It was an ordinary day. Sunday, and I was searching my Sunday morning newspaper for a story that might be of interest to you. Didn't take long before I found it in the "Living" section of my Sunday News. It was posted in the "I Know A Story" column. Today's story was titled "He remembers geography class, cotillions of yesteryear." Story was written by John Hoober. Now...wait a minute...I said to myself. John Hoober? I know that guy. Graduated from high school with John...except we never called him John...we called him "Bones"... since he was one of the few guys in my graduating class that was skinnier than I was. And...as soon as I began reading the story, I knew I had the right guy. His story read:
I grew up in a modest, two-story brick home on East Roseville Road - at the south end, which is now the Bloomingdale development. When we moved there in the late 1940s, the development was all farmers' fields and open space. We played a lot of football and baseball in an empty lot attached to our backyard. I remember one of my foul balls broke a neighbor's window, which didn't go over too well with my parents. Both sets of grandparents lived just a few bocks from each other on East Clay and North Duke streets. Colin's ice cream parlor at Duke and New Streets was an easy walk. I loved to stay overnight with them on Fridays and watch "Covered Wagon Theatre" and Gabby Hayes on Saturday mornings on their black-and-white Sylvania. The Hoot Gibson, Ken Maynard and Bob Steele episodes were my favorite. I went to Brecht Elementary and Manheim Township High School, where all six grades (seven through 12) were held in a single, overcrowded building. Some classes had to be held in the cafeteria, the Neffsville fire hall and the basement of Neff Elementary. My favorite class.....Mrs. Druckenbrod's seventh grade geography. Throughout the year, she gave us mimeographed maps of every continent with the countries or states outlined and we had to draw in their names, capital cities and features such as major rivers, lakes, mountain ranges and adjoining seas-- using encyclopedias as the information source. The more detailed your map was, the higher your grade was. Through this, I learned where every place in the world was, which was invaluable as I grew older. I imagine if you ask many high schoolers today where the Himalayan Mountains or Adriatic Sea or Cambodia are, it would draw a blank until they pulled out their iPhones. The favorite after-school stop was "The Joint" restaurant, which was where Carusos's is now located. Before school we often bought 5-cent packets of bubble gum and baseball cards at Patches store next to school property at Lititz Pike and Valley Road. I became a Philly sports fan at an early age. My first visit to Connie Mack Stadium was on a mid-summer night, and I watched Robin Roberts pitch a neat game from our $2.25 box seats. Another summer memory was hearing the jingle of the good Humor truck in our neighborhood and rushing to the driver to get a good-sized ice cream cone for a dime. Finally, do any of you remember Junior Cotillion evenings at the Stevens House on South Prince Street, where Mr. Escot taught us young high schoolers ballroom dancing, and the chaperones kept looking for those responsible for throwing atom pearls (mini explosives) on the dance floor? Coat and tie, with gloves and fine dresses were a must. Like many others, I couldn't wait until the session was over. The author lives in Lititz and is a retired reporter for the former Lancaster New Era.
PS...John...or should I say 'Bones', your story in the Sunday News brought back so many memories, since I was part of some of your story being that we were in the same classes together at good ole Brecht Elementary and MTHS. I just hope we didn't offend you too much, since we called you "Bones." If you remember...I was almost as skinny as you were.....but you were an inch or two taller which made you look skinnier (if that's a word). Thanks for all the memories you wrote in your story. I remember each and every one of them...except that I got caught throwing a penny at one of the girls in our math class. She was mad, since it wasn't a dime! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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