A Look Back in the Blog

The blog has been updated to show all the YouTubes presented at the Saturday evening banquet.  They're on the About the Class of 62 page, and you can view it by clicking here . . .

With politics now in full bloom I looked back and found a post from two years ago regarding the politics of our time, when we didn't know there was such a thing as a swing state, and living in a location where the chosen TV stations don't cover your area is a blessing.  You can read the post here . . .

In my conversations with Butch Pederson (LMHS '62) last week we also discussed the football season that I discovered had been a downer for both teams/schools.  By the time we played against each other in the last game I am sure he was looking more favorably at the upcoming basketball season than our last football game.  Both teams limped to the finish line, NKHS because of the loss of key players and in his opinion their misfortune came from people playing in the wrong position.  He's right - he probably should have been their running back.

Strangely enough, I didn't know or had forgotten that he was playing across the line from me, although we were not head-up.  Regarding the incorrect score posted in their annual he laughed and said, "Yeah, we saw it and knew it was wrong.  But I figured what the heck, it meant another win for us!"  Ha Ha, I said.

It was about this time of the summer in 1961 when we were beginning to fantasize about a great senior football season, so we determined some illegal summertime practice would be a good thing.  It lasted one night, and you can find out why by reading this post . . .

The Story of Man - in 2 Minutes

We tried to tell the Life and Times of the Class of '62 in three minutes.  And before we could post it, this YouTube came out - "Our Story in 2 Minutes."  It's tough competition so I stowed it away for a few days.  Makes The Life and Times of '62 look amateurish.  Oh well.

Click the full-screen icon in the lower right corner of the photo frame to get your best view.

Here's the description from the young man who created it:

My final project I made for my video productions class "Cutaway Productions" (Search them for their channel) at my high school. I don't own the rights to the song or the pictures and I am not trying to, I just did this video for fun and I spent many a hour on it so please don't sue me.

Pretty impressive for a high school class, and I can assure you that culling from millions of options, then fitting the photos to the music would be daunting.  Probably helps to have the right equipment and software.

The Saturday Night Banquet

Here's an early look at the busy party at the VFW last Saturday evening, the banquet for the 50th Reunion of the Class of '62 at NKHS.  When time allows we'll be adding some captions to identify what's happening, particularly regarding the Jack McMullen story about the "religious kid."

The slideshow should start by itself; to start it again, click the Viking logo in the lower left corner.

Come back to this for another view.

Post-Reunion Huzzah!

We're back home again following four days of 50th Class Reunion activities, and found this YouTube had been forwarded to me by my daughter, whose husband is farming not far from us.  The whole story can be found at this Yahoo page by clicking this link . . .  Seems very appropriate for us Iowa farm kids.  They call it a parody music video promoting agriculture, and it is.

Coming soon - some reflections on the great week back in Iowa, where the tall corn grows!

Our Senior Photos

Thanks to the staff at the Yearbook for including senior photos, and Richard Holstad for his work in scanning them.  We cheated a little bit in this video to include four schoolmates who graduated elsewhere, but it didn't require Congressional action so it's legit.

The fun part of the video is the insertion of a few grade school photos that were available, providing "before and after (HS)" shots.  I am sorry we were not able to collect any grade school photos from the Kensett bunch.  Maybe in five years.

You may recognize the background music, "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" by Vince Guaraldi, composer and artist.  That tune came out as a "B side" in 1962.  Guaraldi is perhaps best known, at least by us, as the composer behind the Peanuts theme, "Linus and Lucy."  That theme has an interesting origin: Lee Mendelson was producing an upcoming Peanuts Christmas special, needed the right music, heard "Cast Your Fate" while riding across the Golden Gate Bridge, and the rest is history.  You probably enjoyed Guaraldi and Peanuts for years; he composed for 17 of their specials.

This music is light and uplifting, just as we felt as we were leaving NKHS 50 years ago, where our dreams began.

Remembering the 45th Reunion

Looking ahead to next week becomes a bit more enjoyable when you take a look back at the Reunion 5 years ago, in 2007.  And before this month is totally gone, we'd like to commemorate the two-year life of the NKHS 62 blog.  What better way to do it than with this playback?  Note this is a revision of many of the same photos posted earlier.

Next week we'll have two more videos online to commemorate the life and times of the class.

Graduation - the Start of Something BIG!

The music in the background is not necessarily of a style you would have been listening to on graduation day, but the title certainly fits. That day, 50 years ago, was indeed "the start of something big," and this summer we can commemorate all we've achieved over the years including the unusual ability to stay in touch.

We looked younger then, and of course we were.  Here's a view from the perspective of your senior picture - and some of the school activity you may have participated in.

If you've received this post by email, go to the blog site to watch it there.

Willie Nelson - 1965

I had to look hard to recognize the face, but it's there...   the voice, on the other hand, is almost instantly recognizable.  The Class of '65 might have seen this live at the Grand Ole Opry.

The New Season of Mad Men

Mad Men on AMCTV is so retro.  The men are superior and chauvinistic, the women are there to serve, the Siamese cats are on the wall, the furniture is chrome, the colors, er, so 60s...   And the issues were the issues of our times.

New season starts this Sunday.  Here's a smoke-filled view of the madness...

If you're receiving this post by email - go to the blog to view the YouTube.

And if you want a good review of the "second-tier" view of women that is predominant in the series, go to Newsweek for an excellent article by Eleanor Clift.  Here is a link . . .

The Parade, The Picnic, The Party

Here's a remake of the photos available from the 45th reunion, which included participation in the 4th of July parade, golf, and a variety of parties.  Altogether they tell the story pretty well.  It's a YouTube so you can click the corner icon for a full-screen version though it gets a bit blurry.

If you're receiving notice of this post by email you will likely need to go to the blog site to be able to view this.  Tell your friends, post it on your Facebook page, and spread the word that #50 is coming!

Scenery without Cornfields

The objective is to do a posting every possible day, but sometimes you have to go "out of town" to come up with an idea.  Yesterday's post was all about rural Iowa.  There's another world out there that we were flat unaware of, and it did not feature cornfields, so this is a unique view.  Click the full-screen icon to get the full effect.

Bring Me Sunshine

The YouTubes and PowerPoints that get circulated are too numerous to count, but some are real keepers, including this one coming our way from Merrilee Vold Reid.  The famous couple pictured here are included in the PowerPoint, but you will need to click the link below.

You'll love the zippy music, and viewing some of your favorite stars at an earlier stage in their lives.  And ours.

The show should automatically download to your computer, then you can open it from your hard drive.  To see these celebrities, click here . . .

We're testing a new linking system so if the show doesn't open up for you, please advise.

Close Your Eyes - You'll Remember

Thanks to Larry Holstad for passing along this trip down memory lane - about growing up in a gentler world.  Once you've viewed it, tell us which parts bring back the best memories.

Click the full-screen icon in the lower right corner for a bigger view.  The good news - the print is much larger.  The bad news - it gets a bit blurry.

The Diamonds - Little Darlin'

Bonnie Mack Wopperer has passed along an email containing YouTubes of The Diamonds - first from 1957 and later in 2004.  The original quartet, the same song, the same sound, the absolute same style.  Since many of you just got back from the Surf and its memories, playing it seems timely.

Bonnie had heard lead singer Dave Somerville may be the father of Tom Hanks, and based on the looks of the guy it would be hard to argue.  Doing further research, Bonnie found that to be untrue, and suggests it's the kind of rumor that gets started because it "looks" true, whether it is or not...

Believe it or not, their launching pad was the old Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts show, forerunner to today's American Idol and its knock-offs.  Somerville often used a falsetto in their songs including "Little Darlin'" and "Why Do Fools Fall in Love"

Frank Valli and the Four Seasons also featured a falsetto, with songs like "Sherry Baby, Won't You Come Out Tonight."    The memory is live because in those days I could sing in a falsetto and I clearly recall singing along.  Wish I could do that today, but now it's like contact sports - I watch or listen.  These two performances are 47 years apart - and both worth watching.  Listen to the voices maturing.

And the 2004 version -

As always, if you're getting this by email, click the link to go to the blog site.

The World We Were Born Into

Stan Arendts has forwarded this video of spontaneous celebrations on Hawaii on VJ Day, August 14, 1945.  With music by Jimmy Durante the perfect background, you get a strong sense of the joy concluding the "Big One," fought by the Greatest Generation.

It was the beginning of our time.  Eisenhower and Churchill were heroes.  The world was right, we fought real wars against clearly defined enemies wearing clearly marked clothing, and enjoyed clearly defined victory.  This is the world we were born into.  Ambiguity and confusion would have to wait 30 or 40 years.

For the website with more background information on this amazing video, go to contributor Richard Sullivan's website.  The movie is an edited version of the 16mm Kodachrome film shot by his father, and it is marvelously well done.  Thanks to Stan for forwarding.

Be sure to click the "full screen" icon next to the word "vimeo" in the control box.

Climb the Water Tower?

The "Peak" of Northwood

Just as a point of reference, the Northwood Water Tower is maybe 5 or 6 stories high?  OK, let's give it 100 feet ground to peak, or 10 stories.  And Richard Holstad reported on his extraordinarily scary experience in a blog posting last March 21.

The other "local" story came from Stanton Arendts when he told of his Kensett water tower experiences last May.

But as the saying goes, "you ain't seen nothin' yet" until you click on the YouTube posted below.

Honestly, if you have any fear of heights you may feel something gripping your body in unusual ways as you view this.  We recommend that you click the full-screen icon so you can view this in all its glory.

Can you imagine what the two fellows in this YouTube are paid?  On the advice of Merrilee Reid, "Pay him whatever he wants!"

Home for the Holidays?

Home for the Holidays doesn't mean quite as much as it did in 1962 when college kids were approaching the end of the first semester, which in those days did not end until mid-January, or maybe those who had enlisted and would not be able to make it home until they had earned a leave.

Whatever the case, hearing the Perry Como tune inserted here caused some reflection on that first Christmas after graduation.  And I don't really recall a single thing about it.  Who I saw - what I did - what gift I received - NOTHING!  Bah humbug - maybe it's not all it's cracked up to be?  Call me Scrooge.

What I do recall is coming home the first weekend after classes started, and off and on after that point, frequently by hitchhiking.  Chuck Hendrickson and I did that often, and learned some lessons from it, plus picked up some life experiences.  

We'd find somebody to give us a ride out to the main highways out of Cedar Falls, like Highway 20 heading towards Parkersburg.  We always taped paper on the side of a suitcase with "Mason City" printed on it, figuring nobody knew where Northwood was, and once we'd get in a car we could somehow finesse the last 20 miles.  Often the drivers were heading north on 65 anyway, so it worked out.

Some folks went out of their way to help us out and sometimes we wish they hadn't because we'd be crammed into the back seat with some kid with a sucker, or something like that.  I think Chuck had a puppy throw up on him once and we'll have Janis grill him to find more about that - and add it to this blog.

One time I hitched over to Ames to see Phil Johnson and a semi driver picked me up.  I could not believe how that cab bounced around, but I still appreciated the ride.  I learned those guys probably retired with bad backs because it was really rough.  Phil came to Cedar Falls on a return visit and while there wound up talking to Norm Stewart, then UNI's basketball coach.

We were touring the campus, walked through the Men's Gym, and ran into Stewart, who saw Phil right away, recognized him, and said hello.  To Phil, not me.  As I recall the conversation Phil said, "Do you think he knows me?"  Of course he did, because he didn't greet me, that's for sure.  We turned around, Phil found Stewart in his office, and thus started the process that made Phil a Panther forever.  But that's another story.

I also learned that in hitchhiking you had to be instructive to drivers as to where they should drop you off.  One time we got dropped on one of the farm-to-market roads between 218 and Greene, and I thought we might die of loneliness out there.  Me, Chuck, a blacktop road, a gravel road, and lots of corn.  But if you just found out what route the driver was taking, you could set yourself up to get out at an intersection with traffic.  You always had to prospect.

On one occasion Denny Carnes and I hooked a ride home.  Somewhere out on Highway 20 a guy driving a big, long-finned Cadillac picked us up.  He pretty much looked like death warmed over.  His sallow face had a greasy mustache, baggy eyes covered by sunglasses, and a constant cigarette.  He regaled us with stories of Las Vegas, including his experience with Johnny Cash that we won't go into here, just to keep it clean.

To get back to Cedar Falls we turned the suitcase around with "Student to Cedar Falls" on the other side, and repeated the process.  I don't know how many trips we made like that but we sure wouldn't let the grandkids hitchhike today.  Too dangerous.  We grew up in a much better time.

So here it is at last - Perry Como.  This really looks like home, and it should take the Scrooge right out of you.  It did me.  Happy Holidays.

And if you have a wide-screen monitor, this newer and updated version is even better.  Notice all the trains.

Miniatur Wunderland

While pondering what to post next, an email arrived from Marilyn Weidler Ulve.  Titled "Miniatur Wunderland", it sparked an immediate reaction:  "Hey, a Christmas scene to include!"  Not really.

The only requirement of this posting is to somehow connect this awesome YouTube video to the NKHS 62 blog, and that will be done primarily by reflecting on the comparative differences of today's technology versus what you saw in the 50s or 60s.  Remember, after all, the spaceshot to the moon in 1969 was handled by a computer no larger than a Radio Shack TRS80, which today would not begin to power even the typical cigarette lighter, probably.  If a person had only paid more attention during math class, right, Merrilee?

(For the record, this writer has every paper published by the Waterloo Courier in the duration of the flight of Apollo 11, from launch to landing.  Just another historian.)

Perhaps you had a train like the one sitting on the bookshelves next to our fireplace.  It is an off brand dating back to about 1952 or so, had little or no machining that would keep it on the track, and an engine that worked 50 years ago but today is best considered a relic, not a functional toy.  At one point it had a headlight and would smoke when you poured in oil, but its best days are history.  Only a remembrance.

So this Hamburg Wunderland could make you feel how far behind you were back then.  It is so expansive it requires a computerized control center staffed by several computer engineers, as you would expect to see in an actual transportation environment.  And you might just wonder why these folks can't get hired to handle the clogged up freeways in so many major cities?

Thanks, Marilyn.  And now, everybody show it to your grandkids.

Deck the Halls

Church choir would tour the neighborhood sometime in December, normally on a really really cold night and sing a variety of songs at the homes of the elderly, usually.  The selection process for identifying them wasn't necessarily a closely-held secret but then most of the choir probably didn't care unless they had a specific person they would want to entertain.

Goldy the Gopher was never one of them.  See what a University of Minnesota flash mob can do.  Click the full-screen icon for your best view, and use a 22" monitor or larger.  If you are receiving this posting by email, click the link to go to the blog site.

Only In a Dream - at least these days

Sometimes you see some fantastic physical/artistic performances and wonder - could I have done this - 50 years ago ? ? ? ?   So when Merrilee Reid passed this along the thought was a vision, a dream, of perhaps being one of the performers, all the time knowing better.  Strength, flexibility, coordination - once upon a time, maybe, though in reality never at this level.  Still, dream along . . .

Once you've finished viewing it you may be asking yourself, "Why were all those people sitting on their hands with frowns on their faces?"