Over the years, I’d see Chuck McCann’s face pop up in numerous films and TV shows: Foul Play, The Bob Newhart Show, They Went That-a-Way and That-a-Way, Little House on the Prairie, Diff’rent Strokes, and Matt Houston (in which he played an Oliver Hardy look-alike). Each time I’d see him, I’d say to myself, “ah! there he is.”

I didn’t see Chuck McCann in person again until 1992, when he and Jim MacGeorge would perform a skit as Laurel and Hardy look-alikes. As Bob and I arrived on the island, we saw Chuck and I had him sign the photo above. I recall that he initially seemed put out, but then caught himself and beamed a big smile at me after signing.

Then I’d see him four times in four successive years in the mid-1990s, starting with the New York Sons of the Desert convention (where he signed the photo at the top of the posting), where he was a celebrity guest. Then the following year, I’d see him working the crowd with Hugh Hefner at the Ray Courts Hollywood Collectors Show on June 24, 1995. Then the next year, he’d be part of the Sons of the Desert convention cruise through the Caribbean. In 1997, I’d see him again at the Hollywood Collector Show – again with Hefner. During all of these encounters, I never once got a photo with Chuck.

Another ten years passed before I’d see Chuck again, this time at the Way Out West Tent’s 40th anniversary banquet on July 28, 2007. He partnered up with Jim once again to perform a routine. I had every intention of finally getting a photo taken with both Chuck and Jim, but an ‘incident’ that occurred between my friend Jimmy and Chuck ensured that I’d have to pass up this opportunity when he left the event somewhat prematurely.

With Chuck being a longtime fixture of the Sons, I did want to get a photo with him at some point, and fortunately the opportunity arose again when I caught him working the crowd at the Hollywood Show on February 12, 2011. As usual, I always look familiar to him – even if he can’t recall my name. His face lit up when I mentioned being a Sons member and he was more than happy to pose for a picture. Incidentally, I’d see him yet again at the Hollywood Show later that year on October 8. This time, he’d approach me to inquire about my friend Jimmy.

Celebrities of the Winter 2011 Hollywood Show will continue…

As for Dean himself, I recall that he was a very kind young man. I say the word young now because I have since found out that he was only 18 years old and fresh out of high school when he was counselor during my first week of camp. But then, I just thought that he was one of the adults charged with taking care of us and molding our minds. Kind, patient, and funny would words I’d use to describe him back then. I was only nine and I can say that I didn’t feel like I was a pesky kid when I was around Dean and a few other counselors, with whom I hung out with once camp had ended and all of the other kids had gone home.

Although those words all still apply to Dean today, after meeting up with him for the first time in at least 27 years on Saturday, June 4, 2011, I’d probably add a few: spiritual, intelligent, interesting, thoughtful, and motivational are some that come to mind.

So how did this reunion come to be, you might ask? Same as they all do these days, I suppose: Facebook. On a whim, I looked for many of my camp friends and counselors and immediately recognized Dean Garrett when I saw his profile picture. Understanding that he might need a memory-prod before he ever could recall me, I sent him a note asking if he had in fact been the Woodland Altars counselor. He responded affirmatively.

Sometime over the next few months, he checked out some of my photo albums and noted that many of my ‘celebrity encounters’ were with performers who were well-known and respected by him. He also realized my love of the Our Gang Comedies, and being a fan himself, said that he’d like to talk about some of our common interests.

Our meeting finally came after we had discussed through email attending the same Superman event in Metropolis, Illinois. So we met on that fabled Saturday at Chick-fil-A in Beavercreek, and spent a whopping six hours chatting about life, religion, and common interests: which had now grown into the Laurel and Hardy, classic sitcom, and United States Presidents realm. I also learned that he was still with the Church of the Bretheren, now an ordained minister who often preaches at the Poplar Grove Church of the Brethren.

At the end of our lunch – which had stretched to dinnertime – we said our goodbyes, knowing full well that we’d be seeing each other less than a week later as we embarked on a road trip together, one that would encompass not only our love of Superman and pop culture, but the historical side of our interests as well.

Return to June 2011… 

Continue to the next reunion…

The reason for that was that by the time we had reached the Junior High age, most of the campers had graduated from Lodge Camp into some of the more adventurous, outdoor camps – particularly the boys. So for this particular week at camp, we had only three boys in entire Junior High Lodge Camp. The girls outnumbered us by more than four to one.

Jill Geaslen, a member of the Salem Church of the Brethren, was one of the girls present during this particular week. She and a friend of hers came from Arcanum, Ohio, late on the first Sunday of the camp. In fact, I recall hearing them come in and passing our dormitory after we had already put out out lights. I met her the next day and she promptly began her flirtation with… David Wiley! He was the other boy in my group. So they dated for a day or so.

Eventually, like on Tuesday, she had taken a fancy to me and we began our relationship, which consisted of talking to each other quite a bit. There was almost a moment when we kissed, but somehow the moment escaped us. But what I do recall was that Jill was a very funny girl with a dry sense of humor. And best of all, she called me sir. In fact, she called everybody sir – ala Marcie from Peanuts.

I actually tracked down Jill a few years ago on Facebook. She was married so I had to do my usual bit of sneaky research to find her whereabouts (via Classmates.com). We had chatted briefly now and then online, exchanged a few notes, and also marveled out some of the friends that we had had in common, and not just ones from camp. Of course, she knew Lee McAdams from camp, but she knew my friends Lance and Missy from going to Dayton Christian High School.

In the end, what finally brought us together was that I bought some girl scout cookies from her daughter Kearstine. This was my ploy at finally getting a face-to-face meeting and a photo op with my very first girlfriend. We met at the McDonalds in Huber Heights on Sunday, March 6, 2011. In a bit of poetic irony, my relatively new girlfriend Jamie went along with me. Jill brought Kearstine, who was quite a hoot in her own right. Kearstine asked great probing questions and we learned that being forced to eat mustard was her punishment when she spoke dirty words.

Kearstine and Jill

Jill was cool as can be as well. We had a great time chatting about life and the adoption of Kearstine that she and her husband Chris had obtained. She remembered very little about our camp experiences, so I’m sure that I was less memorable than she was. Which is why she probably broke up with me via letter a couple weeks after we got home. But who can blame her? There was a big world out there to explore without being tied down in a pre-teen long distance relationship.

She may not recall this, but she did try to get back together a few months later though. We had another Youth function at one of the local Church of the Brethren churches and we saw each other briefly. I must have blossomed a bit, because then she became interested again. But by that time, I probably had another three or four dozen gals that I was eyeballing around Ankeney Junior High, none of which I ever dated. Not once.  

Roughly 27 years later…

I was trying to get  Jill to track down the only photo that I had ever had of her: her sixth grade school photo. But the softball pic at the top was the best she could come up with. It was taken the Spring before our summer camp excursion.

Jill and Kearstine promised to invite us over sometime for another visit, so we’ll see if she makes good on that…or maybe she’ll break it off once again.

Continue with 2011…

Continue to the next reunion…

Denise and I were both singing in the church children’s choir and we had regular performances at the Beavercreek Church of the Brethren. The annual Family Christmas Celebrations were fun times, and typically included ornament making arts and crafts, a chili dinner, a service that usually would have a play and music incorporated into it. The one in 1981 took place on Sunday evening, December 6 – two days after Mom had put in an advance order of potato salad (from Lofino’s, I assume) for Christmas.  

Denise’s desire to adapt to the climate conditions has never taken a backseat to fashion

Wearing Mom’s green coat and a Steelers cap, I show off my snowman, which isn’t half bad

We had a busy weekend the following week as well. We celebrated my cousin Susie’s birthday with a party of Friday the 11th. Since she is a Christmas Eve baby, her parents tried to keep her special event separate and special. On Saturday the 12th, we had some sort of luncheon with Santa, and on Sunday the 13th, we had the annual Eagles Christmas party. I can’t even be sure that I went along since I was now well beyond the Santa age (see the 1980 pic of me and Santa here).

Since I was in the Fairbrook Chorus, I also had to perform in that concert on Tuesday the 15th. And finally, there was another Christmas with the Gem City Classics Chevy club on Saturday the 19th. And as I departed school for the holidays, one of my assignments from my B.E.L.L. instructor was to read Charles Dickens’ The Christmas Carol.  But do you think I was sick of Christmas by the time we reached the holiday itself? Not on your life.

In fact, I was even up to inventing a new tradition that would last the next four Christmases. Having purchased tiny plastic Presidential figures at cheap junk store Goldman’s for 15 cents apiece, I decided to utilize them under the tree. So I stacked the gifts in fort-fashion, creating hiding spots and barriers so that the Presidents could behave as army men and fight, ambush, and kill one another. It was a blast to say the least. I even created two teams so that there would be a definite winner when we came to the last President standing. One team name was ‘The Spars’.

Cute pic of Denise under the tree. Is that really yarn in her hair?

Denise got a second solo shot, and then there’s the one of the two of us seen at the top of the posting. I may have balked at a solo picture.

Christmas Eve came on Thursday in 1981. The gathering that evening was standard: my Dad’s family came over to our Winerset Drive house that evening. I had gotten to open one gift early that afternoon, the one that my Mom would buy from Great Grandma Murphy’s $5.00. I’m pretty sure that it was this year that mine was a giant joke book – an excellent present that would keep me occupied for the afternoon.

Grandma and Oscar, Arline & Carl, Harold, and Bill & Dottie along with Lora and Robby were the standard participants joining my family for the evening’s festivities – which I was now pleased to report was coming to me live, featuring ham and swiss on rye sandwiches.

Denise got a Rub-a-Dub Dolly, but I don’t recall what I got. Dad didn’t film any of Christmas Eve that year.

Rob, Denise, and I are ready to start handing out the gifts. Carl observes from the rocking chair.

Um, we’re still waiting. But could that fire look any more comforting?

Denise distributes gifts to Lora, Robby, Oscar, and Arline

I’m not sure what that gift was that I’m opening, but I look highly disappointed with it

As usual, I was up before everyone on Christmas morning. The amount of time between my arrival on the scene and the word ‘go’ to start ripping into the gifts was approximate 46 hours - or so it felt. I occupied my time by thoroughly examining every gift. There was something odd on this particular morning though. All of the wrapped gifts were sitting on top of what appeared to be a mattress covered with a blanket. My name was written on a piece of white paper and taped to the mattress.

Five-year old Denise still believed in Santa Claus and assumed that my name plate was indicating the zone on top of the mattress containing my gifts. She surmised that he might have been in a hurry and didn’t have time to put her name plate on her side of the mattress.

I played along…but I knew better. In fact, it didn’t take me long before anyone, including Denise, had gotten up that I peeked under the blanket and saw that it was a pool table. I was pretty darn excited. Now the trick was to summon the right amount of surprise when the big reveal actually occurred. I made the ‘false’ guess that it was a racetrack for my cars.

Opening the gifts – the model Corvette - that were sitting atop the special ‘mattress’. Note the Presidents figures making their holiday debut.  

Denise goes to town opening her Strawberry Shortcake paint set

So as the black and white video camera grinded away, Denise and I opened up our gifts slowly, one by one, while I thought of nothing but the pool table. The theme of my gifts this year seemed to be cars, and apparently I was actually interested in them at this point. I got lots of Hot Wheels: a 40′s Woody, a ’57 Chevy, a Funny Car, and a Bugatti. I also got a larger model Corvette, and the book The Chevy Spotters Guide. Laurel and Hardy gifts were limited to a pin (which Denise got too) and the book The Films of Laurel and Hardy. Mention was made of the upcoming Sons of the Desert convention next summer. As a bonus I got a pen and pencil set and a remote for the TV in my room.

The theme of Denise’s gifts was Strawberry Shortcake…and almost nothing but. Items that contained her image included a ruler, a paint set, a wallet, bedsheets, pajamas, a nightgown, and a couple of the dolls themselves (indluding the Purple Pie Man), which finished off her collection. She also got a My First Barbie, some Barbie clothes, play perfume and lipstick (apparently she wanted something different, but said “But it’s okay I like it. I still like it.” At one point while opening gifts, she realized that Santa used the same wrapping paper that we did.

And then the time finally came to pull back the curtain and reveal my new pool table. My comment was, “I didn’t have the slightest guess that it’d be that.” I had always loved pool and wanted a real pool table, but since we had no room for one, this was a pretty good substitute for a ten-year old. We initially set it up in the dining room, then the living room, and eventually my room – where there was almost no room to play. Truth be told, we just didn’t really have the house for it, and within a couple of years, we had given it to Bev for her basement. But it brought me a lot of fun (and my cat Jet, whom we’d be getting within the next 18 months made his own fun with it too).

After the fracas, the pool table is set up and utilized

Mom and Dad each opened their gifts after we were finished. Dad had quite few more packages, but Mom had the more costly pair of camera lenses, a sailor’s coat, and shock absorbers for Dad’s car. Dad got intercoms for the garage, a Chevy book, flashlight, photo frame, a knick-knack to sit on top of a what-not, work gloves, a baseball glove, and a derby (although it didn’t ‘contour too good’…but that didn’t stop us all from trying it on). All the while I discreetly opened up the pool table box.

After we opened up the gifts and got the pool table set up, it was time to head off to the Murphy Christmas celebration. This year it was to be held at Grandma & Grandpa’s Kettering house on Kruss. At this age, I still things in terms of gifts, so the celebration there was always a bit anti-climatic. There would be the small gift from my aunt Darlene, a gift from Grandma & Grandpa, and then a gift exchange gift. I actually recall getting a couple of ‘Choose Your Own Adventures’ books from my Grandma Murphy, who had me in the gift exchange.

Melee at Grandma and Grandpa’s with (in clockwise fashion) Dad, me, Diana, Debby, Bev, Jim, Ben’s head, Karen, Susie, and Denise

Jim and Ben are on the floor, with Ed seated, Chris in standard on-the-knees position, Tom, Danny, Cathy, Darlene, and Grandma on the couch. Grandpa Murphy distributes the gifts.

Darlene glows with bow

We did a few more posed pictures this year than we had in a while, so I’ve got some nice family shots – but unfortunately the collection of photos I have appears to be incomplete.

Nice siblings portrait: Bev, Diana, Grandma, Grandpa, Darlene, Jim, and Mom

Great gathering of the cousins that existed at this point in time: Denise, me, Danny, Susie, Cathy, Ben, Debby, Chris, Lori, and Karen

Our family. I’m only as cool as my watch allowed me to be.

The Tange-clan ’81

For being stuck in my pre-teen, awkward, obnoxious years, I certainly have fond memories of these times.

We will continue in 1982…

Matt and I did a remarkable job of avoiding us other throughout our seven grades at Fairbrook. We didn’t actually share the same classroom until our final year there – in Mr. Turner’s sixth grade. However, we certainly had plenty of times that we shared individual classes, playground time, and extra-curricular activities. He also lived relatively close by in Tara Estates so I think we ran into each other there a few times as well when I’d bicycle over there to play.

Matt’s senior picture. Why so serious?

I saw Matt back at the 10-year reunion in 2000, and spent ample time talking to his twin sister Aimee at the 2005 reunion. Thus far, they haven’t attended the same reunion at the same time. For the 20-year reunion, our Chopin fix was back to Matt again. He’s always been a great guy, very soft spoken and kind, and with a great sense of humor.

With Matt at the reunion

Deborah Hileman and I shared Mrs. Deets class in second grade and Mrs. Owens class in fifth grade. Again, it was a small school, so we bumped into each other all over the place throughout our seven years at Fairbrook. And like Matt, Debi went on through Ankeney and Beavercreek High School as well.

Deborah in second grade

Although I’d never say we qualified as friends, there was one memory that Debi and I still shared at the 20-year reunion – and that was that we actually ran into each other at Epcot Center during the summer of 1984, following our departure from Fairbrook. I was with another classmate friend Eric Welch on this trip when he tapped me on the shoulder and said “you’ll never guess who’s over there.” We all greeted each other then my Mom chatted with her Dad for a bit. It’s a small world after all.

Deborah’s senior picture

Debi had the distinction of being the former student at the reunion with most grandchildren. Currently living in the area and working at the Kil-Care racing tracks in Xenia, Debbie is quite a nice person today, and I regret that she and I were never really friendly in school.

Hanging out with Debi at the reunion

Brenda Fielitz and I went to the same schools for all but our kindergarten year. She didn’t join the ranks of the Fairbrook foxes until first grade, when we shared Mrs. Fulkerson’s first grade class (as seen at left). I have only good memories of my association with Brenda over the years, although we only shared that one grade school class. Brenda and I wound up in the same government class during our senior year.  She was never anything but sweet at all times. The night before the reunion, we had a great time recalling our mutual grade school and especially memories of our music teacher Mrs. Owens, who would begin each class with a series of rhythmic claps that we would have to echo. It was quite the scene.

Brenda wrote on the back of her senior picture: Brad, Hi! You have always been nice to me and you make government funner! I love your jokes and your drawings! Good luck in college and with your art! Please don’t forget me! Love, Brenda

Brenda married her high school sweetheart Tom Kowalski, and the two of them were completely responsible for putting together the 20-year reunion. As former class officers, they did their former alumni very proud.

With Brenda at the reunion

This concluded the reunions with the Fairbrook Foxes. Return to the 20-year reunion here…