At last the baseball season had arrived. This would be a new team for me as I had played baseball the summer before in Sioux City making the 13 year old All-Star team. So, new team, new players, had to be accepted and prove I could play. In the 60's you played Little League baseball at ages 10, 11, 12, Babe Ruth baseball at 13, 14, 15 and American Legion at 16 and 17.
Our coach was Bill Evans. Bill was one of the finest men I ever met. Very competitive, yet Bill would never yell at you, he would just give you that look of " what are you doing" and made you feel so bad cause you let him down. Bill was an excellent baseball man and had played the game and could teach it. He also was a WWII veteran who played the game to win the game. WWII veterans had a much different outlook as they were placed in an environment where losing was not acceptable. They did bring a mentality of winning at all costs.
Today with our socialized athletics we don't get that. When I played the best 9 played until the game was decided. Then the substitutes would get their turn. It was understood and if you wanted more playing time, then you had to get better. Today, it is you have to play everyone at least 2 innings and they have to get to bat at least once. Where is the reason to get better if you get to play whether you are good or not? I never liked that approach and still don't.
We had a pretty good team that summer. I pitched and played shortstop. We had 17 kids on the team. Gerald Johnson, Tim Stauter, Doug Kruchten, Bob McLaughlin, Dean Harrold, Gary Stairet, Danny Noethe, Ed Fitzgerald, John Sebben, Terry Cole, Les Miller, Doug Evans, Garry Fulcher, John Hartnett, Larry King, Pat Murphy and myself. Roger Evans was the batboy.
Our best player was Doug Evans. He was a very good pitcher as well as a great catcher. Doug threw really hard and when he caught, he would throw the ball back to me harder than I threw it to him sometimes, especially if he was mad. Evie did have a temper. Some of the other good players were Terry Cole, Larry King, Pat Murphy and John Sebben. We were having a pretty good year till we went to Newell to play a game. It had been raining and their field was very wet and muddy. Doug Evans went to slide into second base and his cleats caught and he broke his ankle. Doug to his credit would not let that deter him and he tried to play with a leg in a cast. He caught the rest of the year. Doug, Pat Murphy and myself made the county All-Star team that summer. Doug continued to catch and in the All Star games it hindered his play. He hit into a couple of double plays to end innings and hard for him to chase after the passed balls. We lost both games and had an early exit from the tournament. No fault of Doug's, yet he was put in a situation that was not the best for him or the team. In those days there were no designated hitters so you played or you sat.
I believe the team ended up with a 10 and 6 record however, would not swear to that one. We played in a beautiful ball park as Fonda had one of the best. Old time ball park. Big green fence, good hitting background, grass infield and a nice backstop. Nothing better than playing right after the grass had been cut and could smell the freshly cut grass. Nothing better than baseball in the summer in Fonda. We always had a big 4th of July celebration and every year played a game. We used to have big crowds of 500 to 600 people come to those games, followed by fire works afterwards. These were the best of times.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
8th grade year 1963-1964
The eighth grade year was a new adventure for me. Much smaller school, knew your classmates more closely. Being is a small school was good because it took everyone to be involved in things to get them done. In our class was, Joleen Reis, Dick Murphy, Paul Erickson, Jane Hatteberg, Carlotta Delano, Steve Schossow, Myron Hatteberg, Nick Baskerville, Barbara Meyers, Don Smith, Darlene Hunter, Vicki Burditt, Linda Seagren, Dennis Stafford and myself.
My first real excitement was our first marching band trip. I had played trumpet in the 7th and 8th grade bands in Sioux City and wasn't going to be in the band at all in Fonda. My father bought me a brand new trumpet though to entice me to join the band. I don't remember where the first place we went was to march, however, I got to march right beside Ross Nixon. Ross was the coolest guy in the senior class, very good trumpet player, excellent basketball player and athlete. Ross was the man. Fonda had a pretty good basketball team with Ross Nixon and Charley Maschino being all conference. Both Sam Withers and Steve Walters were excellent players as well, Bruce Schoon and Bruce Adams were also good players on the team. The basketball team was 8 and 8 for the year with some high moments as well as some low moments.
The girls basketball team won the county tournament that year beating Pocahontas 73 to 68. They really had a very good team and played very hard. All of their games were close and they lost to Rockwell City 78 to 76 in the sectional tournament. Girls played 6 X 6 in those days and the games were exciting and fun to watch. Dorothy Jackson, Elayne Johnson, Nancy Maddy and Delored Dirks were the main guards and Janice Hatteberg, Dee Ann Darling, Janet Peterson and Judy Johnson were the main forwards. These were very good basketball players who happened to also be very good people.
Our 8th grade basketball team was 6 wins and 2 losses that year. The girls had the same record.
Denny Stafford was our best player, with Gerald Johnson also being good. I played guard and did ok. For the girls teams Jane Hatteberg and Jane Stauter were the best forwards and Linda Seagren and Carlotta Delano were the best guards. We were full of hope for being the future stars of the school.
We played spring baseball in Fonda. I played in all of the games we had, though I don't remember how many there were. I don't think we played that many. I do remember losing to Pochahontas Catholic in the sectionals that year. I did get a hit.
Every year in Fonda we had an all school carnival. The gym was decorated, you had booths to play games in, throw darts, pie sales, all to raise money for the school. One of my favorite memories then was of the talent show that was put on every year. That show was done in the home economics room. We had our little band that played and different people would put on acts. The biggest draw was the hula girl dancers. Men dressing up as hula girls and they would come in and we would play the Hawaian War Chant while they danced as hula girls. Was incredibly funny and fun and the room was always full. Gene Walters was the Master of Ceremonies who would introduce the acts. He would dress up in a tux with a white coat and flower and his wife LaVonne would also assist. After we would do our last show, Gene and LaVonne would always go down and buy maid rites and pop for all of us and we would sit around and talk about the evening and how much fun we really had. In the band was Steve Walters, Ray Petersen, Bruce Adams, myself and Mr. Gottfried who played the drums. Those were wonderful times and would love to do them all over again.
My first real excitement was our first marching band trip. I had played trumpet in the 7th and 8th grade bands in Sioux City and wasn't going to be in the band at all in Fonda. My father bought me a brand new trumpet though to entice me to join the band. I don't remember where the first place we went was to march, however, I got to march right beside Ross Nixon. Ross was the coolest guy in the senior class, very good trumpet player, excellent basketball player and athlete. Ross was the man. Fonda had a pretty good basketball team with Ross Nixon and Charley Maschino being all conference. Both Sam Withers and Steve Walters were excellent players as well, Bruce Schoon and Bruce Adams were also good players on the team. The basketball team was 8 and 8 for the year with some high moments as well as some low moments.
The girls basketball team won the county tournament that year beating Pocahontas 73 to 68. They really had a very good team and played very hard. All of their games were close and they lost to Rockwell City 78 to 76 in the sectional tournament. Girls played 6 X 6 in those days and the games were exciting and fun to watch. Dorothy Jackson, Elayne Johnson, Nancy Maddy and Delored Dirks were the main guards and Janice Hatteberg, Dee Ann Darling, Janet Peterson and Judy Johnson were the main forwards. These were very good basketball players who happened to also be very good people.
Our 8th grade basketball team was 6 wins and 2 losses that year. The girls had the same record.
Denny Stafford was our best player, with Gerald Johnson also being good. I played guard and did ok. For the girls teams Jane Hatteberg and Jane Stauter were the best forwards and Linda Seagren and Carlotta Delano were the best guards. We were full of hope for being the future stars of the school.
We played spring baseball in Fonda. I played in all of the games we had, though I don't remember how many there were. I don't think we played that many. I do remember losing to Pochahontas Catholic in the sectionals that year. I did get a hit.
Every year in Fonda we had an all school carnival. The gym was decorated, you had booths to play games in, throw darts, pie sales, all to raise money for the school. One of my favorite memories then was of the talent show that was put on every year. That show was done in the home economics room. We had our little band that played and different people would put on acts. The biggest draw was the hula girl dancers. Men dressing up as hula girls and they would come in and we would play the Hawaian War Chant while they danced as hula girls. Was incredibly funny and fun and the room was always full. Gene Walters was the Master of Ceremonies who would introduce the acts. He would dress up in a tux with a white coat and flower and his wife LaVonne would also assist. After we would do our last show, Gene and LaVonne would always go down and buy maid rites and pop for all of us and we would sit around and talk about the evening and how much fun we really had. In the band was Steve Walters, Ray Petersen, Bruce Adams, myself and Mr. Gottfried who played the drums. Those were wonderful times and would love to do them all over again.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Moving to Fonda
We moved to Fonda in September of 1963. We were living in Sioux City, Iowa prior to moving. My father was a banker and took a postion at the Fonda bank. I did not want to leave Sioux City. I was enjoying success in baseball having made All Star teams and throwing two no hitters. I also was a starter on the 7th grade basketball team at North Jr. High and was looking forward to playing football as an 8th grader. I had friends and really didn't want to move. At North Jr. High there were 1,000 students in 7th, 8th and 9th grade and I would have gone to Sioux City Central as a 10th grader.
My first day at Fonda was a typical first day at a new school. You were enrolled, I met the Principal Tom Adams, he took me through the school, showed me the gym and told me if I worked hard I might play there someday. He then took me upstairs and introduced me to Denny Stafford and told Denny to show me where to go the rest of the day, take me to lunch and make sure I got the hang of things.
I still remember walking to the class room. You had to go thru study hall to get to the room and the study hall was full. All eyes were on me as I walked thru the study hall to class.
In Fonda in those days there were two schools. There was Fonda Public where I attended and there was also Fonda O.L. G. C. the parochial school. We had a 15 kids in 8th grade and I think O.L.G.C. had like 43 give or take. Fonda was very split on religion in those days so that is the reason why the two schools. Also, why we were good at baseball in the summer and really only average to a little better than average in the other sports. I have always said that if the two schools would have been together, what we would have had for athletic teams would have been incredible. We had state tournament caliber teams if together.
We lived in the country when we first moved to Fonda as there was no housing available in town. Actually we lived in the Lytton school district, but my brothers and I rode with my father everyday to school. We moved to Fonda proper in the spring.
I started on the 8th grade basketball team. Dennis Stafford was really the best player. Mr. O'Rourke was our coach. I remember my grandmother came up from Early to watch me play as an 8th grader. I fouled out in the first half as I wanted to impress her so much. She thought the refs were picking on me. lol
The biggest event of 1963 was the assasination of President Kennedy. They say there are events in your life that you will never forget, this is one of those. We were all in music class sitting on the stage when it came over the intercom that the President had been shot. It was a Friday. We sat there and talked amongst ourselves, Jane Stauter was sitting next to me and I told her I thought Jackie had him shot, trying to be cute. About 15 minutes later they informed us he was dead and sent us home. A very long weekend, we were all scared, the weather was terribly cold, I know we lost power over the weekend and a farm house in the winter is not the place to be. I also remember that Sheral Adams and I played taps at the ceremony in Fonda in the parking lot of the post office. It was so cold the spit froze in the trumpets and we had to stay in the post office till it was time to play. Sheral had a problem with the high notes when playing. She asked me what key we were going to play it in. I told her we would play it in open valve, meaning we would not depress any of the keys. She lead off and I followed her as we played what is called "Echo Taps" It didn't take long for me to figure out that she was not playing open valve but playing with the first and third valves down, making the key much lower than what I was playing in. We got it done, no one said anything but I certainly was not a happy person with her. lol
My first day at Fonda was a typical first day at a new school. You were enrolled, I met the Principal Tom Adams, he took me through the school, showed me the gym and told me if I worked hard I might play there someday. He then took me upstairs and introduced me to Denny Stafford and told Denny to show me where to go the rest of the day, take me to lunch and make sure I got the hang of things.
I still remember walking to the class room. You had to go thru study hall to get to the room and the study hall was full. All eyes were on me as I walked thru the study hall to class.
In Fonda in those days there were two schools. There was Fonda Public where I attended and there was also Fonda O.L. G. C. the parochial school. We had a 15 kids in 8th grade and I think O.L.G.C. had like 43 give or take. Fonda was very split on religion in those days so that is the reason why the two schools. Also, why we were good at baseball in the summer and really only average to a little better than average in the other sports. I have always said that if the two schools would have been together, what we would have had for athletic teams would have been incredible. We had state tournament caliber teams if together.
We lived in the country when we first moved to Fonda as there was no housing available in town. Actually we lived in the Lytton school district, but my brothers and I rode with my father everyday to school. We moved to Fonda proper in the spring.
I started on the 8th grade basketball team. Dennis Stafford was really the best player. Mr. O'Rourke was our coach. I remember my grandmother came up from Early to watch me play as an 8th grader. I fouled out in the first half as I wanted to impress her so much. She thought the refs were picking on me. lol
The biggest event of 1963 was the assasination of President Kennedy. They say there are events in your life that you will never forget, this is one of those. We were all in music class sitting on the stage when it came over the intercom that the President had been shot. It was a Friday. We sat there and talked amongst ourselves, Jane Stauter was sitting next to me and I told her I thought Jackie had him shot, trying to be cute. About 15 minutes later they informed us he was dead and sent us home. A very long weekend, we were all scared, the weather was terribly cold, I know we lost power over the weekend and a farm house in the winter is not the place to be. I also remember that Sheral Adams and I played taps at the ceremony in Fonda in the parking lot of the post office. It was so cold the spit froze in the trumpets and we had to stay in the post office till it was time to play. Sheral had a problem with the high notes when playing. She asked me what key we were going to play it in. I told her we would play it in open valve, meaning we would not depress any of the keys. She lead off and I followed her as we played what is called "Echo Taps" It didn't take long for me to figure out that she was not playing open valve but playing with the first and third valves down, making the key much lower than what I was playing in. We got it done, no one said anything but I certainly was not a happy person with her. lol
Friday, February 5, 2010
We continue
Fonda, Iowa is located in Pocahontas County, some of the world's richest farmland is in this county. Many of the kids I was friends with lived and actually worked on those farms. We would walk beans in the summer, put up hay and straw and we had a way to actually make some money and earn what we made. We used to walk beans for $1.50 per hour and would start early in the morning and depending on how hot the day was usually go to midafternoon. If you got behind, you came back in the evening when it cooled down. Today with the roundup ready seed corn and beans, you just spray for the weeds, much more efficient and certainly does a much better job. Farmers used to work most of the year to make a living, now we actually joke about all of the farmers with the 4 X 4 decals on the side of their vehicles. It means you work 4 weeks in the summer and 4 weeks in the fall. Not true, but certainly fun to pick at them.
Every building on main street in Fonda had a business in it, it gave us the opportunity to have jobs and work. I worked at the Super Valu grocery store as well as had a paper route. I was paid 50 cents an hour to work and would work after school, all day on Saturday and some Sunday mornings. Most of my friends had jobs as well and was nice to have our own spending money. It taught us the value of work as well as the value of money. It also taught you that you had to show up on time, do your job and do as you were told, there wasn't alot of voting going on then.
Today's kids show up when they want, complain about how little they make and how the owner of the company doesn't understand them. I think more tragically though that most kids even if they want to work can't find jobs so they do learn those valuable life lessons early on. I was working at 14 about 25 to 30 hours a week. I wasn't abused, didn't need the government telling me that I was too young to work and protect me from all of the evils associated with working.
My father was a very no nonsense man who put alot of value on hard work. He grew up on a farm in Wall Lake, Iowa, was a B-29 pilot stationed on Tinian during the war and flew 12 missions over Japan. My father was a very stern person who grew up in a German household. His grandfather still spoke German in the house till WWII started and we declared war on the Germans. His name was Hans, at 15 he stowed away on a boat, leaving Hamburg, Germany to come to this country. My mother is absolutely the opposite of my father, very loving, very giving, very supportive so we had a very interesting pair of role models in our parents. I have two younger brothers who from a personality standpoint are much different than myself. We were an American family with traditional values, middle class, had more than some, less than others.
Every building on main street in Fonda had a business in it, it gave us the opportunity to have jobs and work. I worked at the Super Valu grocery store as well as had a paper route. I was paid 50 cents an hour to work and would work after school, all day on Saturday and some Sunday mornings. Most of my friends had jobs as well and was nice to have our own spending money. It taught us the value of work as well as the value of money. It also taught you that you had to show up on time, do your job and do as you were told, there wasn't alot of voting going on then.
Today's kids show up when they want, complain about how little they make and how the owner of the company doesn't understand them. I think more tragically though that most kids even if they want to work can't find jobs so they do learn those valuable life lessons early on. I was working at 14 about 25 to 30 hours a week. I wasn't abused, didn't need the government telling me that I was too young to work and protect me from all of the evils associated with working.
My father was a very no nonsense man who put alot of value on hard work. He grew up on a farm in Wall Lake, Iowa, was a B-29 pilot stationed on Tinian during the war and flew 12 missions over Japan. My father was a very stern person who grew up in a German household. His grandfather still spoke German in the house till WWII started and we declared war on the Germans. His name was Hans, at 15 he stowed away on a boat, leaving Hamburg, Germany to come to this country. My mother is absolutely the opposite of my father, very loving, very giving, very supportive so we had a very interesting pair of role models in our parents. I have two younger brothers who from a personality standpoint are much different than myself. We were an American family with traditional values, middle class, had more than some, less than others.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Who am I.
My name is John Tischer, I grew up in a small town in Iowa called Fonda. My fondest memories are of growing up in this community and the people who lived there.
I moved to Fonda in 1963, John Kennedy was President. The town had approximately a thousand people who lived there. It had two car dealerships, an implement dealer, two grocery stores and every building was occupided. Fonda to me was like growing up in Mayberry, USA. All the values of a small town and the characters to go with it. We had our Otis the town drunk, we had Floyd the Barber, the town band, two schools and four churches. For the most part everyone cared about each other and was there to help you. We had no crime and the bad kids were the ones who had the cigarettes rolled up in the sleeve of their t-shirt and might go out and drink. There were no drugs and we lived in carefree and simple times. Today Fonda is all but gone, only a memory of what once was. No different than most of small town Iowa, yet painful to see.
We played alot of baseball in Fonda and had alot of good teams, with the two schools it was hard to be very good in basketball, football or other sports as the numbers of kids in our class did not support having as they say a deep bench. I graduated in a class of 19. When we played baseball though in the summer there was not the seperation of the kids and success followed.
I graduated in 1968 at the height of the Viet Nam war. It seems all of my belief values were challenged and torn apart during the conflict. Many a young man went and served and gave his life for our country to come home to be spit on and accused of being a baby killer. So much anger, there was no middle ground. Unlike today where we at least support the troops, then there were those who would do anything to damage the effort of our soldiers and leaders.
I will post more about Fonda in the future. I loved that community, the people in it and miss those times.
I moved to Fonda in 1963, John Kennedy was President. The town had approximately a thousand people who lived there. It had two car dealerships, an implement dealer, two grocery stores and every building was occupided. Fonda to me was like growing up in Mayberry, USA. All the values of a small town and the characters to go with it. We had our Otis the town drunk, we had Floyd the Barber, the town band, two schools and four churches. For the most part everyone cared about each other and was there to help you. We had no crime and the bad kids were the ones who had the cigarettes rolled up in the sleeve of their t-shirt and might go out and drink. There were no drugs and we lived in carefree and simple times. Today Fonda is all but gone, only a memory of what once was. No different than most of small town Iowa, yet painful to see.
We played alot of baseball in Fonda and had alot of good teams, with the two schools it was hard to be very good in basketball, football or other sports as the numbers of kids in our class did not support having as they say a deep bench. I graduated in a class of 19. When we played baseball though in the summer there was not the seperation of the kids and success followed.
I graduated in 1968 at the height of the Viet Nam war. It seems all of my belief values were challenged and torn apart during the conflict. Many a young man went and served and gave his life for our country to come home to be spit on and accused of being a baby killer. So much anger, there was no middle ground. Unlike today where we at least support the troops, then there were those who would do anything to damage the effort of our soldiers and leaders.
I will post more about Fonda in the future. I loved that community, the people in it and miss those times.
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