The Terrible Catsafterme

The black 1949 Hudson (seen at left at a car show from 1977) that Dad owned was probably the sharpest and most unique of all of the old cars that he collected while I was growing up. At the time of its purchase during the Summer of 1976, we already owned one Hudson, a blue Super-Six that he was preparing to restore. However when he happened upon this one in a Dayton newspaper ad for around $1000, he decided to up the ante and go for this Hudson, which was in markedly better shape. He had actually already re-chromed the bumpers on the blue Hudson, but instead placed them on this one. Read the rest of this entry »

A week or two before heading out to Eco Adventures camp from June 14-20, 1985, I received a postcard in the mail from the counselor of our group. The postcard was a photo of a young guy with a ‘Rick Springfield’ look, hiding behind a large plant. It was odd, I grant you, but I knew that I was in for a fun week when I saw that my counselor just might be half as nutty as I was. It turned out that Scott Sliver was an extremely charismatic guy with a great outlook, a wild sense of humor, the ability to effectively communicicate the Gospel, and a rare personality that would allow him to connect with virtually everyone. There he is in the photo above right next to junior counselor Rhonda, flanked by me (with the head of Brian Broyles seemingly growing out of my chest). Read the rest of this entry »

Wendy Johnston was among a group of gals that included Kim Littlejohn, Dorinda Dohner, and Amy and Mandy Angle, with whom I attended two weeks of Eco-Adventures camp at Woodland Altars in 1985 and 1986. Although we were friendly during our first year of camp, she and I along with others formed a cohesive bond and became an inseparable clique during the second year. She, Mandy, and Darin Anderson were all in my group counselled by Brian Bohlander and Gloria Landis, so we had ample time to spend together that week.

Read the rest of this entry »

June Allyson was an actress of high caliber, starring in many classic films including Little Women, Royal Wedding, The Glenn Miller Story, My Man Godfrey, and my personal favorite, a little-known short subject that also starred the Crane Twins entitled All Girl Revue. Of lesser acclaim was her role on The Love Boat, but what I fear will always be associated with her name were her upbeat commercials for Depends undergarments. I had purchased the cute portrait below of June and mailed it off to her on September 21, 1997 and it was back in my mailbox on October 23, now signed and accompanying two autographed notecards. Read the rest of this entry »