Back in October of 1966, when I was a senior in high school, Ken Rittle, Charlie Berger, and I were sent to the studios of WLYH-TV channel 15 on a Tuesday morning. At least I think that’s when it was. My best recollection is that it was a day when we didn’t have school, and … Continue reading The One Where I Screwed Up On TV
Elco
Don’t Ever Tell Me your Secrets
Speaking of Debbie Miller, while she and her family were still living in Myerstown, they had a second home in the country, a farm just outside of town where her father, a doctor, could get away and relax, at least for a Sunday. As I recall, he was quite adamant about keeping the farm a … Continue reading Don’t Ever Tell Me your Secrets
It’s a Small World
One of our substitute teachers at Eastern Lebanon County High School (Elco) back in the 1960s was Reverend Gross. As I recall he subbed for English teachers a few times, just a day or two here and there, not for any extended periods, so we never really got to know him or his teaching abilities, … Continue reading It’s a Small World
The 64 Square Madhouse
I don’t know when I learned how to play chess, but it must have been somewhere around third or fourth grade. I definitely recall playing chess with Wayne Busbea, one of the neighborhood kids when we lived on West Main Street in Richland. He usually won. But then he was a couple years older than … Continue reading The 64 Square Madhouse
The Mystery of Room 207
I can recall all my homeroom teachers from my time at Elco High School. Except one. In eighth grade it was social studies teacher Mr. Graybill. Ninth grade was Mr. Souders in Room 201. That was the year I got to know Gary Wells as he sat directly behind me. That was also the … Continue reading The Mystery of Room 207
Georgene Miley
News arrived today that classmate Georgene Miley passed away back in July. This kind of news understandably is coming a bit more often these days as our high school class gets up in years. I wish I could write about some amusing incident involving Georgene, but alas, other than vaguely recalling that yes, she was … Continue reading Georgene Miley
Hey, Gang! Let’s Put On a Show!
As the end of our junior year in Elco High School approached, the Irregulars were chatting among ourselves and somebody, I know not who it may have been, uttered the immortal words: “Let’s put on a show!” Or words to that effect. The idea was that we had accumulated lots of material over the course … Continue reading Hey, Gang! Let’s Put On a Show!
Addendum to “The October Game”
Just a couple more thoughts about The October Game and that morning show we did over the PA system in high school. As we had to do five shows a week, come hell or high water, we didn’t have much time to plan and no time to rehearse. Granted the shows were only a few … Continue reading Addendum to “The October Game”
The October Game
I’ve previously written about the days when we did a morning show over the PA system during our Elco junior year. We called ourselves the Irregulars because we were supposed to be a rotating group, but in truth it was mostly the same kids for most of the year with very little change in personnel. … Continue reading The October Game
Thou Still Unravish’d Bride
During senior year high school English class, when we were studying the John Keats poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn”, we had a substitute teacher. Alas, I can’t recall her name, but she was an enthusiastic lover of poetry and her enthusiasm became infectious. When she got to the lines— Heard melodies are sweet, but … Continue reading Thou Still Unravish’d Bride