Aug 22 - Aug 29 we are staying at Southwick Beach State Park, north of Sandy Pond. That'll be fun. Campsites 47 and 48 - stop by...say hello...
I hope to be showing the 30th Anniversary Edition of The Rat Pack Movie Uncut (Blu-ray disc) someplace during this time frame. Maybe at Brewsters, maybe at Eddie's Cove...maybe at somebody's home...not sure yet.
I don't know if I'll be updating this BLOG during that time.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Bus #34
I remember waiting for the school bus during the long cold, grey, winters at Sandy Pond – how could anyone forget freezing like a popsicle? Most of the time there was at least a breeze coming in off the Pond and when it was more than a breeze the wind chill factor would plummet exponentially deep into the minus numbers of Fahrenheit. There have been many times in my life that I have experienced being “cold to the bone” so to speak – and the majority of those times were either waiting for that stupid school bus or ice-fishing with my Dad.The bus did not pick us kids up in front of our home. We had to catch the bus down on the lower road, which meant walking down Ontario Avenue and over in front of Meyer’s camp (which used to be the “Jappyland” skating rink / dance-hall / hang-out) under a big oak tree. Fortunately that tree offered some protection during bad weather. The bus we rode was (I’ll never forget) #34, a 60 passenger ’61 GMC custom made by Superior Bus Co, driven by Mr. Fahnestock. Mr. Jim Fahnestock had more than one job at SCCS. He also taught MATH and coached basketball. He was a short, fearless man with a crew cut and a macho attitude. Everybody liked him, but you did not want him mad at you.
I remember Mr. Fahnestock using the school bus full of kids as a tow truck, yanking cars out of the snow banks and ditches when these situatiuons presented themselves. Amazing.
Every Friday Mr. Fahnestock would reverse the bus route so the kids who normally get off last got off first to start their weekend. Those kids were always elated on Fridays, and there was always an air of excitement.
Several things happened on the bus that are remarkable and worth mentioning here. In order to keep a close reign on Mike Richter, who was a mischievous boy in his mid-teens, Mr. Fahnestock appointed him to be the official door opener and Mike took it seriously - doing a good job at it. Unfortunately Mike had the worst beer farts west of Route 3. He was under-age but that did not stop him from indulging himself and from time to time he would let her rip and we would all suffer, windows flying open and sleeves over noses... Mr. Fahnestock thought it was funny…
One morning we arrived at school and before he opened the door to let everybody out Mr. F said only the girls could get off – he needed to talk to the boys. After they were all off Mr. F said that he heard a boy saying the "F word" and wanted him to ‘fess up' and we would ALL be staying on the bus until the perpetrator confessed. There was a long pause and we all looked at one another, shrugging our shoulders. Then a hand went up and Mr. F told the rest of us to leave. As I got off the bus I glanced at the bad boy and was surprised that it was my brother Kip! I not surprised he was using bad language because that was certainly nothing new…I was surprised that he confessed… that had never happened before. Mr. Fahnestock could intimidate somebody twice his size…
One time the bus accidentally ran over a dog. That was sad. We had just picked up the Mc Williams Kids and we all felt a little bump as the bus started off. Mr. F slammed on the brakes and sent Mike back to see what it was. Mike came back shaking his head and muttered something to Mr. F. He bounded out the door and knocked on the McWilliams' porch door to tell them the bad news. They wrapped the dead dog in a blanket and took it out back. The Mc Williams kids got off the bus and stayed home…
Another time while making a turn onto another road off the Ouderkirk Road, the bus slid off the road on some ice into a deep snowbank and we were stuck. Mr. F radioed for another bus to come get us. While waiting, he tried rocking it back and forth – gunning the old engine and grinding the gears…that was a ride as good as at any theme park - but he could not get it back on the road. We were all laughing and the girls screaming etc.
When I was a senior I started driving my van to school and got away from riding the bus. I missed it a little but driving to school was cooler. Once in a while I’d take the bus when I had no money for gas or the van was broke down.
Lots of good memories on that bus. Every Spring would bring squirt-gun battles and every winter the snowballs would fly (while Mr. F wasn’t looking). But if he caught you he would yell and glare at you in his giant 2 foot rear-view mirror, and deal with you harshly once we got to school. The popular punishment was to sweep and mop the bus…it was a very clean bus indeed!
I never thought I'd fondly remember the stupid bus...
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
SO LONG "WILD BILL" We'll Miss Ye...
I first met Bill Stedman at the Redfield Hotel one thirsty night in the late ‘70s.
He was mouthing off about our President suffering from “rectal-cranial” inversion. I lost my beer out through my nose I was laughing so hard. We were shootin’ pool and he was pretty good (for an Army puke)…
We called him “Wild Bill” Stedman in those days.
He had been in a tough outfit during his service in the Army and I honor him for his service. The special training he endured in the Army is physically and mentally grueling, and any man who makes it through that deserves recognition and respect.
He was a good shot and one heckuva deer hunter and knew the Tug Hill well of course. I suppose I can say this now that he’s gone off to the great hunting ground…but Wild Bill told me he liked smoked salmon BETTER than venison sometimes. Well, I like venison a LOT more than salmon, so we agreed to swap venison for salmon pound for pound. He always gave me a tenderloin or sirloin – only the best cuts. We continued with this arrangement until I enlisted in the Navy and went away in 1980.
I haven’t seen Bill since and now I am sorry to have read his obituary. Now that he’s gone I regret I didn’t look him up when I was home on leave. He had a quick wit and a long list of jokes. He was a dependable sort and willing to help you out if you were broke. I probably still owe him like 20 bucks for beating me in 8-ball so much. Once in a while I’d beat him but I think he let me.
One time some friends and I were on the way home to Sandy Pond at zero-dark-thirty after an evening of revelry and mischief at the Redfield Hotel. Some local band had played that night and we all had a real good time. It was December and a light rain was icing up the roads so I had to drive like a Grandma. Coming around a long curve on a down slope somewhere between Redfield and Greenboro, we suddenly saw a dark figure with a flashlight in the middle of the road waving it around at an alarming rate and holding his other hand up, screaming over and over STOP! STOP! STOP! I started pumping my brakes but the tires were not experiencing any road friction on the wet ice so it took forever to get her stopped, just missing the guy with the flashlight. Then we saw the accident about a tenth of a mile down further. Looked like about 4 cars in a serious pileup in the middle of the road.
The guy with the flashlight was Wild Bill.
He was standing in the middle of the road forcing cars to stop before more cars piled up. He stood there waving that flashlight and screaming at cars until the cops and ambulances got there. Some of the cars he was stopping got a little out of control so he had to dodge them as they slid by. The man was fearless and agile. I don’t think anybody in the pile-up got hurt, but if it hadn’t been for Wild Bill stopping all those cars who knows how horrible it could have become. After he was done he just got in his vehicle and drove away.
He never mentioned it again – didn’t think anything of it I guess. The people involved in the crash don’t know it, but they owed Bill a lot after that night, maybe their very lives. Wild Bill was one of the good guys and I was fortunate to have known him only for a couple of years…we’ll miss him.
He was mouthing off about our President suffering from “rectal-cranial” inversion. I lost my beer out through my nose I was laughing so hard. We were shootin’ pool and he was pretty good (for an Army puke)…
We called him “Wild Bill” Stedman in those days.
He had been in a tough outfit during his service in the Army and I honor him for his service. The special training he endured in the Army is physically and mentally grueling, and any man who makes it through that deserves recognition and respect.
He was a good shot and one heckuva deer hunter and knew the Tug Hill well of course. I suppose I can say this now that he’s gone off to the great hunting ground…but Wild Bill told me he liked smoked salmon BETTER than venison sometimes. Well, I like venison a LOT more than salmon, so we agreed to swap venison for salmon pound for pound. He always gave me a tenderloin or sirloin – only the best cuts. We continued with this arrangement until I enlisted in the Navy and went away in 1980.
I haven’t seen Bill since and now I am sorry to have read his obituary. Now that he’s gone I regret I didn’t look him up when I was home on leave. He had a quick wit and a long list of jokes. He was a dependable sort and willing to help you out if you were broke. I probably still owe him like 20 bucks for beating me in 8-ball so much. Once in a while I’d beat him but I think he let me.
One time some friends and I were on the way home to Sandy Pond at zero-dark-thirty after an evening of revelry and mischief at the Redfield Hotel. Some local band had played that night and we all had a real good time. It was December and a light rain was icing up the roads so I had to drive like a Grandma. Coming around a long curve on a down slope somewhere between Redfield and Greenboro, we suddenly saw a dark figure with a flashlight in the middle of the road waving it around at an alarming rate and holding his other hand up, screaming over and over STOP! STOP! STOP! I started pumping my brakes but the tires were not experiencing any road friction on the wet ice so it took forever to get her stopped, just missing the guy with the flashlight. Then we saw the accident about a tenth of a mile down further. Looked like about 4 cars in a serious pileup in the middle of the road.
The guy with the flashlight was Wild Bill.
He was standing in the middle of the road forcing cars to stop before more cars piled up. He stood there waving that flashlight and screaming at cars until the cops and ambulances got there. Some of the cars he was stopping got a little out of control so he had to dodge them as they slid by. The man was fearless and agile. I don’t think anybody in the pile-up got hurt, but if it hadn’t been for Wild Bill stopping all those cars who knows how horrible it could have become. After he was done he just got in his vehicle and drove away.
He never mentioned it again – didn’t think anything of it I guess. The people involved in the crash don’t know it, but they owed Bill a lot after that night, maybe their very lives. Wild Bill was one of the good guys and I was fortunate to have known him only for a couple of years…we’ll miss him.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
