"Along Comes Mary"

 The previous post concerned two of our esteemed teaches who taught us math and Spanish.  Miss Helland taught numerous math classes (geometry, trigonometry, senior math, etc.), while Miss Malmstrom taught math and Spanish.  Another teacher who taught math (Algebra) and a foreign language (Latin) was Mary Briscoe (in the 1956 annual, she is listed as teaching social science and world history, as well as Latin).  In her own way, she was very dedicated to her profession.  Those of us who were her students may recall that she would sharpen red pencils to distribute to us when we corrected our algebra homework in class.  When we were done with correcting our papers, we would return those pencils.  Unfortunately, some of those would have the tips broken off, forcing her to re-sharpen them for the next class.  Looking back, we can see how disrespectful we may have been to her.  

She could be very meticulous.  In algebra class, we were expected to keep all of our equal signs in a column when we solved our problems.  We also had to identify what the unknowns stood for, and then  set up an equation.  These steps may have been tedious and seen as unnecessary for us, but when I taught algebra, I finally began to see the wisdom of following these steps.  An example follows below (I don't know if the arrangement will change when this is published.  Will the = signs remain aligned?).  

Problem:  A father is four times as old as his son. If their ages equal 40, what is the age of each?

           Let X = the son's age

       Then 4X = the father's age

Then X + 4X = 40

                5X = 40

             5X/5 = 40/5

                   X= 8

The son is 8 years old, and the father is 8x4, or 32 years old.  

Miss Briscoe suffered a fall when we were in 7th grade (1963-64).  It seems like it may have been in February.  Anyway, to facilitate her recovery, our health class with Mrs. Pedersen (sp?)was moved to her room on the second floor (our class was previously on the first floor on the east side.  Miss LaChance's room was in the southeast corner, and the health class was next door on the north.  Mr. Kabrud's was next, followed by 7th grade English {we had Mrs. Alcott just after lunch}, and then the 8th grade history room with Mrs. Etta Olson. (Do you recall going up a short flight of stairs to those last three rooms?)

Miss Briscoe retired after our junior year, the first year at the "new" high school.  They were able to find a replacement for her (Mrs. Gail Hannon), but she may have stayed for only a year or two, as interest in Latin seemed to be declining rather rapidly.  Latin was difficult, requiring much memorization, but it was extremely helpful in improving one's knowledge of English grammar.  

In the historical section in the Brookings Public Library are located many annuals from both BHS and SDSU (although the 1969 BHS annual is one of those that are missing.  Anyone have an extra one to donate?).  One of those BHS annuals (1964 or 1965) was donated by Miss Briscoe.  The student who signed it was very appreciative of Miss Briscoe's tutelage in both algebra and Latin.  

Again, curiosity caused me to wonder what happened to Miss Briscoe after her retirement.  She lived in Brookings for a time (was her apartment above the old clinic on 7th Avenue and Main?), and eventually moved back to her home in Gettysburg, SD, where she passed away.  Fortunately, her obituary did appear in the Brookings Register, and can be found below.

There are many interesting aspects of her life.  She was 90 years old when she passed away, and lived during some significant times, such as the two world wars and the great depression.  Although many of us thought she may have been a little weird (students said that about me, too), she appears to have been highly educated and respected by her peers.    

"Good Golly Miss Molly"

 Our BHS class of 1969 dedicated our yearbook to "Those of Supreme Dedication," namely two long-time BHS teachers Miss Frances "Molly" Malmstrom and Miss Ruth Helland.

Many of us likely had one or both of these fine instructors for at least one class during our "illustrious" high school years.  We also may have thought, since we dedicated this annual to them, that they were retiring after almost 30 years of teaching math and Spanish to hundreds of students.  However, they remained on the staff for one more year, and retired after the 1970 school year.  

After graduation, we lost track of many of our classmates and our teachers.  Curiosity led me to search for their lives after 1970.  An obituary was found for Miss Malmstrom, but none could be found for Miss Helland.  If anyone has information for Miss Helland, please let us know.  

It appears that she remained in Brookings after retiring from teaching in the district for 27 years.  Her birth date of January 1, 1903 is interesting.  She was born before the Wright brothers made their first flight (https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/wright-brothers).

Think of all the other history that occurred during her lifetime.  She lived during the first and second world wars and the "Dirty 30's"; in fact, she came to Brookings shortly after the United States entered WWII.  During her lifetime, air travel went from the 852 foot flight of the Wright brothers to the round trip of Apollo 11 to the moon (https://www.history.com/topics/1960s/moon-landing-1969).

While we may not think of Miss Malmstrom or Miss Helland very often, their pedagogy likely has influenced in subtle ways.  

1968 and "Those Were The Days;" "My Guy," "Dedicated To The One I Love"

Many of us may remember that  1968 song "Those Were The Days" by Mary Hopkin (https://www.songfacts.com/facts/mary-hopkin/those-were-the-days).  Recent visits with classmates this past week recalled some of those memories.  

Prairie Reportory Theater of SDSU (https://www.sdstate.edu/prairie-repertory-theatre) recently performed the musical Oklahoma.  Since that was the musical that BHS performed 55 years when the "new" high school opened, 

it seemed fitting that some of us in the area should enjoy it again. 

One of the members of the cast in 1968 commented that they had omitted some of the scenes back then.  As performed by Prairie Rep, the production lasted about three hours, considerably longer than when BHS performed it back in that spring of 1968.  The cast, crew, and directors at Prairie Rep displayed much talent.  Word was that each performance was sold out.  If you went to the Prairie Rep link above, you may have noticed that one of the PRT staff and faculty is Melissa Hauschild-Mork.  Yes, that is the sister of Pat Hauschild of our class, and the daughter of one of our esteemed teachers and coaches, Wayne "Hoss" Hauschild.

We may recall "My Guy" (https://www.songfacts.com/facts/mary-wells/my-guy) as a number one song from May of 1964, just as the "British Invasion" began dominating the charts.  In fact, this link states "This was the song that broke up The Beatles famous monopoly on the Top 5 US chart positions in May of 1964."

BHS had its own "Guy."  Some of us knew him as Mr. Karnes, or simply as "Guy O. (what did the O. stand for?  Continue to the end and find out)."  The class of 1968, the first to graduate from the "new" high school, honored him by dedicating (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dedicated_to_the_One_I_Love) the 1968 "Bobcat" yearbook to him.  (Do you get the impression that 1968 is a prominent theme here?)

Mr. Karnes continued to teach part-time as the physics teacher at BHS for a couple of years after 1968, perhaps because a capable replacement could not be found.  His replacement, Paul Wilkens, had been a student teacher for Mr. Karnes.  He was an excellent teacher, and also was a force to be reckoned with on our championship city league basketball team.  However, he found a more lucrative offer working for a scientific company in New York state, I believe.  

What most of us did not know was that Mr. Karnes was an outstanding high school track and field coach before coming to Brookings.  One student who was mentored by Mr. Karnes said that the reason he came to Brookings was that he did not have to coach; he wanted to devote his time to the classroom.  I  lived near the "old" high school, and would often see the lights on in his room in the late evenings when we played on the courthouse lawn. (The article below is from the mid-1950's)

Undoubtedly, many other students owe deep gratitude to Mr. Karnes' guidance.  Who can forget some of his memorable sayings:  "My sainted aunt;" "I'll be a cow kicked into Texas;" "I'll bet dollars to doughnuts...;" "If you don't get the right answer, I'll cut your gizzard out with a dull knife."  To repeat some of those comments today might result in the termination of one's teaching credentials.  

When he finally did retire, Mr. Karnes lived in Brookings for a few years, and provided me with much guidance when my own teaching career started in 1973.   About ten years after we graduated, he and his wife moved to Berlin, Wisconsin, where their daughter Karen lived. 

When time permits, we'll see if "Good Golly Miss Molly" can catch a ride when "Along Comes Mary."

After Igloo, On To Hershey

 The previous post related the connection between Igloo, South Dakota, and the Brookings Teeners baseball team of 1965 (https://classof69bhs.blogspot.com/2023/06/igloo-south-dakota.html).  

Winning that competition earned the team the right to participate in the National Teener Tournament to be held in Hershey, Pennsylvania.  

We left Brookings on a chartered Jackrabbit bus. We may recall that "westerns" were rather popular at the time.  TV shows such as "Bonanza" and "Gunsmoke" were some of the most highly-viewed programs.  At the suggestion of Bob Webbenhurst, one of our coaches, we were encouraged to purchase cowboy hats (aas shown in the photo below) to reinforce the belief that we here in South Dakota still lived in the era of the "Old West."  Perhaps those elite easterners still believed we traveled in covered wagons and lived in log cabins or sod huts.

 It seems that the first night we stayed in La Crosse, Wisconsin, while we stayed in Gary, Indiana, the next night, (where we were able to find a ball field and get in a little practice) before arriving in Hershey the following day.  While the bus trip was long, it was not uneventful.  Judd Bergan, the pick-up player from Watertown, brought along his guitar and entertained us with some popular songs.  "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GisCRxREDkY) by Herman's Hermits was frequently played, while Bob Webbenhurst liked "The M.T.A. Song" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7Jw_v3F_Q0)

Since we made frequent stops for nourishment, the jukeboxes were kept quite busy.  Some of the popular songs of the day were "Catch Us If You Can" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8MCsRXXc8A); "I Got You, Babe" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JxIw58lkHQ); "Baby, The Rain Must Fall" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtvDq1zn4Vg); "Wooly Bully (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5LWa18w-BE); "What's New, Pussycat (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQvIAs-nPSo); and Walter's favorite, "Down In The Boondocks" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4CeR9Mkjs4).  

A few of the fathers came along as chaperones.  Would they have been Mr. Tordoff, Mr. Kabrud, Mr. Buehler, Mr. DeWitt, Mr. Bozied, and who helped to keep us under control? (The article below indicates that only two parents came along, but that is incorrect) Card games were frequent, while some just enjoyed looking out the windows and enjoying the scenery.  It seems that we passed a number of Chrysler auto manufacturing plants. 

Upon arrival in Hershey, we stayed at the Hershey Ballroom.  Nearby was the local swimming pool.  Beneath the ballroom ran a little stream.  A player from one of the other teams rigged up a pin and some string and snagged a fish (carp?) out of there.  Also nearby was Hershey Park, and amusement park with a big roller-coaster.  It provided us with some great entertainment.  

The Phladelphia Eagles had their summer training camp at Hershey.  Pete Retzlaff, who played football at SDSU (then SDSC), was an outstanding player for the Eagles.  He came to talk to us one day, and gave us an autographed picture of himself.  We also visited the Hershey Chocolate factory.  

Since we came to play some baseball, we did have some important business to tend to.  Our string of victories, however, came to an abrupt end.  We played well in our first game, but lost by one run in extra innings.  We then moved into the loser's bracket, and, unfortunately, lost again, thus losing the only two games we played. 

On our trip home, we saw a number of high-school football teams in Pennsylvania and Ohio preparing for the upcoming football season.  Those boys were BIG by our standards.  

 While it may have been a disappointing end, we realized we had had an eventful summer, and owe a great deal of thanks to those who made it possible.  Many of those people are gone:  our parents and coaches, and even some teammates, but our memories will always remain.  

The above picture is our banquet that was held at the VFW later that summer.  In the back row are Tim DeWitt, Jim Arndt, Phil Trautman, Judd Bergan, Lloyd Beneke, Dan Sterud, Walt Osterberg, John Iverson.  In the front are coach Bob Webbenhurst, Tom Bozied, Doug deBoise, Barry Beuhler, Chip Kabrud, Randy Hofer, Don Tordoff, Tom Osterberg, coach Bernie van Essen.  

Igloo, South Dakota

 This past winter, South Dakota Public Television aired a program about Igloo, South Dakota (https://www.sdpb.org/blogs/arts-and-culture/igloo-south-dakota-the-utopia-that-war-built/).  In brief, Igloo was the site of the Black Hills Ordnance Depot (BHOD).  It was "filled with danger," as bombs, grenades and rockets were housed there in large, concrete bunkers covered with earth.  From a distance, these bunkers resembled round igloos, hence the name of the town.  Construction of these 802 "igloos" began in 1942, shortly after the United States entered into World War II.  After 25 years of activity, Igloo was abandoned in 1967.   Incredibly, there are between 30 and 40 full-time residents still living there.  But they do not live in houses, as most of them were moved to the nearby Pine Ridge Indian Reservation; they live in the abandoned concrete bunkers.  They have taken advantage of modern technology to have the conveniences of a normal home.  Electricity is supplied by solar power and/or portable generators.  Some have dug wells, while others have access to wells provided by a developer (https://www.coldwartourist.com/black-hills-ordnance-depot).  Some notable residents have lived in Igloo, including Tom Brokaw (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hills_Ordnance_Depot) and a former teacher at BHS, Leon Friend (https://classof69bhs.blogspot.com/2018/10/a-friend-indeed.html).

Igloo also has a special significance for a few of us.  For the 1965 Brookings Teener Baseball team,

 it was the penultimate stop before the team entered the National Teener Tournament to be held in the chocolate capital of the United States, Hershey, Pennsylvania.  The initial stages of that journey were in the regional tournament held here in Brookings.  The other teams in our region were Watertown, Milbank, and Sisseton.  The championship game against Watertown went into extra innings.  In the bottom of the tenth, we had a runner on third.  Everyone knew the batter was going to bunt.  The third baseman was only about 30 feet from the batter, while the center fielder replaced at the normal third base position to keep the runner from getting too big of a lead.  The pitcher had a good fastball.  One of his pitches was high fastball.  The batter just lifted his arms to avoid being hit by the pitch.  However, he did not lift them quite high enough, and was struck in the elbow.  It's an unwritten rule not to rub the spot where you were hit, but the batter was in a great deal of pain, and thrashed his arm about rather wildly, creating some laughter from some of the fans. 

With runners on first and third, our coaches, Bob Webbbenhurst and Bernie Van Essen,  used a special strategy to entice the pitcher to balk.  As soon as the pitcher started his wind-up, the runner on first took off for second.  This sudden movement was supposed to startle the pitcher, and interrupt his motion.  The strategy worked; the pitcher balked, the runner on third walked home for the winning run. 

As the articles above indicate, winning this tournament advanced us to the state tournament that was held in Madison.  Under Teener rules, a team is allowed to pick up two players from other teams in its region.  Since Watertown had an outstanding pitcher named Judd Bergan, Brookings picked him up, along with his catcher, Joe Snow.  We won the state tournament, thus earning the trip to the area tournament to be held in Igloo, South Dakota. 

National Teener rules mandated that a team could have no more than 15 players.  Since Brookings added two players for the state tournament, making its roster 17, that meant that two players now had to be dropped.  Since Brookings already had a fine catcher in Dan Sterud, backed by Bernie Hendricks, there really was no need to have the third catcher, Joe Snow, from Watertown.  It was vital to keep Judd Bergan, however, (as noted above in the Register articles, he won two games as a pitcher) so one of the seldom-used players had to be left off the official roster.  However, he was able to remain with the team as the batboy.  

At Igloo, the team stayed in some former military barracks.  Since the town had not yet been abandoned, there was still a semblance of a small town.  There was the swimming pool and the movie theater.  Of course, there were still some baseball games to be played.  Since very few teams in the area were eligible for this teener tournament, the only other teams at Igloo were from Miller, South Dakota, and nearby Crawford, Nebraska.  Miller was the class "B" teener champion in South Dakota, and had a very talented team. Three years later, they would be in the class "A" ranks, making it to the state basketball tournament.  Many of us may remember Al Nissen, their all-state player, who later played at Nebraska.  However, the Bobcats again proved to be somewhat more talented, again winning the state tournament. 

The Register articles below summarize the games better than any of my recollections.  

Now it was on to the national tournament in Hershey, Pennsylvania.  More on that later.

  

Remembering Jon

A recent headline in the Brookings Register reported that a 61-year old man was killed in an auto accident near Sinai.  There were no other passengers. That man was later identified as Jon Colburn (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/jon-colburnr), the youngest brother of our classmate Lee Colburn.  Jon's passing hit me rather hard, as I have known Jon since our sophomore year in high school.

That winter of 1966-67 was quite memorable.  It was our last year in the "old" high school.  Our introduction to high school athletics affected the lives of many of us boys.  Title IX, giving girls the same chance to participate in sanctioned activities that had previously been limited to boys, was a few years away.  There were some sports offered for girls, but they were not yet sponsored by the South Dakota High School Activities Association.  

Lee was not only a fine basketball player that winter, but he also was an avid outdoorsman.  I was fortunate enough to go ice-fishing with him, his father, and younger brother Jon a few times.  Jon was about 10 years younger than we were, having graduated in 1979.  My most vivid memory of Jon on those trips occurred whenever the song "I'm A Believer" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_a_Believer) was playing on the radio.  Whenever the chorus (Then I saw her face, etc) was about to be sung, Jon would shout out "Hey."

During college, Mr. Dolan (Franny to many of us) helped Tom Bozied and me to run the intramural program for the elementary schools.  We had flag football in the fall, basketball in the winter, and track and field in the spring.  We did have a short wrestling program one year.  Jon was in elementary school at that time, so we became aware of his athletic ability even then. 

 My first year of teaching was in 1973-4, when Jon was in 7th grade.  Just about every day after school started, Jon would stop by my room before classes began and inform me of Lee's progress with the Houston Rockets, the pro basketball team that drafted Lee.  Jon was optimistic about Lee's chances.  However, Lee would be that last man cut from the team.  Houston had drafted Ed Ratleff (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Ratleff) from Long Beach State, and had given him a guaranteed contract.  As Jon noted, the team had to pay Mr. Ratleff whether they kept him or cut him.  Financially, it was to their benefit to keep him instead of to cut him, as they would save money that way.  Lee was actually a better player, but money and politics prevented him from playing professionally in the United States.  Lee did play professionally in Europe for a few years. 

At Lee's funeral,Tom Yseth, a close friend of Lee's, noted that Lee was frequently asked if he played basketball.  Lee's response was "A little bit," indicative of his humility  

My basketball relationship with Jon continued, as assistant 7th grade basketball coach was one of my extra-duties.  The head coach was Don Mohlenhoff,who had coached the BHS varsity team a few years earlier.  As fate would have it, next year I was promoted to head 8th grade basketball coach.  Even more astounding was that the next year (1975-6), the 9th grade basketball coach retired, so I was given that position.  In a sense, then, Jon and his classmates had to put up with me for five years.   Jon was a smart player.  While he may not have had Lee's athletic skills, he knew how to play and outwit the opposition.  Those traits helped him make the varsity team in his sophomore year.  In his senior year, the Bobcats were consolation champs (5th place) in the state tournament. Coincidentally, they beat a highly favored Lincoln team in that game (shades of 1968).  

Our condolences go out to Lorre on the tragic passing of his younger brother Jon.

Sudden Sibling Sadness

Two of our class members recently experienced the loss of one of their siblings.  Kathy (Smith) Tassler lost her sister Donna Nagel (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/donna-nagel), while Karen (Thysell) Borsay lost her brother "Rusty" (https://brookingsregister.com/article/joseph-thysell-jr-thibodaux-louisiana).

Donna's two daughters, Danelle and Denise, were students of mine many years ago.  It was enjoyable talking with them  at the visitation. There were numerous people in attendance, as both Donna and her late husband Dennis, were well-known in the community. 

Also at the visitation was Mr. Walder, who had also taught Danelle and Denise. He and I reminisced for many minutes, as we had not seen each other for quite some time. 

Donna and Dennis were quite active in the local car club.  Dennis, owner of a local body shop, was a key member (founding father?) of that organization.  That group has put on a local car show in early June for a number of years, and has attracted many beautiful classic cars.  From our class, Emmett Earley, Bob Ishmael, and Tom Salonen have displayed their classy machines at this festival.

(Want to post a picture of the poem with her obituary notice, but the blog will not allow it.  Will try later, as this computer sometimes acts irrationally)  One day later and it works.  

About 30 years ago, Kathy's children Charles and Jessica were also students of mine, although I did not make the connection at the time.  Charles was a student during the 1991-92 school year, while Jessica was a student the following year.  

Two summer ago, our parish priest asked me to assist him on his home visits.  One of the stops happened to be at Kathy's residence.  Unfortunately, Kathy and I were not able to reminiscence very much, as there were many other individuals we needed to see in a rather short period of time.

Passing away suddenly was Karen (Thysell) Borsay's younger brother "Rusty" (Joe, Jr.) (https://brookingsregister.com/article/joseph-thysell-jr-thibodaux-louisiana).  As the obituary states, the family moved to Brookings in 1965.  Karen's father worked at the Insect Lab north of town.  As many Brookings students worked summer jobs there (including yours truly), we became somewhat acquainted with the scientists and technicians there.  During my tenure there, I did not work directly with Dr. Thysell, but it seems to me that Alan Leibel's brother Jay was assisting Dr. Thysell in his wheat research.  

Our condolences, thoughts, and prayers go out to Kathy and Karen at the loss of  their sister and brother.