The message forum is an ongoing dialogue between classmates. There are no items, topics, subtopics, etc.

Forums work when people participate - so don't be bashful! Click the "Post Message" button to add your entry to the forum.

David Mitchell

A lot of you may be thinking the twist started with Chubby Checker, but I beleive it was a group called Joey Dee and the Starlighters, who started playing the twist in a place called the "Peppermint Lounge" in NYC. My older sisters had the original 33 "album". I think I had it and sold it at garage sale years ago for a few dollars. I think it would fetch a lot more now. 

Lawrence Foster

Sorry I am slow about chiming in on the twist contest memory.   Yes Donna I do remember winning a twist contest with you.  As Jim noted I too remember bringin home a 45 record for winning and it was called "Sh-Boom"  and had come out 3 or 4 years earlier.  Donna if we didn't win the IC 8th grade one maybe it was at the junior high dances at Whetsone Rec. Center.   At some of our earlier reunions both Kathy Thomas and Kathy Shanahan told me that they remember winning a twist contest with me.  Since they went to OLP those might have been at Whetsone dances or maybe a freshman year CYC dance.

If I won that many twist contests it was because I understood what would make the judges notice my dancing "skills" (? I use the word skills loosley)  - I was dancing with the prettiest girl there at the time!  That is what sealed any and all wins that occured!

That 8th grade graduation dance party was unusual.  The year before and for likely 2 years after the graduation party was an afternoon swim party!  Keep them boys and girls apart.  But we were different.

It was likely announced in March that the graduation party would be a dance and not a swim party.  Some guys, who will not be named here, and me, began a process of pilfering alcohol from our father's liquor cabinets.  Always a small amount put in a canning jar of our mothers or an old Skippy peanut butter container or chemistry set glass tubes.  Now my job was to bring the cigarettes.  At one point during the dance the DJ was going to take a break and go outside and have a smoke.  But he had no matches for his cigarette.  So asked someone, a parent, for a light, they didn't have one but they knew who did.  He picked up the mike and said "Little Moose Foster please come to the DJ."  He repeated it a second time before I got there.  I gave him his light and a pack of matches and all was cool.

Donna I remember me and maybe a dozen to 15 other guys waiting at the school until all the girls had been picked up by their parents.  I specifically remember saying good night to you and others as you went away.  Then us guys walked down the back alley towards Calumet.  The alcohol had been stashed in the bushes behind Sue Rousseau's house and that is when and where we started drinking.  I doubt that there was even as much as a fifth of alcohol but that and the excitement of doing it all got us acting real drunk real fast.  Some of the guys went home on Calumet headed south of EN Broadway.  Others of us went north on Calumet and then on to Grandin.  Singing and laughing we made way home.  One individual got me home, upstairs to my bed and out of our house without waking my parents. 

Okay, enough of my blabbering for now.

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mary Clare Hummer (Bauer)

Jim,

It is I. Either we were not allowed to watch American Bandstand at our house (strong possibility!!) or I really WAS busy studying Geometry & the sciences. Regardless, I couldn’t dance my way out of a hula hoop then or now. And I definitely never won a Twist contest. We should have one at the next reunion and everyone who can stand up straight after the music stops will be declared the all-time winners!!  

Clare

David Mitchell

Jim, Nobody has mentioned Clare, Beth, Bucky or Brian so apparently a few of your classmates missed out. Unless they "took state" and were too modest to let us in on such a noteworthy accomplishment. And all this time I thought the "Twist" started in New Your City?

** just added (love your suggestion Clare)

Larry,

You struck a nerve (a sweet one) with a name you mentioned. Susie Rousseau was my next door neighbor and first friend in life. We were back behind them, down a long driveway which gave us an Overbrook address, but she lived in front which gave them a Yaronia address. Her mom and dad were my parents closest neighbor friends and she and I and sometimes her next two sisters - (Mimi and Becky) all played "Cowboys & Indians" and "Robin Hood & Maid Marion" together with the other guys on the block. When they kept having babies (the twins and then John) they had to find a bigger house. We were so sad to see them go, but kept in close touch and visited that house near the IC School many, many times.  What a fond memory - and what a neat house (after they fixed it up)!

Some of you IC'ers may recall they were a very musical family. Jack had a terrific voice and Betty could play anything by ear after hearing it once. And that big living room had room for her grand piano right there next to the fireplace. Years later we were invited to the St. Joe's Acadamy talent show (which was staged a bit more formally than ours was at Watterson). I went with mom and dad, knowing Susie would be part of the show. What we did not know was that she and one other girl (Carla somebody?) would be featured, and she completely stole the show with her fabulous voice! Mom and Dad were really stunned!

I think I had a crush on her most of my early life - one year she asked me to her "Cherry Ball" (the St. Joe's winter Prom). Last I heard, she and her boyfriend were close friends with Kevin and Jodie Ryan. I only saw her once after Mary and I moved back to Columbus from Denver in the late 80's. 

And here's one more bit of trivia that you IC'ers may enjoy. Mimi (second sister) went on to have a professional carreer, as lead singer with a local group called "Spittin' Image". They sang all genres, rock, jazz, pop, etc. in clubs around Columbus during the 70's and were quite popular. I think I still have their album somewhere stashed away. But a few years back, I was watching one of those Public TV fund raisers with the oldies groups, and there on the side of the stage, in a bright red gown, as the lead female backup to a bunch of different groups on the show was Mimi Rousseau! 

Timothy Lavelle

My vote for best opening line. Napoleon Hummer and "It is I". Great opening shorty!

Donna, Larry, there is something wrong here. When Leslie Casbarro and I won the Twist contest at our St Agatha graduation dance, we were told it was the National Catholic Twist Contest. I got a silver dollar and Leslie got an album I think. I recall Sister Mary Edsel telling us that we should carry the honor with pride for two reasons 1) at no time did our bodies touch 2) a school called IC would claim to be better but they were "Chumps". Her words! Sister Edsel even pronounced IC as "Ick"...you know how competetive those nuns could be?!

James Hamilton, M. D.

Clare,

And here I thought the reason for your knee surgery was because you probably spent so many evenings "twistin', twistin', twistin' the night away..."  :)

Dave,

There was a Carla Johnson in our grade school class whose family lived about 4-5 houses east of IC on E.N. Broadway, close to the Hughes' and O'Neils', if I am not mistaken. I believe she went to St. Joe's Academy for high school.

Tim,

Really?? A sister named after a Ford that was a failure???

Janie Albright (Blank)

Loving our new topic! Although I did pay $10 a month for awhile so Dennis could watch the Westerns channel. One memorable show was a Bonanza Christmas episode starring a very young Wayne Newton. Lol

But back to the twist I remember a St Michael’s grade school party at someone’s house where the girls were teaching the boys how to twist demonstrating with a towel. I particularly remember Dennis Winchester giving it a go. 

Clare and MM, I thought I was the only one who was terrible at dance steps! How did you do so well at cheerleading?! 

David Mitchell

Graduation Party?  What the heck are you people talking about?  I think the nuns let us listen to a few bars of The Old Rugged Cross on a transister radio for our graduation. Seriously, I dont think we had such a thing as a Graduation Party. Maybe ice cream and cookies in the school basement afterwards. Any OLP'ers remember? I don't think we EVER had a school dance. As I recall It was either Kathy Shannahan's basement a few times or nothing at all. But there was an alternative "activity" going on at times - Sunday matinees at the Beechwold theater. 

And whatever happened to Leslie Casabarro? I think she was the first girl I noticed other than our own OLP girls on that very first day of Freshman year. I think I got caught looking like a deer in the headlights at all that makeup. There certainly were a lot of lovely new faces to look at that first day. I'm still not sure who had the word's biggest "Flip" hairdo, but there were some doozies in that crowd. 

(Jim, Carla and Susie must have lived awfully close together. Susie's house was only two doors down from the school - I think?). 

David Mitchell

Oh, and Clare, how'd that Geometry thing work out for ya ?

James Hamilton, M. D.

Lawrence Foster

Mark -   Thanks for the good feedback about my story Lord Acton.  I knew when I was writing it that there was a lot of Jane Austen references but I was not sure how much is enough.   

I especially like the idea of how you suggest ending the story, leaving it up to the reader to get involved and draw their own conclusions.  I hadn't thought that way but I do like it.  And it is a good remeinder that sometimes I talk too much and now it is showing in my writing.

I liked the Dan Brown novel The Da Vinci Code for a lot of reasons but one of them is the idea of hiding something in plain sight in the art work that people did.  Besides the Jane references in my story there are 3 others that are more my own family history.  In Columbus I lived on Acton Road, my mother's maiden name was Robinson, and Rocksavage Hall is a real place that has a family history for me (see this Wiki link:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocksavage).  My sister and I have done a lot of our genealogy work and found we are desc  ended from all the John Savages and Sir John Savage and the Frenchmen before they went to England - Jean le Sauvage!  and the list goes on and on!  I wouldn't expect anyone but my own family members to catch those.

I used the hidden in plain sight idea in the two Halloween stories I posted last year over on the User Forums link of this page.  Would you mind looking at the one listed as 2016 Halloween Story (Dark Times Coming) and let me know what you think of it from the perspective of overdoing it with hidden references.  There are a bunch of them in there and I want to see how many you catch.  I want to see if I was being too obvious. 

I know the 2 Halloween stories are creepy and they are not where my mind usually goes.  I see that a number of folks looked at them but ... I may have overdone it and creeped them out.  When I read the story in my writers' group it was on the Monday night before the 2016 Presidential election and it did get quite a reaction.  I think it was mostly because of the timing of the story. 

Thanks again for the feedback.  I hope your work on "Keep It Smooth" is going okay.

Mark Schweickart

Dave - I am with you, I am sure at St. Michael's we never had a dance. Although I do recall being at a party at Carol Zonner's (help me out Janie, am I remembering that name correctly), where the girls tried to teach us some sort of a line dance. I also recall that during some  summer evenings there was music played at Shelby Park where dancing occurred. It was the first time I heard the immortal Pat Boone number "Speedy Gonzales' (the fastest mouse in all of Mexico). Later that night I mustered the courage to ask the same Carol (if that was her name) to a slow dance, since that took no more ability than to sway back and forth in hold. It was the first time I experienced the effect of hairspray as used in those days, as my cheek  became almost stuck in her cotton-candy hair.

Larry - I will take another look at your stories to see if I see what you are alluding to. I don't recall off hand seeing hidden references, so i will read more carefully.  And thanks again for the thorough feedback you offered me regarding my first  attempt at writing a short novel. It gave me a lot to think about.

Mark Schweickart

Larry - Now that I have reread this, I do recall seeing what you were referring to. I am not sure how to respond however, since genre-wise this is very specifically meant to be a weird , spooky, Halloween type of a story, so that means certain normal criticisms probably do not  apply. Nonetheleess, I do think that you may have overdone it with allusions that are far too on-the-nose (Dr. Francis Stein, Rosemary's Baby, Bel's and Bub's, and Lillith). But then again, this is all done in a sort of tongue-in-cheek way, so it may not hurt. In fact I supppose they are central to what you have done here--creating a weird little horror story. As I said, it is a hard genre to apply rules to. I generally don't read or watch horror movies, but I did watch Jordan Peele's "Get Out" since it is getting a lot of Oscar buzz. You might want to take a look at this because it is very inventive in the way it plays with that genre--witht he emphasis on suspense rather than gory goings-on, and with keeping the audience guessing until the very end as to what is really happening. Once it gets to the ending-reveal, I felt a little let down as it devolved into a rather silly plot explanation, and a (thankfully small) dose of gruesomeness that this genre seems to require. But up to that point it was very engaging and suspenseful.

Jodelle Sims

Mark, It was Carol Zauner.  She is on facebook, Carol Wycykal.  She is a widow living in Maryland near her brother Frank.

Michael McLeod

If I can weigh in on the subject of East North Broadway:

First of all, when I look back I realize that street was a testament from the biological loopholes in the rhythm method of birth control. Big families. Plenty of "Irish twins" up and down what was surely on ot the town's most fecund thoroughfares. Dr. Hughes and his wife may be our best example of that. They lived very near the corner of Indianola and Broadway, next to a victorian style home that was vacant for most of my childhood and has long since given way to an office building. I believe there were nine or ten children in the Hughes family. 

Thew Johnsons lived next door. Carla was my first crush. We lived about six houses east of Indianola. Forgive me if I have shared this story before but there was an Omar Bakery warehouse behind us (hell yes you remember the advertising jingle, right? "Ma! Oh ma! Here comes the Omar man!" Anyway I used to watch from my bedroom window at night for the trucks to arrive from the bakery and I would slip away to steal donuts that were still warm on the night they were delivered (I could scooch in between the building and the back of the truck.)  Once my mother, who bought the story that my complicit sisters and I concocted that the deliverymen were just giving them to me, told us to take a dozen down to the nuns at IC. Little did they know they were eating stolen donuts. I don't think it tarnished their souls. Surely they got off on a technicality, or at least got time off for good behavior.

Linda Weiner (Bennett)

MM, thanks for the vid. It conjured-up this: Does anyone remember on WCOL there was a monthly opportunity to call in to vote for your favorite newly released song? The program was after supper,I think, & you had a choice of a few records they would play during that hour. Anyway, when they played one particular record, I was certain Elvis had a new release!  I thought it was a joke when they announced the last record played was by Conway Twitty!!! Not sure if I was more shocked over the fact that it was not Elvis or about the name "Twitty!" (Nothing against the artist, I love Conway!)

The video also made me remember my good friend Shelley (Pendergast, RIP), who could pick up dance steps in only a few seconds.  She would then teach them to me. What fun.

I like the way they slow danced, hand-in-hand not with the female with both arms around the guy's neck or shoulder. Where did that come from? I guess I'm am old fuddy-duddy.  

And I'm quite sure my mother watched Bandstand more than me! 

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mark Schweickart

Jodelle - Thanks for the clarification on Carol's name. At leat I got her name right  phonetically, if not orthographically.

David Mitchell

Mike,

As to the size of that North Broadway Hughes family, you were close, but no cigar. "Uncle Hank" had 15 children if I recall correctly. Starting with Joan and then Janet (in our class at Watterson first two years before transferring to Whetsone). I knew that Hughes family well from our cottage up at Lake Erie. I use the term "Uncle" when referring to Dr. Hank Hughes because later, I married one of his nieces from Arlington (Mary - St. Joe's class of '64) - one of only 13 kids in the Dr. Tom Hughes family. I jokingly referred to all 5 of them as "Uncle" after our wedding. 

Also, John and Margie Bergman (a year ahead and a year behind you at IC), were cousins in that Hughes family. All five Hughes brothers were Doctors and another of them had 12 kids, while the only reaminig living one in Spokane has 8 (I think).

The oldest brother, Dr. Joe Hughes was my dad's best friend in Medical School at OSU in the 30's and Dad introdiuced him to another childhood best friend, Margaret Gordon (who's nephew Phil ("flip") Gordon was a year ahead of us at Watterson. They later married and 4 kids. I know I am repeatng myself here, but Tommy Wielbacher was also a cousin to some of those Hughes and the Gordons. I still see Joan and Janet Hughes now and then at funerals in Columbus. At the risk of self incrimination - yes, there were some oddities about the Hank Hughes family.  He was a "character".   'nuff said on that

Dr. Joe Hughes - the oldest, had only 4 children - some of our best friends growing up. The oldest was Jim, who was a partner at one of the biggest law firms in downtown and became the City of Columbus Safety Director for some years. We nicknamed him "top cop". His wife, Pat - one of the sweetest people I have ever known - is now retired from her job of the personal pilot of the Ohio Governor for many years. Their son Jimmy Hughes, is now a state legislator and attends official functions at Watterson now and then. 

David Mitchell

I think it was either a Papal Edict or some sort of magic energy field that if you lived north of Glenmont the birth rate was a lot lower.

Michael McLeod

Thanks for helping me out on the math Dave. In truth I was just guessing. I know the doctor and his wife were in double figures. As to Jim's question about who else lived on East North Boradway: who could forget Mrs. Ertel? Pretty much straight across the street from IC. Our red-headed first grade teacher. Luck to start off with a woman as sweet as she was. God bless you Ruth Ertel, and if there is a heaven you surely deserve a place there.

Joseph D. McCarthy

Tim can I have some of your medication.  Dave hit me up-side the head with a Prop/Propellor/Rotor or something probably much bigger.  I just asked him one simple question.  What is the Correct (Full) name of St. John Arena?

Also, I directed him to a website containing postcards, among which are numerous Postcards of Columbus from our youth.  The site lists postcards which are available to purchase.  ( Insert here Mandatory statement ).  I have No Interset in this website and do not receive any commissions.

      https://www.CardCow.com/viewall/65084

This takes you directly to the Columbus part of the website.  Now please tell Dave to quit hitting me.

Joe

James Hamilton, M. D.

David Mitchell

Joe and Jim,

The postcard of the "Old Pen" reminds me of a couple of Dad's "adventures". In addition to his private practice downtown, and his being head of the Allergy Dept. at OSU Med School, he was also the allergist to the Pennitentary (both Downtown, and perhaps the old one up in Mansfield before it closed - pictured in "Shawshank Redemption"). He had a regular day that he would leave the OSU campus and spend a few hours in the "Old Pen" before going down to his office in the Beggs building.

One one visit, he was just getting set up when his two regualr "trustees" came in and warned to him that there was trouble brewing and he must leave. They helped him pack up his equipment and hustled him out to the guard station. A near riot followed shortly after - but it was quelled by the guards.

Some time later (can't recall exact time frame - late 60's?) he was getting away from the OSU clinic late (Dad was always late!)  on his way to the "Pen". On his way down Neil Avenue he heard on the car radio that a full-blown riot had broken out. If I remember correctly, the Governor had to call in National Guard troops, and I seem to recall they had to blast their way in though exterior walls with dynomite and charge into the building with bayonets and gas masks. If Dad had been on time that day he would have been caught in the riot.

And also Joe,

Would you PLEASE  tell us what was the full official name for St. John Arena?  You have us all waiting now with baited breath.