Speaking of gym class, how do you like these highly attractive gym suits that we wore back in the late 1960's? We had royal blue ones in junior high and maroon ones in high school. One piece with an attached belt around the waist that cinched you in for a defined waist. Of course, the short shorts had bloomers attached underneath so that no one could look up your shorts legs. They were made of non-stretch cotton, so they were pretty uncomfortable. We even wore these for girls' basketball...white ones...with numbered red pinnies over the uniform. Keds sneakers and white socks completed the look!

 

 

 

 

Coach and Ma and the Square Dance Lessons

What did you do in sophomore year gym class? Exercises? Basketball? Running?

Well, you haven't lived until you have learned to square dance in gym class. Oh my! Talk about embarrassment. In 1967, with excruciating pain and humiliation, the sophomore class learned to allemande left and do-si-do. I wonder if it was as painful for the gym teachers as it was for the students?

Ma, the girls' gym teacher, and Coach, the guys' gym teacher, were the co-teachers in this strange new journey. Ma was about 6 feet tall and like a drill sergeant; Coach was the football guy, nice, but awkward trying to teach us to dance.

First things first: We walked into the gym to find that the curtain to separate the boys from the girls was pulled back. We were told to line up, girls on one side of the room, guys on the other. Then we walked toward each other until we each had a partner. No one was quite sure who one would end up with until you matched up in the middle of the room. Ugh! You were stuck with that person for 3 weeks until the unit was done.

My guy could at least follow directions and we successfully learned the intricacies of the dances. Others were not so talented and failed miserably. Did we like it? Hell, no. Mercifully, the unit ended quickly and we went back to badminton and volleyball and our segregated lives behind the curtain..

You just never know...

Wow! There are just 4 months until my 45th high school reunion. Our reunion committee has done a great job of finding classmates, getting organized, and planning. One of the best things that we had decided to do was to create a scholarship fund with which to honor the class of 2015. When we started, we had fairly low expectations for how much we thought we could accumulate. However, almost $10,000 later, we are amazed at the generosity of our classmates. We have collected a real nest egg and we have decided what we will do with it. We have also survived an onslaught of suggestions from late-comers to the fold who have suggested that we aggressively manage our money and make much, much more. Those suggesting the aggressive approach, of course, had no intention of helping us manage it. Thus we decided to give it to the high school to manage in their own tax exempt accounts, assuring the donors that they could take a tax deduction each year that they donate. We decided that it was a WIN-WIN situation...kids get money and we get tax deductions and get to feel good.