The winter holiday season is upon us and it may trigger some memories of our seasonal holiday traditions during our childhood. So we want to have you get a little nostalgic and recall those early childhood years and your favorite memories or traditions, favorite gifts, toys or games, favorite meals, favorite outdoor activities, etc. that you enjoyed (or perhaps did NOT enjoy) during the holiday season.
Please join us in sharing your memories and traditions those years when life was simpler.
Carole Tonigan and Renee Milbandt 1966
Carole Tonigan......My Dad had an old sleigh. He would use his old Ford tractor to pull it down Lincoln street, ringing a bell to call out our neighbors to join us. We had bales of hay to sit on, there was singing and laughing, etc. We also recall getting the Sears catalogue with the toy section and making our list for Santa.
Cookies & Milk for Santa at Schreiner's
Tim Schreiner......While
some families opened gifts on Christmas morning, our family had a
strict Christmas Eve ritual that went along with opening gifts that
night. We always had oyster stew for dinner (not a favorite among the
younger members), after which the six Schreiner children all went
upstairs to building anxiety and excitement while Santa visited our
home. We always left out a glass of milk and two chocolate chip cookies
for the great one.
Rawstern's Christmas Wrapping Paper from Sears
Terry Rawstern......My dad was the Receiving Manager of the Sears store in Aberdeen. At the end of the Christmas season each year he would gather up all of the Christmas wrapping paper. Rather than throwing it away, he brought it home and all of the presents wrapped under our tree the next Christmas were wrapped with the leftover Sears paper from the previous year. As I look back, this was a special tradition we had in our house.
Rory King......It was our first Christmas together. Susie and I were poorer than church mice. I was just starting the law practice, and it was slow--mostly criminal appointments. Susie was still in college. We lived in a small lake cabin at Richmond with one floor furnace and a fireplace to keep us warm. We bought a four-foot reject of a Christmas tree with a bent spine and not many needles. Susie made all of our ornaments out of hardened and painted bread dough. Needless to say, our presents to one another were inexpensive and functional--I bought her a pair of shoes, and she bought me some slippers, if I recall. Straight out of O'Henry's "Gift of the Magi"! But it was the best, most memorable Christmas ever. We had each other. And that was enough.
Susie & Rory Living Poorly
Cowboy Bob Couser
Bob Couser......My
most memorable Christmas occurred in kindergarten at the Roosevelt school.
I wanted a gun and holster badly. When I found wrapped gifts under
the tree before Christmas, I carefully opened a gift with my name on it.
I discovered that my mother did indeed get me my cowboy gun and
holster. I carefully rewrapped it, placed it back under the tree, and
pretended I was very surprised on Christmas day.
One of the class of 1966's musicians spent time playing music with Bobby Vee, a 1960s heartthrob who recorded "Devil or Angel," "Poetry in Motion," "Rubber Ball," "Take Good Care of My Baby," and "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes." Vee got his start by filling in for Buddy Holly in Fargo on the night after Holly's plane crashed. Read Breaw's story about playing with Vee ...
Many in the Class of 1966 have survived their head-on collisions with cancer. Unfortunately, some have not. But as all survivors and their families know, getting the word that you have made it to a cancer-free body is glorious news.
Most of our memories of high school are probably pretty nice. But one classmate remembers the others who were bullied and sometimes abused. He asks us to stand up for those less fortunate than us.
There are a few institutions that we all remember from our days in high school. Then there are those institutions that we loved because they bring back sweet memories. And then there are those sweet institutions that had a direct connection to one of our classmates.
Every boy's dream of sports greatness welled up whenever we walked through the door, smelled that leather, and saw the town's sporting greats swapping tales.
When Alice Laird Rapport moved to Washington, DC, her co-workers had a good laugh when she said she was going down the block for a "pop." Alice wasn't headed out for a midday drink of alcohol, she was merely using the word that every South Dakotan knows means soda.
In case the trick-or-treaters in your neighborhood didn't scare you enough on Halloween, here's a frightening look at the digital wizards behind this newsletter.
Join In With Your Story
Most of the stories that appear in our blog and on Facebook come from you. This Class of '66 effort has been successful because of the variety of stories from you. We know you all have a story to tell the class, but might be reluctant or you think you don't write well.
We encourage you to submit your stories for this newsletter.
It's easy. Here's what you do: Simply write an email and send it to us at: aberdeenclassof66reunion@gmail.com.
Include a photo if you have one, but it's not essential. We'll do the rest. Your note can be a simple, short paragraph or a long story, a question, an old photograph. Share a memory about something from our days together or share what is happening in your life. We just hope that you will join the effort to keep the newsletter going.
Many people have avoided our class reunions. I often wonder why, but also in my heart know why for some. School days were not pleasant for some kids. As a Clinical Psychologist, I have heard many of the stories of folks whose lives as kids were hell. Today, we hear
L. Paul Schneider
these stories on the internet and mainstream media every day. But back in our school days, those things were not talked about.
How many of our classmates were beaten regularly by a parent? How many were sexually abused by family or friends? How many were told how worthless, ugly, stupid they were? How many were neglected?
My shame comes in when I recall kids that were bullied, called names, taunted. I tried not to participate; but I did not intervene, either. Those kids have never shown up for a reunion. And as I have learned, often the bullies were themselves abused at home. Many of those kids have not shown up, either. Yeah, I can rationalize that we were “just kids”, that I was a scrawny runt, that it was “none of my business”, and that I, too, had been bullied. But that regret, guilt, and shame for that lack of courage in not standing up for those oppressed kids does haunt me.
My dad and mom had a strong value for our family of “Do the right thing.” I did let them down at times. But I also have devoted my adult life to trying to do the right thing, standing up for the oppressed, the down-trodden, the poor, the mentally ill. In many ways, I am trying to make up for my cowardice as a kid. ( Hopefully, that will reduce my sentence in Purgatory!)
If any of you who were targets of the bullying in school read this, my sincerest regrets and apologies. I do remember you, and pray for you. If you can find it in your hearts to forgive those of us who bullied or were complicit in it, I would be most grateful.
And, I would encourage you to engage in our reunions and dialogues, such as this medium. I did talk to one of my bullies at one of our reunions, not in anger, but simply brought it up. That person sincerely apologized, heartfelt. That was very healing to me, and holds a special place in my memory today. Having put closure to that dark period, I can smile now when I think of him.
As a final note on this gloomy subject, I encourage all of you to stand up for those who don’t seem to matter. The invisible ones. The persecuted ones. The helpless ones. Those without a voice, or little voice. The marginalized ones. As Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
