UCityClass1957

U'City Memory. October 5, 1956. Fifth or sixth period. About 3:30 p.m. Central Time, 4:30 p.m. Eastern time. Mr. Strehlman's Physics class.
Suddenly the loudspeaker on the wall behind the teacher's desk, what I think we called the "intercom", comes to life. Don Larsen is on the
mound for the Yankees against the Dodgers in game five of the World Series. Was it Mel Allen's voice we heard? I think so. What I'm sure
of is that Mr. Baker decided to interrupt the flow of our late afternoon education to let us all in on history being made. To this day Don
Larsen's accomplishment has not yet been matched. Looking back at his perfect game in the World Series, Larsen once said, "They can
never break my record. The best they can do is tie it." Thanks, Mr. Baker.
Biography. When we were seniors, one of our counselors told me that based on my high school record; statistically I had about a one in
ten chance of successfully completing a degree at Mizzou, if I chose to go to Mizzou. I was, after all, near the bottom rung of the academic
ladder in our class. Without a few "gift" Ds in French from Bessie Wolfner, I probably wouldn't have fulfilled the language requirement and
graduated with the class. The counselor didn't know what I knew. I had "it". I just hadn't decided to use "it" yet.
So I did graduate with all of you, circulated my "Dial" for many of your signatures (damned if I can understand many of them now), and the
next fall with Merle Kaminsky, Marty Feldman (I think), and Gene Levin went off to college at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
Speaking of the "Dial", I suggest we all bring ours next year to see if the signatures still match.
U'City Memory. Bowling at Nelson Burton's. The grungy little bowling establishment was on a little side street just one block east of
DeBalivere, perhaps on Clara. The bowling was fun, but what I recall most about the bowling was taking lessons by watching Mickey
Schulman knock down pins with skill and ease. If I recall correctly, he once had a perfect 300 game. Does he still knock 'em down Phyllis?
Burton's also had pin ball machines that "paid off". If you won enough games on the machines, the desk clerk would reward you with cash.
Those were the innocent days long before the Indian gaming Act. Neil Crane always seemed to know how to prevent the feared "Tilt!"
Biography. I still hadn't decided to use "it" at Colorado, but I had a great time learning to ski in the Rockies, enjoying the social scene in
Boulder and falling for the Great American West. Love those skies and sunsets! Knew I'd end up in the West. After four semesters at C.U., I
had accumulated many friends, wonderful memories and almost two semesters of credits. So, with my parent's praise and insistence, and a
nudge from the C.U. administration, I came back to St. Louis where I found "it". It was maturity. I began to study and use the basics that
were there unused from my days at U' City.