WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL TWO RIVERS WI CLASS OF 1989

Friday, May 19, 2006

SHAWN P.

Shawn is a guy I met in grade school. He had Miss Charter for 4th grade and Miss Hynek for 5th grade. So I didn't cross paths with him too much.

I have heard stories that Shawn and Miss Hynek didn't get along. In fact, I've been told that she tormented him to no end. Of course I'm sure Shawn had most of it coming. But I think Shawn was Miss Hynek's person whipping boy all year long.

I had Miss Hynek for reading class. She taught the "smart" kids - or at least the ones who were supposed to be the best readers. Shawn wasn't in there. he either went into Mr. Tisler or Miss Krause's room. I think it was Tisler. Anyway, he somehow got kicked out of reading class one day - literally. And he didn't know what to do or where to go. So he wandered back into Hynek's class, mumbled something about being kicked out, then sauntered over to the book shelf to stand. That class was packed. So there was no place to sit. And someone was obviously in his seat. So he grabbed a paperback book, leaned against the wall and started reading. About five minutes later, Miss Hynek blew up at him. And she really tore into him! She had no idea what he was doing or why he was there. Why she let him stand there for five minutes is a mystery though. I thought Shawn would going to need therapy after that. Whatever the case, she got rid of him, and he was gone from our room for the rest of the period.

Shawn lived pretty close to me. He was actually our paperboy for awhile. In fact, I can recall sitting on my front porch, looking at the May cable guide (which showed all the movie lisitngs for the movie channels that we had) that had come in the mail that day. Shawn sat down and looked at it with me. There was a picture for the HBO series "Aerobicise." It was a 20-minute workout show. Shawn commented, "I don't like it. All they show is butts."

Shawn was neighbors with Scott Jaklin. Scott had some interesting stories about Shawn. I don't recall much. But perhaps he'll chime in with some memories.

Scott did tell me that he ran into Shawn one day after school. This was during middle school. Scott would walk home through the field behind my house. Near the end of that field was a very small, wooded area. As Scott walked by, he heard, "Hey Scott!" Apparently Shawn had decided to skip school, and spent the entire day in this woods. I think he was asking for some food too, as he was quite hungry. He must have been bored out of his mind sitting there all day.

Shawn had his picture in the paper once. It was an ad looking for a big brother/big sister for him. Shawn got teased over that.

I'm not sure when Shawn left school. I'm not even sure he made it though 8th grade. If I were to guess, I'd say he didn't graduate anywhere. I take that back. He did make it through 8th grade. I recall that at some point that year, he got into a fight with class of 1990's Jon Kern. Both of them got suspended. Both Shawn and I were banned from the end-of-the-year picnic due to multiple suspensions received that year.

I ran into Shawn once or twice at the video store. One time he'd rented three films. But he didn't bring them back on time. They were only a day or two late. But for whatever reason, he wrapped them in a paper bag and mailed them back to us. The cost of postage was probably more than his late fees would have been.

I think Shawn was in the navy for awhile as well. Shawn eventually married a woman named Andrea. Today they live in Two Rivers. According to Kevin Dehne, he and Shawn were in the same alcohol rehabilitation class. I don't see any drunk driving offenses for Shawn. So perhaps he just had a drinking problem.

UPDATE - 3/20/08 - A few weeks ago, I got an Email from Shawn. He included a few photos of he and his wife. They are posted below.





11 Comments:

At Sat May 20, 01:12:00 PM PDT, Blogger THE GOON said...

Loking? HA HA HA HA HA HA Got ya' again Burt.

 
At Mon May 22, 07:17:00 AM PDT, Blogger TWORIVERSWALRUS said...

Nabbed by the grammar police again.

Fixed.

 
At Tue Jul 24, 09:55:00 PM PDT, Blogger swp said...

I guess i should probably add to this edition of the "Star, Globe,N Enq". To start off I would like to ask you( Burt ) what I did to you to inspire such a malicious blog about my past? I dont believe I had ever done anything to offend you in any way. If I did, I do sincerly apologize. If I didnt,you can go to hell. Why would anybody want to relive a part of thier lives based on your observations (misinformed and clouded to a degree by 25 years)? You dont have a clue about who I am (or who I really was for tht matter),But yet you feel inspired to post untruths. The rehab thing with kevin dehne never happened. The never graduating thing? I finished while serving my (our) country.As far as hiding in the woodlot,it is true.But you have to look at it from the point of an 11 year old.Ask yourself ,would you want to go back to a place where your teacher grabs you by the throat and beats your head against the blackboard in front of 20 of your peers and nothing ever becomes of it? All because you have a very misunderstood (at the time)problem called ADD,and have trouble comprehending and focusing on the task at hand.You,or one of the others who have added thier 2 cents to this issue may one day wake up to the fact that they have a child with the same problem. Its a hard road to follow.They may be called stupid or worse by thier teachers or classmates,(THEY ARE NOT!)But after awhile they start to believe it. I would like to thank Scott for his friendship when we were kids,(no judging based on how I did in school).As far as "the Meff"goes,Im sure I was grating and irritating, I was 8.If you have kids you know what I mean. I have been married fo 14 years as of july 17, to my beautiful wife Andrea,I have two great children ,Paige 12,and Jacob 10.I have proven myself as one of the top techs in the marine industry on the great lakes.I have owned my own house on the north side of TR since 97 ,And I live a quiet and uneventful but satisfying life.(so much for being the loser you portray me as,I think I have won).So Burt,PISS OFF! Warm Regards,Shawn Pickard

 
At Wed Jul 25, 07:04:00 AM PDT, Blogger TWORIVERSWALRUS said...

Shawn, if you're offended in anyway (and it appears that you are) I sincerely apologize. What inspired me to blog about you? This blog is about this class. And you were a part of this class. Therefore you are included.

I just reread your entry. And to be honest, I don't see anything that could be described as "malicious." Did I say something that was insulting to you? Perhaps the line about that monster, Miss Hynek teaching the "smart" kids, and you not being in there could be construed as an insult. But honestly, that wasn't my intention. But I can see how it could be taken as such. So again, I apologize.

As for the rehab thing, that was something Kevin told me. He said that the first time he was thrown into some rehab classes, you were in there with him. If Kevin's mistaken about that, so be it.

To answer your question about not wanting to go back to Clarke, yes, I can perfectly understand that. I suffered my fair share of abuse at the hands of some Clarke teachers - abuses that would result in an arrest for assault these days. What happened to you sucked. And I can relate. I got my head rammed into a wall by Mr. Kern. I also got choked by Mr. Fencil. Not cool.

I wasn't portraying you as a "loser." If you took it as such, I apologize again.

I've said it before Shawn. And I'll say it again. These memories are 20-25 years old. They reflect on a time when all of us were quite young. But no matter what happened back then (good or bad) they are in no way a reflection on who we are today. You seem like you have a nice, happy life today. That's great. I am sincerely happy for you. Thank you for providing us an update.

I meant no hard feelings. And I hope you don't have any either.

Peace!

 
At Wed Jul 25, 02:06:00 PM PDT, Blogger Jeffrey said...

Shawn, I read your response about ten times and it really delivers quite a whallop.

The "grating and irritating" comment (which I wrote half a year ago) was mostly me rationalizing and justifying the fact that I could and SHOULD have been a better friend to you than I was. What sucks is that I probably missed out in having a lot of good times with a quality individual because of my own stupidity and arrogance. As you wisely pointed out, we were 8. I'm sure I was twice as annoying...just ask my folks.

It's great to see that life is treating you well. Best to you and your family.

 
At Wed Jul 25, 07:12:00 PM PDT, Blogger swp said...

Hello Burt, I guess "malicious" may have been the wrong word to use, insensitive and negative are the words I should have chosen.Please reread your blog about me and please point out one positive comment you made(I didn't find any). I don't harbor any(well,not much)resentment towards you for only pointing out all negatives for anyone who reads your blog about me,I just hope that what you wrote is not all I am remembered for.That is why I was pissed that you portrayed me as a loser.But hey, everybody has a right to form their own opinions of others. No hard feelings Burt. I would also like to thank Jeff for the reply comment he made, (KIND). Regards, Shawn Pickard

 
At Wed Jul 25, 07:48:00 PM PDT, Blogger TWORIVERSWALRUS said...

Hey Shawn, I must say, you are correct. There doesn't seem to be any positive comments about you in there. Of course in my own juvenile way, I could see having a war with Miss Hynek or a fight with John Kern as positive aspects!

In all honesty Shawn, I wrote every single thing about you that I knew - which admitedly was very little. And the reason why is simple. You and I were never friends. We didn't hang out. The only one-on-one conversation I can remember having with you was that brief 15 minutes we spent on my front porch looking through the cable guide. The only incident I actually witnessed was that day in Hynek's class. Everything else I wrote was stuff that was told to me by other people.

Incidentally, Scott told me an amusing story about you that I had forgotten until just now. It was something about camping out in a tent in your backyard, being a bit rowdy, getting yelled at by your neighbor, Mr. Belz - and shining a flashlight on him. Does that ring a bell?

I'm sure there are plenty of positive memories of you Shawn. If you and I had been friends, I'm sure I'd have plenty too.

I'm glad you chimed in with an update Shawn. You can obviously paint the "real" picture much better than I can. And I'll be sure to announce to my readers that you have stopped by and provided same.

Again, I apologize for any negative tone or misinformation. If you want to say anything to me off-blog, feel free to E-mail me. My E-mail address can be found in my profile, if you click my name.

Take care. Peace!

 
At Wed Jul 25, 10:51:00 PM PDT, Blogger Scott said...

Shawn was no doubt, one of the
best friends I have had. I would just say that I've been told I show signs of ADHD. Reading what Shawn wrote about his condition as kid makes me very sympathetic and
I believe that the teachers who were mentioned should be ashamed of themselves for writing him off the way they did. No
child should be treated that way. It amounts to something quite cruel when you really think about it. I was there when a certain teacher was violent with him and to this day I cannot believe that teacher got away with it. There is no valid excuse for a teacher to ever do that. Ever. I wonder what
kind of scars I'd have if that was
done to me. I knew Shawn to be very intelligent in all the years
I was his friend. I never ever
questioned his intellect. So it
surprises me to hear that being a
serious discussion. If I remember
correctly I rather thought he got
a raw deal from teachers that I
did not understand. I can think of
other examples of students who got treated like outcasts also.
Shawn, I don't think that after
all this time, anyone would imply
seriously that you are a loser. I
certainly would never believe that
nor can I imagine Burt saying you
are. I don't consider myself a
loser, yet I don't even know where
I belong yet. In contrast, I think
you've done very well, and I was
glad to read that you have taken
one of your passions (marine tech)
that you had as a kid and made it a reality. At times I think about
all the good times we had as friends, none of which I'd change.
When you moved I felt pretty empty
for some time because to me it was
like seeing a close family member move away. I hope all is going great for you these days.

 
At Thu Jul 26, 10:54:00 PM PDT, Blogger karmadog said...

Shawn, for the record, I found you grating and irritating. But in a good way. I think I picked up a few bad habits from you, which I treasure to this day. My mom was scared of you.

Sup, ma man?

 
At Fri Jul 27, 08:00:00 AM PDT, Blogger jenny said...

well well well... mr shawn pickard, after all these years it is very gratifying to see you well! for those of you who don't know, just like my friendship roots run deep with jeff and pags, my roots are deep with shawn. my hippy cousin/babysitter was friends with shawn's mom so we were kicking it back at the age of 5 or 6. Shawn and i always maintained that "buddy" connection and i still feel the connection as i sit here and type. Shawn please post some pictures. i would love to see your family. peace and love bro

 
At Sat Nov 24, 03:25:00 PM PST, Blogger MB said...

Shawn-
It is MB. The person whose house you lived at for awhile in high school. I would love to hear from you. Think of you often.

 

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