Monday, January 31, 2011

Moving Blog

I am in the process of moving my blog to: www.thefondaflyers.com

I have much more opportunity to add pictures and have a better site than what google is able to do...I hopefully will have it up in the next week to 10 days.

You can also join more easily and follow the Blog as well as send comments and correspond with me.

I hope you will continue to follow and enjoy.

Thanks,

John

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

People you never forget from Fonda High School

I thought the summer baseball info I had in here was in 1966 however, my good friend Doug Evans advised me it was 1967 so it is out of sequence but still worth reading. It led me to think about talking about people in Fonda High School that you never forget.

I think one of the first people was Charley Alpers. Charley was the school custodian and beloved by all. Always had a smile on his face, loved the kids and they loved him. I think Charlie's last year was 1966 and he was replaced by Mick Wycoff.

Another person I always remember was Lynn Hersom. Lynn seemed to always drive the bus on most of our trips and always wore what I would call a train engineers hat. I don't remember much about Lynn's driving ability, know he would always grind the gears when he shifted and someone would always yell " Grind another pound off for me Lynn." I do know we always got there and the bus was always warm after the games.

The school cafetieria cooks. Nancy Hersom, Helen Hersom and Alberta Baker were three of my favorites. They always gave me extra food during lunch time. Sometimes in the mornings you would come to school and couldn't wait for lunch as you could smell the cinnamon roles baking. The food honestly was the best, just like eating at home. I doubt the kids today get as good of food as we did with the Government Food Nazis that exist today.

Michael O'Brien- History teacher. Excellent teacher, very bright, wonderful sense of humor and you looked forward to his class. Mr. O'Brien allowed good debates on subjects, was interested in the kids and their well being. Mr. O'Brien took the time to get involved and wanted you to be successful. Mr. O'Brien and I went to Des Moines to listen to Ronald Reagan make a speech in the fall of 1967. Was a wonderful trip to make with him and I learned so much from him and about him. Mr O'Brien also got it arranged so we could participate in the Model United Nations at the University of Northern Iowa. Our senior year we were Australia. The meetings with the other countries and the involvement with the other students was great and alot of the credit goes to Mr. O'Brien for getting us the opportunity to go. Mr. O'Brien now lives in Boone and was in the Iowa Legistaure at one time. Even though he ran and won as a Democrat, he still ranks very high in my book. lol


Lee Hurlburt- Science Teacher- Girls Coach. Mr. Hurlburt was an excellent teacher and I remember him having two little girls who would always sit with me during the girls game. Mr. Hurlburt had a 1963 Black Chevy SuperSport with a 409 engine in it. One day Dennis Stafford, Nick Baskerville and myself had to go somewhere to get something for school. Mr. Hurlburt allowed us to use his car. Dennis Stafford had his license and was going to show us his driving skills so out we go. Dennis punched it as we would say, shifted into second gear, the car is now flying, went to shift into third gear and threw it back into first gear. He blew out the clutch plates I know for sure. We limped the car back to school. Funny thing, next day Mr. Hurlburt just couldn't quite figure out why his car was acting right. Mr Hurlburt passed away several years ago and will be missed.

Janice Hughes- Vocal Music. I thought the world of Mrs. Hughes, she loved her music so much and got alot out of us. We always did well at contest and she would work endlessly with you on your own individual solo's. She was a wonderful teacher.

Michael Becker- Guidance Counselor. Mr. Becker seemed to run interference for everyone. If you had an problem, you could go to Mr. Becker. A wonderful man, very positive in his approach, always trying to help you in anyway that he could. Mr. Becker passed away several years ago after a lengthy illness. He will be missed by all of us.

Jim Weber and Leland Weiner- Mathmatics- Both were excellent teachers and both knew math. Unfortunately for them they had a very hard time passing on their knowledge to me. Mr. Weber was also the golf coach and drove a beautiful 1964 Chevy Supersport, Dark Blue, white bucket seats. Very fast. I have lost track of Mr. Weber and unfortunately for us no one seems to be able to find him. Mr. Weiner attended some of our class reunions and last I knew he had retired from being a math teacher and was last at Iowa Central Community College. I remember our 25th reunion. Mr. Weiner came to it, he asked me what I was doing. I told him I was the President of a manufacturing company. He looked at me and said " how can that be, you were so bad in math." I looked back at him and told him that " I could now hire people who were good at math, I didn't need to be." End of conversation...

Rhonda Johnson- Instrumental music. Very good teacher, horrible trumpet player. I enjoyed being in her class and learned alot from her though I am sure she would tell you how frustrated she would get with me and rightfully so. At a pre-contest concert at the school my Jr. year she decided that we would play Bugler's Holiday at the concert. Sheral Adams, myself and Mrs. Johnson played the piece. We got through it but both Mrs. Johnson and Sheral had problems hitting the higher notes. It was fun and I believe that everyone who attended enjoyed our efforts.

Wally Parman- Commercial and Boys Athletics- Mr. Parman was the business instructor and typing teacher and helped with the annual. Mr. Parman liked to go around the room with his pointer while you were typing and bop you on the head if you moved your head to look at the keys. I'm surprised Nick Baskerville and myself don't have permanent damage from all of the hits we took. We learned on the old manual typewriters and then one day the brought in an electric. We all got to use it, it was incredible how lightly you had to touch the keys unlike the manual ones where you had to really exert some pressure to type. Amazing how much technology has changed in 43 years. Mr. Parman was an excellent coach and motivator, however, he did have a tendency to start to write off the seniors as the season got closer to the end. I really only have one instance where I thought he was totally wrong and that was not starting Chuck Orr in the sectionals against Alta. It bothered Chuck so much I think he was 1 for 12 from the field in shooting and just didn't play his game. We have always wondered why you would take someone out of your lineup who was scoring 16.2 points a game and put someone in to replace him who barely played. We also have always wondered why Coach Parman never took Chuck aside and advised him of the change. Mr. Parman went on to be an administrator, coached basketball with Mr. Skinner in Palmer when they won all of their state championships and now is back in Missouri.

Tom Adams- Principal. Mr. Adams was the first person in the Fonda School I met. In my opinion an excellent Principal who didn't put up with any nonsense. In those days you just didn't mess around like they do today. I remember Dennis Stafford popped off in study hall and got his face slapped. I remember Verylyn Myer shoving Bob Gehrig into the locker and advising him that he best cease and desist, which he did. Today, the kids would sue you, or go get a gun and shoot you. We wonder why things are they way they are, look first at the homes these kids come out of, then look at the schools and then finally our government and then you know who really is in control. It very many times is not the adults.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Basketball 1966/67

Fresh off of our football season where we enjoyed alot of success, we would see if that would carry over to the basketball season. Coach Parman would be coaching us and a new system and philosophy would obviously be needed as both the girls and the boys teams were each on a 19 game losing streak. The teams the previous year were so bad that the scores were not even put in the annual, both teams were that lousy.

The girls would be coached again by Lee Hurlburt. The forwards would be led by Karen Schoon, Jane Hatteberg and Jane Stauter and freshmen Nancy Seagren would see some playing time. The guard court would be led by Jeanne Hatteberg, Sheral Adams, Linda Seagren and Carolotta Delano would also get ample playing time. The girls team would go 10 and 8 over the season and would be 9 and 1 in conference games and win the conference. They will lose to Gilmore City 66 to 65 in the sectional tournament.

We still had Homecoming during basketball this year and Jeanne Hatteberg and Darwin Samuelson were the King and Queen. Queen candidates were Sis Withers, Karen Schoon and Judy Smith. King candidates were Roger Hatteberg, Terry Cole and Larry Murphy.

The boys team would have some returning players this year. Pat Murphy had been the leading scorer as a sophomore for us. We would also have Darvin Dirks, Gerald Johnson, Darwin Samuelson, myself and newcomer Chuck Orr. Chuck Orr would have a very positive and lasting affect on any success we have over the next two years. Chuck had transferred in the fall, had played football, however, his love and passion was for basketball. Chuck had played a lot his sophomore year at Northeast Hamilton and was a contributor on the team. I have to also give Chuck credit for me ending up as good a player as I think I was. It was because of his presence and good play on the team that pushed me to improve my game and get better as a player.

I remember the first game we played as juniors, we went up to Rembrandt. I had already sized up the team for the year and figured I would be the best player and would lead the team in most categories. What a rude surprise I was about to get. I had a terrible game against Rembrandt up there and we got beat 64 to 44. I think I had 6 points and was lousy on both ends of the court. Interestingly enough, Chuck Orr had 21 points I believe and led the team in most categories. Our next game was against Palmer and we lost again 72 to 60 and again, I stunk and my frustration level was getting higher. Chuck Orr and Pat Murphy were leading the team. Coach Parman took me aside after a practice and took me up to his room. He told me I was trying too hard and not playing smart. I told him I thought I was going to quit as I didn't feel I was contributing to the team. He told me he wanted me to play one more game and all he wanted me to do was go out, enjoy the game, try my best and then after the game do the mirror test. I asked him what the mirror test was, he told me that after the game if I could go look in the mirror and tell myself I had played the best I could, then to be happy with it, if I could not do that, then I would have to make adjustments and learn from my mistakes. I told him I would try. Fortunately for me, it worked, I played well against Havelock-Plover, we won the game 69 to 60 ending a 21 game losing streak and the rest is history as they say. We ended up the year with 7 wins 10 losses but were a much better team overall. We lost to Storm Lake St. Mary's 64 to 54 in the sectionals, however, we were in the game the whole way. I ended up making second team all-conference and did end up leading the team in scoring and most categories.

As I look back over that season, it was rewarding in many ways. We grew together as a team, we matured as a team, we played well together after about the first month of learning from a new coach and the outlook was much brighter than the year before. Honestly though, if it weren't for Chuck Orr coming to Fonda and being a part of the team, pushing us all to be better as players and teammates, then I am not sure how the season would have gone. I believe a large part of the success we enjoyed as a team was due to Chuck. He helped us get over the hump and for that we should all thank him.