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New page! It's called "Reflections" and that is what it's all about.

I know all of you have memories you could share with the rest of us. Remember, this is your website and it's only as good as we make it, so email those memories to me and I will add them for you.
  


Just a quick note between greeting trick or treaters! I've not been on the website for a long time and, thanks to your reminder, I got on and began to read the memorials this evening. Being reminded again of John Dunmore's death, of what a great teacher Jim - "The Jolly Green Giant" was, of John Clark's many accomplishments as a scientist, yet also as a human being, of Nita's great laugh, about Phyllis Eggers' short but merry life. (Phyl and I were married the same month and 'the girls' of our class gave us a joint bridal shower that summer.) Since I only spent two years at Sycohi, I never knew all of you as I was growing up, so my memories are shorter, but somehow they're the best.

 

I especially appreciated Gene's writing about the Dunmores. Since they were my dad's parishioners, we knew them well. Kathleen and I got to be even closer after John was killed. I was double dating with her the night she and Don got engaged! But, as Gene says, John was a really special guy. My dad talked often and proudly about John, who never missed his turn as crucifer at St. Peter's. Dad was impressed that a guy who was a football and basketball player would also be so loyal to his church responsibilities. And, he did have a great family, although his death nearly killed all of them, especially Brune, they did 'move on' however sadly.

 

 

Thanks for all you're doing to keep this website up and preserve some memoories that might otherwise be lost.

 

Peace!
Louise Emenheiser Bower (11/1/09)

Louise (Emenheiser) Bower: Interesting Article in AARP Magazine on growing up in a small town like Sycamore.

Just today I've been reading an article in the AARP Magazine (Face it, folks! We all get it - and have for some time.!) The article by David Halberstam, historian and journalist of much fame, is called "How We all Turned Out" and tells of his one recent attempt to go back to a school reunion in a small town in Connecticut where he spent some of his pre-WWII school years. (After the war, his dad - by then a decorated war veteran - tried to set up medical practice as a surgeon there. But, as a Jew, could not get surgical privileges at the local hospital, so the family relocated to New York.)

Apparently, his little home town as he describes it sounds a lot like the Sycamore Gene described in his essay - a safe, quiet place where kids could play together all summer long with few cares, though their parents were just half a generation away from the Depression and fighting hard to give their children a better start than they had.

Just thought I'd mention this, as I'm sure most of you would enjoy reading what Halbersham has to say about his school/community experience. It's in the September/October issue.

 

Also Louise's refections on Life and Death.

This seems to be a summer when, as it comes to an end, I am feeling as if I've done little but go to funerals and write sympathy notes. (Of course, I've also had a successful recovery from the only major surgery I've ever had, and - once recovered - helped clear, paint, and reorganize our garage with a whole new storage system.) But, the dominant sense every since mid-May here has been the loss of friends and colleagues: several colleagues from around our local church area, an old college friend, the guy who was Best Man at our wedding, and - just today - received word of the death in June of John Weaver who was the Band Director when a lot of you were in junior high, I'll bet. He was my father's organist at St. Peter's Church for over 50 years. So, that's the local connection for those of us who grew up or spent part of our growing up years in Sycamore. I'm trying to become reconciled to the fact that we, at nearly 70 are at "that age" when we will be going to more and more funerals, until it's our turn.

I'm starting to think about things I'd like to be sure are completed before it's my turn: family photos, mending an antique quilt so I can pass it on, organizing some things no one else would know about. But, how do we prepare for our own death? Is that too gloomy a thought for a summer's evening? We'll either be "ready" or we won't give it a thought and the time will come anyway. Surely it would not be out of order to spend a few minutes now and then looking back and asking ourselves what difference it has made that we were here, what memories our families will have of us, and what we'd like to be remembered for.

Reading the biographical material all of us sent in before the reunion last year was a wonderful way to catch up on the 50 years since we last walked out the door of Sycamore High. Most of us seemed to be saying that we had had good lives, filled with friends and family, love and laughter, tears and loss, changes (always that!), yet satisfaction with lives well lived within whatever limits life had imposed.

My best prayer is that we all may rejoice in the lives we've had, forgiving ourselves and others for past hurts, enjoying every day we are given, and preparing to face whatever the rest of our lives holds with confidence and peace. 

Nancy Niewold: Summers in Wisconsin, trying to stab Jack Lindstrom, and friends almost get caught smoking.

When I was in about 5th grade, my dad bought some property in Wisconsin and built a  summer cabin. It really wasn't all that big, but it was full of beds. It had two bedrooms, one  with a crib and a double bed, the other bedroom had a double bed and bunks, the living room had a pull out bed and the screened in fromt porch had two or three more cots. The bathroom didn't have a shower and the tub didn't work till about 4 years later. We took a bar of soap off to the beach and  washed ourselves in the lake all summer. We also washed our hair like that as well. I bet we smelled good. Kind of fishy. My mom and dad allowed me to bring friends there most all summer. One year , I believe I was about 14 or 15, for my birthday, I took about 6 friends up there. We all ran off to the beach and it had rained so we could not tell where the little swampy  ponds were from the grass area that we crossed to the beach. Alice Cudden fell in a swampy area and we went back home to clean up all the  sludge from the swamp she fell in. She got out of there with seaweed hanging all over her. She sat down wet, on a comic book  and had Little Lulu imprint all over her legs and rear. Nita and Alice and I, don't remember who else, got so sunburned the first day that my mom filled up a pan of water and added plenty of vinegar. We all took turns standing in the pan while she doused us with vinegar water. It was suppose to take the burn out. I believe that it did somewhat, but Alice couldn't go back into the sun. I know that Pat and Mary Crosby were there as well. Everytime my brothers and sisters and I get together, we laugh about Little Lulu on Alice's legs. 

When I was in sixth grade, Jack Lindstrom sat behind me in Mr. Aldrich's class. Jack asked to borrow a pencil so I lent him one with my dad's  General contractor advertisement on it. He looked at the pencil and said, "he's a lousey contractor". I got mad, and turned around and stabbed him with my pencil . I got in trouble with Mr. Aldrich.  He told my dad and when I got home my dad gave me a big lecture on lead poisoning and  using my bad temper on people. I never forgot it either. 

When we were in high school, probably freshman, Jacquie Mable had a slumber party. That was the first time that I tried smoking. I don't know where we got cigarettes, but we went out in fromt of her house in the dead of night and lit up. We were laughing and making so much noise that her parents called down from an upstairs window and told us to get inside. They still didnt know we were smoking. We were all in a panic that we would get caught smoking.  We all threw away our cigarettes onto dry leaves and ran inside. Now, we were afraid a fire would start so two of us snuck back outside and collected all of the cigarette butts. I dont know what we did with them. That was my last attempt at smoking for life. Isn't it strange that 55 years ago, about the worst thing we did was try to smoke? Times sure have changed havent they? 

There are so many classmates that more or less disappeared. I remember Richard Cornwall best. He was so funny. He lived with his grampa outside town and wore overalls and never had much of a good haircut. I used to imitate his laugh at the dinner table at home. Whatever happened to Frank (Sonny) Hammond? It seems that all of a sudden someone would not return and later years I wondered about these two. Finally, Patty Cretsinger mentioned Marilyn Plucinski. Her cousin Guard Herd lived up on Fair Street too and they must have moved. The Kempton girls  kind of disappeared as well. They lived with their dad in a run down shack. I think that the dad worked at the park for sometime. I could go on and on...........
                                                     

Pat (Cretsinger) Nelson: Whose telephone number was Hudson three-two-seven hundred, skate keys, and kick the can.

My Dad was transferred to the Anaconda factory in Sycamore from Marion, Ind. in 1942.  Our house was one of the “war houses” on West Street.  I think these houses were actually built for the returning servicemen, or maybe they were called that because they were built during the war.  Dorothy Becker, Jack Daniels, Marilyn Plucinski, June Balsis, and Arlene Jackson all lived in this west end of town.  We had a lot of fun playing baseball in the vacant lot by Arlene’s house, and at night we would gather to play kick-the-can until one of our mothers would yell for us to come in.  I remember Dave Drenckpohl and Joe Peplow would sometimes wind up with us too.  Since this was a new edition in town the sidewalks were all straight and even and we’d roller skate lots of mornings.  Remember those old skates with keys?  I actually found a skate key at an antique store – now that was a bummer!   I wish I could remember all of the jump rope verses we use to sing – and then there was hopscotch, red light and even “Truth or Consequences” or some such I-dare-you game.   Life was good for us kids back then!

 

Not every thing was roses and sunshine though because in the course of our growing up, Dorothy had polio, Jack got whopping-cough and I had scarlet fever.  I guess you could say these diseases are antiques now.  Of course with each of these diseases we got a “quarantine” sign posted on our front door.

 

Remember the outdoor swings and gym ladder at West School?  I remember once swinging and teetering on the ladder and whoever was on the other end let go and I went to the ground under the ladder and got the wind knocked out of me.  And then I remember, I think it was Nancy Reh, swinging (a swing that actually had a wood seat!!!) and pumping hard, trying to go over the top bar.  I don’t remember if she made it or not.   Boy that wouldn’t happen today.

 

Television was new in the 40’s and 50’s.  The one advertisement that I still remember is:  Hudson three two seven hundred.  Do you remember what you could buy if you called this number? 

 

I think we all have lots of memories to share – this was just a small portion of what I remember.   It seems sad that things change, but I guess that’s called progress.


                                                                  

Alta (Kuntz) Hough: Remembers the time before indoor plumbing and refrigerators.

I, of course, was born at home; like many of us were I am sure. It was on Townsend Street in Sycamore at my grandmother’s house. My folks lived in a little house behind her house until my dad built a house out of cement block on Wild St.. It had one bedroom that my mom, dad, sister and I all slept in. It had a living room, dinning room, kitchen and a bath that we had to carry water to from the pump in the kitchen. It also had a back porch. We had an outside toilet until my dad got a septic put in outside and running water in the house, then we had inside plumbing. I’m sure you can all relate to that.

 

I don’t remember what year, I think in the late 40’s, my dad added to the house and put in a grocery store, and when they closed the store that room became my sisters and my bedroom. The store was called Kuntz’s Grocery. We had a lot of neighborhood people for customers. I thought the store was great because I could get free ice cream and candy. I guess we didn’t have a lot of money, but neither did anyone else.

 

The ice truck would deliver ice to people with iceboxes and we would run after the ice truck and he would chip off ice for us to suck on. Nancy Hardesty lived across the street so I used to play with her a lot.

 

My dad worked at Anaconda Wire and Cable. He worked at what they called they south plant during the war and had to wear a uniform and carry a gun.

 

I remember going to south school, which was across the street from where Jack Lindstrom and Tootie Edwards lived. I also remember going to the Fargo Theater with my mom and sister for the cowboy movies. I think they were on Friday night. Don’t forget the drive-in theater on Sycamore Road. We would go to Lothson’s Carry-Out  and get chicken dinners for my mom, grandma, my sister Jane and myself and take them to the drive-in theater and eat them while we watched the movie.

 

Some things were good about the good old days and some things are better now.

  

                                                                                                                                                      

Harold "Joe" Peplow: Reminisces about World War II: military convoys, blackouts, the air raid warden, and Sloppy Lindstone where are you? Plus Christmas past.

Living at 859 DeKalb Ave from 1938 until 1950, I have so many good memories and you may remember some of these events. During the war, there would be troop convoys that would occasionally pass by our house, coming perhaps from Camp Grant in Rockford or some place to the west of Sycamore. This was high entertainment for us kids! Also, practiced black outs must have been advertised because before it got dark on the night for the black out, my brother Duane and I were allowed to go down to the Texaco gas station across from Quinns Grain elevator and each get a bottle of pop like Orange Crush, Nehi or Royal Crown, to take home. We would sit out on the concrete steps( which are still there) and watch the lights go out in the neighborhood and see the Air Raid Warden Rube Nelson, make the rounds ensuring compliance. Those summer nights are well remembered. I also recall there was very little relief on the hot, humid summer nights once we went to bed. We had one table fan for the entire house. There was that brief moment of coolness when I turned the pillow over and put my head down on the dry side.

The corner store (DeKalb Ave and South Cross St) was run by Bernie and Fern Fergeson (Bobs folks) The store was attached to their house and they entered the store from a door in their dining room. I have an earlier memory, maybe1942?, of the store being run by a guy named "Sloppy" Lindstone - can anyone confirm or deny that name? During his time, I think there was a gas pump next to the street and you could buy gas. The little store was the 7-11 of its day and then some. Bernie had a butcher block and did some serious meat cutting while you waited. There would be a full bunch of bananas hanging from the ceiling, a coke cooler filled with an assortment of different bottles of pop being chilled by very cold water that almost covered the capped bottles. The favorite part of the store for us kids was the penny candy that was behind the counter on the right side as you came in the main door facing DeKalb Ave. I liked those short, maybe six inches long, pieces of licorice that looked like a cigar. There was the usual jaw breakers, small wax bottles filled with sweet juice, bubble gum and all the rest of that stuff we liked. It was some time around 1948-49 that Bernie got a TV put in the store, and us kids would stop by to watch wrestling with Bob, generally after the store was closed. Watching such characters as Farmer Don Marlin, Chief Don Eagle, Bonito Gardini (The bouncing meatball?) and Lou Thess, using head locks,hammer locks, toe holds and the tricky Boston Crab on each other, Bob would use we us kids to practice these holds. Bob was always very athletic and stronger than the rest of us and going to Bobs to watch TV lost its appeal after awhile. Major grocery shopping was done downtown at  Strains, Bobs Royal Blue and the National Tea. It would be interesting to know when those businesses started and ended their service to the community.

These memories are getting fuzzy around the edges but that's the way I remember these events.

With Christmas 2007 almost here, I have so many fond memories of Christmas past in Sycamore. As a paperboy for the Chronicle between 1949-52?, I looked forward to getting special tips at Christmas, which could include homemade cookies and candy. (Mrs Bergesons mother, who  lived across from Loretta on State Street, made some wonderful maple sugar treats). Delivering papers in the winter was a "character builder", if you had to deal with the snow. Sometimes the 4 buckle boots, brown cotton gloves, scarf, stocking cap and hand me down wool coat just didn't keep you warm enough.
The Sunday school Christmas program at St. Johns was always a big event for us kids. I always seemed to be one of the shepherds. At the Christmas Eve service, they handed out 1 lb boxes of chocolate to each kid, thanks to the generosity of Paul Nehring. One Christmas ,when mom and us kids returned from church, we surprised my dad and cousin Marvin, who were on the floor playing with the Marx electric train that Santa was going to bring the following morning. I think I had my sights set higher, like a Marx with 4 axle cars like Dave Drenckpohls, or Lionels like my cousins Larry and Davids, but the little Marx took me on many imaginary trips.
I loved our Christmas trees and hated to see them taken down. Dad would drag the tree out of the house and i would take the tree out behind our old garage and stand it up and give me a couple weeks more of Christmas memories. I thought of the tree as a "friend", I guess. I also remember  dads annual ritual of trying to get the lights to work - those old Noma "one goes out, they all go out" lights. Drenckpohls had better lights than we did and Mrs Drenckpohl had a very nicely decorated tree with many ornaments and lots of tinsel. One or two years we tried angel hair - remember that stuff?
One Christmas I got a Kodak Baby Brownie that used 127 film. What a treasure! It had no flash - it was a basic point and shoot. It would be replaced at a future Christmas by a Kodak 620 which had a flash. The flash bulb was the size of a refrigerator light bulb.
For kids of all ages, Christmas was, and is, a time for dreams, hope and giving. To all of you late 30s vintage kids, don't forget to let the kid inside, out for a romp this Christmas.

Jack Lindstrom: Memories of Lake Delavan also know as the place where there wasn't  any drinking before noon (most of the time).

I happened to turn to the western movie channel on the TV the other day and there was a old Lash LaRue movie on. I don’t know if you remember Lash LaRue or not. He was a cowboy who dressed in black, rode a black horse and carried a whip. I watched part of the movie and couldn’t believe how bad the acting was. Had to be at least a ”B” movie; maybe even a “D or E” if there is such a thing, but I really liked Lash LaRue when I was a kid. It made me think of the Saturday Matinee’s I used to go to at the Fargo Theater when I was in seventh or eighth grade. Does anyone else remember going?  I don’t recall how much it cost  to get in but I know it wasn’t much. I do remember Roberta Anderson used to go once in a while. Don’t ask me why I remember Roberta being there unless it was because I thought she was pretty special at that time.

As Gene mentioned in his "Great Adventure" article we spent many weekends at my aunt and uncle's cottage at Lake Delevan. There would usually be a group of us, John Dunmore, Mungie Carlson, John Florent, Dave Drenckpohl, Joe Peplow, Gene and myself. At times we even took our girlfriends up for the day. Someone usually had a boat or at times we even had two boats. We would water ski or take a boat ride over to Flemming's for the greatest hamburger in the world. I also remember my aunt had a house rule of no drinking before noon. At that time it was legal to drink in WI when you were 18, so we used to play alot of cards in the mornings to pass the time. Those were good times. I'll bet Jackie Behler remembers getting dragged through a gravel pile by a boxer we were taking care of. All Jackie had on at the time was her two piece swimming suit. Later I tried to drown the dog. Not on purpose though. We went down to the lake and I threw the dog off of the pier into the lake. It seemed like forever and he never came to the surface so I jumped into save him. He came up then, as he clawed his way up my body. Jackie and I both had scratches all over our bodies.

 


Merrill Clark: Memorials and Reunions. 

I've read all of the memorials of those of class of '56 who are no longer with us ... and truly, it seemed to have been a great and talented group. I remember John talking about John Dunmore's accident on the Fox River, and every time we came back to visit my parents who lived outside of St. Charles off Crane Road, he mentioned the accident. I'm glad I was able to get to some of the later reunions in Sycamore.. and meet everyone. I wish we would have been able to come to many more. I think the last St. Charles 1955 graduation class reunion that John actually attended with me was at the Hotel Baker, overlooking that Fox River... I think that would have been 1999 ... the 40th. Gosh, it's sometimes hard to look back, because here I am wanting to ask John something about dates, and reunions, and I can't do it. Thank you for putting in so much about John, and the little stories that I sent about him. 
                                                                                        

Barb Miller Stone remembers.......

5-7-08 Hello to all ,
I have been reading the "Reflections" page. It's cool the way each has added information to share.
Do any of you remember the Halloween Party we had at Sally Lease's house? We were in the basement, the lights were dim. Her Mother read us a scary story about a witch and passed around parts of the witch's body for all of us to feel. Peeled grapes for eyes, cooked speghetti for her brains, etc. 
I also charish the memories of all the fun we had at the slumber parties. We were "Cool". I don't think any of us were able to stay awake all night, which was our goal. We ate, talked, played music, talked, danced, talked, ran around in our underware, told secrets and stories and had pillow fights. I think 3 or 4 in the morning was the longest I stayed awake. Now I'm lucky to stay awake till 1:00a.m. I wanted to share some memories..Barb(Miller) Stone

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I received this in an email from Larry Linden. I remember this happening but couldn't remember everyone that was with me. I hadn't had the car very long. I bought it from Harry Johns Packard garage and some little old lady had owned it. It was a 1940 or 41 Ford and it was really cherry, as we used to say.

Jack,
 
The year was about 1956, your senior year.  Lonnie Gustafson and I were working at the Royal Blue grocery.  I knew George Thomas fairly well.  One Friday after work, (we closed at 9pm) you, Lonnie and George were interested in checking out where some girl lived in Elgin.  I went along for the ride.  I think you found the house but it was all dark inside, so we started back for Sycamore.  On the way back, a car came shooting down a hill from our right, ran a stop sign and hit the car. I was sitting in the back seat on the right, and my head shattered the glass.  No one was hurt and I sure hope the other driver was thankful for that.  The picture was taken in front of my house the following morning.  You were a pretty fun bunch of guys. 
 
PS:  I still have a few bits of glass in my scalp from that night.  They go well with a couple of metal splinters that I got from a dud grenade in basic training at Ft. Knox.
 
Larry