The "Funny Stories From The Past That Bring Back Fond Memories" Story

Preface:  The following was taken from a story posted in the Lancaster Newspaper on Sunday, May 2, 2021.  It is a story posted in the "I KNOW A STORY" column and titled "Banner-toting fly surprised class in '60s."  It was written by Dan who was sitting in his geography class at the time it happened.  I have slightly condensed his original version, but everything you read was true and part of the newspaper story.

It was an ordinary day.  Looking at a photograph of a common house fly that is in the top right corner of the local newspaper that has been blown up many times so it can visually get the point across of the story that accompanies the photograph. Story is titled "Banner-toting fly surprised class in '60s.

The fly from Dan's Story?

"First of all, I could have written the story since I was in high school at the time and also studied geography as did the writer of the story.  The story appears in the "Living" section of the Sunday News and usually tells of stories that happened in the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  I'm sure if I pulled out my high school yearbooks and began leafing through them I could find a few hand-written sentences in my yearbooks that begin with: "Remember when you did this in school or remember when we did that after school."  Has there ever been a single person who went through high school that didn't do this or that which affected someone in their high school?  Well, the story today was hilarious and I can close my eyes and picture it happening in one of my geography classes from 9th or 10th grades.  Story about a fellow named Dan who went to a local high school and seemed to be always bored out of his mind during class.  One day he was sitting in class when he noticed a huge fly trying to get out of the classroom by crashing into the window time after time.  Instantly forgot about what his teacher was saying and began to hatch a plan that you just knew was going to get him in trouble.  Things such as that always seemed to get me in trouble.  His plan was to catch the hugh fly and tie a piece of thread to him so he could carry something with him as he flew around the room.  He grabbed a 4-inch loose thread from his sock and made a small "granny knot" at the one end of it.  When the teacher turned his back to begin to write something on the chalkboard, he dashed to the window and pulled the fly down and fastened the string to him by pulling the knot tight.  Then his next idea was to hang a sign on him by writing something on a piece of paper and tying the note to the other end of the string just as planes did at the Jersey shore when they towed banners through the sky above the beach.  He found a stamp sized piece of paper and tied the other end of the string to it and released the fly.  The fly began to sink in the air.  Made a scaled-down version of the banner and the fly began to climb in the air.  Now, to finish the job.  He chose a very sharp pencil he had on his desk and carefully wrote: "EAT AT JOE'S".  He released the fly and sure enough...he towed the banner to the front of the class.  I could see myself doing the exact same thing Dan did, but not in real life.  So, what would happen next I asked myself.  I read on and found it only took a few seconds before half the class was following his progress.  His teacher finally saw his class looking at the approaching fly and said, "OK, class, what's going on?"  A young girl pointed up the aisle at the fly and his banner slowly climbing toward the teacher.  The teacher gasped as he said... "What in the world?"  He stepped around his desk and stopped the fly in mid-flight.  He grabbed the thread and started to laugh.  Dan knew his teacher well and knew he wouldn't send him to the office for doing this so he enjoyed the action going on at the time.  His teacher grabbed the tiny sign and began to laugh.  Dan called out, "Read his banner!"  His teacher read out loud "Eat at Joe's."  The entire class roared!  Dan said that his teacher laughed so hard he almost fell over.  Not only have I done a few stunts such as this when I was a student, but have also done some as a teacher in the same high school.  I was also the butt of a few jokes!  Dan's teacher said, "If I hadn't just seen this I never would have believed this was possible."  He immediately asked Dan if he was responsible for the actions and he nodded yes.  Isn't it funny how it usually is the same few kids, mostly boys, who pull the jokes and get their classmates talking.  Dan finished his story in the newspaper by saying his class recently celebrated their 50th Year Class Reunion and after dinner, began to tell stories about the Class of 1969.  He said one student stood up and began to tell this very story and they all remembered.  I often wonder how many of my classmates remember any of the stunts that I may have perhaps pulled off while in high school.  Matter of fact, you may have already read about a few of them in these blog stories.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

PS:  Many Thanks Dan for the story and a chance to relive my high school career at nearby Manheim Township High School.  I thought maybe I should write about this story or that story that happened to me, but decided your story was enough for now.  Don't want to get myself in trouble for something that happened in 1962.