How Lucky I Am To Be A Baby Boomer - My Sixteenth Summer Part Two

The arrival of my car on my sixteenth birthday in June did not exactly afford me the freedom that every teenager envisions. I was blessed with a Mom who had pretty strict rules.  Why would you go to a slumber party when you have a bed to sleep in at home?  If you go to the 7:00 movie you should be home shortly after 9:00 since you can have a coke at the movie instead of the local drive-in. A girl should not be out in a car by herself but will be safe if she takes her fourteen year old brother with her. Little brother, Kenny, and I became very creative.

When we moved to the new house Dad built a two car garage on the back of the lot.  Kenny had the 1934 Ford inherited from Paul.  Children were banned from Mom and Dad's garage since it needed to remain in pristine condition.  That garage became a meeting place for every teenage hot rodder in town.  Both of our earnings from the paper routes went for tools and car parts.  It was amazing how Kenny always needed a quart of oil, spark plugs or some guy had something we had to go look at after dinner.  Kenny became the " go-to-guy" for all automotive questions at fourteen. He was also the child in the family who could do no wrong.  That worked out well for me.

If the garage was not filled with guys from sixteen to twenty years of age, we created some errand to run in town.  This gave us the freedom to cruise all the hot spots.  Of course I would rather have cruised without my fourteen year old brother but everyone thought Kenny was pretty cool as we made the rounds.  Muskogee had four places you could usually find most of your friends.  First stop was Russ's Drive In.  It was actually a pretty nice restaurant but at night the drive in stalls were filled with teenagers.  Next was Chet's Hot Dog stand where everyone would park, get out of their cars and hangout. (I still go there every trip to Muskogee). After Chet's you drove up into Honor Heights Park and checked out who was there and the last stop was on the east side of town, The Corral, where Kenny's hot rodder buddies were.  Since Kenny NEVER got into trouble, it was amazing how long it took to get to the auto parts store and back.

I can't remember ever not loving music.  There were those piano lessons I took in hopes of playing rock and roll that were all classical music with recitals in stupid frilly dresses, the years of skating to all the popular songs and all those dances that we all went to.  I had a vast collection of the 45's and a larger collection of vinyl albums.  The albums, which I still collect, ran the gambit on types of music.

Those were the days of Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly but also folk music. I think I had every album the Kingston Trio ever recorded along with the Lamplighters, Joan Biaz and on and on. Maybe due to the fact that a brother of one of my classmates became friends with Mason Williams in college then went on to write songs, perform with The New Christy Minstrels and Kenny Rogers that we got into folk music. How I happened to acquire a four string tenor guitar is still a mystery to me but that was my key to a lot of fun that summer.

On the east side of town was Spaulding Park.  There was a little lake, the Girl Scout house, a cage of monkeys (always a question as to why they were there) and a swimming pool with a band shell on the backside of it.  That summer on Tuesday nights every folk music player and fan gathered at the band shell to play and sing. Once I discovered the Hootenanny in the park it didn't take me long to learn to sort of play the guitar and join in the fun. My Dad thought it was so cool he actually purchased a six-string Framus for me by the end of the summer. Our folk music summer carried into the school year and it seemed like there was always an assembly, a follies or a talent show or something that brought out the guitars and music.

To add to this summer of fun was not only my paper route but brother Paul's paper route.  He left around midnight every morning to deliver bundles and rural papers around the Muskogee area.  It usually took him until around six in the morning and he had a problem running off the road when he fell asleep.  I remember he had a little Ford Ranchero
that had all four  corners dented from running into things in his sleep. Everyone worried about him so his wife, Mitzi   and I started leaving at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning in her VW convertible to do all the rural paper tubes.

That may sound like a real chore but I remember it as a lot of fun.  She and I got to be really good friends as we ran up and down dirt roads sticking newspapers in tubes by mailboxes. I can remember one morning at dawn driving down in a ditch when we saw a tornado in the distance.  We would meet up with grumpy Paul at some closed up store in the middle of no where to pick up more papers.  He never appreciated the fact that we were laughing and having a great time.  The best part was that I, who never had many girlfriends, had found someone to giggle and share stories with.  

It was a busy summer with many new experiences.  Paul and Mitzi's son was born the latter part of July.  I can honestly say that was the first time I had ever even seen a newborn much less got to hold one. The thought that I was an aunt seemed very strange.   Having a car I started going to the Sunday night youth service at our church which was always fun.  Perhaps a little light on the church and heavy on the fun. Of course there were probably negative things that happened but nothing I didn't live through and learn from.

The summer flew by and the start of school always brought more excitement.

How Lucky I Am To Be A Baby Boomer - My Sixteenth Summer

Muskogee Central High School

I did not keep a diary or as they are now known, a journal in high school.  If I was not a pack rat, a neat pack rat, I would have trouble remembering all this.  Lucky for me some Birthday or Christmas prior to high school I got a huge scrapbook called a Date Data.  How stupid that sounds now but it was a big deal then.  

The Date Data had pages where you could write down who you dated, when you dated them, where you went, an evaluation of the fellow and an endless amount of other information. It also had pages for pressed corsages, cards, notes and anything else I could not bear to throw away. Some how I have managed to move that around since high school - maybe 26 or 27 moves. It is a treasure trove of information while being rather funny at the same time.  I know I went to sixteen dances in my sophomore year and somehow I managed to date the same boy at Christmas time for all three years.  Pretty amazing that I did that but more amazing is that I still have two of the presents he gave me.

Moving out to the suburbs, Grandview, by name created a problem that school was too far to walk.  I did ride the bus to school and home part of the time.  How could I give up Carnation Ice Cream everyday?  But the neighborhood was filled with a lot of my classmates so it was fun. The move plus Paul's marriage created another change.  Paul got a before school job delivering newspaper bundles, Mom went to work for the paper and Kenny and I ended up with newspaper routes.  I never have included my being the first newspaper girl in my resume although I was actually proud of it. Kenny and I had all of Grandview - he rode his bike and I walked the route carefully putting the papers on the porch or somewhere that they did not get hit with rain or snow.

Of course the BIG deal for the month of June was my birthday - my 16th birthday. As I remember Mom and Dad rushed off to work that day with only a Happy Birthday wish for me. Just where were all the fireworks and the brass bands?  No cards, no presents, swell.  I would show them so I rode my bike to the little neighborhood store and came home and baked my own birthday cake.

Dad showed up at home around noon which was unusual and announced that he was taking me to get my Driver's license.  Ah....He had only taken me out once to let me practice driving during which he taught me to drive with one foot on the gas and one on the brake.  Not a good thing!  But who could pass up attempting to get a driver's license.  So off we went.  Surprise to me - I passed.  Dad went back to work and my girlfriend and her Mom showed up with a birthday card and a cake.  Things were looking up a bit - I was now in possession of a card, two cakes and a driver's license.

Mom arrived home about 5:00 with another birthday cake. It was beginning to look like a bakery. At 6:00 my Dad arrived home but not in his 1960 Studebaker Golden Hawk that he left in. He drove up in a 1954 red Chevrolet Belaire CONVERTIBLE!!  Can't say it had shiny red paint or that it was perfect but to me it was the most beautiful thing in the world.  I can honestly say that I was never again so in love with a car as that one.  I had hoped that a car would arrive that day but there sure were no hints given.  Paul had gotten a car, a 1952 Willis that he hated, for his birthday and fourteen year old Kenny already had the 1934 Ford with no seats and a rope throttle.  Needless to say, my parents never had a thought of letting any of us drive their cars but it had began to look bleak for me.

So began the great adventure of being able to run around in your own car.  One of the best stories occurred about a week after I started driving.  I was headed into town one beautiful morning, top down, short blonde hair flying and suddenly see flashing lights and heard a siren.  My heart was pounding as I pulled off of the road as I couldn't imagine what I had done.  A Highway Patrolman approached the car and said that I did not slow down by five miles an hour when crossing some railroad tracks on Hwy 69.  That was not one of the laws I remembered from the driver's test.  As he leaned over the driver's door I happen to see his name tag.  He was the same patrolman who had stopped my very pretty Mother as well as a lot of other women for "unwritten laws". I took off my sunglasses and said "Hi, Mr. ______.  It's me, Donna, your newspaper girl".  As he rushed back to his patrol car he did tell me to take it easy. He also never sat on his front porch any more in his pajamas at 5:30 in the morning waiting for his newspaper.

I never thought to ask where my Dad came up with the car.  About 25 years later I got to be friends with a girl who was a classmate but we did not really hang out much together.  She told me one day that she always hated me in high school.  I could not imagine why until she told me that the red convertible had been her sixteenth birthday present but her dad got mad at her and sold it to my dad.  We have laughed about it for many years and I did give her a picture of it with the caption "our car".

So began a summer of 1960's era fun, Hootenannies, cruising town, dances at the memorable Meadowbrook Country Club, fun with Paul and adventures with his wife, Mitzi and all too often getting caught at places where you were not allowed to be. There were too many times the red convertible was too easy to spot.

Many more adventures that summer to read about next week.

                               Memories of Carnation Ice Cream

How Lucky I Am To Be A Baby Boomer - Starting High School

After a couple of months break for the holidays, a little family drama and one thing after another, it is time for me to get back to the theme of my blog.  For newer readers the reason I started writing about being a baby boomer is because I, like most of my peers, feel like growing up when we did could not have been more fun.

I was always one of those kids that could not wait to get to school every morning. It is hard to remember how I felt about starting high school in the fall of 1961.  There is always apprehension in beginning any new adventure and entering the doors of that huge red brick building with 1,400 or 1,500 other students had to be a little frightening.  It was one of those moments that you looked forward to and dreaded at the same time. Upon entering those big doors it seems like my life took on a new adventure every day. 

Somehow my sophomore year found me in accelerated classes.  How that happened I will never know but it was a struggle to keep up, especially in Algebra II.  Homework always got done since I never wanted to look stupid in class and actually my grades were not bad.  The real fun though of going to school was all the other stuff.  As I told my kids in later years, school itself is not fun.  You have to join in the extra curricular activities for the fun part.  I was very good at that.

Muskogee High School was pretty outstanding in many ways. The football team, called the Roughers, had many state championships through the years.  They were called the Roughers because in a state championship game in 1925 they played with no helmets due to a lack of funding and their rough play. The half-time shows at the games were as outstanding as the football team with the 140 piece All-Boy Marching Band and the 70 member girl's marching team called the Crack Squad. My sophomore year I was one of 158 members of the Pep Squad that sat in the stands and cheered.  I still rather cringe over the thought of wearing the seven gore green skirt, white blouse, green tie and the green and white beanie.

The best part about the football games was the stadium.  Indian Bowl, as it was known, was actually adjacent to Alice Robertson Junior High. It was built in 1939 by the WPA.  Prior to then the games were played at the downtown athletic park which was really a baseball stadium.  When Indian Bowl was built it was the largest football complex in Oklahoma with seating for 6,500 people.  The first game had over 8,000  fans come to see Muskogee play Fayetteville, Ar.  The best thing today about Indian Bowl is that it is still in use even though a new high school was built in 1970 on plenty of land to accommodate a new stadium.  The old concrete bleachers have been replaced and the press box is now three stories tall but the basic structure is the same.

It was at one of the football games that my brother Paul who was a senior came over to the Pep Squad section to announce to me that he had gotten married. Married? I didn't even know he was dating anyone more than once or twice. Why was he telling me before he told Mom and Dad? He must have gotten around to telling me who he married at some point which only made things worse. I knew who she was from both of us going to a sports camp a couple of summers before. She was cute and she was the best at every sport at the camp. Paul goes off and leaves me with the promise not to say anything to Mom and Dad till he does. Boy, I can remember sitting there in that dippy Pep Squad outfit with braces on my teeth and bad hair knowing the reaction of our parents.  Not a great night. More on this later.

Since I was a person who couldn't wait to get to school and it was a long walk from home, my Mom dropped me off on her way to work.  Before school you could hang out in the cafeteria where they sold cokes and donuts.  Nothing like starting off the day on a real sugar high but hanging out was fun.  After school I could walk home or  go two blocks to the Carnation Ice Cream parlor and factory, then walk downtown to catch a ride home with Mom or Dad.  Did I really start out the day with donuts and pop and end the day with a sundae?  

Of all the places in America for President Kennedy to pick as the perfect location to start the Presidential Physical Fitness program he had to chose Muskogee.  Perhaps they had some inside information about the before school snacks, Carnation Ice Cream and Chet's Hot Dog Stand. I actually did not remember that we were the "example" school for the nation until someone found it on YouTube.  All I remember was that at some designated time you had to change into gym clothes, run around and exercise and then change back into school attire and head off to class. Maybe it was a good thing considering how bad we ate.

My sophomore year I remember dating some but not many of my classmates were old enough to drive.  It seemed like we spent a lot of time dancing.  There were dances in the gym after the basketball games to the music of the school jazz band, dances at the local "Y" where we had hung out all summer and of course dances at the famed Meadowbrook Country Club. Usually parents had to drive you there and pick you up.  Prior to having a driver's license or an older boyfriend dating was difficult.

Muskogee Central High had an outstanding speech department.  That was always at the top of my list to take as an elective subject. The speech teacher, Jack Gregory, was not only outstanding as a speech and drama teacher but as a caring and fun mentor.  He had many National Champion Debate Teams through the years and a huge speech tournament at our school every year.

In the fall of my sophomore year he gave all the speech class students a hayride and wiener roast.  In my infinite wisdom I accepted a date with a senior speech class member. I was feeling pretty smug but big brother Paul had to tell me how stupid I was for accepting the date.  Just who did Paul think he was telling me who I could or couldn't date?

The day of the hayride arrived and my date picked me up and we went off to meet the speech classes and the hay wagon.  I was having a great time on the hayride and the wiener roast that was out by the river was really neat.  The problems started on the return ride in the dark.  My date was pretty good sized and I was not much of a match for him as he threw me down in the hay. I think Mr. Gregory realized I was out of my league when it came to handling this guy and manged to keep us apart.  

Well add another stupid mark on my forehead as I actually got in the car with him so he could take me home.  We were almost to my house when he pulled off into a field. I was leaning on the passenger door trying to figure out what to do when all of a sudden the door flew open. A very angry voice said "get in my car!"  I made a thankful dash for the other car as my brother Paul had a few words with my date. Paul got in the car and asked if I was beginning to learn how not to be stupid.  I answered yes.  He didn't say anything else and dropped me at home.  It is interesting how quickly one can learn from poor judgement.

I guess Mom and Dad had been thinking about a new house since our experience of looking at the Bower house.  In the spring they bought a brand new three bedroom home in a development south east of town. They purchased all new furniture and Mom had great fun planning the landscaping.  It was sad to leave the old neighborhood that I had always lived in but the excitement of a new house and new neighbors was fun.

Prom time arrived and I was very surprised to be asked to go with a boy who was a junior.  We had not really even dated but he was very cute and very nice.  No, I did not have Paul check him out.  Actually Paul's wife, Mitzi, gave the okay and gave me a dress to wear. I wish to this day I had a picture of that dress so I could know if it really looked the way I remember it. The Prom was great fun and was my date.  I was very sad when he moved away that summer as I really did like him.

Back to the dress.  It was a very pale blue strapless dress made out of 100 yards of blue net.  The skirt rather reminded me of something out of Gone With The Wind.  My Dad's favorite story he liked to tell until the day he died was when I wore the dress a few weeks later to a banquet.  My date that night had a bug-eyed Sprite.  He was not a small person but the car certainly was.  Since it was a beautiful spring evening the top was down and to get me and the dress in the car my Dad had to come out and assist in stuffing the dress down so that my date and I could see out the windshield.  Must have been a sight to the neighbors.

What I remember, in general, about my sophomore year was a lot of growing up due to a flood of new experiences.  I think we were a lot less mature at fifteen then than kids are today and a lot less stressed.
There were probably some very insecure times but I was lucky in that I really remember lots of laughter and fun.

The approaching summer was one not to be forgotten.