"Bomber Memories"
August 26 & 27, 1998
August 26, 1998
John Northover (59)
One couple more things come to mind...
FLAT TOP, they had motorcycle climbs out there. One day when Ned Barker, myself and a couple of other guys, bored as usual and out to find any kind of excitement. We drove to the top, to watch the climbers attempt to reach the top. We were all watching in a somewhat detached attention, when Ned said something like "I wonder if we could drive down the front of this hill." He had his parents car, a little green french machine. It was not a fiat, possibly a Simca, or something like that ... some little obscure brand made in France. A four banger with a four speed transmission.
We all looked down the 'hill' and decided it could be done. However, two of the four of us suddenly realized that this was DUMB!!! STUPID!!!. SOooo Ned and I climbed into the little green car and headed over the edge, nose down ... transmission in first gear, foot on the brake... It was not to bad for the first half of the 'hill' or so ... After we had passed the 'no way one can turn around mark', the only concern of mine was that we would get down with all our parts in place...As we descended even further the front wheels would not give us any steerage... A combination of wet ground and traction. There were several times that I thought for sure that the end was near...but Ned somehow kept the little green car pointed down the 'hill'. Ned and I were so engrossed in just getting down, that we did not notice that the motorcyclist had stopped the climb and the spectators had turned their attention to this car coming down the front side of FLAT TOP. As Ned guided the car to a flat spot, and stopped his father was running over to us yelling '*&%**&( *#&$(* [those kinds of things]. Ned's father had come to the races with a neighbor of his and had witnessed the entire event. The only thing I can remember Ned saying to his father was 'What the Hell are you doing here?' Ned did not get to drive the car for a while....
Mark Krepsky ... had a 48-49 Mercury. Ken Free's parents had an Oldsmobile. Mark's key would open Ken's parents car, and he could start it. But Ken's key would not work in Mark's. One of the great remaining mysteries in the universe.
Yours in perpetual confusion
John
Sherri Fisher (74)
Yes I am a Fisher. My grandparents Howard and Hazel Fisher arrived in Richland in 1942 and lived at White Bluffs. They then moved to 308 Abert and finally to 325 Goethals. My grandfather worked at David's Shoes in the Uptown. That's the place you went for your saddle shoes. They produced the following Columbia High School graduates:
Don Fisher class of 1950
Jack Fisher class of 1951
Wayne Fisher class of 1954
Sharon Fisher class of 1956
Susie Fisher ?
Patti Fisher ?
Don Fisher is my father and I have seen his trophies for the football team. He was the quarterback. Maybe someone out there has more of the gory details?
There are 4 ColHi graduates in my family:
Sherri Fisher (me) ('74)
Mark Fisher ('76)
Brenda Fisher ('78)
Donna Fisher ('80)
Where was I when Kennedy got shot: I was in the 2nd grade and it was my birthday and the teacher canceled my party and made my Mother take the cupcakes back home. My Grandmother had taken me to see him that summer out at Hanford and I remember how HOT it was. Guess this is all.
Thanks.
Erin Owens Hyer ('66)
Thought I would throw in a few memories. Mr. Carlson, ColHi Biology teacher - known as "earwig" Did all the girls belong to Girl Scouts but me? I was a Campfire Girl - stayed in long enough to sleep in the tepee's at Camp Rogununda. My dad was the manager of Pennywise Drug - next to Campbell's Grocery. They had a great little fountain, too. My mom worked the "jewelry counter" when I was in elementary school. She later worked at the Bon before it moved to Columbia Center. She worked the Estee Lauder line at the Bon until about 1984. Dad bought the Prescription Pharmacy when I was in college. He sold it in about 1980. Did anyone ever see "The House of Wax" with David Niven? Scared me to death when I was quite little. On the cemetery on William's - one year in high school a bunch of us snuck in on Halloween (I think) and stole some plastic flowers. We felt so guilty later we took them back but couldn't remember which ones went where. Are there any guys out there who remember Mr. Barnard's hack board at Chief Jo? I remember walking to West Richland on a Saturday morning several times with my friend Kathy Thompson. We climbed Flat Top so I could look down the back side and try to get a glimpse of my junior high heart throb. I remember the Patrol Boys and Patrol Girls at Jason Lee. The girls had to wear those silly hats that had PG embroidered on them. Sigh! Thanks for all the memories.
Erin Owens Hyer
Earl Bennett (63)
Memories jogged over the last couple of weeks:
- "Muscles" (was he also called Sonny?) parking that amazing bike and directing traffic at MAJOR intersections. A policeman would show up pretty quick, thank him and take over for him, and he'd be on his way, happy as ever. Mom said it happened a lot, but I only remember seeing it once, at the traffic light just down Swift from the pool. Everybody was so understanding and patient - I shudder to think what would happen to someone like him in DC, or even out here in the suburbs.
- Salad burgers at ZIP's - basically coleslaw on a hamburger - messiest sandwich ever invented! - The TEENBURGER at A&W - even today's Burger King Whopper pales by comparison for flavor. Remember the A&W up the Yakima Valley from us (Sunnyside, Grandview?) with one door in the back marked "EITHER?" I seem to recall seeing it nearly every time my family traveled up that way or I rode the bus to Richland from UW.
- Mentioned "Sugar Shack" last week - heard it on an oldies station today (not normally my choice, but my Sweetness Barneata had the car last night), then forgot to pay attention when the artist was announced - Ray something? The lyrics reminded me that I heard somewhere the song was named after a coffeehouse in Spokane.
- Neil Armstrong on the moon - somehow my folks had wangled an invitation from a family I'm not sure I even knew to watch the Atomic Cup from half way up the Pasco bank - down to the rec. room between heats to watch the landing progress - Mom and I so sorry Grandpa Norris (her Dad) had not lived to see it, as he had firmly believed in its inevitability all his life (we were close, must be why I became a sci-fi freak).
- Speaking of sci-fi, Mrs. Cottrell, (9th?) grade English at Chief Jo, caught me reading a Heinlein or Asimov space opera in my lap instead of working on the lesson. She hated to punish someone for reading, but ... We all were amazed that the school put her son, Bob, in her class, but they did a great job of not letting the relationship interfere with the classroom atmosphere. She also had very strong hands and forearms which she attributed to long summers working and picking in the melon fields as she grew up - she would take on all comers at the soc hops in the double handed, bend back the opponent's wrists game. I don't remember anyone ever beating her, and we had some serious athletes who tried.
- The reference to the letter/word prefixes for phone numbers: In addition to Whitehall, I recall either Juniper or Jupiter.
- Before they were refinished one year, Dad said there was one lane at the bowling alley where he knew exactly where the groove was that practically guided the ball into the strike pocket - he could usually hit over 200 on it.
- The Cuban missile crisis. Has anyone else seen the superb documentary done by one of the networks a few years back, with all the footage of Kennedy's closest advisors, including his brother, their uncertainty, and the interviews with Kruschev's children and other Russians involved? Riveting drama, even when you know the outcome. At the time I was scared stiff that nuclear war was about to break out.
- Someone from a fifties class mentioned teachers named Fenstermacher and Harvey at Lewis and Clark - I had a good fifth grade teacher at Jason Lee named Mrs. Fenstermacher who left in mid-year to have a baby. The replacement, Mr. (Nesbitt?), was fresh out of the Navy with his last tour being in Hawaii - I remember learning some Hawaiian words, but Mom said he wasn't much good at teaching us anything else.
Later. ecb3
James F. Russell (58)
Bomber Memories
We moved to Richland, November 1949.
We lived at 211 George Washington Way at the southern entrance to town. (I hated filling out those endless forms asking for my address, the form allowing only enough room for "211 George!") Ours was one of those 'F' houses angled to the street, across the road from the Columbia River. One of the unique features of housing in Richland was the open "compounds" in the backyard of many homes. Bill Berlin (56), John Cowen (56), Pat Murray (60) my brother Jack Russell (60), Jim Hamilton (did you ever graduate?) and many from nearby neighborhoods spent many hours playing "touch" football, "500" baseball and other sports activities in those city-maintained grasslands. Also, exciting bicycle races were held on an imaginary oval track. We didn't wear helmets, but we had lots of spills and thrills. Those central compounds also were the scenes of neighborhood circuses and magic shows we kids put on for our admiring or embarrassed parents.
When George Washington Way was widened from two lanes to four, the fill dirt to widen the road toward the Columbia River was drawn from the flatland between the roadway and the river. Among the dirt and debris came any other critter unfortunate enough to be in the way of the earth-mover. I remember watching from the safety of my upstairs bedroom as workman retreated to whatever safe distance was available to throw rocks at the nest of snakes deposited in their midst.
During one annual flooding of the river, before the installation of McNary Dam to control such natural causes, a "rattler" took to the safety of our half-basement. It was with some trepidation that we finally had the courage to test that he (or she) had finally departed for more accustomed living quarters.
The flatlands across the road were sources of many hours of entertainment and adventure. We would dig for hours (and days) to create large pits in the sandy earth, cover them with boards and those with dirt to create large caves and tunnels. Tumbleweed and other brush would conceal the entrance(s). These were our fortresses, lighted with candles, to sit and talk about our plans for the future, "spy" on any unsuspecting "foot soldiers," or just do whatever a modern-day Huck Finn might feel like doing.
Asparagus grew wild in the flatlands. We would pick enough to bring home for dinner. One always wondered, as we stooped to pick, what else was lurking in the field to share our time in the sun. More than once, we startled a snake or four-legged critter. More than once, we "ran for the hills" to live to play another day.
The tall weeds and sagebrush and tumbleweeds I guess are gone now for the more refined use by golfers. They can't be enjoying the course nearly as much as we did "in the good old days."
Creede Lambard (72)
Subject: Radio Stations in Richland
Last time I wrote I talked about radio stations in Richland. Mike Figg pointed out that I made a mistake on one of the radio stations' call letters. I misidentified KORD, which played Top 40 for quite some time. They may have changed their call letters to KOYN somewhere along the way, though I don't remember for sure. I do remember that somewhere along the way KEPR changed their radio call letters to KONA, though the TV station kept KEPR. I never did understand why they changed. I mean, KEPR obviously stood for Kennewick Pasco Richland. Of course most of us probably didn't listen to KEPR/KONA unless Mom was in the car and in control of the radio.
Cheers, Creede
Ray Hall (57)
I remember the store across from our jewelry store; Richland jewelry, at the corner of Lee and GWW called "The hardware store" and across what is now the parkway a 5-10 department store. next to it was a little restaurant originally called Sowell`s, later Gordon Hanna`s parents owned it and somewhere in between was Mickey`s Shoe Repair, already talked about. My question is that I vaguely remember that the parkway was originally called the Greenway and had grass in between, help me am I right or wrong on this one.
I remember watching the trains go to and from the Hanford areas with actual armed guards on them that you could see with their rifles. I remember in the stores little posters that the government would place saying something like loose talk can sabotage. People weren't suppose to talk about anything concerning their work; if they did you were to report them to the FBI. While living in the early years I can remember on more than one occasion being interviewed concerning a neighbor by a couple of FBI men.
It was nice to hear about Enterprise and Heminger City yesterday, for you youngins, that it the two cities that made up West Richland.
Remembering an incident from the advanced choir I was in. My voice was so bad that during the practice for the Messiah the choir director would Give me a permanent study hall pass, and that he would instruct me the day or night of the performance to just mouth the words. It was our very famous Harley Stell that was the instructor. I understand that I wasn't the only person he did this to.
I also remember going to the gym on Fridays or Saturdays waiting for the gates to open for a Richland-Wapato basketball game. We would go to the gym at about 3pm and the janitor Bill Hartley would let us in to shoot some hoopes until there were to many people waiting outside and then we would have to wait in line till the gates opened at around 6. Bomber basketball was great, fantastic, and you would have to get there early for a good seat, of course at that time we were the best show around.
August 27, 1998
Gary Behymer (64)
Teachers:
Chief Jo 7th grade teacher Mrs. Cottrill (New Name) now lives in Colville.
Chief Jo and Carmichael 7th grade teacher Mrs. Linn now lives in Spokane.
Chief Jo and Carmichael 9th grade teacher Mrs. Edwards now lives in West Richland.
Now you know.
Maren Smyth (64)
What about Mrs. Nina Johnson -- 9th grade Algebra at Carmichael. She was so important in my life.
Ann McCue Hewett (63)
What great fun to plug in to all the memories! Reading all the messages for the past several days has jarred some back for me, too!
A BIG DAY was walking or biking to the Uptown and making the block---of course stopping at Johnnies Delicatessen and buying pepperoni by theinch, hitting Newberry's (?) and then around to the Spudnut Shop.
I grew up on Whitten Street. My parents still live in Richland but on Birch now. In fact, all the McCues in the Richland phone book are "kin".
Does anyone else remember Ronald Reagan - then an actor, not the president, speaking at a Father/Daughter banquet - probably in the late 50s. Don't remember if it was DuPont then or GE but I think it was GE that my father worked for at that time.
I must get back to the present day-more memories later.
"Ya'll" have a great day!
Mike Figg (70)
A couple of people have mentioned Beth Pedersen. I don't remember her but the name rings a bell and I also have a recollection of their being a group out around 1972 named Joy of Cooking that was two women and that one of them was possibly Beth. The memories are vague and distant and probably are residing in the same part of the brain that remembered Ray Stein leaving River City to play college ball at Ohio State, and that he must be the same Ray Stein that now is a sports writer for the Columbus Dispatch. Ray (Richland Ray) straightened me out on that one. There was some kid named Lucas at Ohio State about that time, maybe I confused the two.
Back to music - Does anybody remember a guy from Richland, I think named Paul, and probably around the class of 66 or 67? He played keyboards in a band called Factory around 1972 that I remember playing one night in the old library behind the Police Station. He stuck in my mind and I found that ten years later in a computer class at North Seattle CC. I should have talked to him the first night of the class but waited until the last one and then asked him "Aren't you the Paul (??) that played keyboards with the Factory about 10 years ago in Richland?" That blew his mind.
Mike Figg
Veronica Yates Jones (64)
Mr. Hubbard was chemistry a teacher. When I was in college as a requirement for my teaching certificate, I did what was called "September Experience" before my classes started. I spent 2 weeks in his class as an observer/helper/pseudo teacher. It was kind of funny, because I wasn't much older that the students and there was one guy from my neighborhood who has a terrible time calling me "Miss Yates."
Also remember the trip to the plant for the dedication that President Kennedy did. It was a very hot day. Have a picture of him on the platform shaking hands with Father Sweeney who did the invocation. There were rows and rows of porta-potties, and rows and rows of cars. Just think if that happened today--all the vendors that would gather with water bottles, t-shirts, and who knows what!
Do any of the gals remember the father-daughter banquets that GE sponsored? I think I attended 2 with my dad, probably in the late 50s. Seem to remember Ronald Reagan speaking at one of them -- he was the host of the TV show GE Theater on Sunday nights. The other one had a female Olympic swimming champion.
This is great--keep the memories comin'.
Ronnie (Yates) Jones
Mina Jo Gerry Payson (68)
More RHS teachers. . .
Miss Brown, English, almost as wide as she was tall, but what a sense of humor!! When I went back to teach at RHS, she was subbing, lost weight through Weight Watchers but didn't loose her humor.
Mr. Allen, English again, with the bad toupee in later years. He is still active in local theater.
Miss Swain, Home-Ec, the last of the "old maid" school teachers. I took home-ec as a senior. In those days it was required for all girls before graduation and I already cooked for my family and made all my clothes. Didn't see the need and would have rather taken auto shop.
Love getting these memories every day.
Jim Russell (58)
Toni Zima (62) mentioned a girl friend Irene de la Bretonne, who I knew because one of my favorite places to visit was Ernie's (de la Bretonne) Typewriters and Repair, when it was located near the Richland Theater on George Washington Way. Ernie was a wonderful man who always had a smile and warm and friendly greeting and who seemed generally interested in our latest projects.
My best friend Bill Bettenberg (58) and I produced a monthly newsletter, the "Atomic Blast," for the Richland Chapter, Order of DeMolay. Ernie printed and counseled us in the finer art of newsletter publishing. Bill and I later attempted to help Ernie make a go of it at publishing a shoppers newspaper, but couldn't compete with the much larger and heavier financed Columbia Basin News, which chose to launch its own shoppers newspaper that same summer (60?). The experience was invaluable to me, and I found it of great interest to cover the breaking news at City Hall, human events, local police calls, the political scene, as well as calling on local businesses for advertising. Is Ernie still living in Richland? I would imagine that he has sold the business by now, which was later moved and changed to Ernie's Printing, I think.
To Sherri Fisher (74): Susie Fisher was a charmer who graduated in 1960. As a sophomore, she was a "princess" of the 1957 Homecoming Royalty. Sandy Olson was Homecoming Queen, Vonnie Reed, another sophomore princess, and Carolyn Ficter and Colleen McDermott were senior princesses. Since Susie doesn't want to talk about her age, I should suggest that she was a very precocious child, probably well ahead of her age group in school!
Sharon Panther Taff (57)
Responsive to Tony Tellier's inquiry about Galen Walley and his group the Pyramids. I remember Galen. I believe he graduated with us Tony. I remember Galen from Lewis and Clark in the 40's and of course high school. He was in my geometry class with Mrs. Butcher - one of the best. No one has mentioned Mr. Kelly the history teacher. A very frail old man it seemed at the time to a 15 year old, but had been a golden gloves boxer.
Anyone remember the shorthand and typing teacher Miss Redinger? And the 25 pages front and back of shorthand homework required every night. She did her job well - I remember getting an award for being able to take shorthand (and being able to transcribe it) at 200 wpm and typing 90+. Has kept food on my table for 40+ years.
Someone mentioned Calvin Welch. He was the industrial arts teacher and we got to make those plastic laminated gear shift knobs. Also the "necking knobs" so you could drive with one hand.. The year he was President of the Washington Education Association they paid me a $1/hr after school to do the typing for him in regard to the position. That seemed like a bundle to me since I only got 25 cents an hour baby-sitting. That was probably 1955.
Re Principle Haag. He had three daughters I believe. The middle one died several years ago of a brain tumor - she was married to Doyle Ehl and lived here in Prosser. The other, Lori, still lives here.
I remember Ida Meacum. Since I've always been interested in science, I thought her classes were great with all the wild life, floral, and fauna in her classroom. Later my best friend move next door to her prefab and it looked just like the classroom - a science lab. I remember feeling bad at how poorly several of the students treated her - but she seemed oblivious.
Speaking of playing in the sand - those of us in the Cottonwood, Swift, Lee area had the sand hill to play and dig in and make forts. I remember we would get the dried mustard plants, get in our fort, break it off, and light the end. The pith of the plant would burn and about choke us as we tried to inhale. Then we went for the coffee grounds in the corn cob pipes. Never worked very well. Finally all the mothers complained about the sand blowing in the house and the city came out and covered it totally with river rock. What a fantastic place to hunt for agates. Every day we went hunting we would come home with a coffee can full of big agates. Now that hill is gone and there is nothing but houses.
Another favorite past time was going down below where Einans is now and catching the riding academy horses and riding them bareback with our hands and face buried in their mains since none of owned a bridle. We would have died if our kids had tried that (and we found out about it).
Evelyn Meyer Crowder (46)
In response to a question about Gene Conley, he graduated in 1948. His brother, Ray Conley '46, still lives in Richland. I really enjoy reading what you younger graduates did while in High School. For fun, we rode the buses all around the town. It was free--we sang and cut up and no one minded. We went to the cafeteria in downtown Richland after games for hamburgers and/or chili. We rowed on the river--no one had fancy boats at that time. Went dancing at the Hi-Spot and at Playland in the Kennewick Highlands. I lived in Pasco half of my Sophomore year. I remember how I told my Mom and Dad I would not go to high school In Pasco as it was so small. I lost and when our house was ready on Goethals, I rode a bus back and forth to school in Pasco each day as I liked Pasco Hi so well. Also liked Columbia Hi. My dream of living in the West was to ride horses and I to hitchhiked out Van Giesen to the stables in what I think was West Richland with Betty Priest' 47, among others.
Can you believe hitchhiking --- everything was much safer in those days. In P.E. Class we would go down to the Rec. Hall and bowl --- no automatic pin setters -- I use to feel sorry for the guys having to set the pins up. I worked on the Sandstorm my senior year -- also on the annual. Wish I could figure out why we didn't put the senior pictures in alphabetically. Paul Crowder '46 and I were married in the United Protestant Church in '47 after a year of college. Lived in a trailer out in North Richland for a year and in a pre-fab a year before going back to college. Paul's parents lived in Richland and Kennewick the rest of their lives. My parents moved to Aiken, South Carolina with the Savanah River Project in 1951 after my brother Dick '51 graduated from Richland Hi. We go back often for the reunions..my wish is that some of our classmates would get On-Line, but can't seem to talk them into it. So far, we are the only people from the '46 group that we know of that are On-Line.
Evelyn Crowder '46
Wanda Wittebort Shukay (53)
Boy, you guys make me really feel old. I have no idea what you are talking about, but I want to add going to Col High from 49 to 53 were some of the best years of my life. Carefree days. Never afraid to stroll at night, course we had NO TV until 56.
I have many fond memories of all my friends from 49 through 55 classes.
Chuck Smith (69)
Class of 1969 "where are you?"
Was reading a clip from Ginny Rowe (68)...she has the receipt for Zip's tarter sauce.....Hmmmm, never had that, all I remember is their Vanilla Cokes.......Hey anyone got the recipe for Artic Circle's special sauce....Yummy....I know it's Mayo, Ketchup and Lea & Perrin sauce...Anyone know?
Chuck Smith
Patri Largé deVargas-Walker (59)
It is great to read the comments about Gene Conley. We lived next to him in a great big "A" house on Perkins. He and his family were so wonderful. Gene or his sister sometimes baby sat for my sister Delores, my brother Dennis and me. I remember very hot summer nights when his dad would round up all the kids in the neighborhood and take us for ice cream. I would get to ride on old Mr. Conley's shoulders (wearing only a nighty because I'd gotten rescued from going to bed before the sun was down.) Mrs. Conley made the best cookies, I was always a regular visitor, and always ready to share with a five year old. They were truly wonderful people.
How many remember the Christmas parties at the old community house? I remember the stories, songs and socks of candy from Santa Claus while my older brothers entertained themselves and their friends at the Hi-Spot.
Patri Largé
