MR. SUSTMAN

Mr. Sustman (James?) was an art teacher at Washington.

I never took a single art class in high school. So I never knew this guy at all. I did however have a run-in with him during my sophomore year.

After school one day, I found myself in the company of Richard Wheeler and Jeff Bodwin. I believe they were having one of their pencil fights. Anyway, we were in the front of the school, by the door on the right - closest to the river. For whatever reason, I started jumping up and down on small bush at the bottom of the steps. Mr. Sustman happened to come walking by. He threw a fit. He started to slowly chase me around in a circle. It was kind of funny. He never once made any real effort to grab me. He demanded to know my name. I refused to tell him of course. Eventually I grew tired of him, and calmly walked away. Although he didn't recognize me - or Richard for that matter. He did recognize Jeff. Apparently Sustman looked through yearbooks the next day, in an effort to identify me. But he wasn't able to pick me out. So he resorted to having Mr. Wood call Jeff Bodwin down to the office. Of course Jeff told them who I was. By late afternoon of the next day, I got called into Mr. Wood's office, and was given two detentions. I of course anticipated the confrontation. So I brought my microcassette recorder with me, and taped the whole thing. I still have it.

Sustman always looked grumpy to me - like he had a bit of a scowl. Of course maybe he just recognized me from the bush incident, and was merely scowling at me.

I ran into Sustman many times at the video store. I think he'd forgotten the incident by that time. He never said much. But he was friendly enough.

I think Sustman is retired today. But I don't know for sure. I believe he lives just northwest of Two Rivers - not far from the likes of Keith Welnicke. I believe his wife's name is Evie. As has been stated elsewhere, Sustman appears to be very active in his church. It also looks like he's the president of something called the Mishicot Area Growth and Improvement Committee.

UPDATE - KIM NOKES & MORE

I found another recent picture of Kim. You can see it in her entry.

In other news, Kevin Dehne and I are looking at potential dates and names for trip #2. There just may be a few surprises on this one. Stay tuned.

MR. PARKINSON

Mr. Parkinson (Bruce) was a teacher at Washington. He taught a variety of English courses.

I got thrown into one of his classes during my junior year. I was one of only two juniors in the class. The rest of the students were sophomores. Randy Klein was the other. We were both in there as a result of failing a class the year before. Thank you Ms. Wisnicky!

We were seated alphabetically, two to a table. I ended up being at the last table in the back of the room, right next to the door. As luck would have it, the seat next to me was empty.

I don't think a lot of the students cared for Parkinson too much. But I liked him. I had no problem with him. He was much easier than Wisnicky. I think I ended up getting a "B" in his class.

Not that Parkinson was strict by any means. But kids tended to behave in his class for the most part. At least they did in my class. So there was very little drama. But I do have a couple of memories.

I can't recall what the deal was. But one day Parkinson went into a disappointed tirade about a Saturday Night Live sketch that apparently poked fun at some sort of disability. He was very upset about it, and encouraged us not to watch the show. As I'm sure anyone who had him knows, Parkinson was blind in one eye. Although I don't think the sketch was about that. But I got the impression that someone close to him was inflicted with whatever disability was being made fun of.

Parkinson's wife was a substitute teacher within the school system.

At the table to my left sat two class of 1990 honor students - Amy Miller and Diana Rank (sister of Ann). And believe it or not, they used to cheat on tests and quizzes from time to time. Being in the back of the room, and taking advantage of Parkinson's one blind eye, it was easy to get away with. Or was it Wendy Remiker (sister of Ross) instead of Diana? That could be. I can't recall for sure. If both were in that class, then it was Wendy, with Diana sitting at the table in front of them. But Amy Miller was definitely the other one.

It was in this class that I asked Randy Klein if he could score some acid for Richard and I. It was during that same conversation that Randy told me that he smoked pot at lunch everyday.

My biggest memory from that class was an incident involving the Satanic Bible. As I've explained before, it's merely a book. Despite what some believed (and I never discouraged it) I was never a Satanist - never was, never will be. But the book is fascinating nonetheless. Anyway, it was the day of a test. And we had the whole hour to do it. When I was done, I turned in my test, then sat and read the book. As others were still taking the test, it was obviously very quiet in there. But this weird feeling came over me at some point (a Satanic feeling? Ha!). I felt like I was being watched. So I lifted my head up from my book. Remember, I was in the back corner of the room. So I had a clear view of everyone. I shit you not. I literally had 30 shocked heads turned, staring at me and that book. I had no emotion. But I just glared back. And within a few seconds, every single head turned back in unison. Wow! I felt like I had some sort of power. I smirked to myself, and was laughing my ass off inside. From that moment on, I think a lot of kids were scared of me - not scared in a physical sense. But it was more like a "stay away from that freak" kind of fear. And I loved every minute of it!

Near the very end of the year, Parkinson and I had a conversation. He used to come and hang out by the door a few minutes before the bell rang. Somehow we started talking about George Harrison and his plagiarism lawsuit from the early 1970's. Harrison's song "My Sweet Lord" was accused of sounding like the Chiffons's "He's So Fine." And they do sound stunningly similar. Harrison was sued, and lost. I told Parkinson that I had a copy of the two songs back-to-back on a tape, along with some commentary about the case. He asked if he could use that for a class. So I made a copy of it for him. I'm sure it earned me some brownie points.

I never had Parkinson as a teacher again. I can't find any evidence that he's still teaching today. So I assume he's retired. I believe he still lives in Two Rivers. For awhile, he was the president of the Wisconsin Council of the Blind. He may still be. I don't know. Parkinson had a son. His name escapes me at the moment. Something tells me he was a few years younger than me. I think I can picture him in one of my yearbooks. But I don't think he graduated from Washington. I used to see him at the video store a lot. He was a nice guy - very smart too. I don't think I've seen his dad since high school though.

A MESSAGE TO BLOG_HATER

You're an idiot.

You hate me. You hate this blog. Yet you continue to read it, day after day, after day. Are you some sort of glutton for punishment? Or are you just an idiot? I've tried to extend an olive branch to you a couple of times. But apparently you're not interested, as all you've done is ignore me.

Hater, you may have noticed that your last few comments have been deleted. If you ever want to say something interesting, I'll keep them up for people to see. But your insults, veiled threats and bullying tactics are really juvenile. I've said it before. If you don't like this blog, then stop reading it. Why are you here? Only an idiot would choose to continue to do something that he hates doing.

One can argue that parts of this blog are in poor taste. I'll agree with that. But you can't argue with history and facts. Take a look at what I wrote about Kurt Psenicka. Was it very flattering? Yet Kurt Psenicka isn't the least bit concerned about how I felt about him 20 years ago. How do I know this? He told me to my face. Then he shook my hand a few times, and posed for pictures.

You said that you wished Kevin and I had stopped over by your house? I'll tell you what. Trip #2 is being planned at this very moment. Say the word. We'll be happy to knock on your door. Hell, we drove past your house the last time we were in town - very nice house by the way. You have some nice toys.

You know my E-mail addresses if you want to keep things "off blog." I look forward to hearing from you.

REQUESTS?

I have no rhyme or reason to my methods. I just pick and choose whoever pops into my head. I've had some requests for Ms. Sapa, Mr. Hensel and Mr. Wood. They will be along shortly. I have stuff to scan in for two of them. I've just been too lazy to do it.

Speaking of Hensel, I actually ran into him a few months ago. It was a very brief, but interesting conversation. So look for it!

If anyone has any pictures to share, please send them in. Brandon and Brad, I'm talking to you! And if anyone has any pictures from the school days, send them to me also. Birthday parties and stuff like that are gold.

If anyone's curious as to how I work. It's like this. All of my blog entries are done at home, in the evenings. On rare occasions I do one on the weekend. But it's usually week nights. I'm pretty good when it comes to spelling and grammar, So I always proof read everything. I then save the entries in an E-mail. The next day, my lovely wife then proof reads them as well. After doing so, she then creates the new entry on the blog. If you find a spelling error somewhere, please let us know. They're probably pretty rare. Although Kevin Dehne has spotted a few of them.

MR. WOLFE

Mr. Wolfe was one of the gym teachers at Clarke during 6th and 7th grade. I don't remember his first name.

Mr. Wolfe had a nickname. I have no clue if I'm spelling this correctly. But several of the students called him "Pogi." What the hell did that mean? I have no idea. I refused to call him that. I didn't find the man endearing at all.

See my entry on Julie Scott for another memory of the man.

I don't have a whole lot of specific memories about him. But I do know that he didn't like me. The feeling was mutual. He was a little bit strict too. So it's not like I fooled around a whole lot in there.

Wolfe had something wrong with his teeth. I can't recall exactly. It may have been a gap, or a missing tooth or something. But when he got angry, he would get right into my face and snarl. The man honestly looked like a beast close up. And when he got mad, he fumed.

Egged on by Jenny Malley, Kevin Dehne used to try and "depants" a few people from time to time. One of those victims was me. One was Toby Schwartz. Kevin used to literally sneak up behind us and pull our shorts down. Toby was lucky enough to have a shirt that practically went down to his knees. So you couldn't even see his udnerwear when he got hit. I wasn't as fortunate. All that fun came to an end one day when Wolfe spotted Kevin doing it. In no uncertain terms, Kevin was warned to stop, or face an immediate suspension. He stopped.

In the spring of 7th grade, I got in trouble for throwing a tennis racket up in the air. I was forced to sit by myself on the tennis courts, while everyone else participated in gym. That was no loss. But man, Wolfe was pissed! He came up and grabbed my shirt around the neck area, and forced me to the ground. Quite honestly, the punishment didn't fit the crime. I'm convinced that Wolfe simply despised me, and was always looking for a way to do something to me. Two things happened to me that day. Kevin spit on my jacket. Wolfe made him take it (a Brewers jacket) and go inside and wash it off. Kevin grumbled and walked as slow as could be. But he did it. Secondly, about a half hour later, Jason Anderson came by, looked down on me, and let out the biggest gob of spit I've ever seen. Oh well.

I can't recall exactly what happened. But somehow Kevin and I got in trouble one day. He kicked us out of the gym. We didn't know where to go, as he didn't tell us to go to the office or anything. So we went into the lunchroom, snuck down the back hall, and got back in the locker room to change our clothes. Then we went outside, and hung around the backdoor area outside of the gym. After about 15 minutes, Wolfe (for whatever reason) opened the door, saw us, and screamed at us to come back inside.

At the end of the year, Wolfe found the opportunity to come up to me and say, "Wardell, (they always say "dell") I hope they take my recommendation and hold you back a year." My response to him was, "You wanna put up with me for another year?" Then he smiled and said, "I won't have to. I'm not gonna be here next year."

Asshole. As if the gym teacher has that kind of power. I passed his fuckin' class. So what the hell?

I think Wolfe went over to Magee to teach. At least that's where he was during my senior year. I don't know what I was doing there, but I wandered around that school at some point that year. I think Scott Jaklin was with me. But anyway, we saw a small picture of him hanging on his office door. I wanted to rip it down and spit on it. But his office was in plain view of the main office. So I couldn't do it. I don't know where Wolfe is today. But I hope he's no longer teaching.

UPDATE - 9/7/07 - Well, it looks like we now know Mr. Wolfe's first name. It was Larry. Sad news from the Herald Times Reporter.

Posted September 6, 2007

Lawrence A. 'Larry' Wolfe


Lawrence A. "Larry" Wolfe, age 68, of Lakewood, died at his home with his family at his side after a short battle with cancer.

Larry was born on March 24, 1939, to Lyman E. and Myra Dillon Wolfe in New London, where he grew up. He served his country honorably in the U.S. Army. After his discharge, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, as a physical education teacher. He taught in Hartford for three years, and in Two Rivers for 28 years. On Aug. 7, 1965, he married Jeanne Cooney. Larry and Jeanne were honored by family and friends with a surprise 40th anniversary party in 2005. Larry was very handy, having constructed two homes: one in Mishicot where he raised his family and in which his son Brian and family now live; and the second in which he lived during his retirement in Lakewood. He was a member of the McCaslin Lions Club, Lakewood. He was an outdoor enthusiast, especially enjoying golfing, hunting and spending time with his grandchildren. Larry and Jeanne also enjoyed traveling.

He is survived by his loving wife of 42 years: Jeanne; two sons: Brian (Jenny) Wolfe, Mishicot; and Scott (Michelle) Wolfe, Green Bay; five grandchildren: Dylan, Carter, Jordan, Kyra and Lauren Wolfe; one sister: Jane Ann (Bruce) Kluge, Hortonville; two brothers: Tom (Sue) Wolfe, New London; and Dough (Pat) Wolfe, Waupaca; several nieces, nephews, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law also survive. He was preceded in death by his parents; and one sister: Jean Meshke.

The family will receive visitors on Saturday, Sept. 8, 2007, at St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Hortonville, from 9 until 10:30 a.m.

The funeral Mass is at 10:30 a.m. at the church, with Father David Lewis officiating.

Suminski Funeral and Memorial Service, Wabeno, 715-473-3131, is assisting the family.

Larry's family extends deep appreciation to everyone who helped them during his illness.

MR. HEIDNER

Mr. Heidner (Charles) was a teacher at Washington duing my freshman year. I didn't have him. But I believe he taught history classes. I'm not sure though.

By all accounts, Hediner was a really cool guy. I know that Meff really liked him. I remember him always smiling in the hallways. Of course what I remember most was the Rollie Fingers-type handlebar moustache that adorned his face. Or was that Mr. Schwantes? Yes, I think it was. Heidner just had a beard.

After freshman year, he was gone. I don't know where he went. But I do know that he was a principal, first in Kewaskum, then in Sturgeon Bay. You can read about that in the article below. Despite his apparent excitement about being in Sturgeon Bay, he didn't stay there very long. In the 1997-1998 school year, he was the principal of Adams-Friendship High School, in central Wisconsin.

I called the Adams-Friendship school. They said he retired seven years ago. Why is it that so many teachers retire at a relatively young age? I suspect that Mr. Heidner is still in Wisconsin, enjoying his retirement today.

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The, Mar 1, 1996 by ANNE DAVIS


High school Principal Charles Heidner resigned Thursday, becoming the fifth administrator in less than a year to leave the Kewaskum School District.

Heidner's resignation is effective June 30. He is leaving to become an elementary principal in Sturgeon Bay, where he will work with Kewaskum's former superintendent, David Heather.

Heather left the district last fall to become superintendent in Sturgeon Bay.

Heidner announced his resignation in a brief statement to high school staff Thursday.

"After many hours, days and months of discussion with Judy (his wife) and my doctor about mental and physical health needs vs. a sense of duty to you folks and the students at Kewaskum High School, we have decided to take a position in the Sturgeon Bay School District," the statement says.

Heidner, 52, said in an interview that medical reasons related to stress were a factor in his decision.

"This is the most difficult decision I have ever had to make," he said.

Heidner will take a pay cut from $59,600 a year to $56,000.

Because his contract with Kewaskum runs through June 1997, he paid $400 in liquidated damages. Under a standard contract provision, he is required to pay the money because he is leaving before his contract is up.

School Board President Neal Weare said he was not alarmed by the recent administrative turnover in the district.

Since last school year, curriculum coordinator Connie Strand, assistant high school principal David Dillman and elementary principal Kevin Steinhilber have resigned to take other jobs.

"I don't think anyone should read into it any more than there really is," said Weare, who suspects the small size of the district might be a factor.

As a career move, people often leave positions in smaller districts to work in a larger district, he said.

"Sometimes it's hard to accept resignations but I wouldn't want to stifle anyone's professional growth," he said.

Weare said he was not aware of any philosophic differences with Heidner.

"Not to my knowledge," he said. "He never expressed anything to me."

"I do wish him the best and appreciate the years he has given to the district," Weare said.

Heidner said he was looking forward to the chance to work with Heather again.

"That was one of the drawing cards," he said. "Over the years, I developed a very positive relationship with Dr. Heather."

He is also looking forward to the chance to work with younger students.

"It's going to be kind of a career change," he said. "I've spent 30 years working on the output side (of education). This is now going to give me a chance to work on the input side. I see this as a very exciting and challenging opportunity."

Weare said the board would formally accept Heidner's resignation at its next meeting March 11. No definite plans for finding his successor have been made, he said.

MS. WISNICKY (MRS. KLUCZINSKI)

I had problems with this woman - lots of them.

Ms. Wisnicky (I don't recall her first name) taught a variety of English/literature courses at Washington. She was somewhat strict and no-nonsense. She did however let us sleep in her class - provided we were able to do so by sitting up, keeping our eyes open, and keeping a smile on her face. In all her years, she said that only one student had been able to pull it off. I have news for her. He was faking it!

My first time with her was in sophomore year, for some literature class. I found the subject to be very boring. I also found her curriculum to be incredibly hard. Always one for "faking my way" through a semester, I had a real challenge with her. And she won. I ended up failing her class. It wouldn't be the last time.

In the fall of 1986, I had just come off of the whole "tile incident" from the end of freshman year. My social worker, in an effort to boost my grades, made me carry around a small notebook, in which every teacher was to write down what assignment I had to do for the next day. All my teachers were notified about this ahead of time. So there were no surprises. Wisnicky obliged for awhile. But at some point in early October, she snapped at me and said, "I'm not doing it anymore. You don't so the work anyway." Unfortunately, I had a court order against me that called for every teacher's involvement, whether they liked it or not. I told my dad about her refusal. He told my mom. My mom told my social worker (note, my mom was a social worker too, and had her office right next to his). My social worker then called the school, and ripped into Wisnicky for her refusal. The next day, she was back to signing my notebook.

As the semester wore on, it was clear that I was totally lost. So I just had fun with it. For one test, we had 14 multiple choice (A,B,C, or D) questions. I put my own letters in there instead. For #1 I put "L." For #2 I put "I." When I'd finished, if you read it from top to bottom, it spelled "Lit really sucks." I thought it was clever. She didn't. I think she even refused to grade it.

I also would use my creative writing skills to make ridiculous answers to questions. I recall a question which said something like, "What is the difference between going on the road in the 1800's, as opposed to doing it today?" I had goofy answers about better shoes and such. But I concluded it with, "In the 1800's, there was a never a chance of being killed by a nuclear bomb."

I next met up with her in my senior year. By this time she had apparently married (remarried?) and had become Mrs. Kluczinski. Something tells me her husband suffered a stroke or something during the year. Anyway, I was none too happy about having her, as I knew I'd have a tough time. One of the classes was composition. I can't recall the other one. Whichever one I had during the first semester, I failed. I damn near pulled it off though. At the last minute, I pulled together something like 50 book review-type things. She was very impressed, and gave me an A. But she still failed me for the class. Bitch.

I think it was also in that first semester class where we were given an assignment to read a classic novel. We then had to do a one-on-one oral book report with her at a later date. On Dave Svatek's advice, I chose "The Jungle." It looked interesting. But I had no plans to read it. Instead, I was going to get the cliff notes for it. Unfortunately, they turned up missing for the entire semester. I even tried to find a place to buy them - no luck. At the last minute, I made a half-assed effort to read it. I read about 10 pages, found it dull, and said "fuck it." When it came time for my book report, believe it or not, I actually tried to wing it. I actually pulled it off for maybe five minutes, before her questions overwhelmed me. I finally broke down, told her I'd read it a few years earlier (which was a lie) and that I thought I could wing it. She actually praised me for my honesty. Of course I still got an F.

Kluczinski bragged that when she ran into former students, they would tell her how her class was very much like a college class. She was proud of that. I was pissed off. Half of her students had no plans for college. Yet the difficulty level was just like it. Ugh.

At some point that fall, the new seat belt law came into effect in Wisconsin. Kluczinski remarked that she hated being told what to do, and didn't want to wear it. She kept saying it like she had no choice. I just wanted to shake her and say, "If you don't like it, don't wear it!" Apparently she was so law-abiding that she wouldn't dare not to wear it.

See my entries on Ann Rank, Ron Gretz and Rebecca Shedlosky for other stories involving her. The Ann Rank story REALLY pisses me off!

During my final semester in high school, I was hit with Kluczinski once again. I guess the third time was a charm. Because I somehow squeeked by with a D. Wonders never cease!

I have never run into Kluczinski since high school. Based on her age, I'd suspect that she probably retired recently. I put her up among the top most disliked teachers of my career. She was a liar (see my Ann Rank entry) and a bitch - at least she was to me. I don't miss her one bit.

MR. HANF

Mr. Hanf (Charles) was a shop teacher at high school. At least I think he was. Something tells me he was also in charge of selling milk during lunch.

I never had any shop classes. So I know almost nothing about this guy. However, I very recently found out some interesting tidbits.

For one, Ken Bartz told me that Mr. Hanf pulled him out into the hall, then hit him in the stomach, causing Ken to double over. And according to Kevin Dehne, he did the same thing to Randy Klein too. Another person also mentioned that Hanf picked up some other kid by his neck. If all of this is true, it's astounding to me that a teacher like that could continue employment. If it had happened to me, I may not have hit him back. But I wouldn't stand for being pummeled like that.

Although I never had him as a teacher, I had him as a customer quite a bit. He came into the video store a lot. I believe his wife's name is Margaret. As far as I know, he's out of the high school. I don't see a record of him being at another school. But who knows. Today it looks like he still lives in Two Rivers, and runs a small company which sells lumber and other materials.

MRS. MAKI

Mrs. Maki (can't recall her first name) was a 6th grade teacher at Clarke. I didn't have her in any class. But I had several run-ins with her.

I'll be blunt. I thought Maki was a total bitch. She seemed to have it in for me, even though I never did anything to her. What the fuck? All my problems with her stemmed from the lunch room.

At some point during 6th grade, Maki began to patrol the lunch room, looking for trouble. She found it in me, I guess. For some reason, the school attempted to crack down on those who ate hot lunch - specifically those who didn't eat EVERYTHING that was given to them. Mind you, I generally had no problem eating. I love to eat - still do. But on occasion, I left something uneaten. Usually it was vegetables, the result of not pulling my tray away fast enough before they plopped down some sort of corn or bean mess onto it. I hate vegetables. They make me throw up. It's a curse. I wish I could eat them. But I can't.

Anyway, Maki would station herself at the garbage cans. And if any hot lunch kid tried to throw away some food, she'd send them back to their table, and force them to eat it. What's the logic behind this? My lunch was paid for by my parents. Whether I finished it all or not should make no difference. It was paid for! I should have asked for a doggie bag. Sometimes Maki would give the standard "There are starving people in Africa who would love to have that food." Of course my standard cocky retort was something like, "Well let's mail it to them!" Maki would scowl. Every once in awhile you could sneak up there while she was looking at someone else, and quickly dump your tray, banging it on the inside of the garbage can, and sending whatever refuse you had into it. She hated that too, and would really bitch at you. But there were never any repercussions other than a tongue lashing.

One day we had chili. I ate it all, with the exception of the chili beans, and a little sauce. I walked past a sitting Randy Ertman. He must have been hungry, because he grabbed my spoon and quickly took a couple of bites. It was funny. But he didn't get it all. Maki then told me to go sit down and finish it. I sat down. But there was no way in hell I would eat anymore. She kept me in there until everyone else had left, refusing to let me go. Finally when she could wait no longer, she left to go back to her class. I then dumped my bowl and returned to my own class. Again, what was the point?

One day I decided to launch my empty milk carton into the garbage. I was literally only 15-20 feet away. So it was no big deal - or so I thought. Even though I made the shot, Maki blew a gasket. She dragged me out of there and sat me down at my locker, way back in the 6th grade area. There I was to wait until she could tell Mrs. Casey. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what the problem was. But when Casey came out of the teachers' lounge, and was told by Maki what I had done, she had a fit too. Maki didn't even get the opportunity to finish telling her the story, before Casey began blurting out, "He's just a pig. He's nothing but a pig!" That actually upset me. It was untrue and uncalled for. I'll have more on that incident when I write about her.

See my entry on Chris Thee for a humorous story on how he almost obliterated Mrs. Maki.

As late as 2003, I think Maki was still involved in teaching. I think she was associated with my old high school in some way. But I don't think she's there now. She may or may not be retired. She was younger than a lot of her peers back in the 1980's. So she may still be working somewhere. I haven't seen her. I don't really care to.

MR. LIUM

Mr. Lium (Dale) was the chemistry teacher at Washington. I never had the guy at all. Chemistry scared the crap out of me. Therefore, I pretty much got nothing on the guy.

Both Dave Svatek and Richard Wheeler had him for chemistry. I'm not sure if it was the first semester or the second semester. But in one of them, Richard passed by three points. Of course he couldn't break my record of one point for Mr. Otto's class!

Apparently he had a segment of class that dealt with "unknowns." I believe the students were given a vile of liquid or something, and had to run a series of tests to determine what it was. This went on for a few weeks I think. During that time, you never saw so many different students grumbling about the same thing. I guess it was really hard.

About the only other thing I got is that Dave once went over to his house (with a few other students) and shot a few a few hoops with him. That always struck me as a bit odd.

Mr. Lium has since retired. I believe his wife's name is Diane. I think he was invloved with the Clipper City Chordsmen in some capacity. Mr. Lium must like traveling. Because he and his wife have visited 34 foreign countries. That is indeed impressive!

UPDATES

I added all the pics from the trip Kevin and I took into the individual entries for each person we saw. I also added a few tidbits about each visit. In addition, I added a brief update on Jamie Tadych (about his nickname) and Wade Wachholz.

Lastly, I added a link on the right side of the page for the visit Kevin Dehne and I made. It's right below the link for pictures.

Enjoy!

MR. CONRAD

Mr. Conrad (Stan) was a science teacher at Washington. I first met him in the summer of 1986. Having failed the second semester of science, I got thrown into summer school. Mr. Conrad was the teacher.

I got along with him really well. He was a nice guy. After class (or during breaks) we would sit and talk about movies. He was a big collector, as was I. I ended up passing the course with flying colors. But still, what a bummer to have to spend six weeks in school. The class was 2.5 hours long too. Ugh.

In my sophomore year, I had Conrad for biology. I was happy with that. I had him for 5th hour, right after lunch. See my entries on Ben Franco, Doug Wall, Ray Kaszuba, Tammy Franzen, Sheila Vanne and Chris Soppe for other memories from that class.

Other people in that class included Ross Hofmann, Kevin Minkel, Diane DeBauche, Valori Franco, Pookie Bergeon, Chip Pelnar, Brian Belongie and Janice Ericson.

Conrad was a pretty easy-going guy. He wasn't a yeller or a screamer. Yet despite that, the students never took advantage of him. He seemed to be generally well-liked and respected for the most part.

Conrad always used the word "divvy" in place of "divide." In giving us instructions for in-class science projects, he would always say "divvy it up." I know it's a real word. But still, it sounded so weird to me.

Conrad's class was the one and only time I was ever exposed to animal dissection. For us, it was frogs. Conrad also had us all prick our fingers to take blood tests one day. No, he wasn't lookin for diseases. He was simply seeing what blood type we all were. In fact, I can remember that Pookie Bergeon was deathly afraid to prick her own finger, and had a hell of a time doing so. On the flip side, I can recall Chip Pelnar ripping a hole in his flesh, as opposed to the simple pin prick Conrad wanted. Chip had a lot of blood flowing that day. Sheila Vanne didn't have to do it, as she already knew her blood type. I think she had some sort of card in her purse.

One last thing that stands out is when we were talking about eye color. I don't know if it's true or not, but Conrad absolutely insisted that it was medically impossible for a human being not to have the same color eyes as one of his or her parents. A quick show of hands in the room verified that - with one exception. Chris Soppe spoke up and said that her eye color was different than both of her parents. Conrad stated that it wasn't possible. Then he moved on. But I always wondered if anyone else grasped the implications of that brief conversation.

I believe Conrad taught for many more years after I graduated. I believe he retired only recently. To my knowledge, he still lives in Two Rivers. Sadly, his wife passed away in the fall of 2005. I believe they have three kids, two daughters, and of course class of 1989's Stan Conrad Jr.

MRS. WALRUS

Some people have asked about the mysterious HappyMama. I don't know why I hadn't had a picture of her here before. But you can see her below.

A few nights ago, she found herself writing an E-mail to Erin Hynek, while at the same time, talking on the phone to Jenny Malley. Isn't life cool?

PAUL STREUBEL

Yes, he was a member of the class of 1988. But several months ago, he came onto this blog and left some comments for me in both Brandon Podhola and Richard Wheeler's entries. So... why not? This is a somewhat recent picture of the guy who ripped me.

BURT AND KEVIN DO THE TOWN

After about a month of planning, Kevin Dehne and I set the date of Saturday, July 15, 2006 as our day to "hit the town." We had a list. We had a plan of attack. And for the first time ever, we were ambassadors to the class of 1989 - self appointed of course. As luck would have it, we ended up picking the hottest fricken' day of the year.

We had roughly 20 people on the list. But we had one big goal in mind - find B.J. Lutterman. No matter what else transpired, if we could find B.J. the day would be dubbed a success. I'd made phone calls. I'd sent letters. But I had been unable to locate the man. But I was pretty sure he was still in the area. So we set out to find him. We had four potential addresses for him to hit. How would we do? Read on. In the case of the pictures, you can click each of them to get the full-sized version.

I picked Kevin up in Sheboygan around 8:30. And we were on our way. Our first stop was in Manitowoc. Near the lake, we pulled up to the home of Greg Pagel - our first victim! We rang the bell. And moments later, we were in his living room. We just caught him in time, as he was moments away from taking his son to tae-kwon-do class. But we had time for a few pictures. You can see them below. Greg's wife said, "Did I know we were having visitors?" Nope. No one knew! Ha! Before we left, Kevin plunked down a few bucks and purchased one of Greg's CD's.

Greg had no idea where B.J. was.







The next stop was B.J. One of potential addresses was on the south side of Manitowoc. We found the house. We knocked. But no one answered. No luck. So we packed it in, and headed out to Carrie Collard's.

I was a little nervous about dropping in on Carrie, seeing as she'd just had a baby eight days earlier. But that didn't stop us. As the sun was baking down on us, we sauntered up her front walk and knocked on the door. One of her sons answered, and apparently said, "Mom, there's some strange guys at the door." Carrie peaked her head around at me, showed no recognition, and said:

"Can I help you?"

"Hi... Carrie?"

"Yes?"

"Do you remember me?"

"No."

"I went to high school with you."

"Oh my God!"

Immediate recognition took place, and we were in the house. Carrie was still in her nightgown, but was very happy to see us. She didn't want any pictures taken. But I convinced her otherwise. It didn't take much. She was a good sport. She introduced us to her husband. And we talked to him for a bit, as Carrie ran and got dressed. One of her sons wasn't home. But the rest of the family was. The pictures are below. Carrie encouraged me to "keep up the good work" with the blog. Of course when I asked her if she happened to know where B.J. was, she had no idea. Let me be the first to say that Carrie hasn't changed a bit. She's as cute as ever. And that bubbly, always-smiling personality is still very much intact. What a delight.





The next stop was a scheduled drive-by. It was our first of three teachers - Mrs. Westberg. Just prior to reaching her street, Kevin said, "Wouldn't you just shit if she was outside?" We turned down her street. A truck had just parked. It had a personalized plate that caught my eye. It may have belonged to her. Sure shit, a woman stepped out. It was Westberg! We pulled around, decided that we couldn't pass up the opportunity, and caught her attention. She came up to the car and talked to us. She didn't quite recall us. But she did remember our names. Just as well. We talked to her for several minutes. When we told her we had her at Clarke, she replied, "I hated teaching there." What a great revelation!" Then she mentioned that "Wayne Rebarchek really got under her skin." At one point she said that little bits about us were coming back. So we took a picture or two, then left. What a score this was! I never asked her about B.J.



Our next stop was Toby Schwartz. His house was a bit tricky to find. In fact, we took a wrong turn. But as we were turning around, Kevin said, "I think Markus Petkevicius lives over there. And holy shit. I think that's him!" Kevin was right. Markus was sitting in his garage, shirtless, drinking a soda, and smoking a cigarette. Of course we stopped. As soon as he saw me, he said, "Burt, I read your blog!" Markus had a few stories to tell. He even showed us his scar, where he'd just recently broken his ankle. He said he blew a .38 the night he broke it - almost five times the legal limit. One can understand why he tripped and fell. Markus was a cool dude, and had a few stories to tell. But when I asked him about B.J. he had no clue. Markus gave us each a Mountain Dew.





So we backtracked and found Toby's house. But we didn't find him. No one was home. So we left a post-it on the door that said, "The class of 1989 was here."

Our next stop was Lenny Lewis. After his dogs stopped barking, one of Lenny's sons answered. He was the spitting image. He told us Lenny wasn't home. We asked when he'd be back. So he grabbed the phone and called him. Then he gave the phone to Kevin. Lenny would return in a few hours. So would we.

Just around the corner was where we thought Brian Klein lived. But he didn't live there anymore. The house was empty. Then we went to Ms. Sapa's house. You can see me on her porch below. She wasn't home either. We'd hit a string of bad luck. So we set off for Doug Wall and Kurt Psenicka's house.



As it turned out Doug and Kurt live right next door to David Coenen. David wasn't home. But Kurt was. When he marched out the door, we were greeted with, "Kevin, Burt, what's up?" Kurt looked like he just stepped out of a biker movie. His head was shaved and he had a goatee. He'd also recently broken or separated his left shoulder in a work-related accident. Doug wasn't home, having left to go to some little league baseball game out of town. I'd printed up Doug's blog entry to give to him. I told Kurt I didn't print his up because I hadn't been all that nice to him. Kurt simply said thathe wasn't concerened about what people thought about him back then. Thank you Kurt. That's the type of attitude I appreciate - and from Kurt Psenicka of all people. I asked Kurt if he's seen B.J. around. He said, "Yeah, I just saw him at Kwik Trip three days ago. He had that same shit-eating grin on him that he always did." A-ha! Our first big break! When I asked him if he knew where B.J. stayed, he had no idea. Oh well. I had three other potential address for B.J. They were all in Two Rivers. So I felt pretty confident that we would find him.

Kurt and Kevin reminisced about an interesting story. Apparently in 1989 or 1990, fellow graduate Becky Prausa was renting a house directly across the street from Kurt's. Craig Rysticken was also at that party. They ran into Craig at Super America, which was just up the block. Allegedly Craig was drunk and super obnoxious towards them. So they decided to get even. What did they do? They called the cops on them. And the cops showed up and busted the party. If I'm not mistaken (and I might be) this bust is mentioned by others, elsewhere in this blog.







We then went behind Sentry to the home of Rod Lumaye. His wife was home. But he wasn't. Rod wouldn't be back until 4:00.

Our next stop was the sight of Washington High School. It was very surreal. Below you'll see Kevin standing on a pile of rocks, looking in vain for the building that once stood there.



Our next stop was Paula Jonas. Paula had promised us liquid refreshments if we ever stopped by. The sun was hot everytime we stepped out of that car. A drink would have been divine. But would she be home? The answer is yes. In fact, she was right inside the door as we knocked. "Oh my God. And I look like crap!" We caught her just as she was about to take her kids swimming. And sure enough, she gave us each a Diet Coke. We spent a good 30 minutes with Paula. She had a lot of good stories too - some of which I'll refrain from writing about. If I had a nickel for everytime someone said, "Don't put this in your blog. But let me tell you something..." When I asked about B.J. she couldn't help us. Paula gave us a second soda for the road. And we were off.



Our next stop was Jeff and Brenda Gordon. They live in the house that was formerly owned by Meff's grandparents. It was only two blocks north of Paula. They knew we were coming, as Paula had called Brenda upon our arrival. So they showered and made themselves presentable. We were there for maybe 20 minutes or so. We took a few pictures - including one of Kevins's shoe. Neither one of them knew about B.J.







We then drove by the home of Jenny Malley's mom. Jenny had originally planned to be in town that day. But she'd E-mailed me the day before to say she had to work all day, and wouldn't be around. So we kept driving.

Our next stop was a drive-by. We passed by the home of Mr. Wood. It didn't look like anyone was home. It wouldn't have mattered. There was no way in hell we were going to knock on his door.

Our next stop was the place where Kevin and I first met - L.B. Clarke Middle School. The doors were locked up tight. So we couldn't get in. But we did peek through some windows. The place has changed quite a bit. But we did see one of the old curtains that divided the rooms. You can see us posing below.





We passed the old houses of Brad Strouf, myself and Lisa King. I think Lisa's family still lives there. Then we headed up to the home of Mike Polich and Ann Rank. Unfortunately, they weren't home. So we left a post-it note on their door as well.

Then we headed out into the country, and to the home of Keith Welnicke. There was a car and a boat in the driveway. But there was no Keith. So I left a note on their car that said, "The class of 1989 was here. You weren't."

We then headed up the road a bit to look for Mark Schreiber. We found the road, but not the house. I had the wrong address. So we were clueless. Then we saw a guy smoking a cigarette. I figured I'd ask him if he knew where Mark was.

"Excuse me. Do you know where Mark Schreiber is?"

"You're looking at him."

Bingo! Mark cautiously walked over to the car, peering in on us. He had no idea who we were.

"Can I help you?"

"We're here to take pictures of you."

"No you're not."

Finally as recognition sunk in, he told me to pull into his driveway. He was a little bit reserved at first. But he was a good sport. He invited us into the house, as he wanted to clean up a bit before taking any pictures. We'd come just at the right time, as he was only stopping home for a few minutes, as he was taking a break from working on a roof somewhere. Mark mentioned that he'd read his entry on the blog. He had no idea that the squirt gun he was hit with was full of piss. His kids couldn't be corralled for a family photo. So a few random pictures are below. You can see Mark, his wife, their son and their daughter. Mark had no clue about B.J.













Our next stop was the home of Rob Sisel. Mark gave us perfect instructions on how to get there. But it didn't matter. Rob wasn't home. So we drove up the road and headed into the trailer park. Our first stop was none other than Ken Bartz. Ken lives in somewhat of a fortress of a trailer home. It even has an underneath portion. The backyard was pile of dirt and a big hole. Kevin screamed, "Hey! Kenny?" Then a short-haired head popped out of a hole in a concrete wall.

"Holy shit... Kevin Dehne."

"Hey, (pointing at me) Look at this stranger."

"Burt."

He then directed us into the entrance of his fortress. He was watching TV with his girlfriend and a friend of his. I asked Ken if he knew where B.J. was. He didn't. But then the friend of his who was sitting there chimed in. "I know where B.J. lives." He gave us directions to an address in Manitowoc. It was an address we didn't have. He even gave us a phone number. I tried it. But it was disconnected. This guy was insistent that that's where B.J. lived. What a complete fluke that we stumbled upon this guy.

Ken was full of stories. He seemed a little spaced-out. But then again, he always did. In addition to several stories, Ken talked about his desire to "live off the land" so to speak. He also talked about his distrust of medicine. "They have a pill for everything." He also talked about how everything electronic should be worked by the push of a button. He didn't like remote controls. He gave us some Mountain Dew and some green Kool-Aid. Then we all took a walk to Troy Rezachek's trailer. "It's just around the corner." Yeah Ken... just around the corner. It was still a good hike. And by this time the temperature had hit 100 degrees.

We knocked on Troy's door. He recognized me. But he didn't know Kevin at first. He let us in and gave us a Mountain Dew. His house was immaculate. He introduced us to his 13-year-old daughter. Then he went online so I could show him the blog. We posed for pictures on his back deck, before heading back to Ken's, and hitting the road again.







Our next stop was Nick Novachek's house. We found him in the backyard, lounging in his kid's pool. He seemed quite happy to see us. We went into his garage, where he offered us something to drink. But every single thing in his refrigerator was alcohol. He had not one non-alcoholic beverage out there. Yes, that's the Nick I remember.

Nick has a great house, with a great view of the river. It was too hot to sit outside. So he invited us in. We spent perhaps an hour with him. All the while, Nick would say things like, "I should call Craig Rysticken and invite him over." Craig is one of Nick's neighbors. I can't tell you how many people we met who would laugh and say, "So are you going to visit Craig?" At one point, Nick said, "It's taking every ounce of my willpower not to call Craig. I'd just like to watch to see what would happen."

Nick was full of stories and gossip. I'll refrain from mentioning them. But needless to say, he confirmed a lot of things already mentioned to me privately, as well as on the blog. At one point a little boy showed up to play. But it wasn't Nick's son. I just knew from Nick's smile who'd walked in. It was Craig's son. Nick told him, "Hey, when you go back home, tell your dad that Burt and Kevin are over here." You can see some shots of Nick below.





By this time we were famished. We'd been drinking soda all day. But other than some Peanut M&M's, we'd eaten nothing. And it was after 6:00. So we decided to get a bite to eat. But we made one final stop at Family Dollar. Inside we met Tammy Swoboda. You can see some shots of her below.





We stopped at the M&M - a Two Rivers staple forever. We picked it over Phil Rohrer's, simply because it was closer to where we were. Despite all my years in that town, I had never eaten at either one these establishments. Phil Rohrer's is next. But I must say, the "meat monster" burger we had was awesome! I asked the waitress if she knew B.J. Lutterman. She shook her head no, and looked at me like I was nuts. Kevin picked up the tab. I left a generous tip. And we were off to try and catch Lenny Lewis again.

Unfortunately, we'd just missed Lenny. He'd gone to the grocery store. Oh well. We'll have to catch him another day. So we then set out to hit Toby once again. The note we'd left on the door was gone. But so was Toby.

It was about 7:00. And the heat had beaten us down. We were exhausted. But we had one final stop. Did the guy we met at Ken's house actually know where B.J. lived? We were about to find out. I called Jenny, and gave the phone to Kevin, who left her a voicemail as "the phantom caller." He told her we were off to try and find B.J.

Kevin knew exactly where the house was, as he knew the other guy who allegedly lived with B.J. We knocked on the door, but got no answer. So we decided to go in the back. We worked our way around the deck and heard someone in the backyard. We figured this guy would know. The guy was trying to put a dog into a pen. Then we heard, "Kevin... Burt!"

We had found B.J. Lutterman.

B.J. has changed some. But he still has the same smile and same laugh. And he had a million stories to tell us as well. We talked about Scott LeCoque, Jenny Malley and many others. Up until the time he moved to Nevada, Scott had lived right next door to them. B.J. said that he keeps a low profile and that only three or four people actually know where he lives - including the guy we'd seen at Ken's house. He said that had we stopped at any of the other addresses we'd had, no one there would have known where he was staying. So by a complete fluke, we were all together. B.J. has four kids with three different women. The age range is 1-16. We spent about 30 minutes with him, before he had to leave to go pick up his two oldest kids. We took a few pictures before he left. You can see them below.











All in all it was a great day. Our number one goal was reached. The elusive B.J. was found. We posed with Mrs. Westberg. We laughed all day. And yes indeed, we will do this again. So be ready.

Oh, in addition to all the pictures, I also took my camcorder. And I've got 47 minutes of footage. If anyone wants a copy, I'll be happy to put it onto a DVD for you. Just let me know.

MR. MARTEL

Mr. Martel was the 8th grade male gym teacher at Clarke. He replaced Mr. Wolff. I don't recall his first name. Was it Dale?

Martel was a bit of a jerk. I never much cared for him. I think the feeling was mutual. But he did something really shitty once. The story is this. One day our class went to Washington for swimming. Martel was gone that day. We had a substitute. It may have been Mrs. Sigourney. Anyway, in the locker room, after we'd changed, we tried to get into the pool area. But the door was locked. Being a substitute, she didn't know that she had to unlock the door. So anyway, Greg Flemal and I started pounding on the door - quite loudly. Then we started screaming, "Let us out! Let us out!" After a minute or two, Mrs. Anderson (the girls' gym teacher) opened up the door, and said, "That's enough!" She then told us all to go back inside, and get dressed. Our punishment for being so loud was not having to swim that day. Punishment? Anyway, we all got dressed, sat on the bleachers, and watched the girls swim. It was the quietest swim class we'd ever had. And everyone was quite happy with me.

At our next gym class, Martel was back. As the bus started to roll to Washington, he got up and addressed the situation that had taken place during the previous class. He said something like, "I don't know exactly what happened. But I've put a checkmark in the gradebook next to everyone's name. I don't know who did what. But whoever it was, the rest of you can take it out on them on your own time." In other words, Martel endorsed physical violence upon Greg and I. Is that something a teacher should do? Of course Greg was quiet and meek. No one remembered his involvement. But they remembered me. I received a few punches that day. In addition, David Kanera kicked me. And Ross Hofmann gave me a "noogie." Plus Ross cussed me out in the locker room. I couldn't believe a teacher would do something like that. What an asshole!

About the only other memory I have of him is from later that year. It was after lunch. And Kevin Dehne and I were sitting on the bleachers. Sometimes we had a habit of sticking up our middle finger, but leaning our heads on our hands. In essence, we could flip off the teachers without them even realizing it. Martel was a lunch monitor that day. And I was flipping him off the whole time. But he figured it out. He screamed at me to come down from the bleachers. So I did. He then pulled me in the hall, grabbed my middle finger, and started to bend it back as far as it would go, without breaking it. He more-or-less told me never to do that again. I think he gave me a slight sprain. Oh well. It was worth it to be able to flip that fucker off.

To my knowledge, I've never seen him since I left Clarke. I have no idea where he is today. And I don't really care.

MR. VOGT

Mr. Vogt was the principal at L.B. Clarke. If memory serves, he had short, curly, red hair. And the man was an asshole.

I never had much contact with the man during 6th grade. But I was in his office at least once, after I'd left school one day, when Mrs. Casey pissed me off. I'll write about that little incident when I get to her entry. Other than that, I don't recall dealing with him again until 7th grade. But I made up for lost time.

In 7th grade, my troublemaking days pretty much peaked. I saw Vogt on a weekly basis. The man hated me. I don't blame him. I was always getting into some sort of mischief. He was very mean about it though. He would yell and was just terribly brutal. He ruled by fear, to be sure.

I don't think I'm telling any tales here, when I say that the man was an alcoholic. I was too naive at the time to know much about it. But I'll say this. There were times when I'd be sitting in his office. And he would pour a bottle of booze into a cup, and drink it while he yelled at me. He kept the bottle in the lower right drawer of his desk. Again, I didn't think it was a big deal. But obviously, that sort of behavior is unacceptable. My parents often had to meet with Vogt for various conferences regarding my discipline problems. And my mom has since said to me that she could tell right away that he was an alcoholic, due to the reddening around his nose and eyes. I eventually told my mom about his drinking in front of me. (I was in high school by this time). Her jaw dropped. I asked her if I'd told her about that back when it happened, would she have done something. She said, "You better believe it!" Wow. Had I not been so naive, I could have gotten him fired. What a notch on my belt that would have been!

In my senior year, Doug Wall and I were reminiscing about our days at Clarke. And he said to me, "Man, Vogt would come back from lunch. And his breath smelled like a fuckin' brewery." Doug was right. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I was often kicked out of chorus class - as were Doug and Kevin Dehne. We had chorus for 5th hour, which was right after lunch. So inevitably, we'd be sitting in the hall, when Vogt came back from lunch. We saw him quite often. And there were times that we'd see him stumbling a bit as he walked down the hall, back to his office. It's amazing he didn't kill anyone on his drives back to school. Perhaps the alcohol contributed to his nasty disposition as well. I can recall sitting in the hall by myself one day. I can only surmise that Doug and Kevin were sick that day. Anyway, Vogt shuffled around the trophy case, saw me, and snarled. He came by, reached down, and pulled me up by my hair, saying, "I'm getting sick and tired of your shit!" Geez, all I was doing was sitting there. He dragged me by the hair, all the way down to his office, where he sat me down and screamed some more. What a jerk.

Vogt had the dryest laugh of any human I've ever known. It was just strained wind that would come out of his throat. I obviously can't do it justice in a description. So if you see me, as me for a demonstration.

In April of 2006, I became privy to an old piece of gossip about Mr. Vogt. Apparently he was a drinking buddy with a female teacher at either Koenig or Case. And according to the person who provided this gossip (someone very close to the situation) not only were they both alcoholics. But they were having an affair with each other as well. Both were allegedly cheating on their respective spouses. Now obviously, I have no idea if this little tidbit is true. But this person insists it is.

See my entries on Kevin Dehne and Mrs. Westberg for other stories about Mr. Vogt.

When Vogt suspended Kevin and I for the first time (see Kevin's entry) he was happy as hell. He was laughing at us, and saying we'd earned a "three day vacation." I've never seen a man so overjoyed about such a thing. I guess he was happy to not have to deal with us for a few days.

I'll never forget the day that we came back from our suspensions. It was a rule that a suspended student had to bring one of their parents in to meet with the principal in order to be let back into school. That morning, I walked into the office. And of course I saw Kevin and his mother sitting there as well. Of course Kevin starts to "cough" words to me. And it makes me laugh, even though I'm trying not to. Then Kevin laughs, turns to his mom and says, "That's how we talk sometimes."

8th grade was a bit different for me. For whatever reason, the amount of trouble I got into was reduced substantially. Perhaps it was because I only had Kevin in two classes, and none with Doug. Although I did have a lot of problems with Mr. Kern. But Kern dealt with those issues himself, rather than involving Vogt. More on him later. Anyway, about midway through the year, Vogt called me into his office one morning. I was scanning my brain to think of what I'd done recently that he could have busted me for. But no. He actually sat me down in his office, and praised me for being so good that year. Yes indeed! He said I'd "turned over a new leaf." I'll be damned! Mr. Slattery was in there too. And both of them heaped praise on me. That really shocked me. Of course later in the year, I did in fact receive two one-day "in-school" suspensions. But for the life of me, I don't recall what I did to get them. I even wrote an essay (for fun) that day, entitled "The joys of an in-school suspension." I still have it. Perhaps I'll scan it in.

After I left Clarke, I don't think I ever saw Vogt again. However, his son Andy was in high school with me. He was a senior when I was a freshman.

Around 1996 or so, I read in the paper that Vogt had passed away. I don't recall the cause of death. But I think he died relatively young.

MRS. SCHROEDER

Mrs. Schroeder was the special education teacher at Clarke. I never had her. I have no idea what her first name was. She had a tiny office, located just outside the library, near Mr. Trembley's room. She had brown curly hair. She sort of looked like a giant chicken. During 7th grade, she was pregnant.

Although I never had her, I did have a few run-ins with her from time to time. She was very unfriendly. I was only around her because I was friends with Doug Wall. Doug had her for a few classes throughout his day, in 7th grade. He probably had her in 8th grade too.

I really only have two memories of her. Both are from 7th grade. Doug was in with her, after school. I was hanging around with Chris Storlie. We wanted to tell Doug that when he got out, he should come over to my house. But Schroeder refused to let us talk to Doug. And she refused to pass the message on as well. What a bitch! So I had a pretty simple idea. Chris and I walked around for a few minutes, killing some time. When we approached Schroeder's door again (which was closed) I told Chris to kneel on the floor, yell under the door, and just tell Doug to come over. Chris laughed, but pulled it off. Schroeder never even had time to come out and scold us. Chris said his message. Then we left. A little while later, Doug showed up at my door.

The only other memory I have from her is from detention. Different teachers would take turns monitoring detention. One day when I was in there, it was Schroeder's week. After she took roll call, she told Mike Skattebo (a thug, and would-be member of the class of 1988) to move to a different seat. Mike refused. They exchanged a few words. But Mike didn't budge. Schroeder gave up trying. Quite honestly, I might have also. Mike was not a guy to be messed with. Of course Mike is in prison today. Anyway, a few minutes later, Schroeder also asked another kid to move to a different seat. That kid was a 6th grader named Chris Miller. Interestingly, he was apparently a cousin of Mike Skattebo. But while Mike was a big mountain of a man, Chris was a little runt. But Chris wanted to be cocky like his big cousin Mike. He mouthed off too, and refused to move. After a brief confrontation, the pregnant Schroeder grabbed Chris by the ear, and yanked him out of his desk, putting him in another seat. I'm sure he was mortified by the embarrassment.

After I left Clarke, I never saw Mrs. Schroeder again. Where she is today is a mystery. If I knew her first name, perhaps I could track her down.

HEAR KEVIN

Kevin Dehne replied to my message from yesterday. I'm not sure why. But it made me laugh out loud. I had to listen to it several times. If you want to hear it, dial 1-888-752-5277, then put in pin# 5319878.

When you're done with that, hit redial, then put in pin# 7711305. You can hear a Kevin Dehne memory of mine, as well as some information on some music from the 1980's.

ENJOY!

And as always, follow the instructions, and give me a reply. It's all free!

MR. SCHMID

Mr. Schmid (Paul) was the computer teacher in high school. His room was up on the 3rd floor, next to Mr. Heuer's.

I had Schmid during my junior year. I don't recall if it was the whole year, or just the second semester.

Mr. Schmid wore glasses, and seemed like he was always sort of grumpy. He appeared way too serious all the time - like he was in a state of constant constipation. I'm not sure I ever saw him smile.

I sat in the front row. on the far right. I believe Wyatt Wood was on my left. I have to thank Wyatt for his help in that class. He would often let me "borrow" his disk, in order to copy a program for our assignments. He did get mad at me once though, when I borrowed it without asking him first. He simply told me not to do that again - unless I asked. Wyatt bailed me out of consumer economics my senior year as well. Good guy, that Wyatt.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who "borrowed" assignments. One day after we'd all turned in our disks, he handed out a piece of paper, and asked that everyone rewrite the program that they'd turned in the day before. It was a very short, simple program. But many people (including myself) didn't know it. Busted! He never said anything to any of us. But I'm sure he made some sort of note in his gradebook about it.

Anyway, I never really cared much for Schmid. But I never had a problem with him either. Save for Wyatt, I was a mute in the class. So I wasn't a problem to him. About the only incident I can recall, didn't even happen in my class. I heard that in another class, Schmid was doing something on the board, when he asked fellow graduate Greg Flemal to pick a number between 1 and 100. Greg answered with "69." How incredibly juvenile. But I love it! After the class chuckled, Schimd apparently went off on him, saying stuff like, "I bet you think you're funny, don't you?" Whatever. I for one appreciate the childish humor there. I think Scott Jaklin is the one who told me that story.

One day in class, Schmid got on his soapbox, and started preaching about the Lions' Club - which he apparently was a member of. He talked about the importance of cornea donations, which the Lions' Club was sponsoring. I have no clue where that sermon came from. But he went on and on about it for 10 minutes.

In 1990, I got a part-time job selling tickets to the Capitol Civic Center for the 1960's group "The Vogues." Ever heard of them? No? Well no one I called had either. They had a minor hit with a song called "Five O'Clock World." Anyway, some of the proceeds were going to the Lions' Club cornea donations program. Hello! Instead of going down the names in the phonebook, I called Mr. Schmid. I thought I had a sure sale. I read him my script. Then he simply said, "Not interested." Bastard! I think I had that job for three nights. I sold one pair.

I don't know where Mr. Schmid is today. He may have retired. He may not have. But he's not in my high school any longer.

HEAR ME

It's voicemail time again. Dial (toll free) 1-888-752-5277. Then enter pin# 5741092. And as always, leave me a return message. It's all free!

UPDATES

I've added an alphabetical listing for the teachers. It's below the alphabetical listing for the classmates.

I've added a picture of my makeshift crossbow. You can see it in Mr. Otto's entry.

I need to give a welcome back to Lisa Koch. She chimed in yesterday. Long time, no comment! Now whatever happened to Joe Antonie, Jeremy Karman, Drew Konop and Jason Anderson?

I need to say hi to fellow graduates Ross Hofmann and Sheila Vanne. Apparently they have stopped by to read. Although they have remained silent. Hi Ross. Hi Sheila.

Oh, I'd also like to say hi to class of 1987's Molly Moore. Of course she's Molly Peterson these days. She's the older sister of fellow graduate Mindy Moore. Molly, I never knew you, and never said a word to you. But welcome. Say hi to your sister for me. Oh, and say hi to your other sister Cami (class of 1992). I shared a class or two with her at the Center in Manitowoc. She was a major hottie. Three cute sisters - I would have loved to have been your next-door neighbor back then. Molly, I bet you're familiar with some of these teachers. Feel free to provide some input!

UPDATE - CARRIE COLLARD

Carrie Collard gave birth to a baby girl on July 7th.

CONGRATULATIONS CARRIE!

MR. OTTO

Mr. Otto was the geometry teacher at Washington. His room was on the first floor. I had him during my junior year.

Otto's room had tables. Two students sat at each one. I was put next to class of 1990's Jason Krings. Jason and I got to be friends that year. He was a pretty cool dude. We sat at the second table from the front, in the middle aisle. Class of 1990's Rick Halada sat in front of us. Rick and I used to mockingly threaten to beat the shit out of each other all the time. Rick was cool too. Cindy Hayes and Chris Staudinger sat at the table behind us.

Anyway, Otto was an older teacher. He was a good guy. But it seemed like he was stuck in the 1960's. In fact, with his short hair and old-looking glasses, he looked just like a student picture out of my parents' high school yearbooks.

If you've ever taken geometry, you might recall that what you learn early on, must be continually used throughout the year. So if you get lost early, you might as well give up. That was my case. I think I got a D in the 1st quarter. The second quarter found me with an F. There was a rule that in order to pass a semester, you had to pass two out of the three things - each quarter plus the final exam. If you fail two of the three, you failed the semester. Even if you had an A+ and two F's, you'd fail. So I had to pass the final exam in order to pass the semester. I was sunk. The first day back, after the exam, Otto was out sick. Mrs. Sullivan (mother of fellow graduate Beth) was the substitute. She had Otto's gradebook, and showed each of us our results. I got 50% correct on the exam. In other words, I failed. But wait! As we found out later, Otto graded the exam on a curve. And 50% was the cutoff point for passing. So I passed the semester! If I'd had one more wrong on the test, I'd have failed. Score!

In the second semester, I got "F" "F" and "F." Oh well.

Since I was totally lost, I pretty much gave up. I simply showed up for class, and would joke around with Jason for the hour. I remember one time Otto looked at me and said, "Burt, you're 1,000,000 miles away. And Jason, you're not helping him any." But the best was yet to come.

Picture the scene. Otto was up at the chalkboard, explaining the pythagorean theory or something. Everyone had their compass' and protractors out, and were busy doing stuff on paper. Well... everyone but me. I had never even opened my books that day. Instead, they were all closed and were neatly stacked in the upper right corner of the table. Instead, I was leaning back in my chair, reading the Satanic Bible. What a sight. Being so close to the front of the room, I'm surprised it took Otto so long to notice me. But when he did, he blew a gasket. He slammed his pointer stick onto his desk, then yelled, "Burt, follow me! And take that damn book with you!" Otto then lead me down the hall and up the stairs to the second floor. I was sure I was on my way to see Mr. Wood. But no! We passed right by his office. Otto then turned around, pointed to Wood's office and said, "This is where I should be taking you. But I'm taking you to a counselor. And believe me, you need counseling!"

When we got to Mr. Boehlke's office, Otto sat me down in a chair. Then he went off on some sort of bizarre tirade about hippies in the 1960's throwing horse shit on police cars, and how they're now yuppies making $70,000/year jobs. He carried on for a couple of minutes, then left. Mr. Boehlke and I looked at each other in stunned silence. Then the normally reserved Boehlke burst out laughing. He then said to me "Mr. Otto has to kick someone out of his class maybe once every five years. You're the one. Congratulations!" We both laughed.

I assured Boehlke that I wasn't a Satanist, and that it was only an interesting book. He was fine with that, but pleaded with me not to read it in Otto's class anymore. Five minutes later, I was back in class, with no repercussions.

In my trapper keeper, I had some rubber tubing which I'd stolen from Mr. Conrad's class the year before. I came up with a cool idea. Using both my compass and Jason's, I connected them together with a pencil. Then I tied the rubber tubing around the top of each compass. In other words, I made a makeshift crossbow. And it was awesome. It worked great! That thing would could shoot a pencil or pen incredibly fast. Of course our compass' would no longer work. Oh well. I still have it. In fact, you can see it below. Instead of a pencil, it's held together with a pen now. It's so perfect. You pull back on the tubing, and you can actually set the pointy end of the pen or pencil on the "sight" - which is the part where you stick the pen in. Geometry was fun. But I didn't learn much.



I believe Otto had formerly been the coach of the girls basketball team. I think he still assisted from time to time. I believe he ended up retiring a few years after we graduated. As far as I know, he still lives in Two Rivers - a block or two east of Magee. If I'm not mistaken, a small college scholarship in his name is awarded to a high school graduate every year.

MR. KLECKNER

Mr. Kleckener (Bob) was the computer teacher at Clarke. I had him in 8th grade, for the 4th quarter. Or was it the 3rd and 4th quarter? I don't recall.

Mr. Kleckner was a decent enough guy. If memory serves, he kind of had a voice like Fozzy Bear. Waka waka waka! On the first day of class, he gave everyone a disc with an adventure game. The game featured us walking around in a ghost town or something. "In front of you, you see a mule, a sack, and a sign." You could then give commands like "read sign." Primitive, yes - but it was a lot of fun.

Each student was given a floppy disc. Somehow, someone got a hold of the game Frogger. And it got copied and passed around to a lot of the students. But we weren't allowed to play it - especially in class.

Greg Flemal was my partner in class. Chad Daffner sat at the computer to my right. Chad actually missed the first week of class, as he was in Florida on vacation. So he was really lost when he got back. Anyway, one of the first things we had to do was to have a program that had our name on it. And it had to be centered perfectly. It had our name, the class name, and the hour. Well, I helped Chad out. His first and last name actually has the exact same amount of letters as mine. So I put his name in place of mine, then copied it to his disc. As a joke, I also gave him a copy of Frogger. Chad put the disc in. And once his name was done scrolling by, the game popped up. As luck would have it, the volume on his computer was turned all the way up. So Frogger started beeping and blaring in the library. Kleckner was furious. Chad didn't know what was going on. He looked lost. I simply turned away and giggled.

I don't have a whole lot of memories from that class. I do recall Kleckner once telling us that he'd read that some computer company was fixing someone's computer once, and they found a lipstick inside of it - something that couldn't possibly fit. How it got there was a mystery.

I'm pretty sure that Kleckner came over to the the high school, at some point while I attended. I'm not sure what he taught. Because Mr. Schmid was the computer teacher there. Maybe they had two. I don't know. I do know that Kleckner was the coach of the chess team as well. Is "coach" the proper title?

Around 1990 or so, I was in Book World, in downtown Manitowoc. If anyone is familiar with that store, you'll know that in the magazine section, the first part of it is filled with pornographic material. On this day, I walked in. And there was Kleckner, sampling the porn. What an odd moment. He may not have known my name. But I think he recognized me. He left a minute or two later - with his purchase.

Kleckner still teaches at the high school to this day. It looks like he teaches math.

WELCOME - KIM NOKES

Yes, the lovely Kim has stopped by and left comments in her entry. Hopefully we'll hear more from her as well. Welcome!

I've also added a new picture of Kevin Dehne.

I promise a new teacher entry before this day is done.

Oh, I've recently made contact with a very recent graduate of our high school. She's said she can E-mail me some scans of teachers from her yearbooks. There are still a few of them left at the school. So hopefully I can get Craig Rysticken, Shawn Rappley (now known as Shawn Engleman) Mrs. Kulas, Mrs. Fischer (now known as Mrs. Charles) Mr. Schott, Mr. Wenner, Mr. Boehlke, Mrs. Hanson, Mr. Wegner, Mr. Kleckner, Mrs. Lambries, Ms. Neveau (now known as Mrs. Olszewski) and Mr. Scriver.