Nancy Raetzloff (Groth)

Nancy Wood Feldmann has passed away.

John MacLeod

Nancy, was truly nice.  Sorry to hear of her passing.

Sylvia Lovegren (Petras)

Lol, John.  How did I never hear about the olive caper?  That one will have me snorting all day.  

Nancy Wong (Sun)

Your posts are educational, entertaining and hilarious - especially John Hein, who has a bottomless pit of humor and wit!  I did not think much of being 75 until it was mentioned here but will be mindful when I prefer to be inert than hit the gym, pile on the carbs and sugar vs a salad or watch mindless TV instead of cleaning closets!

I recall most of your names / faces albeit from 1968.  I keep in touch with Nancy Chin, my BFF, and grateful Cheryl Carraba, a childhood friend, reconnected before she passed - all through this site.  The years flew by too quickly and memories even more cherished now.  

My experiences at Hawthorn, Sharples and Franklin helped me stay grounded through life.  I became a nurse, met my husand at UW, relocated to California, raised a family, traveled and am happiest now as a grandmother with time to volunteer and help others.

Would be lovely to reconnect.  Special thanks to Nancy Ratzloff and Rick Rivera for the keeping us updated and managing the 50th Reunion.  

Wishing you all well,

John Hein

This is a PSA of sorts, I reckon. On Tuesday May 20th there's a vintage hydro event at Stan Sayres. Event is free, no such thing as a pitt-pass is required. If you're in the ol' 'hood, come have a look-see. For details call the hydro museum in Kent. 

And this, completely off-topic; I use an online tudor to study another language. This pic popped up on the tutorial's home page. I pondered.... Is it a flashback, or a time-warp? Maybe it's just me but isn't this Sue Marino circa 7th grade? What say ye???

Susan Marino (Simpson)

John....that's not me but I can see a slight resemblance? Can't even remember when I was that young....LOL. I do enjoy reading these posts....they bring back memories for sure.

Sylvia Lovegren (Petras)

Wow, John Mc, did not know that about Danny and his friends. Only the good die young. Tragic.

Nancy Wong!  Wow!  Nice to "see" you here!

John Hein

Sue, I see much more than a slight resemblance. 'Doppelganger' comes to mind... You were that age 60-something years ago. Ya know you're getting old when decades have become a common metric. Ya know you ARE old when you're throwing a party and your neighbors aren't complaining. Thanks for weighing in, much appreciated. If you're uncomfortable with the post, I'll delete it, I meant no affront. I'd be the 1st to concede my RAM chips are iffy, but for my memory there's a striking resemblance.

Hope all's well in your corner, peace, out...

Gregory Colman

I believe the other person killed in that crash near Seward Pk. and Holly was Linda Spang's older brother.  I can't remember his first name. Sorry.

Susan Marino (Simpson)

No problem at all, John. All good!

Philip Anderson

I sitll remember that horrific crash, I'm pretty sure his first name was Larry. Phil

John Hein

Yes, his name was Larry Spang. I heard that Larry was in a Corvette, and the driver had borrowed said 'Vette from an older brother. Was Danny Bigelow piloting the 'Vette? I thot the accident was on Seward Park Ave. near the entrance to Seward Park. They tried to take that curve way too fast, and the rest is just sad history. So, does anybody know if Dennis Painter was in the 'Vette? Or did he die in a different wreck? I'm so cunfuzed... 

Hope all enjoy Memorial Day weekend, ciao for now...

Sylvia Lovegren (Petras)

Oh, I don't think I knew that about Linda Spang's brother. How awful!  When was this?  

Sylvia Lovegren (Petras)

Never mind, I see other people chimed in. Thanks for the info. Yikes. So sad. 

Gregory Colman

Concerning Larry Spang's crash.  Late 1965 sounds about right. I was delivering the Times paper in that neighborhood at the time.  There was a huge (3-4 feet in diameter) wooden pole just off the sidewalk mid block between Holly and Morgan St., across the street from Franklin yell leader Andy Andersons house. The pole was used to hold TV antennas so people living down the hill could get reception as cable TV didn't really exist then.   The pole was in front of a house whose owners ran a restaurant and bar down at Rainier and Genesee.  Name began with a K, Keillers???  The couple drove huge Cadillac coupes.  I remember the large gash in the pole whenever I walked by.

Time to think of less morbid thoughts.

John Hein

I'd be the 1st to agree, what happened to Larry Spang, well, just nothing positive there. So I'll post this and promise, no more. The memories fade as the metric is decades, but it seems to me like I was a so-called senior when "I heard the news today oh boy". Iirc, Larry woulda been a junior. At some level I didn't wanna believe it, and certainly didn't wanna know the granular details. Apparently Larry is buried @ Greenwood in Renton, same as Jimi Hendrix. The date seems to indicate my RAM chips are not entirely non-functional. What say ye? One question remains: What happened to Dennis Painter? Anybody know?

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/169349030/larry-spang

 A great weekend to all, peace, out...

Dempsey Henley

Judith E. Payne

I love to read our patter but oh my memory doesn't hold all that you guys remember.  Turning to a different topic to shake off the sad thread, it is finally spring up here in New Hampshire.  It comes late but oh so well.  

Judy

Sylvia Lovegren (Petras)

John McL,  my memory is that Gil's had the 18 cent burgers and Dag's were $.19, but maybe the memory is flipped.  I got on a kick of getting the baloney sandwich at Gil's -- baloney, mayo on white bread -- and ate them every day until my stomach rebeled and there was an unfortunate incident. Never ate a baloney sandwich again.  Aren't you happy to know!  There was definitely a Chinese restaurant at that corner for a while, ate there a few times with my folks, but I don't remember the name.

Mel Smith always had the best sayings. 

Nancy Wong (Sun)

OK, I am duly impressed with your recall abilities.  I was about to respond that Kane's was the restaruant but John M. beat me to it.  My father and relatives owned Top Spot Cafe on Rainier across from Kane's.  It offered American Chinese dishes in the 50's and where I helped out from age 9 to 20 on weekends.  

Classmate customers included Cheryl Ruggles, Bob Hasson, Karen Kummerfeldt and parents, I think Sue Marino's aunt and uncle (Tom with the big car dealership?) knew my uncle and they were always dressed to the nines for such a casual place.  The Kauffmans were regular customers and parents to Cynthia and Ron, who skated pairs and competed at the Winter Olympic Games.  Not sure if Cindy and Ron attended FHS given their training and competition schedules.

I learned people skills, work ethics, multitasking and thought I had won the lotto when paid $20 for an 8 hours shift!

The Top Spot neon sign was found in a salvage yard by two brothers, Mark and Michael Klebeck, who founded Top Pot doughnuts.   During the transport of the sign to their first location on Capitol Hill, the "S" fell off and was replaced by a coffe pot and Top Pot was born.  During a business trip, I visited the 5th Avenue location in downtown Seattle where corporate management happened to be.  I let them know my nostalgic connection but I think they thought I wanted a free doughnut...

There was another Chinese restaurant on Genesee called Louie's or Jack Louie's, next to Herb's pharmacy.  Janet Louie, the daughter attended Franklin, class of 1969 (?).  

I hope there will be an opportunity to meet up again.  I missed our 50th reunion and more recent lunch but will do better to attend.  I should be visiting after the summer, in case a get together is brewing.  That is all for now.  Thanks for the trips down memory lane of happy times.

Sylvia Lovegren (Petras)

John, what was IN Green River flavor?  I loved it. The ice cream shop that was near my house on Genesee for a while had fabulous Green River sundaes. But what was the flavor besides "green"?

Nancy, that's a wonderful story about your Top Spot sign. Very cool that it was saved.  Louie's was the restaurant our family went to on the rare occasions when we went out to dinner (Depression-era spend-conscious parents!). I loved their almond chicken -- is that even a thing anymore?  

Gregory Colman

Yes, Kane's Restaurant.  I delivered the Shopping News for 2 years until I turned 12 and could deliver the Times. For the Shopping News my area was Brighton to Othello, Rainier to Seward Pk.  236 papers 3 times a week for 65 cents a day.  Thought I was rich!  Over $100 a year.  My Times shack was behind Zesto's. Down the hill from the McClain sisters.  Their parents always complained about the Sunday noise. Rightfully so. The most expensive thing on Zesto's menu was my favorite.  Banana Split with everything for 50 cents!  I had 2 routes so I could go to O'Dea for a year.  What a waste.  Beatings with a leather strap for missing an Algebra question.  Kids gut-punched by some of the Christian Brothers etc. Parents got together the next year to stop the beatings.  That's why there was a group of boys from the Catholic schools in fall of 1965 at Franklin.  Yea for public schools.

Gregory Colman

Oh, and about the Green River drink.  I ran across it a few years ago down in Seaside, Oregon.  At a shop that sold all types of candy and sodas.  Dozens of brands. Had a fountain of it available as well as the bottles. I just checked Wikipedia.  It is primarily a Midwest product (Chicargo area) but still available!

Gregory Colman

Rex's Garage, was that up by Sidran's Pharmacy?  Worked there after quitting the paper routes. Dawson and Wilson. Leland Hemnes dad's place.  Yeah, Bruce Davidson, Wayne Dawson and his brother (talk about a wild pair) and some older and younger Franklinites at my shack.  Our shack was the wildest in Seattle. On Sunday mornings, it was usual for someone to show up in an "appropriated" car to help deliver the papers and then dump it later in the morning.  Times hired an 18 yo guy to just be shack manager for $50 a month.  Larry Bombarino.  Nice guy but had to be the hairiest 18 yo I have ever met.  His chest was a black bath mat! The shack got torched so they rebuilt with a concrete floor.  Over 2 feet thick on the down hill side.  That concrete block was still there decades later.  Got in a fight once with Alan St. Clair. Went my way that time but on the first day at Franklin Mr Luckman (soph English) was doing roll and I heard his name. Thank god he never showed up.  Alan was small and mean but had some big friends.  Think he went to Green Hill.

Al Ovadia

I checked out Green River on Wiki and Google. Didn't realize it came in bottles as well as a fountain drink.