Random Memorial for Monday 12/10/18

Gone but not forgotten:  the 3rd live album from a certain Barbra which came out way back in 1987 (when I was but a sophomore in high school), and which finds its way into the trash can ONLY because the CD version of this particular once-in-a-lifetime recording (well, thrice-in-a-lifetime as of this release) is also firmly ensconced alphabetically in our collection.

Lookit -- it's a song that originally captured the sense of hope at the occasion of the end of the Great War (aka WWI) ... but as someone who's glass is almost always half full, I'm willing to keep it in my back pocket for election night in 2020 (or, heaven forbid, 2024).

I refuse to believe that there won't be a day soon enough again when the clouds above are clear again ... happy times ... happy nights ... happy days ... are/will be ... here ... a- ... -gain.

GET THIS READY TO BE QUEUED UP:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy9poGs-w6Q

30for30: Most Memorable Teachers/Staff #23

In just 112 days, the LHS Class of 1989 will celebrate its 30th high school reunion (on Saturday, March 30, 2019 at 7pm in the back room of the infamous Downtown Lounge) ... and to get us excited about that milestone, I'll be presenting four special TOP 30 lists -- a different one for each of the months ahead.

The December list will be the top 30 most memorable teachers/staff (see rules below), and tonight, we're remembering glass-ceiling-shattering (H) YVONNE JONES (seen here as a young person barely out of high school herself in her picture from our yearbook; bonus link to the minutes that announced her retirement below).

Growing up in central PA, the vibe wasn't exactly "super-progressive", to use today's parlance, which may explain why Ms. Jones was one of the only (if not THE only) female science teachers at my high school (at least back in the late 80's).  For the sake of all things STEM, we've hopefully come a long way since then ... although, you know, the high school IS still located Amish-adjacent and all.

And, on a personal note, I didn't actually have chemistry with Ms. Jones -- I'm saying that in a very *literal* way, as chemistry was the subject she taught.  That being said, in a twist very appropriate regarding the impetus for this countdown, it was Ms. Jones who greeted our class at the *25th* reunion to give us a tour of the substantially remodeled high school (shortly after which, she apparently retired). 

Here's to you, Ms. Jones!

RULES FOR THIS TOP 30 LIST:  Honorees must be one of the ninety individuals listed in the faculty pages of the '89 yearbook (which means two thirds of the list are already not going to be referenced).  Honorees may also be selected from the photos of support staff as well (so long as they are on the surrounding pages of the same section).  Honorees must be memorable (if there are no stories, then there will be no post about that person).  Honorees are chosen and ranked by me (if you disagree, start your own list on your own blog).  All memories are believed to be accurate (but are being told through the lens of thirty or more years, so ... you know.)

BONUS LINK TO HER RETIREMENT ANNOUNCEMENT:
http://www.lebanon.k12.pa.us/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/1.3-Minutes.04.20.15.pdf

NEWS FROM OUR CLASS ON THE FACEBOOK (IF YOU ARE A MEMBER):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/189980661939188/

30for30: Most Memorable Teachers/Staff #24

In just 113 days, the LHS Class of 1989 will celebrate its 30th high school reunion (on Saturday, March 30, 2019 at 7pm in the back room of the infamous Downtown Lounge) ... and to get us excited about that milestone, I'll be presenting four special TOP 30 lists -- a different one for each of the months ahead.

The December list will be the top 30 most memorable teachers/staff (see rules below), and tonight, we're remembering multi-talented employee "BUD" GETZ (seen here in a his picture from the yearbook; bonus link to his LHS sports hall of fame induction below).

Similar to last night's honoree, Mr. Getz had a reputation as being one to be feared ... and don't let those luscious locks in that glamour-shot-at-the-mall photo fool you, "Bud" was fond of the weights and it showed ...and he was the designated disciplinarian who ruled the roost in the room where all of the in-school suspension kids would have to do their time.

And, on a personal note, I was once one of those suspended kids (it was a mandatory punishment for a series of tardies tied to some gamesmanship between me and my dad's wife of the moment [#4 of 5, for those of you who track that stuff]).  Mr. Getz took one look at me and decided to break all the rules ant to led the guidance counselor "sign me out" of suspension for the day to hang out in their offices around the corner.  I like to think of it as the warden stepping in to offer me solitary as a kind of "protective custody" for the day, for which I am *still* grateful!

Here's to you, Mr. Getz!

RULES FOR THIS TOP 30 LIST:  Honorees must be one of the ninety individuals listed in the faculty pages of the '89 yearbook (which means two thirds of the list are already not going to be referenced).  Honorees may also be selected from the photos of support staff as well (so long as they are on the surrounding pages of the same section).  Honorees must be memorable (if there are no stories, then there will be no post about that person).  Honorees are chosen and ranked by me (if you disagree, start your own list on your own blog).  All memories are believed to be accurate (but are being told through the lens of thirty or more years, so ... you know.)

BONUS LINK TO HIS HALL OF FAME INDUCTION:
https://www.ldnews.com/story/sports/2015/10/22/class-2015-set-hall-induction/74455946/

NEWS FROM OUR CLASS ON THE FACEBOOK (IF YOU ARE A MEMBER):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/189980661939188/

30for30: Most Memorable Teachers/Staff #25

In just 114 days, the LHS Class of 1989 will celebrate its 30th high school reunion (on Saturday, March 30, 2019 at 7pm in the back room of the infamous Downtown Lounge) ... and to get us excited about that milestone, I'll be presenting four special TOP 30 lists -- a different one for each of the months ahead.

The December list will be the top 30 most memorable teachers/staff (see rules below), and tonight, we're remembering the late famed music instructor KATHRYN "KATE" HECKARD (seen here in a fuzzy picture from the yearbook, bonus link to her obituary below).

To say Mrs. Heckard had a reputation is a bit of an understatement, in that people were authentically scared of her.  Although the rumor was that she was legitimately mean, the truth was likely that she was a perfectionist who had absolutely NO time for anyone's bullsh!t, and who took the success of her students so very seriously that she had zero tolerance for anyone who slacked off one bit.

And, on a personal note, this is all second-hand information, as my own career in school musicals went from playing the doormouse in a Junior High production of 'Alice in Wonderland' to singing on the *college* stage, skipping high school completely.

Here's to you, Mrs. Heckard!

RULES FOR THIS TOP 30 LIST:  Honorees must be one of the ninety individuals listed in the faculty pages of the '89 yearbook (which means two thirds of the list are already not going to be referenced).  Honorees may also be selected from the photos of support staff as well (so long as they are on the surrounding pages of the same section).  Honorees must be memorable (if there are no stories, then there will be no post about that person).  Honorees are chosen and ranked by me (if you disagree, start your own list on your own blog).  All memories are believed to be accurate (but are being told through the lens of thirty or more years, so ... you know.)

BONUS LINK TO HER OBITUARY:
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ldnews/obituary.aspx?n=kathryn-a-heckard&pid=163584289

NEWS FROM OUR CLASS ON THE FACEBOOK (IF YOU ARE A MEMBER):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/189980661939188/

30for30: Most Memorable Teachers/Staff #26

In just 115 days, the LHS Class of 1989 will celebrate its 30th high school reunion (on Saturday, March 30, 2019 at 7pm in the back room of the infamous Downtown Lounge) ... and to get us excited about that milestone, I'll be presenting four special TOP 30 lists -- a different one for each of the months ahead.

The December list will be the top 30 most memorable teachers/staff (see rules below), and tonight, we're remembering drivers' ed instructor (or is that driver's ed instructor, seeing as how he mostly worked with one person at a time?) JOHN McDANIELS (seen here as [reluctantly?] pictured in the yearbook, bonus link to bad student driver stories below).

Here's the thing -- Mr. McDaniels did more than teach driving at the high school ... he also led by example in proving that a disability was not something to slow a person down.  He may have been an amputee, but he moved faster than most students in the halls, and he was probably in better physical health than almost anyone else at the school.  Sadly, for reasons I'll explain in a moment, I don't know if I ever knew the cause of his injury -- was he a veteran? Or was it a driving accident that led him to his calling?  Somebody back home from back then will know ... but,in a way, it kind of doesn't matter because it didn't seem to be an obstacle to him.

And, on a personal note, part of the reason I don't know all the details about McDaniels is because I only learned about driving the book-way during my high school years, which severely limited my interactions with him.  All through those year, I was a walker and not a driver ... and then I was a ten-speeder well into college, so there was no live learning of driving skills until much much later (in the Votech parking lot, by Mrs. Woodward, in case you were wondering).

Here's to you, Mr. McDaniels!

RULES FOR THIS TOP 30 LIST:  Honorees must be one of the ninety individuals listed in the faculty pages of the '89 yearbook (which means two thirds of the list are already not going to be referenced).  Honorees may also be selected from the photos of support staff as well (so long as they are on the surrounding pages of the same section).  Honorees must be memorable (if there are no stories, then there will be no post about that person).  Honorees are chosen and ranked by me (if you disagree, start your own list on your own blog).  All memories are believed to be accurate (but are being told through the lens of thirty or more years, so ... you know.)

BONUS LINK TO BAD STUDENT DRIVER STORIES:
https://www.ranker.com/list/driving-instructors-share-their-stories/nathan-gibson

NEWS FROM OUR CLASS ON THE FACEBOOK (IF YOU ARE A MEMBER):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/189980661939188/

30for30: Most Memorable Teachers/Staff #27

In just 116 days, the LHS Class of 1989 will celebrate its 30th high school reunion (on Saturday, March 30, 2019 at 7pm in the back room of the infamous Downtown Lounge) ... and to get us excited about that milestone, I'll be presenting four special TOP 30 lists -- a different one for each of the months ahead.

The December list will be the top 30 most memorable teachers/staff (see rules below), and tonight, we're remembering the ladies who lunch -- or more accurately, these LADIES WHO MADE OUR LUNCHES (seen here as pictured in the yearbook, bonus photo of the recipe for their most requested item is below).

For some reason, the ladies who actually took our money (or our tickets, for those of you who were in the poor people bracket like I was) were not in this group photo (I guess maybe they got enough publicity as the "faces" of the operation), but these ladies were the ones who did all the work behind the scenes -- dealing with Reagan-era policies that allowed ketchup to count as a vegetable, pioneering the separate ala carte line (which was relatively new when we were in school), making pizza at least every other day, guaranteeing that the small milk cartons weren't expired and feeding our sugar highs with those Cedar Treats.

And, on a personal note, seeing as how lunch time was where I honed my social skills, moving between tables of different classmates, trying to raise money I didn't have from folks I knew in order to ala carte like the cool kids did ... I was most certainly appreciative of the products they pushed out to us on the daily.

Here's to you, lunch ladies!

RULES FOR THIS TOP 30 LIST:  Honorees must be one of the ninety individuals listed in the faculty pages of the '89 yearbook (which means two thirds of the list are already not going to be referenced).  Honorees may also be selected from the photos of support staff as well (so long as they are on the surrounding pages of the same section).  Honorees must be memorable (if there are no stories, then there will be no post about that person).  Honorees are chosen and ranked by me (if you disagree, start your own list on your own blog).  All memories are believed to be accurate (but are being told through the lens of thirty or more years, so ... you know.)

BONUS PHOTO OF THEIR MOST REQUESTED RECIPE:

NEWS FROM OUR CLASS ON THE FACEBOOK (IF YOU ARE A MEMBER):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/189980661939188/

30for30: Most Memorable Teachers/Staff #28

In just 117 days, the LHS Class of 1989 will celebrate its 30th high school reunion (on Saturday, March 30, 2019 at 7pm in the back room of the infamous Downtown Lounge) ... and to get us excited about that milestone, I'll be presenting four special TOP 30 lists -- a different one for each of the months ahead.

The December list will be the top 30 most memorable teachers/staff (see rules below), and tonight, we're remembering social studies teacher JAMES CLELAND (seen here in his 89 yearbook faculty photo, link to a newspaper article that listed his 1977 salary [as well as every one else's wages from that year?!] is below).

As I recall, Mr. Cleland had a reputation for being a bit more on the strict side ... but he also was the teacher you just knew would fall asleep at least once a month at his desk if you had him for a study period ... or if your class was taking a test ... or if he was, for whatever reason, not teaching that day and just sitting there, arms crossed, head nodding, with a faint rumble of a snore emanating from the front of the classroom.

And on a personal note, as someone who has cultivated a lifelong love of bacon, it just may be that the earliest seeds regarding that relationship were planted in that scenario, because -- and warning, high school kids are cruel -- as his head dropped forward, the long strands of hair that he combed over his bald spot would get sweaty and stick to his head, earning him the nickname of "bacon strips" -- a nickname I'm not sure that anyone ever said to his face when he woke up.

Here's to you, Mr. Cleland!

RULES FOR THIS TOP 30 LIST:  Honorees must be one of the ninety individuals listed in the faculty pages of the '89 yearbook (which means two thirds of the list are already not going to be referenced).  Honorees may also be selected from the photos of support staff as well (so long as they are on the surrounding pages of the same section).  Honorees must be memorable (if there are no stories, then there will be no post about that person).  Honorees are chosen and ranked by me (if you disagree, start your own list on your own blog).  All memories are believed to be accurate (but are being told through the lens of thirty or more years, so ... you know.)

ACTUALLY YOU CAN SEE ALL THE 1977 LHS TEACHERS' SALARIES:  
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18178515/lebanon_daily_news/

NEWS FROM OUR CLASS ON THE FACEBOOK (IF YOU ARE A MEMBER):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/189980661939188/