Freshman Initiation. That's how high school began for me. "Wear a dress made from a gunny sack with pink ribbon bows, lots of tiny braids in your hair, onions strung as a necklace around your neck, one high-heeled shoe, and one bare foot," the instructions read. Furthermore, I was told to carry shoe polish with me everywhere I went at school that day, then kneel down while singing the school song, to shine the shoes of any 'Senior' I happened upon.
Farrel Austin was elected freshman class president, I was class secretary and Kent Tingey, my childhood playmate, was chosen as vice president. His grandmother lived next door, where my grandpa Morgan's house had once stood. Mother said I came home at the end of my first day at school, upset that my first grade teacher, Mrs. Johnson, would not let me share a desk with Kent. She, instead, had separated us!
Clint Buttars was my first date! I remember only how anxious I was all evening, dressed in a horrible, two-piece thing, looking like I was wearing my grandmother's dress and feeling the pressure of singing the theme song for the dance. After the dance, Clint's car had barely stopped in front of the old Olsen place where Mother and I were living when I opened the car door and lit out running for the front door. My social skills have not improved much over fifty years! I'm still that awkward teen.
Music became my identity. I was the accompanist for the high school choir, played my sister's flute in the band, and accompanied the music teacher, Mr. Smith, when he performed. I remember being called out of class and out of an audience at school and at church if someone needed an accompanist. Wasn't it lucky that sight-reading came easy for me! I sat on lots of piano and organ benches. "Moonlight" was the annual operetta. I was the 'orchestra'. Marlow Viehweg, a senior, was the leading man. Such a crush I had on that handsome guy! I was 'that' girl, the one who often had a crush but got little attention from the opposite sex. "She sure can play the piano!" "She's got a great personality!" But not someone to ask on a date. That gave me lots of time to become very busy, for quiet as I was by nature, I was a joiner.
Ruth Ann Powell and I, though part of a foursome that included Marianne Winward and Lorraine Rice, joined the Pep Club. We always managed to cheer ourselves hoarse. Ruth Ann and I traveled home from an away game during a bad snowstorm one night. By midnight, the school bus had made it only as far as Clifton. She and I were left to tromp through snow at least two feet deep that last mile to get to her house. I spent the weekend there, and had a great time until snow plows could clear the roads.
Writer Mary Gordon said, "Where do you start when you talk about the sixties? ...the horror and the playfulness, the sense of helplessness, the sense of freedom, all true in that decade?" By the mid-sixties, parents had lost their credibility. Generations were split. The sexual revolution was on. Church was out, women's lib was in. The U.S. launched its first manned space flight. My mother always believed it was a hoax. Americans looking for some escape from this roller-coaster decade went for Mary Poppins and 'Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini'. Color TV became popular, the first microwave counter top oven was introduced. Barbara Steisand became a household name and Billie Jean King won almost every American and International tennis match open to women. My little corner of the world went on in much the same way, with little evidence of impact from events that made the news.
Active each year in FHA, as a sophomore I chaired a Christmas assembly planning committee, working with others to script the entire assembly in rhyme. For stage decorations, we hauled in real pines and decorated them, as my mother did our tree at home, using Lux soap flakes beaten with water to a whipped cream consistency, then spread on the tree branches by hand. 'Santa Snow' was sprinkled over each tree while they were still damp, making the twinkly effect of real snow. It was also that year that I won two short story contests, one that came with a twenty-five dollar prize!
Small high schools such as ours seemed to be a post graduate training ground for music majors fresh out of college. We had a new one almost every year--Mr. Smith, Mr. Worthen, Mr. Hardesty. Mr. Smith was so good looking! Mr. Worthen nudged me out of my comfort zone and into opportunities for growth in music I hadn't experienced before. He was also a real-life Mr. McDreamy! Mr. Hardesty required a high level of expertise and although I had little formal training, comparatively, I did some of my best piano work under his direction. He and I also played trumpet duets. Near the end of the piece, I would put my trumpet down and the audience would discover that he was the only one playing, using a difficult horn technique called 'triple tonguing', that has listeners thinking the sound is coming from more than one instrument.
The girl's choice 'Buddy Dance' was an annual event. Girl friends were to make arrangements for these 'blind' dates. I had such a crush on Robert Wood who of course, didn't know I existed. Every girl in school wanted to date him. I don't remember much about the date. Having school mates know that I went out with the guy they all wanted to go out with, was the fun of it.
West Side's basketball team always did well. I never understood football but I loved basketball. As student body reporter, it was my job to call local newspapers to give them the stats following every sports activity. The Logan Herald reporter knew from the start that I did not have a clue what I was saying. "Just call me with the numbers and I'll make a story of it," he said.
The only trouble I ever got into at school was for cutting class. Mother was sick. Aunt Flo and Uncle Les agreed to take me and Ruth Ann to Pocatello to shop for prom formals. We had a grand time! When the principal threatened to cut our grades one full grade in all classes and assigned us a theme paper telling why we were not to cut school to shop, Mother was livid! She wrote both papers herself, saying we would do it again if the need arose! Our grades were never cut and we went on, putting lots of time and effort into dance preparations--the false ceiling made entirely of woven crepe paper was impressive! Picture this--girls of our junior class dressed in floor-length white formals being presented in promenade style to receive our class rings.
The 'in' girls wore Jansen's and school letter sweaters. My wardrobe in high school was not that of an 'in' girl, though I did have the big petticoats. My mother spent hours starching those things, then hanging them upside down on the clothes line until they were stiff as a board! In my Senior year, I earned a music letter. Ah-h-h. Sort of an 'in' girl at last! I remember how it felt to appear at school, wearing that white school sweater complete with the letter and pins I had worked so hard to earn. I remember also, that one of my first paycheck purchases after high school was, ... a black, Jansen sweater.
Seniors at last! I had a crush on a 'college' man, Gary Porter. We performed together often, sometimes singing duets or I accompanied his vocals. I always fell for the one with a beautiful voice! That year was filled with school and club activities, music performances, travel, leadership roles, and making decisions about, 'What's Next?' I've kept a note about being a fast typist on those old, non-electric machines. And an 'A' and 'B' student, something that surprises me, given that I missed so much class time for music rehearsals. At seventeen, I didn't know what I didn't know!
I thank LeArta Hammond and my 4-H leaders for sewing skills I've used my entire adult life. Utah State University Agathon sponsored a high school fashion show for graduating Seniors where I modeled the tailored, black coat, with bound buttonholes and flashy lining I had made in Home Ec. With pure silk material from my brother's sewing shop, I made a 'little black dress', to wear with the coat. Peeling carrots was something else that LeArta taught me. On the farm, carrots came from the garden, tops on, most of the dirt knocked off and were served after a quick rinse at the sink. In Home Ec., Mrs. Hammond seemed horrified seeing carrots I had prepared, there in neat sticks on the plate but unpeeled! She made me peel each of those carrot sicks, individually, before returning them to the table! Yup, it comes to mind still where carrots are concerned.
Writer Mary Gordon said, "Where do you start when you talk about the sixties? ...the horror and the playfulness, the sense of helplessness, the sense of freedom, all true in that decade?" By the mid-sixties, parents had lost their credibility. Generations were split. The sexual revolution was on. Church was out, women's lib was in. The U.S. launched its first manned space flight. My mother always believed it was a hoax. Americans looking for some escape from this roller-coaster decade went for Mary Poppins and 'Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini'. Color TV became popular, the first microwave counter top oven was introduced. Barbara Steisand became a household name and Billie Jean King won almost every American and International tennis match open to women. My little corner of the world went on in much the same way, with little evidence of impact from events that made the news.
Active each year in FHA, as a sophomore I chaired a Christmas assembly planning committee, working with others to script the entire assembly in rhyme. For stage decorations, we hauled in real pines and decorated them, as my mother did our tree at home, using Lux soap flakes beaten with water to a whipped cream consistency, then spread on the tree branches by hand. 'Santa Snow' was sprinkled over each tree while they were still damp, making the twinkly effect of real snow. It was also that year that I won two short story contests, one that came with a twenty-five dollar prize!
Small high schools such as ours seemed to be a post graduate training ground for music majors fresh out of college. We had a new one almost every year--Mr. Smith, Mr. Worthen, Mr. Hardesty. Mr. Smith was so good looking! Mr. Worthen nudged me out of my comfort zone and into opportunities for growth in music I hadn't experienced before. He was also a real-life Mr. McDreamy! Mr. Hardesty required a high level of expertise and although I had little formal training, comparatively, I did some of my best piano work under his direction. He and I also played trumpet duets. Near the end of the piece, I would put my trumpet down and the audience would discover that he was the only one playing, using a difficult horn technique called 'triple tonguing', that has listeners thinking the sound is coming from more than one instrument.
The girl's choice 'Buddy Dance' was an annual event. Girl friends were to make arrangements for these 'blind' dates. I had such a crush on Robert Wood who of course, didn't know I existed. Every girl in school wanted to date him. I don't remember much about the date. Having school mates know that I went out with the guy they all wanted to go out with, was the fun of it.
West Side's basketball team always did well. I never understood football but I loved basketball. As student body reporter, it was my job to call local newspapers to give them the stats following every sports activity. The Logan Herald reporter knew from the start that I did not have a clue what I was saying. "Just call me with the numbers and I'll make a story of it," he said.
The only trouble I ever got into at school was for cutting class. Mother was sick. Aunt Flo and Uncle Les agreed to take me and Ruth Ann to Pocatello to shop for prom formals. We had a grand time! When the principal threatened to cut our grades one full grade in all classes and assigned us a theme paper telling why we were not to cut school to shop, Mother was livid! She wrote both papers herself, saying we would do it again if the need arose! Our grades were never cut and we went on, putting lots of time and effort into dance preparations--the false ceiling made entirely of woven crepe paper was impressive! Picture this--girls of our junior class dressed in floor-length white formals being presented in promenade style to receive our class rings.
The 'in' girls wore Jansen's and school letter sweaters. My wardrobe in high school was not that of an 'in' girl, though I did have the big petticoats. My mother spent hours starching those things, then hanging them upside down on the clothes line until they were stiff as a board! In my Senior year, I earned a music letter. Ah-h-h. Sort of an 'in' girl at last! I remember how it felt to appear at school, wearing that white school sweater complete with the letter and pins I had worked so hard to earn. I remember also, that one of my first paycheck purchases after high school was, ... a black, Jansen sweater.
Seniors at last! I had a crush on a 'college' man, Gary Porter. We performed together often, sometimes singing duets or I accompanied his vocals. I always fell for the one with a beautiful voice! That year was filled with school and club activities, music performances, travel, leadership roles, and making decisions about, 'What's Next?' I've kept a note about being a fast typist on those old, non-electric machines. And an 'A' and 'B' student, something that surprises me, given that I missed so much class time for music rehearsals. At seventeen, I didn't know what I didn't know!
I thank LeArta Hammond and my 4-H leaders for sewing skills I've used my entire adult life. Utah State University Agathon sponsored a high school fashion show for graduating Seniors where I modeled the tailored, black coat, with bound buttonholes and flashy lining I had made in Home Ec. With pure silk material from my brother's sewing shop, I made a 'little black dress', to wear with the coat. Peeling carrots was something else that LeArta taught me. On the farm, carrots came from the garden, tops on, most of the dirt knocked off and were served after a quick rinse at the sink. In Home Ec., Mrs. Hammond seemed horrified seeing carrots I had prepared, there in neat sticks on the plate but unpeeled! She made me peel each of those carrot sicks, individually, before returning them to the table! Yup, it comes to mind still where carrots are concerned.
Peeling carrots, and all the rest, friendships made and kept, ... 50 years ago. All are a part of me.
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