MORE HIGH SCHOOL
I keep remembering little tidbits so It's hard for me to finish this segment. I am going to try to wrap up high school today.. Just so you know, I believe some of the most intelligent people I have known graduated in my class. I wish I were more like them! There are a lot of things my classmates and I did but I will list some of them.
Oranges and neon signs on 17-92 (Orange BlossomTrail)
Bread and the same neon signs
Swimming at Sanlando Springs
Band trips to all the out of town football games
One memory that seems more humorous than others involved Halloween. A group of us decided it would be fun to set off cherry bombs (firecrackers if you didn't know) on people's porches. We proceeded to do so and some narrow minded resident called the police, who arrived rather quickly. Being the speedy one I was, I ran into the orange grove, thus avoiding capture. What happened next is not first hand knowledge but was reiterated to me by one of my classmates. The police hauled all the culprits to the jail house. It turns out one of the culprits was the Municipal judge's daughter. I won't name her but I'll call her C. Out of courtesy I suppose the police called C's father. From what I heard he said "keep em in jail overnight; it'll teach em a lesson"! I doubt the police did so, but it sure kept me out of the cherry bomb stock!
I belonged to a few groups other than band. When a junior I joined the NFL (not football, debating). Anyone who knows me well know that I love a lively discussion so this fit me well. I was involved because of my history teacher and enjoyed the class but time didn't allow me to continue in my senior year. I also joined Thespians (actors). Again, I love being on stage and I had some dear friends from this group. In particular I recall Ann Derflinger who seemed to be in charge of activities in the school and was very dedicated to the Thespians. I remember one play, Fog Island, where i had to have graying sideburns for the part. I was so proud of how distinguished I looked that I walked around with the stuff still in my hair. When I look at myself today, I see penty of "distinguished" but very little hair! Ironic, isn't it.
In my senior year I sang the lead in the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta HMS Pinafore. How I was awarded the lead is what makes the story interesting. I originally was the backup as the part calls for a tenor and I am a baritone (on my good days). Another of my classmates, a fellow named Chuck Parker, won the right to sing, but, a day or so before time to perform he developed laryngitis. So Ms Monsour asked me if I thought I could sing the part. Of course I jumped at the opportunity. All was OK except the part called for Ralph (Raif) to hit an A above middle C, which is not a problem for a tenor like Chuck but I had never hit that note. Anyway at her encouragement I did the part and for the first and last time hit the A without squeaking. Whew!! By the way, that was one of the only performances my mother attended. You would have thought she trained me singlehandedly!
My junior year I had my first real date. By the time Prom came around I had finally passed my driver exam so drove my date to the prom. She and I continued to date through my senior year and part of the next summer. We even discussed marriage (mostly at my mother's encouragement: she like her a lot). I am sure we could have remained good friends but by then my eyes were on college so we mutually broke off the relationship. She was a sweet young lady and her family was always very nice to me. I even tried to eat boiled spinach at their home. I hate boiled spinach! Sometime around my senior year my dad either quit or lost his job at Lantz Electric. He had several friends offer to help him start his own contracting business but he decided against it. He was over 50 and his health was suspect so he took a job with Wholesun Products (not sure about spelling and they are out of business) in Winter Garden as maintenance supervisor. I thought it to be a terrible job but he was making more money and they provided life and health insurance. Remember, he still had 5 children at home. He was on call 24 hours a day and I had the occasion to ride with him on a few calls, Winter Garden is 10 miles from where we lived and I think he made it in 10 minutes in that big old Lincoln. After I graduated and started college the family moved to Winter Garden, but for the 12 years I was in school we stayed at 1705 Michigan Ave. I never invited my friends to my house. I guess I was embarrassed by our living standards. Housekeeping was never one of my mother's strong suits and that is an understatement. I carried a lot of that baggage with me for years and am still paranoid about clutter. This is all I am going to write about high school as I have another 70 years to discuss.
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