This page is dedicated to fond memories
of those great years in our lives. If you have any to share;
send them to me and I will add them to the page.
John Castelein '72
Memories of New Orleans:
As a freshman in September of 1968, I was fortunate to be included
as a substitute in the American Legion National competition
in New Orleans, LA. I didn't compete in the field show, but
I got to march in the parade down Canal Street.
The heat and humidity were atrocious, and our "transportation"
was a box truck rented from Hertz with our luggage, uniforms,
equipment, and all of us loaded in the back.
Had I been in Rochester on "Freshman Friday" I would have been
one of many, but in New Orleans I was one of two! And the other
freshman was Chris Allen, the brother of the Color Guard Captain,
Jim Allen. You could say he had protection.
So that sort of left me as the prime target. I was chased around
the condemned army barracks where we stayed, and eventually
caught. Toads were stuffed down my shorts and I was tossed into
a drainage ditch. Nasty! I headed for the showers in the latrine
where you could hear the cockroaches scurry into the corners
when the lights came on.
I also remember taking the streetcar into the French Quarter
to go souvenir shopping. Everyone wanted to buy switch-blade
knives! We swam in the pool at Howard Johnsons Hotel where the
parents were staying. I enjoyed dinner in the "Blue Room" at
the Roosevelt Hotel, one of those fancy restaurants where there
are about five people waiting on one table, putting your napkin
on your lap, and emptying the ash tray every time you flick
your ash.
There were some girls in a local drum corps that we got friendly
with, and I recall they came by and picked us up to show us
the sights one night. We rode down Bourbon Street in a Mustang
convertible. They also took us to a Lake Pontchartrain amusement
park where I was the third person in a two seat roller coaster
car and I almost flew out.
We saw Air Force One at the airport because Johnson was giving
a speech to the Legionnaires to close the convention.
I was very impressionable at the time and the whole experience
left an indelible mark. Truly, it was a once in a lifetime.
Dan Kinney '69 Memory #1:
It was the winter after we had graduated
from AQ in '69 if my memory serves me right. There was a show
in Fulton, NY and I don't remember the month, but I do remember
there was a blizzard happening. Bob Andrews and I had made plans
to drive to Fulton for the show and no Blizzard was going to
stop us. We were driving Bob's car which was not new (if you
get my drift).
I remember driving down 104 and we could barely see our hands
in front of our face. The snow was sticking to the wiper blades
and we had to keep opening the windows and try our hardest to
knock the snow off the wipers; it was not a pretty site.
We
some how made it to the show and after the show one of the Sherburne
girl's Kathy DelFucco (not sure of the spelling) was driving
back with us; Bob was dating her at the time. With the Blizzard
that was happening, our young ages and inexperience as drivers
I am shocked that somebody gave her permission to go with us.
But they did and the trip home was just as wild as the trip
there.
Somehow we made it back to Rochester and as I recall it was
about 4:00 in the morning that Bob dropped me off. The street
I lived on had so much snow we could not get down it. Bob Dropped
me off at the corner and somehow made it to his house without
getting stuck.
What a trip that was.
Dan Kinney '69 Memory #2:
We were still in school and it must have
been our senior year as I had my first vehicle; a 1957 Pontiac
Chieftain (a real tank). A bunch of us decided to drive to Sherburne
to be with our honey's.
I don't recall if it was this trip or not, but we were driving
around the country roads and happened upon a head-on accident
which was pretty gruesome. Fortunately nobody died, but there
were some bad injuries. Not a pleasant experience.
On the way home we were driving on the Thruway and there was
a torrential downpour. One of those where you can't see where
you are driving. We somehow pulled over under a bridge and waited
it out without getting in an accident; a minor miracle.
I can't remember if it was planned; I think it was because Terry
Brookins had the hots for one of the West Genesee Wildcats.
But we stopped at her house in West Genesee so he could see
his honey before we continued on home.
Another wild ride.
Dan Kinney '69 Memory #3:
It was the year after we graduated in 69.
The guard was competing in a show in Baltimore and Wayne Rabideau,
Bob Andrews and myself decided to tag along.
At some point in the trip we stopped to eat at a Howard Johnson's
restaurant. I remember I ordered a BigJo Hamburger and a HoJo
Cola and it struck me funny. I started to laugh uncontrollably
and almost pee'ed my pants.
We stayed in a motel and like most teenagers we were full of
mischief. I think Phil was in our room and we had a pillow fight
and we were horsing around and cracked the window. We went to
the front desk and lied about the window saying that it was
cracked before we got there; they moved us to another room.
The next morning we were having breakfast and as I recall someone
was calling my name. Someone had broken into the room with the
cracked window and stole the TV. I remember being extremely
scared, but don't recall anything more.
Dan Kinney '69 Memory #4:
Again it was after we had graduated. Jim
Allen was attending West Point and Tom Cottrone had gotten married
to Shirley Rabideau and they were living in an apartment in
Olean, NY while Tom was going to St. Bonaventure. It was around
Easter of 1970.
I had just bought my first new car a 1971 Chevy Nova and we
decided to take a trip to visit Jim at West Point. We stopped
at Tom and Shirley's apartment in Olean and spent the night.
Shirley being the perfect hostess decided she was going to cook
us dinner. Spaghetti and Meatballs were on the menu. Shirley
got a little carried away with the hot pepper and the sauce
was a 9 alarm fire (ouch was that hot!).
We continued our trip the next day and arrived at West Point.
It was Jim's Plebe year and he had not had a drop of alcohol
since the previous August. We had a great day as Jim showed
us around the campus. We went to see the movie Shaft and then
we headed out to what was called target point if my memory serves
me right. Naturally we had a couple of cases of beer in the
trunk and proceeded to get trashed. Jim got extremely inebriated
and to this day I am amazed that he did not get kicked out of
West Point.
The next morning I discovered that my glasses were missing.
The only place that they could be were at target point. As luck
would have it it snowed over night about 6" of snow. We went
down to where we were and there were my glasses. About an inch
of one of the ear stems was sticking up out of the snow. Another
happy ending and Jim did not get kicked out of West Point.
More to come as I have time. I have so many
memories I could be writing for hours.
