WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL TWO RIVERS WI CLASS OF 1989

SHAWN MEHLHORN DONATIONS

2008-06-08T08:49:00.000-07:00

Shannon Koch sent me an Email and asked me to spread the word about her uncle Shawn. The information is below.

There is a two-day, 150-mile bike trip from Mequon to Manitowoc to Sturgeon Bay which takes places July 19th & 20th. The event raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Here's a link to information about the event.

Scenic Shore 150 Bike Tour

The information below also contains a special link in which you can make donations in Shawn's name. I've done so myself.

Dear Family and Friends,

With Memorial Day come and gone and summer in full swing, it's time for me to hit the pavement.........biking that is. As you may or may not know, I will be joining Gordy and all the other riders, and biking 150 miles in efforts to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Gordy has led our group "Team Bird" since 2005, when Shawn (Bird) was still fighting this horrible battle. After Bird's passing, the ride suddenly took on new meaning. I watched last year as the riders got to the 1/2 way point and finish line as Peggy, Bird's widow, held the "Thank You" sign. Suddenly, it hit me very hard, why we were all there and how extremely Thankful I was for everyone's efforts. It's hard to describe the passion I have to do something for my brother, even though he is gone, maybe I can make a difference for another cancer patient and their loved ones. I cannot do this by myself and I am asking your help to raise money for this great cause. Please send a check payable to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society or use the link provided to pledge to "Team Bird" as we ride the Scenic Shore 150.

Thank You in advance,
Deb

Donation via credit card? Simply go to the link below and pull down my name.
Donations in the name of Shawn Mehlhorn

Donation via check payable to:
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Deb Peppler
1498 Clay Rd.
Oshkosh, WI 54904

Receipt
Scenic Shore 150 Bike Tour Cash Donations
Donor name: ___________________________________
Amount: _________ Date: _________
Received by: ___________________________________
Your contribution is tax-deductible within IRS regulations. Your donation will benefit the Wisconsin Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Thank you for your generosity.

UPDATES

2008-05-31T16:51:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been quite awhile since my last update. Call it laziness. But I do have a few things to mention.

First of all, last September Tracy Messman got married. So congratulations to her.

The blog was also discovered by Jim Sanford and Wyatt Wood - who both left updates for themselves. Wyatt also sent me four pics. You can see them below. They feature his new wife and new baby - including the obligatory "baby in a box" picture. What a cute kid!

I added a brief blurb about Jenny Malley - thanks to Brandon Podhola. You can find it in Jenny's entry.

I Email/text with Erin Hynek fairly regularly. She happens to be in Two Rivers this weekend. She's going on some sort of two-hour cruise on Lake Michigan. I believe Josie Scott, Paula Jonas and Brenda Gordon are joining her. Several of Erin's hasher friends are joining her too. What's a hasher? You'll have to ask her. Or ask me. I remember when she first sent me the link to the hasher group in St. Louis and asked if I thought she should join it. Needless to say there will no doubt be some drinking going on during that cruise. So if you see them, say hi! (And take some pictures.)

In other news, I actually found some rather risque photos and videos on the internet of one of our classmates. Did I say risque? More like X-rated - literally. Will I post these pics? Not a chance in hell! Will I even mention the classmate in question? Nope! I'll just keep you guessing! All I can say is... wow!

Until next time, here's Wyatt's family photos.

UPDATES - SHAWN PICKARD, TAMMY FRANZEN & RANDY KLEIN

2008-03-20T16:22:00.000-07:00

First off, I have some news. I was contacted by a reporter from the Herald Times Reporter. She wants to interview me and do an article about this blog. The interview is taking place in Two Rivers next Sunday. That should be interesting.

Randy Klein stopped by today and left a comment in his entry, as well as in Carroll Sturm's entry. Randy's not too happy with me. But I guess that's to be expected. Welcome aboard Randy. I have no hard feelings. Thanks for your comments.

A couple of weeks ago, I got an Email out of the blue from Shawn Pickard. He sent me some pics of he and his wife. If you look down, you'll see them.

I also got an Email from Tammy Franzen. She sent me a few more family photos. You can see them below.

On a sad note, class of 1990's Andrea Burns, who was a contibutor on this blog, and also is the daughter of one our teachers, lost her battle with cancer. Her obituary is below. Here's a blog entry I did on her this past August. ANDREA BURNS

Andrea S. Burns

Andrea S. Burns, age 36, of 3800 Bellevue Place, Two Rivers, lost her fight with stage-four metastatic melanoma on Monday, March 17, 2008, at home, surrrounded by her family.

Andrea was born in Two Rivers, on March 16, 1972, to Judith L. (Sciotto) Burns and the late Robert L. Burns. She was a graduate of Washington High School, Two Rivers, with the class of 1990. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in communication disorders in 1994, with a minor in sociology from Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Mich., and studied nonviolent crisis intervention at Adam's State College, Alamosa, Colo. She was employed at Phoenix Behavioral Health Services in Manitowoc, as a senior line therapist. She dedicated her life to helping children with disabilities, both in Wisconsin and in Colorado. Andrea was an avid hunter and Harley enthusiast.

She is survived by her mother: Judith L. Burns of Two Rivers; older sister: Yvette (Adam) Anderegg; and younger sister: Maria (Wade) Hynek; nieces: Cloee Anderegg; Kendra Hynek; and Koleen Hynek; feline friends: Raven and River; grandfather: Frank P. Sciotto; grandmother: Elsie Burns; aunt and uncle: Sue and Frank Leckwart; and many cousins; special friends: Robin Bowes; Beth Frye; Josie Krause; Tammy Phillips; Scott Varelli; and Stephanie Winston; friends and staff at Phoenix Behavioral Health Services; Washington High School, Two Rivers, class of 1990 and faculty; and other close friends and family. She was preceded in death by her father: Robert L. Burns; grandmother: Joan Sciotto; grandfather: Marvin Burns; special companion and canine friend: Brandy; uncle: Frank Sciotto III; and other close extended family members.

The family will greet relatives and friends from 4 until 8 p.m. on Thursday evening, March 20, 2008, at the Deja & Martin Funeral Chapels, 1506 18th St., Two Rivers.

A time for remembrance will be held at 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 20, 2008, to conclude the visitation.

Cremation will follow, with burial to take place at Holy Cross Cemetery, Marquette, Mich., at a later date.

A very special thank you to Holy Family Memorial Dr. Baatz and Richard Milewicz, the Cancer Care Center Staff, Holy Family Memorial Home Care, Holy Family Memorial Hospice, Deja & Martin Funeral Chapels, Jayme Presl and staff of Stock's Harley Davidson of Manitowoc.

If daisies grow in heaven, Please pick a bunch for us, Place them in Andrea's arms and tell her they're from us. Tell her we love and miss her And when she turns to smile, Place a kiss upon her cheek and hold her for awhile. Because remembering her is easy, We do it every day, But there is an ache within our hearts that will never go away.

Andrea will be sadly and lovingly missed by everyone she has touched with her teachings, wise words, laughter thoughtful and caring hands.

ANOTHER UPDATE

2008-02-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention that I had a very interesting comment from Don Stummeier's sister. Don was the guy who allegedly killed himself between my junior and senior year. I say "allegedly" because his sister paints a very different story.

You can find her comment in his entry.

SEVERAL UPDATES

2008-01-31T10:11:00.000-08:00

Wow. It's been awhile. So much has happened to me - and is still happening. But that's for another discussion.

Blog-wise, I've had a few visitors. For one, Jeff Rehrauer stopped by and left a comment for himself, using the name THE MAD SUPPLEMENT SCIENTIST. In addition to him, Ben Franco made an appearance. I've actually Emailed a few times with Ben. He lives in San Antonio, and plays in a band. But I haven't been able to get a picture of him yet. Bummer. Ben left several comments, using the name MIZTEC. You can see them in his entry, as well as the entries for Paula Jonas, Lionel McCallister, Tom Grassman and Clint Mattrisch. Julie Landon also signed on and left a comment for herself. Tammy Behrmann did as well. In addition to herself, Tammy also left a comment for Mr. Jones.

Jeff Rehrauer has a blog of his own too. It's linked on the right side of this page.

Speaking of Tom Grassman, I received a text message from him on November 17th, informing me that his wife had just given birth to their second baby girl. So congratulations to Tom!

By the way, with Ben's comment in Clint Mattrisch's entry, Clint is now tied with Brad Strouf with the most comments of anyone - 40. Oh, and speaking of Brad Strouf, he recently got married in Antigua. See the pics below.

Shawn Pickard stopped by again and left a comment in Greg Pagel's entry.

I also got an interesting comment in Mr. Schott's entry. It was from the gay highschool student mentioned in a story I found when Schott was the principal in a school in Vermont.

One person who had alluded me was our foreign exchange student, Anton Nyquist. I believe he hailed from Norway. Anyway, a random search one day yielded something - a photograph. Yes, on some weird foreign website, I came across the picture you see below. Anton Nyquist is listed as the guy in the back right corner. Pretty cool, huh?

Class of 1990's Nick Rogne stopped by and cleared up some confusion in one of the class photos from Magee. You can find his comment here.

NICK ROGNE

Craig Rysticken received another comment as well. I believe it was left by class of 1987's Wayne Greenwood. Was he related to Troy Greenwood?

I also received an odd Email from Chad Kautzer. Only it wasn't the Chad Kautzer that I was a classmate with. No, this particular Chad Kautzer (who also hails from Wisconsin ironically) is a philosophy teacher at a university in New York. And he had had a few problems with potential employers finding my blog. And needless to say, my entry on classmate Chad wasn't exactly flattering. So as a favor to him, I put a huge disclaimer at the top of Chad's entry.

A few months ago, out of the blue, I received an Email from Cindy Hayes. She somehow stumbled upon my blog. I of course asked for some pictures. And just this week, I got them! These are of her and her family. Oh, and in the small world department, after viewing the wedding photos of Brad's, Cindy told me that she and her husband got married in the exact same place.

Lastly, Mike Vaneyck stopped by and left a nasty comment in his entry. Of course if you read his entry, his nasty attitude is understandable. He threatened to sue me. Although that was back in November. And I've yet to have any process server come knocking at my door. The day after he left that comment, Mike came back to MY BLOG, went into MY PROFILE, clicked on MY EMAIL ADDRESS, and sent ME the following message.

"this is mike vaneyck. I would like to know if you know who's Google blog site this is? and if you could tell me who put this crap on this site? about me and my family so that I may take legal action against them for SLANDER."

Does anyone else appreciate the irony here? Think about who he's asking. I also find humor in the fact that he doesn't know the difference between libel and slander. I had a teacher in college, when I was writing for the school newspaper. She preached to us, "Truth defeats libel."

I didn't reply to Mike, nor do I plan to.

UPDATES

2007-12-05T09:01:00.000-08:00

Sometimes life bites you in the ass. I do have a bunch of updates coming. I just haven't found time to get to them yet. One of these days, I will. In fact, one my classmates has threatened to sue me because of this blog.

Life is in turmoil now though. Hopefully I'll get to it soon.

UPDATE - JASON ANDERSON

2007-10-09T06:47:00.000-07:00

I've been sitting on this update for almost a year. Last December, Meff happened to be at his parents' home. I believe the date was Sunday, December 17th. While there, he glanced at the Journal Sentinel. And for whatever reason, he took a look at an article about homes. And his eye spotted a picture. He looked at it closely. He then thought to himself, "Is that Jason Anderson?"

Now, having seen Jason's family photos on this blog, he looked at the woman in the photo and concluded that she was not Jason's wife. He was correct. As it turned out, Jason and his wife had filed for divorce three months earlier. No big deal. It happens.

Anyway, Jason and his new Girlfriend Tara had purchased a home in Hartford together. The article was about affordable homes in the Hartford area. Based on comments made by Jason in Brad Strouf's blog, I believe he and Tara are now engaged. They may have gotten engaged last Valentine's Day. Hell, for all I know, they're now married. But anyway, with Jason's permission, the photo is below.

UPDATE - JEFF BODWIN

2007-10-08T14:18:00.000-07:00

I received a couple of E-mails from one of Jeff's students in college. He said Jeff is a pretty cool guy who really knows his stuff. He also found my blog entry to be absolutely hilarious - especially the Youtube clip. Poor Jeff. I hope he doesn't get any grief over this.

Anyway, he sent me to a link which had a recent picture of Jeff. He seems to have ditched those giant glasses. He's in the back row, on the far left.

WELCOME JACKIE ROEHL & SEVERAL UPDATES

2007-10-04T07:31:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I got a nice E-mail from class of 1988's Jackie Roehl. She sent me three pictures of her and her children, and one with class of 1990's Monica Engstrom (and one of Monica's daughters) - which you can see below. Jackie is now known as Jackie Roehl Montreal. And she works for the New Richmond School District. Jackie also left a comment in the "Pictures" entry, as well as in Troy Greenwood's entry. Monica is married and living in California. She has three kids, and is now known as Monica Friendman.

I've been sitting on this next picture since July, I believe. Erin Hynek went up to Two Rivers for the 4th of July. While there, she hung out with Paula Jonas and Brenda Gordon. When they went out one night, they happened to run into Mark Gordon. The results are below.

I also have an update on the one and only graduate who I had been unable to locate. Thanks to a comment left by Catherine's mother, the mysterious Catherine Mushero has been found. And it was a strange trip. About six weeks ago, I had a very nasty conversation with Catherine's stepmother. The details can be found in her entry.

I was able to find pictures online of both Jamie Grainger and Wyatt Wood. I put each picture in their respective entries. Wyatt's entry has an update on him as well.

I also have eight additional pictures. One is of Erin Hynek's girls. One is a tiny picture of Jeff Bodwin. One is of Craig Rysticken. One is of Anne Wetenkamp. There are three pictures of Chris Storlie. The other is of Jenny Malley. You can find them in their respective entries.

There is a big update on Shane Peterson, including a link to his personal website.

Mr. Wolfe, the L.B. Clarke gym teacher, has passed away. His obituary can be found in his entry.

Lastly, about a month ago, I got an E-mail from Andy Reinhart. He somehow stumbled upon this blog. He directed me to a Brett Favre book - a book that I happened to have. It turns out, there's a picture of him inside the book. It's a picture of him in Lambeau Field, holding up a Michigan license plate with the word "Packers" on it. Sweet! One of these days, I'll scan it in.

Enjoy!

LABOR DAY WITH ERIN HYNEK

2007-09-06T10:03:00.000-07:00

So after a few weeks of planning, the TWORIVERSWALRUS family set out for St. Louis. Why? Because we were invited to spend the weekend with Erin Hynek. How could we pass that up? So on August 31st, we left my work about 5:00 and headed south for a mere 418-mile trek. Onboard were myself, my lovely wife and our two girls - ages four and two. There was also some junk food.

Erin doesn't live in St. Louis. She lives outside of the city. Could it have been on the northeast side - closer to Wisconsin? Oh no. She had to settle down about 40 minutes northwest of the city - out in the boonies - very dark. On the surface it doesn't seem to make that much fo a difference. But when you've been driving for 5.5 hours, it'd be nice to be done, rather than go those extra 40 minutes. Oh well.

So we arrived at about 11:40 and settled in, carrying our girls up to bed. Erin had to get to bed right away, as she was doing a triathlon the next morning, and had to be up at some ungodly time like 5:30. My wife and I had done our triathlons the week before. So we slept in.

Expected back around 10:30, I think Erin actually rolled in around noon. We ended up officially meeting her two girls shortly thereafter. And let me say, her kids are two of the most well-behaved, well adjusted little girls I've ever been around. Kudos to Erin on her mothering skills.

We went to the mall. We went shopping. We ate toasted ravioli - and potato chips, a restaurant buffet, cookies, and various other tasty, unhealthy stuff. Ah... vacation! I played Pictionary with Erin's girls, batted balloons around, went swimming, and had an all-around good time.

On Sunday we went to Grant's Farm - free, save for the parking. It's sort of zoo, with horses, deer, bison, kangaroos and more. They even had elephants. Not one to pass up a unique photo opportunity, I got a picture of Erin and I (and one of her daughters) in front of an elephant. This marks my first classmate photo with a giant beast in it. I'm sure there will be more.

On Monday morning, Erin's youngest tried to do something with my oldest's hair.

Her big sister then tried to undo the tangles.

When that didn't work, Erin had to come in and fix it. I believe it required scissors.

After the hair episode, we took them out to IHOP for a final breakfast. It took about an hour before we actually saw our food. But when it finally did arrive, it was tasty and plentiful. When we were done, we posed for the obligatory group shot. I'm in the back - the only male in the photo.

All-in-all, it was a fabulous weekend. Apparently Erin's girls were a bit teary-eyed after we left. How sweet. When I told my daughter that, she said, "I was sad to go too." After 18 years, here I was, a guest in the home of a former classmate that I'd never even hung around with back in school. Life is surreal sometimes, isn't it? Erin was an excellent host and made us all feel very welcome. Perhaps we can do it again over another three-day weekend. I sure hope so.

BENEFIT FOR ANDREA BURNS - CLASS OF 1990

2007-08-23T09:03:00.000-07:00

Back in June, I received a photo of class of 1990's Andrea Burns. Andrea had made a visit to this blog before, leaving a comment for her dad, Mr. Burns. The photo of Andrea is below. Below that one is a second one I received today.

This morning I received an E-mail from Andrea's siter - class of 1994's Maria. It's self explanatory. Please read.

**********************************************************

I am sending this to you at the request of my sister, Andrea Burns, with the hopes of you posting it on your http://classof1989.blogspot.com/ page. Just a FYI....she is a class of 1990 graduate from Washington High in TR.
Thank you.

Dear family and friends,

I am writing to all of you on behalf of a benefit that is being held for my sister, Andrea.

First a little background about her:
She has been battling metastatic malignant melanoma since 2003 with a remission until spring of 2006, which then was found in her right lung. She has since underwent surgery and completed a trial treatment of chemotherapy and radiation out in Bethesda, Maryland back in December of 2006. For 6 months the tumor, that the medical team was unable to remove, did not show any signs of growth or a decrease in size. It was then this past July she developed a chronic cough, which we now know is fluid build up around her right lung and two more areas were found that are also believed to be melanoma. After she returned home from that visit she received a phone call from the medical team out at the NIH in Bethesda stating that she does not qualify for the clinical trial she was part of or any other trials that they are researching.

So with that information, I contacted Jayme at Stock's Harley Davidson of Manitowoc for aid in organizing a benefit that will help with the expenses of past, present, and future medical bills.

The details are as follows:
Date: Saturday September 29, 2007
Place: Iron Buffalo Saloon in Menchalville, Wisconsin
www.ironbuffalosaloon.com
Time: 3:30-7:30

There will be food, raffles, a silent auction, and music by The Happy Schnapps Combo
my.execpc.com/~sjkrautk/schnapps.html

If anyone is interested in contributing with a donation and/or volunteering at the benefit for various duties, please contact me. (See below).

Final note:
In the mist of this devastating news, Andrea is not giving up her fight. We are currently in contact with other physicians and medical teams throughout the United States.

Please help support and also pass the word on about this benefit that will be helping such a deserving person in her fight.

Thank you!

Maria Hynek
RN_TO_B@yahoo.com

GIRLS NIGHT OUT

2007-08-14T07:42:00.000-07:00

Saturday, August 11th - it was a very warm day. My wife and I knew that Greg Pagel was going to be playing in Port Washington. So we drove over in the afternoon to check him out. We found Greg and his three-piece band doing their set in the bandshell. They were all baking in the sun. But they carried on. We spoke with Greg for a bit, before heading out. We had to leave around 4:00, as we were heading up to Manitowoc to see the Simpsons movie. Apparently just after we left, Sheila Zach showed up as well. Damn! I missed a photo opportunity! I did get two pictures of Greg though. You can see them below.

We met my parents at the Strand Theater in Manitowoc. The movie started at 5:00. We got there about 4:59. My parents took the kids back to their house, as we scurried inside - just making it. The movie was funny as hell, by the way. After it was over, we went back to my parents' house and had a bite to eat. Then we said goodbye to the girls and headed out. We had plans in Green Bay.

So you're wondering why a post with Greg Pagel is titled "Girls Night Out?" Greg was in the daytime. The girls came out at night.

This past Novemeber, through a series of unfortunate events, I missed out on another great photo opportunity. To refresh your memory, take a look in these two links.

MISSED OPPORTUNITY

MISSED OPPORTUNITY

Well, I was not about to miss another one. And these five lovely ladies - Shannon Koch, Becky Monka, Mindy Moore, Lisa Pauze and Becky Prausa invited me to their summer GNO on Saturday. I was slightly hesitant, as I didn't want to intrude on any "girl time." But I was assured that everyone was onboard with my appearance. They even inivted my wife to join me. So on Saturday, she and I drove up to meet them at bar/restaurant called Jimmy Seas.

We arrived around 8:00. And I was strangely nervous. After all, these were five girls that I hardly spoke to in high school. In fact, I'm pretty sure I quite literally had never spoken one word to Shannon or Lisa back then at all. So we got into the bar. We noticed them sitting at a table outside. I decided to get a drink and relax inside for a few minutes before heading out - a little liquid courage. I'd finished about a third of my strawberry daiquiri when Lisa and Mindy came in for a bathroom break. I was curious if they'd spot me. They did. So after they'd finished with their potty break, they escorted us outside with a "look who we found" announcement. What a surreal experience. I was kind of floored by Shannon. I had literally seen her two months earlier on the trip Kevin Dehne and I had taken to Manitowoc. But we caught her on a bad day that day. On Saturday, she looked totally different. I didn't even recognize her at first. As one of her classmates said, "She looks hot!" I must concur. She certainly did.

Mindy had quite an interesting theory as to why Lisa hadn't graduated with us. The truth is, she'd moved to Manitowoc. I'll refrain from revealing Mindy's version. But it was quite interesting. Needless to say, many patrons near us got an earful.

I rarely drink. So by the time I'd finished my second daiquiri, I felt quite happy. I think most of us were feeling happy as well. I downed a third one before we left. When a wooden beam was used for a makeshift pole dance, it was time to head out - before we were asked to leave. Or did I dream that? Hmm... But anyway, here's some pictures from Jimmy Seas. Seems to me that my camera catches red eye at night. Oh well.

Before we left, Mindy made it clear that my wife and I should tag along for the rest of the evening, then spend the night at Lisa's house. For the record, Lisa said that would be perfectly fine. We generally don't get out much, having two little kids at home. So we were ready for a good time. And we got it.

Our next stop was some bar called the Firehouse. The drinks continued to flow. This time there was dancing as well. I don't dance. I observe. It was a treat to watch. I felt like prince with a harem - six chicks. I was a happy boy. Look down for the pictures.

After about an hour, we left and walked over to some other bar. It may have been called "The Keys" - I'm not sure. My head wasn't focusing right at that point. We only stayed for one drink. But I did get a picture of both my tattoo and Shannon's tattoo together.

Feeling left out, Mindy's tattoo wanted to get in on the action as well.

We then walked around the block to some country bar. What the name of it was, I have no idea. I recall Lisa saying that she hates country music. But she said she'd come here once before and had a ton of fun. So we headed there. On the way, Mindy decided that she wanted to carry me. Mind you I was perfectly able to walk on my own. But she wanted to do it. So believe it or not, little Mindy held my 198-pound frame on her back, and walked me several yards to the next bar. For photographic proof, look down.

As we approached the door, we were stopped by some drunk bum who wanted "three quarters." Why? I don't know. But he got nothing from us.

For the next hour, the drinks continued to flow. And my head went dizzy. I do recall lots of dancing (not by me). There were also things that I dare not repeat in a public forum. Did someone grab my ass? Did my wife get kissed? Did I get some sort of makeshift lapdance on the sidewalk? Some things are better left unsaid. Oh wait. I just said them. Let me rephrase that. Some things are better left with no details. I have a ton of pictures from that place. Here's two of them.

At one point, Becky (Monka), Lisa and I stepped outside to clear our heads. We ended up down the street, huddling in the entranceway to another bar. We huddled back even further once a hurricane-like downpour started. And lo and behold, the "three quarter" guy came by again, with the same story. This time he said he needed the money so he could go in the bar and rock. He then gave us a little air guitar. Lisa simply told him that he should go inside, rock out, then ask for a tab. I'm not exactly sure what else she said. But it made me laugh. After a half hour, the rest of the ladies joined us, and we were on our way - with one addition. Some other guy tried to penetrate my harem. He walked with us for over a block, before he got the hint that he wasn't going to have any luck with this crowd of six married women. I hope he gave me a dirty look though.

Thankfully my wife had refrained from alcohol, save for one drink. So we all piled into our minivan to head back to Lisa's house. And for the record, Mindy can fit in a car seat. There were some odd phone calls in the van. And the word "succulent" was used quite a bit. There was a lot of laughing.

We all made it to Lisa's. Somehow Lisa was able to take a frozen pizza and cook it in about two minutes. The miracles of pizza ovens... We sat and reminisced for about an hour. By then it was 3:30 in the morning. We were once again invited to spend the night. But we elected to drive back to Manitowoc. My parents weren't expecting us not to come home. So we drove back and crawled into bed sometime after 4:00.

All in all, it was a FABULOUS evening. It was very revealing, in many ways. I learned a lot of things. I may not have the right "equipment" for a girls night out. But nonetheless, I had a blast - as did my wife. If any guy has the opportunity to attend one of these events, I highly recommend it. Whether I'm there or not, it sounds like my wife has an invitation to their next get together. I hope she brings a camera.

Now has anyone seen Mindy's shoes?

WELCOME - TROY GREENWOOD

2007-08-09T06:59:00.000-07:00

Troy discovered this blog and left a brief comment in his entry.

Welcome Troy!

UPDATES - KELLY HALL & LESLIE WEBER

2007-08-08T09:03:00.000-07:00

There are brief updates on both. I was able to confirm where each one of them is today. You can see the updates in their entries.

UPDATE - STEPHANIE GARDNER

2007-07-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

Stephanie E-mailed me this morning, and sent along a couple of pictures. If you don't want to go into her entry to see them, just look down instead. Thanks Stephanie!

WELCOME - SHAWN PICKARD

2007-07-26T19:01:00.000-07:00

Shawn discovered this blog a few days ago, and "set the record straight" regarding his life. He provided a nice update as well. He's also left some comments for Jenny Malley, Stacey Erickson and Chris Soppe. His screen name is SWP.

Welcome Shawn!

UPDATE - CHRIS STORLIE & STEPHANIE GARDNER

2007-07-18T09:09:00.000-07:00

Chris plays in a band. I found these photos. For links to the band's Myspace accounts, check out Chris' entry.

As for Stephanie, she left a lengthy comment in her entry, providing an update to her life since high school.

UPDATE - CINDY ROHRER

2007-07-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

Cindy had a baby (Maxwell Phillip) three days ago - born 7/7/07. It's interesting to note that her first son was born 5/5/05. So I guess she'll welcome her third child on 9/9/09. You can see some photos below.

Congratulations Cindy!

WELCOME - STEPHANIE GARDNER

2007-07-02T10:58:00.000-07:00

Stephanie discovered this blog this morning. She left a comment in her entry.

Welcome Stephanie!

BURT & KEVIN DO THE TOWN FOR A THIRD TIME

2007-06-18T17:27:00.000-07:00

In quite literally a last-minute decision, on Sunday, June 17th, 2007, Kevin Dehne and I took our third trip up to Two Rivers and Manitowoc in order to knock on the doors of unsuspecting classmates.

Our first stop was at the home of Kevin Minkel. We arrived about 9:15 in the morning. It looked like someone was home inside. But despite our knocks, no one came to the door. Later on in the day, we were told that Kevin had been out partying the night before. So perhaps he was sleeping in.

Our next stop was to the home of Becky Monka. One of her sons answered the door. He told us that Becky was at church, but that his dad was home. So we decided we'd try again later. After we'd left, we wondered how odd the conversation would be. "Dad, there were two guys here looking for mom. They wanted to talk to her, but not to you." I hope that wasn't awkward.

Our next stop was to the home of Shannon Koch. Again - no luck. No one was home.

Our final stop in Manitowoc was at the home of Tim Hauschultz. It took a bit of looking to find him. But we did. Needless to say, he was not happy to see us. He seemed to recognize us immediately, and knew exactly why we were there. I hadn't laid eyes on him in alomst 22 years. But I recognized him right away. One of the first things he said was that somebody had alerted him to this blog, and that it had a couple of lies in it. I asked him a couple of times what I had written that was incorrect, and assured him that I would correct it or take it out. He never gave me an answer, other than to say it had been awhile since he'd read it. Then he did mention that he didn't like people writing stuff about him. Later on Kevin mentioned that the vein in Tim's neck was coming out. Tim maintained his cool. But clearly, he was angry. Kevin then asked, "I suppose a picture is out of the question, huh?" Tim concurred. He then said he had to get ready to go to church. So we left. Kevin and I surmised that Tim was probably more upset by the fact that some of his past had been profiled online. Later in the day, someone told us that Tim actually attended Lincoln High School for awhile. So perhaps that was the "lie" that he was referring to. I don't know. I have to respect his opinion. And I respect the fact that he got in my face and told me how he felt. So be it. I hope all is well with him.

Based on the style of this blog, Tim's reaction isn't too surprising. Granted, 95% of the feedback I've received has been very, very positive. But I also realize that due to the brutal honesty I've tried to display, occasionally some feathers are going to be ruffled. And when that happens, some people are going to be pissed off if they see me. As Kevin said, "You gotta expect them sometimes." Indeed I do. It bothers me when something I write upsets somebody. But I think you have to take the good with the bad. Again, based on the overwhelming positive feedback I've received, it far outweighs the negative, and makes it all worthwhile.

Our next stop was the home of Sara Kvitek. She confirmed her job at Natural Ovens, and her work with greyhounds. We also found out that she has one child. She wasn't up to take a picture. But she did promise she'd E-mail me a decent one. So hopefully look for that soon. We did however get a couple shots of me with Sara's greyhound statue. You can see them below.

Our next stop was the home of one of the L.B. Clarke art teachers, Mr. Swokowski. When we pulled up, we noticed a "for sale" sign. No one answered the door. But a minute later, a van drove up and parked in the driveway. The woman turned out to be Swokowski's daughter. She said he'd be back in about 10 minutes. So we left to stop at Charla Peters' house - who lived real close by.

As we pulled into her driveway, we spotted her and her entire family outside in the yard. We sat and talked with her and her husband for awhile. Kevin remembered Charla's husband Dan. But Dan didn't seem to remember him. The two of them had a few interesting stories to tell about a few of our former teachers who apparently were let go from their teaching duties for a couple of "inappropriate" acts.

Before we left, we snapped a few pictures. You can see them below.

Once we left Charla's house, we went back to Swokowski's. Sure enough, as we walked up the driveway, we noticed him in the garage. Save for the hair and moustache being gray, he looked pretty much the same. He genuinely seemed overjoyed to see us. He maintained that he recognized our names. He also told us that he has students recognize him all the time - including a time he was in Jacksonville, Florida. Most amazingly, he also had a student recognize him when we was visiting Innsbrook, Austria!

Swokowski had a ton of stories to tell - mostly about fellow art teacher, Mr. Kjelstrup. Apparently he still sees Kjelstrup quite often. In fact, he said a lot of the retired teachers get together for breakfast on a regular basis. We happened to catch him literally as he was in the process of moving out. Both his sons were there to help out - as well as some grandchildren.

Swokowski said that he recently had a rummage sale, in which Mr. Kjelstrup had given him several items to try and sell. One of them was a door. Kevin snapped a picture of myself with that door. It's the bottom one below.

Swokowski was really, really nice. He mentioned that he retired in 1998. Visiting him also gave me the opportunity to apologize to him for the prank phone call I mentioned above. He said he remembered getting it actually. He also said that in all his years of teaching, he only got two or three prank calls. I guess I was one of them.

We took a couple of photos before we left. You can see them below. In the second photo with me, he's actually pointing at me and saying, "prank phone call."

Our next stop was the ome of Randy Ertman. We thought no one was home. But as we were just about to leave, a dog flew out of the garage, followed closely by Randy himself. We had literally gotten him out of the shower.

Much to my surprise, Randy was not the big tank of a guy I remember. In fact, we were about the same height. And at this point, I probably weight more than he does. Randy was really good-natured and talked with us for quite awhile. In fact, he said that last summer, he had hooked up with class of 1990's Sally Graczykowski (whom Kevin and I had visited on our previous trip to Two Rivers). Randy informed us that they were just finishing up moving her into his place. Small world!

As for drinking, Randy said that he "shut 'er down." He was sick and tired of the numerous fines - and of course being sent away for awhile. So good for him.

We took a few photos. The bottom photo is of a bear cut out of a tree stump. Randy described it as the first purchase he and Sally had made together. They got it in Door County. They had bought and paid for two of them, but apparently didn't have a vehicle to bring them home. So when Randy went up later on to pick them up, he found out that the guy had sold one of them - even though he'd already paid for it. Oh well. He got his money back for the one, and took the remaining one home.

Our next stop was Toby Schwartz. We had tried to find him on four previous occasions. This time we were pretty sure we'd spotted his car in the driveway. We thought for sure that we had him this time. But no, no one was home yet again.

So we pushed on to the home of Jason Grenier. The air conditioning unit was on in the window. But no one answered the door there either.

Our next stop was the home of Chad Daffner. Someone (presumably one of Chad's sons) answered the door, then partially closed it after seeing me. We assumed he was going to get one of his parents. But no one ever came back! We stayed about five minutes, then knocked again. But nobody ever came. That was weird. But we pushed on.

We then tried the home of Chris Kaminsky. His mom answered and told us that Chris was out golfing. We figured we'd try to come back later.

We then walked down the street and into Berserkers bar - owned by Tim Petri. The bartender inside informed us that Tim wasn't around. Being that it was Father's Day, he may not have been around all day. Before we left though, I snapped a few pictures of Tim from the photos that were hanging on the wall. While I did that, Kevin forked over a few bucks and bought a T-shirt.

We then took a drive by David Coenen's house. But the place looked deserted. So we didn't even try to knock on the door.

As our next stop was on the north side, we decided to break for lunch. We chose Fatzo's. Fatzo's is another one of those Two Rivers staples that I somehow had managed to live my whole life without ever eating there. We each ordered a full-length sub. And holy crap, was it huge! I managed to eat the whole thing - as did Kevin. But that was the last bite of food I had for the entire day. I was that stuffed!

One of our former classmates (Becky Kriescher) allegedly works there. And I'm pretty sure I saw her. But it was too busy to find out for sure. I snapped a picture of Kevin with his sub. Look down to see it.

Once we left, we headed to the north side, past the old high school grounds, and onto Mr. Ott's house. Unfortunately, he too was not home. So then we turned the corner and found the home of Nicole Baugniet. Her mom greeted us, then went in to get her. Apparently she was taking a nap. When she came out, she eventually recognized me. I'm not sure if she remembered Kevin or not. But we she stood and talked with us for quite awhile. She pretty much looked exactly the same. She said that she does a lot of babysitting these days.

She said she'd heard of this blog, as Jill Jansky had told her about it. But to date, she hadn't seen it. She said that in high school, she was kind of irritated at how "cliquey" it was. She maintained that she always talked to everybody, regardless of social status.

She had a lot of stories about growing up in her neighborhood. Amazingly, her block was filled with tons of people from our class - Shane Peterson, Jeremy Karman, Cindy Rohrer, Sheila Vanne and Cory Schultz. She still sees some of them from time to time. She even said she'd been to a wedding recently that felt like a high school reunion, as so many of our classmates were in attendance. Before we left, we took a few pictures. You can see them below.

We then drove up to the home of Wendy Kappelman. She happens to live right next door to where Scott Jaklin did. There were some dogs running around barking inside. But nobody was home.

We then headed up to the home of Rob Sisel. This was our third attempt to reach Rob. Unlike the previous occasions, there were two vehicles in the driveway. So we thought for sure he'd be there. But it wasn't meant to be. Nobody answered yet again.

About a mile down the road is the home of Kevin Shillcox and Brenda Linzmeier. We knocked, and got an answer - presumably from one of their kids. But he informed us that his parents weren't home either.

Thus far, we had struck out far more times that we had been successful. But we pushed on, undaunted. We then headed to the home of Elmer Mikeal and Jennifer Hansel. As we pulled into the driveway, we noticed the heads of two dogs standing up and staring at us through the door. I wondered if we should try to knock on another door. But before we had a chance to make a decision, we were greeted by Elmer. They live on a farmhouse with cattle. Although the cattle are owned by someone else. Elmer does have some pigs and chickens though. In fact, he laughed and called himself, "a poor pig farmer."

When we got there, Jen was sleeping. But Elmer went and got her up to see us. Elmer's sort of going bald. But to make up for it, he has big, bushy beard. He joked, and said, "I started losing my hair when I got married." With that remark, Jen slapped him on the arm.

Elmer had a lot of good stories. He mentioned that in high school, he had put some manure on Mr. Wood's front porch. The next school day, Wood apparently made an announcement and said something to the effect of whoever put the manure on my porch, be assured that it is doing well in my garden.

Elmer also had a story about fellow graduate Jim Messman. Elmer didn't care too much for Jim. And he noticed Jim's car at some party once. So Elmer opened up the door and took a piss all over the front seat.

Elmer also said he was in the new Two Rivers High School at one point, and happened to see fellow graduate (and current teacher) Craig Rysticken walk down the hall. As they passed each other, Elmer said, "Hey asshole." Craig shrugged it off and kept walking. But a few seconds later, he turned around and said, "Elmer?"

Elmer and Jen got married in August, 1990. They have two boys. I believe their ages are 16 and 14. Both Elmer and Jen have at least one tattoo each.

Elmer mentioned that he has his own equipment for butchering and processing his own meat - which he uses on some of the pigs he raises.

We snapped several pictures before we left. Kevin got some of their two dogs. I loved the blue-white eyes on one of them. You can see all the photos below.

We then set off to see our freshman year study hall monitor, Mrs. Mull. We literally caught her as she was coming out of her front door, with two friends of hers. Incidentally, one of her two friends was the wife of the former janitor at L.B. Clarke - Mr. Curtis.

Anyway, the three of them were a cheery bunch. We think they may have had a couple of cocktails. They were on their way out to get a bite to eat. When we told Mull our names, she instantly said she remembered us. But later on, she admitted that she didn't. Kevin pointed out that Mull was often nicer to the rowdier kids - which was true. Kevin surmised that she got to know them better, as she saw them all in detention - where she was the monitor.

I even told her that I had her name plate. She got a real kick out of that. She also said that she'd gotten another one.

Mull was overjoyed that we'd thought enough of her to stop by. She informed us that she was 81-years-old. And let me tell you, for an 81-year-old woman, she certainly was full of life. Before we left, we posed for a few pictures by the waterfall and pond she has in her front yard. You can see them below.

We then went a little ways down the road and tried to find Craig Rysticken. But just like last summer, there was no sign of Craig. One of these times, we're bound to reach him.

Our next stop was the new home of Brian Klein. But much like the old home last summer, Brian was sleeping when we got there. He apparently works third shift.

So we then headed towards the home of Jerry Legreve. When we got there, we found that Jerry had just gotten up - even though it was late in the afternoon. His stepson answered and let us in the house. When Jerry came out, he was happy to see us. He said he'd been out drinking a bit the night before. So he was a little slow in starting his day.

Jerry said he'd read this blog before. He seemed to get a kick out of it. He said word had spread fast and that he'd heard about it from a lot of people. As far as he knew, no one was mad about it. But he surmised that Craig Rysticken might have been. In fact, his stepson apparently just graduated from Two Rivers High School. And he had Craig as a teacher. He told us that some of Craig's students had teased him about this blog a little bit. But Craig apparently brushed it off and moved on to another topic. He did go on to say that Craig is a pretty good teacher, and is well-liked by the students. Thankfully I have now put in a big disclaimer at the top of Craig's entry on this blog.

As it turns out, Jerry was not a part owener of Studio 8. In fact, that bar was one of his rivals. He ran a bar called Charlies. It sounds like he's thought about reopening at some point down the road. But as of yet, he has no future plans to.

With a full beard, Jerry somewhat resembles Michael McDonald, the lead singer of The Doobie Brothers. Before we left, we snapped a few pictures in Jerry's kitchen. Look down to see them.

We then stopped by Lenny's II bar to try and find Mark Henrickson. When we arrived, the bartender told us that he had just left. So we turned around and went back to the car.

We then tried to hit Toby once again. This time, we noticed a third vehicle parked in the driveway. We were sure we'd finally get him. But no, it was not to be. We learned that Toby was visiting his parents, and was probably an hour away from getting home. Oh well. We've tried six times. We're bound to try again.

By this time we were on our way to Manitowoc. We decided to try Shannon Koch once again. As it turned out, I consider it saving the best for last. Thankfully she was home this time! We had a blast with her. We talked with her for maybe an entire hour. Shannon had lots of stories. What struck her most was that of all people to do something like this, Kevin and I are the ones. The irony was not lost on her.

Like I said earlier in this entry, I don't believe Shannon and I ever said one word to one another. As it turns out, she thought I was some sort of freak - which was pretty much accurate. She even remembered that my trapper keeper had pictures of Charles Manson on it - as well as other vile things. I got the impression that back in high school, she viewed me as someone she wanted to stay very clear of.

Shannon was quite surprised to see us. She apologized that her house smelled like onions. She also said that had she known we were coming, she would have cleaned herself up a bit. I told her she looked good - to which she scoffed. Then again, that's a common reaction from nearly every female in the world. But truth be told, I thought Shannon looked real pretty - prettier than in high school.

I'd heard a rumor that Shannon and her husband had a ton of kids. As it turns out, they have three. Their oldest in nine. The two youngest ones (I think) are four and two.

Shannon let us into her house, and down into her basement, where she pulled out her photo albums. Needless to say, she had TONS of pictures - many of which were taken in school. She let us borrow them. The total count is well over 100. So it will take some time to scan them in. But once I get them, they're all being posted on this blog.

I think we could have talked to her and her husband for another hour. But it was time to go. So she supplied us with sodas, and sent us on our way. Before we left, we took a bunch of pictures. You can see them below.

Shannon actually tried to call Becky Monka to see if she was home. Had she been, we would have stopped out to see her. But no one answered. So we headed out of town. On our way out, we had one final stop - Kevin Minkel again. This time somebody answered. But it wasn't Kevin. We were told that Kevin wasn't home. So in essence, our day had come full circle. So we headed out on the highway, our day completed.

Considering it was a Sunday and was Father's Day, I think we did ok. I wasn't expecting a ton of people to be home. But I consider this trip a "bonus trip." The next time we come back, we'll hit all the people we missed this time - as well as some new people, no doubt. Save for the unfortunate incident with Tim Hauschultz, it was a really good day. Trip #4 will be coming soon.

PAULA BROTSKI & ANDREA BURNS

2007-06-18T16:47:00.000-07:00

Both of these class of 1990 members have left comments on this blog. Now,thanks to Paula, I have pictures of both of them. The first five feature Paula or her son. The last one is a candid shot of Andrea - which I believe was taken by Paula.

Thanks Paula!

PHOTOS GALORE

2007-06-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Kevin Dehne and I made our third trip to Two Rivers and Manitowoc. I'll have that post shortly. In the meantime, Shannon Koch gave us over 100 photos from high school. As those get scanned in, I'll post them here as well. Thanks to Kevin Dehne for getting a bunch of them scanned in already. Here's a ton from graduation day - June 4th, 1989. There's a few people I wasn't able to identify. There's also a few shots of people I identified as Tammy Franzen and Mindy Moore. But I'm not 100% sure it's them either. If anyone can confirm for sure who they are, please let me know!

Also, thanks to Carrie Franz, I was alerted to two very new photos of Greg Pagel which were recently pictured in the local paper. I put them in Greg's entry.

Enjoy!

LISA KOCH & SHANNON KOCH

LISA KOCH & SHANNON KOCH

SHANNON KOCH

BRENDA GORDON

PATTI MALLEY & SHAWN MEHLHORN

BECKY MONKA & LISA MOORE

BECKY MONKA & LISA MOORE

ELLEN DAWIDOWICH & DIANE DEBAUCHE

KEVIN SHILLCOX & TINA SHORT

LISA KOCH (FACING CAMERA)

SHANNON KOCH (FACING CAMERA)

SHANNON KOCH (FACING CAMERA)

BECKY MONKA (WAVING TO CAMERA)

ELLEN DAWIDOWICH (FACING CAMERA)

MR. HOUGH (KNEELING)

GROUP SHOT

SHANNON KOCH

SHANNON KOCH

SHANNON KOCH

BRENDA LINZMEIER

BRENDA LINZMEIER

KEVIN SHILLCOX

LISA KOCH

LISA KOCH

JIM MESSMAN (I THINK)

BECKY MONKA

BECKY MONKA

DAVE SVATEK

?????

?????

?????

TRAVIS RIESTERER

TRAVIS RIESTERER

BECKY PRAUSA

BRANDON PODHOLA

SHAWN RAPPLEY

LEWIS STEPHAN

BRENDA GORDON

BRENDA GORDON

TAMMY FRANZEN

TAMMY FRANZEN

MINDY MOORE

MINDY MOORE

?????

SHANNON KOCH, LISA KOCH, BRETT GRUETZMACHER, RANDY KLEIN & BRIAN KLEIN

KEVIN SHILLCOX

THE MYSTERY OF POOKIE IS SOLVED!

2007-06-15T16:14:00.000-07:00

Yes indeed, Nicole "Pookie" Bergeon's sister just discovered my blog. She left a comment in Pookie's entry. And more importantly, she explained the origin of her sister's nickname.

Welcome Robbin!

Oh, and Paula Brotski made another appearance. She left some really good (and funny) comments in the "PICTURES" entry. You can find on this page, if you scroll down a bit.

WE HAVE A NEW RECORD!

2007-06-14T12:07:00.000-07:00

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

Man convicted of 9th OWI

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

UMM... WHY?

2007-06-14T07:35:00.000-07:00

Just when you think you've seen it all... Yes, our yearbook from senior year is now available on EBAY. Where did this guy in Ohio obtain it? Who knows! But it can be yours for only $50.00. Wow. It looks like it will be listed until it sells. Get it now!

EBAY AUCTION

In non-yearbook related news, Sara Prust and her husband had their baby. It's an 8-pound baby boy named Jonathan. You can see him with his proud daddy below. Congratulations to them.

WELCOME - PAULA BROTSKI

2007-06-06T17:39:00.000-07:00

It must be the time for the class of 1990. I've heard from three of them in the past couple of weeks. This time it's Paula Brotski. She left a brief comment in the entry below.

Welcome Paula!

PAULA'S COMMENT

UPDATE - MR. WOOD, MRS. KULAS & CRAIG RYSTICKEN

2007-06-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

A member of the class of 1990 E-mailed me a couple of stories about these two. This class member prefers to remain anonymous. But this person was fine with me posting them anonymously. So check out their entries for a couple of short stories.

Also, I had not one, but two of Craig's current students leave a comment in Craig's entry.

Enjoy!

UPDATE - MR. SCHNELL

2007-06-04T08:28:00.000-07:00

I found a picture of Mr. Schnell. You can see it below. He's still involved with music. He's on the left - and pretty much looks exactly the same. Perhaps that's the secret to always looking young - grow a beard in your 30's, and keep it forever.

Oh, and for shits and giggles (or "shiggles" as we say around my house) here's a picture of class of 1990's John Kern. Speaking of John, about 10 days ago, one of his fellow class of 1990 members sent me this little tidbit about him.

"For our graduation John gave a speech. The theme was, "Think globally, act locally". He was really heated and kept repeating this mantra. By the end he was practically screaming it. I think the crowd was a little taken aback. My sister still talks about it when his name comes up. Very weird."

Good stuff! Very funny! In Meff's comments about Mr. Kern, he mentioned a phenomenon called "Kern-mania." That graduation speech sounds like Kern-mania at its finest. I'd love to have a copy of it.

UPDATE - SARA PRUST

2007-06-04T07:53:00.000-07:00

I recently found several photos of Sara online. I've included some of them here. The first one is from her wedding day - which I believe took place in the summer of 2006. Her husband's name is Earl. The other photos are of the two of them, as well as Sara's parents and family. I believe the child in one of the pictures is Earl's, from a previous relationship.

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

MR. SWOKOWSKI

2007-05-23T07:20:00.000-07:00

Mr. Swokowski (Jan) was one of the art teachers at L.B. Clarke. He was probably in his early-40's. He had a thin build and full beard.

I believe I had Swokowski all three years at Clarke. I can't quite remember if I had him in 6th grade or not. I know I had Mr Kjelstrup in 6th grade for sure. But I think our class had both of them. At the very least, I had Swokowski in 7th and 8th grade.

For whatever reason, Swokowski (who was sometimes referred to simply as "Swo") and I didn't get along. It probably had something to do with me being an asshole.

As I recall, we all sat at tables - two on each side. It was alphabetical. So in 7th grade, I sat at the same table with Tricia Wetzel, Lori Wavrunek and Missy Vertz. For the most part, I got along with Tricia and Lori. Missy was always grumpy.

For the life of me, I can't remember what I had done. But Swokowski blew up at me and made me stay after class one day. Our art class was in 7th hour - the last class of the day. So by staying after, I was essentially staying after school. After everyone left, Swokowski talked to me very calmly. I was still pissed off though. He wanted me to make some sort of amends with him, and make some sort of promise to "wipe the slate clean." But me, in my complete stubborn glory refused to budge. When I repeatedly turned him down, he gave up and said, "Fine. Then you can sit there until I'm ready to go home." So I sat - for about 90 minutes. Around 4:30 or so, he let me go. Ha! I beat him!

A few days later, I had art class again. Swokowski caught me off guard. He made me stay after school again, until I made nice with him. And again I refused. So he said he was going to make me stay until he left again. And he was going to continue to make me stay everyday from then on. Screw that! After about 10 minutes, I gave up. He won that round. I said whatever he wanted to hear me say. But I assure you, I didn't mean it!

We sat on benches in his class. They were more like half benches actually - one-seaters. One day, as he was teaching us something, I decided to slowly inch my seat out and move it down the aisle. It was impossible for me not to be seen. My plan was to move all the way to the back of the room where B.J. Lutterman, Sarah Plappert and Jenny Malley were seated. I made it about five feet before Swokowski slid off his stool, walked around his podium-type desk, walked down the aisle, and grabbed my seat and flung me back to my own table. I didn't try that again.

In 8th grade, I had Swokowski once again. I seem to recall moving around a lot. He had assigned seats for awhile. But eventually he let us sit wherever we wanted to. For a time, I sat at the same table with Ken Bartz and Nick Novachek. One day Ken Bartz and I got into a paint war. We were dipping our paint brushes in paint, then flinging the brushes in the air, sending a tiny amount of paint flying. It was in the middle of teaching, when the class was quiet. Then suddenly Ken nailed me right in the eye. I yelped in pain, and immediately got up to wash my eye out in the sink. Surprisingly, Swokowski didn't do anything. He just told everyone that there was to be no more paint flinging.

Whenever the class got a little loud, Swokowski would say, "People!" In time, if got even louder, he would follow it up with, "I'll tell you what people!"

Check out my entry on Scott Gauthier for stories about a fight with Randy Klein, and the day he got his hand completely sliced open by Richard Crowe's exacto knife.

At some point in 8th grade, I sat at a table with Stacy Taddy and Jamie Tadych. This must have been in the beginning of the year, when we were still assigned alphabetically. Stacy and I always got along well, in some weird sort of way. Jamie seemed to always have the hots for Stacy. Anyway, one day we were working with clay. Swokowski had a gigantic bag full of clay. And prior to class starting, he gave us a very stern warning. He warned us that nobody should dare to use their pencils to poke a hole in the bag of clay.

That was too tempting for me to avoid. Had he not said anything, it never would have dawned on me to do it. But since he said it, I had to go for it. So at some point in the class, as I was walking by, I jabbed my pencil into the bag. I was incredibly covert about it. Nobody saw me.

About 15 minutes later, Swokowski let out a loud, monotoned, "Uh-oh..." He then informed us that someone had poked a hole in the bag. And man oh man, was he pissed! If I'm not mistaken, he made everybody sit down. He then waited for the guilty party to fess up. As if! Needless to say, no one did.

The next time we had art class, Stacy Taddy and Jamie Tadych both said to me, "We know you did it. And we're going to tell Swokowski." I was pissed off! I knew for a fact that they hadn't seen me. So I knew they were lying. Why? I have no idea. The fact that they were accusing the right person didn't matter. The point was, they hadn't seen me, and were accusing me for no reason. Well I professed my innocence. I wasn't about to get involved in a heated debate with Jamie. I just refused to listen to them and went back to work. They never bothered to tell anyway. So be it.

Sometime during 8th grade, Swokowski lost (more likely had stolen) some art tool that looked like a laser gun. He even drew an incredibly detailed picture of it on the chalkboard. He left it up there for months, hoping someone would find it and return it to him. That of course never happened. And no, I had nothing to do with it.

After I left Clarke, I don't believe I ran into Swokowski again. I did however call him once.

In my freshman year of high school, I made a series of prank phone call tapes. See my entry on Ben Franco to read how I lost those tapes! Anyway, I decided to call Mr. Swokowski. When he answered the phone, I just started talking to him like I knew him. Now, as a seasoned prank phone call expert, there's one rule to follow. If the person on the other line says, "Is this so-and-so?" The answer is always "YES!"

So after a few seconds of talking to Swokowski, he asked that same question. I of course said that I was the person he thought I was. I then replied with the usual, "I have a bit of a cold." Well, as it turned out, the person who he thought I was, was his very own son! Yikes! Once he thought it was his son just messing with him, he replied, "You turkey you!" We then spoke for another couple of minutes. I really didn't know where to go with the conversation. But I played nice. Then I apparently made a mistake. I mentioned something about coming home one of these days, and going out and having a beer with him. Immediately, the mood got dark. He started yelling and questioning me. What had I done? The call ended a minute later. In retrospect I specualted that perhaps one of the two participants may have had a previous drinking problem or something in the past. And that my mentioning of having a beer was unbelievably inappropriate. Oops. I must admit, I felt like an asshole after that call.

To the best of my knowledge, that was my last contact with Mr. Swokowski. Today I believe he still lives in Manitowoc. I can't find anything about him online. So I surmise that he's probably retired.

UPDATE - 6/17/07 - Kevin Dehne and I stopped by Mr. Swokowski's house today. When we pulled up, we noticed a "for sale" sign. No one answered the door. But a minute later, a van drove up and parked in the driveway. The woman turned out to be Swokowski's daughter. She said he'd be back in about 10 minutes. So we left to stop at Charla Peters' house - who lived real close by.

Once we left Charla's house, we went back to Swokowski's. Sure enough, as we walked up the driveway, we noticed him in the garage. Save for the hair and moustache being gray, he looked pretty much the same. He genuinely seemed overjoyed to see us. He maintained that he recognized our names. He also told us that he has students recognize him all the time - including a time he was in Jacksonville, Florida. Most amazingly, he also had a student recognize him when we was visiting Innsbrook, Austria!

Swokowski had a ton of stories to tell - mostly about fellow art teacher, Mr. Kjelstrup. Apparently he still sees Kjelstrup quite often. In fact, he said a lot of the retired teachers get together for breakfast on a regular basis. We happened to catch him literally as he was in the process of moving out. Both his sons were there to help out - as well as some grandchildren.

Swokowski said that he recently had a rummage sale, in which Mr. Kjelstrup had given him several items to try and sell. One of them was a door. Kevin snapped a picture of myself with that door. It's the bottom one below.

Swokowski was really, really nice. He mentioned that he retired in 1998. Visiting him also gave me the opportunity to apologize to him for the prank phone call I mentioned above. He said he remembered getting it actually. He also said that in all his years of teaching, he only got two or three prank calls. I guess I was one of them.

We took a couple of photos before we left. You can see them below. In the second photo with me, he's actually pointing at me and saying, "prank phone call."

UPDATE - MIKE "DON'T CALL ME BRUCE" SCHROEDER

2007-05-17T21:29:00.000-07:00

Mike found the blog and left some comments in his entry. He also sent me a pic of him and his family. Look down to see it. Save for the beard, he looks exactly the same. Oh, and after he showed up, it jogged two obscure memories I had of him. I put them in his entry. One involved an Atari game. The other involved a girlfriend of his.

UPDATE - BRUCE DUVALL & PETE SOUCOUP

2007-05-15T06:50:00.000-07:00

I realize that perhaps I'm the only one who even recalls Bruce Duvall. But check out the comment I received in his entry last week - even though it was a different Bruce Duvall.

As for Pete, well, just watch the Youtube clip below. Good lord! Notice he mentions "Brett Witting" (class of 1988). I think he meant "Brett Gruetzmacher" though.

UPDATE BRIAN BELONGIA

2007-05-04T14:16:00.000-07:00

Today was a big day for Brian. Check out his entry for the details. You'll also find a MASSIVE biography for him, as well as 16 new photos.

Enjoy!

UPDATE - PETE SOUCOUP

2007-05-01T07:59:00.000-07:00

Kevin Dehne happened to run into Pete at a bar yesterday. So he ran home and got his camera. You can see the pictures in Pete's entry. There's a video message from Pete as well, which I'll post shortly.

Enjoy!

MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT

2007-04-29T14:25:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, March 25th, I was invited to a surprise 60th birthday party for Tom Grassman's father. Tom played a short set of songs - mostly Buddy Holly stuff, as that is his dad's favorite. I have several clips from that day. Here's one of them.

On Friday, April 13th, my family and I drove all the way up to Depere to see Greg Pagel play at some fancy restaurant where the waiter places the napkin in your lap. I had a really good burger. Anyway, it was sort of dark. And I didn't actually tape more than a 30-second hello from Greg. But, you can see it below.

UPDATES

2007-04-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

I finally got a new entry. It's Mr. Heuer. You can see it right below this one. I also found a picture of Mrs. Kulas. Lastly, one of Brian Belongia's former coworkers went in and left a comment for him.

Enjoy!

MR. HEUER

2007-04-27T07:44:00.000-07:00

Mr. Heuer (Ric - was that short for Richard?) was a math teacher at Washington High School. I had him during my freshman year for algebra. His room was on the third floor, next to the computer room. He had a beard. He wore a suit most days. But I also seem to recall him wearing flannel shirts on occasion.

Mr. Heuer and I never really got along. I'm not sure why. He just always seemed moody and grumpy to me. There didn't seem to be much of a sense of humor eminating from him.

I don't have a whole lot of stories about him. But I do have a couple of things.

I sat in the second row from the right, the third seat from the front. Stephanie Gardner sat in front of me. The seat in front of her was empty. In front of that seat is where Heuer had a table with his podium on it. Anyway, Jeff Bodwin was on my left, one seat ahead of me. Jeff and I communicated on some level. And Stephanie was friends with Mindy Moore - who sat next to me, right behind Jeff. So Stephanie and I decided that we would ask Heuer if we could switch seats. So we bravely went to his desk in the back corner of the room, explained the situation, and were promptly turned down - for no reason. Nice. To hell with that! The next day, I got into class before Stephanie did. And I sat in her seat instead. When Stephanie came in, she said, "Burt!" But she quietly sat down in my seat as well. When Heuer came to the front of the room to begin his teachings for the day, he gave me an odd look. But he said nothing. I can only imagine that the wheels were turning in his head and that he remembered us asking if we could switch seats with each other. Could he have forgotten that he'd turned down our request?

A day or two later, Lee Jacquart (who was now on my immediate right) made his own seat switch, moving one seat over as well. When Heuer saw this, he kicked the table and screamed, "Lee, get in your own damn seat!" Ever the narc, Lee blurted out, "Well Burt and Stephanie switched." Mr. Heuer then said, "But they asked!"

So apparently Mr. Heuer remembered that we'd asked him for permission. But I guess he forgot the part where he turned us down. Perhaps he assumed there was no way we would defy him like that. So he must have surmised that he'd said it was ok. Wrong!

I recall one day that Randy Ertman fell asleep in class. When word filtered up to Heuer about it, he simply said, "Let him sleep." I think he was a bit annoyed though.

Read my entry on Shawn Rappley to learn how I barely passed the first semester, thanks to getting Shawn to do nearly all of my past-due assignments the night before the final day to turn them in.

There is one major event that happened in Heuer's class. It happened to me. And it's something I've never forgotten. Granted, I remember almost everything anyway. But this one bugs me to this day.

I did not excel in Heuer's class. Thanks to Shawn Rappley's help (cheating) I passed the first semester. Without it, I wouldn't have. By the second semester I was completely lost. It was straight F's across the board for the rest of the year. Anyway, Heuer knew I was lost by this time. It happens. So be it. Then one day he was working out some sort of complicated equation on the board. After he'd gone through several steps, he was near the end. And he said, "Then all you have left to do is add two plus two - which is what - Burt?" Now, keep in mind that those last four words he said very fast, trying to catch me off guard. Heuer assumed that I was not paying any attention to him, and would no doubt answer with, "Huh?" But Heuer be damned! Whether or not I was paying attention to the whole thing is highly debatable. I'm sure I wasn't. But at the very least, I heard him ask the "two plus two" part. So I blurted out "four!" Heuer then looked down on me, clearly frustrated that I came up with the right answer.

Now I ask you, is this proper behavior for a teacher? Here's a guy who purposely set out to embarrass me in front of my fellow classmates. Why? Is it empowering to show up a 14-year-old kid? Would it make him feel good to have everyone laughing at me? Does he enjoy making fools out of his students?

In my opinion, that was a really shitty thing to do - totally unprofessional. Fuck him! And fuck his feeble attempts to mock me. When I answerd "four," which one of us looked foolish then? I can assure you, it wasn't me.

From what I recall, Heuer wasn't the most popular of teachers in the school. He had a bit of a temper. And he could yell and scream at the drop of a hat. Like I said earlier, he didn't seem to have much of a sense of humor. He was basically a no-nonsense kind of guy. I have no memory of seeing him smile.

I never had Heuer again after that year. That worked out fine for me. He was still teaching there when I graduated. But I think he might be retired today. According to a traffic ticket he received a few years ago, he's 57-years-old today. And yes, his first name is in fact Richard.

I saw Mr. Heuer several times while working at the video store. I saw his wife more often though. They were always pleasant enough. If memory serves, they had a daughter - maybe multiple daughters. I'm not sure. Today Mr. Heuer and his wife appear to still reside in Two Rivers.

UPDATE - KEN BARTZ, KEVIN DEHNE, DEAN LICHTERMAN, KEVIN MINKEL, JIM TADYCH, & TONY TRZECIAK

2007-04-16T10:46:00.000-07:00

Last week I got an E-mail from Dean's wife. She left a comment in Dean's entry as well. She also told me a little bit about their lives. She then gave me a link to their website. She said I could "steal" any images I wanted. So I grabbed some. You can see several of the photos in Dean's entry. I also included the link.

As for the rest, Kevin Dehne provided me with some photos. You can see them in each of their respective entries. They were all taken sometime in the 1990's.

As for my promised entry on Mr. Heuer... it's still in my head. It is coming!

Enjoy!

WELCOME - MR. LEINSS' SON

2007-04-03T13:57:00.000-07:00

Yes indeed, I've gotten responses from siblings of classmates before. But today I got my first visit from a sibling of one of the teachers. You can see it in Mr. Leinss' entry.

Speaking of siblings, Chris Thee's older brother left a comment in Chris' entry. I think it was sort of a slam at me. But it's hard to tell.

NEW BLOG

2007-04-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

No, not for me. Meff started yet another blog. It's linked on the right as MEFF #2. Check it out!

Look for Mr. Heuer this week.

MRS. SCHMIDT

2007-03-30T11:08:00.000-07:00

I have no idea what Mrs. Schmidt's first name is. What I do know is that I had her in fourth grade at Magee.

I moved to Two Rivers during that school year. Prior to that, I'd lived in Manitowoc. My last day of school in Manitowoc was Friday, November 7, 1980. On Monday morning, November 10th, my Two Rivers scholastic career began.

The week before (I believe on Thursday the 6th) my mom picked me up at school, and brought me to Magee so I could meet my new teacher. It was a very brief meeting, hardly worth the bother. It lasted all of five minutes. My mom told Mrs. Schmidt that I was an excellent reader. So Mrs. Schmidt said she'd put me in the "top" reading group. That's about all I can remember. All I knew was that I was NOT happy about moving.

On Monday, I came into class, and was met with the inevitable stares as "the new kid." I was shy enough as it was. So this experience was horrifying. I sat in an empty desk, either in front of, or in back of Kristine Kahlenberg. The only other person I recall is that Randy Klein was on my immediate right.

Mrs. Schmidt introduced me to the class. Then she walked up and down the aisles, making each student stand up. Then she introduced each student to me - as if I could possibly remember all 30 or so of them. The only thing I recall about that is when she got to Wyatt Wood, she mistakenly called him "Woody." Everyone laughed at that.

About a half hour later, I dropped my pencil on the floor. I reached to grab it. Randy Klein also reached for it. But I got it first. He then looked at me and said, "I steal." What an introduction!

As the days and weeks went on, I settled in well enough. I began to hang around with Chris Lohr (Chris Storlie). Chris wasn't really all that well-liked. Subsequently I wasn't Mr. popular either. Chris and I got along great though. Both of us were troublemakers. It's interesting that my first day of class in Two Rivers happened to be the very first day of the second quarter as well. When I got my report card (something that Manitowoc never had, believe it or not) my conduct grade was a "C." I was always amused by that. In those nine weeks, I was a shy, new student who took a little time to adjust. In spite of it all, I still got a "C." My behavior must have been pretty bad those last couple of weeks.

At Christmas, we picked names. We then had to get a present for whoever we picked. I can't remember who I got. But whatever the case, I never told my parents about it. So on the last day of class before Christmas vacation, when we had our party, Schmidt asked me where my present (the one I was to bring) was. I said, "I don't have one." She then got really mad and said, "Then you don't get one either!" Oh well. I was a little bit jealous of Ross Remiker though. He got a Star Wars figure.

By the time the third quarter rolled around, I had become a full-fledged hellion. Mrs. Schmidt and I argued all the time. Rarely did a day go by where the room didn't echo with "Mr. Wardell" at least once. She always said "dell." Of course I would always correct her to, by saying "It's Wardall." I'm sure that infuriated her. One day, after several months of mispronunciation, she finally got it right, yelling "Mr. Wardall!" I then said to her, in a very calm voice, "It's Wardell." My future friend Tom Grassman (who came into our class for reading) was a witness to that exchange, and reminded me of it for years. Mrs. Schmidt probably learned to despise me at that point.

At some point that year, I got in trouble for disrupting class. She then moved my desk to the back of that room, insisting that I was going to stay there until I learned how to behave. I figured I'd be back there a few days. Instead, she left me there for about two months. Eventually she relented, and put me back in the general population. My behavior didn't improve though.

I recall one time where I slowly colored my desktop with my pencil. Lots of people drew on their desks, or wrote small messages or something. I was hell-bent on covering the entire surface area with graphite. I slowly did it over the course of several days. I was about 80% complete before Mrs. Schmidt discovered my handiwork, and blew a gasket. She screamed at me and said I had to stay in at recess to clean it up. She wouldn't let me wash it off either. She forced me to use an eraser. The problem was, save for the little pink end on my pencil, I didn't have an eraser. Thankfully Pookie Bergeon let me have hers. With a little elbow grease, I managed to finish up before recess was over.

She did let me use water once though, when she had me clean the chalkboards. I had the sponge and some water. But instead of a simple up and down motion, I spelled my name on the board, with the water. The class was amused. Mrs. Schmidt made some sort of sarcastic remark about me being "talented."

When I received my report card for the third quarter, I saw that she had given me a "D" for conduct. Could it get any worse? Yes... yes it can.

In the final quarter, I was an absolute terror. I was a major thorn in Mrs. Schmidt's side. If it's possible for a teacher to hate one of her students, I'm sure I was the example. I would routinely arrive to school late - sometimes after 9:00. Why? Because Doug Wall and I would sit and play Atari at my house. Then we'd run around in the cemetery, causing trouble. I think Mrs. Schmidt had the principal, Mr. Willert, call my parents about it. From that point on, I was more-or-less on time.

One day Mrs. Schmidt was explaining an assignment in our math workbooks. Once she was done, we were to start. Well I looked at the page. And it was very simple math in my opinion. So while she was explaining how to do it, I was busy actually doing it. When she was done, she asked us to start. When we were finished, we were to put our workbooks on the back table. Well, I had finished the assignment before she had finished explaining how to do it. So when everyone else started, I got up and put my workbook on the back table. Then she screamed at me. "Were you doing that while I was talking?" I sheepishly said, "Yes." I don't recall what she said after that. But man, she let me have it. Personally, I didn't think it was a big deal. Apparently she thought otherwise. Incidentally, I knew what I was doing though. My answers were right.

In May of that year, Doug Wall and I decided to skip out of school one day. For whatever stupid reason, we thought it would be funny to call the school, and ask to speak to my classmate, Andy Reinhart. I told the office I was Andy's father. The secretary said, "This isn't Andy's dad." I then hung up. A half hour later, the phone rang. I didn't answer it. The next day in school, I walked into class and thought to myself, "I pulled it off!" But when I sat down in my desk, Mr. Willert appeared at the door. He called me over. With Mrs. Schmidt hovering nearby, he asked where I was yesterday. I said I was sick. He then asked me for a note. I didn't have one. The next thing I knew, my parents were being called. I think I was grounded for awhile. Mrs. Schmidt made me stay an hour after school for seven straight days, to make up for the time I'd missed. Did I do any work during that time though? Nope. She just wanted me to be there - like detention.

Near the end of the year, our class (and the other two fourth grade classes) went up to Green Bay to see the circus. So we all headed down the halls, and were lined up outside of Mr. Spatz' art room - where the bus would come to pick us up. For whatever reason, Randy Klein spit on the floor. Mrs. Hanson (the music teacher) caught him, and told Mrs. Schmidt. Again, I think Schmidt overreacted. She absolutely flew off the handle at Randy. She was beside herself with anger. I thought she was going to suffer a nervous breakdown. Poor Randy (who had retrieved some paper towels from the bathroom to clean up his spit) was red in the face, and looked as if he was going to cry. Schmidt continued her tirade by screaming, "You're the worst student I've ever had!." The class stood in stunned silence. Then I broke the tension by asking, "Even worse than me?" In a slightly calmer, but still very loud voice, Schmidt bellowed, "No Burt, YOU take the cake!"

When I received my fourth quarter report card, I discovered that my contact grade was an "F." Yes indeed, I went from a "C" to a "D" to an "F." I'm sure my parents were proud. It also said I was tardy about 20 times. I had no idea they even kept track of that! On the back of the report card it said, "This student is promoted to 5th grade." When Schmidt handed me my report card, she informed me that I was going to have Miss Krause for my fifth grade teacher. She laughed about it, telling me that Krause had been known to take a whip to her students. I'm sure nothing would have pleased her more.

After I left Magee, I never saw Mrs. Schmidt again. I have no idea where she is today. Does anyone?

WELCOME - CARROLL STURM'S WIFE

2007-03-30T06:09:00.000-07:00

Carroll's wife came in and slammed me. Although I'm not exactly sure what I did wrong, other than pointing out a mistaken location. Oh well. You can't make everyone happy. She left two comments in Carroll's entry.

Laurie Pearson stopped by again, and left comments for Tammy Swoboda and Mrs. Hanson. The Mrs. Hanson comment elicited an "Oh my God" response from me.

Look for Mrs. Schmidt before the day is done.

Enjoy!

WELCOME... LAURIE PEARSON?

2007-03-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

A new person has stopped by and left comments. Her name is "Laurie." And she said she's from the class of 1988. A quick scan of the yearbooks prouced the name of Laurie Pearson. So I'll assume that's her. She's left some pretty interesting comments for Shannon Almand, Theresa Chase, Carrie Havel, Cindy LaFlash, and Wade Wachholz.

Welcome Laurie!

WHERE THE HELL HAVE I BEEN?

2007-03-23T12:48:00.000-07:00

There's still plenty of teachers to go. I hearby declare that I will have a new one up next week! Do I still have an audience left?

In the interim, I've added a brief update on Jenny Malley.

Enjoy!

I'M A SELLOUT

2007-03-07T07:51:00.000-08:00

I still have plenty of teachers to do. And I will do them! However, in the next 45-90 days, this blog may have some advertising in some new posts. I might be selling out for a little coin!

After the above-mentioned timeframe has expired, the ads will stop, and will be deleted.

UPDATE - SCOTT LECOQUE & JENNY MALLEY

2007-03-01T08:16:00.000-08:00

A new comment has been left for Scott. The commenter is allegedly Scott's little sister. Wow. I suspect, based on the tone of the comment, as well as the proximity to the situation, that this girl is more than likely Scott's stepsister.

As for Jen, there's a brief blurb on her, as yours truly had a lunch date with her.

UPDATE - DAVE SVATEK

2007-02-16T08:05:00.000-08:00

I had lunch with Dave on Wednesday of this week. I snapped a photo of him before he left. You can see it in his entry.

Enjoy!

P.S. A few posts down from here, is a picture of Mr. Schott. Read Cindy's new comment. It's a good one!

UPDATE - KEVIN DEHNE

2007-02-15T14:35:00.000-08:00

I added three new pictures of Kevin. They were taken by himself, as he watched the Steven Avery trial on his computer. You can find them in his entry.

Enjoy!

WELCOME - REBECCA SHEDLOSKY

2007-02-14T06:36:00.000-08:00

Becky has signed on and left a comment in her entry. She's using the name "Sprout."

Welcome Becky!

IS THIS MR. SCHOTT?

2007-02-12T07:16:00.000-08:00

According to the Two Rivers High School's website, it is. It's definitely him. But he looks a little older. Then again, I haven't seen him in close to 18 years.

MRS. KULAS

2007-02-09T13:43:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Kulas (Peg) was one of two Spanish teachers at Washington High School.

I never had her as a teacher. So I don’t have a whole lot of memories about her. She wore glasses, and kind of looked “motherly” to me. I guess that’s to be expected. She had at least two daughters – both of whom were somewhat close in age to me.

From what I recall about Kulas, I really didn’t care for her. She seemed a little bit snotty to me. But again, not having her as a teacher, I can’t really judge her. My friend Dave had her however. I don’t think he cared for her that much. In fact, during our sophomore year, he told me about a little incident he had with her.

Dave had really sloppy penmanship. It was as messy as messy can be. Apparently Kulas chided him for it. Dave put up the defense that he simply couldn’t help it. That’s just the way he wrote. Kulas snapped back, “That’s bullshit!” To which Dave replied, “It’s not bullshit. It’s serious.” I highly doubt Dave changed his ways.

After high school, I ran into Mrs. Kulas quite a bit. She and her husband would come into T&R Video a lot. They were beyond regular customers. They were always friendly to me. I’m not sure how many kids they had. But they had at least two – class of 1992’s Ellen, and class of 1995’s Gail. Gail came in quite a bit too. I always thought she was cute. I actually had Ellen in a class or two at UW Manitowoc.

Since I left T&R Video, I’ve not seen her since. Today she still lives in Two Rivers. And she also still teaches Spanish at the high school.

UPDATE - 4/27/07 - I found this recent picture of Mrs. Kulas. She looks almost pretty much the same as she did 20 years ago.

UPDATE - 6/5/07 - A member of the class of 1990 (who prefers to remain anonymous) sent me this brief memory on Mrs. Kulas. "During the Spanish class trip to Mexico City, Mrs. Kulas asked me to "stop being a bitch". I was being a bitch, so I guess that was deserved. But looking back I think it is very funny."

MRS. SCHWANTES

2007-02-08T12:57:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Schwantes (Carol) was a teacher at Washington High School. I had her during my sophomore year. She taught various English courses. I can’t exactly recall which class I actually had her for. I barely passed it though. Perhaps that’s one reason for the faulty memory.

Mrs. Schwantes is the mother of fellow graduate Wyatt Wood. Thus she is the ex-wife of the former vice principal, Mr. Wood. When I was in high school, she was married to fellow teacher Ken Schwantes. See my entry on Mr. Wood for more details surrounding this.

I liked Mrs. Schwantes. She was always friendly to me. She was always smiling too. What more can you ask? For the life of me, I can’t even recall any of my fellow students from that class – with the exception of that one guy from the group home that everyone called “Ski.” See my entry on Mr. Wenner for a story on him. Of course I can’t even remember what Ski’s real name was either. If memory serves, I may have had several freshmen in that class.

Our class was very well behaved. It made for a pretty laid back teaching style. It was a semester course. I think I had her during the second semester.

In the final quarter, most of it was devoted to this giant term paper. The paper was on what we wanted to do as a profession. Schwantes had several thick books which had lengthy bits of information regarding virtually every profession available. I decided I wanted to be an airline pilot – seriously. But my dreams were crushed when I found out that you had to have 20/20 vision, unaided. Oh well. That didn’t stop me from daydreaming though. I grabbed that book everyday. I read it and reread it. It really sounded like something I wanted to do. Schwantes gave us weeks to do this paper. She often gave us the entire period to research and write it. I used that time to simply read that portion of the book, over and over again. So of course when the day came to turn the assignment in, I had nothing. Yes, I had done absolutely nothing in regards to that paper. Yet somehow I managed to squeak by with a D- for the semester. Woohoo! I passed!

That was the one and only time I had her for a teacher. To the best of my knowledge, we never spoke again. Although I do have a vague memory of her coming into the video store a few times. So I guess we did talk a few more times post high school.

At some point in the 1990’s (I think) she and Mr. Schwantes divorced. I believe she is retired today. I think she still lives in Two Rivers. I imagine she’s in her mid-60’s by now. It looks as if she’s into arts and crafts. She’s also heavily involved with her church – a church in which fellow graduates Elmer Mikeal and Jennifer Hansel also belong to.

MS. KRAUSE

2007-02-01T14:39:00.000-08:00

Miss Krause (Brenda) was my 5th grade teacher at Magee. Thanks to Cindy Rohrer, we have a couple of pictures from that class. Of course my photo somehow wasn’t included in the class photo. But there are two other pictures you can see me in. In one of them I’m leering at Treesa Carron. I make no apologies for that!

In the class photo, from left to right, starting with the top row, we see Rod Lumaye, Mr. Willert, Miss Krause, Cory Schultz, Becky Koeppel, Dawn Schmidt, Sheila Zach, Troy Rezachek, Pookie Bergeon, Craig Stangel, Jenny Dent, Tricia Wetzel, Shane Peterson, Erin Hynek, Dean Lichterman, Tracy Peterson, Brian Belongia, Treesa Carron, Lisa King, Randy Klein, Trina Taddy, Jay Rozmarynoski, Jason Anderson, Ken Bartz, Jeremy Karman, Lori Wavrunek, Any Reinhart, Cindy Rohrer and Chad Daffner.

In the top photo you see Jason Anderson, Ken Bartz, Andy Reinhart, Jeremy Karman, Cory Schultz, ???, Rod Lumaye. Craig Stangel and Randy Klein. In the bottom photo you see my staring at Treesa Carron, followed by Erin Hynek, Tricia Wetzel, Lisa King, Cindy Rohrer, Jenny Dent, Pookie Bergeon and Lori Wavrunek.

In this collage of photos, Miss Krause's class is in the upper left. I think you can figure out who everyone is. I believe Tracy Peterson is in the upper right. You can only see her arm. Tracy rarely spoke. But she did cling to Lori Wavrunek - who is right next to her. So I assume that's her.

As I finished 4th grade, Mrs. Schmidt told me that she was putting me in Krause’s class for 5th grade. She was very blunt about her reasons why. She said Krause had been known to take a whip to her students when they got out of line. Lovely. I have a hard time believing that’s true. After all, it was the 1980’s, not the 1880’s.

Anyway, there’s no doubt that Krause was a strict disciplinarian. With my cocky attitude and rebellious nature, you’d think that she and I would have constantly clashed. But for whatever reason, we didn’t. In fact, she and I rarely had any problems with each other at all. I got yelled at here and there. But I received the brunt of her wrath no more than the average student. In fact I know that a lot of the students didn’t care for her. But I never had much of a problem with her.

When people did get out of line, she’d banish them to the hall. More than anyone, Cory Schultz took the brunt of her wrath throughout the entire school year. Miss Hynek had Shawn Pickard. Miss Krause had Cory Schultz. Once or twice each week we would inevitably hear Krause scream at the top of her lungs, “Mr. Schultz, in the hall!” Then she’d continue teaching. When she was good and ready, she’d venture into the hallway to chew him out. During the course of that 1981 - 1982 school year, I was sent in the hall only once. And in my case, there was no yelling. She calmly told me to leave. And when she did come out to talk to me, she was calm then too.

Miss Krause had a policy about going to the bathroom. If you went up to ask her whether you could go or not, she would reply, “Is it an emergency?” If it wasn’t, you sat back down. Of course that was sort of a dumb concept if you ask me. 90% of the time, the students would say that it was. I of course bucked the trend once and said, “No.” But about 10 minutes later, I asked her again. At that point, she simply said, “Yes.”

I have an odd memory of a day that I got sick. I didn’t throw up or anything. But I ended up leaving class and going to that one room near the office, where there was a cot for students to lie down on. I think I laid there for about 45 minutes. Then Miss Krause came to check on me. When she walked in, she bypassed me, and went straight into an adjoining bathroom that was there. It was a one-seater which could be used by anyone. And I was sort of embarrassed. Because I could hear every drop of her peeing. Do you know how unsettling it is to hear your teacher pee? Well I do. Trust me, it is. It must have been an emergency.

Krause used what she called a “backboard.” It was a set of cupboards in the back of the room. Whenever someone had neglected to finish their assignment, she would write down the name of the assignment on a piece of paper. Then she’d tape it to the cupboard. Then she’d write down the name of each student who had failed to complete it. The only way to get your name off the board was to actually finish the assignment. Then she’d let you cross your name off. I think at one time or another, nearly every student made at least one appearance on the backboard. As I recall, Jenny Dent appeared on nearly every single paper. At some point in February or March of that year, I went into some sort of funk, and wound up with my name on about 10 different pages. Krause ended up calling my parents about it. Needless to say, my parents made me stay in my room until I got caught up on all of them. Krause was often fond of pointing out that when we got into high school, the teachers wouldn’t let finish uncompleted assignments at a later date.

I do have another peeing story surrounding that class. This one involves me. And I’m not proud of it. But hey, I might as well be honest about everything. I had been out sick one day. We happened to take a test on the day I missed. Well we ended up going over the test in class. Since I had yet to take it, she made me go into the back room. I think I was doing some other school work or something. But then I suddenly had to go to the bathroom. And it was an emergency! The door was closed. But it had a small window. I peered out and saw that class was going on. I thought it would have been really awkward to come out, interrupt the class, and ask to go. For some reason I thought people would laugh. And I didn’t want that embarrassment. So for that reason, I decided to go inside this tall box she had. I really, really had to go. So I did. So be it. That was 25 years ago. I was 10. What’s the big deal now?

If memory serves, Miss Krause had a slight limp in her walk. She may have been slightly hunched over a bit. I could be wrong about that though.

I don’t think Miss Krause was ever married. She lived on the far north side of town, near L.B. Clarke (and Toby Schwartz for that matter). I do recall that she had a dog. I think it was a golden retriever. She even brought it to class one day.

See my entries on Dawn Schmidt, Tracy Peterson, Rod Lumaye, Pookie Bergeon, Jason Anderson, Andy Reinhart, Nikki Baugniet, Cindy Rohrer and Cory Schultz for a few other stories about Miss Krause.

After I left 5th grade (which was my last year at Magee School) I don’t think I ever ran into her again. Today she still lives in the same house. I would imagine she’s retired. She would be in her early-60’s by now. It appears as if she’s a trustee at the Two Rivers Library. What a trustee does in a mystery to me. She also appears to be involved with a local kennel club. I guess her love of dogs continues to this day.

UPDATE - 2/8/07 - A little angel told me that Miss Krause is indeed retired. However, she apparently does work as a substitute teacher from time to time.

UPDATE - JEFF BODWIN & STEPHANIE GARDNER

2007-01-29T09:23:00.000-08:00

I couldn't find a picture. But I did find an update on Jeff, as to where he lives and works. You can find the information in his entry. There's also a very small update on Stephanie Gardner, in her entry.

As for Greg, there's a brief blurb about him in his entry. And lastly, in regards to Sarah, I found a recent picture of her. You can see it in her entry.

ENJOY!

UPDATE - DEAN LICHTERMAN & JEFF BODWIN

2007-01-26T17:17:00.000-08:00

I uploaded Dean's clip from the senior video. I was also able to locate a recent photo of him. It's all in his entry.

And for those of you who may have forgotten what Jeff Bodwin looked and sounded like 18 years ago, you can see his senior video clip in his entry as well.

Enjoy!

MRS. LEWANDOWSKI

2007-01-26T11:51:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Lewandowski (Frances) was a teacher at L.B. Clarke School. She taught 7th and 8th grade students. She was in the northeast “wing” of the school, next to Mr. Monka, and on the other side of the curtain to Ms. Meehan.

Lewandowski was a rather large woman with a round face and curly hair. Of all the teachers in that wing, she is the only one I never had. I think all she taught was reading courses. But I might be mistaken about that. I think I only entered her room a couple of times during my years at Clarke. And that was only in 7th grade, when Mr. Fencl (my reading teacher) brought our class into her room so that all the reading classes that hour could watch a film strip or something from time to time.

Speaking of that, I do recall being in her class for one of those movies. We ended up watching some classic story – “Gift Of The Magi” or something. Anyway, it was introduced and narrated by Fred Gwynne (from “The Munsters.”) When Fencl gave us a quiz on the film, one of the questions was, “Who is telling the story?” I answered, “Herman Munster.” He didn’t appreciate that.

Anyway, because I never had her, I had very little dealings with her. However, she did yell at me (sort of) once. It was in 7th grade. It was right after lunch. I had gone to my locker to drop off my stuff, and was hustling down the hall to get into Mrs. Westberg’s class before the bell rang. Either Kevin Dehne or Ron (Cuyler) Gretz was with me. We whipped around the corner and almost slammed into her as we scooted down the hall. She told us to slow down. We both said, “Ok.” But neither one of us did. As we were approaching the office area, she yelled out, “You guys just got a detention.” We then both responded by saying something about having to get to class so we don’t get another one. We ended up making it. And as it turned out, Lewandowski never followed through with her threat.

Although I never had her, I think most kids liked her for the most part. She seemed friendly enough.

After I left Clarke, I never saw her again. Today it looks like she lives in Green Bay. I believe she’s married. I also believe she has retired from teaching. She’d probably be in her mid-to-late 60’s by now.

WELCOME - ANDREA BURNS

2007-01-22T10:48:00.000-08:00

Class of 1990's Andrea Burns has just logged in. Thus far she has left comments for Becky Koeppel, and her own father, Mr. Burns. Her user name is Burnsy1990.

Welcome Andrea!

MS. MEEHAN

2007-01-19T13:13:00.000-08:00

Ms. Meehan (Gwen) was a reading teacher at L.B. Clarke. She dealt with 7th and 8th graders. She was in the same wing with Ms. Lewandowski, Mr. Monka, Mr. Kern, Mr. Fencl and Mr. Trembley.

I was thrown into her class during the third quarter of 8th grade. I was not happy about it. Prior to then, I’d been in Fencl’s class. I believe Lewandowski had the “smart” students, Meehan had the “dumb” students and Fencl had everyone in between. Granted the smart and dumb labels are a little crude, and not entirely accurate. But I think most people will know what I’m talking about. Anyway, although I didn’t really “act up” in Fencl’s class, he and I simply didn’t get along. I was rude and obnoxious to him most of the time. I think he just tired of dealing with me, and had me shipped off to Meehan’s class.

Meehan’s class was somewhat of a culture shock to me. It was filled with all the derelicts from the future class of 1990 – most of whom never graduated. Bob Antonie was one of them. Although Bob wasn’t dumb. He probably didn’t belong in there either. I think the only fellow eighth grader in there was Scott “Gokey” Gauthier. See my entry on him for a story of how I stole his reading book – several times.

Anyway, I was sort of a mute in there at first. Mrs. Meehan was very nice though. And eventually I warmed up to my surroundings. I also thrived in there. Since the lesson plan was sort of “dumbed down” to accommodate the students, I ended up breezing through with A’s. I didn’t really pal around in there with anyone. But I got along with all the guys. We sat in one area of the room. I remember talking with Bob and Chad Lichterman a lot. No one talked to Gokey. The 7th graders despised him as much as us 8th graders did.

Not a whole hell of a lot happened in that class. And surprisingly, despite the students in there, the class was really well-behaved. I do have a couple of memories though.

Our library had “Choose Your Own Adventure” and “Which Way” books. They were the books that would give you options as you read them. It was stuff like, “If you want to take the left road, turn to page 62. If you want to take the right road, turn to page 85.” A lot of the books were paperbacks. And I had a habit of folding the entire book, so it could fit in my pocket. Of course by doing so, it pretty much destroyed the cover and warped the pages. But I did it anyway. Well one day all the guys saw me pull one of the books from my pocket and start to read it. They thought that was hilarious.

One day they opened up the curtain between Meehan and Lewandowski’s rooms. Then Mr. Fencl’s class came in. And we all sat and watched a filmstrip. My old friend Mark Schreiber came from Fencl’s class. So we sat by each other and talked the whole time. And for whatever reason, I had this small piece of wood in my trapper keeper. And I decided to tap it on the desktop, rather loudly. Why? Who knows. But I wanted to see how long I could go before people started looking at me. I think I did it about 20 times before I got a lot of people to turn around in their seats to see what the commotion was. I guess that was entertainment for us.

I did have one negative event take place in her class. On some assignment of mine, I had drawn a small picture of a guy sticking up his middle finger. It wasn’t directed at Meehan. It was just a random drawing. Well, Meehan found it to be inappropriate. So she folded up the paper, stuffed it in an envelope, and addressed it “To the parents of.” It arrived at my house the next day.

Now, over the years, my house received dozens of letters addressed that way. For the most part, my parents didn’t get home until after 5:00 or so. So I always got the mail. And I don’t think my parents ever saw one envelope that came addressed “To the parents of.” They certainly weren’t going to get this one either. She’d sent a pretty brief letter saying something to the effect of how it was inappropriate, and how she feels that they (my parents) could handle this situation better than she could. Well, they never got the opportunity. On a related note, I do remember once being accused by Mr. Vogt and Mr. Slattery of “playing mailman.” How right they were!

After 8th grade, I don’t believe I ever laid eyes on Meehan again. At the time, I think she lived in Manitowoc. In fact, I think she lived by the YMCA, down by the lake. Because I think her house had a deck in the backyard that began to slide down the great big hill, when the ground collapsed a bit.

It looks like Meehan got married (or remarried?) and is now known as Gwen Meehan Braun. She’d be about 80-years-old today, and still lives in the area. Based on some stuff I found on the internet, it appears as if she enjoys playing in bridge tournaments.

ANOTHER BLOG

2007-01-15T07:54:00.000-08:00

I decided to create another blog. I've linked it on the side of this page, under the title "ME." It's going to be my personal blog for non-classmate related matters. I've been wanting to do it for quite awhile. I finally got around to it now.

In other blog-related news, it looks like when Jason Anderson came by last week to address all the recent drama, he deleted his own blog. It's gone! Speaking of Jason, at his place of employment, he has a new employee today. It's none other than fellow classmate Jeff "Meff" Messerman. Small world, huh?

Carrie Franz also left a new comment for Ellen Dawidowich.

Enjoy!

MR. MONKA

2007-01-12T11:01:00.000-08:00

Mr. Monka (Ron) was the 8th grade social studies teacher at L.B. Clarke. For the most part, he was a pretty nice guy. He was probably around 50 years old, and wore glasses. He was also quite proud of his Polish heritage.

I had Monka for 4th hour. I sat on the right side of the room, right next to the curtain. Tom Grassman sat behind me. I think the seat in front of me was empty. Jenny Malley sat to my left. And I believe Mark Schreiber sat in back of her. I liked all three of them. So it was a good place to be. Come to think of it, I think the reason why the seat in front of me was empty was because Kevin Dehne had been there for a short time. But if memory serves, Monka separated us. So Kevin got moved to the absolute front of the class.

Other people in that class were Becky Koeppel, Teresa Vohwinkel, Keith Welnicke, Ron Gretz and Brian Belongia. Obviously there were a lot more than that. But I’m drawing a blank right now. Oh wait, maybe Robin Richmond and Chris Staudinger were there too.

Monka had a couple of habits. For one, if he caught you talking during class, he had a tendency to throw an eraser at you. Of course some of us (well, Kevin and I really) would purposely try to get beaned with one. I can remember turning around in my chair talking to Tom, and saying, “Is he looking? Is he grabbing the eraser?” The next thing you know, boom, you were in a cloud of chalk dust. Of course one time he actually nailed Ron Gretz in the eye. Ron yelped, then whipped the eraser back at him. Monka scolded him. But gee, can you blame Ron?

Monka also had a thing about the baskets under our desks. They were designed for putting our books in. Of course they were also perfect as a foot rest – using the desk in front of you. But Monka wouldn’t allow anyone to do that. If he caught you, he’d make you sit on the floor, squatting in the catcher’s position. See my entry on Teresa Vohwinkel to read a clever attempt on her part to get out of doing the squat.

I don’t know what I did. But one day Monka got mad at me and sent me into the hall – desk and all. He had me positioned basically in the middle of the six-roomed wing, but where he could teach and still keep an eye on me. I thought I’d have some fun with him. So I turned my head to the right, and looked in Mrs. Meehan’s room. Then I started to move my lips, as if I was talking to somebody. Of course I wasn’t. In fact, they were watching a filmstrip in there. Everyone’s back was turned anyway. I did this for 10 or 15 minutes. And Monka never noticed. I was getting frustrated. So I decided to get a little animated – gesturing with my hands and arms. Still, it took about 10 minutes before Monka finally noticed. I knew instantly, as his voice suddenly stopped, and the room got quiet. Then I looked in Monka’s room and saw that he was straining his neck trying to get a better look at me. Everyone else in class also turned to look. Then Monka came out and said, “Who are you talking to?” For once, I was honest with him. I said, “No one.” He looked into Meehan’s room himself. And from my vantage point, all you could see was darkness. He was baffled. He turned around, said nothing, then went back to his room. I got a kick out of it. Yes, it was very juvenile. I know.
At some point during the year, my mom ended up going to school for some parent/teacher conferences. I think she met with a couple of my teachers at once. I believe she met Monka, Mr. Kern and Mr. Fencl in that meeting. My mom stressed to them that I was supposed to be wearing my glasses. Truth be told, I’d had glasses since I was in first grade. When I lived in Manitowoc, I actually wore them. But for whatever reason, once I moved to Two Rivers, I refused to wear them. I guess I was just self conscious about them. After all, they were some hideous-looking things. Of course back then, all glasses were big and hideous. Anyway, the three of them assured my mom that they would make me wear my glasses. Kern never bothered to try. He didn’t care. Fencl asked me once. But Monka asked me every single day. I think he was trying to embarrass me into wearing them. Of course I would have been more embarrassed had I actually put them on. So everyday at the start of class, he would ask me in front of everyone, “Burt, did you bring your glasses?” Of course my standard answer was, “Nope!” After maybe six weeks of this, he finally let up. Needless to say, no one ever saw me wear them. Today I’ve had Lasik surgery done. And I’m much happier for it.

See my entry on Randy Ertman for an action story about Monka involving punches and squirt guns.

See my entry on B.J. Lutterman for a story about Monka and Polish jokes.

Sometime after my days at Clarke, my dad used to go to the YMCA and run in the winter time. Sometimes I’d tag along. I didn’t run myself. I just explored the building and would wander around into places I shouldn’t. But anyway, quite often Monka would be there. He’d run too. He remembered me and was always nice.

I’m not sure of the date. But I think it may have been in the early 1990’s, I recall seeing a newspaper article about an incident that happened at Clarke. Apparently one of the teachers got in trouble for being a little rough with one of the students. I believe the incident happened at night, as the teacher was chaperoning a dance or something. Someone once told me Monka was involved. In fact, just recently, someone else told me that Monka had gotten fired for hitting a student. Did it happen? I don’t know. Is it the same incident? Again, I don’t know.

Today I believe Monka is in fact retired. He appears to live in Two Rivers to this day. I couldn’t find anything else about him, other than the fact that he may have gone on an Alaskan sea cruise at some point.

DRAMA!

2007-01-08T06:37:00.000-08:00

I think I had a similarly titled post several months ago. Well drama has reared its ugly head once again. In this case, the person involved is Jason Anderson. Yes, some anonymous blogger came in and ripped him. Word eventually filtered back to Jason, who responded in kind. Yesterday, just prior to his response, I sent him a personal E-mail. Even though I take a hard stance in removing anything that's been written here, I felt that the particular comments that were left for him were a little harsh and one-sided. And mostly, they just didn't belong here. So I intended to ask Jason if he'd like me to remove them.

Anyway, before the day was over, I had received E-mails from not only Jason, but his wife as well. Incidentally, his wife confirmed that neither she nor anyone she knows was responsible for the nasty comments. Both of them know exactly who's to blame. Per a request from Jason, I have removed the nasty comments. He kept a record of them. I too have an E-mail confirmation of them. But they don't need to be seen.

I hate being involved in this drama. No one was mad at me. But still...

Anyway, back to the real purpose of this blog. I still have plenty of teachers to profile. I promise to get at least one done this week.

In the interim, Tammy Franzen has come back. She's left new comments for herself, as well as Nick Novachek, Ellen Dawidowich and Tim Petri.

Also, the mysterious "TIN" has returned and has left new comments for Jason Anderson and Mr. Heidner.

Who is "TIN?" I still have no idea. There was some thought that it may have been Tina Kust. However, if memory serves, Mr. Heidner only taught at Washington for my freshman year. And if "TIN" had Mr. Heidner, then he/she was either a potential member of the class of 1989, or someone older.

TOM GRASSMAN - YOUTUBE

2007-01-07T15:52:00.000-08:00

Tommy G. sent me a video montage of some of he recent performances. So I put it on Youtube. You can see it below.

WELCOME - ?????

2007-01-05T08:35:00.000-08:00

Someone named "TIN" has signed in and left comments in the entries for Drew Konop and Greg Flemal. Who is this mystery person? I have no idea.

Anyone?

UPDATE - JASON ANDERSON

2007-01-04T16:20:00.000-08:00

Well, about a month ago, one of my readers alerted me to a newspaper article which featured Jason. There was even a picture - which I now have. Based on the information in the article, it was clear that Jason was involved in a divorce. I chose not to mention it. Stuff like that happens.

However, today someone else chose to bring the topic up. In fact, this person chose to leave an absolutely brutal comment in Jason's entry. A few people have already asked me who left it. I don't have an answer to that. But it's obviously someone who has intimate knowledge about Jason, intimate knowledge about his workplace, and also had prior knowledge to this blog of mine. So it seems clear to me that the person who left the comment is somebody associated with Jason's wife. I don't buy the "I'm almost positive you are" part of the comment. This anonymous person knows exactly who Jason is, and knew exactly where to go to leave a nasty comment about him.

UPDATE - REBECCA SHEDLOSKY

2007-01-04T16:02:00.000-08:00

I did a little digging today, and found some recent pictures of Becky online. I put them in her entry.

Enjoy!

BIRTHDAY CARD

2007-01-04T08:05:00.000-08:00

Cindy Rohrer sent me a birthday card which she still have. It dates back to L.B. Clarke. She's not sure what year it's from. But I'm guessing it's from 7th grade. There's some interesting names here.

UPDATE - TAMMY FRANZEN

2007-01-02T10:40:00.000-08:00

Tammy sent me six photos. They feature her, Cindy Rohrer and Carrie Collard - as well as their families. I put them in her entry.

Enjoy!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2006-12-22T08:45:00.000-08:00

Yes indeed, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and for Meff, Happy Hanukkah!

Before I relate a couple of Christmas stories, I'd like all of my readers to check out Greg Pagel's blog. It's linked on the right side of this page. He has a really cool Christmas story. Check it out.

When I was really little, perhaps three or four, we were spending Christmas at my grandparents' home in Royal Oak, Michigan. On Christmas Eve, I had been put to bed. At some point in the night, I heard a noise. I'm not sure if I hadn't yet fallen asleep, or if I was awoken in the night. But I heard a noise above me. It was clearly coming from the roof. I heard what I thought were footsteps. I was sure that Santa had arrived! How exciting! The next day, there were lots of presents. That clinched it. I'd heard Santa! Years later I asked my parents if they'd gone up on the roof to make some noise. They hadn't. So to this day, I'm convinced that what I heard was indeed Santa Claus. No one will convince me otherwise.

A few years later, I believe when I was in first grade, we were spending Christmas at our own home in Manitowoc. Now I knew the drill. Santa only brings presents to good little boys and girls. So I was scared. I knew that I hadn't exactly been a good boy that year. If you read one of my entries on myself, you'll see the story about how my friend Carl and I had broken into a guy's garage, and smashed up the car windshield. We'd gotten away with it. But Santa knows... As Christmas approached, I was very worried. I went to bed on Christmas Eve expecting the worst. At some point in the night, I woke up. The house was quiet. I crept out of bed and tiptoed down the stairs. I opened the door to the living room and found... a room overflowing with presents! It was as if the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders. As I walked back up the stairs, I quietly commented to myself, "I can do anything!" A few days ago my wife asked me what I would have done, had there been little or no presents. My response was, "I probably would have shaped up." Then again, saying it and doing it are two different things.I probably wouldn't have. In fact, I may have been worse, as that incident probably would have scarred me for life.

In the spirit of the season, combined with my recent love for Youtube, here are some of my favorite Christmas songs. The first one is my all-time favorite. It's Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmas Time."

For my lovely wife, here is her favorite Christmas song. Like mine, hers is from another ex-Beatle. It's John Lennon's "Happy Xmas, War Is Over."

This next song is more in the spirit of this blog. I take you back to 1981, to the early days of MTV - when MTV was cool! This song has really grown on me in recent years. And it may actually surpass McCartney's song for my all-time favorite. It's Billy Squier (and the MTV staff) singing "Christmas Is The Time To Say I Love You."

This next song is also one of my favorites. It's "Father Christmas" by The Kinks. I just love the lyrics.

Father Christmas, give us some money.
Don't mess around with those silly toys.
We'll beat you up if you don't hand it over.
We want your bread so don't make us annoyed.
Give all the toys to the little rich boys.

Isn't that cool? I actually found the original video on Youtube. But the sound and video quality were poor. So instead, I found the song used with a bunch of clips from Christmas episodes of "That 70's Show."

Lastly, this is a Christmas present to my readers. This next clip is that of fellow graduate Meff (Jeff Messerman). A few days ago I uploaded a clip of he and I, and another friend of ours lip-syncing "Wild Thing." Well, truth be told, there was another lip-syncing performance that day. In this one, Meff was flying solo. Back in October, 2000, Meff's wife was planning a surprise 30th birthday party for him. Little did she know that I had another surprise. I dug out this old video and played it at the party, much to the delight of all who attended. Meff just cringed. But if you know Meff, you know he didn't really care, and got a good laugh out of it as well. As his mother stared at the TV screen in disbelief, Meff said to her, "Remember all those times I went to Two Rivers? Well this is what I was doing." A year later, at my surprise 30th birthday party, the video made an appearance again.

About a week ago, I was talking to Meff. For some reason, I completely blanked out, and couldn't remember the name of the Elvis song he had lip-synced. So I asked him. His reply to me was, "Oh God..." He knew exactly what I was going to do. At that point he suggested that I only play part of the song. But honestly, once people have seen just a part of it, what more is there to hide? Besides, several months ago, Meff chided me for not blogging about a particular story I had which involved Scott Jaklin. He played the "journalistic integrity" card. And he had a point. So with that in mind, here is the entire clip. Is it funny? Yes. But it's also well done. Here's Meff with his performance of Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds."

Merry Christmas!

MR. SCHWANTES

2006-12-21T13:33:00.000-08:00

Mr. Schwantes (Ken) was a teacher at Washington High School. I had him during my senior year for some sort of psychology or sociology class. I think it was sociology actually. But I think he may have also taught some history classes to freshman and sophomores. I know he did teach freshman. I never had him as a freshman though.

I believe that for many years, Schwantes had a Rollie Fingers-type moustache. But during my senior year, I don't think he had it anymore.

Schwantes was a popular guy. In fact, he may have been the most popular teacher in school. Why? Becasue he would talk about anything. And he could spend entire class periods talking about it. If the students could get him off the subject of the class, and onto something else, they might be rewarded with a discussion that could last the entire period. Be it baseball, politics, abortion, movies, television... anything! He could go on forever.

Schwantes was no pushover. He knew exactly what he was doing. And he would even comment that students routinely come into class and say to each other, "What can we get Schwantes to talk about today?" But there was a method to his madness. He defended his social discussions as something kids needed to grow. And he was right. The overall atmosphere made learning (when we did learn stuff) quite easy. I'd bet the failure rate for his classes was extremely low.

Schwantes had a lot of stories. One of his favorites was when a student from years past came in with his checkbook and tried to bribe him for a good grade. For the record, Schwantes refused the offer.

Schwantes also mentioned the time a certain girl (again, in years past) would wear a really short skirt, (with no underwear) and would sit in the front row and flash him. As Schwantes said, "You could see right up to her oh-my-gosh!" I guess teaching has certain perks.

Schwantes also told us that during the previous year, he taught a class. And on every Monday morning, these two senior girls (who he refused to name) would come in and meet each other, and ask each other whether either of them had "gotten any" over the weekend. He said they were a little too loud with their talk. Apparently other poeple heard too. Because a few of the students in our class knew exactly which two students he was talking about. The two students were allegedly (again, according to a few of the students in our class, Craig Rysticken for one) class of 1988's Lori Gagnon and Angie Algozine. If memory serves, I think they were both cheerleaders.

One of my favorite stories was when he spoke about class of 1987's Laura Ledvina. Laura was a girl who had some really funky hair. She was a cute girl actually. She was always smiling. But it was often hard to notice because your glance always went to her hair. I don't know what she did with it. But she somehow made it stand up in a great big pile on her head. Picture Marge Simpson, only not quite as large, and a lot less blue. That was Laura. Anyway, Schwantes was fascinated by her. He was so impressed with her. Clearly she wanted attention. And her hair provided that. People would often stop and just look at her. And she would just smile, and walk on by with her head held high. She was clearly confident. I never knew Laura myself. But I wish I would have. She seemed like a fascinating person. Schwantes was dead-on accurate with his description. Incidentally, I believe Laura lives in Arizona today. And I believe she's a jazz musician.

I also recall Schwantes telling us a story about two guys who attempted a social experiment years earlier. On a whim, they decided to hold hands when they walked out of class and headed towards their next class. Apparently they walked the halls like that. They wanted to see what reactions they would get. Apparently there were lots of stares and confused looks. I would have loved to have seen that. And no, the two guys weren't gay.

I mentioned this story in Larry Daffner's entry. But it's worth repeating. One of the guys in our class was fellow graduate David Kanera. Dave was in all his glory in that class. He was constantly yapping, and was always involved in the discussions. He thrived on attention. It's like he needed it to breathe. It was annoying as hell! Well one day Schwantes started the class and asked us what we should do that day. In referring to Dave, Larry yelled out, "Why don't we all ignore what's-his-name in the corner, and see how long it takes before he goes nuts!" I don't think most of the class understood what Larry was talking about. But I did. And I laughed my ass off.

Schwantes was the first teacher I'd ever heard use the word "fuck." Up until that point, the worst I'd ever encountered was when Mrs. Casey called me a "little shit." (Ms. Sapa once said "shit" too.) But Schwantes didn't really swear at anyone. He used the words in the context of one of his many stories. He was telling us about a student in years past who was always talking in class. Schwantes routinely had to tell him to be quiet. One day the kid snapped and said, "Everytime I open my fuckin' mouth, you tell me to shut up." Our class laughed. He defended his use of the word, stating that he was only using it in context. When asked if he punished the kid, he said no. He said the kid was simply letting off steam, and didn't mean any harm. Good man that Schwantes.

Near the end of the year, Schwantes talked about the fact that the seniors (like myself) were leaving school and going out into the real world. In doing so, he said something very interesting. He said that many seniors would prefer to keep going in school, as for the first time in their lives, the future was unknown. Bingo! This was me. I hated school. I'd hated it since I first entered kindergarten. I had drawn a calendar on the back of one of my notebooks, so I could count down the number of school days left. At any point in the second semester, I could have told you exactly what the number was. But the scary reality is that I had no plans whatsoever after high school. I wasn't interested in college. I certainly didn't want to work. It was a weird time. And Schwantes was right. Because I was one of those kids. As much as I hated school, if I could have stayed on for another year, I would have. How awful is that? I must have been a lost soul at that time. So what did happen to me? I ended up washing dishes for 10 months. That was enough to convince me that I needed to go back to school. It took a couple of shaky years to figure out how to be a real student (something I never learned growing up) but I eventually caught on, even making the Dean's List at one point. Smart man that Schwantes.

Schwantes was married to fellow teacher Carol Schwantes. But they ended up divorcing at some point. I'm quite sure Schwantes is retired today. But he still lives in Two Rivers. My thanks to Cindy Rohrer for providing this picture. It appears to have been taken back in the late-1980's, possibly during our senior year. I have no idea where it was taken though.

THE SERMON

2006-12-19T06:43:00.000-08:00

Here's another old camcorder clip. I believe this was shot in June, 1990. Meff and I paid a visit to the Knollwood Mausoleum out on Highway 310. Why? I have no idea. But we did. In an around the mausoleum they had this music playing, which sounded a lot like Zamfir and his magic pan flute. Inside the mausoleum was a chapel. So I decided to take the pulpit and deliver some sort of sermon. I had no idea what I was going to say. I just went up and started talking. Of course Meff didn't make it any easier for me, as he kept trying to get me to be quiet. I suppose I can understand that, as there were people around. Anyway, the clip is short. But here it is.

HAVE I NO SHAME?

2006-12-18T21:30:00.000-08:00

In going through some old camcorder tapes, I've come across some interesting stuff. Some of it I'll be sharing in the next few days. This first clip is from sometime in 1990 - probably late-spring or early-summer.

What possessed us to do this, I have no idea. This is a clip of Meff and I, along with our friend John. For those of you who grew up in Two Rivers, you may remember John. He's been spotted cruising the streets of Two Rivers in his electric wheelchair since the early-1980's. In the summer, you can still see him. Today he lives in the Hamilton Home. If you see John, say hi. He's a nice guy. Tell him you saw him on Youtube!

What more needs to be said? The clip speaks for itself. It's the three of us lip-syncing to The Troggs' "Wild Thing." And it's beyond embarrassing, for many reasons - the hair, the clothes, the whole thing in general. So why show it? Simple - because the answer is no. I have no shame.

Enjoy!

THE COMMENTING IS FIXED

2006-12-18T06:21:00.000-08:00

It looks like anyone can comment anywhere. Kudos to those eggheads at internet control. Now I can speak my mind once again.

I have nothing to say.

SALLY GRACZYKOWSKI - YOUTUBE

2006-12-16T06:22:00.000-08:00

This was our attempt to see Chad Daffner. He wasn't home. But his neighbor, class of 1990's Sally Graczykowski was. So we stopped by to see her. For some reason, we didn't film much of here. But here's what we got.

ANOTHER UPDATE ON THE COMMENTING PROBLEM

2006-12-15T06:24:00.000-08:00

A blogger employee responded to my post from the other day - the post I thought had been deleted. It sounds like they're working on it.

COMMENTING PROBLEM

In other blog-related news, I added a brief update on Chris Thee.

Enjoy!

UPDATE - SCOTT JAKLIN

2006-12-14T16:31:00.000-08:00

I found some 1990 camcorder footage of Scott doing his teacher impressions. I put it in his entry.

Enjoy!

UPDATE - 9-9-9

2006-12-13T19:27:00.000-08:00

Three posts down from this one is yesterday's post about the 9-9-9. I found a third camcorder clip from that evening. I've added it to the post.

Enjoy!

THE TROUBLE WITH COMMENTS

2006-12-13T08:21:00.000-08:00

Last night I was able to comment in other people's blogs. Today I can't - again! What an annoyance. It seems like it's hit-or-miss with some people. Sometimes you can comment. Sometimes you can't.

Digging through the blogger.com website, I was eventually able to find myself on some sort of blogger help page. There are message boards there. I had to create a Gmail account in order to be allowed to participate in the forums. But I did. And it looks like a lot of people are having problems commenting. It's not just me and my little "blogger family" here. The link is below.

I posted a question in the "something is broken" area yesterday. I plan to follow up again today. Hopefully someone higher up will take notice. Perhaps my fellow blog owners will also complain. Eventually I'm sure it will all be fixed.

BLOGGER HELP

UPDATE - MR. FRANKE

2006-12-12T18:56:00.000-08:00

The video that Kevin Dehne and I shot when we visited Mr. Franke back in August can now be seen in his entry.

Enjoy!

9-9-9

2006-12-12T17:22:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, I was reading the blog of class of 1987's Gregg Novachek. He wrote about an experience he had called "The 9-9-9." What is this, you may ask? Well, it's a challenge of sorts - a challenge that is supposed to take place during a baseball game.

The challenge is this. In the course of the nine-inning game, the participant is to eat nine hot dogs (and buns) and drink nine 16-ounce beers. Gregg accomplished this feat.

I was impressed. And I wanted to try it. There's no rule that says it can't take place in your own home. So that's what I would try. Also, since I detest beer, I would substitute wine coolers. I couldn't try this feat on my own. So I enlisted Meff to join me.

Meff was reluctant about the whole thing. But in the end, he did participate. But instead of hot dogs, he substituted not one, but two Tombstone pizzas.

We chose game one of the 2006 World Series. The date was Saturday, October 21st, 2006. Exactly three weeks earlier, I'd celebrated my birthday party. On that night, I drank perhaps 14 wine coolers with relative ease. I was thoroughly smashed (after three of them). But I didn't get sick. Success! With that dry run behind me, I thought I was well prepared to beat the 9-9-9.

I was wrong. I'm sad to say I could only drink four wine coolers. Four! What the hell? On a positive note, I did manage to get all nine hot dogs in me. The last bite of number nine went down with two outs in the 9th inning.

So what happened? I have a theory. My stomach simply wasn't big enough to handle it all. Sure, I'd downed 14 wine coolers a few weeks earlier. So why only four this night? No room. It's as simple as that. Those nasty hot dogs and buns swelled in my stomach, literally leaving no room for anything else - even liquids. On the night of my birthday, all I ate was one piece of pizza and a cookie. So there was plenty of room for liquids.

So how did Meff do? He did even worse. He too only managed to finish four beers. And while he did manage to finish one whole pizza, not one bite was sunk into number two.

So we both failed. And both of us were drunk after three drinks. How pathetic is that? I guess because neither one of us drink, it took very little to get a full buzz going. As an interesting side note, in the 20+ years Meff and I have been friends, this was the first time that we had ever gotten drunk together.

Anyway, my lovely wife got out the camcorder and filmed a little bit. These clips aren't riotously entertaining. But some might get a kick out of them. So here they are, in all their glory. Clip #1 features my three-and-a-half-year-old daughter as well.

COMMENTS

2006-12-12T12:43:00.000-08:00

It seems like blogger.com is having some issues. I can leave comments on this blog of mine. But I can't leave comments on anyone else's. My wife (on a different computer) is having the same issue. Is anyone else having this problem?

UPDATE - STACEY ERICKSON

2006-12-12T06:43:00.000-08:00

Stacey has sent me a photo. You can see it in her entry.

Enjoy!

WELCOME - AMY SCHMIDT

2006-12-11T15:40:00.000-08:00

I got a really nice E-mail from Amy today. She also left a comment in her entry. She's included her E-mail address. So feel free to get in touch with her, if you like. I wrote her back and asked if she had a recent picture to share. So maybe I'll have one soon.

It's espceically nice to get a friendly E-mail from someone I wasn't exactly friendly to in my description. Thank you Amy.

UPDATE - MR. WHEELER

2006-12-10T19:21:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Monica Knutson's comments, I was able to find two pictures of Mr. Wheeler. You can see them in his entry.

WELCOME - MONICA KNUTSON

2006-12-10T18:51:00.000-08:00

Yes indeed, she calls herself CreativeMuse. But it is in fact class of 1990's Monica Knutson. She was a bit shy at first, referring to herself as "Monz." But the more she commented, the more she revealed.

You can see her comments in the entries of Paula Jonas, Stan Conrad, Larry Daffner, Brian Klein, Jennifer Hansel, Lisa Koch, Sara Kvitek and Mr. Wheeler.

Welcome Monica!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

2006-12-08T11:27:00.000-08:00

Rumor has it that Cindy Rohrer turns 36-years-old tomorrow. And to think, the last time I actually saw her, she was 18. Wow.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CINDY!

WELCOME - BRIAN KLEIN & GREGG NOVACHEK

2006-12-07T20:54:00.000-08:00

Brian Klein stopped by the blog this evening. He left a comment in his entry. Actually, it was more of a reply to Nate Walkner's comment which was left for him. We may have the beginnings of a flame war.

As for class of 1987's Gregg Novachek, I've known he's been reading for quite awhile. He finally left a comment today, in my "Note To Brad Strouf" post.

Welcome Brian & Gregg!

UPDATE

2006-12-07T13:17:00.000-08:00

Egged on by Erin and myself, Brad Strouf has started his own blog. You can find it linked on the right side of this page.

Enjoy!

UPDATE - SCOTT LECOQUE

2006-12-07T11:53:00.000-08:00

I found another length article about Scott. It's from December, 2005, and discusses the jury phase of his trial.

NOTE TO BRAD STROUF

2006-12-07T08:41:00.000-08:00

Kudos to Brad on his neverending supply of comments. Be it here, on Erin's blog, or even on class of 1987's Gregg Novachek's blog, Brad is always around. By the way here's a link to Gregg's blog. Check it out. GREGG

So that being said, I would encourage Brad to start his own blog. Be it about life, school days, or recent busts, I think you would do well at it - even if your entries were sporadic.

Here's a little-known fact about Brad. Back in his pre-sobriety days, a heavily-intoxicated Kevin Dehne was once tackled to the ground and arrested by officers Brad Strouf and class of 1988's Erik Walters.

There's your first enrty.

UPDATE - MARILYN DUPREY

2006-12-07T07:20:00.000-08:00

I did a little poking around, and was able to find some very recent pictures of Marilyn. I put them in her entry.

Enjoy!

UPDATE - JIM MESSMAN

2006-12-05T09:50:00.000-08:00

I found a photo of him on the internet. I put it in his entry.

Enjoy!

MR. KERN

2006-11-30T12:07:00.000-08:00

Mr. Kern (Dave) was the 8th grade English teacher at L.B. Clarke. He had short, red, curly hair. He also loved to suck on toothpicks - all the time!

Mr. Kern and I pretty much had a hate/hate relationship with each other. Almost from day one, he took an immediate dislike to me. I'd be lying if I said the feeling wasn't mutual. It wasn't bad all the time though. From time to time, he'd kid around with you. But there were plenty of times that I thought he was a total asshole as well.

Mr. Kern was also the detention monitor in 8th grade. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I was probably kept after school with him more than 100 times that year. It wasn't all detentions though. At some point in the beginning of the second semester, I had failed to finish the first seven assignments or so. He then told me (in front of the entire class actually) that from that day forward, anytime I didn't finish an assignment, I had to come in after school. Actually, it wasn't a bad idea. More often than not, I ended up coming to see him after school. But at least I got my assignments done. It became a running joke actually. As he'd go around the room asking us for our grades, I'd say, "Not done." He'd then ask (more like confirm) "I'll see you tonight?" To which I'd reply, "Yep."

I can't recall what I'd done. But one day Kern got really mad at me and demanded my phone number so he could call my parents that evening. I gave him the wrong number. I must admit though, before the class was over, I went up to him and gave him my real number. That pissed him off even more though. He was furious that I'd even attempted to lie to him. Whatever.

Quite often during the year, Kern would have us use these really old textbooks that he kept in the closet in the back of his room. They had names in them dating back to the 1970-1971 school year. They were pretty beat up. They also had an interesting trend in a lot of them. If you paged through the books, you'd inevitably find something that says, "Go to page 67." Then when you went to that page, it'd say, "Go to page 114." This could go on for several pages. Once you reached the final page, there would be some sort of comment like, "Fuck you," or "Kern shoves that toothpick up his ass before putting it in his mouth." Brilliant... Of course I did some of that myself. I would have a trail of page numbers that would span 50 pages or so. In the end, I left some sort of clever message or vile poetry. Sometimes I would make a really long one, then not have it go anywhere. The last page would have nothing on it at all.

One day before class, Kern approached Kevin Dehne and I. He said, "Hey, I got a sniglet." For those who may not know, "sniglets" was a regular feature on HBO's "Not Necessarily The News." It was a segment hosted by comedian Rich Hall. It was basically a comedy segment about new words. He would name a word, then describe its meaning. The two I remember are "Carperpetuation" - which is the act of vacuuming something, (like a long thread) not having the vacuum suck it up, picking up the item, looking at it, then setting it back on the floor to try and suck it up again. The other one I remember was "lactomangulation" - the act of opening your milk carton on the "wrong side." Anyway, Kern's sniglet was "ruglump" - the act of stumbling on the carpet, then kicking the spot with your foot. The spot was the "ruglump." Kevin and I sort of snickered. Kern just shrugged his shoulders. His reaction was funnier than the sniglet.

See my entries on Kevin Dehne and Nick Novachek for a few more stories about Kern.

One day in the gym, after lunch, my friend Greg Flemal and I were screwing around on the bleachers. We were sitting down, but were sort of shoving each other back and forth. We weren't fighting or anything like that. We were just being slightly rowdy. Anyway, Kern comes over and give me five detentions. How many did Greg get? Zero! What the fuck?????? Yeah, don't tell me teachers don't play favorite (or anti-favorite) sometimes. I was so pissed about that. I'm pissed off now actually. Fuck him!

One day I came back to school after missing a day for being sick. Kern told me to get the notes from the previous day from someone else. I asked a few people. But no one had them. I told Kern that I can't find the notes. So he made me walk up and down the rows, asking everyone in class, until someone let me borrow their notes. It was sort of funny. But I had to ask about 10 people before someone actually had them. Thank you Beth Sullivan! I got the impression that Kern was less than thrilled that no one had taken notes from the previous day.

One day Kern busted me for running to the hot lunch line. He told me to go back to my locker, then start over. By that time, the lunch line would have been long. I didn't feel like doing that. So instead, I grabbed my coat and went home for lunch. I think Kern was mad that I had one-upped him. So what did he do? He approached me after lunch and said that I didn't have permission to go home. Then he gave me two detentions! I say again... what the fuck?????

During class, it was common that kids would go up to Kern's desk when they got stuck on something. A small line would form around his desk. Well one day my friend Mark Schreiber went up there. So I decided to go up with him. As I walked up to him, I poked him with my pen. Mark thought he'd be funny. So he shouted, "Ahhhh!" I certainly didn't poke him hard enough to warrant that response. In my mind I was thinking, "Thanks Mark..." Kern had an unusual delayed reaction. But about five seconds later, he put his pen down, looked up at me, then to Mark, and said, "Did he poke you?" I could tell that he was beyond furious. Mark quietly replied, "Yes." I could tell by Mark's reaction that he was sorry for getting me in trouble. Kern then said, "Put your stuff down and come with me." He then walked around to the backroom. As I followed him, Brenda Dax smiled at me, then leaned back against the wall, trying to hear what was about to be said.

As I stepped into the backroom, Kern grabbed me by the face, dug his hand in my chin, and violently rammed me into the wall. Then with fury in his eyes, he got right in my face and said, "I'd like to beat the shit out of you. But I can't. I'd lose my job. But I hope you say the wrong thing to the wrong person, and they go out and beat the shit out of you." He then went on for a little while longer, letting me know that he was demanding a conference with one of my parents. When he was finished, he pulled me from the wall, then threw me into a desk that was back there. He literally threw me so hard that the top of the desk broke off. He then informed me that I was to remain in that desk for the rest of the period.

Wow! To say I was a bit startled is an understatement. Anyway, about 20 minutes later, the bell rang. I calmly walked out, then realized that my pen was still up on Kern's desk. It was the only pen I had. So I had to get it. So I put on my best cocky smirk, waltzed up to his desk, and said, "Can I have my pen back?" Kern looked at me as if he were shocked that I'd had the balls to approach him. He looked around, found it, then said, "Is this your pen?" After I'd confirmed it, he tossed it to me and said, "Boy, you've got guts." As I turned my back on him, I had the biggest shit-eating grin on my face you can imagine. I was so proud!

So a week later, a conference was scheduled with my dad. Now backtrack a few weeks. Kevin Dehne had been in a similar situation. Kern had demanded a conference with one of his parents too. Kevin told me that when his mom came in to meet with him, the first thing Kern did was dump out a large paper grocery bag of papers and stuff, and declared, "This is what Kevin has been doing since I called you." Apparently Kern kept a diary of Kevin's every move during the days leading up to his meeting with Kevin's mom. If Kevin threw a piece of paper away, Kern snatched it out of the garbage. Thanks to Kevin, I knew all of this.

For the next few days, I had a few spies - Kevin, Mark and Ron Gretz for example. They would go up to Kern's desk and ask a question about their assignment. And they'd see Kern's "diary' on me. So I knew he was keeping tabs on me. And I do know that one day when Ron and I were passing notes, he wrote that down. And he even fished our notes out of the garbage when were done. So one day in detention, I decided to play a trick on him. Knowing he was watching me like a hawk, I took out a piece of paper and began drawing a huge figure eight on it. Then at some point, I crinkled it up and threw it in the garbage - or so he thought. I actually went up to the garbage can by his desk. It was after school, so it was pretty full. I leaned down, put my hand over the can, but held onto the paper instead of dropping it. From Kern's vantage point on the other side of the desk, he was unable to see the garbage can. About 10 minutes later (a delayed tactic in order not to be obvious) Kern grabbed the garbage can and began to look through it. He literally uncrinkled dozens of papers, in a vain effort to locate my figure eight. Of course he never found it. And I'm pretty sure he realized it. Because after several minutes of looking, he shot me the most evil-eyed look you can possibly imagine. It took every square ounce of my being not to burst out laughing.

So anyway, a few days later my dad showed up for this conference. And Kern went off on my dad! He kept saying stuff like, "If he was my kid..." He repeated this several times. My dad was getting angry at this point. And he looked at Kern and said, "Do you want him for a few days?" Kern sheepishly said no, and then was respectful for the rest of the meeting. Way to go dad!

I'm going to digress a bit here. A few years later, I became best friends with Richard Wheeler. For years, Richard had been best friends with Mr. Kern's son - class of 1990's John Kern. It was odd. Richard was friends with John. Richard's sister Kathleen (class of 1987) was friends with John's sister Jennifer (class of 1988). Richard's mom was friends with Mr. Kern's wife. And Mr. Kern was friends with Mr. Wheeler - Richard's dad. I want to say that the Wheelers and the Kerns all sort of went their respective separate ways sometime around the time I was in 7th grade. But anyway, Richard always had a ton of stories about the Kerns. By high school, Richard despised everything Kern-related. He'd make fun of them all the time. He had some good stories about John. For one, John had once believed that he was some sort of psychic mindreader. Richard was able to prove to him that he wasn't. He also told me a story of how John once crushed a Christmas tree ball in his hand - which required a doctor's visit and stitches. He also said that he had slept over at John's house once, and had accidentally caught a glimpse of Mr. Kern's bare butt in the bathroom the next morning. Apparently someone opened the door on him as he was getting out of the shower. Richard said it was "big and red."

At some point during that school year, John Kern got suspended from school for getting into a fight with my fellow classmate, Shawn Pickard. For the rest of that day, people were saying that we should all stay away from Mr. Kern that day, as he was no doubt furious over his own kid being in trouble.

Speaking of John Kern, I have a story on him. Since I'm writing about his father, this seems as good a place as any. And it is school related. During my senior year, I came back from lunch, and was headed back to my seat in study hall, next to my friend Dave Svatek. Well, John happened to be in the room ahead of me. And he apparently had something to talk to Dave about. He was leaning into my seat. So when I got over to him, I tapped him and motioned for him to move. He didn't. In fact, he completely ignored me, as if I wasn't even there. I remained calm. And a few seconds later, John left. But I was pissed - much more pissed than I should have been. But I was pissed nonetheless. I felt that he had no right to ignore me like that. Who the hell was he anyway? So what could I do? Well, if you read my entry on Brad Strouf, you'll see that I got some revenge on him by spreading my own feces on his front porch. But that was when I was in 6th grade. Now I was a senior, and 17-years-old. But I was immature as well. A repeat of history seemed to be in order.

So I enlisted the help of Scott Jaklin. I had him write a page-long letter to John, telling him how much of an asshole he was. It wasn't just a bitchfest. It was well-written, and had legitimate arguments. At one point it said something like, "Since you like to shit on people, I'm going to shit on you." My plan was to take some dogshit and spread it all over his porch. Unfortunately, the night I chose was the coldest night of the year. It was literally 20 below zero. And all the dogshit was frozen. So... you can imagine what I did next. I was determined to follow through. So I produced my own sample, and used some newspaper to set it inside a paper bag. Then Scott joined me. It was about midnight on a Saturday night. Neither one of us drove. So we walked two miles from my house to John's. It was so fucking cold! But we did get there. I discovered that my turd had just about froze up over the walk. But I was able to spread it a little bit - using the newspaper of course. I then shoved the note in the front door. We then walked over to Jason Krings' house - who lived about five doors down from John. I had told him about my plan. He told me to stop by when I was done. The warmth would have been welcome. But he never answered the door. At one point, we went to Super America to try and call a cab. But no one answered at the cab company either. So we walked back home - a round trip of over four miles in blistering cold. A few days later, John approached Dave (they shared gym class together) and asked him if I had done it. Dave knew that I had. But he simply told John that he didn't know. John never once approached me about it. In fact, he's never gotten near me since. Incidentally, when I told Jason Krings that we'd done it, he told me that he assumed I would, and that he was going to go out that night to see my work. But he said it was too cold! Gee, I walked four miles. And he couldn't walk half a block!

As for Jennifer Kern, Richard had an interesting story on her too. Richard's mom worked in a doctors' office. One of her coworkers was the doctor who delivered both Jennifer and John. Well, just prior to Jennifer's 1988 graduation, her mom sent a long letter to the doctor. It said stuff like, "18 years ago you helped bring into this world a wonderful girl..." The letter rambled on and on about how great Jennifer was. It also ended with the line, "As for her younger brother John - he's a peach too." Needless to say, the doctor thought the letter was very, very weird. And of course he passed it around for the staff to look at, and laugh about. Richard's mom had a copy, and showed it to Richard - who of course brought it to school. We would have loved to have passed that around. But Richard's mom would have killed us. So until this blog today, that little story has not been told. Speaking of Jennifer, I believe she now lives on the east coast - possibly in Boston. And I even saw something from her where she listed a woman as her spouse. I know a lot of people assumed that Jennifer was in fact a lesbian. I guess she's confirmed it publically too. So I'm not telling tales here. I believe Jennifer and her spouse are both doctors - or at least in the medical profession in some capacity.

When John and Richard parted ways, John began hanging around with class of 1990's Todd Wegner. They seemed like an odd pair. At some point during either during my junior or senior year, John began to carry a briefcase to school. He was of course the ONLY student to ever take a briefcase to school. Jesus, what was wrong with him? Of course shortly thereafter, his buddy Todd became the second (and last) person to bring a briefcase to school. Todd appeared to worship John. In fact, Richard said that Todd was the one who helped convince John that he was a psychic mindreader. About 10 years ago, I somehow tracked down Todd Wegner. He was living in Appleton. Meff and I prank called him at 2:00 in the morning. I grilled him about why he worshipped John. He claimed no knowledge of what I was talking about. Finally after several minutes, his wife started screaming at him about arguing with total strangers in the middle of the night. So she made him hang up. Incidentally, today John is an attorney in San Francisco. I don't believe he's ever married. But I could be wrong.

Anyway, back to Mr. Kern. For several weeks, he would show World War II movies after school during detention. The kids loved this. I think Kern was doing some sort of project that required him to watch a bunch of these films. Sometimes I'd get sidetracked from my asignment, and get hooked on "Tora, Tora, Tora" also. Kern would yell at me if he caught me watching. Remember, I was there to do my school work, not to sit in detention.

One day after school, Kern and I had been verbally going at it quite a bit. I was pissed. He was pissed. It was ugly. He had already dismissed all of the students from detention. It was just me and him. At one point, I had the assignment done. But it wasn't presented on the paper correctly. Kern had some sort of bizarre set of rules regarding how everyone's paper was supposed to be. We could only use 25 lines of the sheet. Not only couldn't we use the bottom line that was usually partially cut off. But we also couldn't use the line above it. Plus when we were doing sentence structure identification stuff, he insisted that we fold our paper in a certain way. He had some sort of exact science about it. If you deviated from it, you were in trouble. Anyway, he made me do it over. If you reread my entry on Mrs. Casey, you'll know I don't take kindly to doing assignments over again, simply because the teacher doesn't like me. So I ended up starting to do it over. But I purposely made it really large and messy. Knowing he'd be pissed, I called him over to look at it. I asked him, "Now what do I do?" He glanced at my paper, then said, "Now you pull down your pants and shit on it. Then you blow your nose on it. Then you take your finger and rub it all around. And when you're all done, it won't look any worse than it does right now." He was very angry. But believe it or not, it was actually 5:00. Yes, he kept me that late that day. He then told me to simply leave. I don't believe I ever redid that assignment.

On the last day of school, Kern gave us a spelling test. Why? Who knows. We'd already gotten our report cards. So there was no point. I had no paper. So he made me come after school to take the test. He even went to my 7th hour class to make sure I didn't duck out. When I got to detention, I refused to take the test. We began to argue. Troy Rezachek (who also was in detention) watched the whole thing. At one point, I began to walk away. He yelled at me to return - which I did. I honestly would have left, save for one reason. I had two glass pieces in my locker from the candle sconces I'd made in Mr. Ashenbrenner's class. And I didn't think I could safely get to my locker, retrieve them, and get out of school without Kern nabbing me. So after maybe 20 minutes, I gave in and took the damn test. Then I left without incident. So my very last day at L.B. Clarke school, I was in detention. How fitting.

I saw Kern a few times at the video store. By that time my rage for him has disappeared. We were always cordial to one another. I'm not sure when Kern retired. But I think it's been awhile now. He and his wife have left Wisconsin, and now live in Arizona.

UPDATE - 6/4/07 - No, it's not Mr. Kern. But it is a photo of his son John. Interestingly, one of his fellow class of 1990 members sent me this little tidbit about 10 days ago.

"For our graduation John gave a speech. The theme was, "Think globally, act locally". He was really heated and kept repeating this mantra. By the end he was practically screaming it. I think the crowd was a little taken aback. My sister still talks about it when his name comes up. Very weird."

Good stuff! Very funny! In Meff's comments about Mr. Kern, he mentioned a phenomenon called "Kern-mania." That graduation speech sounds like Kern-mania at its finest. I'd love to have a copy of it.

UPDATE - JOHN STELTZ (AND AGAIN) & RANDY ERTMAN

2006-11-30T08:52:00.000-08:00

I got a nice E-mail from John today. You can see it in his entry. I wrote him back and encouraged him to login himself and leave some comments. So maybe he will.

Enjoy!

UPDATE #2 - John has indeed signed in. He's already left a comment for Shawn Mehlhorn and Erin Hynek. He's also given me the ok to post his E-mail address. So if anyone wants to write to John, I've put his E-mail address in his entry.

As for Randy, I have a very brief update, courtesy of Jenny Malley.

GO SEE GREG

2006-11-30T07:06:00.000-08:00

Sat., Dec 2, 7:30pm

at

THE SANDS: On Holmgren Way, across from Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI

Greg Pagel, keys
John Salerno, sax/flute
Craig Hanke, bass
Terry Iattoni, drums

with
Dino Bilotti, voice

NO COVER!

PRIDE

2006-11-24T13:48:00.000-08:00

I enjoy writing. It's something I think I'm fairly good at. Prior to this blog, I hadn't done any sort of creative writing in years - not since my senior year in college, when I wrote for UWGB's newspaper.

I missed it.

My pal Meff on the otherhand (a very good writer in his own write) - ha! Get it? "In his own "write?" Anyway, he has been writing for roughly 15 years. If you've read my entry on him, you'll know what I'm talking about. For years, he's had the hopes and dreams of breaking into the film business - on the writing side of things. Granted, this is a very tough thing to do - especially here in Wisconsin. The odds of breaking into the business in Hollywood is tough enough. Trying to do it in Milwaukee might be impossible.

Anyway, not long ago, a small time director (who does have a film under his belt) that Meff knows, asked him to write a script for a horror film. Meff said sure. Meff also enlisted my help to write some scenes - specifically some of the gory ones. I said sure.

Well, the director loved it. The director also (allegedly) has some financial backers ready to shoot this low-budget flick, possibly this spring.

Will it happen? Who knows. I believe Meff has been through this a couple of times in the past, and nothing has come of it. But I do know this much. A contract has been signed. And when (or if) the financing comes through, Meff and I will get paid for the writing. It's not $1,000,000 or anything. But it's nice, nonetheless. Plus we'll also share in a "back end deal" when (and if) this film makes any money.

Is this exciting? Sure! Will it come to be? I hope so. All you need is a foot in the door. Like I said, Meff has been through this a couple of times before. But I haven't. So I'm bubbling with pride - even though despite our 50/50 agreement, Meff probably did about 75% of the writing. But now there's talk of doing more. So hopefully that 70/30 work split can even itself out to a 50/50 split. I would like that. I'm excited, and want to do more.

Anyway, it's been a fun week. Tonight the family and I are driving to Sioux Falls, SD. Tomorrow we'll then be driving up to Fargo, ND. Then on Sunday, we'll drive back home. It's our little Dakota mini-vacation.

UPDATES - MANY PEOPLE

2006-11-24T08:28:00.000-08:00

I got a few E-mails from someone in the last few days. This person would like to remain anonymous. So I just copied and pasted the information I got into the entries of the people this person knew. So you can now find some updates on Kief Giblin, Wade Wachholz, Trey Schenk, Dawn Debot and Pete Soucoup. The update on Pete is classic!

Enjoy!

JEFF & BRENDA GORDON - YOUTUBE

2006-11-23T09:21:00.000-08:00

GREG PAGEL - YOUTUBE

2006-11-22T20:31:00.000-08:00

This is the very first footage from trip #1. This clip is actually me picking up Kevin , followed by a brief glimpse of Greg.

KURT PSENICKA - YOUTUBE

2006-11-22T20:10:00.000-08:00

MARKUS PETKEVICIUS - YOUTUBE

2006-11-22T19:36:00.000-08:00