Strolling Down Memory Lane

“Come, let's stroll
Stroll across the floor . . .
Well, rock my soul
How I love to stroll”
The Diamonds

Toni got reunion photos developed, including a group photo of all classmates in attendance, a shot of me with Jay Bumm, Chris Koch, and Pete Drake, one of Wendy with me and Suzi Hummel’s husband, and three taken when I was dancing the stroll with Janet Garman, Phil Arnold, Barbara Ricketts, the Stroups, and Mary Dinkins Lewis and her husband. I mailed the dance photos to Barbara and Janet, writing on the back, “Strolling Down Memory Lane.” My two favorite Stroll songs are “C.C. Rider” by Chuck Willis and “Walking to New Orleans” by Fats Domino. Chuck had a double-sided hit of “What Am I Living For” and “Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes.” I had at least a dozen of Fats Domino’s 45s, including rarities found at the Montgomery Mart (long gone, Terry Jenkins informed me). Fred Scott, the reunion deejay, played “Blueberry Hill” but not “My Blue Heaven.” Whenever it came on at sock hops, I’d get Judy Jenkins to dance with me.

Nancy Schrope is making a photo compilation CD, Connie Heard Damon reported, adding: “ I'm still on Cloud 9. It was all just too wonderful for words!! Several weeks ago I thought the 50th would be our last reunion, but this one was so good that we're already thinking of a picnic in 2 years, and then our 55th to follow.” I sent Connie nostalgic musings from my blog and she replied: “This is WONDERFUL!! I'm in tears...partly because you did such a great job, and partly because I have such happy memories of the whole weekend. I still can't believe how special it was. Thanks for sharing this.” Judy Jenkins emailed: “Both Lee Lee and Wendy sent me a few pictures which were wonderful to see. They said it was a fabulous reunion and a great turnout. I spoke to Wendy today and her crown was stolen en route home. She was very upset, but I'm glad she had the opportunity to wear it at the reunion. Lee Lee and I talked for at least an hour and she pointed out who everyone was in the class photo and gave me lots of details. Not quite like being there, but still fun. Obviously a great success!” Sent a request for photos to Lee Lee and back came jpegs of a dozen, including a great one of Sissy Schade with Eddie Piszek. At breakfast Sissy mentioned seeing an ailing Louise Jester the night before and recalled comforting her on the Fort Washington school playground after boys had made fun of her, claiming she had “cooties” (imaginary bugs). I hope I never did anything directly to hurt her feelings. Eddie almost skipped the reunion because he’d been feeling disoriented lately but was in good form. We joked about the trouble we caused Ron Hawthorn’s father (Mr. Haw-thee-Haw, we called him) when we were on his Babe Ruth League team.

Dave and Angie had a good time at Marianne Brush’s Halloween, which we missed due to the reunion. Marianne and Lorraine Todd-Shearer recently went past our place on a hike, and on Facebook Lorraine quipped: “How did you ever keep from going over that cliff?” Actually I had a couple close calls when putting down gravel and cinder blocks in a continuing effort to fight erosion. Checking other friends on FACEBOOK, I noticed one of them listed was an attractive African American named Brown SugarBaby. I have no idea who she is although she identified herself as an Indiana University Northwest student. She notes: “I went through a MASSIVE friend deleting; if you survived, you’re special to me.” How we became friends is beyond me, and I haven’t yet learned how to de-friend folks.

The goal of tomorrow’s Gary summit, according to The Times, is to revitalize Northwest Indiana’s urban core. Called GRIP (The Gary and Region Investment Project), the initiative, according to newspaper publisher Bill Masterson, is to “build bridges across municipal borders, between the public and private sectors, with the state and federal governments and even our counterparts in metropolitan Chicago.” While Mayor Rudy Clay seems on board with the idea, generally when outsiders talk regional cooperation, what they really seek is control of Gary assets such as the airport and bus service. Minority Studies professor Earl Jones, for one, is skeptical, noting that this “will probably be the first time when Gary's future is determined by 1) external political entities (NIRPC, Chicago Metro Planning, the RDA), 2) gvt departments (U.S. HUD), and 3) the private sector (The Times, Quality of Life Council).”

Choice sent me a review copy of “Dropping the Torch: Jimmy Carter, The Olympic Boycott, and the Cold War” by Nicholas E. Sarantakes. I always thought it was folly for the United States to boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics. President Carter claimed it was in retaliation for the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, but all it did was reignite the Cold War and ruin many athletes’ dreams. For one thing it denied the men’s basketball team a chance to revenge the 1972 controversial defeat in the enemy’s capitol. In turn Russia and its allies to boycott the Los Angeles games in 1984. Ironically, the Soviet Union was worried about Muslim extremists just as we presently are. Some of the same people who foiled the Russians are now fighting what they consider to be the American invaders.

Ray and Trish Arredondo sent me a copy from the Midwest Book Review that calls “Maria’s Journey” “a fascinating read and a must for anyone looking for a story of American immigration.” Right on! Revised slightly my Forward to “Maria’s Journey” for my speech Thursday at Purdue North Central Hispanic Heritage Month panel, adding this concluding paragraph: One final note: Maria Perez Arredondo actually made three journeys to America. Her first took place in 1918 at age 11 with her mother to join her brother Francisco, who worked for a railroad company. They lived in a boxcar. The second took place in 1926 when the 19 year-old had a three year-old daughter and was joining husband Miguel. Once again they lived in a boxcar before eventually making their way to the Chicago area. Similarly, when U.S. Steel recruited Puerto Rican laborers after World War II, the first to arrive were housed in old Pullman cars. Maria’s third journey was the most arduous and took place in 1939 at age 32 after her mother had been deported and she accompanied her back to Mexico. Pregnant and with eight children in tow, she was stopped at the border because she did not have the necessary papers with her, but finally a sympathetic guard let them pass when he realized that the young kids spoke fluent English and must have been American-born, as they claimed. At present some Republican leaders want to amend the constitution to deny citizenship to children born here. As historian John Bodnar notes in the introduction to “Maria’s Journey,” Fierce debates among Americans have once again marked the issue of immigration, and xenophobes have called for mass deportations. But that’s another story.

The political news continues bleak, but at least there is hope in West Virginia in the race for Robert Byrd’s old Senate seat that Governor Joe Manchin will defeat Republican businessman John Raese. Recently revealed: the agency behind a GOP ad sought “hicky-looking” actors wearing flannel shirts and John Deere caps to portray supposedly angry West Virginians. Raese has been lumping together Manchin and the President, but during a debate Manchin said that he hated to inform his opponent but Mr. Obama’s name will not be on the ballot.

Time had a cover story on Alzheimer’s, a disease that has affected millions, from President Ronald Reagan on down. Thirty years ago I was an oral history consultant for a project designed to support caregivers to Alzheimer’s patients. Bailly Alliance mainstay Ed Osann and former Post-Trib managing editor Terry O’Rourke were just two of many Region Alzheimer’s victims. Mary Ann Becklenberg, who has Early-Stage Alzheimer’s, wrote that she’d hang up the phone and not recall the party on the other end of the line. She’d return from a trip and forget her husband had been with her. Mary Ann’s advice to others afflicted: be gentle with yourself, keep humor in your life, and lower your expectations. In other words, don’t feel that you are inadequate and falling apart. Easy to say.

Got a message from the Sand Creek condo board president that I will be on the ballot for board secretary unopposed. I’ll have to tell neighbor Tom Coulter that he’ll be needed as Court One director.