Saturday, February 26, 2011

Sixth Grade Memories

Sixth Grade 66/67...Hey! Hey! We're the Monkees! Yes, even I was carried away with the introduction of these fine, funny gents. A psuedo-group, constructed by hollywood to have their own Beatle like group that was completely under their thumb. Nevertheless, some of their songs were pretty good, and the show itself could be chaotically entertaining. And people just say we're monkeying around

Sixth Grade 66/67,,,there were a lot of great adventure programs on too. My favorites included The Time Tunnel, Lost In Space and Mission:Impossible. Fortunately for my diminished reputation, I was no longer acting shows out on the playground. Sometimes becoming an adult is having the imagination slowly beaten out of you.

Sixth Grade 66/67...a new grade meant a brand new school just opening much closer to where I lived...Thomas M White Elementary School,,,Thomas and Mrytle White were like the Godparents of Bridgeport schools and the ones that hired my Dad. They were very nice and friendly. But what I remember most about them were the anice cookies.We were invited to the White's house when I was just six...my Dad had just been hired. Those were the cookies they had set for the guests. I had never had a cookie like that. The flavor upset my delicate six-year-old taste buds. Just the thought of it has haunted me ever since. In fact, I pronunce the name anice along the lines of the vugar pronounciation of...Uranus.


Sixth Grade 66/67....my next foray into theatre was a school production of The Little Matchgirl. I had a brief non-speaking role as a grocery store clerk, and I was supposed to operate the lights, including an important spotlight for The Little Matchgirl's big musical solo. When it came time to turn on the spotlight, I got so caught up in thinking about the acting, that I failed to turn on the light. After a long pause, the Director finally had to say, in a voice loud enough for the whole audience to hear, "TURN...THE LIGHT...ON!" Needless to say, I have not really worked much backstage since.

Sixth Grade 66/67...our shiny new school was built along the team teaching methods that my Dad promoted when he first came to Bridgeport. We had two classrooms seperated by a divider that could open when they wanted to combine the classrooms to "team teach". Great theory, but this virtually never happened, unless they wanted to show some film strip or movie.

Sixth Grade 66/67...there used to be Republicans that were okay. George Romney (Mitten's Dad) wasn't so bad. Donald Riegle (who admittedly later bacame a Democrat). Congressman James Harvey (who until I saw his picture I though might be a giant rabbit that looked like Jimmy Stewart). But, alas, those days are gone. Republicans have gone from conservative to reactionary.

Sixth Grade 66/67...we had a school newspaer, which somehow I became Editor-In-Chief. I think they let me do it because I suggested it, and most of the rest of them didn't know what it was. I think we called it the Thomas White Gossip and I tried to pattern it at least a little like Mad Magazine. I still have a copy of one somewhere buried in a closet of junk.