All Night Party

I know, it's been a while. Sorry! I have been addicted to Facebook and haven't had the necessary intervention yet! However, talking to my old high school friends on Facebook made me think about something that I needed to blog about....our All Night Party. I think I was more excited about going to that than I was about graduating from high school. My date for the party was John Bagnal. We went with Takashi Yoneta and Heather Hall and had a blast!! If I remember correctly, the night began with a dance at the Knights of Columbus Hall then on to bowling (??) and the movie. Everytime I see "Overboard" I think about that night. In fact, I need to add a quote from that movie to my favorite quotes on Facebook (Crackberry here I come) - but I digress. The night ended (or morning started) at Shoneys. The place was filled with friends and fun. What a great night! I'm anxious to hear your stories from All Night Party or what you did to celebrate our graduation!

A Little JHS Deja Vu...

So the other night I went up the JHS track to exercise with a friend and we were finishing up and almost ready to leave when we heard voices from above. I looked up and saw about 5 teenagers on top of Hurricane gym and one was waaaaaaaaaaaaay up on the tip-top of the dome. It was only 9:30 pm with plenty of cars still in the parking lot from people walking and they were not being too stealthy or quiet I might add. Why they couldn't wait until midnight was beyond me. Of course I made sure to call the authorities and make sure these thugs were apprehended. Then the irony of the situation fell upon me. The summer after my first year in college some fellow classmates and I decided we were going to climb on top of the gym to sing the alma mater. Yeah, I know. No sooner than we swung around the chain link fence, we hear "STOP, GET DOWN!" We ran as fast as we could and jumped down the short side of the roof along the back and escaped being caught. Or so we thought. One of us got apprehended as she tried to do a "drop and roll" kind of action. To make a long story short, the rest of us turned ourselves in. Unknown to us was the fact that some hoodlums younger than us (and STILL in high school, I might add) had gotten on top of the gym and vandalized the roof with graffiti that past weekend. It's funny how it all comes around full circle isn't it? (For those of you that found my actions a little out of line, I'm pretty sure they got down and away from the scene before the police arrived.)

JHS Class of '88, the Final Edition!

“JHS bids farewell to 310 seniors.” – May 20, 1988, Golden Times front page

Sweeter words have never appeared in a headline in the “Golden Times.” Though something similar is written every year, this was special, because JHS was bidding farewell to us, the Class of ’88, the greatest class in JHS history! (a totally unbiased opnion, of course) And though I’m sure even then we knew we’d miss each other, I’m guessing every single one of us was ready to graduate.

The big day was June 3, 1988. It turned out to be a picture-perfect, unseasonably cool evening for an outdoor graduation ceremony.

Back to the May 20, 1988 issue of the Golden Times:

Prom had happened, and photos from it filled the center spread under the headline: “Seniors are in ‘Heaven’ at the Prom”. The prom queen, Tara Clark, and her date, Scott May, are pictured at left.

JHS’ golf team won the state championship, shooting a record score on its home course to culminate the event. Our classmates Steve Tricarico, Todd Darouse and Brian Fulkerson each shot 1-over-par 72s in the state final.

The class of 1988-89 named its class officers … but did we really care? They were just lowly juniors.

The most painful part of reliving these Golden Times issues for me has been recalling these hideously awful so-called “satire” pieces I sometimes wrote, published on the back cover. But I will leave you with part of my column in the final issue, a slight parody of our class chant:

“Parting’s harder than rock and roll,
“We’re the class that took its toll,
“We had a blast, we had a ball.
“We’re the class that really did ‘have it all.’”

October 10 :: A Good Weekend for Reunions

Not only is our 20-year reunion going on the Homecoming weekend of October 10, 2008, there is also a 10-year, a 25-year, a 30-year AND a 40-year reunion going on that weekend as well. And they are ALL going to the football game on Friday night!

In the previous post you saw some changes and updates that the football field is undergoing in time for the reunion. I've also heard of some more:

• Hurricane flags will be flown on the top of the press box
• The band and the students will sit on the visitor side
• Our mascot "Flash" is making a comeback this year and I've heard it's the son of someone in our class!
• In recent years the students have a designated section at the basketball games they call the "Dog Pound", they want the student section at the football games to be called the "Storm Cellar" ;-)
• They are looking for a storm siren to crank out during the game
(if you know of where to get one, let us know)

It's time to get FIRED UP! :-)

The way it was: April 22, 1988

By late April of 1988, it was time to pass the torch off to the next class. Student council elections for 1988-89 were being held, and Kristy Chitmon, not looking altogether happy on the front page of the Golden Times, was helping the youngsters vote.

The spoof musical “It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s Superman” was to be performed May 19-21. Junior Michael Crawley got the lead part as Superman, but several of our classmates played key roles: Greg Murray as the mad scientist Abner, Brian Haggbloom as Max, Lourie Collins as Sydney, Kathy Williams as Lois, Marvin Day as Jim and John Works as Perry White.

The Quiz Bowl team came from behind in three consecutive matches in the regional tournament to make it to the 8-team championships on AETN. We won’t talk about what happened to us in the first round there.

In sports, three more of our classmates signed for athletic scholarships: Brandon Rowlett for football at Arkansas Tech, Steve Tricarico for golf at Huntingdon College in Alabama, and Paige Hammond for volleyball at Milligan College at Johnson City.

The JHS golf team was burning the greens up everywhere it went, having won a prestigious golf tournament in St. Louis and then twice broken the school record for lowest team score.

And we were all counting down the days …

The way it was: March 25, 1988

By late March of 1988, the school newspaper was really starting to look like graduation was drawing near.

The front page of the March 25, 1988, edition of the Golden Times included a story naming the 56 seniors who would be honor graduates, and a story on the upcoming April 30 prom promising the “Time of My Life.”

The above photo, in the lower left corner of the front page, shows (from left) Brian Haggbloom, Greg Murray and Stephen Hester acting in “The Nerd.” Brian was playing the part of Axel Hammond, Greg was Willum Cubbart, and Stephen was “The Nerd.”

JHS’ FBLA’ers were competing for district awards on page 4, and on page 5, the JHS Quiz Team had conquered the sub-regional. “I was pleased by our high scores and our margins of victory,” some guy named Myatt said, rather cockily.

Two of our classmates were signing to play sports on college scholarships. Kim Sims, the “red-head who could fire the ball across the net with a vengeance” according to the article, signed to play volleyball at Arkansas Tech.

Randy Bullock, who juggled football, basketball, baseball and being a first-chair bass singer in regional choir, signed to play football at the University of Central Arkansas. (He would later play at Northwestern State in Louisiana – I remember getting some comments from him and fellow classmate Brandon Rowlett after their team beat Arkansas State in Jonesboro in the early 1990s).

In his back page column, David Bennett promised a “suitably sick, twisted, obscene fate” would be awaiting everyone with his year-ending column in two months.

The way it was: February 26, 1988

Sadie Hawkins was “goin’ country again” on the front page of the February 26, 1988, edition of the Golden Times. There had been a Hawaiian phase to the annual “girls ask guys” dance the year before.

“I think people really enjoyed last year’s change, but there were several requests for the traditional theme,” said Marcie Brooks, a Student Council member. Whatever happened to her?

Kristy Dobson, whom I described not very eloquently as the “six-foot terror on the other side of the net” for JHS volleyball opponents, signed to play volleyball at the University of Tennessee. Kristy was a tough competitor in sports, but certainly never a “terror” personally -- quite the opposite.

They weren’t our classmates, but Page 8 featured lots of future political power. Sophomore Dustin McDaniel, now Arkansas' attorney general, talked about his visit to a political rally for George Bush … the elder George Bush, that is, back when he was Vice President Bush. Yes, McDaniel is a Democrat now, but enjoyed a very Republican event back then. And there was junior Jason Willett, who would eventually become state Democratic Party chairman and is now running for mayor of Jonesboro, winning Mr. Kool as Tiffany Tiger.

Regular school things kept happening too: The photo at top, taken by Stephen Hester and appearing on Page 3, shows JHS-88ers Charles Brinkley, Chris Harris, Kathy Williams, John Works and Craig Schuchardt working with pulleys in a physics class.

After School

I picked my daughter up from school today and while I was waiting, I watched from afar (the primary building is across the street from the high school) as the high school kids left the parking lot in their various vehicles. I tried to remember what I did when school was out for the day. I remember many times waiting in line at the light on Caraway and Main to turn left and talking to everyone in the other line. I'm SURE I went to band practice often during marching season.

As I watched these kids take off in utter happiness, I tried to recapture that feeling of freedom. No responsibility. No bills waiting on you in the mailbox. No kid in the backseat begging to go to Sonic for a Cherry-Vanilla Dr. Pepper. No briefcase full of work sitting next to you in the car. Just freedom.

How did you spend your free time after school was out for the day? Did you go to a job? Did you go straight to a pool in the summer months? Or the mall? What was your free time filled with during high school?

The 3-point shot

If you follow basketball at all, it may seem like the 3-point shot has always been part of the game. But the 1987-88 season was the first for the 3-point shot in high school basketball, a year after it had been introduced in college play.

Its arrival at the high school level was just in time for the Hurricane to take advantage of the long-range shooting talents of our classmate Terry Scott, pictured above.

When Terry was on, he could launch a barrage of 3-pointers that would easily rack up 30 or more points, and our Hurricane would usually win when he was hot.

Blytheville was the state runnerup the year before in boys’ basketball, and held a No. 6 statewide ranking when the Chickasaws came to Hurricane Gym in late January of 1988. Jonesboro was sitting on a 9-6 record, riding the up an down waves of its 3-point shooting.

Despite Blytheville’s high ranking, JHS and Blytheville fought a nip-and-tuck battle. The Hurricane went up by 1 at the end of three quarters when Terry drained a 30-foot 3-point shot, and JHS led 53-51 with just a few seconds left.

JHS’ defense kept Blytheville away from the hoop as the Chickasaws tried to score a tying basketball. One of the Chickasaws’ star players, Robert Mays, had only one option: Fire a shot from 25 feet out.

It hit nothing but net, and it was worth 3 points. Blytheville escaped JHS 54-53.

Terry Scott had hit a similar long-range 3-pointer late in the game to get the Hurricane out of a jam against Westside earlier in the season.

Since we graduated, the Hurrricane basketball team has become a perennial state powerhouse, capturing state titles in 1994 and in 2007. Coach Barry Pruitt is still there, having recently scored his 500th career coaching victory.

The way it was: February 1, 1988

Things were pretty quiet on the JHS campus as we turned the corner on the new year, sliding downhill toward graduation.

Front-page stories in the Golden Times included a preview of “The Nerd,” the dinner theatre play set for March. Keith Salter promised it would be “the best dinner theatre yet,” and it would seem that many participants and attendees would, years later, agree that it was. The cast included our classmates Greg Murray, Kelly Morris, Stephen Hester, Brian Haggbloom and Charles Brinkley.

Stephanie Owens wrote a front-page story looking into the costs of graduation year and entering college. Those of you who have kids approaching that age now know best that we only thought it was expensive back then.

Speaking of costs, the most amazing thing to me in these old papers are the ads for the 99-cent Whoppers at Burger King and 39-cent Chicken Littles at KFC. Can you even get a small drink for that little today?

Drama Queen?

In searching my brain for a post, any post having to do with high school or the 80s (you people are more than welcome to help post, just send me an email and you can be added as an author) I thought about this. If you could go back to high school, is there something you wish you would have tried? Or something you wish you could have changed? Either one. I always wished I would have tried out for a drama production or at least helped out backstage. Always thought about it but too scared to get up there and audition. I loved Mr. Salter's speech & drama class, though. That gave me a little fix. I always thought life would be so much fun as a musical even though I can't sing. Now it's your turn. If you're lurking and haven't commented, now's your chance.

The big snow

Our senior year had something special: A big snow.

It wasn’t the typical 2 inches of slush that melts 3 hours after the sun comes out, like is more typical of Arkansas. What fell on January 6-7, 1988, was 8-10 inches of ski-quality powder that stayed on the ground more than a week. In fact, some of you did ski Stroud hill.

Having just come back to class the previous Monday after the holiday break, we got out Wednesday through Friday, leading into a weekend.

We probably shouldn’t have been out that Wednesday. Superintendent Bill Beasley decided to cancel classes that day in anticipation of the big snow on its way. But the snow didn’t start until about 4:30 that afternoon. I guess he made up for it the following Monday when we went back to school even though most of the secondary roads were still covered by snow and ice.

The photo above from the yearbook shows our classmates Meredith Fairhead, Stephen Watkins and Ashley Lincoln, along with Meredith’s junior class sister Margaret Fairhead, trudging back to class one of those early days the following week. Looks more like Duluth than Jonesboro!

Many of you who were in band have an unhappy snow memory later in 1988. What was a pretty puny snow in Jonesboro in February was much heavier to south, and the band was prevented from making a trip to an event in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. If my memory serves, the bus made it as far as Trumann before the decision was made to come back to Jonesboro. Perhaps some of you “band geeks” can enlighten this “weather geek” about that.

We only had a few little snows during our sophomore and junior years, but our ninth-grade year had so many snow days that we had classes on some Saturdays – Janice alluded to this in a comment to the entry on David Hawkins’ death.

The JHS band had an interesting experience returning from the Fiesta Bowl parade that year, and a few of our more musically inclined freshmen classmates got to be part of it. The band got delayed on its way home by heavy snow across parts of New Mexico and Texas. They finally got home to find half a foot of snow here as well.

Do you have any snow memories from high school?

JHS Golden Hurricane Marching Band

Yes, I was a band geek, but proud of it! Band was a very important part of my high school (and junior high) life. Most of my good friends were in the band and it allowed us to showcase our talent and have some of the best times I've ever had in my life. Whether on the bus or on the parking lot of the high school in 150 degree heat, we were having a ball. We all felt Hurricane pride when we marched in the various parades and gave our all in marching and symphonic competitions. We endured being called "the banana band" by other marching bands and sulked while we watched the band from Hope pull their equipment out of an 18-wheeler. I've tried to pinpoint my favorite band memory but there are too many. However, I would love to hear some of your favorite band memories!!

Big "J" Rocks The House!

The year was 1986 of our Junior year around Homecoming. Remember Spirit Week where we all got to dress up? Well, I remember the Juniors having a meeting in the auditorium and we discussed what we wanted to do as a class to show our "spirit". Instead of doing something "easy" like harassing the sophomores and dressing up like "nerds" and putting signs on us that said "proud to be a sophomore" like the seniors had done to us the year before; we decided to be unique (as always). Someone suggested we dress in the style of the "world's oldest profession and their managers" (can you tell I'm trying not to say the slang-words or what?). Instead of dogging on the sophomores, we decided to wear signs on us that said, "Proud to be a Senior!" and "Seniors for Hire!" I remember that some members of the class of 1987 got a "little" upset and ripped signs off some of the juniors. After that meeting in the auditorium I remember Caprice Lasley standing up and with two foot stomps and a clap starting a chant that spread throughout the room, with everyone yelling over and over, "Big Juniors Rock the House!" Anyone else remember this or am I the only one?

The way it was: December 18, 1987

As our senior year closed in on Christmas, Jonesboro High School precipitated an international incident.

Don’t remember that? You must not have read Page 4 of the December 18, 1987, edition of the Golden Times, where a banner head screams: “JHS delegates walk out of UN.”

It turns out that JHS’ first-ever team in the Arkansas Mock United Nations got assigned to be Barbados. “Once in the General Assembly, the true insignificance of Barbados shone through,” the story, by Travis Justice (Class of ’89) stated. So the five-member team that included four JHS-88ers (Fran Bailey, Shea Burns, Chris Harris and Melinda Stringer) walked out.

But that political brouhaha couldn’t hold the front page when the Mr. Kool pageant was coming up in just 34 short days.

Joining the Mr. Kool preview on the front page were Kelley Gibbard being crowned Miss Hurricane, the National Honor Society inducting 32, the naming of our class’ “Who’s Who” and William Cheatham being named the 1987/88 winner of the Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citzenship Award.

“He wants to attend the University of Arkansas, major in pre-med and pursue a career as a general surgeon,” the article on Cheatham states. No mention of wanting to be a principal or marrying Marcie Brooks.

I’ve caught up on fall issues of the paper so that I can now post each new edition on the actual date it was published. The next Golden Times issue is not until Feb. 1, so I’ll have some time to start profiling a few of our classmates for this blog.

Working in High School

I went to work at Hays on Washington in downtown Jonesboro on my 16th Birthday! My best friend Mike Hawkins worked there and put in a good word for me... you know how hard it is to get one of those coveted "Stockboy" positions. That was some of the most fun of my life! Everyone was so laid back .. except the Manager. He thought it was life or death if we didn't get the shelves "faced" (to pull everything to the front so it looks full) or if the Always Save Toilet Paper was running low. Mark Morris ('86) also worked there. He was our boss and we always gave him the respect he deserved ... since he was a Senior at the time. We had to wear white shirts and a tie. At first, we wore the square knit ties. Later we decided it would be more cool to find the oldest, ugliest ties from our dads/grandads. That was our way of sticking to the Mgt.

I remember in the summer they usually had a hot dog stand out front of the store. When the stand closed down, they would give the left over hot dogs to the stockboys. One time, a co-worker ran into the stockroom and asked "Mr Morris" if he could go on break cause he just got some free HOT DOGS. Without blinking an eye, Mark asked "Did you get me one?" When he replied "No", Mark said "Then you got some COLD DOGS...get back to work!" The rest of us just busted out laughing! The customers that visited the Washington Store were a HOOT! I remember one lady asking if the "Tomato Ketchup" was better than the regular Ketchup. (Maybe you had to be there!) Sometimes after busting it all night to get the store stocked some of us would drive to West Memphis to eat Krystal hamburgers. I still LOVE Krystals ... I can't believe they did not make it in Jonesboro! Some of my coworkers included Mike Hawkins, Jason Grubb, Mark Morris, Mickey Ryan (HHS), Joe Crumpton, Sydney Linderman, and Lawrence Williams (at Woodsprings store). Lawrence was in a Hays commerical juggling oranges to "Benny and the Jets".

At graduation, Mike & I thought it would be funny to send Benny Hays (THE MAN HIMSELF) a graduation announcement. The next week at work, the Manager called Mike and I out to his car ..... Mr. Hays had a gift for us because we were the only ones that sent him an announcement. If I remember it was a thick, green towel!

Working in High School was one of the best times of my life. There was no bills or mortgage... just had to make enough to put gas the my 1974 Dodge Challenger and have some left for dates. I saved up money to buy a leather "Members Only" Bomber jacket. If I remember correctly, it cost $250 in 1987. I still wear that jacket to work! What a great investment! (However, Tonya says it is time to give it up!) NEVER! I at $3.35 per hour (my starting rate), I worked over 80 hours just to buy that jacket.

So tell me about where you worked during High School!

Stop! Go Back!

So we were watching TV this past Saturday flipping through channels and we pass through the VTN Network. Then we think we see a familiar face. "Isn't that Stephen Hester?" So we go back and check it out. Sure enough it was (Stephen was an extra in the movie, he says he got paid $10 for his efforts). We were seeing "The Pretender", filmed by the Christiano Brothers here in Jonesboro in the mid-80s. Of course I had to watch the whole thing. There is a slew of JHS alumni in the film as well as shots of the JHS football field, Annie Camp, downtown Jonesboro, Central Baptist church (which is no longer there) and the old Piero's restaurant. The clothes are wonderfully great and truly 80s. You'll recognize 3 JHS graduates. Two were a year older than us and one has a real career in movies/TV to this day. The Christiano Brothers also produced two other movies with our very own drama teacher, Keith Salter in the leads. You can also find these here as well.

The way it was: Nov. 20, 1987

The Class of ’88 led a pair of sports champions in the fall of 1987.

The volleyball team, pictured above (OK, I snagged this from the yearbook, as the print quality of the newspaper version was awful), won the Class AAAA state championship in Conway.

The wildest thing about that: The team was losing in the state semifinals against Bryant, when the lights went out in the University of Central Arkansas’ arena. Play was stopped until the lights could come back on, the momentum switched, and JHS rolled.

The football team, meanwhile, won a share of the AAAA-East conference title with a 4-1 league record. Conference titles in football were few and far between for JHS in later years. In fact, this might have been the last one.

On the front page of the Nov. 20, 1987 edition of the Golden Times, Felicia Willett wrote about the upcoming Miss Hurricane pageant, and Stephanie Owens wrote about Perry Black’s speech in which he urged JHS students to “Say no to dope, yes to hope.” Does anybody remember that?

An editorial on page 2 lamented the weak spirit of Spirit Week. Apparently, costumes were not allowed in class on certain Homecoming theme days.

“For seniors this was their last Homecoming, and for some, it will not be remembered as their best ever.”

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.

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.)