Philip Spiess

Folks, I do not presume to dominate this "Forum," but Paul Simons and I have had a way (unintended and unplanned) of tandem commenting on diverse matters.  He reports on, and shows a video above, of the explosion in 1937 of the German Zeppelin super-dirigible Hindenburg at Lakehurst, New Jersey, a famous event, as it pretty much ended dirigible (i.e., lighter-than-air craft) travel worldwide.  [My first travel by air was in the Goodyear blimp in Florida, circa 1959, and it was a lovely, gentle ride].  At Lakehurst, an electrical storm was approaching, and it has often been assumed that a lightning bolt set off the explosion as the Hindenburg landed.

But I have a somewhat different and horrifying story to tell, which may contradict the common news report.  From 1968 to 1970 I was in graduate school at the University of Delaware, and my sister Barbara was residing in Barnegat, New Jersey, on the coast.  I often took the weekend to visit her and her husband there (to get a substantial meal), and one weekend, while I was visiting, we were invited out to have dinner at the home of one of my brother-in-law's parishioners (he was the Presbyterian minister in Barnegat at the time).  After dinner, as we talked, it came out that I was interested in 78 r.p.m. records.  "Oh," said our hostess, "we have a batch in the barn; you can have any of them if you like."

I looked through them, and the first one I came across was the radio broadcast of the Hindenburg disaster, with the reporter crying, "Oh! the humanity!  The humanity!"  "I'd like this one," I said, and my hostess said, "Oh, I remember that night.  I was out in the Jersey Pine Barrens with my then boyfriend, kinda spooning, you know, when we saw the Hindenburg go over.  My boyfriend said, 'I bet I can hit that sucker!' and he took his 22. rifle and fired at it."  Now I know from my Boy Scout days that a 22. rifle's shot can go as far as a mile, so it's entirely possible that he hit the Hindenburg, which therefore would have started leaking hydrogen gas.  Was it therefore no wonder that, on hitting static electricity on landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey, that the Hindenburg blew up?

This true story troubles me to this day. 

Philip Spiess

Richard Winter (Winter)

I just made my flight reservations for my trip to the reunion in Cincinnati in June.  I hope many of you will be there -- I look forward ot seeing you.

Philip Spiess

Richard or Gail (or whoever):  Are there any plans we should know about yet, such as events, reserved hotels, dinners?

Laura Reid (Pease)

Phil, yes, a "Save the Date" is being mailed to all "64 graduates in the next few days; hotel options will be listed there.  We will have a casual get-together Friday night downtown and a dinner Saturday night.  Also included will be a tour of WHHS on Saturday during the day..

Hoping for a wonderful turnout for our long awaited reunion in Cincy, June 9th and 10th, 2023!

Stephen Collett

Just got my ticket to Ohio. Can´t wait. So you all stay well.

Richard Murdock

Got my roundtrip airline tickets a couple of weeks ago.  I am flying into Cincinnati on Tuesday June 6th  - arriving from California late in the PM.   I wanted to have a couple extra days to play tourist in Cincinnati, and to drive by the home I grew up in - out in Mt. Lookout.  I am definitely looking forward to seeing everyone and enjoying Cincinnati and WHHS.   Only hope the humidity is not too bad.  Living for so many years out here in the SF Bay Area - has gotten me used to basically zero humidity during the summer.  

Sandy Steele (Bauman)

As Laura mentioned, the Save the Date will be mailed this week or next, and the invitations will be sent in April. We are looking forward to seeing e wry one as it's been much too long.

Laura Reid (Pease)

Dick and Steve,  So happy you are coming to the reunion!!  It will be wonderful to be together, finally.  Sandy and I wish we could do something about the humidity, but as you know, that's a lost cause!!  However, we are planning on having a great time....see you all on June 9/10!

Richard Winter (Winter)

I'm posting this poem at the request of Jon Singer

  ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED AT WALNUT

At the seasonal crest where the hootennany glory and culture

Meteorically clashed with raucous rhymes and bebop beats,

We, the indigenous gifted from disparate cultures of burbs and hood

Assembled for big-picture learning under an educational dome.

Whether preadolescent or post pubertal at the time of our migrations,

All fostered pride with their widened horizons by the ‘64 graduation.

We’ve all bookmarked multiple investments of the varied opportunities

We’ll highlight as we ignite remembrance in an upcoming class reunion.

In advance of reassembling with you all, let me say I learned the following:

It’s not soul crushing to lose in the majority of sports in all seasons.

An AP class is an aspiring delivery room for a time-sensitive college degree.

Instruction by our peers and elders valuably extends beyond the classroom.

A split lunch line is a wandering journey to satiate hunger, not to tickle the tongue.

Duality of wood shop and segregation within home econ. affirms our differences.

Metal forks impaled in a lunchroom ceiling may be quite injurious should they fall.

If you don’t copy assignments in homeroom, study hall boasts a sweet serenity.

Peanuts and Walnuts raised natural abilities, senses and hidden treasures to glory.

Those who hid out for smokes as a higher attainment of adultness unlocked stupidity.

Even the simplest schoolboy may learn from the obligation to study obsolete Latin.

Individuality and personhood are not enabled by forced naked swimming class.

                                                          Jonathan Singer, M.D.

Richard Winter (Winter)

White Castle has sometimes been discussed in this forum.   There aren't any White Castle restaurants where I live in Massachusetts, though I have seen their products in the frozen food section of our grocery stores.  But here is something new about White Castle (it is a short video that from CNBC):

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7023299162230165504?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Ann Shepard (Rueve)

So glad that you long distance travelers can make it back to "The Natti".  
Jon, your poem is a marvelous description of the class of '64. 
I don't recall if I ever posted this limerick on the forum previously, however we WHHS alum, appreciate mathematics and witty rhymes, whether we are right or left brain dominant.  
ENJOY! 
 

Philip Spiess

William S. Gilbert of Gilbert & Sullivan fame couldn't stand Edward Lear's limericks, so he wrote the following parody:

"There was an old man of St. Bees

 Who was stung in the arm by a wasp.

 When asked, "Does it hurt?"

 He said, "No, it doesn't;

 I'm just glad it wasn't a hornet!"

Laura Reid (Pease)

Dear Classmates,

Sandy and I are working on our reunion, and we wanted to give you a "head's up" on hotels, as I have gotten several inquiries about where to stay.

We have three options, two downtown and one in the shopping complex near Hyde Park called Rookwood.

1.  AC Hotel, 135 Joe Nuxhall Way, 45202; 513-744-9900.  We recently learned that the Bengals have reserved a number of rooms here the same weekend as our reunion, so availability could be limited.

2.  Residence Inn by Marriott, Phelps Hotel, 506 E. 4th Street, 45202; 513-651-1234.  This hotel is on the eastern end of 4th Street, across from Lytle Park and very near the Taft Museum of Art.  It would be very cconvenient to our Friday night venue.

3.  Courtyard Midtown (Marriott)/Rookwood, 3813 Edwards Road, 45209; 513-672-7100.  This hotel has a room block for Walnut Hills, class of '64, for June 9 through June 11, with a discounted rate.  You MUST mention Walnut Hills when you make your reservations.  This hotel is in a very nice shopping area with lots of restaurants.  It is also 10 minutes from Walnut Hills HS, and 10 minutes from our dinner venue for Saturday night.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.....we hope to have a huge turnout for our reunion and can't wait to see you all!!  Go Bengals!

Sandy and Laura   (Laura:  513-379-6805; pease1947@gmail.com) 

Ann Shepard (Rueve)

Laura and Sandy. Good job on the hotel arrangements!

To illustrate the "burbs and hood" we came from, here are the pictures. 
Somehow the posters disappeared after our reunion in 2016, but I will recreate them for display.

Sandy Steele (Bauman)

Ann,  we appreciate that you have kept such great records. Amazing. We appreciate you helping with this again!  

Gail Weintraub (Stern)

The backstory to the "Feeder Schools":

A year before our 70th Birthday Reunion, I wondered from where we classmates came. I knew the origins of many but definitely not all. So, I called, emailed and texted. Fortunately, everyone was responsive.

What to do with the information? My Excel spread sheets were many. Knowing that my friend, Ann, was a wizard, I contacted her and asked if she could transform the data into visual displays. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the level with which she took this. Thank you, dear Ann. I am in awe.

Unfotunately, after that reunion and after Rick's death, the posters were destroyed. Thankfully, Ann has agreed to recreate the posters for our June 9-10 reunion. They will be on display Saturday night.

I look forward to viewing the poster display at our 75th + 2 Birthday Reunion. As we said in high school, "Be there or be square"!

Philip Spiess

Looking at the lists which Ann has provided us with of the many schools we all came from (and I'm amazed at how many there are), I'm thinking of how very different the school experience seems to be today from when we were in school (and, after 30 years of teaching graduate school, I taught middle school for eight years, 2005-2013, and even those years seem to have been different from now).  So I'm wondering:  (1) Did you like your elementary school experience?  (2) Did you like your teachers and classes?  (3) Were you excited about learning, and did you feel that you were learning?  (Obviously, you must have been, or you wouldn't have ended up at Walnut Hills!)  (4) Did you feel safe at your school, even with Air Raid practices -- if you had them? (Why did you feel safe?)  Inquiring minds (well, mine) want to know.

Dale Gieringer

Air raid practices didn't start until I came to Walnut Hills, but we had plenty of fire drills at Westwood School.

Safety was never an issue there - or at WHHS for that matter (except for a couple of unsettling encounters with bullies).  We lived in a safe neighborhood. From the second day of kindergarten on, I walked two and a half long blocks by myself to school.  After school, we could hang out at one of the two corner drug stores across the street, Halls and Kempers, each with its own soda fountain, both now long gone, alas.  There was also a five and ten cent store (when that really meant something), a barbershop, and the neighborhood bar - a quiet place where balding old men hung out, listened to Reds' games on the radio, smoked cigars and drank Hudepohl.  

I mostly liked my teachers at Westwood School.  One or two were feared as crabby disciplinarians, but in retrospect they had our best interests at heart.   I never felt like I was learning much - my mom and dad taught me reading and arithmetic at home.  However, sixth grade history class made a deep impression; for the first time, I learned about the Middle Ages, the crusades and feudalism.  Also, I was intrigued to learn that America had been in a war I'd never heard of, the War of 1812.  

I still remember our school song, "Hurrah for Westwood School, Hurrah!  No finer school you ever saw/ We like your spirit and your name/  We'll try our best to spread your fame/ you'll be our pride in what we do/ Our love for you is deep and true/ Hurrah for Westwood, Hurrah for Westwood, Hurrah for Westwood School ,Hurrah!

But I learned a whole lot more at Walnut Hills.

Ann Shepard (Rueve)

I went to two elementary schools, 1-3 at Columbian, with Phil Penn and Harry Martin, and 4-6 at Evanston, with D. Roger Dixon (and Shelby Sanders, Joann Swan and Martin Presley, whose Effie pictures are in the Remembancer, but not later). 
Phil and I were just talking the other day, that we shared the same experience at Columbian. We didn't finish kindergarten. He can tell his story himself. My experience was a brief two days, when I refused to drink WHITE milk (I only drank chocolate) and, I refused to lie on a scratchy wool blanket on the floor to take a nap! I was only four at the time and wouldn't be five until late November. The principal thought it best for me not to return. Fortunately the following year, I was permitted to go directly into first grade without having to repeat kindergarten. I loved my time at Columbian and hated to leave after we moved. Like Dale, we had a school song:
C-O-L-U-M-B-I-A-N.. Columbian we sing, Columbian again, sing praises to the school we love so well. Sing praises to the school we love. All for one and one for all, we stand on honor's call.  Hail! Hail! Columbian we sing thy praises  Hail! Hail! Hail! 

Unlike Columbian, Evanston School only had a lunch room but no cafeteria with prepared lunch, so either you brought lunch with you, went home for lunch, or bought lunch at the White Castle across the street. I may have mentioned that there was a diner across the street from the school, but black kids weren't allowed in until my sixth grade year. 

Our education, back in our day, was excellent. The times were so different. Teachers were teachers and our parents supported their efforts.  Our parents also supplemented our classroom education at home. I have great memories. I was even chosen to be in the May Festival Children's Chorus and participated in the All City Children's Choir that sang at a musical event at the Cincinnati Garden. My brother was in the All City orchestra at that same event.

Paul Simons

Just a note of thanks to Ann, Gail and anyone else who worked on graphics of the elementary school origins of the WHHS64 species. Truly fine work!

Stephen Collett

Wow, so many elementary schools. I had no idea. 

I went to Hyde Park, in a very segregated mileu. My first meeting with our Black and Jewish classmates was 7th grade. Wow, what an opening. I wish I had done more to work for us crossing these lines in the social sphere in our years together. But hey, my Jewish friends renamed me (Stephen Swartz) and took me along to their youth club. 

Stephen

Ann Shepard (Rueve)

Just remember Steve, your sister Jane was my big sister. She took me to your house. My house in Evanston wasn't a long way from yours, but Hyde Park, in 1957 really was MILES away.

Florence (Now Jean) Ager

KINDERGARTEN

    Like Ann Rueve, I dropped out of kindergarten. I was allergic to milk and refused naps.

MISS DOHERTY’S
       I began Miss Doherty’s in 1st grade. I learned more within this cozy, structured, old -fashioned setting than any other place. Early introduction to French, ancient history, reading the Iliad and classical drawing instruction suited my imagination. Intermingling with the upper school girls provided  perspective on growing up. The faculty probably lacked formal teacher training and thus emphasized content over approach. Their idiosyncrasies added to the atmosphere. For example, our French teacher required students to leave the room to sneeze! I think we were expected to rise when she entered the room .

      Miss Doherty's  allowed me to claim a certain individualism. When my affluent classmates wrote of their exotic trips, I wrote tongue-in-cheek about my highlight of the summer. It was a tour through the maze of rodent crossed paths in the city dump which culminated in a view of 3 magnificant totem poles. I won prizes for poems and stories about life in the country inspired by family weekend trips. The passion fo depict a unique point of view has remained throughout my life and is now expressed in painting. 

       Manners were paramount at Doherty’s. In 2nd grade I once went to the school office to buy 2 pencils. Considering this a business transaction, I asked the headmistress, “May I have 2 pencils.? “ Miss Jones responded , “Please.” I assumed that this elderly lady had a hearing problem. Thus, I repeated the same request louder. I was punished by expulsion for the rest of the day. At that time and place respect for authority was most important and my parents never intervened. I processed this and other misunderstandings with a sort of valor.

       In 5th grade another possibly traumatic event occurred. A classmate, upset that she was not included on a play date,  pushed me against a locker, hands clasped around my neck. Worse yet, my best friend sided with the “bully” -- possibly for self-protection!  That same year some 8th graders set up wrestling dyads during recess as other students stood around in a circle to watch and cheer. Were such episodes related to single gender education? 

KENNEDY ELEMENTARY
     After 5th grade my family moved to Pleasant Ridge as my father (a public school teacher) insisted for his reputation and  for my normalization that I attend public school. Sixth grade did not seem school at all. We listened to chapters of a science fiction book in home room, met in groups to design space ships, were able to attend a religion class at the local Presbyterian Church. My parents thought the latter inappropriate, and would not support my attendance. Most classmates did go and got early access to the penney candy store across the street. It was a year of fun and I only feared gym when the leather horses and climbing ropes appeared.

SHRODER JR. HIGH:
    At Shroder Jr. High, elementary friendships shattered as cliques formed. In seventh grade a boy routinely sought me out in lunch line and  got inappropriately close.  My mother told the counselor but nothing changed. We hid under our desks during air raid drills,  but I don't think  the students took these seriously. In fact, we were beginning to question adult judgement in general, this leading to bursts of peer revolt and "smart aleck" remarks. When the counselor gathered us to discusss a rule infraction, and said  that Hell was filled with good intentions, there was a murmor of "She should know," from the back of the room. I don’t recall any teachers or academic details of those 2 years. The academic aspects seemed lost in the cloud of popularity and being a "brain" was a deterrant. 

WALNUT HILLS;
    My parents insisted that I transfer to Walnut Hills in 9th grade. Again, it was possible to identify as a student. Miss Keegan’s English class was the most memorable. I was shy about breaking into the new student milieu so sometimes skipped lunch and sat in that classroom, writing my "novel." It was slso a treat to be excused from study hall to explore the library. I recall sitting on a sunlit bench and reading  “Silent Spring" and "Atlas Shrugged."  Lacking the prospect of going away to college, I was annoyed by what seemed constant emphasis upon college selection. My protective parents worried about my walking alone to the bus stop. Thus, I could not take part in any  after school -activity.  Seeking independence, an after-class life, and escaping the college competition,  I scooped up the invitation to attend Western College a year early.

Nelson Abanto

I am very impressed with the photos of all the "feeder schools" particularly my alma mater, Whittier.  Whittier burned to the ground the day I graduated and so I can't imagine how anyone came up with that picture.