Philip Spiess

Paul:

At the risk of repeating myself (which I'm doing [cf. Post #3455 (4-4-2018) on this "Forum"]), I'll follow up your video of the "Heave of Destruction" with my story of a moment in our lives at Walnut Hills High:  

I cannot say whether it was a Steinway or a Baldwin concert grand on the WHHS stage, circa 1961 (the one the now-disgraced Jimmy Levine played on, to impressive effect), but I am about to tell you what happened to it.

Some bright-eyed, though not bright-brained, lad on the Stage Crew -- I think said "genius" was Don Lee, a year ahead of us -- got the not so bright idea that it would be a fine and fun thing to attach ropes to the concert grand piano on stage and hoist it up to the height of the "grid," that massive iron-girdered platform high above the stage from which all of the light battens and scenery battens and curtains and whatnot -- the things that were dropped into place on stage when needed and whisked out of sight when not -- were suspended.

No sooner said than done -- by some other of the idle brains on Stage Crew ("An idle brain is the Devil's playground," it is said).  (Full disclosure, as they say in The Washington Post:  I was a member of Stage Crew at this time, and obviously present, as I am reporting the incident, but I was not a participant, having great respect for Signor Cristofori's venerated invention -- the "soft-loud" -- which helped make Beethoven great.)

We watched the great grand (Baldwin or Steinway, as it were) sail aloft, as if lifted on wings of song (mind you, it had to be seriously counter-weighted at the batten rail to get it to move at all), and then -- but perhaps you, the reader, anticipate me -- and then . . . with a slow-motion splitting and shearing of the none-too-sturdy rope supporting it, fascinating to watch, it descended.

I say it descended, but this was not in slow motion.  It was fast, furious, loud, and devastating.  I thank God to this day that there was no one under it, for it hit the stage with a crash that shook the room and demolished the instrument.  First, the three sturdy legs which supported it snapped off; the pedals and their support shot off into the wings.  Then the keys of the keyboard peeled out of their traditional position like something in an early "Silly Symphonies" cartoon and scattered themselves about the stage.  The music stand above them flew up in the air.  And with one final grand movement, like Leviathan slipping back into the sea, the heavy folded-back top detached itself from the piano's main body (its iron frame of strings), and ponderously threw itself into the orchestra pit.

I watched this debacle from somewhere mid-Auditorium.  Though the possibility of this occurence had crossed my mind on hearing the initial proposal being made, the reality, when it did occur, was far more real than the mere probability.  I had seen nothing quite so spectacular since watching the film of the Washington Tacoma Narrows Bridge ("Galloping Gertie") flagellate itself and self-destruct in 1940.  I've tried to describe the scene for you -- but I guess you had to have been there.

Paul Simons

Many rockers at WHHS both before - Hertzman, Susskind, Mitnick, Lane - and after - Kurtz, Birckhead, Altman to name a few. I n our class besides me Frey, Buchholz, Katona, Alberts and others. All influenced by and in awe of this man who just died. There's a lesson here - 

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.