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Kissing parties (...I was way too shy around boys to show up, and after awhile stopped getting invited. But I heard all about them
afterward...)
The restaurant/candy store on the corner of the school, on 69th & Washtenaw
Being in-between 2 Catholic schools..(Nativity and St. Adrian’s)...
One time there was a saint or
wax figure of some holy person in a glass case in back of St. Adrian’s, a mob of us kids went over there after school trying to peek in through this little peephole in the door since somebody swore they saw the body
move..
The McKay “Safety Patrol”
Remember some really weird lunchroom food? (...mashed potatoes in a big glob you could pick up all at once with a fork...and “pizza” that was really a hamburger bun with sloppy joe sauce on top..)
The day we took plastic baggies to a Marquette Park pond and used them as water balloons, and got each others clothes totally SOAKED (...I can’t remember why we were all at the park though..., was this the
same day as Mr. Shaughnessy’s going-away party..?)
Jeff Spring’s suicide, in the 7th grade.
Jeff lived less than a block away from my house.... The shock, confusion and the effect that had, on all of us....
Mr. Silhan’s summertime Indiana Dunes beach trips.
Including the required “hike” which really wore most of us kids out...I remember wondering how he did it, because he was like...you know....an OLD guy..! :o)
Silhan’s
chorus practices and performances. I remember one time we performed at Ford City shopping center....
Ms. Shore drilling her 5th grade class in the “times tables” (which I never learned, since I never
had Ms. Shore)...I’m embarassed to admit I still count on my fingers sometimes...
The times some of us would grab our lunch at the “Tastee-Freez” restaurant down 69th street...
Stealing doughnuts from the “Teacher’s Lounge”...(Cindy Wessel, are you out there..?)
School handouts copied on mimeograph machines...with that blue ink that came off on your hands...(I used to love the smell of that ink ....Then again, I also like
the smell of Play-Doh, house paint, and gasoline....)
The “McKay Torch” student newspaper
Student Council elections... I was proud of myself the day I got elected over Gary Schaafsma, for “Vice
President”... (Sorry, Gary!)
Science
Fairs...(...OK, I’ve got a story about this one..,in 8th grade Linda Murphy and I did a project together on illegal drugs...to fill a “joint” I used catnip, but one of the teachers said it smelled like pot.
I also had brought in a real hypodermic needle and some real narcotic pills -- from my Mom who was a nurse....and almost got us in trouble...)
Volleyball games on the girl’s playground, where we used a part
of the metal fence next to the swingset as our “net”
The occasional student fight after school (i.e. “Meet you at 3:15”!!)
The infamous “Cindy Dowling and Wanda Zurzolo Fight”, which half the school
attended and a teacher finally broke up...
Some toys the girls used to play with on the playground at recess...”Click-Clacks” (remember those?..)... And also those rings that went around your ankle with a
long string and ball attached, you were supposed to spin and see how many times could hop over without missing...I don’t remember what they were called....
The loud “air-raid” siren on top of the school
chimney, that was set to go off once every week and could be heard for miles around....
Lining up in rows to walk down the hall to each class...
The Archies, Stevie Wonder and Tommy Roe songs...
Dance move: the “Sissy Walk”
Class of ‘73 guys Talent show performance: The “Supremes” in drag :)
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