5/31/02
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PHS Alumni On-Line
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May 31, 2002
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8 Bulldogs and a *WB today:
Mary Lou Hoenslaar Shiley (58)
Dennis Cresswell (58)
Janice Woods Ehrke (60)
Don Goulet (61)
Karon Mc Culloch (62)
Jean Bishop Ryckman (62)
Donald Givens (63)
Linda Wellman Mathisen (64)
Elizabeth ("Betty") Clark Cheathem (69WB)
* WB - woulda been a Bulldog
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Note: Search function is working again on the web site. I'm still trying to solve the format problem (double top frame), but you can search past archives for a name, a topic, etc. Make sure you select Search PHS Alumni OnLine to only search the alumni web site. - Paul
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From: Mary Lou Hoenslaar Shiley (58)
I want to thank Pat, Dottie, Kay, & classmates that sent cards, called and came to Jerry's memorial service. I didn't get to acknowledge so many friends and relatives that day, but just want all of you to know how very special you made that day for me and my family. It was a wonderful tribute to Jerry to have so many friends, family and acquaintances show up for his memorial on a work day. I had a chance to visit with so many people I'd lost contact with and missed talking with so many that were in attendance.
For those of you that were there and those that couldn't make it but were thinking of us, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Mary Lou Hoenslaar Shiley (58)
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From: Dennis Cresswell (58)
In response to Karon McCulloch's query about Longfellow School, yes it has been rebuilt twice. The original Longfellow burned down, probably about 1949, and the one she attended was built sometime in the early 1950s. I remember watching the fire -- I think it may have happened during the summer of 1949 and that the "new" Captain Gray School (which has also been rebuilt) was ready to take those kids that fall. The present Longfellow building was there when I moved back to the Tri-Cities from California in 1989, so I'm not sure when it was built.
Originally there were only the two elementary schools, Longfellow and Whittier -- both of them old-style brick schoolhouses about three stories high, with fire escapes on the outside. Longfellow was a pale yellow brick and Whittier, in east Pasco, was red brick. Each floor had a large central hallway with all the rooms surrounding it on the outside of the building. We entered the classroom through a cloak room where we left our coats and boots, and the cafeteria was in the basement. There was also at least one quonset hut (maybe two) where I attended Kindergarten.
In those days, school playgrounds in the area had no grass -- Longfellow's had only sand that was great for playing marbles but was not so great when the wind blew. At some point they closed off Ninth Street so the playground could be extended to the large sand lot between Ninth and Tenth. And every lunch hour there was a game we called soccer, but it bore no resemblance to the organized soccer the kids play today. It was just a big free-for-all with no rules, and the object was to kick the ball to the other end of the field any way you could, usually by kicking a few players along the way. It was a heavy ball and the older farm kids wore big boots, so it was a rough game that you didn't get into unless you were at least a fourth-grader. There was no goal net and no fence, so when someone scored, the ball had to be retrieved from the street.
I was in Miss Pefore's first-grade class at Longfellow, then started second grade there but was transferred in mid-term to a temporary school at the Navy Base, with a teacher named Miss Lucid. I remember how I cried when I had to leave Miss Kimmel's second-grade class at Longfellow. There was no cafeteria at the Navy Base school (it was NOT the building that later became the junior high), so they bused us to Whittier for lunch. By the third grade I was back at Longfellow with a Mrs. Thomas, a southern lady who insisted children were "reared," not "raised," and had an off-the-wall way of pronouncing "dictionary."
Someone please correct me if I have any of these dates or facts wrong. At our age the mind is a huge database but the random access memory doesn't always work right.
Dennis Cresswell (58)
Pasco, WA
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From: Janice Woods Ehrke (60)
To Pat Allman:
So sorry to hear about Sammy, gosh so long ago. I don't know how he knew, but when there was trouble at home I would go hide in the car at the side of the house. He always seemed to know "when" and would come over to see if I was OK. Just talk about nothing
but it was nice. Please say hello to Marie for me next time your talk with her.
To Valerie Eby:
Do you remember Grand Assembly in Yakima? Staying in the Chinook Hotel where some baseball team was staying? What a party! The dear waitress down in the Coffee Shop who tipped us off that Gary Cooper came in early each morning to have breakfast before going to the set of "Hanging Tree." How nice he was as he signed napkins, etc. and being accosted by several giggling teenagers at 6 AM! Remember out cruising (I can still visualize the gigantic back seat of your little black car), we came on this "castle" just out on some back country road. We talked to some caretaker or gardener there but can't remember much of what he said. Do you remember?
To Judy Brewer:
My god, we're practically neighbors once again! How are You? Please catch me up to date. I know we spent a lot of fun times and some not so fun in the old Studebaker. Of course we were back walking again after that rod mysteriously acted up. Oil? Where does that go?
To Marilyn Cowell:
Glad to hear from you; you mentioned Lonnie Hunt, a name I hadn't heard in a few years. Judy Jump and I and Lonnie were having a great time on his horse in the park across from my house. Racing as fast as we could and then stopping on a dime! Well
not exactly a dime
the long skid marks in the grass stayed for some time after the pranks were over. The horse, for his part, took it as long as he could then dumped some of us on the pavement. Believe Judy still carries a small scar on her chin from our reckless escapade. Soooo good to hear some old classmates names, please write in again.
To Paul:
Thanks so much for putting this site together, I have been reading the Bombers Sandstorm for a couple of years now and it's been great fun (I spent the time before 4th grade in Richland).
Purple and White, Fight, Fight!
Janice Woods Ehrke (60)
from Woodland, CA where it is very HOT today.
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From: Don Goulet (61)
Hello.
Not knowing who is receiving this, I'm not sure how to submit "tales-of-the-past" at PHS, but whoever enters this to the website can edit as required.
Let me tell you my name is Don Goulet (class of `61) and having lived in Pasco all my life, I can remember many things about Pasco, and the time I spent in the Pasco schools.
Remember when Longfellow school burned to the ground? (Longfellow currently 3rd Generation building).
Remember going to Capt. Gray, or to the "Navy Base" because Longfellow burned?
Remember the Pas-Port Plunge?
Remember where "Upper River Road" was? Or Lower River Road?
Do you remember Mr. Essinger, Miss. Sailing, Miss. Kelso? Who remembers Miss Chess? How about Mrs. Walters?
Do you remember going to Mcloughlin Jr. High (the old high school on 3rd St)? Remember Mr. Brown? Mr. Kosnick? How `bout Mr. Stapler or Mr. Zimmerman? Do you remember Mr. Dyer and Mr. Green?
Do you remember going to the third floor of the Jr. High during noon lunch hour to watch movie's. That's the floor where Mr. Rogers had his Science class.
Do you remember going to Pasco HIGH? Remember the Pep rallies and assemblies? Where the cheer leaders bounced around a lot? Remember Mr. (Em) Morgan and the infamous "Mr. Gregson."
Now there is a subject to dwell on
Mr. Gregson. I never knew anyone who could be so many places at one time and see so much
even when his back was to you, he KNEW who you were and what you were doing. I think he was the best educator, gentleman and Colonel I have ever known! He was the man!
Remember when "Homecoming" was always played on November 11th, and we always played Kennewick? (We need to go back to that schedule) Do you hear me
John Morgan? Remember hanging a Kennewick football player in effigy from the overhead girders of the old (narrow, Green) Pasco-Kennewick bridge the night before the Homecoming game?
Who out there remembers where Chase Street was? Or how `bout Lucas Street?
Who remembers the screeching Peacocks in the "city" park. Where's the "city" park? How about the deer in the "city" park? Do you remember?
Does anyone remember where the "gravel pit" was located? (As a youngster, I was told to never go to the "gravel pit" because there were rattle snakes there, and lots of old rusty, worn equipment.
Well
enough for now, but I would like to add to the memories of my time at Pasco High, and living in Pasco.
That's all for now.
Don Goulet (61)
Pasco, WA
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From: Jean Bishop Ryckman (62)
Paul, thank you for continuing to provide valuable information and services. You were certainly right about the Hotmail account. No wonder my junk mail (which was already at an almost unbearably high amount) has recently doubled.
[I sent a thank-you to Missy Keeney (RHS 59) and the Alumni Sandstorm, the source of the Hotmail info. - Paul]
To Karon McCullough:
As much as I would love to claim being a true Pasco native, I have to admit we didn't move here until the summer before the 6th grade. However, I've made up for it since by bleeding purple profusely! Besides, anyone who ingested as many Taylor Maid salad burgers, Arctic Circle french fries, Wilkie's cokes as I did deserves "native" status. Speaking of Arctic Circle, does anyone else remember the gas station next door to the Circle that forgot to lock its pumps one night? Free gas for all that night!
It was good to hear from Marilyn Cowell, who I looked up to in Rainbow girls. Partly because she was such a nice person, but probably mostly because I had a huge crush on brother Billy. Just couldn't resist that "Fonzie" look back then.
And one more time to all you `62 alum, I've issued a challenge and no one has taken me up on it yet. I've purchased 10 squares of field turf. Anyone in my class dare to up the ante and see if I can match you? C'mon folks, it's class reunion time in August. Wouldn't you like to see the old stadium with brand new field turf and YOUR name on the donor board? We've always said you can't outdo `62. Now let's prove it!
Jean Bishop Ryckman (62)
Pasco, WA
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From: Karon Mc Culloch (62)
Re: Hotmail:
I changed my account about 3 months ago because my old account was inundated with garbage. I just checked, and your information was right on and very timely. Again, thank you.
Karon Mc Culloch (62)
Federal Way, WA
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From: Donald Givens (63)
Re horsemeat hamburgers:
I hadn't thought about that fast food restaurant in a very long time. It was located near an irrigation canal, as I recall. The owner at one time displayed a casket outside his restaurant as a form of protest. A number of children had died in the canal and the city would not install fencing. I also recall the rumor that he served horse meat, but that didn't stop us from eating there. As Sheldon Spadafore mentioned, the burgers were good. I think he also made his own french fries, as did the Artic Circle in Pasco. I don't remember the name of the Restaurant.
Donald Givens (63)
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From: Linda Wellman Mathisen (64)
Thanks to Sandra Green Reuther (63) for the "heads up" on nerve agent testing done to Navy Sailors from 1964-69. My brother, John Wellman (64) served in the Pacific in the Vietnam War from 65-68. He "got sick" in Vietnam while aboard ship and was sent to a Navy hospital in Japan. Following several months there, he was re-assigned to the Navy base in San Diego, and then received an early release in 1968. He came home a healthy man (we thought) and started working for the railroad as a Fireman. About a year later he started having difficulty walking, especially when he got tired, and was ultimately diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
John's health deteriorated pretty rapidly, and my father decided to investigate his early release from the Navy. With very little effort on my dad's part, the Navy authorized full medical benefits for my brother, provided a considerable amount of money to build a wheelchair accessible house and purchase a specially equipped van, and paid my brother a monthly "wage" right up to his death in 1992.
I wish I could say John had quality of life from approximately 1970 to 1992, but that would be a lie, at least from my perspective. I used to go visit John at the VA Hospital in Seattle whenever he had to be admitted. Every time I saw him he would tell me (when he could still talk) that "he was a very patient patient" - and then he would laugh at his own joke. I used to marvel at his accepting attitude because I know I would not have handled those disabilities nearly so well.
By 1980, John had had two surgeries to handle his waste products (he was bagged both ways), and had to have a feeding tube inserted directly into his stomach because he could not swallow. In 1986, they had to disconnect his esophagus because he kept aspirating his saliva, causing constant pneumonia. Also, by then he had double vision, so he couldn't read or watch TV. He shared a room at the VA with a friend from the same ship John had been on who suffered from the same "illness." They died within two months of each other.
I always suspected that John had been exposed to possibly Agent Orange or something like that - AS AN ACCIDENT. Now to learn that the Navy PURPOSELY exposed Sailors to determine adverse effects of nerve and biological agents and TEST protective procedures and gear, leaves me feeling horribly betrayed by my country. To think he suffered so as the result of a cold, calculated TEST infuriates me.
If any of you have family who were in the Navy during that time, please make sure you read the article in the NY Times. I don't know about you, but I'm going to follow this up with letters to my Congressman and anyone else who will listen, just to try to make sure it NEVER happens again.
Linda Wellman Mathisen (64)
Scappoose, OR
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From: Elizabeth ("Betty") Clark Cheathem (69WB)
I found this website referral from "Classmates.com" and have really enjoyed reading some of the comments about growing up in Pasco. I would have graduated in 1969 if my parents hadn't decided to relocate our family to Canada in 1967. I came back to the Tri-Cities a couple of times on family visits, but really lost touch with almost all of my childhood friends going to university in Victoria, British Columbia and then onto to Papua New Guinea
and now finally to California! I found some familiar names in the alumni listing
from 1969 and from other years (girl friends from Job's Daughters and friends of my late brother, Burns). I'd love to hear from anyone who remembers me!!
In those days I was known as "Betty Clark"
which I gave up over 25 years ago for "Elizabeth Cheathem"!!
Thanks so much
I look forward for the opportunity to say Hello!
Elizabeth ("Betty") Clark Cheathem (69WB)
Fallbrook, CA
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