Richfield East Junior High    1958-1960

Principal - C G Drill    Asst Prin - R J Talle
The School	At that time it was the only Jr High and pupils were bussed in from the west. It was built at 70th St and 12 Ave next to Elliott in 1956 and I have no memory of it going up.
The Screw	One day in 6th Grade we had to fill out an application form for Jr High and one of the questions was to name our best 3 friends (Gary Olson, Gary Johnson and Steve Gibson). Show up the next fall and find out that not one of three were in my class, so one would think that it was on purpose to break up cliques.
The Three Stooges	I ended up hanging out with Dave Roberts and Ken Larsen for the two years. It was purely an at-school relationship, as we didn't see each other socially. I think they lived on the west side and were bussed over. Dave was basically a screw-up and good for many laughs. Ken was slightly more reserved. I was lucky to get a hold of Dave in 1999 thanks to the Internet.	Dave
The Cards	Feb 17, 1959. I bought a pack of index cards and put classmates' data onto them. I also cut out their photo from class one and glued it onto the cards.
The Hawaii	Mar 11, 1959. We were to debate on whether Hawaii should became a state. I sent a letter to Minnesota Governor Freeman asking his opinion. He replied and it was a big hit.
The Hawaii	Mar 11, 1959. We were to debate on whether Hawaii should became a state. I sent a letter to Minnesota Governor Freeman asking his opinion. He replied and it was a big hit.
The Rush	Sept 8, 1959. We got up at 5AM to leave farm and got to first day of school at 1 minute to 8AM.
The Tenor	Sept 11, 1959. In music I am told that I am a 1st tenor, even if I can't sing.
The Ice Cream	At lunch you could buy ice cream blocks that came wrapped in thin white cardboard-type paper. Well, we would sit on the end table facing the wall and eat it. Then we would fold the paper up into a small blob. One of us kept an eye on the teacher nearest to us, another turned around and scanned for the other teachers. When given the "all clear" the paper holder would toss it high over his shoulder. Then the observer would report where it went and who we hit and what the reaction was like. And to be perfectly honest ice cream papers weren't the only items tossed.
The White Shirts	For the final day of classes one year the Three Stooges decided to wear white dress shirts with long sleeves. We were obvious targets as we walked along together. Not such a good idea because it was the craze to squirt tomato sauce (ketchup) onto people in the hallways. Not so bad, but one wise guy decided to use red ink (back in those days fountain pens were still in use) and got Ken's shirt real good. I don't think it ever washed out.	Ken
The Fizzies	Fizzies They were tablets that you put into water and it would then foam creating a fizzy drink. Of course, the local idiots would pop one into their mouth and let it bubble out of their nostrils. What we would do is dry the spout of a hallway water fountain. Then we would squash into it one of the fizzy things. Hopefully, the next person to get a drink would end up with foam all over their face.
The Sock Hops	There were basically two things we could do at these after-school events: watch movies in gym (usually 3 Stooges ilk) or dance in the lunchroom. I did both. And they really were sock hops, meaning that you would take off your shoes. Not sure which venue smelt worse, eh? Back in those days I actually enjoyed dancing. Probably because I could actually clutch a girl. And the girl that I cuddled the most was Sandy McAndrews. I danced with four or five different girls, but we always saved the last dance for each other. I don't believe we ever spoke it in words to each other but we knew that we were an item, if only at sock hops. The main memory I have is Sandy and I doing "The Stroll" because you were spotlighted being together as you dipped and moved down the cordon of other dancers.	Sandy
The Formal Dances	The gym was divided by a movable wall - girls on one side, boys the other. It was removed so that we could learn to dance old style stuff such as fox trot and the Lindy. I hated it and I don't recall who I ended up with as a partner.
The Locker Room	Under the gym. And the lockers were cages - I imagine they were to help air out the sweaty clothes and damp towels. I can see in my mind exactly where my locker was and the showers and how hot the water was.
The Gersey	7th grade - Not the British sweater, but Tom. In a class loaded with goofballs, he was probably the king. One day in math class he told everyone to drop a pencil precisely at 2PM. Mr Johnson probably knew that something was up since every student was staring at the clock for about 20 minutes. 2 o'clock finally came and Gersey was the only one to drop his pencil and deathly silence followed. He was sent into the hall, more than likely hating the rest of us.
The Music Class	I loved 7th grade music class. It wasn't a serious subject and I sat in the back corner with Sharon Nash next to me and Lyle and Cindy behind us. Cynthia Moe was a stick in the mud, no sense of humor and blushed easily. Therefore, she was perfect for Lyle Malotky who was smitten with her. Sharon and I used to do a lot of teasing trying to get the two of them together. Sharon was one of the funniest girls I ever met. Her father, Jergen, was a WCCO announcer and so she was a minor celebrity in my eyes. We had to create a composition. Mr Gronseth played mine and then turned it upsidedown and played it again saying that it sounded better that way. Another time we wrote small compositions. Mr Gronseth played mine and said it had a solid finish. How does a 13 year old boy show his love for a girl? Easy, he steals her small bottle of perfume and then empties out of the classroom window. Well, that's what I did with Sandy's. Oh, did I mention that Mr G. used to spend a lot of time out of the classroom (I think he was a heavy smoker).On April 20, 1959 I was the choir director. On November 27, 1959 John Mayer, Jack Taylor and I sang the song I wrote, changing the words of "I Like America": "I love the Union of Soviet Socialists, I love the way we all live in fear, for if I vote for my choice, speak my mind, raise my voice; yes, I'll disappear" etc...] Sketch went with it.
The Lab Partner	8th grade - John Taylor was my "lab" partner in Science and we shared a desk. Unfortunately, he stunk to high heaven - not his breath but his body odor was too much for me.
The Lesson	8th grade - Because I enjoyed research I had expanded the science report from one animal to cover almost one of every phylum and therefore handed it in very late. It was a masterpiece with articles and photos from newspapers and magazines. I drew colored picture of each animal. I didn't go to the farm with the family for Easter to work on it. Trouble was it was suppose to be handed in before the Easter break. I was given a double "AA" but it was reduced to a "C" because it was not completed on time. I have never turned in anything late since that day.
The Easy Spell	7th grade - We had a substitute treacher for English and she left the spelling words written on the board. Everyone should have gotten 100%.
The Draft	7th & 8th grade - Technical Drafting. I was a natural at it and zipped through the exercises. On April 20, 1960: "I finished job 6 which Mr. Schmid gave it an A and he put it up on the board.". I was so keen that I asked for and got my own board, T-Square and drawing tools. I used it years later to do a diagram of the floors in the apartment my father owned. The sketch was free hand that I did for drafting class.
The Artist?	7th & 8th grade - Miss Mayer was a friend of Miss Miller (5th grade teacher). I liked them a lot and went back to visit both couple years after I left. Signe told me after that visit Miss Mayer told her that I was just as nice as ever. I wasn't all that good in class. When we were to make a piece of jewellery I couldn't come up with a design and ended up making a backwards "F" in multiple layers. But whenever I tried to weld the pin onto its back something would come off. Then when we made a clay object, I tried to make a resting deer. It ended up looking like a dog.
The Artist	For Social Studies I, with John Mortenson and Steve Tinker were in charge of decorating the display window of the classroom that could be seen from the hallway. We did one for Christmas. I remember doing one for "Tall Tales". I drew Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill. I have the original sketch that I did prior to the final colored piece.
The Rep	In 8th grade I was the classroom student council representative and that meant missing a class to attend meetings and then I would report back to the class.
The Mag	Social studies with Miss Magnusson was a great time for me. In 8th grade I was the classroom student council representative and that meant missing a class to attend meetings and then I would report back to the class. But what really impressed me was the section of Laplanders and their reindeer. Miss Magnusson had spent the previous summer on a Scandinavian cruise and she would spend class periods telling about her experiences.
The Mort	John Mortensen was in a couple classes (and he played Babe Ruth against me). In one class he sat in front of me and I observed him continually tearing skin off his fingers. It didn't seem to affect his bowling (he was on my team in 1960-1).
The Typist	We had to do a poem for English. I wrote one about the Great Salt Lake: Read it and typed it. Miss Moe was so impressed that she gave a few of her favorite ones and asked me to type them up. There was a second time when I typed something for her.
The Sprint	So unlike me, I forgot a math homework at home. Mr Johnson allowed me to turn it in after school, if I could get it to him before he left. Luckily for me, only 2+ blocks to home. So, as soon as the school bell rang I was on the move. I was able to get back in time.
The Champ	In gym we did Greco-Roman wrestling. I went undefeated and even beat Jack Taylor who was a little bigger than me and on the school wrestling team.
The Cinn Craze	Soak toothpicks in cinnamon oil and then suck on them. Everyone was doing it. Not as popular was clove oil, which I remember being used with cotton balls to sooth toothaches.
The Handyman?	Mr De Vries was a tall thin kind person. If he had a beard he could have been Lincoln. For woodwork we had to draw various tools and write what they were used for. Typical me. I did every single tool and typed up a nice booklet. But when it came to doing projects I was useless. And the same applied to metal work. In Metal Mr. Benshof demonstrated how to layout, cut and solder [I was lousy at it and still am]Life long problem; I just can't weld or do precision woodwork. The Tower of Hanoi we made has square pieces. How hard can that be? Very, for me. I made a letter holder that was halfway decent and I actually used it for years. We had to make a simple metal container; nope, not for me. Something I was successful at was making a leather wallet. We used a metal tool to punch the holes for stitches. And we made a design on it front. I did a deer on mine (much better that pottery one).
The Tink	Steve Tinker and I became friends. So much so that I would ride this school bus with him and go to his place. That meant having to walk to 66th and catching a public bus back to get home. I remember going to Southdale where he had a piece in an art display. On 23 April 1960: "Steve came over and we went to the Elliott school Carnival. Then we went bowling - I got 108,111,103 and Steve had 77,79,59." He was in Viet Nam and I can't see this little twerp being a soldier.
The Jug	I played intramural basketball both years. In 8th grade we won the "Brown Jug". You can read more about it at: web page.
The Bully	November 25, 1959. Dave and I stayed after and composed our song for Music. I was going down the stairs when a 9th grader came running past and knocked my books out of my hand, as I bent to pick them up I muttered "idiot", he came back up to me and asked what I said. Before I could answer he started slapping me around. Luckily, a janitor came and scared the guy away.
The Mail	1959: For Social Studies we each had to send away to a city and ask for information. I, of course, sent to a few and when all these brochures, postcards, maps, newspapers came flooding back the collector in me was hooked. I got out my atlas and proceded to mail off requests to every city with a population over 100,000. It was like Christmas in summer - our mailbox was stuffed everyday for a month or so
The Party	Marilyn Youness had dance parties at her house. At the first one I taught Gary Olson how to dance. I danced with Janice B., Sandy McAndrews, Nancy Hanks and Yvonne S. Dana Marcelius was there.
The Party II	May 9, 1959. And just to prove how immature the boys were at that age, Larry Benson, Daryl, Dana and Dick left at 8:10PM leaving me and Lyle with all the girls. We were waiting for my mom to pick us up at 10PM. So we did a lot of dancing that night. I actually had to teach Lyle how to dance. He wasn't very coordinated, so it was a challenge. Had a popcorn fight with Cynthia and Yvonne and the dancing ended up in shoe tossing.
The Boys	As I mentioned above my best friends from elementary weren't in my class. Gerald Swan and I would play "Hangman" during math classes and never got caught. Gary Johnson and I would continue walking to school together. The clowns in the class were Doug Erickson and Tom Gersey. There were a few quiet and shy ones including Tom Mconnell, Wayne Jex and Bruce McIntosh. Terry Reyes and John Mayer were the nicest boys I ever met - true gentlemen.
The Girls	Nancy Hanks was short and funny as. Yvonne Sharette was thin-ish and very quiet. I remember dancing with them at the sock hops. There were three tall girls in class who hung out together. I don't remember their names. One of them wore glasses. All of them had their hair done up ready for a ball and they wore so much makeup and lipstick that turned me off. Barbara Kimball who was with me in elementary school also spent more time on makeup than homework. I was surprized to see her at a house across the street from me; turned out she was babysitting her cousins. Likewise, one day Janet Huttner was babysitting the Palmers behind us. Jean Posorske moved in across from Newstroms. I have always found it interesting that I can remember almost every male classmate but girls elude me.
The Future	Apr 21, 1960. In Social Studies I gave my report on Australia and NEW ZEALAND. Litle did I know that 13 years later I would be living in NZ and visiting Australia 4 times.
The 7th Grade Teachers (Grades)	Pd 1 - Science - Charles Moates (BB+BB) - red beard - chess club Pd 2 - Math - Quentin Johnson (B+B+BA) - Mrs Kaihai's neighbor Pd 3 - Music - Steve Gronseth (ABBB) - built like and sang like a tenor Pd 3 - PhyEd - R L Johnson (BBA) - short Pd 4 - Industrial Arts (wood/metal) - John De Vries Pd 4 - Drafting - Walter Schmidt (BA) - white haired Pd 4 - Art - Helen Mayer (AB) Pd 5 - English - Marvel Moe (BCBB) - slender blonde Pd 6 - Soc Studies - Marvel Moe (C+BBB)
The 8th Grade Teachers (Grades)	Pd 1 - Industrial Arts (wood/metal) - James Benshoof (BA) - tall, thin quiet-spoken Pd 1 - Drafting - Walter Schmidt (BA) - white haired Pd 2 - English - Miss Magnusson (BAAA) - spinster - made a trip to Scandinavia Pd 3 - Math - Victor Clauson (BBAA) Pd 4 - PhyEd - E Lien (CBBA) - graying and lean Pd 4 - Music - Carol Sawinsky (BCBB) Pd 5 - Science - Haverston (BC) - short, black beard Pd 5 - Art - Helen Mayer (BB+) Attractive friend of Helen Miller Pd 6 - Soc Studies - Alice Magnusson (BAAA)	a Report Card

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