Memories
Do you have a favorite story or memory from our high school days to share? Tell us in the comments below!
Big Thanks!
Tweets with Class
Do you have a favorite story or memory from our high school days to share? Tell us in the comments below!
The first day of 7th grade gym class with Mr. Thornton: At that time there was no computerized roster of students, so the teacher had to call out each letter of the alphabet to set up his grade book. Mr. Thornton couldn’t talk without cussing so he started in: “Alright, boys, when I say the letter that your last name starts with say your last name and then your first name. ‘A’ for uhhhhhh, apple. ‘B’ for uhhh, ummm ball.” He got to “‘C’ for, umm errr, cat.” Anthony Casebeer raised his hand said his name. Mr. Thornton asked, “How do you spell that?” Anthony spelled it and Mr. Thornton said (with a huge smile on his face – haunting) “Casebeer, case a beer, case of beer. I like that name!”
I actually remember that day too. I believe he did let a few cuss words get by—I remember specifically when he got to the “F” —which he hung onto the word “F” as in Ffffffffff……….un”
Mr. Thornton and the last day of 8th grade gym class: Mr. Thornton – “Alright boys, today we gonna play a little game of ‘buffalo.’ Y’all the buffalo and I’m the great white hunter. Y’all are gonna go out and sit in that field. If I see you get up I’m gonna shoot your ass!”
I remember like it was yesterday what Bing Bonita said to Eghosa Emosaga after he realized Eghosa had stolen his roll (which was the highlight of most lunches at that time). It was what we lawyers call a “spontaneous utterance.” And, you have to remember that Bing and Eghosa were absolutely inseparable. They played football and basketball together and I rarely saw one without the other one nearby. Bing was tall, about as white as a Caucasian can get with red hair and freckles. Eghosa was a big guy who had a great personality. His family was in the US from Nigeria while his father attended the UofL school of medicine. Bing said, “Give me back my roll you n****r.” Our table, and all those surrounding it, were instantly absolutely silent with fear of a fight breaking out. Eghosa and Bing both had shocked looks on their faces. Neither one could believe Bing had said it. Then Eghosa started laughing uncontrollably. And so did everyone else.
I had Mr. Thornton for driver’s ed. He had me going west on I-64 from Hurstbourne Lane to Breckenridge Lane at about 80 or so. He turned to the two guys in back and said, “I know you boys are gonna’ speed. I just want you to learn how to drive safely. See how this boy has left himself and escape route all the way around the vehicle?” It probably scared the crap out of them. After we got off the interstate he had me go around so I was heading north on Browns Lane. At the time it had a 90 degree left-hand turn before you got to Waggener. He told me, “Boy, keep your foot off the brake.” Well, I was going probably 35 or more and it was a fairly narrow 2-lane road. Out of instinct I reached over with my foot to apply the brake. He reached over with that huge hand of his, grabbed my knee and physically pulled my leg up so it was off the brake. “I told you not to touch the brake!” It felt like to me that the car was going to go up on two wheels, but we made it around that curve.
One of my favorite classes was Drafting with Mr. Bauer. He had a dry sense of humor and a wealth of technical knowledge and skill. He built a telescope and invited some of us out one night to look through it. I remember seeing Saturn and its rings. It was nothing like the images we are used to now from Voyager and Hubble, just a little elliptical spot of light, but it was still pretty cool.
Greg,
You are still a riot, even 40+ years later. I think about Eghosa often, and wonder what he is doing now. He was a gem of a guy. We always wanted to be on his football team in gym, because he was a head and half taller than most of us. Just throw the ball high, and let him catch it.
Mr. Thorton called me “Wayne” all through school. Never Emmett. I was working the clock for his intramural basketball tournament when the ’74 Tornado hit. My grandfather worked on his cars for years, so he was as much a friend of the family as a teacher to me.
Can’t tell right now, but hope to see you next summer.
Emmett
Emmett Wayne and I were at a girl’s basketball game and Emmett disagreed LOUDLY with several calls by the ref. For some reason the ref thought it was me, stopped the game, pointed at me and said, “Get out.” Emmett [stand up guy that he is], immediately said, “No, it was me,” and he headed for the lobby. It is the only time I have seen a spectator ejected from a high school basketball game.
Those games were so much fun!
Tim,
You had to go there, didn’t you. There were several factors working against me that evening. The first and most important was that it was the GIRL’S basketball game. You, I, and the players parents were the only ones there. So, it was easy to be heard. Second, there was only one referee (the other didn’t show). And third, she was a bad refereee. It is funny that after I graduated, I went on to a 25 year avocation as a sports official. She stopped the game and went and sat down by the scorer’s table and wouldn’t move until I was gone. Mr. Adams had to walk across the court to ask me to leave. So, you know how long that took. I made my grand exit and watched the rest of the game through the lobby door. I believe this single, not so smart incident got me elected as “Most School Spirited”.
Biology was one of my favorite classes. Such opportunity. Robert Fishback and I were rocking back and forth in our chairs while listening to Mrs. Hill lecture. Bored with throwing darts at our frog, we decided to target the floor outlet. Not sure who suggested it, but we thought if you rock back and forth and time it right, you could drop a set of tweezers dead center into the outlet. Robert dared me to try, so what choice did I have? …
Confident I would miss, I boldly went where no man had gone before…If not for the sparks and loud bang that accompained the blackout for the whole wing, I don’t think anyone would have known what happened. That was the day I met Mr. Hoke personally. An otherwise boring day helped round out my high school experience.
Class of 1977 Waggener High School 35th Reunion will take place Saturday, July 14th, 2012! Buy your tickets today!
Prices will change as the reunion draws closer, according to the following dates:
January 5th, 2012 – Februray 5th, 2012: $35 per ticket
February 6th, 2012 – June 5th, 2012: $40 per ticket
June 6th, 2012 – July 5th, 2012: $50 per ticket
All ticket sales will end July 5th so that we can establish a headcount for catering numbers, etc.
Please note that you do NOT need to have graduated with the class of 1977 in order to attend. People who moved away before graduating, belonged to different class years but had friends in the class of 1977, etc, are more than welcome to attend!
Go to:
http://reunionmanager.net/class_members/registration.php?class_id=117752
Last summer I was in a home where the new owners were having some renovation work performed. They had just purchased the home from an estate. Turns out it was Mr. Bauer’s old home that he had apparently built himself. Rather unique and everything was custom. I came across some of his old drafting tools and manuals in the basement and it was then that I realized that this was his home. I found out that he had passed just a few months earlier. Tons of memories from drafting class came pouring back. The home he built was every bit Robert Bauer from the home made forced air wood burning stove in the garage, to the wall switches in the kids room just three feet above the floor for easy reach. No furnace or central air. A boiler in the basement for radiant heat in the living areas. The majority of the walls appeared to be natural mahogony, apparently hand cut and trimmed as was the flooring. All the windows were hand built, and none of them standard sizes, so no off the shelf replacements. This was a one of a kind home, just like he was one of a kind. GOD bless you Robert Bauer.
Thanks for sharing that. I loved Drafting class and had a lot of respect for Mr. Bauer.
Julie Jackson Hutchings was cleaning out the first house that she and her family owned. Behind a kitchen cabinet she found some elementary school papers with my name on them. It was in Moreland, the first house my mom and dad owned (near Linden), and where I lived until I was 7.
How’s things, somewhat off-topic but is anyone seeing a white webpage when they visit this site? regards