The Baby Boomer Era

As meetings of the 50th Reunion Committee become "mini-reunions", we've discovered how much we have come to value the "era" in which we grew up--the peaceful 50's and early 60's, where we spent our formative years. As we think of our childhood now, it was a wholesome time for our country, with the post-war years of opportunity, growth and optimism. Most heads of households (read that "Dads" in most cases) had jobs, we were becoming a more educated nation through the GI Bill,  families could afford homes and cars and a good standard of life.  And babies were being born at an amazing rate creating our generation of "Baby Boomers" (generally defined as those born between the years 1946-1964). 

For better or worse, we ushered in the "boomer" era and the country has been challenged since in trying to accommodate our number. (By the end of the 1940s, about 32 million babies had been born, compared with 24 million in the 1930s. In 1965, four out of ten Americans were under the age of twenty. Source: Wikipedia)  From the school years, when schools couldn't be built fast enough to make room for us, until now, in trying to accommodate us as geriatrics, we Baby Boomers have challenged our world every step of the way. We're a powerful segment having 80% of the net worth for our nation, and the over 50 population is the third-largest economy in the world! (Source: AARP Magazine, Nov. 2013) We've participated in a lot of change--some good; some not so good--but each generation has to accept the challenges put before them in their time.  I don't know that our world asked more of us than of previous generations, but we may have thought so at the time.

It's hard to believe it has been fifty years since we heard Mr. Anderson announce President Kennedy's assassination over the intercom to our classrooms early in our senior year.  I'm sure we all remember how shocked and numb our nation was, how schools and businesses were closed and we all sat home in front of our televisions watching images that are still vivid in our minds half a century later. It rocked our secure world and crossed a line over which our childhood sense of security and trust was put violently and sadly behind us.  

This fiftieth anniversary of President Kennedy's death marks that time as the media continues to search for the truth and new materials are unsealed for the public.  The images on t.v. are as familiar as if they were yesterday and take me back to my family's living room where we sat watching the days of mourning--President Johnson being sworn in with Jackie Kennedy in shock at his side aboard Air Force One, crowds visiting the Capitol Rotunda where President Kennedy lay in state, the funeral procession following the horse drawn caisson from The White House to St. Matthews Cathedral, the gravesite with a perpetual flame.  I can't help but wonder how different we and our nation might have been had President Kennedy lived on?

In 1983, as the twentieth anniversary was marked, The Seattle Times asked for reader response and, as a young mom, these were my thoughts at the time: 

At the time, our world was pretty insular and small but we were beginning to think about how that would all change in a few more months, in that unknown future after high school. As we mourned the loss of our President our world grew more serious and our young minds began to question and doubt.  Many think it was a loss of innocence for our generation and our country. We learned some grown-up lessons about life going on and began to pull plans together for the holidays and ringing in a new year.  We knew the New Year would bring high school graduation for us--the first of the "baby boomers"--and our adult lives would begin.  

FIFTY YEARS PAST BLAST:  
HEADLINES -- NOVEMBER/DECEMBER, 1963
Like a time capsule from fifty years ago, here’s a blast from our past:  world news headlines, cultural trends, and Glacier happenings from our senior year.

NEWS HEADLINES 

--Nov 1  South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem assassinated along with his brother in a coup d'etat.

--Nov 22  U.S. President, John F. Kennedy Assassinated in Dallas, TX.  Vice President, Lyndon B. Johnson, succeeds him.

--Nov 24  JFK's alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, murdered by nightclub owner, Jack Ruby, in a killing seen by millions on t.v.

--Nov 25  JFK, the 35th U.S. President, laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery following a mass at St. Matthew's Roman Catholic Cathedral.  The leaders of 92 nations attended the funeral, among them Charles de Gaulle of France and Prince Phillip of Great Britain. Fifty Navy and Air Force jets flew past the gravesite followed by the president's plane, Air Force One, which dipped its wing in final tribute.

John F. Kennedy's grave site and the eternal flame at Arlington National Cemetery.  JFK had visited Arlington Cemetery for Armistice Day, just 14 days before he was laid there to rest. 

Photo from Arlington National Cemetery Website. 

--Nov 29  President Lyndon B. Johnson establishes the Warren Commission headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren, to investigate the death of JFK. 

--Dec       Kenya gains independence (formerly British East Africa)

--Dec 8    Frank Sinatra Jr. (age 19) kidnapped in Lake Tahoe, NV. He is released three days later unhurt in LA after his father pays $240,000 ransom. Most of the money was recovered when the FBI arrests three suspects.   

--Dec       U. S. Congress authorizes issue of JFK half-dollar coin

--Although full-scale involvement in the Southeast Asian conflict was still two years away, by the end of 1963 over 100 U.S. personnel had died in Vietnam.

MOVIES you might have gone to see: (source: Wikipedia #1 U.S. Films by week)

• A New Kind of Love -- Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (the third top grossing film of the year, after "Cleopatra" and "How the West was Won") - Spencer Tracy and an all-star cast
• The Incredible Journey
• Fun in Acapulco -- Elvis Presley (Featured the Top 10 Billboard hit "Bossa Nova Baby" and reached #1 on the national weekly box office charts a week after the assassination of President JFK.  The film would be Presley's last release before the arrival of Beatlemania and was the top grossing movie musical of 1963.)
• Charade --  Cary Grant & Audrey Hepburn
• The Sword in the Stone (the last animated Disney film released before Walt Disney's death)

Books on the NY Times Best Seller List:  (top five 12/29/63)

• The Group, by Mary McCarthy
• The Venetian Affair, Helen McInnes
• Caravans, by James Michener
• The Shoes of the Fisherman by Morrs L. West
• The Living Reed by Pearl Buck

TV events and programming: 

• All three tv networks started pre-empted programming covering the JFK assassination and funeral coverage

• News of the assassination, and later the funeral procession, were the first tv broadcasts across the Pacific Ocean (via Relay 1 satellite).

• November 23 - UK BBC TV broadcasts its famous dramatic Kennedy tribute episode on "That Was the Week That Was".

• William Hartnell stars in the very first episode of "Doctor Who" (An Unearthly Child) on BBC November 23.  So many people complained of missing its premiere due to JFK's assassination that the episode was repeated before showing episode two.

• A murder is televised live when Jack Ruby kills JFK's suspected assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald on live t.v.

• December 7 - Instant Replay is used for the first time during the live transmission of the Army/Navy Game by its inventor, director, Tony Verna.

• For the first time, most Americans say they get more of their news from tv than from newspapers.

• The tv remote contrrol is authorized by the FCC.

Programs You might have watched:

• Mack & Meyer for Hire
• Professional Bowlers Tour
• The Greatest Show on Earth
• Mr. Ed

Music you would have heard (on your transistor radio?): 
(Source: Billboard #1 Singles 1963)

Click on title and then click on link to listen...

• Sugar Shack, Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs (Billboard #1 single for 1963)

• Deep Purple,  Nino Temple & April Stevens (won Grammy award for Best Rock & Roll Record for 1963)

• I'm Leaving It Up to You, Dale & Grace ( This was the #1 song when JFK was assassinated in Dallas, TX.  Dale & Grace were in Dallas on the day of the assassination and scheduled to perform that night as part of Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars (with Bobby Rydell, Jimmy Clanton, and Brian Hyland), and moments before the assassination had waved to the president's motorcade from a vantage point near their hotel.)

• Dominique, The Singing Nun (Dominique outsold Elvis during its stay on the Hot 100.  It was the second to last #1 hit before the British Invasion, The Beatles, The Kinks, Rolling Stones and The Who would dominate U.S. music charts.)

Around Glacier as reported in the November & December Avalanche:"

• "Moments to Remember" was the theme of Glacier's third annual Homecoming held November 1, 1963. Our senior class prepared for the festivities including an assembly, half-time at the Glacier/Highline football game, and the Homecoming Dance ruled over by Homecoming Queen, Gwen Cox, Jr. Princess Pat Skolrud and Graduate Princess, Sydney Nick of the Class of '63.  

Homecoming Queen, Gwen Cox

• The Debate Team opened their 1963-64 season against Franklin Pierce and Evergreen at Evergreen and had two wins and two losses.  Glacier won the affirmative against Evergreen and the negative against Franklin Pierce.  Steve Tredway and Janet Prince, seniors, formed Glacier's affirmative team and Cheryl Crawford and Jeanette Desimone, also seniors, composed the negative team.  In the December Avalanche they could boast a 3 win 5 loss record after the second tri-school debate against Renton and Kent-Meridian.

• Torch Club was in full swing planning projects such as a pickle sale, a car wash, a dance and a Christmas candy-cane sale to help the school get out of debt.  Torch Club requires members to maintain a 3.0 GPA for membership.  Torch Club officers for '63-'64:  President: Jim Thompson; Vice President: Carol Waller; Secretary: Penny Cramer; Treasurer: Sue Holiday. 

• Dan Solway earned two top honors at GHS Awards Assembly, selected by his teammates as both team Captain and team Inspirational Player.  

• Cross-Country Track Team selected Don Brandt, as their captain that year.

• Glacier ends the football season in sixth place with a 4-5 record after a play-off game against Lakes who finished fifth.  

• Glacier basketball turnout had 48 players trying out for the team with Mr. Fred Minahan's first year as varsity coach. The first basketball game (a practice game) was at Foster December 6.

• The "Betty Crocker Search for the American homemaker of Tomorrow" test was announced by Miss Wilder, GHS adviser, for December 3 in the Glacier cafeteria.  All senior girls were eligible and the girl with the highest score from each high school in the state would represent that school in a state competition competing for a $1,500 scholarship and educational tour.  Tests were scored by Science and Research Associates o Chicago, IL.  

• A new Honors Math Analysis class was announced by Mr. Hubbard, Acting Math Dept. Head, brought about by the continuance of the honors math course started in 1959 when in 9th grade the honors student took Algebra II and III; as a sophomore honors geometry, and as a junior Algebra IV and Trig.  The class of '64 was the first to have honors Math Analysis.  

• Vicki Hosteltler, President of Glacier Red Cross Club, appeared on KING TV representing all the Red Cross Clubs of Seattle to show how young people help provide community services.  Vicki spoke about the school's contribution in helping to support a family in the Highline District, visiting hospitals and preparing first aid kits to send to disaster areas.  

• Kelly Farmer appeared on TV too on the Kathryn Wise Show dancing ballet to promote the Dorothy Fisher Dance Concert scheduled for late November. 

• The girls weighed in on boys' apparel in a November Avalanche column and seemed to agree they liked dark tapered pants and the collegiate look but they didn't like short pants, white socks, and UW jackets.  

• Boys retaliated in December and had some opinions in common in not liking girls to wear too much make-up, extreme hair-do's, nylons with runs in them, and they didn't like boots or socks of any kind.  And they seemed unanimous in thinking girls' skirts were too long. Mr. Hubbard, on the other hand, said that "any girl knows the more mystery about her the more curious the boy".  

• And along with the rest of our country, Glacier mourned the death of our President.  The full cover page of the December 2 Avalance appears below:  (click on the image to enlarge)  

Like high school seniors everywhere in our nation that year, Thanksgiving took on new meaning as we tried to accept violence in our country and discovered that "life goes on".  Tri-Hi-Y, the Service Club and Letterman's Club made plans to go Christmas caroling  for shut-ins and "older people", and we all made plans for Christmas and looked forward to the holiday break and ringing in a brand new year -- l964 -- the year we would graduate and rule the world!  Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to all as we look back as "older people" at our past!

##

November 22, 2013

Diana (Stillwell) Carew

Links to Our Past

It felt so good clearing out the attic, the basement and the closets when we downsized and moved.  Only now, as the committee prepares for our 50th reunion, do I miss a few things -- an old pee chee, Glacier book cover, record albums, and more.  When a classmate unearths a bundle of  "The Avalanche" or a class photo from junior high, it triggers nostalgia only people our age can understand. These common place "things" from our early lives take on new meaning--links to memories of childhood days from another era, our era, when life was simpler, easier and mostly fun.  I'm pretty sure we didn't fully appreciate that back then.

We don't get to choose the time we are born, but, most of us, at the Reunion Committee meeting "mini-reunions", express how lucky we feel to have spent our youth in such an idyllic time. We got to be children when childhood was meant for play, learning, family and friends. We were in an era of English Racer bikes, hula hoops, television, and "The Twist".  It was a time of growth and change -- new fashions and fads that we endorsed as "cool".  Even the Seattle skyline had changed with the World's Fair and the new Space Needle, and we felt part of a growing sophistication and the grown up world.  Awesome cars were coming out of Detroit (did anybody want foreign cars back then?), and the most amazing rock & roll music beat a drum beat to our souls.  Life was lived at an easy pace with time for school work and chores but with a good measure of unstructured time to play in the neighborhood and pursue hobbies and interests and friendships. It wasn't perfect, and there were struggles, but it was a good time in which to grow up. 

To be so old that we pre-date t.v. is something strange to admit, but I remember a lot of family time at home relaxing around the living room radio listening to our favorite shows. Amazing images played in our minds as we listened. The sound effects were almost humorous but laid the scene --a creaking door, galloping hooves, the sound of clutter falling out of Jack Benny's closet--or was that Fibber McGee's?  I loved "Amos & Andy", "Sky King", and was gripped with fear when I would hear, "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?" followed by the maniacal laugh of "The Shadow".  Saturday mornings were kids' shows when we listened to Clarabell Clown, Princess Summerfallwinterspring, and Chief Thunderthud--remember "Kowabunga, Buffalo Bob!"?  And when Buffalo Bob said, "Say kids, what time is it?" every kid in the room knew what to say 'cause it was "Howdy Doody Time"!   

And then came t.v. and we sat fascinated watching anything that came on -- even the test screen when the day's shows would end.  No more pictures in our minds -- it was all there in front of our eyes in amazing black and white.  

There was a wholesomeness to television then that families could watch and enjoy together. The shows were great entertainment with family values--"Father Knows Best", "Leave It to Beaver", "The Lawrence Welk Show", the "Ed Sullivan Show", "Mickey Mouse Club".  And westerns dominated the schedule every weekend with:  "Gunsmoke", "Wyatt Earp", "Have Gun Will Travel", "Bonanza", "Rawhide".  We were out of high school when color t.v. came along. Tell that to a young person if you want to feel old! 

Movies and music and fashion all influenced us and were influenced by us, as we embraced new styles and trends:  the khakis or pegged pants with skinny belts, modified crew cuts, white socks and a comb in the back pocket for boys; the pleated skirts, bouffant hair-do's, "squash" heels, and nylon stockings for girls.  There were dress codes and standards then:  no pants for girls and skirt lengths were watched closely too (nothing above the knee cap or you were sent home to change).  How things have changed.


The back beat for many of us was the music carried through our day on transistor radios kept in the locker at school.  At Sunset Jr. High we had a jukebox that played tunes at lunch; we could dance there on Fridays--yup, mostly the girls. From the first single records I ever purchased--Purple People Eater (click to listen)--and Raunchy (for a sixth grade party at Hilltop Elementary School), through the Everly Brothers, Elvis, Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, and Roy Orbison to the Beatles and so many others, our era was treated to amazing music.  Isn't it something how a generation of young people identifies with its music so strongly that it still triggers a response over fifty years later? 

And we all seem to want one of the classic cars from that time (restored of course) in the garage too.  The boys always wanted corvettes. My dream car in high school was a '57 chevy-- turquoise--with that widening chrome strip down the fins.  But if we're dreaming now, how about making mine a '57 Thunderbird please!?  

So these scraps of nostalgia from the old days have been on our minds as we dig through the flotsam and jetsam of our youth.  Some of us have been digging through dusty boxes and attics and a few garage sales and thrift stores to unearth these pieces and nostalgia from way back when. Some things have been carefully stored and preserved while others are left only to remember. 

A few of these treasures will be displayed the night of our reunion to take us back in time--fifty years and more.  We're still looking for GHS Letterman's jackets and hope to score one by then (some things are not discarded but lovingly worn to death over time).  Thankfully, everything didn't get lost in our downsizings so we can all enjoy them next year to enhance our reunion. These relics are special to us now because between the pages of "The Avalanche" and the strands of the pom-poms and the photos of our class, are the memories we made as we grew up together.  These common place things preserve our history and help us remember--the links to our past.  

Hey, guys!  Spare the Lettermen's Jacket -- we'll need it at our 50th Reunion!

Photo from the December, 1963 "Avalanche"
Pictured:  Rod Malone (in locker), Kent Benson (in front), Art Sivertsen (back left); Gerry Cavanee (back right).


FIFTY YEARS PAST BLAST:  
HEADLINES -- SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER, 1963
Like a time capsule from fifty years ago, here’s a blast from our past. Our senior year was well underway and report card time was near--October 30 marked the end of the first quarter. We were preparing for Homecoming scheduled for November 1. 

NEWS HEADLINES 

--Racist uprisings as Two African American Girls Attend Desegregated West End High School in Birmingham 

--Racist bombing in Birmingham, Alabama kills four little girls at the 16th Street Baptist Church

--Nightly Network News TV Broadcasts expanded from 15 to 30 minutes by CBS and NBC

--The New York Mirror Ceases Publication falling victim to the recently ended newspaper strike

--Hurricane Flora devastates Cuba, Haiti and The Dominican Republic, killing 7200

--Demolition Begins on NYC's Pennsylvania Station--the loss of this beautiful 53-year old marble and granite structure prompts efforts for architectural preservation

--Vietnamese Government Soldiers Landed by US Helicopters near CA Mau Peninsula in South Vietnam to pursue communist Viet Cong Guerrillas who had attacked a Vietnamese outpost

MOVIES you might have gone to see: (source: Wikipedia #1 U.S. Films by week)

• Promises!  Promises!
• Shock Corridor
• X:  The Man with the X-Ray Eyes
• The VIPs
• Dimentia 13
• Johnny Cool

Books on the NY Times Best Seller List: 

• The Shoes of the Fisherman by Morrs L. West
• The Group by Mary McCarthy

TV shows you might have watched: 
(these shows debuted in September 1963)

• The Outer Limits  (ABC)
• The Fugitive  (ABC)
• The Patty Duke Show  (ABC)
• Burke's Law (ABC)
• Petticoat Junction (CBS)
• Judy Garland Show (CBS)

Music you would have heard (on your transistor radio?): 
(Source: Billboard #1 Singles 1963)
Click on title and then click on link to listen...

• "My Boyfriend's Back"  by The Angels

• "Blue Velvet"  by Bobby Vinton

• "Sugar Shack" by Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs

Around Glacier:

• Thirty-one parking spots were sold to Glacier students by the Traffic Court and Safety Council.  By buying a 25-cent sticker, the student was entitled to a permanent parking spot in the back lot.

• Report card time with the end of the first quarter October 30.  Report cards were issued to the students at the quarter but would be mailed to parents in January.  "The Avalanche" reported that a new system for grading report cards would be used with the grades being recorded by Remington Rand machines.

• Drivers ed classes began October 28, with 30 hours of classroom study and 12 hours of observation, combined with six hours of on the road driving.  After the training the boys were able to get a 10% discount on insurance from most companies.  (Editor:  Interesting, no mention of a discount for girls.)

• Plans were underway for Homecoming keeping the Senior Class  busy preparing to welcome the classes of '61, '62 and '63 (approximately 300 grads) back to campus.  An assembly, half-time ceremony and a dance would celebrate the event with the theme, "Moments to Remember".  

SENIOR CLASS OFFICERS: L to R:  Karen Loyd, Treasurer; Patty Peterson, Secretary; Mr. Packard, Advisor;
Ken Anderson, President; Lynn Copenhaver, Historian; Maureen Young, Vice President.

• Homecoming royalty was selected with Gwen Cox selected to reign as Homecoming Queen.  Her court would include Pat Skolrud, junior class princess, and Sydney Nick, alum class princess from the class of '63.

• Pep Club had new uniforms with plans to wear them for Homecoming.  The emblem for Pep was new that year too with officers distinguished by a big gold "G".  Pep Club was preparing to sponsor the sale of Glacier pins.

Note:  Click on photos to enlarge.

• Grizzlies had rolled past the Evergreen Wolverines 7-0 with Glacier's touchdown coming in the second quarter with a drive from their own 49 yard line. The score was made with a 24-yard pass from Tom Frank to Steve Nasinec who was just able to knife into the end zone.  In the final three minutes, the Wolverines were gaining momentum and at the GHS 40-yard line when Andy Vasilieff intercepted an Evergreen pass assuring the Glacier victory.  Don Oishi gained 60 yards rushing; Jerry Scarsella gained 58 yards rushing; Steve Nasinec caught two passes for 59 yards including the touchdown toss.  

• GHS cross-country team was victorious over Kent 20-35.  Chuck Stahl took first place for GHS with a 10:44; Hugh More was second with 10:56.  Don Brandt took fifth place at 11:03. In the triangular cross-country meet with Renton and Tyee on October 18, the GHS showing was rather poor:  the score was Renton 15, Tyee 59, and Glacier 66.  Number one man, Chuck Stahl, was out with an injured foot; number two man, Frank Wick, was away on a hunting trip.  

• German Club elected officers at their first meeting:  Ralph Christopherson, President; Dan Six, Vice President; Larry Freeburn, Secretary; Garth Steedman, Treasurer.

• And these three Girls' Club wannabe's need some serious Dress Code advice but we can see why the one at left wouldn't want to cover up those knees.

We were moving through our senior year as most seniors do...with thoughts of homework and quarter-end tests. The weather was turning blustery and we scurried between classes under the thin cover of the breezeways.  We complained that the Highline JC students sat on the heaters in the cafeteria at lunch.  And we looked forward to Homecoming--the dance, the assembly, the football game against arch rival, Highline.  We ended the first two months of our senior year and looking back on those days, life was good.

##

The Last "First Day" of School

It was Wednesday, September 4, 1963.  Fifty years ago today most of us began our term as seniors, and our last "first day" at Glacier. We undoubtedly donned a new school sweater that morning, grabbed our new pee chees, and rushed to be on time for the First Period Tardy Bell at 8:00 a.m.  The weather that day would reach 87 degrees. 

Our Student Handbooks guided us through the schedules, rules, student fees and activities that would step us through the year.  A letter inside, co-signed by Mr. Anderson, our Principal, and Mr. Gordon, Assistant Principal, welcomed us to a new year and challenged us toward academic excellence and participation in activities.  The book included some yells, the Alma Mater, Highline District Dance Regulations, and the Glacier High School Constitution.  It also contained a map of the school, a list of faculty, and enrollment information for graduation with two credits in Home Economics specifically required for girls.  

The School Calendar in the Handbook showed the last day of school as Thursday, June 4, 1964.  At the time, it seemed forever until that day. Part of me couldn't wait for the year to be over, impatient to move on to new things. But there was a part, too, that wanted to enjoy this last year of school--our senior year--and all it would bring. 

New years always seem like fresh, blank pages waiting to be written upon and this senior year started out all clean and new.  As we worked our way through the calendar one day at a time beginning September 4,  "The Avalanche", newspaper articles, photos and more recorded our days. We'll do our best to gather the chronology of that time and share it here as we look forward now to our 50th reunion and revisit our past.  It was a time we shared together and this first day of school would be our last.  

HANDBOOK:  

WELCOME LETTER TO STUDENTS

CAMPUS MAP

The 200 Building has since been torn down.  But the other buildings still stand and are used for different community purposes, most recently an alternative college prep school and the gym for a Basketball Training Facility.

FACULTY LIST

Remember any favorite teachers?

Hmmm....where are the Teacher Planning Days and Winter Break? 

Gooooo Grizzlies!!!

FIFTY YEARS PAST BLAST:  HEADLINES -- SEPTEMBER 4, 1963
Like a time capsule from fifty years ago, here’s a blast from our past. 

News Headlines

• On this day in  history, Swissair Flight 306, destined for Rome, crashed on take-off from Zurich Airport when it caught fire in dense fog killing all 80 people on board.  As a result of this crash all Caravelle aircraft were modified to use non-flammable hydraulic fluids.  One small village lost one-fifth of its population in this crash, with 43 people from Humlikon on board traveling to visit a farm test site near Geneva.  The entire local council, the leaders of the schools and the post office clerk perished. Thirty-nine village children were orphaned.  Families and neighbors took in and cared for the children; people came from abroad to harvest and plant so the village farming could survive.

• Across the country, the first day of school wasn't quite so calm as ours. For the first time ever, black students registered at white schools in the segregated state of Alabama. In some places they faced State Troopers deployed by Gov. George Wallace who was trying to prevent integration. That night, the bombing of a black household in Birmingham triggered a riot, and a black 20-year-old was shot to death by police.   

Top Single Record -- September 4, 1963 (Billboard Hot 100 List)
(click on the title for the link; click the link  to listen)

"My Boyfriend's Back", The Angels

 

Around Glacier

The teachers and students were beginning their year and things would quickly settle in. The first football game would be Glacier at Auburn, September 20; the first Cross Country Track meet would be Evergreen at Glacier, September 27.  "The Avalanche" staff would be planning their first edition for the year.  We'll include highlights from there next time.  Be sure to subscribe to this blog (upper right corner on this page) so you won't miss any of  the events of our senior year!

The Summer of Fifty Years Past

Lou's Drive-In -- Does that really say 19 cents?

As we count down to our 50th reunion and enjoy this beautiful Puget Sound summer, I've been trying to remember how I spent our last school vacation in 1963. I didn't keep a journal and I can't recall but I likely hung out at home talking with friends for hours on our one phone (black, with a dial and a long extension cord for privacy) and with my transistor radio on at all times so I wouldn't miss any of the latest tunes on KJR.  I wasn't too old to listen for the sound of the ice cream truck as it rolled through the neighborhood, albeit mostly to talk with the cute guy who drove the truck rather than for the ice cream. I was into suntanning then with a popular mixture at the time of Johnson Baby Oil and Iodine--no wonder I fried rather than tanned! And that was the year my parents bought a camper-trailer and took us to the ocean for our "last" family vacation before graduation when the family dynamic would change. Other than that, I draw a blank--so my summer must have been pretty routine.

There may have been trips to Green River Gorge, Saltwater Park, or Angle Lake.  Surely there were movies at Lewis & Clark Theater or the Duwamish Drive-In. And I seem to remember a place that had outdoor trampolines, and another new local business, at the time, with archery lanes.  And bowling at Lewis & Clark Lanes.  And burgers at Lou's or A&W or that new burger chain--McDonald's--on Highway 99.  There must have been a few dinners out with family at Wah Kue's, The Flower Drum or Roy's Chuckwagon, or, a breakfast out at Mr. B's or a pancake house in Burien called something generic like The Pancake House? Wish I could recall.

I'm sure, like everyone else, I shopped for school clothes and supplies getting ready for our senior year.  We sometimes took the bus into downtown Seattle (whoever heard of a mall?) and shopped at McDougall's, Penney's, and a new store I loved-- Jay Jacobs.  It was a grown-up treat to eat a club house sandwich in the Tea Room at The Bon Marche.  I may have bought Pee Chees, notebook paper, and pens at Newberry's.  We would stop at Sears on the way home where the smell of popcorn drew us to the main floor candy counter without fail.  One thing never changed, senior or not:  I'm sure we modeled our new school clothes for the family when we got home. (Was that weird or did other families do that too?)

One memory denied was the Friday night dances at the Spanish Castle, off limits to me.  I heard "everyone" (or so it seemed) talk about the fun and the great bands at "The Castle".   I also heard about the "rumbles" in the parking lot and I guess my parents heard about them too! 

 I'm sure other classmates' summers were a lot more fun than mine but maybe I've stirred some summer memories to bring Glacier days to the fore.  While I'm short on the details I guess my memory serves better than I thought, coming up with the names of some of the places in the "hood" that we all knew.

I do remember being excited about starting our senior year, the last chapter of public school and moving on into life.  I know we all shared in that excitement, as cool as some of the class were or tried to be.

Looking back through the time warp and knowing what we now know, it would be our last summer of innocence before the events that awaited our nation as the school year began to unfold. For us, it was the beginning of the end of school and our days at Glacier as we finished the summer of '63.

The Spanish Castle, some time in the 1960s
http://pnwbands.com/spanishcastle.html

FIFTY YEARS PAST BLAST:  HEADLINES -- JULY/AUGUST 1963
Like a time capsule from fifty years ago, here’s a blast from our past.  We were enjoying our last summer as high school "kids" and ready to begin our senior year.  The news of the day may not have caught our attention much at the time.  Here's a glimpse of what was going on way back when...

News Headlines

• U. S. "Zone Improvement Plan" or ZIP codes initiated

• A limited nuclear test ban treaty prohibiting testing in the atmosphere, in space and underwater is initialed in Moscow by the UK, USA and USSR.  (later signed by JFK October 7)

• James Meredith becomes the first African-American graduate of the University of Mississippi.  

• In South Vietnam, President Ngo Dinh Diem responds to the protests of the nation's Buddhist monks by jailing their leaders.

• The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech before a crowd of over 200,000 gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Martin Luther King, August 28, 1963
Lincoln Memorial - Washington, D.C.

Movies you might have seen:

• The Great Escape
• Beach Party
• Gidget Goes to Rome
• Promises! Promises!
• Flipper

Books on NY Times Best Seller List:

• Elizabeth Appleton by John O'Hara
• City of Night by John Rechy

TV Shows you might have watched, turning it on, adjusting the volume and changing the channel with no remote:

• Combat
• The Avengers
• The Mike Douglas Show
• ABC's Wide World of Sports
• The Saint

Music you would have heard: (click on the title for the link; click the link  to listen)

• "Easier Said Than Done", The Essex

• "Surf City", Jan & Dean

• "So Much in Love", The Tymes

• "Fingertips Pt. 2", Little Stevie Wonder

Around Glacier:

"The Avalanche" was not published in summer so we're relying on memory again!  By August the football team was likely turning out for practice and the teachers, administrators, and custodians were getting the classrooms and campus ready for classes.  We mighty seniors were winding down our summer and ready to let another year begin!  Classes would begin September 4, 1963.  Our last year at Glacier -- seniors at last!

That's the blast from 50 years past for this time.  Hope you're enjoying Summer 2013! Subscribe to this blog at the top right and be informed of each posting.  Go Grizzlies!

Save the Date!

Mailing Team  - June, 2013

Reunion Committee Co-Chairs Wanda (Swansby) Jones and Diana (Stillwell) Carew and husbands Rick and Gary with 214 flyers ready to post.

 "Save the Date" notices were mailed June 12, with the news of our 50th reunion.  In the days after, 199 classmates and 15 teachers should have opened their mailboxes to find our flyer among their usual mail, bills and junk mail. As the mailing team folded, stuffed and stamped, we couldn't help wonder what the recipients' reactions would be upon recognizing the long forgotten Glacier Grizzly logos and 50th reunion stickers on this advance invitation.  Would there be smiles of anticipation as they opened the flap? Or a brief twist of dread making our flyer slightly more than "junk mail" too?

We all have different memories of high school and, for some, bringing back thoughts of that time--even a festive 50th celebration--is a worrisome thing. Google "high school reunions" and you'll find a fair number of articles on reunion "angst".  High school years--the teen years--are difficult for everyone, they remind us.  To willingly revisit those years and people, especially if we haven't stayed in touch, brings real fear.  I still remember the sudden panic nearly 40 years ago, in wanting to return to the car and flee when I walked with my husband through the parking lot to the SeaTac Holiday Inn for our 10th reunion.  But I'm glad I found the courage to go on in.  It was like walking into a room of "familiar strangers" and an indescribable joy to see and talk with so many from the past.

The Google search turned up articles with reasons to attend reunions too. With nearly fifty years of growing up we've learned a few things about people and life and we aren't the same people we were back then.  We've confronted more than a few fears.  And, as we near seventy years of age, most of us are likely reflecting on our past, our childhood community and those people and events that influenced our lives.  Like salmon swimming back upstream, our thoughts are drawn full circle to reconnect with those who helped shape our path--what better way than at a reunion of people our own age who shared our history and common experiences?

Most of us haven't kept in touch over the years so we will enjoy a true "reunion" of our class, defined as: "an instance of two or more people coming together again after separation". There are few things more joyful than seeing the remembered smile of a childhood friend after years of separation. Laughing together over long-ago events.  Learning about their families and what they've done with their lives. Seeing the passing years reflected on their face.  The hugs and exuberant  hand shakes chase away the years.  Reunions are that chance.

Hopefully the mailer was spared the "round file" and found its way onto bulletin boards, desks and calendars to mark Saturday, September 6, 2014, as a special date to save.  As the faces from forty-nine years ago look back at us from the class photo on this masthead and the mailer, it feels good to have plans to be together again and remember the times we all shared as we walked the halls at Glacier. Living to mark this 50th reunion is an accomplishment to "Celebrate & Remember"!  Save the date! A lot of our classmates are working to make it worthy of a "golden" reunion and it won't be the same if we aren't all there!

Partial 50th Reunion Committee - Kick-Off Planning Meeting

February 2013

Left to Right with maiden names.  

Back Row: Diana Stillwell, Kathy Osborne, Valerie Magee, Vicki Hostetler, Judy Huntington, Anita Sollie, Ken Anderson, Wanda Swansby

Front Row:  Lawrence Freeburn, Charlotte Larson, Gail Wynn, Barbara Roedell

And what were we doing fifty years past?


FIFTY YEARS PAST BLAST:  HEADLINES -- MAY/JUNE 1963
Like a time capsule from fifty years ago, here’s a blast from our past.  We were ending our junior year and beginning summer break.  Seniors at last!  Do you remember what you did that summer, the last summer break of our high school careers?  If you were making any gas purchases, check out the prices below from 1963.   Now that's hard proof of the passing of time.  Yes, it really has been nearly 50 years...

• Cost of a new house:  $12,650. 
• Average income per year:  $5,807.00
• Gas per gallon:  29 cents
• Average cost of a new car:  $3,233.00
• Loaf of bread:  22 cents

News Headlines you might have seen:
Were we aware that we were living in a time of transformative change?

• Birmingham, Alabama police turn dogs and fire hoses on Civil Rights protestors.

• President Kennedy called for an end to discrimination against black people serving in the U. S. military stating the segregation is "morally wrong" and it is "time to act..."

• Alabama Governor George Wallace blocks entrance of state university to African-American students; later backing down when confronted by National Guard called in by President Kennedy.

• Civil Rights leader, Medgar Evers, is assassinated in Mississippi.edy

• Martin Luther King and Roy Wilkins of the NAACP declined President Kennedy's request  to call off the massive demonstrations in cities nationwide  "until the problems that brought the demonstrations into being are resolved". 

• Astronaut Gordon Cooper completes 22.5 orbits of the earth aboard Faith-7, the last mission of NASA's Project Mercury.

• Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes first woman in space aboard Vostok 6.

• Pope John XXIII dies at the Vatican and Paul VI succeeds him.

• 66 year old monk, Thich Quang Due, shocks the world by immolating himself on the streets of Saigon in protest of South Vietnamese President Diem's oppression of Buddhists in that country.

• U. S. military presence in Vietnam had grown from a few hundred to 10,000 by 1963 yet LIFE Magazine reports that "for millions of Americans, Vietnam was a mystery, a riddle that no doubt would be resolved and forgotten in time:  a little place far away where inscrutable strangers were fighting over...something."  (Ben Cosgrove, editor of LIFE.com)
  

• U. S. Supreme Court rules that no locality may require recitation of The Lord's Prayer or Bible verses in public schools. 

• JFK makes his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech at the Berlin Wall.

• Harvard Professor Timothy Leary loses post after providing students with LSD.

Movies you might have gone to see:  

• "Dr. No"
• "Hud"
• "The Nutty Professor"
• "Cleopatra"
• "Donovan's Reef"

Books on the NY Times Best Seller List: 

• "The Glass Blowers" by Daphne du Maurier (Doubleday) May
• "The Shoes of the Fisherman" by Morris West (Morrow)   June

TV shows you might have watched:

• "The Jetsons"
• "The Lucy Show"
• "Match Game"
• "Professional Bowlers Tour"
• "Petticoat Junction"

Music you would have heard (on your transistor radio?):

• "If You Wanna Be Happy" by Jimmy Soul

To listen:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk3JbTjArUk

• "It's My Party" by Leslie Gore

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaR_jfoYL1Q

• "Sukiyaki" by Kyu Sakamoto

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C35DrtPlUbc



Around Glacier as reported in the spring Avalanche:

• New STUDENT BODY OFFICERS for school year 1963-64 were elected: 
• President:  Al Starcevich
• Vice-President:  Barry Hay
• Secretary:  Linda Putman
• Treasurer:  Beth Strauss

• Senior Toni Mhyre presided as Prom Queen at the annual JUNIOR-SENIOR PROM, traditionally planned by the junior class in honor of the seniors.  The theme was "Drifting and Dreaming" and the gym was decorated with clouds suspended from the ceiling and a fountain as centerpiece.  

• The MOTHER-DAUGHTER TEA was held with students modeling clothes from Hy-Lo Fashions in Burien.  

• Just under 100 people attended the third annual LATIN CLUB BANQUET where Caesar and club officers presided at a table bedecked with laurel.  The theme of the banquet was "Caesar's Palace", transforming the cafeteria into an ornate garden with a statue of Venus de Milo.  Student slaves served the lengthy feast including a cake depicting the Roman Colosseum donated by Mrs. Emmy Lou Oakes.  

• Three members of our class attended the WASHINGTON STATE YOUTH IN LEGISLATURE PROGRAM in Olympia, an event sponsored by the Washington YMCA.  Dan Reif and Barbara Billings represented Glacier Hi-Y, presenting two of the 100 bills introduced by Hi-Y delegates across the state.  Maureen Young was sponsored by the Highline Branch of the YMCA and served as Chairman of the Legislative Committee on Education-Personnel and Curricula.

• The GIRLS' FASHION column declared that "shifts" were in and available in stores all over the city with prices beginning at $2.98.  

• Trial weight control low calorie SALAD LUNCHES were being tested on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Glacier and Mt. Rainier cafeterias in response to requests from several Moms wanting to help teenagers with weight control.  The Avalanche reports, "This new type of lunch is being carefully watched to see if it should be further expanded to more secondary schools."  (Editor:  The low-cal lunches were "carefully watched" while the hamburgers, mashed potatoes and gravy flowed freely in the '60's.) 

• GRIZZLIES BASEBALL season ended with Glacier winning two of seven games, its first against Evergreen at 3-1 and a suspenseful 5-4 win over Renton, scoring four runs in the fourth inning off four Renton errors, two fielder choices and two Glacier stolen bases.  The winning pitcher, Ed Sponaugle, threw the first no-hitter ever recorded at Glacier striking out 9 batters in 7 innings.  

• J.V. TENNIS played and won two matches, beating Highline 3-1 and Evergreen 4-1.

• Coach Jack Jensen gave his TRACK TEAM kudos for establishing more school records naming some outstanding point getters and performers including three (Rod Malone, Frank Wick and Garth Steedman)  from our class. 

• And the last summer break of our high school years began.  We looked forward to fun, sun and being seniors when we returned in the fall.  Welcome Summer 1963!!!