The "Oh, The Stories We Can Tell...Over & Over!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting on the back porch of Jim's home in Manheim Township waiting for the drunken chicken to finish cooking.  Arrived about an hour ago with my longtime friend Jere for the annual Manheim Township Industrial Arts (IA) retired teacher's picnic.  We have been gathering for quite a few years now and enjoy telling the same stories over and over, year after year.  It was in 1967 that I joined the Industrial Arts staff at Manheim Township High School in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  Same school I had graduated from five years before.  At the time I was the new guy on the block, so to speak, with four other IA teachers already part of the department.  Before long I was one of the older guys with quite a few new teachers in the department.  

Former Industrial Art teachers are: front (l-r) Barry Walton,
Dean Lemon, Jere Herr, top: Jim Campbell, Jeff Lefever,
Larry Woods, Hal Hopper.  All members of the old IA Club.
Click to enlarge.

One of the older teachers, Dean, who was my department head for many years, was also at the picnic today and one former student, who eventually became a teacher in the district, Jeff, is also waiting for the meal to begin.  My friend Jere was a classmate of mine at Manheim Township, having started in 1st grade with me and graduating from the school the same year.  He went in the Navy and after serving, returned to college and eventually became a teacher at the high school.  Barry had taught almost as long as I had at the high school and took over Dean's job as department head when Dean retired.  The final two guys sitting around the table at present are Hal who came a few years after I did and Jim who is the youngster of the group who still teaches at the high school.  He plans to retire in another year, but he has said that before.  A great bunch of guys who enjoy meeting every year and telling tales about our time together teaching the students of Manheim Township skills in woodworking, metal working, graphic arts and mechanical drawing.  Many former students have returned to tell us of their success in life due to the knowledge they gained in the Industrial Arts courses they took in school.  We used to be a much larger group, but over the past few years have lost some of our treasured friends.  Tough knowing that maybe next year one of us will no longer be able to enjoy a meal together.  Dean has to travel from Herndon, Pennsylvania to come to our picnics while Jere has to drive down from State College for the reunion.  Neither would miss seeing the guys just one more time.  The food and drink is great, but the friendship is a treasure.  After the meal we began story time with the usual ... remember when so and so cut his finger off on the table saw, or remember when so and so caught this guy in the back room with another teacher, or ... well it goes on and on.  Same stories every year, but they still must be told so we can all laugh and wait for our turn to tell our story.  I swear some of the stories change just a bit each year in order to outdo the person telling his story in front of you.  When the stories wound down we headed to visit Jim's new shop he was building at his new home in Manheim Township.  He and Hal have been setting up all the equipment and getting it ready for Jim's retirement someday.  Great equipment and plenty of space for working.  As the evening wound down we all departed, asking who will have the picnic next time.  You know there will be one ... but will everyone be there?  We are not getting younger, but what time we still have left will have to be spent, at least one day of it, with all the old shop guys.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.