Danger! Death Cloud!

"That's the most dangerous thing that has ever happened at Jonesboro High School!" Those were the angry words spoken to me by none other than our beloved assistant principal Mr. Province. Even today, I vividly remember his bulging eyes, the vein threatening to pop on his perspiring forehead, and those red, irritated hands. God! Those red, irritated hands! Allow me to explain.

First though, introductions. My name is Stephen Hester, and I am whom Marcie was referring to in her previous blog post. As she mentioned, I was in a bunch of plays, had a minor role in a Bigfoot hoax (more on that later), co-founded the photography club (which we really wanted to call "The Potato Club") and wrote (until I was banned) for The Golden Times. However, I was also a photographer (until I was banned) for The Golden Times as well, which gets us back to my story.

As a photographer, I had access to the JHS darkroom, which is where we would develop the back & white photos for the newspaper. There was a particularly nasty chemical combination we used in the development process called "Stop Bath", which is made from highly concentrated acetic acid that was kept in a separate container in the darkroom. We photographers amused ourselves by constantly trying to trick others into inhaling deeply straight from the jug of acid. If successful, the subject would double over, coughing and hacking, saying things like, "I'm going to die." All in all, pretty funny.

On this particular day, Kevin Province (some relation to Mr. Province) was exercising his No. 2 right in the bathroom on the second floor next to the math department. Jay Melton and I thought this would be an excellent time to turn out the light in the bathroom and pour concentrated acetic acid all around the stall that Kevin currently occupied. As expected, he coughed and hacked and said he thought he was going to die. Again. All in all, pretty funny.

During the next period though, I was called to the Principal's Office. As I sat in the antechamber to that office, I noticed Principal Roger "Cold Fish Handshake" Callahan, Mr. Province and Mrs. Gaines sitting around a table with the now empty jug of acetic acid in the middle. Eventually Mr. Province emerged with the bulging eyes, popped-out vein and red, irritated hands -- red and irritated because he had spent the last thirty minutes on his knees cleaning the acid from the bathroom floor. He explained that the acid had mixed with the industrial strength, high-school-grade bathroom floor sanitizer/cleaner and formed a Death Cloud that was currently moving in an eastward direction at 3 mph down the math wing. Evacuation was being considered.

Needless to say, I was sent home in disgrace and subsequently banned for life from the JHS darkroom. My high school photography days were finished.

And then there were four...

I've wrangled another blog contributor to post to the blog. Here are some clues. This JHS Class of 1988 classmate was a writer on the Golden Times newspaper and co-founded the photography club at JHS (hopefully he still has lots of photos to share). He was (and probably still is) an avid videographer, owning a video business with two other classmates when he was in high school—I was even his employee (probably not a very good one). He was a member of Camerata singers and was in many drama productions at JHS including: "The Nerd", "Bye, Bye Birdie", "Two by Two" and "Frankenstein". He also has a remembrance of a run-in with the a legendary "wild man of the woods". Hopefully he will relay that story here again. :-)

The way it was: October 23, 1987

Cast members of “Two by Two,” according to the caption on the "Golden Times" front page picture above, included John Bagnal, Melinda Miller, Robin Yates, Stephen Hester, Roxanne Keshawarz, Keith Salter, and Brooke Keton.

Hmmmm, eight people, seven names. Can anybody figure out whose name got left out of the caption? CLUE: He was voted as “Most Talented” in our class’ Who’s Who.

Sadly, since our 10-year reunion, we have learned that John Bagnal (front row, right) has passed away.

The other front-page story on Oct. 23 was about College Night, written by the aforementioned owner of a red Chevette.

Bocephus boogied at the Convocation Center, and James Goad described Mu Alpha Theta as “an awe-inspiring, thought-promoting club.”

“Hurricane Circus,” our Homecoming theme, dominated the inside pages. In sports, volleyball coach Phil Parker worried about injuries and inconsistent play threatening his team’s state title aspirations, while the football Hurricane overcame a 2-3 start to the season to win its first 2 conference games.

On the back page, Stephen Hester fondly recalled Buddence’s “date with Sue,” and I wrote something stupid mocking JHS’ student handbook rules. (My wife’s look at me was priceless when she read it for the first time last night.)

Little Red Chevette

Photo copyright: Telstar Logistics
The car I most remember in high school was Janice Drake's little red chevette. She got to drive first with a November birthday so her car was the first I got to ride around in. We went everywhere in it. It was a tank. She had no pictures to speak of, so I raided Flickr and found this (even if it is blue). Come to find out after graduation the Chevette eventually got a hole in it on the floor passenger's side. When it was moving you could lift the floor mat and see the pavement flying by! Your first car or ride, what did you drive or ride around in? I know some of my friends cars had nicknames, did yours?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thinking Inside the Box.

Here is the "before" and "after" picture of Jonesboro High School. We never knew it in it's "before" state. Kind of sad that we didn't. The current school building was designed by Jonesboro firm Little and Associates. This replaced the original building destroyed by a tornado on May 27th, 1973. I guess in the seventies this building was considered "bold and contemporary". There's something to be said for the classic design that was the original school. But "square" as it was when we were there, it still had its charm. Of course now, there is no "open classrooms" like we had in the english department in the 80s. Guess they realized that maybe that wasn't such a good idea. :-) I'm just glad we didn't have to go to school in trailers at the fairground like classes in the early seventies. But then again, I'm sure we would have had some stories to tell.

Reunion Meeting Update

A reunion meeting was held Saturday, November 17 @ 5pm. We finalized our schedule for the reunion weekend of October 10, 2008.

Friday Night:

• Tailgate at school starting at 5:30 pm until game time (School will be open for touring)
• JHS Homecoming Game
• After Game: Bonfire/Get-Together with live music

Saturday:

• For families early in the day: Picnic @ the Crowley's Ridge Nature Center (For those who haven't been, it's a fun place for kids & adults)
• Saturday Night we will have a dinner and dance with live band at the Jonesboro Country Club

After the meeting we had dinner in downtown Jonesboro. A good time was had by all. Our next meeting will be held in January after the Thanksgiving & Christmas holidays. We're excited about the plans for the reunion, we hope you guys will be too. :-)

Class of 1988 Flickr Group

A Flickr group for photos of the JHS Class of 1988 has been started here. If you have photos to share from high school, upload them to Flickr and add them to this group. Please try to make them "PG" so everyone will enjoy them. :-) You can also reach the group by clicking on the Flickr icon on the right side bar. Looking forward to seeing your photos!

P.S. I just thought I'd mention it's free to join Flickr.com but if you prefer not to join, email the photos to: jhsclassof1988@gmail.com in .jpg format and I will upload them for you. :-)

Space Shuttle Challenger

It was January 28, 1986 and I remember I was home sick from school, but I watched the Challenger takeoff on tv. I remember seeing the explosion and thinking something terrible had happened but the announcers never showed any emotion. It was really strange. Do you remember where you were? Read more about the Challenger disaster here.

160 Classmates Contacted To Date!

To date we have contact information for 160 people out of 296! We are also looking for people that started out with our class but might not have graduated with us.Our second reunion planning meeting is scheduled for Saturday, November 17 at 5 pm. We will finalize the reunion weekend schedule and call the remaining classmates that we do not have contact information. Here are the directions to the Associated Engineering office (Thank you again Marvin & Ashley):

Drive north on Church St. toward the railroad tracks. Church St. dead ends at the Associated Engineering office (green building) parking lot. The address is 103 S. Church—go through the gate to the double glass doors.

The building is the old Caldwell Furniture building. Please come if you are in town.

NOTICE: The date for the reunion is set for the weekend of October 10, 2008. More information will be sent out as soon as it becomes definite.

In trying to find people, "JHSClassof1988" is now on myspace and facebook. If you are a member visit our page or send us a message. This blog is updated almost daily so keep checking back!

The way it was: Sept. 28, 1987

“Congratulations to the new Arkansas Junior Miss, Kristy Chitmon.”

Three lines in “News Notes” at the bottom left corner of the Sept. 28, 1987, edition of the Golden Times. The judges may have found Kristy to be the all-around prettiest, smartest and most talented girl in Arkansas, but this is all the respect she got from the school press. Sorry, Kristy.

“Homecoming: Oct. 16-17” was at the top of the front page, with the announcement of JHS’ drama lineup also on the front. “Two by Two,” “The Nerd,” and “It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s Superman!” were the upcoming plays for the school year.

Shawn Herget and Felicia Willett cooked up a piece about “School spirit still shaking at JHS” for our center photo spread. There’s a picture (above) of Shawn handing the spirit stick to – who else?– the SENIORS, and a certain future city planning commissioner making the Day with his dramatic arrival as the “Black Flash.”

The football team was out to a 2-1 start and the volleyball team was 9-3, and I filled 2 pages without photos writing about those teams.

On the back page, Stephen Hester mocked sophomores and David Bennett discussed Dead Elvis Week, the Rameses Exhibit and something about a panda.

Graduation still seemed an eon away.

Friday Night Games

Whether you went to the game or not, most Friday nights revolved around the football game itself. What were you doing "before the game", what was happening "after the game", and for a lot of people you actually went TO the game. You were a participant in football, cheerleading, band or you were the spectators. What do you remember about the Hurricane football games you went to?

Do you know where your HS Class Ring Is?

I saw my HS Class ring in my wife's jewelry box the other day. It still fits but I never wear it. Does anyone remember all the symbolism that went with the ring? I vaguely remember something about the 3 palm trees representing our Soph., Jr., & Sr. years. The Star on the sides was for setting our goals high. While we were in HS, we were supposed to wear the ring so that WE could read JONESBORO HIGH on the crest. After we graduated, we were supposed to turn it around so others could read the it. Funny story, I worked with a guy at Hays on Washington who was a year younger than us. When he got his class ring, I noticed the Star of David on the stone. I said "I didn't know you are Jewish". He said "I'm not ... I just liked the way the star looked." I busted out laughing! [I'll try to remember more Hay's stories].
I remember finding my Dad's college ring when I was young and I asked him about his HS ring. He told be how he lost it while swimming in FL during Spring Break. He felt it slipping off his finger and could not grab it before the waves swept it away.
I wonder why I still have this HS ring. It just sits around. I'm sure it is worth something if I melted it down. It is hard to let go of the memories it represents. No matter how much dust it collects. My kids are too small now but maybe someday they will ask me about my HS ring. [If Katie watches HS Musical much more, she may want to wear it on a chain!] I guess if I have kept up with it for 20 years, I might as well keep it a while longer.

Who Is That Masked Man?

Of course it's our beloved mascot, "Flash". The most original mascot in Northeast Arkansas who is no more. :-( There were three people who donned the "Flash" costume during our tenure at JHS. Can you remember any of the three? I especially liked the "special effects" where Flash would throw fire. I wonder if we could dig up one of these costumes before next year? Any hints?

Goodbye Indian Mall. Hello Turtle Creek.

Photo credit: Fashionshop Guy 1483
If you haven't been to Jonesboro in 20, 10 or even the past couple of years, you have to come see how it's changed. If you remember going to Indian Mall on Saturdays as a lot of us did back in high school, that's a distant memory for kids in town today. Indian Mall is barely open with maybe three or four stores left. There are plans to develop it into an updated mall at a later date. The new mall is The Mall at Turtle Creek. For Jonesboro, it's definitely a big step up. It's located at the intersection of Stadium Boulevard and East Highland Drive. Dillards has moved over there as well as J.C. Penny and numerous other stores new to the area such as Barnes & Noble and Circuit City have opened. Check out the Turtle Creek link for more info.