Flag Football, a Man's Game

Yes, we were tough, we were rough, and we were buff.We were the mighty Minors 7th and 8th grade flag football teams. We were undefeated for two straight years. I have added a couple of pictures of those glorious times for your viewing pleasure.

This is a tough sport, but sometimes it can get a little kinky A player from Mullan gets a little too friendly.

 Wallace Flag Stadium, built just for the flag team at Wallace Elementary and Junior High School Playground

The ultimate dream of every flag team, to play at the FFBC title game at the historic Rose Bowl. We made it two times.

Next our first game in the 7th grade, and how GF and I get kicked off  of the team. Stay tuned

Our Undefeated Flag football team!

Here is a picture of our flag football team that GF and I were on in Junior High

Whoop, wrong picture. Our team was better looking than these folks, and a lot tougher.

Go Minors

Yes, we had arrived. Kindergarten was but a distant memory, Mrs.Ward was left behind for some other 6th grader's fantasy, and new horizons were beckoning.For we were now officially the junior version of the Wallace Miners, the Wallace Junior High Minors. Hm, kind of Corny when I think about it.
We thought that we were a new kind of cool.( Yes, kids, that word existed way back then.)

I can still remember the book covers that we could purchase to protect our government issued text books.
I can still see the day that we registered for junior high, and I can still smell Betty Batts perfume.
We could smell Betty coming down the hallway hundreds of feet away.No, I am not making up that name.
I know that it sounds like a cartoon character, but believe me, Betty B was real ,and believe it or now, she was a math teacher. Not only was she  a math teacher, but she was a very, very good math teacher.It was just that I guess that no one had ever told her that she was just supposed to dab perfume on, not bathe in it. Maybe she did it just to attract Mr. Ben T. It seemed to have worked because that was not a well kept secret around Wallace, the Batts/ Mr Tyvand relationship.Whoops, guess I should nor be using real names. Erase, erase, The readers will please disregard those names, and I will now call them Miss Smith and Mr. Jones.

Also on the teacher menu in the 7th grade was one Mrs.Stock, Mr Paul Wager, Mr Mintze, and Mr. Sietesma. Mrs. Batts taught math,Mrs, Stock was home room teacher, and educated us in the subjects of social studies, English, and whatever else that did not fit in the category of math, science, physical education, or music. She was also renowned for having the only blue hair in Wallace. Mr.Wager taught science, Mr. Mintze was the PE teacher,and our flag football team coach, and Mr. Sietesma was my band director.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the Wallace Junior High School 7th grade teachers for class known as 7-3.

Next, our undefeated flag football team.

Another year , another year older

Today marks the passing of another year in my life. Please hold the singing. Anyay, my birthday on the 16th of October brings a mix bag to me, for one year ago tonight my father passed away.He did wait until shortly after midnight to go, so technically it was the 17th. I always kind of felt that he held off on purpose.

My particular date is also shared by a former classmate. Happy Birthday Mona E, wherever you are.Now for a funny thing about my day. The deadline for starting school for School District 393 was October 15. One would think that they would make a one day exception, but they would not, so I had to wait another year to go to 5 year old kindergarten.

 I am now glad , because that would have meant that I would have been in the class of the year before instead of our great class. I would have been the youngest kid in the class had I been in the other graduating class. Now, here is the funny part. My mother was informed that I could go to Kindergarten for two years instead of waiting another year to start. I went for three days, and then begged my mother to let me drop out.Yes. I was a Wallace Public School kindergarten drop out. However, realizing the value of a premium education, I did return to kindergarten the next fall like I was supposed to for my age and the rest is history, I graduated with honors with an "A" in nap, snack, story listening, and dodge ball. Ha, and they thought that I was a failure after I dropped out the year before.

Just goes to show you what one can accomplish with the right determination.

Teacher, teacher

Strange, this memory thing. As I get older I find that I am thinking more and more about the past. I wonder what happened to the myriads of friends and foes that crossed my path over the years. Some spiritual teachers say that everyone that we have ever met is part of our life schooling.I admit that sometimes that is hard to believe, but when you start connecting the dots, it becomes crystal clear, well, maybe not exactly crystal clear, but it does make a little more sense.

Actually I started this post because I was doing one of those memory lane trips and I was thinking about some of my teachers from Wallace.We actually had very good teachers for a small town, and I felt very prepared for college because of the education that I had in Wallace.

Kindergarten-Mrs. Goldstein-how tough can a nap and a snack be?
Ist-Mrs. Barrett-don't remember much about her,but I did develop a big time crush on Janet L
2nd-Mrs. Kidwell-a good friend of my folks, so it was a little intimidating. Also the first class that Go Figure and I sat next to each other in.
3rd-Miss Montgomery-frightening-ask Don H. Her skirt pockets were large enough to fit a basketball in, and she insisted on calling me "Little---------" because my brother had her for a teacher before I did.
4th-Mrs. Izsler( I never can remember how their name is spelled)
5th-Mrs. Brislan-(Can't remember how her name was spelled, either. Hm, maybe I didn't get such a good education after all.)
6th-Mrs Ward-Ah, Mrs. Ward-my first school teacher crush. Come on , she was only 21 years old. Not that much of a stretch for a 6th grader. OK, I guess it was, but darn it, she was pretty.

Next, junior high and blue haired  Stock.