Miami Luther League Convention, 1961

Thanks to the Anchor, we now know that 32 local, young Lutherans headed to Miami by August 17, 1961. We mentioned this previously in the blog, and we're including a photo apparently taken before the group left. If you were on this bus you probably have stories to share, and we're all ears!!

Traditions Long Gone

   

Doug Fallgatter

Some things are long gone, like it or not.  Like hazing new members of the Letterman's Club, or a Roman Fiesta to celebrate the conclusion of the Latin year of study.

At left, Doug Fallgatter is wearing gloves, tie, and beanie, the latter without a propeller on top as he is initiated into the Letterman's Club.  It is doubtful that any schools would allow this ritual anymore, especially with the bullying connotation that goes along with it, but in our day it was routine.

Doug, of course, is owner of the family grocery store in Northwood  these days, though he probably wouldn't be dressed like this on a normal day at work.

"Roman Citizens"

Doris Johnson and "Neptune"

Another tradition was the year-end celebration of the JCL, which I believe stood for the Junior Classical League.  Doris Johnson was the Latin teacher, perhaps one of the very last to hold such a position, and honestly it seems unbelievable that a small school like Northwood-Kensett would even include this in the curriculum.  In the freshman year the Latin students were "slaves" to the sophomores at this event, and in their second year had the thrill of being served by their own freshman slaves.

Keith Helgeland and Mary Hanson

I honestly don't recall much about the committee process or who handled what, but recall wearing a sheet for a toga (we were ahead of our time - not even Belushi knew about this yet) and eating somewhat unusual food that was, I suppose normal Roman cuisine.  And as a sophomore it was kind of nice to order the freshmen around, another tradition that probably wouldn't be allowed today.

Sorry I can't name all the folks in these photos, but perhaps some of you can.  Just let us know.

Welcome, New Readers

We understand our Letter to the Editor of the Northwood Anchor was posted this week, and we can see the results on our site traffic, far more viewers checking in than normal. Don't worry, we don't know who you are and have no way of finding out, so keep coming back.

What we encourage you to do is to have all our posts emailed to you as they are added to the blog. It's easy enough to enter your email address in the slot on the right of this column, and then follow the procedure required to be sure you're not a spammer or some such horrible person.

We won't be emailing you, either, so don't worry about a solicitation to quarterback the '61 football team. You'd have to play practically by yourself because most of the rest of us are too old or laid up to be able to help.

But it's an easy way to stay in touch. If you're brave enough, you can also ask to be a Contributor, and your stories can also be posted. We do have a few rules, and they are in the page called "Content Guidelines" which is accessed from the list of Pages on the right.

If you try to do it but it won't work out for you, just email us at nkhs62@gmail.com and we'll do our best to help. In the meantime, dig into the older posts; there are a total of 164 stories we've posted, and you might be included in one of them. Happy Reading!

Lee Leidal,

BlogMaster

A Letter to the Northwood Anchor

Dear Editor:

50 years ago this month, the NKHS Class of 62 was preparing for their last year as N-K students, and next July the class will be celebrating its 50th Reunion. Members of the class have some great memories of high school and their hometowns, and that's led to some very close relationships over the years, even though some moved away before graduating - but still stayed in touch.

Many classmates remain in the area, but we've also scattered to both coasts and around the nation, yet still expect to see most of the class next July. Just over a year ago, an email comment from one classmate, Marsha Gaarder Hasseler, led to the formation of a blog that has been capturing memories ever since. The blog includes stories, photos, and even articles from the Northwood Anchor to store and memorialize what we were living through.

It was the last year for the Old High School building, torn down some time later, and the new building was already under construction although we pretty much ignored that. The arches in the old gym are as deeply ingrained in our memories as the undefeated basketball team that played there. So the old building is getting mentioned in the blog along with teachers, upperclassmen, underclassmen, sports, the Shell Rock River, Highway 105, and the communities themselves including the water towers, just to name a few topics.

We lived in the Eisenhower years, the age of innocence, and shared those years with many of you. So the purpose of this letter is to let you know about the blog if you hadn't already known it was there, and if you have personal memories of the 50s and 60s especially as they relate to growing up and going to school in Northwood or Kensett, we'd like to hear about them so they, too, can be included in this personalized history.

To follow the blog, go to www.nk62.blogspot.com, or just Google NKHS 62 and it will show up. And if you would like to contribute your own stories, email nkhs62@gmail.com, and we can either post the stories for you, or send you an invitation to do your own posting. We'd love to have more people contributing, because we know there are many great memories from an age that seems so unlike today.

We look forward to seeing many of you in July of 2012, probably over the 4th during the parade as we celebrate the 50 years that have passed by so quickly. In the meantime, check out our blog and let us know your own recollections.  Skol, Vikings!

Sincerely,

LeRoy (Lee) Leidal

NKHS '62

Where Dreams Began

Bolan - on Letterman!

I missed a followup on a story in the Anchor last week, one that prompted my recalling the Centennial held in Bolan 25 years ago.  The big news at that time was having the entire town flown to New York for an appearance on the Letterman show.  All 15 adults, or however many there were.

I even stayed up late to watch it, and it was indeed kind of quirky for them to be on the show but how many other towns have you known to be flown into New York?  One of the locals, who did not go, pretty much scoffed at it, thinking that it was only a chance for Letterman to make fun of them, which he did to a degree, but again - how many times do you get a free trip to New York?

Their Quasqicentennial is scheduled to be held on August 27 and I will miss that, too, but I'm sure it will be well attended.  At the Centennial 25 years ago they featured a "Stand Still Parade", which is to say all the floats and entries were lined up and you could walk from one end to the other to view them, since there wasn't really anywhere to drive those entries anyway, so they "stood still".  I'm not making fun here - that's a pretty nifty way to stand out.  You know, when you only have lemons, make lemonade.

This year they may have outdone the prior celebration with their unique and seventh annual Bolan Tractor Ride featuring a "mystery tour" with a surprise route to be followed on that day.  For only $20 you get ride support, a coffee break, lunch in Bolan, and homemade pie and ice cream.  A new kind of tail-gating, I guess.  Bet you couldn't get that in New York!

News from the Anchor

For the first time in my life, I am a subscriber to the Northwood Anchor.  It's time to keep up with what's going on back home even though most of what I'm looking for happened 50 years ago, and will be found in that section of the paper called the "Early Files."

My first issue arrived a couple weeks ago, and the next one just two days ago.  Lo and behold, there were two items of interest, including the photo here, that of the swiftly flowing Shell Rock doing a bit of damage to the bridge connecting the pool area to the rest of Swensrud Park.

Ordinarily that wouldn't be a big deal, but given the escapades of certain members of the Class of '65, this "liquid ice" kind of caught my eye.  The guardrails would have been difficult to drive around, otherwise it would have been oh so easy to drive right off the bridge and onto the hard stuff those many years ago.  Since that wasn't possible, I can only conclude that the car in question was driven down the bank of the river and onto the ice.  And somehow - safely.

The other story that I found of interest was the one about an invention that was announced in the Anchor when a patent was issued 50 years ago.  Don Weaver of Northwood, former owner of Weaver Bottle Gas and Appliance, was noted for his Tempflo push button water temperature control, with plans to spend all his time on the manufacture, improvement, and marketing of this unique gadget.

But that's all the Anchor reported in the current issue.  Originally the news included a photo of Mr. Weaver and I believe his spouse demonstrating how the gadget worked.  It said that he got the idea for inventing it when he hopped in the shower one time but nearly scalded himself from the overheated water, and in a Eureka moment probably determined he might make a boatload of money while serving humanity with a thermostatically controlled water flow device.

Whether the idea ever took off for him is doubtful, and I can report to you that in some 20 years of traveling around the nation at the rate of up to 12 to 14 nights a month, I never saw one in any hotel that I stayed in.  Still, it was a unique idea and certainly caught my attention back then.  And the Anchor, that local purveyor of truth, wisdom, and local tidbits, has brought two more memories back into my life.  Our thanks to them for having done so, and now I can begin to reflect on all the news that I have been missing since 1962!

Radio Paradise

In a recent post I mentioned Radio Paradise, a free streaming radio program.  Just now the music being played was Dave Brubeck's "Take Five," a classic if ever there was one, and you should click that link if you don't recall the music.  Brubeck and that composition have been heralded for the role they have played together in the history of jazz - and music.

As mentioned previously, Radio Paradise also has an HD slideshow that you can watch while the music plays.  (It's OK on a computer monitor, though superior through a ROKU streaming device or Google TV.)  For the duration of "Take Five" just now, the photos cycling through were of the retro look - a kitchen, dining area, seating device, a living room, cars from the 40's and 50's including a '59 Chev and the tailfins of a 50s era Caddy.

Too late I pulled out my camera to shoot some photos for inclusion here because I was transfixed by those being shown, and slow on the trigger.  But next time, I will have it.  In the meantime, check it out, at www.radioparadise.com.  It's a free service with a variety of music that you may enjoy.