The Highs and Lows of Central: Ferrell Greene on Casketball and A Cappella

By Ferrell Greene

When my family moved to Aberdeen in the fall of 1964 I wondered what kind of high school Central would be. It was my third high school in a year.

I was pleasantly surprised at Old Central as it was a very impressive school plant. The two things that impressed me the most were the Civic Arena and the Civic Theater. Basketball and theater were never the priority in the South, so this edifice was indeed a pleasant surprise. Couldn’t believe how large they both were. 

Well so much for the pleasantries!

Since I wasn’t involved in any extra curricular activities during our junior year, I finished that year with two outstanding memories of both places — neither one very good, or at least I thought so.

The only thing that I really remember about the theater was the many all-school lectures by Mr. Ellis on the proper etiquette of a Central High School student. And of course, being the young impressionable teens that we were, we were never guilty of any indiscretions! Ha. 

Now for the arena. This place for us in gym class could have easily been called the house of pain. I think the coaches stayed up at night trying to figure out so-called games or exercises that would come as close to killing us as the law would allow.

At the reunion, the minute I looked up and saw those steps, both of my knees started hurting. What about that tepid little game of “Casketball.” On the days that we played that, we kept the hospital busy, as many of you know.

And who could forget “king of the free throw lane”? Fifty kids crammed into that thing and the winner was the last one left standing without anything broken — like bones. It wasn’t good being very skinny and weighing only about 125 pounds. I thought that I had joined the circus as I flew through the air with greatest of ease, until I hit the floor.

I can still remember looking over and seeing the coaches laughing their heads off. So much for Midwestern hospitality!

Things got much better in our senior year, at least for me. Although the lectures from Mr. Ellis continued and that cursed gym class still was there, probably my favorite memories of high school were in that theater/music room complex and even the arena.

Ferrell Greene, second from the left in the second row from the top, in the dark-rimmed glasses.

My whole world would change about the second week of school in our senior year when Mr. Aman had a case of selective tone deafness and let me fill the “100th seat” in the A Cappella chorus. I’ve always loved music and being in that chorus with Mr. Aman was a dream come true for me. What a sound that was.

Ferrell Greene with Jean Losacker in CHS Radio Club.

Terry’s blog about the building of the complex brought back such happy times spent there. The A Cappella chorus opened a door that I probably would never have gone through: that was getting shanghaied by Mrs. Pratt to be in the musical “Wonderful Town.” I learned then that even some of our beloved teachers didn’t exactly tell the truth. We were told that she just needed some people to sing and that we wouldn’t have to stay at practice very long.

That theater became home for about three months or so, including most every weeknight and Saturday mornings. Though most of us that were “drafted" into that play from the chorus weren’t the stars, Mrs. Pratt, in her infinite wisdom, had some kind of delusion that we were actors and dancers. None of us tried out for that play, but we were captured, so the adventure carried on.

The lovely Evenson sisters in "Wonderful Town."

And what red blooded teenage boy was going to turn down an opportunity to sit in a dimly lit auditorium with some good looking girls? It would have really been great if any of you had liked me, other than being a friend, but getting to spend so much time with many of you made that theater an absolute place of joy for me.

Faye Smith, chemistry teacher

When you throw in practicing for the all-state chorus, being on the “Voice of Central Radio staff, practicing with Rick and Rochelle for the Eaglean Follies, what delightful memories that place holds for me. And since the choir room, theater and arena have changed very little since then, the only thing that had really changed was us. My closing memory of the arena was the A Capella Chorus singing at the graduation “I believe” and “Climb every mountain” and from some of what I’ve learned from many of you, you did believe and tried to climb every mountain. 

But all that fun, at least for me, came at a price. I had time for everything but studying! I came very close to being a proud member of the class of ’67! I still believe that Mr. Smith, in chemistry, just wanted to get rid of me and fudged the scores a few points. It was that close. However, I can tell you from the bottom of my heart, I wouldn’t have changed a thing in our senior year. Thanks to Terry for calling me and seeking out my memories, as a kind of a foreigner, of what the Aberdeen Civic Center and Theater meant to me. I hope that many of you will share your memories for all to enjoy. We can’t live in the past, but we can surely look back with great fondness of what it was like to be a member of the Central High School class of 1966.

Ferrell Greene