY—A Fernley man who had been in and out of group homes and in trouble with the law beginning in his teenage years has been bound over to stand trial in District Court on charges of murder with the use of a deadly weapon, a crime against an elderly person.

Now 35, Scott Eric LeCoque is charged to have murdered Wallace Phillips with a hatchet by striking him 30 times in the face, twice in the head and various times in the body at a home on Mary Lou Court on the Desert Lakes Golf Course on January 12 of this year.

Justice of the Peace Robert Bennett found probable cause to bind LeCoque over on those charges, and an arraignment was set for June 6 at 9:00 a.m. in the Third Judicial District

charges//from A1

Court in Yerington.

At a preliminary hearing last Tuesday in Fernley Justice Court, LeCoque’s mental health history, along with his relationship with housemate Phillips, were the subject of testimony.

PIt was reported that prior to moving to Fernley, LeCoque had been living at a mental health facility in Madison, Wisconsin, and he had been prescribed 3-4 drugs for his mental health condition.

Lyon County District Attorney Leon Aberasturi told the court the state and the defense agreed on two stipulations of facts: first, the cause of Phillips’ death was by multiple injuries to his head, neck and chest. Second, the characteristics of the wounds were consistent with a hatchet or dull-edged knife during blunt force trauma.

The stipulation of facts allowed the DA to present the case without calling upon certain expert witnesses to testify.

The central witness for both the state and the defense was the testimony of LeCoque’s father, Mark LeCoque, who lives at the Mary Lou Court home.

He told Aberasturi that he rented a room to Phillips three years ago and the 72-year-old man was a retired barber. Phillips moved into an upstairs bedroom that had its own bathroom.

The elder LeCoque further testified that before his son came to live with him in April 2004, his son told him he wanted to obtain a GED and get a job, but that he was seeking a place to live.

Scott LeCoque also moved into an upstairs bedroom but used the bathroom downstairs.

Mark LeCoque further testified the relationship between his son and Phillips was at times “uncivil.”

The day of the murder, Jan. 12, 2005, Mark LeCoque testified, began as a typical day, saying he got up at 5 a.m., cleaned up and got his lunch ready and logged on the Internet before heading to his job in Lovelock where he worked as the director of education at the Nevada State Prison.

On Jan. 12 at about 9:30 a.m., Mark LeCoque received a call from his son who told him there “was something greasy on Wally’s door handle.” Mark LeCoque told the court, “He (Scott) asked if we had rubber gloves so he could clean it. I said to leave it. I said it was Wally’s bathroom and to leave it alone.”

Once Scott LeCoque moved into the Mary Lou home, his father found cleaning jobs around the house for him to do, such as vacuuming and yard work.

On Jan. 12, Scott was told to clean the baseboards in the 2,500 square-foot, multi-level home.

Mark LeCoque testified his son called him at about 1:30 p.m. and said “he did something bad.”

He continued, “I asked him what he did and he said, ‘I hit Wally.’ I got excited and said, ‘You didn’t.’ I was flabbergasted. I asked where he (Phillips) was and he (Scott) said ‘he (Phillips) was in the bathroom’.”

Mark LeCoque then asked his son what he hit Phillips with and he told the court his son said “an axe.”

Mark LeCoque then testified he told his son to go downstairs and wait, then the elder LeCoque called the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office to report the incident.

Mark LeCoque further testified that once his son was in custody and at Lakes Crossing for a mental health evaluation, he visited his son. He told the court his son told him at Lakes Crossing, “They (Scott and Phillips) had words and he (Scott) got mad and went downstairs and got the hatchet. Wally started laughing at him and Scott said, ‘So you think it’s funny’.”

Scott LeCoque’s court-appointed attorney, Wayne Pederson, focused on his client’s mental health history. However Mark LeCoque did not recall specific diagnosis of Scott’s mental health condition.

Mark LeCoque told the defense his son was born premature in Foley Family Hospital in Wisconsin but that medical treatment was not necessary once he was taken home.

He did recall a teacher at East Side Elementary School in Two Rivers, WI, once told he and his wife that Scott needed extra help in reading.

Mark LeCoque further testified that Scott was first placed in a group home at the age of 15, but that Mark was by then divorced from Scott’s mother.

He continued his son went back to group homes when he was 16 years old and then he came to live with him.

At the age of 17, Scott had quit school and then got into trouble with the law by stealing money and stealing a car, Mark said. Scott, however, was never prosecuted for the offense, testified Mark LeCoque. Scott then moved to Virginia when he was about 19 or 20 and also got into a fight and was incarcerated, his father testified.

Pederson asked, “Before he came out here, did he discuss with you his mental health problems?”

Mark LeCoque answered by testifying Scott was at a mental health facility in Madison, WI and was taking 3-4 types of medications but that one was not working.

The elder LeCoque testified Phillips was civil to him but to other people and his son he was “not always civil.”

He further testified that Phillips had told him he heard voices in his head and when he went shopping he always thought people were “talking about” him.

The first incident between Scott LeCoque and Phillips took place when Scott moved the elderly Fernley man’s futon, the father testified.

Mark LeCoque testified Phillips wrote a letter to Scott about the incident and “made rude comments to Scott.”

He also told the court that Scott didn’t “bother him (Phillips),” and “He’d (Phillips) made rude comments to him (Scott). I told Wally, once, to leave Scott alone.”

When LCSO responded to the incident, LSCO Lt. Mike Lange found Scott LeCoque sitting in the dining room and he noted the suspect was not coherent and “not normal.”

Law enforcement found the severely-beaten body of Phillips inside his bathroom, testified LCSO Detective Lt. John Arndell.

Once a search warrant was obtained to search Scott LeCoque’s bedroom, LCSO detectives found a hatchet (camp axe), which was located along the side of a wall near the door.

Arndell also testified a trail of blood and bloody shoe imprints were found east of Phillip’s body, which led to Scott LeCoque’s bedroom.

Arndell told the court an autopsy revealed Phillips’ wounds were consistent with a hatchet.
---------------------------------------------------

May 27, 2005


YERINGTON - A judge determined a Fernley man will be tried in the ax killing of his elderly roommate, but the suspect may plead guilty to the charge before he goes before a jury.

Scott Eric Lecoque, 34, tried to plead to the charge of murder with the use of a deadly weapon, but the justice of the peace was unable to accept the plea and bound Lecoque over to district court following a day of testimony Tuesday, said Lyon County Prosecutor Leon Aberasturi.

According to court documents, Lecoque allegedly killed Wallace S. Phillips, 72, Jan. 12, "by means of repeatedly striking him in the head with an ax."

The two had allegedly argued prior to the killing.

Phillips lived at the Mary Lou Lane home for about three years, Lyon County Sheriff's Department Lt. John Arndell said. Lecoque, whose father owns the home, has
lived there since April.

Phillips' bloodied body was found in an upstairs bathroom. The elder Lecoque was not home at the time.

The son allegedly called his father following the killing and the father called authorities.

Lecoque was sitting calmly at the dining room table when police arrived, and he directed deputies to the body. A small hand ax, similar to a hatchet, was allegedly found in his bedroom.

He is being held in the Lyon County Jail.
---------------------------------------------------

12/20/2005

During most of his three-day trial, Scott Eric Lecoque, 35, of Fernley sat motionless staring at the table before him as both the defense and prosecution presented witnesses, expert witnesses and various pieces of evidence related to the Jan. 12, 2005 hatchet slaying of his 72-year-old roommate Wallace Phillips.

Lecoque’s life prior to the incident had been anything but easy, according to several people called to testify in the case. Now, Lecoque faces life in prison without the possibility of parole (see other story) after being charged as perpetrator in the homicide.

Opening statements commenced Monday, Dec. 12 in the Third Judicial District Court in Yerington where District Court Judge Archie Blake presided over the case.

Both Defense Attorney Wayne Pederson and Lyon County District Attorney Leon Aberasturi, representing the State, said this was not a case of “whodunit.” Instead, it was more or less to determine whether or not Lecoque had committed the act premeditatedly and deliberately and in a sound state of mind.

According to official reports at the time, Lyon County Sheriff’s deputies discovered Phillips’ body, which appeared to have been bludgeoned to death with an ax (later found to be a hatchet). Aberasturi said the defendant had admitted to both his father and in psychiatric evaluations to committing the act upon Phillips’ person.

Overall, Lecoque lived with his father, Mark, at his residence in the Desert Lakes subdivision in Fernley. Phillips had been a boarder in the home for nearly three years. Mark Lecoque had allowed his son to relocate to his home in April 2004 from Wisconsin and tension between Phillips and Scott Lecoque was nearly immediate.

During Pederson’s opening statements, he said his client had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and had been found incompetent on more than one occasion. He had been in and out of medical facilities several times beginning in his teen years and had spent much of his life with his mother, Cindy Andrews. With this, his father did not necessarily realize the severity of Scott’s conditions or the necessity of proper medication.

Also, the defendant had spent time in shelters and on the street. During the penalty phase of the proceedings, Scott’s mother testified via speakerphone saying the defendant was born premature, had blamed himself for his parents’ divorce, was sexually molested via a babysitter and had lost a fiancé in an automobile accident, for which he also blamed himself.

“I only knew he was on medication,” Mark testified adding Scott always came across as concerned and responsible for refilling his prescriptions. Also, Mark said he was not fully aware of Scott’s medical history.

It was later found Scott had not been on his medication at the time of the incident.

During testimony, Dr. Ole Thienhaus, chairman of the Psychiatry Department of University of Nevada Reno who had evaluated Scott, said medication levels in the defendant’s blood was undetectable. Also, it was noted Scott’s medication had been reduced when he was seeking employment, as some of them caused drowsiness. Thienhaus said, as long as the patient is showing proper health, this is often allowed, as it prevents the patient from stopping treatment altogether. Also, pursuit of employment is a good sign of stable mental health, he added.

Several, including Thienhaus and the defendant’s father testified regarding problems between Scott and Phillips. Mark said he had told Scott not to bother Phillips’ belongings. With this, he noted Mark had already instructed Phillips had to search for another home, as Phillips’ age and mental health had begun to necessitate more of an assisted living style environment.

It was reiterated several times the defendant perceived Phillips to have made sexual advances on him and intentionally frighten children. Other statements indicated Phillips had made several unfavorable comments to both Scott and his half siblings. In fact, Mark later testified his other children often would not come to the house following some unfavorable comments from Phillips.

“I could tell he didn’t like to be around Wally,” Mark testified also noting he knew of no prior physical altercations between the two.

Mark said he had asked Scott to write down all things he perceived Phillips to be doing against his person, which Scott proceeded to do. This letter was presented during the trial. Mark said he was blunt in addressing these grievances to Phillips and requested he leave Scott alone. To this, Mark said his roommate’s response was, “No, tell him (Scott) to leave me alone.”

“The atmosphere must have been electric with antagonism,” Thienhaus said after evaluating Scott.

On the day of the incident both the defendant and victim were alone in the house. Based on Scott’s previous descriptions, testimony charged Phillips had told Scott he was his roommate. Scott then replied, “No, I’m not.” Further testimony indicated Phillips said Scott had given him a heart attack. At that point, Phillips proceeded upstairs and, shortly thereafter, Scott proceeded to the garage where he grabbed the hatchet. He then proceeded upstairs where he entered the bathroom where Phillips was present. Testimony indicated Phillips then laughed at Scott and the defendant then proceeded to strike the victim with the hatchet.

Pederson had argued his client had not performed the crime with aforethought, as he had stopped at some point and thought, “What have I done?” Also, Scott had proceeded to call his father, who was at work in Lovelock, and said he had hurt Phillips.

“Those aren’t actions of a deliberate person,” Pederson argued.

Thienhaus later noted Scott was of below average IQ and was found to have metabolites for marijuana in his system. With his bipolar disorder added as a third variable in this equation, Thienhaus said Scott was basically “a walking time bomb.”

Along with this, he said many exhibiting Scott’s qualities are poor historians and “Scott is no exception to that.”

During testimony, it was noted Scott perceived the entire incident on Jan. 12 to be nearly one minute. This was contested, as another witness from the Meals on Wheels program Toni Stowe had testified it took Phillips nearly ten minutes with a walker and cane to descend the staircase in the home on Jan. 11.

The incident began when Phillips had made a comment and went upstairs. With this, Stowe’s testimony makes the one-minute version from this point to that of the crime implausible. With this in mind, Thienhaus said only about a two-three minute time frame could be considered impulsive behavior for such a crime.

Also, Scott had previously told Thienhaus he had struck Phillips four or five times whereas an autopsy showed he had received between 34 and 40 wounds from the hatchet.

Thienhaus said Scott was likely in touch with reality when he performed the crime. This flew in the face of the previous “insanity” defense, as someone in touch with reality, and not delusional, would not fit the legal definition of “insane.”

Also, Thienhaus said it is unclear whether Scott intended to kill Phillips; however, it is certain he had intentions to hurt him.

“I hit him, I didn’t think I was going to hit him. I was so mad I didn’t realize I would end up hitting him because he wouldn’t leave me alone,” testified Forensic Psychiatrist Dr. Tom Bittker said of his conversation with the defendant.

Bittker said Scott felt remorse and hit himself in the head and cried.

“He then went to the refrigerator and drank a couple of beers. He then called his dad and said he hurt Wally,” Bittker said.

Bittker said the defendant was not at the point of insanity because he “did not believe he had special powers, had no hallucinations, no voices telling him to do something.”

During Thursday’s penalty hearing, Phillips’ niece, Carol Miller testified saying she always looked upon Wallace as her “fun uncle.” Her communication with the former barber and security guard diminished quite a bit following childhood; however, she had last talked to him in December of last year.

------------------------------------------------------------

December 30, 2005


A Fernley man was sentenced to life in prison for the January hatchet murder of his 72-year-old roommate.

A Lyon County jury, which listened to testimony for three days, deliberated for about four hours on Dec. 19 before finding Scott Eric Lecoque, 35, guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of Wallace S. Phillips on Jan 12, 2005.

According to court documents, Lecoque killed Phillips by striking him with a hatchet 30 times on his head, neck and torso.

The two had argued prior to the killing. When deputies arrived, Lecoque directed them to Phillips' lifeless body at the top of the stairs.

----------------------------------------------------------------

December, 2005

A jury found a Fernley man guilty of first-degree murder Wednesday evening after a three-day trial in Third Judicial District Court in Yerington.

Scott Eric Lecoque, 35, was originally charged in January of this year following an incident involving the death of 72-year-old Wallace S. Phillips in a home within Desert Lakes subdivision in Fernley and had pleaded not guilty by insanity at his June 6 district court arraignment.

The jury went into deliberations at about 3 p.m., after closing arguments in which there was no question who committed the murder but simply a question of the degree of murder.

According to official reports of the incident, Lyon Sheriff’s deputies discovered Phillips’ body, which it was later determined had been bludgeoned to death with an ax, in a bathroom of the home.

The defendant was later found to be competent to proceed to trial. Lyon County District Attorney Leon Aberasturi determined the death penalty was not applicable in this case, as several necessary characteristics were not present.

During opening statements on Monday, both Aberasturi and defense attorney Wayne Pederson indicated this is not a case of whether Lecoque committed the act, but that the objective for the 12-member jury was to determine whether or not the act was premeditated and deliberate.

If so, a first-degree murder sentence could be imposed; whereas, if not, a second degree murder sentence was warranted.

As for potential penalties, first degree carries a sentence of life with or without parole while second degree would include life with parole following 10 years time served.

After reading the finding of guilty of murder in the first degree just before 7 p.m. Wednesday, the jury was to reconvene Thursday morning for the penalty phase to determine Lecoque’s sentence but came after this week’s edition had gone to press.

In testimony on Wednesday morning, state’s witness Dr. Ellen Clark, a pathologist with the Washoe County Coroner’s Officer, said in her opinion Phillips died as a result of multiple blunt force trauma injuries inflicted by an instrument consistent with an axe or hatchet.

She also testified Phillips sustained 40 wounds, including a dozen to his head and neck area and one deep enough to contact his pacemaker.

Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Tom Bittker testified the defendant acknowledged to him that he had been angry with Phillips on eight different occasions.

Bittker also testified that Lecoque told him he was sexually abused as a child and was enraged because he felt Phillips was making advances at him. He continued that Lecoque had said he cleaned out Phillips’ car a week prior to the incident, found a gray wig in the front seat, had “interpreted it as a wig child molesters use,” and became concerned that Phillips may be a child molester.

Bittker testified that that Lecoque admitted he struck Phillips and, feeling remorseful afterward, had also called his father and “said he hurt Wally.”

He also asserted that Lecoque “did not believe he had special powers, had no hallucinations (and) no voice telling him to do something” at the time; but likewise conceded, under questioning by Pederson, that Lecoque had not taken his medication that day.

Before leaving the courtroom at the end of the day Tuesday, Aberasturi said it was likely the original insanity portion of the plea would not stick following several expert witnesses whose testimonies indicated Lecoque was not legally insane at the time of the act.

Such testimonies included that of Dr. Ole Thienhaus, chairman of the Psychiatry Department at University of Nevada, Reno, who evaluated Lecoque following the incident and, in the defendant’s responses, found little to no support for the legal definition of ‘insanity.’

Among his statements, Thienhaus said the defendant likely knew right from wrong at the time of the incident and was not delusional. The legal definition of ‘insanity’ would have required the defendant to be delusional at the time.

During opening statements and Thienhaus’ testimony, it was stated Lecoque has been in and out of medical facilities several times since his teen years; and that among his stays, the defendant had been found to be incompetent at least twice. Each time, he was treated with medication and later released. Also, Lecoque had been diagnosed as schizophrenic, a condition for which he also had medication.

Several instances in the trial indicated Lecoque had not been on medication when the incident occurred.

During testimony on Monday, the defendant’s father, Mark Lecoque, said his son was not one to forget refills when it came to his medication.

However, Thienhaus said, at the time of the incident, medication levels in Scott’s blood were nearly undetectable. Also, in the same analysis, marijuana metabolites were found; and with these facts in mind, he said the defendant’s bipolar disorder, below-average IQ and use of controlled substance made the defendant more or less ‘a walking time bomb.’

Other testimony and various pieces of evidence showed a strained relationship between the defendant and the victim, who was renting a room at Lecoque’s father’s home in Fernley when Lecoque came to live with them in late 2004. It was noted several times others in the family had difficulty with Phillips’ personality as well.

Thienhaus noted “the atmosphere must have been electric with antagonism,” also indicating Lecoque believed Phillips had made inappropriate comments and advances on his person. Thienhaus said, based on the elder Lecoque’s testimony, on the day of the incident Phillips had told Lecoque he was his roommate, and Lecoque said he was not. At that point, Phillips reportedly told Lecoque he had given him a second heart attack and went upstairs; and shortly thereafter, Lecoque went the garage and picked up the hatchet and proceeded upstairs, where he it is charged he struck Phillips multiple times.

After deliberating over an hour-and-a-half, the jury returned to the courtroom and had this part of Thienhaus’ testimony re-read by the court reporter (with Lecoque not present).

Thienhaus testified he was not sure whether Scott had intentions to kill Phillips that day; however, he certainly had intentions to hurt him.

Lastly, Thienhaus noted Scott’s version of the timeline between Phillips’ comments and the incident did not match timelines based on other testimony. For example, it was previously noted Phillips took some time to move up and down the stairs in the home; however, Lecoque said it was about one minute between the comments and incident. Also, Lecoque reportedly believed he had hit Phillips only four or five times.

Thienhaus said many people with Lecoque’s conditions are poor historians when it comes to accurately remembering such incidents and “Scott is no exception to that.”

The jury’s verdict also included that the murder occurred with a deadly weapon and the crime occurred on a victim over the age of 60.

----------------------------------------------------------------


UPDATE - 9/6/06 - Scott is currently incarcerated in Nevada. If anyone cares to write to him, you can do so at:

ELY STATE PRISON
ATTN: INMATE # 89600 (SCOTT LECOQUE)
PO BOX 1989
ELY, NV
89301

I must give you a warning though. My wife once decided to become penpals with a few inmates - more out of curiosity than anything else. Just know this. While Scott may be delighted to hear from someone from his past, it is possible that he might pass your name and address on to another inmate - who might also write to you out of the blue, whether you like it or not. It happened to my wife. About a year after she had stopped writing to someone, she began to get letters from multiple inmates at the same facility. Therefore, I highly suggest that if you choose to write to Scott, you get yourself a PO Box. It's just an extra level of protection. You never know what could happen. Prisoners are seasoned conmen. They're also super horny. It's just better to be safe than sorry.

UPDATE - 9/18/06 - I have now received Scott's mugshot. It was taken 1/12/05 at 10:07 PM - about nine hours after he murdered the man. I'm stunned by this picture. There is something incredibly sad about it. As I was going through the necessary steps to obtain this photo, I ended up speaking to the sheriff of Lyon County, Nevada - where the arrest took place. He sighed and said, "This was a tragic case."



posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 9:11 AM 6 comments

TRACY PETERSON

Tracy is a girl I met in 5th grade. We had Ms. Krause together.

Soemthing was wrong with her. I don't know what it was. But there was something "not right" going on. Tracy was a virtual mute. Everyone knew it, including Ms. Krause. About once a month, Ms. Krause would call on Tracy in class. Tracy wouldn't answer. She wouldn't respond at all. She stared blankly into nothingness. The class would get silent watching this all unfold. Krause would prompt her for a response of some kind. And yet... nothing. This happened every single time Tracy's name was called. Not once during that entire year did she ever utter a word during class - not once!

Was Tracy retarded? I think most people sort of thought so. At the very least she had some severe social issues. However, she was capable of speech. I saw it. In fact, during recess she would associate with Lori Wavrunek and Jenny Dent. The three of them would generally stay inside for recess. On occasion, I did too. And Tracy would talk and act like a normal person. But in a classroom setting, she was silent. I always assumed she had some sort of learning disability.

As the years progressed, Tracy was put into various special education classes. But she kept going. In fact, eventually she came out of her shell so to speak. She certainly was never a social butterfly by any means. But she found a way to talk and communicate. Against the expectations of probably everyone who knew her in grade school, Tracy finished high school and graduated with us. Well done.

I ran into Tracy several times at the video store. And she remained social. If memory serves, she also married very young. I believe she had a couple kids as well. Today she is known as Tracy Stargardt. I believe she still lives in Two Rivers.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 9:09 AM 0 comments

AMY MUSIAL

Amy is a girl who was around at Clarke. She also made the jump to Washington.

I never really had any contact with the girl. She semed sort of small and meek. But I obviously didn't know her, as I was never really exposed to her personality.

I believe Amy lived right next to the cemetery, on Forest Ave. At some point in the 1980's, 20/20 did a TV show about the dangers of 3-wheelers. The next day, their 3-wheeler was in their front yard, with a for sale sign on it.

During our junior year, a rumor began to circulate around school that Amy allegedly had had some naughty fun with a liquor bottle - and that the entire episode was caught on video by fellow graduate Nick Novachek. I personally never believed this juicy gossip. But nonetheless, the rumor existed.

Amy left us after junior year. I would have a hard time believing that she dropped out. But that could be the case. All I know is that I've never seen her since. Although I don't think she ever left Manitowoc County. At some point she married and became Amy Brunmeier. She lives in Manitowoc County to this day. They have at least one child.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 9:08 AM 3 comments

BRAD BENEDICT

Brad is a guy who showed up for my sophomore year. And he didn't show up too often.

I'm pretty sure that I had Brad in Mr. Conrad's biology class. He seemed a bit in the B.J. Lutterman mode - always smiling, good-natured and bit mischievous. Although no incident really stands out.

Brad didn't show up for school too much. And in time, I'm pretty sure he stopped showing up at all. I assume he simply dropped out.

I ran into Brad a few times at the video store. But even that went sour, as he ended up being habitually late. Eventually my boss put him on the "do not rent" list. And that was the end of that.

Brad appears to have been married and divorced three times. He may be married once again. I think there's at least one child from all of those unions. Today it looks like he lives in Beloit.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 6:49 AM 0 comments

Monday, May 08, 2006
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Clint Mattrisch's niece signed in. She wasn't too happy with me. Oh well.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 9:45 PM 0 comments

UPDATE - CHAD HOERTH

Out of the blue, I got an E-mail from Chad. He gave me an update to his life, in addition to a correction of my post on him. I encouraged him to log in and leave some comments. So hopefully look for them.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 11:27 AM 0 comments

DEAN HORNBURG

Dean is a guy who showed up at Clarke. I got to spend all of 6th grade with him, as we had Mrs. Casey together.

Dean wasn't all that popular. The reason was simple. He was annoying. He was really annoying. There was just something about him that rubbed people the wrong way.

One day at recess, as we were all heading inside, Dean yelled out, "Last one is is nigger-lipped Schenk." That of course was a reference to Trey Schenk's big lips. Well, Mrs. Casey overheard this remark and was none too pleased. It was nice to see her go after someone else instead of me. She scolded Dean big time, then made him write two long essays. One was on negros. The other was on lips.

At some point that year we were in class. And we were reading something. As was the norm, we'd read it out loud. Mrs. Casey would pick students to read a paragraph or two, then pick someone else, and so on. Whenever someone got stuck on a word, there would be a pause. And Mrs. Casey would say the word. Then we'd move on. Well on this day, Dean took it upon himself to blurt out the word if the reader got stuck. Dean sat in the front row, right next to me. And everytime he did this, I saw Mrs. Casey get angrier and angrier. She was fuming. Yet she didn't say anything. I've always wondered why. At one point, the reader got stuck on a big word that even Dean didn't know. I was waiting for Mrs. Casey to scream, "Say something Dean!" But she didn't.

Dean lived in the country, on Highway VV, just outside of town. So he'd walk by my house everyday after school.

In 7th grade, I found myself in the hot lunch line standing behind Dean one day. He told me a joke. "Where's the beef - not in your pants. Ha ha ha!" I understand the joke. It's just not funny.

I believe Dean left us after 8th grade. Although I don't think he moved. Maybe his parents sent him to Roncalli. I don't know. I can't say I missed him. Today Dean lives in Manitowoc. It looks like he's married to a woman named Joanne.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:05 AM 0 comments

Friday, May 05, 2006
JEFF RAUSCH

Jeff joined me at Washington. I can't think of a better way to describe him, other than "stubby." He was kind of short, and kind of thick - not fat, just thick.

He prefered to pronounce his name like "house" - with an "sh" at the end. But many people pronounced it like "koosh." And quite often, he was mocked with the name "douche." He didn't like it. In fact, I saw him in the basement once and started saying "douche, douche." He swore at me. But he wasn't the violent type - which is perhaps why I felt comfortable saying it.

I think Jeff played football all four years. But I could be wrong.

I had Jeff in gym class in either my freshman or sophomore year. When we had swimming, we had to swim underwater as far as we could. I remember bumping into Jeff at one point. It was really weird. He refused to open his eyes underwater. And he wasn't even swimming. He was sort of bobbing just below the service, like a big lump.

For the most part, Jeff and I got along. Although our paths rarely crossed over the years.

I think I ran into Jeff from time to time at the video store. He never said much. He wasn't the talkative type.

Today it looks like Jeff still lives in Two Rivers. He appears to be a dairy farmer. As far as I can tell, he's never been married.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:48 PM 0 comments

MIKE POLICH

Mike was a guy who joined me at Clarke. I never had a whole lot of interaction with him though. I'm not sure I had him any classes actually.

I basically remember one thing about Mike. He seemed to have a constant problem with "plumber's crack." I guess his jeans were too big.

High school was pretty much like middle school for Mike and I - no contact. I never had a problem with the guy. But we didn't hang in the same circles.

According to some comments left by others, Mike began dating Ann Rank during our junior year. Apparently there was a spark, as they're still together today. They married in 1997 and have either two or three kids. Mike is currently a deputy sheriff in Manitowoc County. They currently reside in my old neighborhood.

UPDATE - 11/13/06 - UPDATE - 11/13/06 - On Saturday, July 15th, 2006, Kevin Denhe and I stopped by the home of Mike and Ann. 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.



posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:55 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, May 03, 2006
LISA VANNE

Lisa is a girl who joined me at Washington. She and I shared a homeroom together for the first three years. That's about all we shared. We certainly don't have any shared memories, as I don't believe her and I ever spoke one word to each other.

Lisa was slightly on the hefty side. She seemed sort of trashy to me. I think she was a smoker as well. I don't know what crowd she hung with. But I don't think it was the girl scouts.

I don't think Lisa was there for our senior year at all. She most likely dropped out. As far as I know, I haven't seen her since. Today it looks like she still lives in Two Rivers. It looks like she stays with her parents. I don't think she's ever married. But her boyfriend may be living with her. What she does with her time is unknown to me.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 12:38 PM 0 comments

UPDATE - TONY TRZECIAK

Not an update really. But Kevin Dehne left some great comments about Tony.

Enjoy!

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 9:19 AM 0 comments

KIEF GIBLIN

I don't know who Kief is. I don't think I ever laid eyes on the boy. But I do know that he's listed in my senior yearbook as a "no picture available."

Was he there at all? Not that I recall. He certainly didn't finish. But apparently he was enrolled.

I became familar with his name again, a few years after graduation. When I was working at T&R Video, we had a list of "bad" people never to rent to again. Kief Giblin was on that list. Again, I never saw him. He either brought back something very late and didn't pay the fees. Or he never brought his tape back at all.

It looks like Kief lives in Manitowoc today. It doesn't look like he's married. However it does look like he has at least one child though, as the mother petitioned him for child support. Save for one marijuana citation, and some minor traffic offenses, Kief has kept his nose pretty clean.

UPDATE - 11/24/06 - Wow, no comments or anything had been left for Kief. Then in the span of 24 hours, I get two of them - one left here, and one in an E-mail. Anyway, this comment comes from someone who knows Keif (somewhat). This person wants to remain anonymous. So I'll just copy and paste the quote below.

"My boyfriend knows Kief Giblin. He says he is really into music and is a great bass player. He has a girlfriend named Christy."

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:57 AM 2 comments

SCOTT STEPHENS

For my 200th classmate entry, here's Scott.

I believe Scott was at Magee. Although I have no memories of him there. But I know that Meff was friends with him in grade school. So I assume he was there. In fact, I know he was. I've seen pictures.

My first memories of Scott are from Clarke. Scott seemed to have money - or at least his parents did. From what Meff has told me, Scott's home was video game heaven - Atari, Colecovision, the whole works - maybe even the ADAM computer.

I remember Scott walking to school with his boombox. This was no ordinary boombox mind you. His had a fricken' TV in it! I was beyond envious! I'd seen that boombox in the J.C. Penney catalog. But I would never have it.

See my Brad Strouf entry for a head-pounding incident between the two. Scott won.

Scott was a somewhat small guy in stature. But he carried himself bigger. Perhaps he felt ne needed to compensate for his size. It wasn't needed though. Overall, Scott was a pretty nice guy.

I found a photo from Mr. Ashenbrenner's class in 8th grade. Scott is second from the left. Dave Kanera is on the far left. Myself and Chris Staudinger round out the group.



I seem to recall that in high school, he was dating a girl named Julie Clements. And if I'm not mistaken, shortly after they broke up, she got pregnant. Julie was a pretty girl. But she was also very bitchy. I don't think she ever graduated.

In our senior year, I think Scott was a bartender of some sort. I seem to recall him mentioning that his boss routinely violated child labor laws - or at least student labor laws. Not that Scott really cared. I think he was making good money.

I believe Scott was friends with people like Mike "call me Bruce/don't call me Bruce" Schroeder, Brandon Podhola, and perhaps Markus Petkevicius.

In our senior year, rumor has it that Scott really liked his car.

Either in our junior or senior year, I was riding in a car with Dave Svatek, going down Memorial Drive. We noticed Scott and his mother in the car behind us. We smiled and waved. Then I decided to flip him off. A few days later in school, Scott laughed about it. But he also punched me in the arm.

Near the end of our senior year, Scott and fellow graduate Mike (Bruce) Schroder came into the guidance office to use the phone. Scott called Pizza Hut and asked if he could get some sort of special deal if he bought 10 pizzas or so. I think he was arranging some sort of party for one of his classes.

The day after final exams, I was in the school office, getting some sort of graduation thing. Perhaps it was my cap and gown. I don't recall. But I remember asking the the secretary, "How do I know if I even passed everything and graduated?" She replied, "If you didn't, you would have been informed already." Scott and Mike (Bruce) were also there. And they cheered me on, "You made it!" Yes, I made it. In fact, I had 1/2 credit more than I needed.

Scott planned to become a police officer. I don't know if he ever did. I believe for a time he was a security guard at a KMart in Topeka, Kansas. Today I believe he lives in Kansas City. He may be married to a woman named Sheila. But I'm not 100% sure.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:39 AM 1 comments

JERRY LEGREVE

His real name was Jerome. But he went by the name of Jerry.

Jerry joined me at Washington. Over the years I kind of had mixed feelings about him. Sometimes he was nice enough. Other times he was kind of a jerk. I never knew where I stood with him. Although I will say that as the years progressed, the jerk side of him mellowed quite a bit.

I had Jerry in gym class, freshman year. What stands out in my mind was playing softball. Jerry was kind of a hefty guy. And he could pound the crap out of that ball. "Jer Bear's up - back up." No kidding. He'd hit that ball all the way to the cars parked on the street. In time, those of us in the outfield knew to back up as far as we could. So we could generally get the ball back in before he rounded the bases. The fact that Jerry had a little extra girth also held him to a neverending series of triples.

Matt Doran joined us in our junior year. He and Jerry became best friends. In fact, on our senior video, the two of them did some sort of Bartles & James routine.

I saw Jerry from time to time at the video store. If I'm not mistaken, for awhile, he somehow became part-owner of the Studio 8 in Manitowoc. But I don't think he is today. I think he may work in a factory setting. If memory serves, Jerry also married quite young, and had kids at a young age also. Today he still lives in Two Rivers, with his wife Michelle. I believe they have two children.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:08 AM 0 comments

SHERRI REICHWALDT

Sherri joined me at Washington. I had little or no contact with her throughout our years. In fact, I may not have had a class with her until our junior year - perhaps even senior year.

Sherri's picture in our freshman yearbook always made me laugh. I don't know what it is. But there's something funny about it. She looked totally different a few years later. In fact, in that freshman picture, she kind of looked like a boy.

I believe Sherri worked on the school newspaper. She was friends with people like Sara Kvitek, Debbie Lumaye, Dave Duvall and Rod Lumaye. She seemed nice enough, certainly harmless.

To my knowledge, I have not seen Sherri since high school. I believe she moved to Oshkosh a few years after graduation, and remains there today. She appears to be married, and is now known as Sherri Annis. Beyond that, her life is a mystery to me.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 6:59 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, May 02, 2006
TONY TRZECIAK

Tony actually should have been a member of the class of 1988. But he must have been a few credits short, as he's officially listed as a member of the class of 1989. Power to him for sticking it out.

Tony and I never associated at all. But we crossed paths quite a bit in detention. And Tony was actually a pretty nice guy. He'd always talk and joke with me, asking what I had done to get my detentions. He seemed like a good guy.

If memory serves, Tony wore a white jean jacket for years.

I ran into Tony a few times at the video store. And his good natured character carried over from school - with one exception. One night he came into the store drunk. And he was rude and obnoxious. In fact, he was an asshole. Some people get chatty and funny when they're drunk - like me. While others become mean drunks - like Tony.

Tony has had quite a few run-ins with the law over the years. He's been cited for disorderly conduct, burglary, theft, unlawful use of a telephone, bail jumping, obstructing an officer, fleeing, refusal to take a breathalyzer, a few traffic offenses, and a stunning eight drunk driving offenses. Eight! The previous class record was four. Tony doubled that. Yet Tony still doesn't have the record. Stay tuned.

Tony has stayed in Two Rivers most of his life. It doesn't look like he's been married. Actually, Tony may be in prison right now, as a result of his most recent drunk driving offense. I'm no expert. But I'd guess that he has a drinking problem.

UPDATE - 4/16/07 - Kevin Dehne (see his long comments below) found two pictures of Tony. They were taken at some point in the 1990's. The second one is Tony and his daughter.





UPDATE - 6/14/07 - Well, it took Tony five more years. But he has managed to break (or possibly tie with Randy Ertman) the class record for drunk driving offenses. Whatever the case, no one else has more. He won't be able to go for double digits until 2010. here's the article from today's Herald Times Reporter.


Man convicted of 9th OWI


MANITOWOC — A Manitowoc man was sent to prison recently for three years after being convicted of his ninth offense of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

Tony R. Trzeciak, 37, pleaded no contest to the felony charge in Manitowoc County Circuit Court on May 25. He was sentenced to three years in prison and three years on extended supervision following his prison stay.

As conditions of extended supervision, Trzeciak is required to pay a $2,759 fine and maintain absolute sobriety. His license was revoked for 36 months.

Trzeciak faced up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

“You pose a danger to yourself and a danger to the rest of society,” Manitowoc County Circuit Judge Jerome Fox said at sentencing. “You choose to drink and you choose to drive.”

According to the criminal complaint, at 3:45 p.m. on Jan. 19, Manitowoc Police Officer Robert Weyer responded to a report of a vehicle that left the roadway in the 1500 block of Rapids Road.

The vehicle was able to return to the road and left the scene. Trzeciak went to a Whitelaw apartment where law enforcement officials found him, the complaint says.

Weyer, who returned to where the car left the road, found that the vehicle partially drove through a snow-covered, grassy area at Calvary Assembly of God.

The complaint says Trzeciak had a 0.202 blood-alcohol content. The legal limit in Wisconsin is 0.08.

Trzeciak’s last OWI conviction was in December 2002, according to court records.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:19 AM 4 comments

Monday, May 01, 2006
CINDY LAFLASH

Who is she? Where is she?

Cindy joined me at Washington in my sophomore year. I had her in gym class. She kind of had a pretty face. But she was paper thin. She had the scrawniest arms I'd ever seen. They were something out of a Sally Struthers commercial. I remember her trying to play volleyball. And she was virtually powerless.

At the time, her name fascinated me for one reason. I'd heard it before - well, almost. About three years earlier, Doug Wall had told me that he had screwed some girl named "Candy" LaFlash. Now, I didn't believe him for a second. Doug was full of shit most of the time. But I didn't forget the name. Then lo and behold a "Cindy" LaFlash shows up three years later. So it probably was the same girl. But I don't think Doug did any poking. At the very least, his lie would have been a bit more believable had he gotten her name correct.

Cindy was only with me that one year. She may not have even finished the year. I have never seen her since. In fact, she too has disappeared. I can't find any record of anyone with that name, at least not the age that this Cindy would be. I suspect that she probably married very young, changed her name, and never went back.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 8:02 AM 3 comments

TREY SCHENK

Trey is a guy I met in 6th grade. We had Mrs. Casey together. At some point that year, he and I became friends.

Trey lived in an apartment on 38th Street, I believe. He had a younger brother as well. I used to go over there and play Atari. He was the first one I knew who had the game Pitfall. He also had the game Dodge-Em, which I liked. We'd traded games all the time.

Trey had really big arms. He was a strong kid. The reason behind his strength was easy to pinpoint. His mom had him enrolled in gymnastics for years.

Trey had a facial feature that sort of stood out. He had big lips - really big lips.

Trey also had some sort of mini-motorcycle. He used to ride all over the cemetery grounds, in the field. Of course, as his friend, I got many a ride. That was a lot of fun for an 11-year-old.

After that year, Trey and I pretty much stopped hanging around. But several months later, out of the blue, Trey showed up at my house one day. He had fellow graduate Chad Daffner with him. That was really sort of weird. Chad and I had been friends a few years earlier as well, but had grown apart. So here I had two ex-friends in my room, playing Atari. I don't know. Chad said nothing the whole time.

See my entry on Peter Soucoup for another story about Trey.

Trey stayed in Two Rivers through 8th grade, I believe. I think he then moved somewhere. And where he went is a mystery. I believe I have his name spelled right. Yet the only person who pops up with that name is a 36-year-old (who turns 37 in Septemeber) who lives in Louisiana - and appears to have lived there all his life. So I don't think that's the Trey I knew. As always, if anyone has any information about him, let me know.

UPDATE - 11/24/06 - I got an E-mail from someone who remembers Trey and his brother. But this person would like to remian anonymous. So I'll just copy and paste the E-mail below. Incidentally, I have searched in vain for Trey's location again - to no avail. If I knew Trey's middle name (or initial) or even his birthday, I might have more luck. Actually, if I knew his parents' names, or the age of his brother, that would help too. Anyway, the E-mail is below.

"Trey Schenk for instance, I knew his brother Tim and asked about Trey's odd name. Trey isnt his real name, more of a nick name as he is a third, named after his father who was named after his father. I always thought Trey was cool. I was in the same grade as Tim and Trey was in the 9th grade at Wilson Jr High. I lost track of Trey in HS, but Tim did graduate from Lincoln, so I assume Trey must have as well. I remember both of the Schenk boys as being VERY tall."

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:50 AM 3 comments

JIM TUDGE

Jim was a guy who joined me at Clarke in 6th grade. I know very little about the guy.

I mentioned Jim in my entry on Nick Novachek. The two of them got into a big fight.

The only other thing I have on Jim is that at some point that year, fellow graduate Brian Belongia had taped (audio tape) Star Wars off of cable. Star Wars heads may recall that the film premiered on cable in February, 1983. Brian was a big fan. He actually wrote out the entire dialogue of the film. Brian told me that Jim had stolen it from him. But later on, he alleged that he had actually sold it to Jim. I don't know.

Anyway, that's all I got on Jim. I believe he moved away after that year. Where he is today is a mystery. I suspect I have his name spelled wrong. That's why I can't find him. I've even tried various spellings for his last name. Yet still, I come up empty. If you know anything, even how to spell his name, let me know.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 7:29 AM 1 comments

UPDATE - TRAVIS WILSON, MISSY DUCAT & KEVIN DEHNE

I don't generally post an update about comments. But I made an exception in this case. Tammy Swoboda has left some interesting comments about Travis. As Erin Hynek commented to me recently, "There's three sides to every story."

Oh, after a brief visit, I altered the end of Missy Ducat's story as well.

Kevin Dehne has also created a blog. I added a link to it on the right side of this page. There's nothing there yet. But he has promised some big things. Check it out.

posted by TWORIVERSWALRUS @ 6:51 AM 0 comments