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This message forum is an ongoing discussion about anything and just about everything ... within reason.  One thing our class was good at was having opinions.  Almost 70 years of life experience certainly qualifies us as experts on most everything!   Ask a question ... give an opinion ... share some insights ... it's our web site, it's our forum.  That said, it's probably not a good idea to get into arguments about politics, religion, and the like.  While we're experts on everything, we also have a wide range of values and beliefs. This site belongs to all of us ... the whole range ... and we are not here to isolate, alienate, or subjugate anybody.  Of course insults, humiliation, sophomoric barraggadocio, and demented humor is expected behavior among some of us less mature people.
 

Jim Cejka

I think St. Mary's kind of outgrew that building.

Jim Cejka

So, how many of us celebrated, or how many missed, World Lazy Day, August 10?

(I can claim some history with that - I believe it came about in response to my studying habits during final exams.)

Jim Cejka

Garry,

Caring is easy - doing something about any of those, or the zillion other special days (except Grandparents Day), . . . I pass..

Jim Cejka

Suggested attire for the next Custer gathering? 

Jim Cejka

My current hairstyle allows the wind to pass through without obstruction. 

Jean Vick (Lovy)

Hi....I am Jean Lovy Vick.  I would like to come to the social on September 30th with my husband.  Does anyone need to know this ahead of the date or can we just show up.  Thank you.

Jeanne Zinser (Gottschalk)

Hey, Jean!

I can help out with the RSVP. Send an email to custer_alumni@charter.net
Add your name & guest names that are attending. Hope to see you on the 30th!

Garry Sellers

Jim Cejka

Oh Boy. Do I feel old. . . .

I was doing a crossword puzzle today and a series of the clues referred to the host and panel members of "I've Got A Secret" - and I remembered them all! 

And, the host also had a surplus of "r"s in his name. 

John Gilbert

Gary - I did see the article on Mr. Kranz. I'm not sure if I had him as a teacher or not. The only person I remember from Browning is Mr. Werschnick (not sure if i spelled his name correctly). He was the principle at Browning. 

I can only remember one other teacher, and it very well could have been Mr. Kranz. Didn't Kranz also teach physical education? The phy'ed teacher we had was built well, flat top hair cut and I could see this guy playing foorball.

Was not able to attend this weekends swarey at the Machine Shed. I'm sure there will be some great photos and interesting comments.

Later:

JG

Garry Sellers

John -  That would describe Mr. Kranz but it also could be Mr Fricke, who, as I remember, had a flattop but was shorter and not as muscular.  The two of them seemed to be buddies.  For a full course recounting of teachers in which classroom, contact Pat McCarthy.  She rattled off every teacher in which room on the second floor to me.  And speaking to Pat a week ago, her husband, General Russ McCarthy, is now 93 and going through a very tough patch.  She could use your kind thoughts and prayers right about now.

John Ruhland

Speaking of athletic type teachers we can't forget Mr. Bill Bagemihl (not sure of the spelling)

Jim Cejka

How appropriate - 

Some (a lot?) of us went on to colleges and got degrees because that's what our parents wanted us to do. They didn't have the chance and we made them proud. But what about those degrees? If you knew you wanted to be a teacher, pharmacist, or engineer, yeah, but what about the degree for degree's sake?

After the service I got my degree. Took whatever sounded interesting and fitted into my schedule for a couple of years, then the GI Bill looked to run out so I looked through the catalogue and figured a B.S. in zoology was the degree I was closest to, so that's what I got. Like the cartoon, what do you do with a degree in zoology, certainly none of the jobs I've had. But then, kids and grandkids. That degree that would never be used now makes me a great grandpa to go to the zoo with. I can even proudly tell them "That's not a gopher, that's Ictidomys tridecemlineatus.

A belated, but finally good feeling.

Terri Levenhagen (Hoornstra)

Jim, I have to believe your degree comes in occasionally when watching Jeopardy - unless you're like me, and constantly say, "I USED to know that." or "I'm glad my English professor didn't see me blow that answer."  Speaking of college degrees, I was cleaning out some old files and it suddenly dawned on me that those transcripts and old job resumes are totally useless to me anymore. 

Jim Cejka

Terri,

I have maybe a more advanced case of that - I don’t know anymore what I used to know, so if I don’t even know that I once knew something, such memory failures are moot, right? 

And, don’t through away those vitae and resumes, they’ll fill some blanks sometime when you’re telling those grandkids about “the good old days.”

And, yes, my vast B. S. background flora and fauna knowledge did help on the occasional Jeopardy question, although Ictidomys tridecemlineatus never came up. But, I only do the Jeopardy game on line, I have not watched Jeopardy lately. I’m bummed about it. The producers, and Ken Jennings, have made it into a more kitschy, ha-ha, typical game show. To me, it seems to have lost that aura, low-key, focus on the guests and their answers. Now it’s Jennings banter with the guests, cutesyness like any other daytime game show, or Wheel. He doesn’t seem to hold the same respect or awe for the guests and their answers or attempts as Alec did. Bialik’s a work in progress, but she seems to be a little more “I’m not the star," ala Alec, and more into keeping the show like him. Interesting, because she has a lot more “star” credentials than Ken. 

Or, is that my curmudgeon showing?

Jim Cejka

Oh Wow,

I just read that the Menomonee Falls P.D. solved a 60 year old homicide using DNA and good police work. It caught my attention because that occurred at my uncle's shop in the industrial park off Lily Rd and Silver Spring, and I recognized the name. My uncle had moved his shop into that "new" industrial park from downtown Milwaukee someplace. They questioned all the employees, including my dad (who did occassional welding there), and for a while my cousin was a suspect. The girl was alone at the time, and it turns out it was a delivery driver who delivered to a neighboring shop. We were all upset, on edge at the time, couldn't believe something like that happening in a family place. The subject died in 2008, but they continued the case and eventually solved it. Everybody in our family involved is long gone by now, but it's still a comfort to see it cleared. 

Garry Sellers

I couldn't disagree with you more Jim.  I think Jennings is twice the host that Alex was.  It is, in fact, just a game and Alex had a certain snobbery about him ... as if he had a superior knowledge, which he didn't.  Ken, in fact, does know most of the answers but keeps it light and doesn't belittle contestants like I felt Alex did from time to time.  Plus he kept a "distance" between himself and contestants while Ken makes them feel like they have a friend playing his part in the game along with them.  It was especially apparent in Alex's pre-show audience interaction.

Who knows, we might live long enough to definitively identify Jack the Ripper! 

Jim Cejka

Espoused by Plato, and put into words by Margaret Wolfe Hungerford, 

"Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder."

Jim Cejka

What we always thought about Halloween - 

Garry Sellers

I have a confession to make.  I just bought an artificial tree... so sad.  After 79 years of sometimes lovely and sometimes Charlie Brown trees, I gave into the constant ridicule of my family and friends.  Remember, I live in California and our trees probably come from Wisconsin anyway! They last about 3 days before shedding all their needles.  The good news is I probably have a life-time guarentee on it ... which they said is technically 3 years but that may likely be long enough!!! 

Nancy Davison (Boerger)

Karsten Boerger

Garry, I feel your pain - traditions do die hard. One dying here this year as well, unless I can muster some energy to fight it. Karsten insists we forgo cutting a tree a few days before Christmas and decorating with candles. This despite that fact that 1) a fresh tree will not burn, and 2) in 59 years, we have yet to have a  Christmas tree burn down our house. I'm all for making reasonable changes, but this.....? 

Terri Levenhagen (Hoornstra)

Nancy and Garry, since I was a kid and we would enact the scene from the movie "Christmas Story" and get the best tree we could find at a lot, to the times my aunt & uncle would bring a freshly chopped tree from Pelican Lake, I have always spent Christmas with a fresh tree. But we had to switch to an artificial tree several years ago, due to Jon's breathing issues, and I missed the smell of Christmas in the house. But the artificial one always looks nice - for months, if you like, branches perfectly placed for ornaments, and the only maintenance is before putting it away, blow the month or so's dust away with the hair dryer set on cool. I get my smell of Christmas by hanging a fresh wreath on the front door and taking a big sniff whenever I come home.

Tom Burger

We have purchased a potted cluster of Norfolk Island pines about 5 1/2 ft tall...year round that is our "Christmas tree"....always green easy to decorate, never a fire hazard. 

Jim Cejka

Garry,

Regarding your question as to how we can go from 4th of July through to Christmas so fast - 4th of July IS the start of the Christmas season. Haven't you been paying attention to the Hallmark or Great American Family channels 24/7 Christmas movies since then? 

I asked my pastor 2 Sundays ago if he had a prayer to relieve the pain and sufferring associated with those movies since July, and 6 more weeks to go, but he didn't have anything to offer, other than referring to some parable about "weeping and gnashing of teeth."

William Nelson

We bought a fake tree at half-price a couple of years ago and have used it since. It looks fairly realistic, if you stand back far enough. I never wanted a fake tree until we wound up with a couple that turned brown the same week we bought them. The local Southern Yellow pine grows fast, but the branches aren't very strong. It has long needles and sheds them rapidly. When I was working and traveling a lot in our Suburban, I was often able to get a fresh cut tree from one of the farms in the area. I worked in paper mills, so the tree in the back of the Suburban did a good job as an air freshener. Unfortunately, I've lost my sense of smell, so that feature wasn't much of a feature for me anymore. Even if I could sense smell, I now drive a pickup with a cap, so the load is isolated from the cab anyway. We do still use the same ornaments and such that we've used over the years and recall all the good memories of Christmas past. A couple of the grandkids like to pitch in on the decorating. Hope they're here to do it again this year.

Hope y'all have a great holiday season and keep making more great memories.