Choir and Band

We have gotten a few mentions in other categories about choir. We probably have a lot of stories to share about choir and band...particularly the trips. So we are creating this special category just for those stories.

Sula Class of 68: If I had any musical talent at all, I surely would have become a professional musician. From the time I could walk, it was all about pop music in my family. My father played trombone, trumpet, piano, ocarina and 3 different kinds of harmonica. My mother played piano, organ, clarinet. My grandmother played piano and organ. My uncle played drums. Everyone sang-- in harmony always and in perfect pitch. So it would have been a source of family shame had I not been in the band or choir in school. What an amazing group of talented and dedicated music teachers we had. And such colorful personalities too.

Mr. John "Music Man" Henley started a new program in 6th grade where you could take band lessons. Since my mother still had her clarinet from her school band days, I chose that. Bad choice because I was asthmatic and buck-toothed with heavy braces to boot. Something to bang on would have been more appropriate. I was taking piano lessons too and favored that over the clarinet. At least the piano doesn't stink the more you play it. And that spit valve thingy-- so gross! I was lazy about practicing both. But the more you practiced the clarinet the nastier those reeds got and you had to change them. Tish Harrison was first chair on clarinet. I would stop by her house after school sometimes hoping her aura might rub off on me so I wouldn't have to practice.

One Monday morning I got to school and realized I didn't have my instrument. I figured I must have left it at home. In band practice, Mr. Henley started a tune but then stopped the whole class and from his podium pointed at me with his baton and asked why I wasn't playing. You know when you are 12 years old, fat with a mouth full of braces, things like that are why God endows children with strong bladders. My shame and humiliation was only beginning.
"I left my clarinet at home."
Mr. Henley: "Really? Are you sure about that?"
On the verge of an asthma attack, I whispered "Yes, sir."
Mr. Henley: "Well tell me something. Did you practice this weekend?"
Like a cheerful leaking tire -- "Yes, sir" (my mind was racing -- did I? Hell no you didn't, you never do -- well I can't remember-- I know I practiced one weekend one time - say anything, something).
Mr. Henley: "About how long would you say you practiced, how many hours this weekend?"
At this point I was just a robot saying anything just to get him to shut up and leave me alone. The whole band was staring at me watching the word volley between us like a tennis match, waiting for the smashing blow.
"I don't know, I guess about 4 hours."
Mr. Henley: "Are you sure it was that much- 4 hours?"
"I think so, yeah, about 3-4 hours...2 on Saturday and 1-2 on Sunday."
Mr. Henley: "Would that have been Sunday afternoon or night?"
(I prayed: LORD PLEASE DELIVER ME!)

"uh...Sunday night."

Finally I get delivered -- to the chopping block: hog tied, tarred, feathered and strung up to endure deafening jeering and hooting from all the band members.

Mr. Henley reached under the podium and held up my clarinet case and smiled like mule in a briar patch: "Well, Sula-- that must have been a long 4 hours of a practice -- without your instrument -- because it's been sitting in my office all weekend."

I always liked Mr. Henley and I thought what he did was pretty funny-- many years later. It wasn't because of this incident that I didn't join band the next year but Mr. Henley was not my favorite teacher! Things seem to go the way they should -- because not being in the band gave me the chance to take piano lessons from a delightful, kind (true) lady-- Katherine Leftwich -- and to be in the choir with A.F. Thomas-- and that wonderful, talented music man provided me with greatest experiences of all my school years and I still thank him for the lasting impression 40 years later. I never had talent but due to the great music teachers in Forrest City, along with talented family members, I learned the spiritual value of the pure joy and happiness of musical expression.

Bogie Class of 62: I recall a great choir trip to Hot Springs for one of the competitions in which we were so fortunate to be able to participate. When I was a sophomore, I was in choir with Danny Harrelson, Stevie Stevens, Booger Montgomery and Jim Finch, all seniors.

Our trip was uneventful until we had been at the motel for a couple of hours. Then, there were several of us girls that got a treat when we walked into our rooms and found all our clothing hanging in the shower with the hot water running full blast! The room was filled with steam, our eyes were burning and we couldn't see anything! Of course we turned off the hot water only to discove our clothes soaking from the steam--we had to just leave them hanging--some of the wrinkles actually fell out and we were able to wear everything without too much ironing.

Some of us went walking around the motel, went into some of the other girls rooms and gathered them up to come out for a walk. A walk, just a walk is all we wanted to do! Some of the guys had different ideas! Oh they let us walk alright--we could hear them calling, "Hey what'y'all doin?" We went over toward the sound of the voices--right in front of their rooms--in the doorway--Danny Harrelson and Stevie Stevens in their skivies!! You can imagine the silliest girls in the whole world--and we were them! You could hear the "tee-hee's" for a mile! Everyone got a kick out of it and we were on cloud nine--just to think, the guys would give us such a treat!! I loved choir!

Butch Class of 60: Bogie,That was a terrific choir story. I was on that trip, too. Frankly, I'm crushed you don't remember me. I was a tenor. The Mustang choir was so big that it took two Greyhound buses to get us to the festival. When the bus pulled out of the bus station, I remember Gloria Fields, whose father was a Church of God pastor and totally opposed to any kind of makeup on women, pulling out the lipstick and eye shadow and getting the "look" for the trip to Hot Springs.

We stayed at Wright's Motel. We must have occupied every room. It was a typical motor court of the 1940-50's period. The driveway was a U-shape with the connected rooms arranged around the outside of the U and a raised swimming pool in the middle. I think there must have been at least 6 kids staying in each room. Mr. Thomas was in a room near the entry in a vain attempt to keep an eye on all of us.

Our primary song for the competition was "Hallelujah Chorus." We always really nailed that number. With Patsy Pettus and Barbara Trimm leading a great soprano section, it was really stirring. We got a standing ovation from the hundreds of other choir members sitting in the audience. We were really proud of ourselves.

Now, back to the fun and games. I have a lot of memories of some really fun and funny happenings on that trip. I DON'T remember the steamy episode or the skivvies incident. Both sound hilarious. There was a lot of sneaking back and forth with guys trying to sneak into girls rooms. Mr. Thomas got very little rest, much less sleep. There was a bakery down the street where a lot of kids went during the trip for extra goodies. Late one night, a bunch of us (me, Mike Deaderick, Danny Harrelson, Stevie Stevens, and several others) went to the bakery and got big plastic bags full of day-old donuts, creme-filled stuff and other goodies for give-away prices.

We all went back to, I don't remember, probably my room. We ate that sweet, gooey stuff till we were sick of it. Someone threw a chocolate covered donut at a mirror. It stuck there. Another creme-filled donut hit the wall. It stuck there, too. Suddenly, the air was filled with flying pastries. I remember Mike Deaderick throwing a peach-filled donut up at the ceiling fan. The fan splattered the filling around on the wall. The laughter was audible all over the motel. Of course, Mr. Thomas came running. The rooms didn't have a back door. It did have a bathroom window and several guys bailed out of the window. It was my room along with Mike and a couple of others. We had no place to go, so we caught most of the blame.

"Clean this mess up," Mr. Thomas roared. He didn't think it was funny at all. It took a couple of hours to clean up the mess. It also took all of our towels and wash cloths. The motel people wouldn't give us any clean ones. Oh, one more thing. Jimmy Finch was a junior that year. And, are you sure, absolutely certain that Booger was in the choir?

The City Pool

BJ Class of 68: One of my fondest memories of growing up in Forrest City was spending the whole summer at the city swimming pool. For $50 you could buy a season pass and swim all day every day through June, July and August. It was a big pool with four separate sections.

Each summer as I grew up I took swimming lessons. You started out in the shallow end, which was half-moon shaped. There you just learned to put your face under water and gradually get used to going under water in about two feet of water. Next you graduated to the south section that was about four feet deep and had some monkey bars you could swim around. You learned to glide and kick there. After that, you moved down to the west end of that section of the pool where it was the same depth but no monkey bars to hang onto. On around the pool you progressed each year until finally you were good enough to swim in the deep section in the middle where the diving boards were. By the time I got to high school I was back in the shallow end again, this time as an instructor teaching little three year olds to put their faces in the water.

I loved to swim and always went every day and stayed until closing time at 6:00. I would ride my bike there, my dog running along with me. While I spent the day swimming, he hung out on the other side of the fence under the shade trees until I was ready to go home.

I remember having crushes on the life guards and jumping off the high dive. And, I remember that on a regular basis the pool had to be completely drained and refilled. We hated that because the next day the water was always icy cold.

Anybody remember playing Marco Polo? What fun times we had at the city pool.

(Admin note: Pictures above are similar to F.C. pool but not actual. Anyone have any real ones?)

Butch Class of 60: I was re-reading the pool comments and a couple of other things came to mind. I remember Ollie Warren, among others, doing crazy "dives" off the high dive. Ollie would launch himself in any kind of twisting, somersaulting, flipping thing that could never be referred to as a dive. He would wear a cut off sweat shirt or a T-shirt to protect his back from the frequent pancake landings. There were others, but Ollie was king of the comic dives. I think he also tried some serious diving, maybe in some competitions. Anyone remember that? A few years later, Ollie was part of a trampoline/tumbling troup that entertained basketball crowds at Arkansas State during half-time.

The other memory, isn't so happy. I remember when we were in maybe the sixth or seventh grade, Don Kelly, an older brother of one of our classmates, Jerry, drowned at the pool. He was doing some kind of stunt in the deep end with some other guys. The life guards usually would whistle you away from the back of the deep end, under the diving boards, but they were unaware that Don and his buddies were fooling around down there. I don't know what the object of the stunt was, but they were trying to stay under for a long time. About half way down the pool wall, there was an open port where the very strong filter pump would pull water out of the pool. It was about nine inches across. Don stuck his knee into the port to help him retain his position down deep. The suction prevented him from pulling his knee out and he was unable to get to the surface. The life guards and others frantically took turns diving down and trying to pull him out... Finally, someone turned off the pump, but it was too late. It was a traumatic thing for everyone in town. I never felt right in the pool afterwards. They put a grid-like cover over the exhaust port, but kids stayed away from that area of the pool for a long time.

Riding Around

Click to hear "Run Around Sue- Dion 1961
Bogie Class of 62: The same response many a parent got from their teenager as they bolted for the door--"Where are you going?" they would ask. "Riding around." we would answer with our eyes rolling. "What else is there to do?"

Well, our parents weren't idiots!! They knew exactly what else there was to do!! They could only imagine what this "work of art" would be up to for the next 3 or 4 hours.

My friends and I didn't have a car to drive around in so we had to depend on the guys we ran into at the pool, the tennis courts, or the little league baseball fields. Most of them had a car, or something similar. I recall one evening (I say evening because I didn't stay out very late without a date), (oh good grief, Bogie, tell the truth!), my buds and I ran into a bunch of guys at the tennis courts during the summer of our Jr. year at FCHS. I sat in the front seat with (hey, Butch, remember this?) Butch Ford and we "rode around" FC for a little while. Someone was in the back seat--Cathy Rosica and some guy--I can't remember who he was! Anyway, we had the radio on, of course, listening to WABG, (or was it WHBQ) oh well, I was just singing along with all the songs and having such a great time waving at everyone--(I felt so privileged to be riding with Butch--I wanted everyone to notice! Well, "Mr. Butch" didn't like the sound coming from the other side of the car and "nudged" me on the arm--"Let THEM sing it!" he said.

From then on, I have always remembered that night, uh evening, and every time I sing along with the music, I think of Butch and sing just as loud as my ears can stand it!

CLASS of 61

Stephens Gets Scholarship To Tulane

Charles W. Stephens, son of Mr. and Mrs.R. B. Stephens, 502 Tennessee, has been awarded a scholarship to Tulane University school of law at New Orleans. A senior at Arkansas State Teachers College, Conway, Stephens will receive $940 a year for tuition. The regional scholarship is renewable for three years. The award was based on the academic record and the recommendations of faculty and administration members. Majoring in history with a minor in English, Stephens plans to be an attorney. At ASTC he served four semesters in the student senate, was president of the freshman class and summer school, president of the student body and president of the Wesley Foundation. He also was elected to "Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities."

Charles is a '61 grad from FCHS!

Sports: Vintage Basketball

From St Francis County Museum Website (See Links)
1909 Can anyone identify these Peach Queens?


1964

Sportsmanship award--Senior Randy Laws, the only member of the Mustang basketball team named to the All-State AA-AAA basketball team, and coach Ed Henderson, hold the Sportsmanship trophy awarded the Mustangs at the State AA-AAA tournament Saturday night at Little Rock. The Mustangs tied with El Dorado and both teams were given the awards, the second won by Forrest City High School. (Contributed by Bogie Class of 62)

CLASS of 63

Judy Bounds, later, Mrs. Burl Leiblong, later, well I don't know!! Gylinda's little sister, class of '63!! Bogie

CLASS of 56

This is one guy that is really missed--we lost Raymond Davis, class of '56 in 2001. He knew how to party and did! I knew Raymond when he was trying to "squire" my sister--I was secretly wishing he was after me--in 1956 just after we moved to FC. My sister married Jerry Mahan, one of Raymond's best friends in Feb. of '57 and Raymond married my best friend, Cathy Rosica, in 1965. What a world!!! Bogie

Short-Shorts: Kenny Archer

Wow! My sister Mary (Archer) Wilson sent me a copy and I just loved it. I am Kenneth E. Archer (Kenny) and am a United Methodist pastor in Quitman, Texas. Please put me on the mailing list.

Also, Bogie, I guess my age is catching me. There I was sitting beside you at the Jr. Sr. Prom in 1962. You were a Sr. and I was a Jr. Now, the $64 question...who are you?...I don't recall you being Bogie, but then I don't go by "Kenny" any more.

Keep up the great work.

Now for a short story. About six or seven years ago I was driving from Houston up towards Lufkin, Texas. I was channel surfing the radio and then it happened. I began to hear play by play radio announcing of a Forrest City Mustangs football game. I almost wrecked my car! I believe the game was against Conway, Ar. The "Stangs" were winning. The reception was as clear as a Caldwell night sky for a few minutes and then it was gone. Talk about an attack of nostalgia! Go Mustangs!

For those who would like to contact me, please email kearcher1009@yahoo.com

Ken E. Archer