Dear Class of 1957

Here's a 2 hankie and 3 belly laughs letter from our class president, sent to Lynne for the breakfast event on July 3, 2010.

Dear Classmates-

Let me say first that I am sorry to not be able to be with you this weekend. You all are the greatest people in the world. I wouldn’t trade my experiences with you for anything . What wonderful memories I have of the plays, the sports, the proms, the classes we all had together through elementary school and high school. Latin with Mr. Kinsley, chemistry with Mr Burstrom, gym or PE with Lew Behrens, English with Mrs. Burstrom, 7th and 8th grade with Mr. Rahn and Mrs. Westfall.

Who can forget the PE classes where we chose partners and learned to square dance? Happy memories… like…be sure to shower before you go into the pool and dip your feet in the disinfectant pond. How about the hot dogs in the canteen when we were playing pool, the marching band at the football and basketball games with Beth Amsrud, watching the Kable Kolts at the Community Gym, singing in the mixed chorus, playing football for JR Worley, Rusty Egan and The Whiz Kids basketball team who came one game shy of going to the state tourney, the dairy whips and hot dogs for lunch at Mt Morris Dairy for 26 cents, sticking straws on the ceiling at Felkers by dipping the ends in our marshmallow cokes and blowing them up to the tin ceiling, (how about a Green River?), penny candies at the 5 & 10 cent store, Cremo Baker and his popcorn stand at the bandstand on Saturday night, cruising Main Street on weekends with loud mufflers and Chief Palmer and Dan Claussen watching for rowdy behavior, filling up the jalopy at Harry Horton’s Mobil station for 18 cents a gallon, the great badminton games in the high school gym, soccer and baseball on the diamonds on the playground, King of the Hill on mounds of wintry snow, picnics at the Pines where we played the faculty in softball, all this and more makes us what we are.

Goodbye to Sharon, Mary Lou, Jerry, Larry, Norman, Tomas, Duane, Don, Klaus, Libby and Neal--God bless them all. We miss you guys. Have a great party, everyone. I love you all.

Judy and I live in Owensville Missouri now and extend an invitation to you all to visit.

 Mike

A 50's Fashion Story by Lynne

I begged my Mom to buy me two wool scarves--one pink and one yellow--it was the BIG fashion of the moment. I promised to have them dry cleaned at season's end (remember Cratty's on Main Street?). The first year I did, but by year two, I figured dry cleaning was killing my allowance (I had my 8th grade navy slacks pressed every Thursday for wearing on Friday. Our school colors were navy and orange.) So. . . I washed the scarves. Well, I had to give them over to my little sister for her dolls--they were the size of pocket hankies!!! I still don't trust a label that says "wool--washable." Ya, right--if it's wool, it's the dry cleaners.

The lower photo shows the jeans of the 50s. I wore boys jeans early on and there is the Ship & Shore white blouse and the mandatory neck scarf and saddle shoes. In the backgroun is the "new" Mt. Morris VFW--no trees yet or paved drive, so it was early 50s. I was enroute to the apple orchard in back of the VFW, so I think it was a warm fall day.

Slumber Parties in the 1950s

We girls had some great slumber parties in the 1950s. The one that most vividly sticks in my mind was a "French-fry Slumber Party" at Fran's house. We each brought a few potatoes, someone had a deep fryer, and we ate all night. Lots of screaming and yelling of course, and we played music. I don't think anyone knew how to dance, but if they did, we did that too. This photo seems to be a morning after shot, but was taken at my house in 1956--before Mom redecorated to more neutral tones. Left to right is Francine K., Marian D., Sara Y., Kay A., Mary Lou S. (deceased), and Diane B.; Lynne F. in the front.

There are items in this photo that just scream 1950s: pin curls tied up with a scarf (no one had hair dryers); bermuda shorts with knee socks; hard sided over night cases; scarves tied under the collar of a neatly pressed white blouse; big print wall paper in the living room; book club novels in the bookcase; hair cuts by Mom; and home permanents we gave each other.