When we had Tilly in town we went by an old trail that used to lead to Crocus. A gathering/parking spot that some teenagers may or may not have visited back in the 1960's.
The light was not great that day so we will go back and see if we can get a better photo someday.
You can barely see the reflectors on the timber that block off the entrance.
Far Side
This scarecrow lady is along the road to "the point."
I suppose only those who grew up in the area know where "the point" is.
Is is a point of land that sticks out into Fish Hook Lake. We took Tilly out there one day.
FYI: Tilly had an appointment to have some body work done and a paint job...and the fellow cancelled because he had so few workers in his shop. So we are still looking for someone to do the work.
Our local town is known as PR and one further away as DL. Not sure when the initials began to be used.
Oh yes and then there is "Crocus" only the teenagers back in the 50's and 60's know about Crocus or Crocus Hill. Lets just say it had many places to park.
Far Side
Years ago when we owned the resort on Straight Lake we had a recreation room it had books to read, games to play, a ping pong table and several pinball machines...it also had a Coke cooler that dispensed cans of pop...until the tourist kids got smart and popped the tops on the can and stuck a straw in and emptied the cans. Our daughters spent lots of time playing ping pong and pin ball. They would challenge their Dad to games of ping pong. Some winters the pin ball machines were moved into the large hallway in the house and Far Guy worked on them....naturally they were played.
Then we sold the resort. Years later one of the owners was looking for some extra money and wanted to know if we were serious about buying one of the machines.
We bought the one called Card Whiz which we then sold to Jen. She and Andy have had it refurbished and repaired and now they have it in their basement.
Far Guy and I play it almost every day. Jen holds the record at 124,000 points..Far Guy at 103,000 and then me at 97,000.
It brings back many memories.
One day I asked Far Guy if he could recall how we used to play pinball at Schmiders? I would play one flipper and he would play the other...nope that memory is gone for him.
Far Side
I am not sure the how I got the nickname Tilly but it had something to do with a last name that no one could pronounce and fewer people could spell.
Yliniemi pronounced ...wait for it.... ILL a KNEE me
( A childhood friend Janet began calling me Tilly...and it stuck for a long time.)
When other kids in grade school had to write their whole name I got by with a Y. In the alphabet line up I was always last...then a few kids that names began with Z were added to the bunch in High School.
Anyways that was eons ago...over fifty years ago. No one calls me Tilly anymore...however my High School Yearbooks are witness to my nickname as are a bunch of old 45 records.
Far Side
Can you guess what Far Guy named his car? Hint: It was my nickname in High School.
If you have a digital camera you can just hold it up while you are driving and click away and you may get one great photo:)
Most everyone in High School called me Tilly.
Far Side
We figured we would just kinda hang out yesterday. Ended up making two trips to town...ordered some stocking stuffers and misc stuff and could not get suet for the birds...ordered that from another place to pick up later in the day. Lots of people in town Main Street was packed.
We always have deep conversations while in the car.
How much was an issue of Grit back in the day. Was it weekly? yes... Far Guy says he was almost a Grit Delivery Boy but he had to be gone for the summer so that didn't work out for him.
The conversation turned to other Newspaper Delivery Boys like the one who showed up at our home in North Moorhead every Friday night to collect. Far Guy said his friend Danny delivered for the Star Tribune and got in big trouble when he spent all the money on some kind of candy that was in a chocolate cup that had a paper square with points on that you could collect...and Danny had a big box full...was that Valomilk?? or some other candy...??
Anyways I recall reading Grit from front to back sometimes more than once before the next issue came. I read where in the 1960's it cost 20 cents and the sales boy got to keep 7 cents. On the application it says are you a boy? How sexist is that? As if girls couldn't sell as well as boys.
So much for our exciting day.
Far Side
Update: The candy was Mallow Cups, they came with a cardboard piece that could be saved up for more candy. Far Guy says "A five cent coupon now sells for ten dollars on ebay."
It must be the chill in the air that makes me think of Football.
Homecoming is this week. I recall that we had different kind of days during homecoming week. One day was orange and black day and one day was probably dress up day. I have heard of some schools having a pajama day or a hat day but I do not recall that we had them. Far Guy says that he remembers a dress up day, but he didn’t dress up any different, when I asked him about orange and black day he didn’t “do” that one either.
The different classes would decorate store windows downtown and there was a contest for the best window and the class would get together and make thousands of kleenex flowers to tuck into chicken wire on a hay wagon for a homecoming float…and we would hope it did not rain.
The Thursday night before homecoming there would be a huge bonfire in the old parking lot of the High School (now a parking lot on the east side of Hugo’s grocery store) wood would be piled up and a dummy dressed in an old football uniform would be burned. There was also some kind of snake dance where you grabbed the persons waist in front of you and danced around the parking lot. I only went to the Thursday night Bon Fire once and that was with my best friend Cathie who lived in town.
This is an old photo of the Class of 1968 Football Players. I knew two of these guys really well #79 and #82 I sat between them in Study Hall. Back then I should have had them explain the rules of Football to me…as it has always been a game that escapes me. I went to football games purely for the social interaction. I knew enough to cheer when someone made a touchdown or kicked a goal. FYI I never dated anyone in the above photo.
Here we have the entire team in the fall of 1967, it has players from the Classes of 1968,1969( my class)and 1970. Teachers, Chefs, Pawn Store Operators, Lawyers, Business Owners, Doctors, Bankers, Executives and even a Farmer. I did have a date or two with the Farmer. I would get to know #76 quite well as he lived next door to Far Guy…sadly he died in a car accident June 14th 1970.
Fall is in the air. When we were in High School it was always Friday Night Football.
This was about 1966 or 1967. You cannot tell from the photos but the school colors were Orange and Black.
I wonder if I could still sing the school song? We had pep fest on Fridays when there was a Home Game, I think it was at 2:45 ( Gravy says 2:50) in the afternoon. The cheerleaders would lead cheers, the Principal and the Coach would talk and introduce the players and we would sing the school song. School was out at 3:12. ( Far Guy says he never went to a pep fest except for Homecoming… and he thinks it was all of sixth period and he snuck out early and went home.)
The only cheer I recall. ( It is a great ear worm that may stick with you all day!)
We are the Panthers
mighty mighty panthers
everywhere we go o
people want to know o
who we are r
so we tell them
we are the panthers mighty mighty panthers
P. A. N. T. H. E. R. S. GO FIGHT WIN!
Oh yes that school song was called
The Cassion Song
Zis Boom Bah – Ki Yi Yah
Rah Rah Rah for PR High
as Park Rapids goes zipping along.
Pile the score on the stack
For the Orange and the Black
As Park Rapids goes zipping along.
For it’s Ki Yi Ye on to victory
shout out you boosters loud and strong.
For where e’er you go you will always know
That Park Rapids goes zipping along
That Park Rapids goes zipping along!
I don’t recall the words exactly like it is on the school website…but is is real similar. ( For the record Far Guy knew it was called The Cassion Song but could not recall the words….he must have missed all the pep fests.)
My best friend in High School was a girl named Cathie. I met Cathie in seventh grade…her last name a W and mine a Y meant that every class where the kids were seated alphabetically I often sat right behind her or very close to her.
Being a farm kid having a friend in town had it’s perks. I had a safe place to go after school and a place to stay all night if needed. I loved going there…I no longer had to be the oldest and most responsible… Cathie was the middle child, Cathie’s brother was older…and her sister the youngest. I also didn’t “have” to do dishes although I often did. The girls had their own bathroom and didn’t have to share! What a perk…at home I had to share with four other people and Cathie just had to share with her sister.
Cathie’s mother was Marilyn. Marilyn made you feel like you were just one of the family.
Marilyn would set the breakfast table the night before…it must have been the last thing she did at night. In the morning grapefruits would be cut in half and the sections would be cut so they were easy to get out with your grapefruit spoon. I had no experience with a grapefruit spoon until then. She was a good cook too, sometimes she would get out the white tablecloths and extra tables would go from the dining room straight into the living room…and there was no “kids” table. Gravy in a boat…and real napkins. “May I be excused?” Sometimes she was kind of formal…no one was excused from the table until they asked to be excused.
Marilyn always had time to listen to what you had to say…sometimes if my point of view was a bit skewed (which it often was) she would put one hand on her hip and say “Now Connie…” and then proceed to give me some input that may or may not change my mind.
Marilyn and the kids were in church every Sunday…it was nice to have a friend held captive on Sunday mornings just like I was.
When my sister was born, my Dad went back to the Cities to work until Mom could come home from the hospital. It was Marilyn that drove out to the farm and picked us all up to go and see our new baby sister in Detroit Lakes Minnesota. I was fifteen and could have driven to Detroit Lakes myself…but Marilyn was happy to take us….it was probably safer too!
Marilyn was a working single mother for a number of years…until she met Bob and remarried. When all the kids were gone from home, Marilyn and Bob were in church most Sundays in the wintertime…Bob worked on the Ore Boats out of Duluth. He belonged to a different church but after the kids left home he most often attended with Marilyn.
Bob died in 1991. An aneurism took him quickly. Marilyn left for her heavenly home and joined Bob on November 5 2015. The funeral was yesterday. It was a very nice service with some wonderful messages. A granddaughter talked about “The Dash” and read the poem along with some heartfelt sharing of her Grandma’s dash.
Cathie has been her mother’s caregiver for years.
Cathie will have some time on her hands now, being strong like her Mother she will carry on. My hope for her is that she will concentrate on her grandchildren and be the best grandma ever.
Cathie and her brother read my blog just about everyday. I would like to thank them for sharing their wonderful mother with me. A honest woman of faith, strength and laughter who made a great impact on me in my teenage/young adult years.
This weekend is an All School reunion in Park Rapids, Minnesota. Anyone that graduated from High School there is welcome to attend.
Far Guy being The Class of 1968’s babysitter has worked on his class scrapbook and brought it up to date. A classmate of his dropped off a photo that she found recently.
Home Ec. (ICK) Class everyone is wearing their creations. I am not in this photo but many of my classmates(1969) are along with a few from 1968, 1967 and 1966. I think the photo was probably taken in 1966.
Some of the classes decorated windows downtown. The Class of 1968 has the window in the Pawn Shop cause Royce was in the Class of 1968.
Class of 1968 Road to Medicare…they all turn 65 this year.
Far Guy ordered a cake that looks like a Medicare Card. He made all the arrangements for a meeting place and has banners to put up…etc. All the details have kept him busy.
I invited a former classmate from Texas and his wife out to lunch the other day, ham sandwiches, salad and fruit…I even used the good blue plates and real napkins instead of paper towels. They are RVing it for a few weeks and were appreciative of the lunch invite. We knew each other in High School and were friends, since then he and I managed a web site for our class…which finally became a Facebook page. He has not been back in the area since 1979. We had a good visit.
I am going to help out with photographs for the Class of 1965, and then come home. There are way too many people in town this weekend for me. The only thing my class has planned is to decorate a pontoon for a flotilla on Sunday afternoon when it will be 90 plus degrees. The rest of the reunion weekend with beer and music so loud you cannot visit just doesn’t appeal to me.
It is our daughter Trica’s 25th Class Reunion. They have a party planned at the bowling alley/eating establishment.
A long, long time ago there was a summertime eating place in town, over on east highway 34. It was called “Dixie Drive In.” It was a fun place, all the teenagers hung out there or on Main Street in front of Schmiders. Sometimes we drove back and forth between the two spots… up Main Street for three blocks make a U turn onto the other side of Main Street and back out to the Dixie.
The Dixie had car hops they would take your order and then you would roll up your window a bit and they would hang the food tray on your car window. Jolynn our neighbor used to be a car hop at the Dixie from 1963-1965…they didn’t make much an hour she said “We started off at 50 cents and hour and after three years I made 75 cents an hour, plus we had to pay for any food trays spilled.” One time a June Bug landed on her face while she was about to put a tray on the car window…the food and drinks went all over on the people inside the car. Funny now but not at the time.
Cars were parked on either side of a center walkway. There was probably room for 16 cars under the canopy…rain or shine you could drive in!
It was a place to see who was with who…a bit of teenage gossip. “Can you believe he is with her?” Laughing, talking, visiting back and forth, climbing into someone else's car just to talk…radios playing on a warm summer night….cars starting up and leaving or cars cutting their engines and coasting in…arriving.
A hamburger and a chocolate malt…that was my favorite meal there.
Far Guy liked the hamburgers and the tator tots. We took our children there when they were little. I ordered some onion rings…Trica was convinced that they were boogers. In later years it was a walk up place your order and hang around the window until your order was ready.
The signs have been in storage since the building was torn down… the building was replaced with a steel building that has several offices in it.
The signs showed up this week at Dickie’s place and we stopped and asked if we could take a photo.
The Dixie is only a memory now…a good one!
My best high school friend Cathie had the best slumber parties! She and her sister had the whole upstairs to themselves and they had their own bathroom…pure heaven for me where we had one bathroom and had to share it with five other family members.
What did we do…oh we did each others hair, played with makeup and nail polish, read those movie magazines, listened to music and giggled.
I remember one time when we were packed in the room like sardines…
This must have been about 1965…give or take a year.
That is me with the curlers and the blue thingy holding the curlers in place…I can still feel the pain of sleeping on curlers. That is Nancy giving me advice…probably because she had perfect hair and could wash and air dry hers…me not so much…I have enough natural wave that mine looks all funny air dried. She and I went horse back riding together…she had a horse and with her I learned to fish for Trout along the Straight River because that river ran through their property. We used to know where all the cool deep pools were in the river. I have not seen Nancy in years …last I heard she was in White Fish Montana.
I am not certain who collected the horses on that shelf..maybe Cindy (Cathie’s sister) or maybe they both did.
Those were fun times.
These photos surfaced recently.
Apparently there was a gathering at a girl’s house in Park Rapids.
Far Guy reading a Car Magazine.
Frank being the disc jockey.
These two must have been the life of the party!
Far Guy asked me out on a date. He wanted to see the Homecoming Parade.
Remember back when you were in High School?
Homecoming week in Park Rapids was a big deal. Each class had a float. A hay wagon covered in chicken wire to showcase a theme. We made many Kleenex flowers. Thursday was a hectic day, the floats had to be ready and held in dry storage because the Kleenex would “melt” if it got wet. Thursday night was the bonfire and snake dance. I only attended once. Thursday may have been the day that the Senior king and queen were chosen…we voted for our favorite earlier in the week. Each class had an attendant…a boy and a girl and usually two little kids from the grade school.
Friday was the big day, with a pep fest in the gym followed by a parade. GO PANTHERS! The big game usually against Frazee, Detroit Lakes or Wadena was held at 7 or maybe 7:30 PM and the Homecoming Dance followed.
Everyone had a Homecoming Button with the year on it and the date and who we played and sometimes the slogan…
These are some old homecoming buttons from Charlene she donated them to the Historical Museums High School Memory Room. Can you tell by now that the school colors were Orange and Black!
I remember the old football field back behind the fairgrounds. Some nights were so cold you watched the game from your car…back then you could drive and park facing the football field. If the team made a touchdown there was the honking of the horns.
The High School Band marched and played during half time. You could buy hot chocolate and popcorn at the refreshment stand.
Football Players
The band. Not exactly a Marching Band. We always had two bands Senior and Junior High Marching Bands.
Homecoming Royalty. We used to have a float for the Royalty…the girls wore their fancy long gowns and waved their gloved hands.
That was it. In less than five minutes the parade was over and so was our date. Far Guy asked if I would like to accompany him to the big game he would even spring for some popcorn…I said “No thanks.” I think he was relieved.
Recently one of my husbands classmates shared this old photo. It was the third grade class in 1958-1959 at the Osage School. Mrs. Stearns was the teacher. She was also my third grade teacher. ( I was in second grade when this photo was taken.)
We have identified all but two or three of the students. I dated Bobby ( loud plaid shirt) in the back row, he died in 1972 from injuries sustained in a snowmobile accident. Ken died in 2005 he is next to Bobby. Rhonda is in the front row, third from the left with the scarf, she died in 2009 from MRSA and complications from MS, gosh I miss her. Johnnie fourth from the right in the front row died in 2005 from sleep apnea. In the middle row is Diane (white blouse) who died of cancer in 1995.
Several of us…including Bill in the back row second from the right commented on Gary the ladies man (plaid shirt front row) being between Rhonda and Gloria. Far Guys cousin Alaska Guy is on the left end of the front row.
A few days after seeing this photo Gary with the plaid shirt in the front row died. He was awaiting a lung transplant. He had some kind of hereditary lung disease. We visited with Barb (Gary’s wife) just two days before his death, she was getting her ducks in a row to head to Mayo, she said Gary was sick and had been up all night coughing…the next day she took him into the ER.
Gary and Barb got married right after Gary turned 18 in February 1967. They were both Juniors in High School at the time. They were madly in love and got married in the church across from the High School. They were married 47 years.
Back in 1967 you could not be married and be in High School. You could be pregnant and a tutor was assigned to you but if you were married and not pregnant you were not allowed to attend. ( Perhaps being married and having sex would rub off on other students…)
I remember when it was announced that the school officials found out about the marriage and kicked them out of school. (I believe we were in Biology class when they came and got Barb and she came back crying saying she was kicked out of school.) None of us thought it was fair. After that there were a few more marriages…but secret ones…announced right after the graduation ceremony…the school officials couldn’t do a thing about it then.
Students should have the right to learn and attend a high school …married or not. I think it was a form of discrimination which is probably no longer acceptable.
I am working on a project, a slideshow on the computer called “Then and Now” for a Museum presentation.
Far Guy and Chance escorted me around town to take some photos.
This is the High School that Far Guy and I attended. Far Guy graduated in 1968 and I graduated in 1969. It is apartments now. I would like to go inside and see what it looks like..but we don’t know anyone that lives there. I have a hard time envisioning it being apartments.
I suppose I will always think of the rooms as belonging to the old teachers. Mr. Harold J. taught Chemistry..Tom U. crawled out of the window one day during Chemistry. He was great entertainment..he could dislocate his shoulder at will. Did you know that Bunsen burners will ignite “natural gas” if a student farts? Yes, I learned great things in Chemistry! Mr. Bill S. made me put my chewing gum on my nose..just because I forgot to spit it out before class one measly time. He taught Civics..really boring. I learned nothing in English..I read library books. I excelled in Advance Biology no doubt partially due to the fantastic teacher Mr. Don S. I scraped by in Advanced Algebra and a Health Class that taught First Aid and three years of Latin and some assorted History classes that I enjoyed..World History, American History and Current Events..luckily I had Mr. Harold C. for most of the History classes he was a real teacher that taught..really taught. He was particular ..you never answered one of his questions with an “I don’t know” because he would say “That is incorrect, I have taught you the answer, obviously you do not recall.” I met his son and daughter last summer..marvelous individuals..I told them how much I learned from their father and how much I respected him as a teacher.
I wasn’t in band because the Band Leader hollered at girls and make them cry. I was tone deaf anyway. I knew he and I would not get along. I had him for band lessons one summer, he hollered at me so hard his face turned all red and his eye balls were close to popping out of his head. I cannot sing a note so I was not in choir. I did not take any business classes like steno, typing or bookkeeping..some of the men that taught those classes were always hugging the girls and looking down their blouses..they made my skin crawl. Girls were not allowed to take shop or drafting back then..I most likely would have liked those classes. I barely passed Home Ec when I had to take it. I took Art one year, I always wanted to learn to draw..I must have been a slow learner or he was a lousy teacher because I cannot remember one art project that I took home.
Funny what memories taking a few photos will conjure up! :)
Fall is in the air, it was Homecoming last Friday Night.
Homecoming was a big deal in the late 1960’s. Everyone and their uncle came back to town for the big football game and the dance.
The Homecoming Royalty was picked by popular vote weeks before. Everyone just voted for who they wanted..very democratic. The Sophomores and Juniors chose one beautiful girl to represent their class. The three Senior Gals with the highest amount of votes all went shopping for a great dress.
There was a flurry of activity making millions of tissue paper flowers for the class float and the excitement of the bonfire that was held in the school parking lot the night before the big game. On Friday morning..the entire school would vote for the Homecoming Queen. The results were kept secret until the coronation in the afternoon.
In 1967 the choices were:
One of the most popular girls who was in the right “click”.
The foreign exchange student.
One of the sweetest gals you could ever hope to meet, who was quiet and shy.
Far Guy was in the Ushers Club, homecoming was a big deal for the Ushers Club..they would be the escorts for the Queen and her royal court.
The dress was navy blue velvet, the sweetest gal in the senior class won, and she was escorted by Far Guy.
He often tells the “grand's” that this was the time he was the king, because he escorted the queen.
From the left: Dennis, Hilda ( my cousin) Junior class attendant, Mark, Mayu, Sheila, Gene, Janie, Floyd, Doreen Sophomore class attendant and Larry.
Oh boy PETA would have a hey day now a days. I believe the fur coats/stoles were borrowed from a few ladies in the community. Back then many people wore fur coats. It was cold out there on the football field that night.
I was in-between boyfriends..so I went to the dance with a bunch of my girl friends. Far Guy had a date..I am not sure which of his many girlfriends was his date that night.
The Junior class float won the prize for the best float in the parade..making a million flowers out of Kleenex must have looked impressive to someone. I was a Junior that year, and Far Guy was a Senior:)
Back in 1964/1965 I was in Junior High, eighth grade to be exact. I joined band when I was in seventh grade. I wanted to play drums. Every kid in the country wanted to play the drums, you just had to buy your own wooden sticks, no major investment.
I really didn’t want to learn to play an instrument. I just wanted to be in the Marching Band and be a majorette. I wanted to wear some cute little outfit and twirl my baton.
I never learned how to read music, I just kind of guessed what notes were in the ballpark. I was tone deaf..I could not tell a sharp from a flat.
I got stuck playing the coronet. My parents rented an instrument. I went to lessons, I even went to lessons during the summer at the Osage School.
I was in the Junior High marching band. We practiced twice a week in the evenings, I learned how to march. I could even play a few notes while marching..not all of them..but a few. We had to memorize the entire song, no sheets of music were allowed. Our Junior High Band Leaders were both kind men. ( We had both Mr. Evju and Mr. Wood during those years.) We marched in two parades a year..the Memorial Day Parade and the Homecoming Parade.
I tried out for majorette for three years..it was just not in the cards..I would only be a majorette in my mind.
The summer before tenth grade, the Senior High Band Leader gave me summer lessons. I made him so angry that he would holler and get all red in the face. He hollered at most of the kids, except for his favorites. I had enough hollering in my life and when it came time to pick my classes for tenth grade..Band was not one of my choices. I was a band drop out.
Here is a photo of the Junior High Band in the1964/1965 school year.
Back then kids were placed according to their skill..there are 12 coronet players..I am eleventh out of twelve..My good friend Trudy wasn’t so hot either. ( I am in the fourth row second from the left.) My very first date was with the young man in the last row 5th from the right..his name was Bobby he was a drummer, he used to come with his Mom to buy eggs at our place. See that gal in the second row on the left with the saxophone..she was in a band with her parents..she had natural talent.
We had uniforms..cantcha tell..dark skirts and white blouses/shirts. We had to have white tennis shoes for marching band..and dark colored pants..preferably black.
I often think back and wonder what made the Senior High Band Instructor so angry? Did he get some weird perverted satisfaction from making young girls cry? Well not me..I might have bawled afterwards but I would not give him the satisfaction of seeing me bawl during a music lesson:)
