"Bomber Memories"
December 1, 2 & 3, 1998
December 1, 1998
Grover Shegrud (56)
I, too, remember the CAP link trainers we would close the top and fly for hours though i never got the landings down portly why i never went on to a flying career. I remember Pat O'Conner (I think) setting some sort of a record by flying the link overnight some eight hours or so. I was active as a cadet from about 1952 to 1956 and expanded a love for airplanes and anything aeronautical to last a lifetime. Some names from that time Dr Littington, Sam Ellis, Vernon VanDusen (52), Willis Weichel (53) , Rod Linkous (53), and of course Mrs Moeller.
I was in many drill team excursions including one memorial day parade where I smashed my finger with a car door just as we were forming in the cemetery; one bad day!
I, too, put in a lot of time in the stearman (right where it sat) does anyone know what happened to that good old airplane?
Grover Shegrud
Randy Buchanan (57)
A number of names have appeared who played for the Tri City Braves. There is one name however, that nobody mentioned that was my favorite...... The shortstop BUDDY PETERSON. Does any one remember?
Barbara White Brown
(58)
From a Bomber Guest Book:
Date: Sun Nov 29 17:48:44 1998
No one has mentioned attending the nursery school in downtown Richland in the l944's, etc. I remember not being the only one there. I was one of the few who had a Mom that went to work at 6 in the morning. I would have to get up, dressed and catch the bus to nursery school. I don't imagine I looked very good. For first grade I would walk from nursery school (I remember cod liver oil at noon) to Lewis and Clark . The next year I started through Sacajawea. Mr. LeClair was principal and when I because a teacher and taught at Marcus Whitman he was there as my principal. A very nice man.
I started Sacajawea (K) in 1951. Mr. LeClair was still there. (;-)
Barbara
Jim Russell (58)
Hey neighbor Jimbo [Jim Hamilton-63]: I think you must have been too young to remember some of those teams that the Tri-City Braves played -- when we were part of the old "Willie" League (the Western International League). The Northwest League was a downgrade from the better teams of the earlier years. The Northwest League may have been a 'D' League or at best a 'C' classification. Willie was one step below the Pacific Coast League, as I recall, in the early 50's.
I, too, recall the House of David teams, with the long beards. They traveled as exhibition players, much as did the Harlem Globetrotters, except that HofDavid was truly good and did not play patsies. Speaking of Harlem Globetrotters, they played occasionally in the old Col-Hi gym and were fun to watch. Jim, you said the House of David (baseball) played the Harlem Globetrotters (basketball). Is this true? I do know you lived near the "Rose Bowl" longer than I. Perhaps this explains it.
Jim
Steve Carson (58)
For Ed Burnet: I remember flying the old blue link trainer. Trying to fly a specific pattern was more than I could ever master. When we attended summer encampment one year at Geiger AFB in Spokane some of us got a shot at the F-86 simulator. We could get it up but landing was a disaster. Today I have Flight Simulator on the computer and am much better. The CAP was great during the 50's and the Senior Squadron really supported the Cadet activities.
Steve Carson
Bob Rector (62)
Subject: The Ford in the window
I believe the Ford Crown Victoria that mis-handled the corner around Zips drive-in and went through the window of the florist shop was driven by a guy we all knew and loved... Gail Cyphers ... class of '62. Way to drive Gail!
Thanks to all the guys who shared hunting stories of old. The dumbest hunting event I remember was rabbit hunting down the old gravel road outside of West Richland. (now Rupert Road) Two of us were sitting on the front of Bill Stade's [59] old Chrysler with rifles or shotguns as usual and everything was just fine until Bill thought he saw a rabbit that we hadn't seen. Just to make sure, he hit the brakes to check. Well, we of course had no seat belts on the hood of the car so off we flew into the gravel at about 20 miles an hour. We both sacrificed our bodies to save the guns and my knees and elbows still have scars to this day. Not sure who was the dumbest this time.... Bill Stade for hitting the brakes, or the two idiots sitting on the hood, trusting an "upper classman."
Bob Rector
Sonny Davis (62)
Subject: Flashbacks
Re: Lynn Bryson: I remember his moniker as "Lynner the Spinner" and was crushed when he left and went to work for Hanna Barbera Productions in CA. Always wondered what he ended up doing.
Re: TriCity Braves: I recollect a summer's evening at Sander's Field in about 1953 or 54 when the starting outfield for the TriCity Braves consisted of Matty, Jesus, & Felipe Alou.
Sonny Davis
Rod Brewer (65)
Jim Hamilton [63] brought back a few memories. Maren's Dad would go to at least one Tri City Braves game each home stand, and if you happened to be around the park at Roberdeau and Perkins, you could pile in the Smyth mobile and go with him. He'd watch the game from that little shack of a bar behind 1st base while we'd score snow cones from the only good looking babe in the stadium and beg the players to throw us balls and broken bats. Bob and Tim and Dave and Jay and.. you know who you are. And Robby Calhoun, actually John Robbie Calhoun.
Rod
Pam Ehinger Nassen (67)
ED Burnet: You talked about the AEC airport. Did you know Max Ehinger? He was one of the controllers there. Then something happened and they moved the controllers, 80ft. underground. It was a missile site. That is my dad. Also you little leaguers: He used to announce your ball games!
Pam Ehinger Nassen
Grant Ranlett (69)
I lived on Basswood Street with my neighbors the Maguffee's, Spitaleri's, Crawleys, and the Upson's.
Jeff Upson [67] had an "underground" radio station that he operated from his home. To boost his broadcast frequency, Jeff tapped into the fire alarm system. Remember when each block had a box for fire emergencies. The call letters of Jeff's station were KUTE. I remember when you were driving around town listening to this station on your car radio, the volume would suddenly get much louder when you drove by one of these fire alarm boxes. Jeff also worked at KORD as a DJ. He was fired for playing the long version of the Chambers Brothers "Time has Come Today". Jeff was also a talented filmmaker, a really creative individual. On occasion, he would let me spin records and be DJ on his home radio station. A really great guy, very funny. He is much missed. Jeff left us
all too soon.Grant Ranlett
December 2, 1998
Joretta "Sue"
Garrison Pritchett (58)
I started school at "old" Sacajawea on Williams. Then moved to Spalding when it was finished (middle of my third grade), and on to Carmichael and RHS. I remember walking to and from Spalding (everyone did) in severe sandstorms - feeling I was never going to find my way home. My best memories are of my old neighborhood. Grew up in an A-House on Roberdeau, just opposite the end of Pennywise Drug (cherry cokes, marshmallow cokes--YUK!) No fences--all back yards were open and provided terrific areas for steal-the-flag, kick-the-can, sleep-outs, days-long games of Monopoly.
All ages. From brothers Wayne and Lewis Campbell to the others: Beutler, Burnside, Haws, Pollard, Foster, Ehlers, Klusman - ...and my own sisters Nancy Garrison Foster (62), Patty Garrison Foster (66), and Mary Jo Garrison Miller (69). We still occasionally have "old neighborhood reunions."
Bob Loper (Lefty Roohr,
'60)
For Bob Rector (62): I'm not surprised if this happened more than once, but the Crown Victoria I saw go through the side wall of Arlene's was not driven by Gail Cyphers, but my lips are still sealed after all these years.
Dean Hoff (62)
Subject: flashbacks
Have enjoyed reading about the old Tri City Braves.. I spent many hours attending the games with Jim Johnson (60) and his father.. the old know hole gang. I remember when Edo Vanni was player-manager and he went to sleep running at second base and got picked off... after a run down he was tagged out and lay motionless on the infield dirt. It seemed like forever before they brought out the stretcher and carried him off. One out later the side was retired and out popped Edo heading for his spot in right field.. what a showman. Steve "white lightning" Dalkowski was considered one of the hardest throwers in all of baseball.. even Ted Williams, who saw him in spring training, considered him in his top ten of flame throwers.. White Lightning also was know for his after the game activities which probably kept him out of the majors. Bob "boom boom" Nelson was the big time home run hitter. Neil Martin and Walt O'Neill played in the 60's and their sons played for me at Kennewick High.
Bob, don't call me Robert, Rector [62] and I used to go to the studio with " Lynner the Spinner Boy Disc Jockey" (57) and his High Torque Tower Of Power"..Remember Don Steel?? By the way Robert it was Lew Lloyd who drove his car through Arlene's and then reported it stolen.. Sonny I remember the Alous but I think they played with the Eugene Emeralds??
Jo Miles (64)
PONY LEAGUE BASEBALL 1959: I wrote earlier about Paul Sterling's 1959 fast ball that injured Jim Spencer (62). Jim went on to become an All-American center fielder at the University of Idaho. Paul [63] went on to be the guy who broke Jim Spencer's nose.
Pony League players that year will remember there was more to fear than Jim or Paul on the mound. Batters hit by a pitch from Jerry Kern (63) of Engineers #280 might still be seeing orthopedic specialists today. When Don Smith (63) of VFW was scheduled to pitch, the faint hearted took up tennis or golf. Our thanks to pitchers like Darrell Renz (63) of Downtown Merchants and Ron Cowgill (62) of VFW for having deliveries less than the speed of light. In fact, once when Ron was pitching I remember being up to bat and able to tie my shoe before his big round-house curve ball crossed the plate. Lucky for him it still had some stuff on it and I struck out.
Speaking of injuries. Remember when Jim "Chopper" Coyne [64] of Engineers #280 became the first, first baseman to wear a cup? After he took that ground ball bad hop to the shorts he walked very slowly from the field and went straight to BB&M's to get a protector.
The Pony League champion team in 1959 was Parkers Hardware led by Ray Stein [64], Brad Mosteller [63], Ralph Lee [63], Mike Byrd [64], Mike Huske [64], Tom Clement [64], Rod Peterson [63], Fred Tausch [63], John Poyner [63], Lloyd West [63] and of course, Paul Sterling [63] who eliminated Romeri Ford's chances earlier in the season with a high inside brushback pitch to the nose.
Benchwarmer Jo "Mills" Miles
David Rivers (65)
Re The Black and White Crown Victoria caper (may have been all black now that I think of it). I've got to star reading the Sandstorm more carefully... apparently there is a question about who crashed through Arlene's that fateful night. It was Lew Lloyd. He took a $.50 bet (that's 50 cents not dollars) that he could get his car to 50mph around Zips. Made a pass or two (was way too drunk to make many more) and slammed into the shop. Ralph Lee [63] pulled him out of the car and took him home... put him to bed. Ralph came back and we all walked around... asking the burning question "wonder who stole Lew's car?"... Damn we were clever! We lined our cars up facing west toward Lee hill kind of drive-in style and sat and watched as they removed that beautiful car from Arlene's. As I recall the cops paid Lew and his Dad a visit... don't know what the final result was, though.
Glad to see someone else remembers Lynner the Spinner, Lynster the Spinster as fondly as I do. I too was crushed when he left. His theme song was Straight Flush but I don't know who the group was that played it. We also had the Real Don Steele... playing second fiddle to Lynn, till Steele when on to Fame and syndication...
David Rivers
Cheryl Moran Fleming
(66)
Hey, I don't know whether it's considered "Politically Incorrect" these days to have a Nativity Scene in a school play, but it's a fond memory of mine. Jason Lee seemed to always have one on stage during their Christmas Programs. We would rehearse for hours (it seemed!!!) with our teachers and (Mrs. Megs?). The main thing we were told was not move around much during the performance! I was always trying to find my parents in the audience. What a great auditorium we had there!
With all the stories about the airplanes, was it a myth that if you waved to a plane going over, the pilot would tip the wings? I always waved! The sound of a prop jet still reminds me of the airport at the northwest end of town.
Gary Bush (66)
Pam Ehinger Nassen (67) asked recently about how long Arlene's Flowers has been around. I also remember the Bomber mums that we and Stanfield's in Uptown Richland used to make each fall for homecoming. I used to help with them when I worked at Arlene's from 1965 - 1967. The business was started in the latter 50s or early 60s by Don Douglass who used to work at the Hanford Site. It was named for his wife, Arlene. The business involved the entire family, later being run by Don and Arlene's son, Don, and his wife, Doris. They sold Arlene's and moved to Western Washington where they operated another business before moving back to Richland and opening up Dordon's Flowers in Uptown Richland. I spent many great evenings unpacking and preparing the flowers that came in from Portland and other wholesale locations - great aroma - beat working in the greasy air of Zip's Drive Inn next door. My most enjoyable moments working for Arlene's was making flower deliveries to mothers of newborns in the local hospitals and making my mother's corsage for my high school graduation.
Gary Bush
John Wingfield (66)
Our family belonged to the ColYak Bowhunters and at one time the club owned land there, with a Quonset hut (sp) for indoor shooting and stacks of hay bales for outdoor shooting. But the great part of that place was the "archery golf" course which we had in the desert. We'd shoot a "flight arrow" for long shots and then a "flu flu" for short shots at the soft ball size orb made out of cloth tape. In winter when it snowed enough, we would go out on the dirt roads around the archery club and find an old junk car that (what's his name) had left, pull off the hood, tie it on with an old ski rope and dad would pull us around in the pickup. I sure wouldn't do that today.
After eating too much of my mom's delicious TG dinner and to make room for her pecan pie I went for a walk. Before I was down the street I decided to walk over to old Col High campus, thinking of all the memories and nostalgia that this service has prompted. I walked across Williams from my childhood kingdom on Farrell Lane. Going across the old Sacajawea school yard I was reminded of all the games and stuff we did there. Past CUP and Christ the King I walked down Long to the RLDS center, hasn't changed, except for the wheel ramp. When I walked across the parking lot to the barrier posts I found one post had been pulled out and a huge oil slick in it's place where some lad running on high testosterone and who knows what had impaled an oil pan on his bomb and made greasy tracks leaving a trail behind him. As I walked among the buildings I was floating back in time and space. And then I was really quite taken by the huge mural of bombers on the North wall of Dewald Gym. With the front and center bomber being "A Day's Pay" and understanding the story and it's significance for all the good men and women who worked at Hanford I was impressed favorably once again for our mascot name and legacy. But I still like calling it Col High.
Memories. Whenever I roll into town from the West side of the mountains I remember the night Bill Mitchell and I went tooling in the desert to check out the new highway under construction. Needless to say, the "cheater slicks" on the orange 55 Chevy were no match for the soft sand. My dad took us back out that night and dug us out.
I remember when President Kennedy encouraged the American people to get fit. Some of us decided to ride 50 miles on our bikes, then "new" three speeds, to Prosser or Grandview. We made it to Benton City and faced with a strong head wind and uphill we took a right and rode along the Yakima river, past the prison camp, horn rapids dam and back home again.
Someone asked about past players for the Tri City Braves. Tom Jacobs lived behind us and "Jake" was the general manager for the club for a while. His nephew, David Rees (64), from England, lived with him. We went to a lot of games and I came away with several broken bats, repaired them with all the nails I could get in them and covered them with electrician's tape. Three players names that I recall are: Bob Nelson and power hitting first baseman, Fillipe Alu and Jesus Alu.
We were so blessed to grow up in Richland. It was a cloistered and simple world, like "Father Knows Best" and "Leave it to Beaver". It really felt good to go home again.
John Wingfield
Chuck Crawley (67)
Subject: KJAU
To: Grant Ranlett [69]: Jeff Upson's [67] station also went by the call letters KJAU (for Jeffery Allan Upson). You are absolutely right about Jeff's genius. His star burned too brightly and went out way too soon. I used to run his station while he went out on his paper route to check the reception. He started out with a Heathkit turntable that he got for Christmas one year. We ran wires across the yard from his bedroom to my brother Mike's and my bedroom so we could listen too. Then he had to add a mic so he could announce the tunes and it went from there. Thank you for remembering the contributions Jeff made to our lives. He ended his life on the day my son began his so I shall never forget that date.
What about the Hinkles, Langes, Altmans and Hartcorns? They all didn't live on Basswood but they were all definitely part of the scene.
Chuck Crawley
December 3, 1998
Linda Belliston
Boehning (63)
Someone mentioned they wanted to know when "Arlene's flowers" was established. I talked to Don Douglas today. His mother was Arlene. He said that his folks bought "Ellis Floral" in 1962 which was owned by Mada And Ellis Miller. They changed the name to "Arlene's." Don and his wife Doris helped his folks run the shop until they sold it in May of 1978. Mum's back then sold for $1.00.
Someone also mentioned Lynn Bryson, the DJ. I remember that he used to be one of the owners of the Social Club. Many times he used to take a bunch of us backstage to meet the singers and get their autographs.
Linda Belliston Boehning
Ray Stein (64)
Subject: Cinnamon Bear
The "Cinnamon Bear" tapes are distributed by:
Stiles-Bishop Productions, Inc.
PO Box 93-531
Los Angeles, Ca. 90093-0531
1-800-93PADDY
Take care,
Ray
Janice Klusman McCurdy
(66)
To: Sue Garrison Pritchett [58]: Oh, yes, I remember the walks to Spalding too, not only in the sandblasting storms, where we dodged tumbleweeds bigger than we were, but in the snow with a light crust of ice on it and we were still light enough to walk across the top without breaking thru! Contests to see who could get thru the park to the gas station! Also, not only the chocolate cokes at Pennywise, but the gal who made the fries would always give our neighborhood ids bigger portions !
That Roberdeau playground was certainly well used.. Remember moving the big fat black hoses and setting up "two feet in the mud" and "red light, green light" boundaries? And taking off the big sprinkler and filling up the sandbox so we would have our own swim mud hole? And of course who could forget my Dad's piercing whistle to call us kids home... kinda like puppies! We were always so embarrassed in front of the other kids ! Those were the days.. jump rope in the street, Elmer howling to the harmonica, and the ice cream coming around in the summer..
Swim pool, summer reading club at the library, walking around the uptown on Saturdays, 25 cent movies at the uptown theater, and then as we got older... cruising Zips... cherry 7 ups... hmmm those were the days indeed.
[Jan--I think "Two Feet In The Mud" was only our neighborhood.... I never heard YOUR Dad's whistle! But you can BET we all heard OUR Mom's three toots on her whistle -- and we'd BETTER have all been heading home BEFORE she got to the third toot, too! Even the DOG headed for home! -Maren]
Mark DeVoss (67)
A memory, triggered by Dean Hoff's (and someone else) statement, that Gail was not the person who drove the black Crown Victoria through Arlene's flowers. Dean was my coach, along with Perry Bushnell's ('67) dad, when I played Pony League for Engineer's Local #280 in '62 or '63. "Hi Dean." Also by strange coincidence in '66 I bought an all black '56 Crown Victoria from Curtis Snow (father of Ron ('67), janitor at Jason Lee and mechanic at the Conoco station on Van Geisen) for $100 and it had a more than slightly rearranged right front fender. It was a great deal, a Thunderbird special 292, red carpet in the front, a muffler that was constantly falling off, a big chrome knob on the gear shift lever that never remained in place under rapid acceleration, three of the four tires were the same size and a set of almost nearly new snow tires in the trunk and the inordinate ability to fill with exhaust smoke when stopped at a light or sign for more than 30 seconds. I drove the hell out of it and sold it to some stiff from Pasco six months later for $50.00. He had to push it away from the front of my parents house. Puzzle: Is this the famous car that went through Arlene's flower shop four years before? There weren't that many Crown Vickies around. I'll probably never know.
Mark DeVoss
Rod Collins (67)
If I remember correctly, Jeff Upson [67] also used the fire lines to transmit his signal. The fire department used to get a little irritated with Jeff as his signal would on occasion set off a false alarm. Many hours were spent at Jeff's house with Chuck, Fred Hinkle [67], Scott Beyer [67] and I believe Louie Yesberger [67]. I remember one day we fired-up the blender and made batches of frozen gin gimlets. Jeff is in a lot of peoples' memories.
Vickie Andersen Simmons
(67)
Subject: Thanksgiving Memories
Some things never change - I still do almost everything in a "fashionably late" manner.
I remember after Thanksgiving dinner, my whole family would load into the car and we would drive around and look at the Christmas lights that everyone had put up. Don't think my dad was as fond of it as we kids were, but it was a yearly tradition.
I also remember it was at the end of one of those Thanksgiving weekends that I started smoking. I was 19 and on my way back to Seattle after spending Thanksgiving in Richland. It took us two hours to go two miles to "that stoplight" in Ellensburg. Before the highway went in, it seemed like every road from everywhere ended up at that stoplight. After you finally got to it and turned left, it seemed like it took no time at all to get to Seattle. Sheer boredom mixed somewhere with wondering if I'd ever get back to Puget Sound led to my downfall.
Vickie (Andersen) Simmons
Mina Jo Gerry Payson
(68)
Sitting in my classroom the other day, I was remembering the great Christmas Pageants we put on at Marcus Whitman. It was much better than thinking about the topic at hand which was 9th grade Health. Each year we alternated between the upper (4-6) and lower (2-3) grades. When it was our turn, we would rehearse and rehearse during music. Those lucky enough to get a real part in the play stayed in at lunch recess and after school to practice. I especially remember the night of the performance. The gym would be packed with parents and siblings in their best clothes and we in the choir would have on those white choirboy robelets with the big red bow at the neck. I look back on those programs with a smile and gratitude to our teachers for having the guts to gather upwards of 200 kids in one place and get them all singing the same words at the same time. Just the thought makes my hair turn grayer that it already is.
Rich Crigler (70)
Bombers of 70 - Having read the sandstorm for months - I have finally been spurred into writing - Ricky Polk how can you call that a jump shot? I had the opportunity to watch that shot during the Sacajawea School Boy Patrol league. Your hands must go over your head. As I recall your butt went further back (as in sitting) than your hands went up - Thus SET SHOT.
What would you change from your high school days? Ricky, you said "forget girls and go more to sports" - as I look back I would have to go with the most opportunities - Sports has not been to good to me. One should go were they could score the most. -- Think of what you could have had then had you known what you know now. Yes that's right - prefabs for $1600.
Quiz for you all:
1. Where did the term "submarine races" come from?
2. Who burnt their library card by the flag pole in 68
3. How many R houses are there in Richland?
4. Richland has three of the top ten all time state basketball tourney scoring leaders. Who are they and what place?
Crigler
