John MacLeod

Saturday..........another work day.  Tomorrow I am definitely taking the day off.  Anywaaay.......I put in a fair amount of windshield time today between my various stops, so I took the time to yack at friends and family. 

One of those I spoke with is a former councilman and mayor of North Pole, Alaska.  He also happens to be one of our classmates.  Who is it, you say??   Can we have some clues??  Sure, no problem.  He has a brother named Doug, who was a year behind us.  His dad and my dad both graduated from Franklin and both happened to be named Alex.  His backyard neightbor growing up was in the class of 66.  That neighbor is now a senior skipper for the Washington State Ferry System.  He went to Whitworth Elementary.  His hair used to be blond.  Let see, what else?  He lived on one of my many paper routes, as did Donna A., Phil A., Marsha G. and Bobby Hassen.  Man I am making this way too easy.  Take your best guess.  His name is not Sylvester, Elmer, Bugs or Foghorn.  The winner gets bragging rights for 30 nanoseconds.  After that it's back to the same old same old. 

John MacLeod

Bel Cantos Choir............Anyone looking for a copy of the Bel Cantos' record from their 1966 tour of Europe?  There is one available on E-bay.  Type in Franklin High School, Seattle and it should come up.  The buy it now price is $14.99 plus $3.28 shipping.  It says the listing is for another 28 days.  From the picture it looks to be in pretty good condition.  I'll stick with my pin and ballpoint pen, sold to raise funds for the trip.  Pretty exciting times for the class members of 66', 67' and 68' who went.  Maybe, just maybe we can get some of those who went to reminisce a bit about the trip.  Easy squeezie stuff like..............I didn't catch a wink of sleep the night before we left, not a chance of sleeping on the flight over and I couldn't see straight when we landed because I was sooooooooooo tired.  Or, I had a boyfriend/girlfriend when I left but we couldn't bear to look at each other by the time we got home.  Hopefully all has been forgiven since then.  All that good growing up stuff with a little teenager angst thrown in.  Lord only knows that we had a lot of angst in our lives then.  Everything has to happen for the first time, once.  After it happens enough times, it is more like "Oh, been here, done that and I'll pass on the tee shirt this time" and move on.

Small world syndrome.  New customer who went to Franklin.  She would have been in the class of 66' if she had stayed for more than one day.

Be sure to enter your guesses on who the classmate is that I spoke with and the TV show questions.  And then ask yourself "My gawd MacLeod, how to you remember all this shi............stuff."  I'd be happy to remember why I went to the store.

Nancy Raetzloff (Groth)

I see that Erik Kimple has joined our website.  I was never able to find him prior to the last reunion, so it is great that he has managed to find us.  If you knew Erik, please welcome him to the website.

John MacLeod

Nancy..........I saw this morning that Erik had updated his profile.  I was not sure if he was new to the Class of 68' site.  Evidently he is.  Great news for the rest of us.  Of course, being a Nosy Nellie, I googled his name and found a great picture of him and his wife on Facebook.

Welcome Erik!!

John

Mark Weaver

John,

I know the answer to the Lee Marvin TV series that you have alluded to. It is the M-Squad. That was a great show. I am at a loss though about the theme song that you mentioned. So I guess I only get a half of an attaboy this time around.

I have one for you too. What was the first one hour TV western? This show was my favorite western way back when.  

I am anxious to hear the response as to who the mayor of North Pole, Alaska was. I lived in Anchorage for a year and a half and made the trip up to North Pole several times while living there. It is a cool small town with a year round Christmas theme. Now I am wondering if this Franklin grad was the mayor when I visited there.

John MacLeod

Mark..........Good catch on M-Squad and Lee Marvin.  Took me a long time to figure that M stood for murder.  Well, duh??  hint.  The main character's name in the other show was Mike Malone.  I'll give it a few more days before the reveal.  Gives others a chance to answer.  I'll wait til Thursday.  Now on to your question.  That show was also one of my favorites.  "Cheyenne", starring Clint Walker.  I will admit I cheated on getting the answer.  My first guess was Bonanza.

I swung through North Pole in 77' and visited with said future mayor of North Pole.  At that time he was running for city councilman, around September of that year.  Thursday sounds like a good day for that answer also.

Are you still in Portugal?  I imagine that if you are, the price of gasoline and goods is going through the roof.  Our gas prices here, in Hoodsport, were at $3.67 as of 5:00 PM last night.  Once again we are living in historic times.  Just wish these historic times were a little less daunting.  I plan to live long enough to see how the future intreprets these times.  As to plans, Robert Burns said it best IMHO "The best laid schemes o'mice an'men gang aft agley".

Hokey dokey smokey.....time for oatmeal

John MacLeod

Okay, Lyn.........

We need an update on the big move, retirement and opening all the boxes.  A month long version of Christmas, Haunakah and birthdays.  Cries of delight such as "Oooh,  Oooh,  I forgot I had that.  Or, where the heck did this come from?"  inquiring minds need to know.

John

Sylvia Lovegren (Petras)

Nancy, I'm surprised Liz Sichel isn't on the website.  She was at the big reunion and we had a lot of fun exchanging memories.

Could you send me her e-mail address?  I'd like to send her a note about her brother.

Sylvia Lovegren (Petras)

And the reason I came here was to post a link to a book I just ran across that is lots of fun.

Rites of Passage -- The Sixties in Seattle, by Walt Crowley.

Part of it's on google books here http://tinyurl.com/4jyc4zq

Lots of people I knew and plenty of memories that are probably better suppressed!

John MacLeod

Gary Locke...........I see by the morning paper that current U.S. Commerce Secretary is going to become the United State's Ambassador to China.  Not bad for a kid who grew up on 17th Ave. at the north end of Beacon Hill.  The article also states that Gary golfs occasionally with the Prez.  My memory of Gary from school and scouting does not give me a picture of him swinging at a golf ball on the links.  My memory picture of him is frying eggs in a mess kit over an open fire.  I suppose 43 plus years makes a difference.

Sylvia.........Great to hear from you.  I am also a fan of Walt Crowley.  I never met him, although I was known to frequent the Blue Moon Tavern (his office) on occasion.  He was way too young when he passed.  He was carrying on a great tradition of Seattle historians such as Bill Speidel and Emmett Watson (Franklin Grad).

John

John MacLeod

Sylvia..........I just went to the link you gave.  The timeline of dates brought back a ton of memories.  The Sky River Rock Festival, the Lighter than Air Fair, The Helix, our Police Chief George "Topless" Tilsch and prosecutor Christopher "Bingo" Bayley. 

The police spent a lot of time trying to eradicate topless establishments and Bayley was death on bingo parlors.  Rather tame stuff, looking back.  Somewhat like "The Music Man" and "Trouble in River City".

John MacLeod

Answers...........Old TV show questions.  Mark Weaver had the answer to the Lee Marvin question.  It was M-Squad from 1957.  The other one was a little bit more obscure or perhaps forgetable.  The TV show was titled Cannonball.  It was about two truck drivers and their adventures.  I think I remember it because of its catchy tune, or at least I thought it was.  I'll link you to a video of the opening credits.  YouTube - Intro - Cannonball

Now on to the question of who in our class was a city councilman and mayor of North Pole, AK.  Drum roll please.............Jim Blyth is the answer.  His backyard neighbor (Ty Anderson) was a member of the class of 66' and is currently  a Wash. State Ferry Captain.  Jim lives in North Carolina now.  He is a real estate broker, land developer and has a heavy equipment earth moving business.

John

Mark Weaver

John,

It's no wonder I didn't know the answer to that theme song. I never watched (and can't even remember) that show. I have to congratulate you though on having such a great memory for these kinds of things.

Wow! I didn't even know that Jim Blyth ever lived in Alaska let alone being a former councilman and mayor of North Pole. Do you know if he was still living up there in 2000? That is when I lived in Alaska. I aslo found out after I moved that Mark Pennington owned a car dealership in Anchorage. I wished I had known that before because that was where I lived. I also have heard that Tom Battles is or was a basketball coach up in Kodiak, Alaska.

John you should be happy about how much you are paying for gas there in the US. Trust me it could be a lot worse. Here in Portugal it is 1.58 Euros for a liter of gas. It take about four and a half liters to make a gallon. So that adds up to about 7.11 Euros for a gallon of gas. Since the Euro is stronger than the dollar that then computes to being about $9.82 a gallon US. Now you know why I do not own a car here. Fortunately they have a good transpoertation system here that makes it easy to get around. Europeans also walk a lot more than Americans. I have gotten much more fit since moving here.

John MacLeod

Mark...........All I remembered about that show was the theme song and that they were truck drivers. 

I don't think Jim was in Alaska in 2000.  I remember getting a call from him one afternoon when he was living in Florida.  He was headed home, driving up the Florida Keys.  He was teaching at one of the colleges down there.  I believe it had to do with  business law.  He has done quite well as a business entrepreneur.  Whenever I hear that word I am reminded of a picture my Dad had above his desk.  It was a photo of a chimpanzee with a quote of "Last week I couldn't spell entrepreneur and now I are one".

Gas prices have stalled at $3.69 this week, here.  I remember being in Europe in 75' and gas was about $2.85 a gallon.  Depended on what the exchange rate happened to be.  I imagine that the earthquake and tsunami in Japan today as well as the turmoil in Libya will have an affect.  $9.82 a gallon!!!  That my friend is a chunk of change.  Do you have any idea what the average wage is?  I am sure that you are like the rest of us (Over paid and underworked).  Yeah, right.

Remember.........Daylight savings time this weekend.  Be sure to set your alarm for 01:59 AM, so that you can make the change at 02:00 AM.

Mark Weaver

John,

I am not sure what the average wage is here in Portugal. I do know, however, that it isn't very high. Portugal is one of the poorest countries in the Euorpean Union. I am definately underpaid as a football coach here compared to what I would be making in the US but I can't say that I am overworked. I don't consider this work. I love it too much to call it that. I do put in a lot of hours and get tired out physically from it but it still isn't work. As a pioneer coach here in the sport of American football my job involves a lot more than just coaching on the field. I also spend a lot of time in schools putting on football clinics trying to promote the sport. Fortunately those efforts are paying off because some of the schools are now playing flag football in PE classes and a few have even started up after-school programs. I have also started up a Flag Football Academy where I teach and coach kids from the ages of 10 to 20 every Saturday morning before my senior Renegade team practices. Another thing that I have been involved with is trying to get sponsorship for my team. That has been tough in these poor economic times. It is now looking good however for next year. Fortunately one of my best players this year is the son of the wealthiest car dealership owner in all of Portugal and he told me this last weekend that his dad is going to give us full sponsorship for next year. That is wonderful news!!!!

John I thought  you might like to know a little about what it has been like being a pioneer coach here in American football. First of all Portugal is a HUGE soccer country and that has been THE sport here for a long time. As a whole the Portuguese people have not been very open to embracing new sports. Also unlike several other European countries they did didn't get any exposure to American football through the NFL Europe experience. With that being said it has been a little tough getting things going here. I think my team's name is very appropriate. The guys that play American football here are truly renegades. They are going against their country's norm by not playing soccer. The only exposure these mostly young people have to American football is through watching the NFL on the internet or through the more recent addtition of ESPN America on TV. These football renegades are fanatical about the sport too. They know more about  NFL and NCAA football than I do for the most part.

The playing conditions here are quite different than back in the US too. The first two years that we started up the team we practiced on Wedneday nights in a lit paved parking lot. Of course we could only teach the fundamentals without doing any tackling. Then on Saturday we met in the local park and played on an often muddy torn up grass field. We had to do this because all of the other good artificial turf fields were taken up by soccer teams. We had VERY low priority in being considered for any of these fields. Of course none of these places have goal posts either. What we have to do in games here is to tie up plastic tubes to the sides of the soccer goal box. We also have to lay tape down  to mark for the yard markers on the fields because the fields are marked for soccer. Another thing is the fields our fields are not 100 yards as back in the US because soccer fields are only 100 yards long here and we have to have room for the endzones thus making our playing field only 80 yards long.

Another HUGE problem we face here deals with the lack of availability of equipment. They do have Sports Zone stores here where you can buy cheap footballs. However if you want regulation footballs you have to order them from other European countries or the US. All the other equipment is the same thing. We have to get shoulder pads, pants, helmets and football cleats all through mail ordering from other countries. That makes it time consuming and costly to get the needed equipment. And that is just the basic stuff. It is nearly impossible to get blocking sleds and blocking dummies here in Portugal like you have in the US.

The other big problem we have here with American football is that most people do not understand a thing about the game. The Portuguese find it kind of strange because football stops after every play. They are use to soccer and it's continuous movement. Many find American football boring because of that factor. Once people here learn about the game they start to like it. But the hard part is getting them to that point. When we go into schools we hand out fliers to the kids explaining the rules. We also hand out fliers to people that stop and watch us practice in the park and to anyone that comes to our games. We have been fortunate to be interviewed on TV, newspapers and national magazines. That has been our best resource in advancing the sport here. 

Things are starting to progress here.  After five years American football is finally starting to take off pretty good. My team was the first team in Portugal's history. Since we started five years ago there are now five teams in action and at least four others trying to formulate. Last year we started an all- Portuguese league for the first time. Personally my team has moved out of the parking lot on Wednesday nights to a small artificial turfed field. Next weekend we will be moving to a brand new artificial turfed field on Saturdays as well. The latter is being provided to us free of charge by the city of Porto. That is VERY significant because this is the first time the city has recognized as a viable sport and offered us any support. They have also even mentioned that they will put up real goal post for us and will also consider in the future building us a regulation sized football field. Add to the that the aforementioned total sponsorship that we will have next year things are really starting to look up for us. One other thing too, our crouds for games are starting to increase in number too. When we first started the Portugues league last year we were lucky to have a handful  of people. Now we average about 400 people for our home games. I realize that still isn't much but at least the numbers are increasing steadily.  

I hope I haven't bored you and others with this long rambling but I thought you might like to hear about what it's like here  regarding American football.

John MacLeod

I see that Debra Moore (Murga) has updated her profile.  It seems that Debbie has more than her share of health issues.  I truly feel for her and her family.  It sounds as if her family is a big help as well as her attitude, dealing with her health.

Mark..............Please enlighten us.  How does one get a job coaching American style football half way around the world?  Were you walking down a dark alley, late at night?  "Psst, hey mister.  Do you want to coach football in Portugal?"  "Well, gee I don't know.  I don't speak Portugese."  "Hey, no problem.  It is the same as Brazilian."  "Oh, heck why didn't you say so.  Sure, call me coach."  Or something like that? 

I'm working on a new version of the Maverick them song to reflect a more current state of affairs for us.  Instead of ".....living on jacks and queens, Maverick was the legend of the West"  I'm thinking more along the line of "....living with aches and pains, man I sure could use a rest...."

Have you noticed that in our new paperless society that the only color that seems to have taken this to heart is green?   As in greenbacks, the old do re mi, bucks, simoleans, dough and dead presidents.  Just wondering............

Debra Moore (Murga)

Yes John,

You are right about that. I have very supportive kids and grandkids... ( from age 17 to 2)

Love them so much. You do have to have a good attitude or how else can you get through it. I just see so many people who are worst off than me. In alot of ways I am a lucky person. Thanks for your mention of me.

Debra

Mark Weaver

John,

Let me enlighten you about the coaching gig here in Portugal. I did not start the team myself. The team started two years before I arrived here. The genesis of the team was almost as circumstantial as you humorously described. One day an American guy that has played football at the US Naval Academy was walking through a park here in Porto when he saw a a few college aged guys throwing a football around. Alberto went up to them and suggested that they try and form a team and then offered his services as their coach. They were all for this idea. Since none of them had any equipment they decided to join a flag football league in Spain for the first year. The next year they had scrounged up some gear and decided to join a 7-man tackle football league in Spain. During this time the number of players on the team had risen to 12 guys. I entered the picture in the club's third year as an assistant coach after my fiancee read an article in a magazine about the team. She knew that I had coached sports teams in Amerca and thought I might be interested in doing so here. Of course I jumped at that opportunity. My not speaking  Portuguese was not a problem because almost everyone on the team spoke English. In my first two years with the club we entered into a 9-man Spanish league that included several ex-NFL Europe players. At this time other teams were now starting up in Portugal. In my third season as a coach we started up an all Portuguese league for the first time. Towards the end of that season coach Alberto had to leave the team for work related reasons. That left me as the head coach of the senior team and the junior program that I had started up. I have now added four other coaches to help me out. We have two Americans, two Portuguese and one Dutch coach on the staff this year.  The player roster of our team has grown to about 40 players now. So there you have it.

Nancy Raetzloff (Groth)

Hello Everyone:

I see that Donna Fujii has joined the website.  Let's all give her a warm welcome.

Nancy Raetzloff (Groth)

We've had a new classmate join the site, Susi Thomas.  She was at Franklin until Junior year and then moved to California.  Please give her a warm welcome to the website, especially if you remember her.

Susan Niven

I remember Susi very well and have often thought of her over the years.  How nice to see her lovely photo!  Welcome Susi.

John MacLeod

I see that we have a number of new members to the site and some updates to profiles. 

I read that one of Paul Nogaki's sons lives in Sendai, Japan, near the center of all the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plants.  At the time that Paul did his update all was well.

Bob Barber is still hanging his hat in Sacco, Maine.  He is in the health care industry and  manages to get in a few rounds of golf, between snow storms and gales.

John Flynn is doing life in Burien.  If I remember correctly he works for Coca Cola or is it Frito-Lay?  Ran into him at a Safeway store a million years ago in Shoreline. 

I read that Donna Fugi and Susi Thomas have joined our site.  Greetings and salutations.  Two fountains of bubbling energy as I remember.  Now we all had more energy then, than now but those two had more than their share.  I hope that continues today.

Out the door and off to whatever life presents today.................

Lyn McKinney (McGraw)

Nancy -  Oh my goodness, I was wondering about Susi Thomas.  I'm glad she joined us.  No question that is her.  It is how I remembered her only a smidge older.  Just as cute tho.

John - Ah yes, the move.  I will upload a few pics to my profile.  Also in the move I found some pics from Asa Mercer days.  I still need to scan them and put them on my profile.  As I type this it is around 1827 hrs and I am looking out onto Port Susan Bay as the day begins to wind down.  We live on a lagoon, with a row of houses then the bay.  No mattetr the weather it is very peaceful staring out the window.  We have been here for 2 1/2 months.  The required living essentials have been put away.  The kitchen very usable, livingroom quite comfy (especially with my new find of chairs that fit quite nicely in front of one of the large windows overlooking the bay.  Expensive I must say also as one of them broke the night we moved in.  All of our bedrooms are pretty much finished too.  The downstairs was finished aside from some stray boxes when I dismantled our humongous treadmill to fit through the door (it had been sitting outside under the top porch covered by a large blue tarp - which I believe was a violation of the HOA rules, but gladly not a felony like in Mill Creek where if you were caught with one outside you would be thrown in jail toot-sweet).  Thus getting the treadmill inside completes out home gym/gamingroom. 

I must admit I am a reformed hoarder.  We took 22 truck loads to the dump before we moved.  And there will still be many more as we were rushed for time to sort through more.  I am doing well keeping the pace of downsizing as I like the cleaner less cluttered look.  The house was build mid 70's and has alot of neat build-in features throughout.  I fear what it will be like in the heat though as most the windows don't open and there are no ceiling fans.  We shall see.

I still haven't found many of my tools and had to breakdown and purchase a socket adaptor today at Wally's World to fix my weed eater.  So I will be happy when they are all located and placed in one location again (I have a young son who would become facinated with a new tool, pick it up wander elsewhere finding something else that facinated him and drop whatever he had who knows where throughout the house).  He's been instructed to 'no-touchy' my tools here.

Yes, the garage is still filled with boxes.  I know what's in them, I just haven't decided what to keep and/or where to put it...I have alot of books also.  There is plenty of neat storage space throughout for the seasonal stuff.  There is even a room specifically to hold home canned fruits and vegetables 'cept it now holds about 50 large garbage bags filled with clothes.  An upcoming project for sure.

I haven't begun sewing, crafting or working on photos yet as I am enjoying the novelty of being around my kids (well they're adults now).  Plus I have renewed my love for cooking (much to my dismay when I step on the scales).

Well my back is hurting right now (there's a storm a brewin-I can feel it in me bones) so I will post again in a day or two.

Cya

John MacLeod

Lyn...........Great to get an update from you and your move.  Everyday can seem like Christmas, Chanukah or Easter all rolled into one never ending treasure hunt.  Kinda, sorta like my shop.  One of these days I'll get in organized.  Yeah, in my dreams.  I heard somewhere years ago that God can't take you until your chores are done.  I thought about that statement and took it to heart when I calculated that I am on schedule to be 135 years old.

On a more serious note.  I hope that all our classmates who live in the tornado areas of the US are doing well.  I am just in awe of the power and destruction from the untold number of storms this spring.  I can't even imagine having to pick up and start over.

Okay, inquiring minds want to know who stayed up or set their alarm clock in order to watch the royal nuptials live?  I generally wake up about that time, so I saw bits and pieces.  Around two three AM I wake up and start hashing out the scheduling and bidding of my various projects, in my mind.  I've found that if I move to the couch and turn on my pacifier (TV) I can get another hour or so of sleep.

Tootle pip and cheerio............

John MacLeod

Beatlemania update............I had a note from Keith Gorze a few weeks ago.  He recounted that he had gone with his sister and a couple of her friends down to see the Beatle's show.  It seems that he had a Dodge that he had bought for $25.00.  It had custom brakes from the I-Hope-They-Work-This-Time Company.  Never mind the fact that this was 1964, two years before he was eligible for a drivers license.  Ahh, yes, the memories of our youth.  The thrilling days of yesteryear.  When we were young and imortal, with new experiences every day.

Recount those experiences here or send them to me and I will do it for you.  Names and places redacted (deleted) if you want.  The first time you went to a bar with fake ID, Woodstock or Sky River, speeding ticket, out running the cops.  You know all that mundane stuff that we really don't want to or need to do again.