ANN RANK

Ann Rank is someone I first came in contact with at Clarke. We may have shared Mrs. Casey's 6th grade class together. I think we did. If not, we definitely shared every single class together in 7th grade.

A few memories come to mind. The first big one was in 7th grade. In Mrs. Westburg's chorus class, we all had to participate in a musical play called "Teen." I could never keep myself in class long enough to earn a role. So I was relegated to just the chorus. "Starting in green. I can't imagine me, being a teen." Anyway, Ann got one of the roles. And she had to sing a song by herself. I don't remember the title of it. But one of the lyrics was "It's all right to cry." And for the weeks leading up to it, we sang these songs every single day in class. Ann had to do her solo as well. And for whatever reason, when it came to the lyric of "cry" her voice would crack - horribly. The funny thing was, the note wasn't difficult at all. But for whatever reason, her voice simply couldn't reach it. I felt sorry for her. Everyday, for weeks, she would try to belt it out, and would just crack at that lyric. It wasn't just a small crack either. This was a big, big voice crack.

I was eager to see if she would be able to pull off the note once it came time to perform the play. The first performance was for the students one afternoon. Unfortunately, myself, along with Doug Wall and B.J. Lutterman got in trouble, and spent most of the play in Mr. Vogt's office. So to this day, I don't know if she ever nailed that note.

Our paths never crossed much in high school. But I do have a visual memory of her in Mr. Hensel's class, senior year. Hensel went off on some sort of tirade, (no doubt brought on by the mashed potatoes and gravy in our heads) and got really animated, flopping his arms and legs around like a baboon. Ann turned to her left and did her best to contain her giggling - which was justified. I too was doing my best not to lose it. Ann's reaction wasn't helping me any.

At some point in high school, Ann started going out with fellow graduate Mike Polich.

I recall sitting in Mrs. Kluczinski's class in our senior year. She would make us keep a journal of some sort - a diary or whatever. We were required to write at least one page for every day of the semester. She collected them at the end of the semester to grade them. Now, she insisted that she never read them. She just wanted to make sure we had enough pages for each day. Why she couldn't count them at our desk is a mystery to me. Whatever. I know damn well she read them. Bitch. How do I know? Two reasons. For one, I tended to fill my journal with song lyrics and vile poetry. Many days I just wasted space so as to get a full page. She gave me a "C" on it. What the fuck??? I had more than enough pages in that damn thing. The only way she could downgrade me was for the content - or lack thereof. Bitch! Anyway, for some reason, though she was not a member of that particular class, Ann Rank's name was mentioned by someone. Greg Pagel than commented, "I read her journal once. She's not the little miss innocent people might think she is." Mrs. Kluczinski laughed. She then said, "I remember her journal" - with a big emphasis on the "I." So how the hell would she remember her journal, if she didn't read the damn things? Yeah... right. Bitch. That fuckin' bitch failed me three times over the years. But I digress.

I ran into Ann just once after high school. It was the spring of 1994. I came to work at the video store, and my boss asked me if I knew someone named Ann Rank. Apparently she was looking for me. Huh? Sure enough, about an hour later, Ann showed up to personally hand me an invitation to our fifth year high school reunion. I thanked her, but didn't go.

After high school, Ann and Mike eventually married. I believe they have three kids. I don't know if she ever went onto school somewhere. Last I knew, she was working for a dentist, and still ived in the Manitowoc/Two Rivers area.

UPDATE - 11/13/06 - On Saturday, July 15th, 2006, Kevin Denhe and I stopped by the home of Ann and Mike. Unfortunately, they weren't home. However, on August 12th, 2006, when we took our second trip to Two Rivers, we caught them - barely. We had caught them moments after returning from a camping trip. They were still unpacking their vehicle. Feminine vanity showed its face again, as Ann mentioned that she hadn't showered or anything. But she of course posed for pictures. She gave us a each a soda as well. She offered me a wine cooler. But I had to pass, as one drink can make my head start to buzz a bit. So I drank a Sunkist. Ann let me use her bathroom. Of course as she let me in, she said, "Ignore the mess. We just got home." I of course said, "Everyone's home is messy when they're not expecting company." Of course when I walked in, I said, "Oh, I take it back. This is really messy." Ha ha! It's a laugh-a-line with me. Anyway, I filtered out Phil Rohrer's Mello Yello and the Sunkist, the joined Kevin in the car. Before we left, Ann gave us each a hug. As I said to her, "That's our first public hug." Mike and Ann had mentioned that Mark Gordon was at his parents' house - which was a block away. So we decided to stop by.







UPDATE - 11/15/06 - Here's a video from August 12th, 2006. Rumor has it that Ann isn't happy with the way she looked in the photos. But come one! She looks fine. Besides, as she mentions, they had literally just returned from a week of camping - well, five days anyway.