GREG FLEMAL

Greg was with me at Magee. But I didn't get to know him until 6th grade at Clarke. We had Mrs. Casey together. In fact, over my three years at Clarke, Greg ended up being one of my best friends.

In 6th grade, the trio of Greg, Ken Bartz and myself were good friends. Although the three of us never hung around together outside of school, Greg would often come over to my house, as it was pretty much on the way home for him as well.

Greg was a strong boy - stronger than most people probably realized. And he could push people on that clown swing like no other. He was the man!

This is a bit strange. But at some point that year, Greg and I made a haunted house in my attic. We never got anyone to go through it - save for Greg's younger sister. But what can you do?

Greg often came to my house after school to play Atari. That's pretty much all we did, save for the haunted house thing. On occasion, he would walk to my house before school as well. I went to Greg's house a few times as well. But interestingly, all the times I was over there, I never actually went in his house. His mom always seemed kind of grumpy. So we often played baseball in his backyard.

Behind Greg's house was a wooded area. And there was something cool back there. Greg and his siblings had a clubhouse of some sort. It was a hangout which was literally, a small house. It had a roof. I believe it was heated as well. Greg's older brother would use that place to drink beer with his friends. It really was cool.

Back deeper in the woods was a path of some sort. I went for several blocks, starting around the 42nd street area, and leading all the way down to the river. Well, there was a side path that went right to Greg's clubhouse. One day, perhaps a few weeks after Greg had showed me the place, I was with my friend Bobby Streu. And we used the back path to walk to the clubhouse. So what did we do when we got there? We broke in of course. Some friend I was, huh? We stole a flashlight, a ball, and a case of beer - which was missing one can. Keep in mind, that this theft took place in the spring of 1983. This date is important later on. A few months later, Greg was at my house. He actually saw the flashlight, and commented that he had one just like it. The key word there was "had."

Greg accompanied me in stealing milks for our fellow classmates during the night we spent at Camp Tapawingo. See my Wyatt Wood entry for the details.

In 8th grade, Greg and I ate lunch together. After eating, the students would head into the gym until the lunch hour was over. One day Greg and I were screwing around, pushing each other a bit, as we sat on the bleachers. We weren't fighting or anything. We were just playing. But Mr. Kern sauntered over, put up his hand and said, "five" - as in five detentions - for me, not Greg. What the fuck??? First off, we weren't fighting. Second, why did he single out me? I'll tell you why. Because Mr. Kern was a fucking asshole who hated me. Prick.

In the second semester of that year, Greg had Mr. Swokowski for art class. Apparently several students started to take a bunch of markers and stuff from his classroom. It seemed sort of petty. But allegedly a lot markers and pens were taken. Swokowski noticed. Before long, several students - including Greg, got suspended for three days. It was a minor scandal. I asked Greg about it the day it all came down. He looked scared to death, saying his mom was going to remove his left nut. Greg was not a troublemaker by any means. This was pretty much his first and only act of this kind. He seriously looked petrified. But when it was all said and done, I think he enjoyed the notoriety. He liked being able to brag that he'd gotten a suspension.

Our house got a Beta VCR in October, 1984. I became a taping fiend. In the spring, Greg would come over on either Tuesday or Wednesday nights to watch films. My parents weren't home. So we'd pull out a bunch of cable nudie classics like Porky's, Joysticks or Losin' It.

Once we got to high school, Greg and I stopped hanging around together. It became painfully obvious that Greg wanted to strive for popularity. I had no interest in it. So he had no interest in me. Of course he wasn't going to reach the upper levels of the social ladder regardless. In fact, Mike Clarksen told me that he overheard Greg saying something nasty about me - I was no good, or something like that. Whatever. As high school progressed, I think he hung around with Stan Conrad. He also became a regular wearer of black T-shirts. At the time, I remember thinking that he probably would be mortified if anyone saw him holding a Cyndi Lauper album. But that was then. This is now. The photos below are from January, 1985. In all honesty, I like that album! Click it to see them larger.



In my sophomore year, I had a paper route. I had some major restitution to pay off! Anyway, as I was riding my bike down the street while I was delivering one day, I noticed greg. He flagged me down. Now get this. He accused me of breaking into his clubhouse a few days earlier. What??? I barked right back at him that I hadn't done any such thing. I asked him who had told him I'd done that. His answer? Bobby Streu. Yes, my cohort in crime from three or four years earlier had ratted me out for a crime I didn't commit - a crime that he most likely committed himself. Whatever. I guess I deserved it though. Although I deserved it years earlier, not then.

I had Greg in gym class my freshman year. When we played baseball, he had a very strange stance. He would crouch really low when he swung the bat. I'm not sure why I remember that. But it was kind of funny-looking.

Greg was a good artist. At the very least, he could draw really well.

I don't think I ever ran into Greg after high school. Someone told me that he may have been involved in some behind the scenes work on some documentaries. I believe Greg got married to a woman named Jennifer. Today they appear to live in the Milwaukee area.

UPDATE - 8/15/06 - Thanks to Mark Gordon for providing these two pictures of Greg on his wedding day. He believes these are from the summer of 2001. The second picture features, Greg, Mark and Chip Pelnar





UPDATE - 5/18/07 - According to an article I read online, on April 18th, 2007, Greg and his wife participated in some sort of canoe and kayak trip from Mishicot to Two Rivers. The trip was organized by none other than Cindy Rohrer's dad, Phil Rohrer.