Memories of Summer in Ada written in 2009

What are your favorite memories of summertime when we were in Jr-Sr High School? What did you do? Where did you hang out? What were your favorite things then. Take some time to remember and let us hear from you. If you have pictures, even better. If we don't hear from you we're going to think you have CRS, so start typing right now. (yes, this is a challenge)………Marilynn


Marilynn, that was a long time ago. I'm getting a headache thinking about a response to your challenge to us for summertime activities. You realize that you are talking about the 50's? OK, I've got one! I hope this is not another repeat story. I have a medical condition that causes me to tell the same stories over and over "ad nauseam" without knowing it. This is the story of Woody Jumper, my brother, and Ronnie Hazday, his friend. They produced a barrel of wine one day and hid it in our garage. They claimed that they found it. Sure. Well the Summertime part goes like this. We acquired some empty bottles and sold that stuff for 50 cents each to the party folks that went to the swimming pool at the park at Mill Creek down by Fittstown. That wine was ripe and tasted like prune juice with little particles floating in it. But the water was cold and I remember now after reflection that quite a few of us went there. I was 16 at the time of the wine incident. I think that then as today cold water was the key to Summertime fun. My next door neighbor's kids run through sprinklers just like I used to do. But now I'm talking about the forties and so I take my leave before you get bored….Fred Jumper



Thanks John Fred, that pool was called Lee's Park. It is still there, but not open to the public anymore. Mill Creek, which, I think, literally ran through the pool is the run-off from Byrd's Mill, Ada's water supply. Mill Creek runs through the Ada Hobos campground, where we are members, along with several of our Ada High friends. Being near that cold clear water is about the closest thing to a Colorado stream you'll find in Oklahoma. By the way if any of you have RVs and are interested in a quiet, private place with good people, the Hobos has a couple of membership openings. Email me and I'll tell you about it.

I remember going to Lee's (Lea's?) Park only a time or two, but that water was COLD. My grandkids love the same cold water at the campground............Holley

The only summer memory I have of school is having to take summer school because I flunked American History under Maude Drano. But, I wasn't alone -- there was Jill, I think Dicky and a room full of others...............Mouse


Mouse, this is the first time I've heard of her referred to as "Maude Drano". That's funny.........Nancy


I took American History in summer school under Ralph Wasson the summer before to AVOID Maude Drain. Gee, if I'd waited I might have enjoyed it more with you guys. I think I went to summer school almost every year in high school, just because I liked school and didn't have much else to do in the summer! I got to know Mr. Wasson really well!...............Holley


Me too, Nancy.In fact, I rather liked Maude for the way the South was clearly winning the Civil War, right up to the very last day.I also liked how she was going to "pinch your ear off."If you thought she was bad, her twin sister Maid (or were they the other way around? Yes, I do have CRS, Marilynn) who taught at East Central was far, far worse.Actually, she is the main reason I changed from my history major, even though it is still my first academic love.Con cariño, paz, y justicia ambiental y social............. Ted


Gee Holley........someone actually went to summer school because they wanted to......amazing!!!.....

How many of you Willard people remember going to Sandy Palmore's birthday parties? Her birthday was July 10 and I always looked forward to it because you saw your friends in the middle of summer. I didn't always see my school friends in summer. But at Sandy's party there were your school friends.....plus cake and ice cream. How much better could it get?

And what about the summer reading program at the library. A contest to see how many books you could read. I didn't care if I didn't win, it was wonderful to go to the library and smell the "book smell". I remember reading Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea one summer. It was a thick book and took a long time to read, but I was mesmerized, it was wonderful.

What about the rest of you?.............Hugs, Marilynn


I read The Bull From The Sea by Mary Renault. I believe that Miss Britt picked it out for me. I became a lifelong student of history after reading that book……Fred


I brought home a biography of Will Rogers. My Grandfather McSpadden asked me why I wanted to read about that guy? I said he was a great man. My Grandfather said "well I don't think much of him and I wouldn't waste my time reading about him." Come to find out my Grandfather's cousin was Will Rogers wife. He thought Will Rogers ran around the country and left his wife at home alone to raise the kids. --- funny funny. I read the book anyway.......LeDon


I took Eng Lit the summer before our Sr. year from Ralph Wasson to avoid Daisy May Britt..........Michelle

Well, I remember going to Wintersmith Park swimming pool with girl friends and after we swam a while we would lay out on our towels and take sun baths and I was envious because my friends' hair would dry nice and straight and mine would start looking like Rose Anna Rose Anna Dana's I had too keep it wet in order to look like my friends. I remember dipping frequently into the water in order to have smooth straight hair like them.

Silly memory, I know, but that was important to me back then, to have straight hair like everybody else. I'm sure there were other girls in our class who had curly hair, but at the time, I thought that I was the only only girl in the whole class with that "problem".........Sidney


I delivered the Ada Evening News on W 13th St for three years. One summer day I stopped out at the sale barn when I finished my route. I had just sat down and they were selling a young jenny. The auctioneer said to me, son, will you give fifty cents for this jenny? I said yes and he said sold. I still have the picture of me going down main street with the jenny tied to the back of my Cushman motor scooter. The kids of the whole neighborhood played with it for about a month and had great fun with it. We lived on east 9th just two houses east of Mississippi. Finally a boy came along with a big gander and offered my a dollar and his gander for my jenny. We had a housekeeper that had three of four big geese. She said she wanted the gander and so we had a deal. What memories of Ada.............LeDon


I wondered where that stuff (???prune wine???) came from. I remember Keith Orr and someone else came up with some of that stuff & we took it to Devil's Den. I still remember the after-effects of that stuff. Never had any prune wine since. Glad to know where it came from.

We'll be leaving from Houston in a couple of hours to come up to see Nancy's folks & will probably wind up @ Wintersmith Park for fireworks. Hope to see some of you there.....Forrest


Maude Drain an a bony knuckle that she could use quite effectively on the top of your head if you were not paying attention. I would love to take her class today now that I am interested in the Civil War.Doug (currently traveling in the Confederate States)

As I recall it was the guys in the front rows that bore the brunt of her punishment. I seem to remember her scolding from front of the classroom, while pointing at the the errant student in the rear as she poked the nearest student in the temple with the eraser end of her pencil. Does anyone else remember her threats of "Stop that or I'll throw you out the window." This threat was made to students without regard to size and had even the football players cringing at their desks.............Stu


I remember going to the Zesto Drive-In and getting a coke with olives. They also had delicious strawberry shortcake. Leave it up to me to remember the food.

I must have slept through highschool or been absent a lot because I don't remember learning very much from Maude Drain. As I remember her class all she wanted was for us to memorize dates.............Jean Vail Coleman


I have good memories of some of the entertainment that we had in Ada during the summer. The Ada Community Theater presented their productions in the amphitheater at Wintersmith Park for awhile. The amphitheater had deteriorated to a pretty sad state until it was restored recently. Stop by and see it next time you are in town. I don't know how they plan to use it. Maybe some of you know more about it than I do.............Mary Ellen

When we moved to South Broadway our next door neighbor was a tractor rep calling on implement dealers in the area. We went to see "Oklahoma" in the amphitheater and our neighbor and his wife both had leading roles. They were fantastic -- professional quality. We were shocked. We later learned that they met in summer stock musicals -- they were professionals. They just had twin daughters and had to settle down...........LeDon

I think I saw the same production........... Zuda


I loved the plays at the amphitheater. I especially remember The King and I...with Troy Melton as the King. Troy Melton lived on South Broadway in a big two story house. Many of my summer memories were at my grandparent's house on South Broadway...swimming in their pool and listening to 45's on the record player in the game room. I can remember many of you swimming at that pool..............Judy (Beesley)


Judy, I remember one girls'-only party at you grandparents' house. Don't know if it was in the summer, though. We listened to Johnny Mathis & played strip poker. Chances Are, Wonderful Wonderful, The Twelfth of Never, to name a few. Then someone - I don't remember who - went skinny dipping in their pool, after jumping off the diving board. Does anyone else remember that?...........Nancy


YES!!! I REMEMBER THAT PARTY! --------just kidding……..LeDon


It was probably Jackie Hankins...but then, I seem to remember Michelle Handley doing something similar. Do you remember that just as they jumped off the board...in the "alltogether"...my grandfather turned on the floodlight at the pool. The light stayed on about 3 seconds...then went off. He never said a word about it...but we giggled all night about it.........Judy


I remember the party also because my mother had just given me a perm and I couldn't go in the water. I remember someone going in the pool in the "all together" also. I heard later from some male friends of mine that they had a good time watching all of us in the pool. It was great!! Love to all.......... Zuda



I do remember the floodlight, but don't remember that he didn't say anything about that. I wonder what he thought, if he thought it was harmless, or he was shocked. I don't remember knowing him much.............Nancy


Judy, thanks for bringing back memories. I remember that pool and I drive by the house every time I am in Ada. You had a big party there and I so glad you invited me. Thanks. And I don't remember when, but I attended a speech by Carl Albert the congressman from McAlester when he made a scary speech about the threat of communism at the amphitheater. He ended by saying "keep the lamp light burning, keep the lamp light burning……Fred


I was in one of those plays. I don't remember the name, but I played as Swedish maid. Mother was in a couple of them and Dad was in charge of the ushers..........Michelle


I remember "skinny dipping"when no one was there. Judy and her grandparents had gone somewhere and a bunch of use decided to use the pool. Someone let the cat out of the bag and, as I found out later, there were some boys out in the field enjoying the show. I think Richard Guinn was one of them. Judy's aunt caught us..........Michelle


LeDon! You scared me there for a second ....Nancy, You beat me to it. I was going to remind Judy of that 'particular' party. What a feeling it was to skinny dip! Nancy, you said 'someone' - I hope it was more than one! I'm SURE it was more than one ..... someone else please speak up! I wouldn't have done that by myself, I know that. (At least not then! haha)-- Carolyn Mc


Carolyn, I actually have no memory of who was there. Do you think there was more than one party like that one? If you say you also skinny-dipped, then I imagine there were others. I can't imagine that I did it, though, no matter how many did it. I mostly remember the strip poker & the Johnny Mathis music. We all had jewelry, watches, hair clips, shoes, socks - all that extra stuff we could take off until we got down to the bare bones of it...........Nancy


I must have missed that one. I know I would remember skinny-dipping. I do remember other parties at Judy's grandparent's house and also drive by when we are in Ada, with fond memories.

I can't believe I don't remember LeDon's "jenny" since I didn't live far from him. There were lots of us along 9th St and nearby. Fun walking to and from grade school together. I know Carolyn Reynolds, Carolyn Trimble, Beverly Holmberg, LeDon, Helen Anne, Johnnie Bethune (Maughn), Sandy Palmore were all on my way.

I walked home a lot from jr. hi. and high school too. Does anyone remember riding the city bus to jr. hi.? I seem to recall catching it on Mississippi and riding to school, Maybe not all the time, but a few times. My grandmother didn't drive and it was hard sometimes for my family to get me all the way across town.

Larna's mom was great to transport me often. I spent many happy times at their house too......Holley

I lived on W. 15th, not far from the sale barn. Kenneth and Kennie Walston lived down the street and I believe it was they who bought one or two donkeys for 50 cents each at about the same LeDon did. They were fun for a short time. I do not know what became of them. Anyone else remember the 50 cent donkey caper?.....Fred


Holley -- one your forgot on E. 9th St. was Winifred and Roy Lillard. One summer they had Mississippi all torn up and they routed the traffic up 9th st. This meant the big semi trucks and all. Roy Lillard was in on this. We tied a string on a purse and left it out in the middle of the street and waited for someone to stop to pick it up -- you remember that old trick.
Well, one night there was a good breeze, so we decided to fly a kite. So that we could see it, we taped a flashlight on our red kite. We were having a great time when the police pulled. He said, Hi boys, what are you doing. I said, we're flying our kite. They looked up and laughed and then said well, your going to have to take it down. I asked why. "Because you have all our phone lines filled up -- people are scared to death at that red light in the sky." Only in Ada!...........LeDon


You're right about the Lillards. I was mostly thinking about our classmates, but Winifred was a good friend too. That's quite a story about the kits-flying. I always thought of you as such a nice boy, I didn't realize you were such a mischief maker.

What about bike riding all over town? Jean and I rode many times to the library, just loved that cool old building on a summer day..........Holley


Yes, Holley I remember we rode our bikes all over town. Yesterday I sent the following message but I think it only went to Marilynn. I remember going to the Zesto Drive-In on 10th street and getting a coke with green olives. Also, they had a pretty good strawberry shortcake. Leave it to me to remember the food.

I started working at Gwin's Rexall Drug Store when I was 16 for 55cents an hour. One other thing I remember is that some of us were candy stripers at the hospital............Jean


I remember the cokes with olives, but had forgotten the name Zesto. All I remember is Carl's. I also worked for Robbie Wilson (Dickie's mom) at her Hollywood Shop when I was about 16. I don't know what I made, because I took every penny out in merchandise. She was a wonderful lady, all that georgeous red hair. I didn't know until years later that her maiden name was Robinson too. Mr. Wilson was a really sweet man too...........Holley


Sharon Gregg lived on 9th St. too, across from Sandy Palmore.

LeDon, listening to your stories, you must have been in a lot of trouble when you were young - just precocious, I guess.

I remember being given a lot of freedom in grade school & junior high, especially summertime. We would leave the house in the morning with a packed lunch & not come back until evening, with our mothers not even knowing where we were. We would walk the elevated railroad track across the field where the Catholic church is now. We would go into woods & swing on grapevines & wade in streams & catch turtles. We would see wild animals. I have no idea where that is, or if it's even still there. It was probably somebody's property............Nancy


Holley & Jean, I rode my bike around too, but the library I went to was the EC one. Is that the one you meant? In junior high, we used to explore all over EC - the dorms, the Student Union, any building we could get into. I especially remember the Science building because there were all these jars of preserved dead fetuses & other creatures. It was fascinating to an 11 year old. There were no students in classes, so it must have been summer break or holidays..........Nancy


I do recall exploring the ECU campus too, but Jean and I were talking about the public library on 14th St. We both loved that place, got much of our education there, including sex education, by reading books. We still talk about books and share books even now. We also loved to go to the Camp Fire office downstairs. I got to do payback by being a Camp Fire leader for my daughters.........Holley


Well hi everyone. Happy 4th to all. I can't remember my youth because it was so long ago but I can remember last week. Heres a picture of folks you know. We are on a motorcycle ride in Utah. Left to right--- Dallas Morris, Carolyn's brother, my brother Tom, my cousin and his wife Don and Judy Wilson, John Norris, me, and not pictured because he is behind the camera, Jon Ross. This is a yearly event where we meet somewhere in the US for a few days , this year Bryce Canyon and Zion Natl. Park and of course we spend time talking about Ada, music, and motorcycles. See you at the 50th............. Dick Wilson


Marilynn,
I believe Carolyn Trimbell's birthday was in the summer also.
I remember all the Willard bunch being there.
Love,
Ben


I also remember the drinks with an olive. Were there any of you in the in the Special Glee Club?...........Benny L. Brown


I'm still waiting for replies to Benny Brown's question about the Glee Club. I was in choir with lots of you. Ted, Joe, Mike...where are you guys who loved to sing? I'll bet you were in the glee club. I think you actually had to be able to sing to be in it...Mr. Richardson just let me in choir because he liked me...vocal talent had nothing to do with it.............Holley


Yep, I was in the Glee Club, too. Remember? Janet was our pianist.............Michelle


I have vague memories of having a short career with the Glee Club. Can't remember if it was there that we learned and sang the Navy hymn;...or, was that in the OSU choir, which I took for one semester. I do remember sitting down with LeDon who taught me the words to "Deeeeep Riverrrrr Lord, I want to cross oveeeer Jordan" which I thought was a really cool hymn. It was probably there that I also learned to lip sync..............Stu


I have to admit to skinny dipping and what fun that was! There were several of us in the pool and the swim suits were on the side. I still remember Mr. Richardson turning on the lights and there we were! Do not remember any boys around............ Ann White


Ann White Skinny Dipping -- I would have never thought!......LeDon

Well, it got me to thinking……Fred



I remember going skinny dipping at that party. I stayed in the pool the whole time and didn't remember anyone being out of the pool when the lights came on. I guess my memory is not as good as I thought it was..............Mary Ellen


I sang with Mr. Richardson’s choir in my senior year. “Deep River” was one of the first songs we worked on, and it was in singing the line “my home is over Jordan” that I discovered I could actually sing tenor. There was indeed a “Boys’ Glee Club” and a “Girls’ Glee Club,” though I don’t recall much (if anything) about what the heck we did. According to that invaluable reference, the 1960 AHS Yearbook, Ted Smith was the President, Joe Knickmeyer the Vice-President, Larry Smith the Secretary, and Janet Baber the accompanist. I swear to God I can’t recall our singing a single thing. But I remember choir with enormous fondness. Joe Richardson was a kind soul indeed, and took several of us to All State Chorus at the University of Oklahoma. I don’t recall everyone that was there, but Ted, Holley and Janet certainly were. Richardson did not force Janet to compete for the position of accompanist for the All State, and the person who got that job was astonishingly good, able to transpose from one key to another with great agility. We sang Haydn’s “The Creation” and, among other things, a perfectly lovely and flowing Hispanic “Seranata,” which the director unaccountably and atrociously had us end by throwing one foot forward, pointing with the right hand in his general direction, and shouting, “Cha, cha, cha.” Blech, choke, barf.
Like Stu, I continued to sing in college, with the OU Men’s Glee Club, the Singing Sooners. Got in some travel, had good times, had some grotesque experiences as well. Still love that stuff: I sing with our choir at Saint Clare Catholic Church. We’re pretty good. Sometimes. We did a lovely job on “Nun Bitten Wir den Heiligen Geist” at Pentecost.
James Lenehan was in choir and Glee Club. He sang with enthusiasm but in an absolute monotone: Charles Ives would have loved him. Anyone know what became of him?
Clumps,
Joe

Now that Joe has brought up Mr. Richardson I'll send this note I'd told LeDon about yesterday: An interesting thing about Joe Richardson...about 1989 or 90 I lived in Tulsa. I saw an article in the paper about a choir reunion for Will Rogers High School with their teacher, Joe R. That's where he went when he left Ada. I called the number in the article and asked if I could crash their party. They said sure. So I showed up and surprised him. He was so thrilled, he set me next to him at the head table and introduced me as his honored guest.

He had organized the event himself because of a recent diagnosis with prostate cancer. He wanted to say good bye to his students. He died of a heart attack less than 6 months later. One of the Will Rogers students called to tell me. I was so glad I'd gone to their reunion...........Holley


These summertime (and other) memories have been fun to read. Benny Brown, I did indeed find your name in the boy's glee club in the '58 yearbook, but I wasn't sure about the picture. I remember always being in choir and the girl's glee club, and noticed that Marilynn Blackmon was president of the girl's glee club in the '58 yearbook. I didn't remember that, Marilynn! I also remember going to All State Choir with Mr. Richardson, but don't remember how many students went. Evidently there were several.

On another note...George and I just returned from a trip to Orlando, FL, and it was quite interesting how much attention George's ADA COUGAR cap received. As we were about to board our plane in OKC one of the flight attendants stopped and said she used to come to Ada and watch the Cougars with her dad, who turned out to be a neighbor of the Hanson family. (He was the age of one of George's older brothers). She later told us that she had called her dad and he remembered George. Several passengers commented about the cap on our flights both going and coming, as if they had heard about the Ada Cougars. Another flight attendant on the way home mentioned it and said he had relatives in the Ada area, but didn't say who. So the Cougars are "known" from OKC to Kansas City, Chicago, Orlando and Houston at least. Go Cougars!

It's time to meet the Lunch Bunch at Mazzio's. Come join us when you can!.........Judy Hanson


Hello from the country,
Like you Marilynn, I've hesitated to tell my memories of the swimming party and chemistry classes.
Yes Michelle it was Dennis Baker and me. I can't speak for Dennis, but it warped my sense of reality for many years.
I didn't have Ott Harrison as a chemistry teacher. Under the tutelage of Ches, my brother, Veldo Goins, Dearmon Raper, Wendal's brother, I learned how to make pear and grape wine, white lightening, melting copper and brass, and its many uses. There are many other useful and fruitful experiences I had in chemistry class.
Rancherrichie (Richard Guinn)

Holley,
Thank you for the story of Mr. Richardson. I believe he attended one of our reunions too, as did Ott Harrison. Seems like it was at the Junior High building….......Mike Chapman

Mary Ellen,
Between our senior year and first year in college Richard Thompson and I participated in the musical “Oklahoma”, practicing most nights at the amphitheater. Dr. Jean Wray(?) directed. Lots of fun. Another year we did “The Music Man”. Were any of our other classmates in those productions?..............Mike Chapman

Yes, Stu! I remember the threats! Maude Drain was short. The threat Wasalmost eyeball to eyeball with her standing and me sitting. Once, I had to give a report on the Battle of Shiloh. She said, "I want youto make me cry!" (about of the death and destruction, I assume.) I wenthome, got one of Mom's dish towels from the kitchen, and spent the nightdrawing a map with figures, or ex.'s and o's with the field of battle ofShiloh. The following day I gave my report from my dishtowel. She made nocomment about my great art work!...I shivered, got no laughs or tears...andquickly sat down!God, we had great teachers.............Mike Chapman

Holley, Benny, and class,
I do remember the Glee Club. Wasn’t it the basis for “Cougar Capers”? I loved to sing and enjoyed the Glee club!.............Mike Chapman

Joe and all,
Did the Boys Glee Club meet at noon? Seems to me that it was an extra activity that J. Richardson did to get us interested. I also remember seeing in the Ada Community Choir. We presented the “Messiah”. I was in the tenor section next to a true tenor. While practicing at home I could never hit those notes. But with him at my side, the high notes came out! I’ll bet Richardson made us aware of that choir.
Hmmm................More memories............Mike Chapman

I had the pleasure of singing in the "Messiah" for three years, I believe. You remember Dr. Kaebnick who directed us? Didn't we stand outside in the cold air to perform? Part of choir requirement was that we sing in the "Messiah". I think it was Bill Sutter, who was choir director before Richardson, who put us in touch with Kaebnick and the "Messiah" choir..........Marilynn

I sang a couple of years myself. I loved Mr. Kaebnick. He was great to watch conduct!!
Love to all.............. Zuda

I think I sang in "The Messiah" during my 2 AHS years and 4 ECSC years. Kaebnick was maniac, but a damn fine choir director…….Ted


Joe Richardson was indeed at the 1985 reunion. I think that’s the same one where we were visiting one or another school and Ott Harrison joined us there, wheel-chair bound and very frail. I recall offending Mr. Richardson mortally at some point during the evening. He was always extremely sensitive. Does anyone recall the day he “quit” the choir and went home? A group of us pursued him and provided a collective apology for whatever the heck we’d done or said, and persuaded him to return. From a more adult perspective, it seems unlikely that he would actually have thrown his job and career out the window (beggaring and perhaps starving his wife and very young child) in a fit of pique. But who knows?...........Musical clumps.........Joe

Yes, I was a spear carrier in “Oklahoma.” Had a gloriously happy time with it. My brother Steve had a short speaking role, which he won by not being able to sing! I wasn’t aware of a production of “The Music Man,” which must have happened while I was at OU............Joe

I've been reading the letters from so many friends who wrote about their summertime memories while growing up in dear old Ada. I have really enjoyed each and every letter written. Even though for whatever reason I was not included in some of the events that you write about, I find myself wishing I had known more of you in a more personal way. My family never had the means to do much entertaining. I was never ashamed nor do I regret that we sometimes had to do without. I just thought everyone lived the same way. I was brought up by a maternal aunt and uncle, who became my loving parents. They took my brother Larry (Butch) in when I was two years old and he was one. Our brother Johnny was later taken in by a paternal uncle and aunt and we never really knew each other until I was 16. Butch passed away in 1990 from an alcohol addiction that contributed to his heart failure and liver failure. Johnny grew up to be a fine man and a Pastor of a large Non-Denominational church in Moore (Christian Life Fellowship). My parents were a little older than most of yours, but they were good to me and I loved them very much.

I started playing Bb clarinet when I was in the 5th grade at Irving School under the direction of Austin Kidwell. I thought he was a wonderful teacher and I truly enjoyed being in band. And, that man could dance! He liked to demonstrate his talents at every opportunity. I can remember going to summer band every day and how very much I enjoyed it. There was one day I guess I'll always remember because I still carry the mark on my leg. Like most young men, my brother Butch rode a scooter. Well, one day when I was riding behind him on my way to summer band, I stepped off too soon and bumped my leg against the exhaust pipe, which was "red hot"! Immediately, the wound blistered up and I was in extreme pain. But, I was brave (or so I thought) and toughed it out by staying for the entire rehearsal. From that day on, I was very careful how I dismounted the scooter. Of course, when Mr. Vandewalker took over as band director in high school I thoroughly enjoyed his class also. I can remember all the times Steve, Zuda, and I tried to outplay the other one when we had try-outs and challenges for first chair. Those were exciting days and memories I cherish.

My first real job was the summer when I was 16 and worked at the lunch counter at the bus station, which was located across from the post office. Johnnie Scrivner (McKinney) and I both worked there and that is where we became lifelong friends. Those were pleasant memories. I'm afraid we spent more time laughing than we did anything else. But, noone seemed to mind. It was a fun and carefree time in our lives. Then, the next year I got a job in an office. I have always loved typing and filing and any kind of office work, so I was really excited to think my "dream" was finally coming true. Well, I went in to Freeman's Business Machines on South Broadway ready to get my new career started. And, you know all I did for that entire summer was to play gin rummy with Mr. Freeman! Apparently, his business was not particularly flourishing. Either that or he just needed a partner to play cards with him. I have to admit that I enjoyed his company, though. He was a nice man.

I, too, enjoyed swimming in the icy water in Lee's Park in Fittstown. It was a fun place to swim, but soooooooooooooo cold! Of course, we could never pass up an opportunity to drop by Carl's Drive-in for a coke with an olive. What a treat! You know, we may have not had a lot of money, but we had good clean fun wherever we went, whether it was dragging main, dropping by the donut shop or just watching the traffic go by. Those were happy days for me that will stay in my memory as long as I live. At least, as long as I live and still have a memory! Ha!

I do remember Mr. Kaebnick very well. I enjoyed singing in his choir at East Central and especially enjoyed singing in "The Messiah". Didn't he have a terrific speaking voice? One certainly had no problem hearing him, did they? Even after Floyd and I married, Mr. Kaebnick and Floyd became good friends and Floyd did several brick jobs for him. He thought a lot of Floyd.

Like I tell my grandchildren, life was simpler then. I don't ever remember being bored, tired, or even hot. I was just happy being me. If I ever found myself feeling lonely, I could always climb a tree. I probably climbed most of the many trees on our 50 acres at some time or other in my lifetime. I spent a lot of time helping my mother with the housework and loved doing it. I truly believe that is why I still love keeping house. I've always loved mowing the lawn, and still do. Floyd has a hard time understanding how anyone could love yardwork.

I'm sure the summer days were not all fun and games, but we did have a good time. I don't believe today's young people really enjoy doing a lot of nothing like we did. I get tired of hearing "I'm bored", don't you? I don't know the answer. I just wish they could have the same "privileges" we had as teenagers. I'm sure the world would be a much nicer place to live.

Thanks for bringing back memories of summertime carefree days in Ada when we were "young"..............Ann Holman

I ran across this on the internet. It was part of an interview with Guy Logsdon and he was remembering Mr. Harrison......Doug
"We were working on the annual one day and asked Mr. Harrison to fill out a form listing what his degrees were. The man was a Chickasaw Indian and had never married. He had five masters degrees and was certified to teach anything that was taught in the schools in Oklahoma. During his career, he had also been a choir director and had taught home economics, chemistry, physics, English, and you name it."And here's something really intriguing about Arthur Harrison that I learned much later in my life from looking at the 1929 annual for Okemah (Oklahoma) High School. He had taught there from 1928 to 1929. And, as the business education and typing instructor, he had taught Woody Guthrie. Guthrie was a speed typist and all that ability he had came from studying under Mr. Harrison. Later, I went back and interviewed Mr. Harrison and asked him what Woody Guthrie was like."When I was attending college at East Central University in Ada, I walked into a higher math class and there sat Mr. Harrison. I said, 'Mr. Harrison, what are you doing in this class?' He said, 'This teacher doesn't know anything about this subject, so I'm sitting in on the class so I can help him.'"One other thing about Mr. Harrison, he had tunnel vision. He could just barely see whatever was right in front of him. I sat in the front of the class, but let's just say that I was not the best student. One time he came walking in the room and I whispered to my buddies, 'Watch this,' as I stuck my leg out where I would trip him as he walked by. Well, he didn't trip over me at all. He kicked the fire out of me. That was the last time I ever tried anything like that. He was quite a man. I have nothing but fond memories and great respect for him. But I was not the least bit interested in science, so chemistry and like courses were tough for me.


That's interesting, Doug. We used to make fun of Mr. Harrison in chemistry class. Mostly because of his eyesight, or lack thereof. There were stories going around about him setting fires in the chemistry classroom & the like, because he couldn't see what he was mixing up, I guess., or maybe because he missed the flask. I don't know if they were true or not. I feel bad about laughing at him now. Thanks for sending that...........Nancy

I had Mr. Harrison for psychology. It was one of the very best classes I had at Ada Hi. I thought he was an excellent teacher in that subject...........LeDon

I was in Mr. Harrison's chemistry class but dropped out before he asked me to drop out. I think I was only in that class for maybe 6 weeks before I dropped it. I received a letter from him while I was in Viet Nam. I was really shocked that he remembered me. It was a 2 pg. hand written letter and so very personal. I wrote him back once and he answered back right away. He probably was writing to many others also and he really didn't have to. It meant a lot to me at that time…......Vestil

Mr. Harrison's Chemistry class (fall of 1958) holds the distinction of being the only class I ever failed.He was quite a character, to be sure.As a result, I got to take Mr. Wasson's much-more-fun Speech class. He was so tickled and intrigued by the way I pronounced "oil" (instead of "awl"), he asked me to say the word at least once a week. :-)........ Ted

He was also the Ada High School Art teacher. I learned a lot about perspective drawing from him and went on to teach it when I was a junior high art teacher. One assignment in Mr. Harrison's class, was to go outside and draw our high school building!! At first we were all excited that we could leave the classroom and go outside, but all that changed when we tried to tackle that gothic architecture! whew, it was hard, but a drawing to be proud of when we finished........Sidney


Mr. Harrison was clearly Sooo... much more than any of our immature little minds could comprehend. I've learned a lot more by reading the mail and glad he may finally be appreciated a little. Too bad it is too late to tell him......Doug


Actually, quite a few of us did have the opportunity (and took advantage ofit) during one of our more remote reunions--one could find which by goingthrough photographs, but perhaps someone remembers off the top of his or herhead. He was then, of course, much advanced in years, but still mentallyintegrated.... Joe


I didn't have the dubious pleasure of having Mr. Harrison for any classes. Mostly because I was too scared of his subjects to try them...I did have lots with the fun Mr. Wasson and have used the speech, drama and other skills I learned in his classes a great deal. I always felt a little sorry for Mr. Harrison because kids were cruel about his vision impairment. I suspect he had macular degeneration, not funny to us older folks now.

So I went into college chemistry totally unprepared at age 35. Fortunately I had a red-haired, red-bearded guy about my age for a teacher and one of my daughter's friends for a lab partner. (He's an optometrist now.) So I made it through with a minimum of pain, but a maximum of study, and after a serious discussion about how I arrived at the answer to a question on the final, he gave me credit for it and I squeaked an A, as well as A's in the other 2 chem classes I had to take for a home ec major. Outside of knowing not to mix certain cleaning products together, I was never totally convinced all that chemistry made one bit of difference in my real life.......Holley

Macular degeneration is unlikely: Ott could see objects at the center of his visual field, but had extremely limited peripheral vision. Macular degeneration works the other way around. Glaucoma acts that way, but so do a substantial number of other retinal problems. It is plumb scary how much can go wrong with you—at any age!.........Optical clumps............Knick


The only class I ever failed was at EC. It was orinthaogy, I mean ornitheolgy, I mean orornithlogy oh hell, it had something to do with birds. Dr. Carter was the culprit. …..Fred


While I didn't fail any classes at ECSC, did make Ds in Econ 101 (summer in un air-conditioned Horace Mann Building with a boring prof) and Mythology (All Matching Exams!)……Ted


Ted, I pronounce oil with 3 syllables; is that how you say it - 3 letters, 3 syllables? I don't think I took speech in high school; that's probably why I had to take it in college. Hated it for the most part........Nancy


I take it that the "he" of Ted's final sentence/paragraph is referring to Mr. Wasson? The standard American broadcasting pronounciation appears to be what perhaps most of us thought it should be: "oi" as in "boy" plus the American "l". The vowels aren't really two separate syllables, as our English teachers used to try to convince us, but a single diphthong.Mr. Harrison was definitely a hoot. I can recall getting in a furious argument with him on the difference between weight and mass, but for the life of me, I can't imagine why--it's an awfully simple notion. People were always trying to shove something in his way to get a demented (not to say rather retarded) teenage chuckle out of his reaction. I remember someone successfully got a trash can in his planned path, and it caused quite a stumble, but he didn't fall.I had him for chemistry, physics and psychology. I can't say I enjoyed every moment of these experiences, but there were high points (a chunk of sodium pitched into a washtub of water just outside the lab windows, a vivid demonstration of the combustive properties of phosphorus, and many more). Not to mention one that involved Ott only tangentially: the memorable day Joe Kelley dumped about 100 ml of sulphuric acid on lab notebook, effectively turning it to a brown mush. Great days.Some of our classmates have curious stories about Harrison. Perhaps they will share some of those (not always pleasant) memories! .........Clumps, Joe

Nancy, I've been sitting here saying oil over and over.My office door is wide open and I hope no one walks by and hears me!I think I pronounce the 3-letter word in 2 syllables.Oy-ill……Ted

Me too, Ted. I'm sitting here trying to figure out how a person says it with three. Maybe it's oy-ill well.......Michelle

Oy-ee-ul. That's 3. speaking of Okie (or not) pronunciation, Gale tells about a slow-talkin' good old boy he was in National Guard with in Ada. Gale could tell you his name, I don't recall details about where they were, but he ran yelling...say this veerrry slowly...Far, Far, muh jeep's on far!
Holley


Do you remember the three little boys from down by Madill were in their church Christmas program. It came about time for them to come in and they were no where to be found. All of sudden they came in with ashes and dust all over them. The lady in charge said - what in the world? One of them said -- well you told us yourself that they came from afar…….LeDon


Are we sure it isn't really prounounced like earl? I think Ted should be the final authority, after all Mr. Wasson like his pronunciation. I recall singing in the Messiah too, just not all the details. I had Bill Sutter for choir sophomore year too. He was nicer than Richardson, but both were excellent choir teachers. I'm thrilled to report that my grandson at Stephenville, TX has a great choir teacher too and has found his niche through choir. He's the one I used to think would be mostly likely to wind up in jail, but thanks to a great step-dad who has stabilized his life and finding choir, he's on the road to a good future........Holley


Actually Ted, my pronunciation of the word tends to be 2½ syllables - like Joe said. I don't always say it exactly the same every time; it seems to depend upon the context & how fast I say it. Go figure........Love, Nancy


Well, Nancy, ya gotta remember that you've lived in California for many years now. That will make you bi-lingual. Oil may be prounced quite differently here. BTW, when I first started coming to California in the '50s, friends here would introduce me, with the instruction that, "We speak in 78 and Stu here speaks in 33 1/3 so you'll have to slow down for him." Or, it was "this is Stu. He's from Oklahoma. Say something for them, Stu." OK, how about the word "warsh?" Does anybody still warsh their hands? Clothes?........ Stu


Stu, those words were said to me over and over when I moved to Wisconsin! I would ask, "What should I say?" and everyone would roll on the floor with laughter! No one listened to what I said - only the way I said it!One of our early friends was from Boston and he and I could not understand each other AT ALL. He asked me if I went to the "Potty" and I couldn't believe he would ask such a thing. Then I realized there had been a "Party" a few nights earlier!It makes it interesting! -- Carolyn Mc


Yeah, Stu, I speak like you do. Some people don't want to wait for me to finish (hee hee). But I have a good friend who grew up in Mississippi & he speaks at a hand-cranked cylinder speed!
I never said warsh - I thought that was Texas - I said waaash. I read that actors used to study the Oklahoma accent, because that was considered neutral. Do you believe that?.....Nancy


Carolyn, what you said reminded me that when people would ask where in Oklahoma I was from, & I told them Ada, they would say "where is Ida?" .... Nancy


Who would have thought a little three letter word like oil could generate so much conversation!

Nancy, I had a friend in college who told me I was the only person he'd ever met who could make Ada a three syllable word.

I remember singing with the chorus in the productions at the amphitheater and also in the Messiah. I had the privilege of sitting next to Nancy Kaebnick who had a beautiful alto voice, and I felt like you did, Mike. It was great to imagine that my puny little voice was part of that wonderful sound.

Hey, the newly remodeled McSwain Theatre will be opening soon and you will all be amazed at what a beautiful job the Chickasaw Nation did on that building! I'm sure Marilynn will be sharing information about it, and surely the Ada News will have pictures and a story. That will no doubt stir up more memories from our "Happy Days"......Judy


Coming from Ada America was very useful when I worked for the US Forrest Service in Idaho during summers from college. I had two good friends, one from Clemson SC, the other from Boston. We'd go to the only diner in Elk City for dinner sometimes. The poor waitress couldn't understand either one of my buddies. After several attempts, I had to explain that they each wanted a "hamburger." It certainly makes one proud to be able to translate, what is to some, a foriegn language......... Stu


Gee Gang.........It's oy..i..el......... Everybody in Okie land knows that..........Marilynn


Gee, I'm tickled to have started such a discussion of pronunciation! :-)…….Ted


Being honored is one thing, but I've never been a "final authority" on anything unrelated to alcohol.Especially since I was a carpetbagger from eastern Washington in 1958. Good for your grandson, Holley!

I'm sure if I even understand 2.5 syllables, Nancy. :-)…..Ted


This reminds me of a pet peeve I have.People, especially in the media, who pronounce Washington (DC and State), "Worshington."Ech!.......Ted


Those are the same people who worsh their hands, Ted. Sorry, if I've peeved you.........Stu


I understood that, Stu.It just reminded me of my peeve, not that I was at all peeved at you……Ted


If we're doing pet peeves - one of mine is people calling a water heater a hot water heater. If something is heated, it doesn't get cold does it? How about you Janet - mispronouncing realtor?........Michelle


Hi, well....it only gets cold when that heater (we call em hot water tanks 'round here) decides to quit. I was mighty thankful that my son-in-law managed to replace mine recently, so I didn't miss any hot showers.

Some of you know I had sinus surgery yesterday. It went very well and I expect to be doing great in a few days...but after I came home from the hospital yesterday on pain meds and sitting still...I watched a little Food Network. It doesn't require much brain power or focus...but I noticed the Neeleys from Memphis talked about "awl" in a recipe, then Paula Deen from Savanah used some 'oh-ul" so I'll probably never hear that word again without thinking of this crazy discussion. Other words that bother me are "Orange/ornge/arnge" and Picture vs. Pitcher. Some of Gale's family has a unique pronunciation of "school." I can't even say it like his mother and sister do...

I never had Mr. Harrison for a class, but it's been wonderful to hear your memories. What a shame some were mean to him by trying to trip him up. But I'm glad to hear some tried to help too. I wish I'd taken some of his classes, might have made college a lot easier.........Love ya'll.......Holley


Holley, I had a friend here who grew up in Tennessee. She said skoo (sounds like boo) for school. And since she was in the education field - and administrator no less - I heard it often. Are Gale's relatives from Tennessee by any chance?.............Love, Nancy

Hi Holley,

Hope your recovery from surgery goes well.

Yesterday the lunch bunch had a laugh when Brenda just out of the blue said "oil"! Of course some discussion followed. There's no telling what things from our younger days may surface if this keeps up. It's funny that those words caught your attention while watching the food network...and probably would have gone unnoticed a couple of weeks ago.

BTW, your picture with your daughters is lovely. You look like sisters...........Take care......... Judy

I think the standard Oklahoma pronunciation is as Ted provided it. It is famously done also as “erl,” both in Oklahoma and further East. Three? How about “oh-wee-uhl”?......Joe

That's the pronunciation I was going for, just didn't get quite the right spelling! Thanks, Joe. I do remember the 1985 reunion...what a great event. A lot of our teachers came to a coffee at the jr. hi. on Saturday morning, but Joe Richardson came all the way from St. Louis. Who could forget the wonderful re-enactment of our commencement? Same old hot, airless auditorium. The highlight for me was giving diplomas to some who'd moved, gone to the military, or otherwise didn't actually finish with us. That meant the world to most of them.

We have a friend who is in his late 70s, maybe even older, who found out his high school would give belated diplomas to veterans. He'd dropped out to go to WWII. He walked across the stage with the graduating class of 2006 or so. He was so proud to finally receive his high school diploma...........Holley

Thanks Holley, one of life stories that I tell is that I graduated from college in 1970 and from High School in 1985. And the fun part is getting to explain it………..Joe

Ooh! Ooh! This is one of my favorite subjects!
Real Hates:
1. “Lay” versus “lie.” Nothing raises the hackles on the back of my neck like, “I just wanna lay around the house and smoke marijuana,” or, “Why don’t you just lay down and rest?”
2. “Bedroom Suit” for “bedroom suite.” A bedroom suit is a pair of pajamas.
3. “Dove” versus “dived.” Probably lost the war on this one. People who profess to HATE irregular verbs have wrecked “dive, dived, dived.” Are we going for “dive, dove, diven”?
4. “Ad-ver-TIZE-ment” versus “ad-VERT-is-ment.” This one is lost too, beyond even a desperate rear-guard action. But the former pronunciation still sounds horrible to me.
5. “Between you and I.” And the closely related “Her and me went to town.” Does anyone feel impelled to say, “Her went to town”? Or “Me went to town”? “Her and I went there” is not an improvement to speak of.
Mild Irritants:
1. Failure to use the possessive before a gerund: “I hate him running around on me” is evil. “I hate his running around on me” is cool. This is probably a losing battle, too.
2. Failure to use the subjunctive, at least for conditions contrary to fact: “If he was a bell, he’d be ringing.” No. “If he were a bell, he’d be ringing.” Yes. “If I was you…” You weren’t. “If I were you…” Ah, groovy.
3. “Democrat Party.” Sheesh. There’s no such thing. It’s “Democratic Party.” Would you want to say, “Republic Party”? It’s the same thing.
4. “Peninshula” for “peninsula.” Ick. I used to live on one, and all we Virginia Peninsula people barf if you don’t inject a clean sibilant into that word.
5. In writing, invalid escapes from “He said, she said,” such as “I hate you,” she hissed. It’s hard to hiss something that doesn’t have any “s” sound in it. Ken Follett actually has ““I love you,’ she hissed,” in his Pillars of the Earth. Wake up, editors!
6. And, of course, punctuation failures like the wild use of the apostrophe: “Carrot’s for sale!!”
I can go on like this for quite a long time. This is likely too much. All of these were matters of genuine concern to our English teachers (especially Mrs. Decker), who can look out across today’s verbal landscape with a profound sense of failure.
Dialectical variations don’t bother me a lot. We’d lose a lot of the color of language if those disappeared. I like the Oklahoman “You gotta sang from the hort.” (Though, to be honest, that’s more Texas than OK, Max Schulman to the contrary.) My brother has an OK accent you could slice up and sell to historians of the English language. I have a colorless, NBC-midwest, standard accent, not nearly so cool. You can tell when I am trying to imitate the speech of my home state, my intellectual and linguistic cradle for 28 years. How the hell did that happen?
How many Seniors of Sixty speak real Oklahoman? And apart from being peeved at people who write up lists like the above, what tricks of language annoy you?
Word clumps,
Joe

As for language - drives me nuts when someone says "me and him/her"............Michelle