Be aware, the "Message Forum" is NOT password protected.  Unlike profiles that are password protected, anybody who gets to this webpage can see what is written here.  Nobody can contact you directly based on this forum unless you reveal your personal contact information.  Use the "Message Center" for sharing personal contact information with another classmate.

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

Hey Darrell,

When you figure out that room number thing, let me know please. I sat next to you.

Carol,

I brought home a case of the free glasses Clark was giving away one time. I think the last one broke when we moved to California 3 years ago.

Carol Albers (Pederson)

Ah yes Jim, the gas station glasses!!  There still may be one or two lurking around in a box somewhere.  I think they multiplied while in storage.  Mine were a knobby avocado green.  To this day, I really don't like the color avocado green. Too bad they aren't as collectible as the free depression glass of our parents' generation. 

You know Garry, for that $1 of gas, those great gas attendants (Jim!) would wash the windows and check the oil!

I was thinking, Terri, we did a lot of riding the bus and walking if we wanted to get anywhere, like a football game.  I do remember walking home in a group from King's stadium.  It didn't seem far at the time.  Lots of laughing and silliness.

Jim Cejka

Carol,

Sometimes the King trips weren't that bad, especially if we stopped afterwards at Gina Cozzini's house on the way back.

Nancy Davison (Boerger)

Oh my goodness, Carol – walking! When we were in Milwaukee for the reunion, we (driving) retraced the route I used to take from the 35^th street  library ( just north of Villard)  to my house on Herbert Avenue ( 80^th). I would walk one way and take the bus for the return, laden with books both ways. Does anyone (from way out there) remember that beyond a certain point (don’t remember where) one had to pay an extra 5 cents for the additional “zone’, and then another 5 cents for the final “zone”? That bus ran every half hour; if one missed it, it was almost not worth waiting for the next one. Just WALK.

Jeanne Zinser (Gottschalk)

Carol...

I have a somewhat complete set of Depression Ware that my mother accumulated--pink Cherry Blossom pattern. I know, for a fact, that If I wanted to sell the set (or individual pieces), I could get decent $$$ for the sale. But, I wouldn't part with one single piece!

Carol Albers (Pederson)

Thanks Jim, for filling in the blanks (in my brain).  Of course we would stop at Gina's.  I kept trying to think of a restaurant/drugstore that we might have stopped at along the way. 

Nancy, you had a much farther trek by far.  Most families only had one car, if lucky, and it was used during the day.  So it was the bus or walk.  And paying extra was not always an option. 

Jeanne, I enjoy my mom's depression glass too.  She had the Fostoria American Pattern. It is a clear glass, but I enjoy the different colors of depression glass.

Terri Levenhagen (Hoornstra)

Nancy Davison (Boerger)

Yes, Carol, you're right - just one car. One telephone. One bathroom. Would our grandchildren believe this?

John Leopold

Nancy,

if I'm not mistaken the first zone started at 60th and Villard and the second at 76th and Villard and the last stop was 84th St (villard). My Mother liked to walk and was frugal so we'd get off the bus on 60th and walk from there to   81st St. And the season didn't matter. When I was alone, of course, I would pop for the extra 10 cents. 

John Leopold

Nancy,

Not to nitpick myself but, it was actually 64th St (regular fare ended) and Fond du Lac Ave zone one ended. The walk I really hated was the end of the route at Hampton and Fond du Lac. Is it shorterto walk home the Fond du Lac  route or the Hampton route? For you the Hamton route, for me it's a toss up. No sidewalks and lots of gravel. Those kids who lived east of 68th street had no idea what we went through, yuch...

Marian Schopp (Bringe)

Carol Albert and I walked to Custer from 74th Street and Hampton. It didn't seem far at the time. The only time I took the Villard bus home was when I had swimming last period and my hair would freeze by the time I got home if I walked.  Still had to walk from Villard to home on 74th & Stark.

I am still waiting for my reunion video 

Still waiting for more elementary class pictures to be posted.  Garry was good enough to email me the 5th grade class picture from Browning.  Gaary has been so helpful, and funny, with the ongoing job of keeping us informed 

I wonder how many of our class are on Facebook.  That's a good place to keep up with family and friends using photos and comments.

Garry Sellers

The second installment of your payment will be in the mail Marian as soon as I can get an early distribution of my grand kids 529 education funds.  I've informed them they'll just have to do a work/study program.  It would be easier if you had agreed to a 3 year payout but I do understand your need for that 2 month European vacation with your husband and boyfriend..

Beverly Barry

Oh what fun it is reading all these posts.  The memories are overflowing!  What wonderful times we had in and out of school.  Wish I had made it to the reunion!  How can I order a video?

Nancy Davison (Boerger)

Thanks for filling in the blanks, John. What a memory!  And for you and the others who lived west of 76th street, remember that awful walk to Capitol Court? I did it often, and hated it when it was hot and dusty; hated it when it was cold and muddy. It was always one or the other. (Sidewalks? What sidewalks?) I remember that when we moved into our house on Herbert (80th), there were not only no sidewalks, but no streets and no lawns.....just an endless sea of mud. Everyone was buying their house on the GI bill, and I guess the infrastructure wasn't figured in 'til later. Now, it seems, the streets are laid out first, and then the houses built. The nice part, though, is that we still had alleys....that wonderful convenience in Milwaukee, Chicago, and other midwest cities that keep the cars (and those monstrous garage doors that take up half of the front of every new house) at the back of the house. (Also, the garbage cans.............so civilized). Here and there the occasional upscale developer has revived that arrangement, thus proving that a good idea never dies. 

Marian Schopp (Bringe)

Thinking of Capitol Court, I remember when it was built. Finally I didn't have to take the Fon Du Lac bus to downtown Milwaukee to do my clothes shopping. My friend, Joyce Lauterbach, and I did go downtown to see movies.  I remember very well seeing The Fly and The House of Wax. It was so good in 3D. We could sit in the theater all day and bring our own bag lunch. I also remember the day a tornado came through and blew out some windows at Capitol Court. Very scary. 

Julianne (Julie) Eron (Felts)

Regarding shopping centers in Milwaukee..my first job while in high school was at SS Kresge's in the Bay Shore Mall.  I recently watched a Discover Wisconsin show that featured Bay Shore...is all that beautiful stuff really where I formally worked?  Back in the 60's it was like what's now known as a "strip mall"...outside entrances, I also remember that we had air conditioning that was soooo cold that customers actually left quickly in order to get warm again.  There was a Boston Store as an anchor store...also a shoe store and hardware store..nothing compared to what "malls" are now.  WOW, that "job" brings back memories!  We used to set all the alarm clocks to go off at once,that caused quite a stir..we also let out all the parakeets free to fly around the store.  Catching fish from the acquarium for customers was another fun job...  I lived on 28th and Villard - walked to and from school most of the time unless someone had a car..or if the snow was really bad, we broke down and took the bus.  Memories are slowly coming back...we really did have fun!

Art Perez

Does anyone know if there will be a list of those who attended the reunion posted here on the website?

Terri Levenhagen (Hoornstra)

Marian, I do remember that tornado! We were on our front lawn watching the sky in the direction of Capital Court and we saw it come down, hit, and some trash came flying up in the air. Do you know what we did? We just sat there on the lawn, watching it - a new "show" for us. Clearly, we weren't as well educated about disaster procedures as people nowadays are.  I do have some elementary school pictures. Where would be the best place to post them? Should we start a new gallery for them in the reunion photos? Unless someone wants to pay me not to. :-)

Art Perez

Where Wisconsin ave crossed the river there was a theater (riverside ?) . Next door to that theater was a drug store. When I was 17 I walked into the drugstore and was standing halfway down an aisle thinking about what I wanted to buy. Some girl standing behind me set off all the alarm clocks and I stood there with everyone in the store looking at me. I wonder who would have done that? Of couse she had left by then. I wonder, who could have done that to me??????

Jim Cejka

Marion,

Took the bus downtown? You must have lived in the modern part of town. From my house it was the streetcar.

Our house was right at the end of the line, so they stopped and laid over. They didn't turn around, they just moved the overhead wire connection from one end of the car to the other, and reversed the seats.  It was entertainment to watch the conductor trying to change the electric contact things from end to end. He had to snag it on the overhead wire, and in the dark or wind he'd often miss. Sparks would fly all over. Fourth of July, 4 times a night.

Actually saw a picture of a streetcar with our house in the background at the East Troy Trolley Museum years later.

Jeanne Zinser (Gottschalk)

For those of you who have fond memories of Capitol Court (as I do) here are 2 websites definitely worth checking out:

Garry Sellers

Terri - I have spent the entire evening trying to set up a new tab called "Oldtime Photos".  IT NOT WORKING!!!!  I will get it working within this lifetime ... which is getting shorter and shorter as this "labor saving device" plots my demise!  We will have a space for sharing those photos.

But I wanted to share a really fun website called Retro Milwaukee.  It has pages and pages of people writing in their memories of Milwaukee along with photos.  Some of you will recognize some of the photos that I "borrowed"  for the Trivia quiz at the reunion.  It really does bring back memories.

http://www.retrocom.com/retromilw/milwmemories1.htm

Terri Levenhagen (Hoornstra)

Thanks for the CapitOl Court websites, Jeanne. But I remember Schuster's being there, not Gimbels. Am I losing it,  - or did Schuster's change to Gimbels? I remember my Aunt always going to the "expensive store" - Chapman's when she came to visit us. It gave us a glimpse of the way the others lived. I also remember Kohl's Food store, where my mom always shopped. When we started getting Kohl's department stores out here in California, i didn't realize it was the same store. It seemed hard to believe they had started in my good old hometown, Milwaukee. 

Terri Levenhagen (Hoornstra)

Garry - that Retro Milwaukee site is fabulous! You can "like" it on Facebook and they send interesting retro posts. Having received no bribes as yet, I'm looking forward to putting my elementary school photos up when the site is ready. 

Dennis Unterholzner

Garry  - Thanks for sending the Browning 6th grade class picture.  That really brings back memories.  Now if only I could match names wiith the faces. I guess I now have another task of locating and sorting through all the old photos from my childhood.