Charlie LaFrenz

Sorry to change the subject, but yesterday I called Sandy Keith in D.C. to see if she and John could meet us for dinner as we have done before because Janet has a conference there and we are leaving on Feb. 8.  She later called back and said they could not join us because she has had a stroke.  A few menutes  ago she sent an email and said she didn't mind if I informed the class.  When she spoke on the phone there was no sign of a speech impediment.  I assume her contact information is in our rocords.  If not, I have them.

Also, somewhere in this house I have a white cowboy tie signed by the Range Rider.  I remember also being stuffed in a Clown Car with what seemed like 100 other kids and let loose in the middle of the arena during a rodeo.  Also saw Rusty and Rin Tin Tin at Sacred Heart Hospital in the lobby.

Linda Kirchner (Schrader)

I agree with Brad, Darla & others...Rodeo time would be a great time for a reunion. Maybe we could get Don Sunden to attend...he does Rodeos. The past several years Sharon has asked me to attend with her for the Thursday night event. I love it.  the people we sit with are great & friendly, along with the food & drink. Thanks Sharon, I appreciate it so much. 

Rodeo time is always special for me, my uncle used to take me tmost years because it's on or close to my birthday. Also, my Mom was a Gray Lady & she worked at the hospital every Friday morning, delivering mail, etc. She had the priviledge of takng the Rodeo stars around on a tour of the hospital esp. to see all the kids. There were several who she didn't care for. I always remember Mom talking about Dale Robertson, saying he was the nicest & most polite one she had every met.

I remember marching in the parade with the Kilties, esp. my senior year...such a big deal. We asembled out by DuPont's, if I'm thinking correctly, and marched all the way to 4th. Street. Mr. Duncan walked with us & we didn't mess around or talk to anyone along the way...even when we were "at ease". Remember Patsy leading us, esp. doing round corners, one side marching in lace & the rest of the line going around...OR right angled corners, where we marched through each other. Not sure what each procedure was called, but am sure there was a name for each...maybe atsy can remember or Sharon, as she lead the band. Have not seen any band or group do that since then. Hope this all makes sense...it will if you were in Kilties or Band. I still have my outfit we wore in the Rodeo parade. Denim skirt with fwhite fringe & denim cuffs with fringe we wore with white gloves. School furnished white Cowbboy hats & we wore navy neck scarves, white sox & black loafers. I'm sure I have pics of it all.

Judi Perry

The Fot Madison Rodeo - what a great time!!  Marched in the parade as Junior High Majorette and in High School with the Kilties.  It was a long march, but was fun and we did not complain. Before my folks openend the Donut Shop, downtown, Mother worked at Allen's Dress Store.  Prior to the Rodeo, they sold the most beautiful Squaw dresses, silver belts, etc.  I wish I still had one of them.  When they bought the Donut Shop, Mother decided to sell donuts and coffee outside for the parade "watchers".   It was a very busy time.  It seemed all we did was grab money and give out donuts - it was crazy.  And then if there were more donuts left, we would take them up the Rodeo park and sell to the people camped there for the week-end.  I think is was Robert Conrad, who was the star at the Rodeo one year.  After the parade was over he went to the Liquor Store, which was next door.  He was already drunk and could hardly stand up.  Tried to sober him up with coffee, did not work.

Other memories;  I remember when in Jr. High, running down to the Maid-rite for lunch!!  We only had 20 -30 minutes, but we made it and ate our lunch and ran back!!

It was a great time, when we grew up!!  We rode our bikes all over town, stayed out late at night, playing ball or kick the can in the street until dark, when qur parents called us in. 

My interests in High School was in music.  Thanksgiving we used to go to either Des Moines or Cedar Rapids for State Choir/Band.  What a great time.  Also there were a few of us who went to Gunison CO for Music Camp.  What a fun time.  Sharons parents came out and took us to points of interests while we where there, after rehersals all day..  Sharon's folks were great - did so many wonderful things for us during our high school years.

Also, remeber , when we were in our Senior year - we had a winning Football Team!   Go Bloodhounds!!!!

Sandra Buckley (Matthews)

WOW, everyone has such great Rodeo memories and stories of how we and our parents were involved in some aspect of it - it really was a "town event" !!!  I think the suggestion of having our 60th Reunion over that weekend is a fantastic idea !  Do you think we could even manage a float for the parade?  I can invision something with a fake jukebox on it playing 50's and 60's music and Charlie & Janet and other dancing their hearts away !!!  We could all pitch in some $$$ to get a big flatbed trailer and find some decorations.  There could be a lottery drawing as to how many and who could ride along on the float, as I'm sure not everyone attending would fit..........just my own brainstorming.......those who still have Kilties or Majorette outfits could ride in a couple convertibles behind them ???  Wnyone else interested in aiming for a float ???

Jack Sears

School Days Music loved then & still listen to today - here's my first 10 I have found on my Spotify playlist of fav songs (I hve 485 fav songs of all time out of my 5,000 songs). What are your favs? Go!

1. Mother-In-Law, Ernie K-Doe 1961

2. All I have to do is Dream, Everly Brothers 1958

3. Sleep Walk, Santo & Johnny 1959

4. Chantilly Lace, The Big Bopper 1958

5. Be-Bop-A-Lula, Gene Vincent 1956

6. Yakety-Yak, The Coasters 1958

7. Get a Job, The Sillouettes 1957

8. Shop Around, The Miracles. 1960. 

9. Will You Love Me Tomorrow, The Shirelles. 1960

10. Runaway, Del Shannon, 1961

Janet Rhoades (Vaughn)

Wow,  I can not believe the great memories you have all been sharing.   The Rodeo idea is great and hope we are able to have this happen. What a great group of people this class has turned out.   

Thank you Sharon for this message board and how close it has brought us all to each other.

Thank you all for the memories (of which I must share I had forgotten)  KIlties, football after dances, pep rallies, dry dock, and the lasting friendships we continue to share. 

Melinda Lang (Bachman)

Another vote for the Rodeo for our 60th.  Sounds like fun and a good time of year to travel for those who live far away.  

Jack Sears

The Rodeo was a big deal to my family later in life. My step-dad, Mike Howard, became the Chamber of Commerce manager in the 1970's and also functioned as Rodeo Secretary for a number of years before his untimely fatal heart attack in 1983. He absolutely loved the FM Rodeo and the positive impact it had on FM. One Rodeo, my wife's brother & his new wife, both City of Chicago natives their entire lives, came down with us. I think it was the first time they had ever seen these huge bucking bulls in live action. The biggest ones weigh about as much as a VW Bug & to this tiny lady from Chicago, just as as big. We sat above the chutes & the bulls made everything rock & roll a lot. Well, after the event, Mike arranged for my sister-in-law to sit on the back of a mellowed out but very large bull. The look on her face was priceless. Later that night, at the Palms I think, the rodeo crowd was totally out of control & someone (not Mike), brought in one of the much smaller bulls on a leash, parading it around the tables. The bull, no doubt tired of the druken humans, proceeded to let go on the floor - yup, massive pee & poop. Unbelievable. 

Linda Kirchner (Schrader)

In response to Judi's comment.....our senior year for football was, we won all but the last 2 games...with Mt. Pleasant & Burlington, we lost to them. The next year after us, fall of '61, that class won every game including Mt. Pleasant & Burlington. I still have my scrapbook. Would like to hear from some football players, Frey or Noonan. 

Sharon Tincher (Scholl-Nabulsi)

FYI to Sandy Matthews:  in 2021 at our 60th reunion we will be 78 years old and having built floats in my youth it’s a really big job! I say we all go watch the parade and attend the Rodeo as a group and not try to do an almost impossible feat like build a float! What do the rest of you think?

William (Bill) Patrigo

I like the idea of a Rodeo Reunion!  Further, as I recollect Sharon managed the construction of several of our school floats. I therefore accept her view that building a float would not be time well spent. As to Jack Sears' search for our music preferences, mine are probably a litte different from Jack's. Although obviously not a complete list, some of my favorites include:

Fats Domino - Blueberry Hill and Walking to New Orleans

Little Richard - Tutti Frutti, Long Tall Sally, Lucille, and The Girl Can't Help It

Ray Charles - What'd I Say, and I Got a Woman

Isley Brothers - Shout

La Verne Baker - Jim Dandy

Clarence Frogman Henry - Ain't Got No Home

Jimmy Reed - Baby What You Want Me to Do

Ricky Nelson - Hello Mary Lou

Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode, School Days, and Sweet Little Sixteen

Dale Hawkins - Susie Q

Cyndy Day (Savage)

Oh Judi you brought the parade to my mind. I can remember marching with the kilties and Mr. Duncan saying, for the back row, if Cyndy can see Connie or Connie can see Cyndy, the row is not straight. I also remember running for maid-rites as well. Bless Sharon for getting maid-rites and tenderloins at the class reunion. So good

Sandra Buckley (Matthews)

Okay, I give in on the float idea for the Rodeo Parade - jitter-bug dancing on a moving object, as my husband has reminded me, would most likely cause some falls and broken bones !  I guess I got over zealous !!!!

Sharon Tincher (Scholl-Nabulsi)

Jack Sears: I had to laugh at your bull story because at the time it wasnt funny! But hearing you talk about it reminds me of it! The bulls name was TARZAN  and it belonged to my ex husband David Scholl and me! Needless to say I wasn’t therebut was really angry that he took that bull into the Palms! He was a white Charlais(French breed) and Mike Phelan dared him to take him in the Palms! Lucky for us the bull did not go on a rampage and kill or injure people or WE would probably still be in prison somewhere!  

Another time I returned home from visiting my cousin in California to find one of the rodeo bands sleeping all over our house! I asked David what the heck were they doing in our house! He said they had no place to stay and I said “Well they still don’t have a place  so get rid of them pronto”! Who knows what they would have done had they stayed! I have a lot of rodeo stories!

Brad Wiedmann

Lovin' these stories/memories.

Linda, John Frey lives in the woods somewhere in Ohio.  Not sure he has electricity(that was a joke).  It seems to me I remember that Terry Noonan was the first FMHS footbal player named to 1st string All-State?

Sandra Buckley (Matthews)

These rodeo stories get better and better  - Sharon, did you and David have to pay to shampoo the carpeting at The Palms after TARZAN did his business on the floor?

Sharon Tincher (Scholl-Nabulsi)

I am loving all the messages keep it up! I love all the tunes that Bill Patriots and Jack Sears mentioned and that is why I have Sirius XM radio in my car tuned to the 50’s and 60’s all the time! 

No Sandy, I was not involved WHATSOEVER with The Bull incident at the Palms and if David has to clean it up I know nothing about it! He was really stupid to do that stunt and lucky no one was hurt!

Sharon Tincher (Scholl-Nabulsi)

FAT FINGERS AGAIN! Sorry Bill spell check changed your name from Patrigo to Patriots and I didn’t catch it! I hope you laughed!

William (Bill) Patrigo

Sharon - I didn't laugh immediately when I notice my name had been changed from Patrigo to Patriots. Instead, I tried to figure out what secret meaning the name Patriots possessed.  I too have my SiriusXM radio tuned to the 50s and 60s channels.  However, my favorite is the Blues Channel, which reminds me of something else.

This coming weekend, my wife and son are going on the Blues Cruise. It is a 7 day cruise which departs from Fort Lauderdale. The cruises take place in October and January or February each year. The ship is a brand new Holland American ship holding about 2600 people and has about 5 performance stages. There are about 30 nationally-known blues bands which perform throughout the cruise, with simultaneous performances on all stages, starting at about 9:30 am and ending about 3:00 am the following morninig. The passengers are generally middle-age and dress is casual at all times and at all places. You can dance in front of the stages or go to the sides of the stages where you are only a couple of feet from the performers. You can even swim in front of a couple of the stages. If you don't want to leave your room, you can watch the various live performances on a big-screen TV in your room. The food is delicious and served throughout the day.  The experience is like having a constant backstage pass because the performers eat with and chat with the passengers throughout the day.

My wife did not historically like blues music because she seemed to be unaware of electrified blues. We went on a blues cruise two years ago.  Thereafter, my wife became infected and insisted that we go repeatedly. That is not unusual because most of the people we met on the last cruise had gone between 6 and 18 times. As I said, like them, my wife became infected. First timers on the cruise are called "virgins". We are no longer virgins.

A lot of the Blues Cruise performances are on YouTube. Merely look up "LRBC". That's my life for now - Most importantly, it is now confirmed that I am not a virgin.

Sharon Tincher (Scholl-Nabulsi)

Bill: The Cruise sounds fantastic! Suffice it to say you will get your fill of Blues Music by the time you get off the ship! We love Holland America and have done three of our 7 cruises on Holland ships! What is the name of your ship? I’m sure while on the ship you will be a “Patriot”! I thought you might get a chuckle out of that one! Have a wonderful time! Tell us about your son the next time you are on our website! Also are you retired now?

SAFE TRAVELS!👍👍

William (Bill) Patrigo

Sharon - I doubt if I will have my fill of blues music when I get off the cruise as I intend to be a blues guitarist when I grow up. The name of the ship is the Nieu Statendam. It is a new vessel, christened recently by Oprah Winfrey.

I am still employed full-time by Witt O'Briens, LLC, a disaster-related consulting company, Witt was a consultant to the State of Louisiana relating to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and several other disasters. I was a consultant to the City of New Orleans for 2 years beginning two weeks after Hurricane Katrina. Thereafter, I worked in Baton Rouge for another 10 years doing FEMA-related appeals and arbitrations for the State of Louisiana. During that time we recovered through the appeals/arbitration process approximately $1.5 billion which the State and its various subapplicants would otherwise not have received from the FEMA.  I now work primarily full-time from home on FEMA-related appeals for Witt clients throughout the United States, 

My son, Will, is 26, about 6'5" and quite athletic. He graduated from Oklahoma University School of Law about 2 years ago. He has been employed since his graduation with a local Oklahoma City law firm which specializes in energy-related title opinions. He went to undergraduate school at Oklahoma City University where he was a pitcher on their No, 1 ranked NAIA baseball team from the time he was a freshman until his graduation. He received 2 non-sports scholarships while at OCU and 1 scholarship for law school. Needless to say I am proud of his accomplishments.

Joyce Casady (Sheumaker)

Hope I am on the Message forum---does not look the same!

I got back from visiting my brother Charles and wife Mary Lou last week in Meza, AZ.  Missed some of the bad weather but made it back for the -13 weather.  I did not take my lap top and had over 80 emails to read--mostly the Message Forum.  My dad worked on Saturday's at the barber shop in the Anthes Hotel--then I think it was owned by a man named White.

Yes, do I ever remember the rodeo's. My mom made me a cowgirl outfit for the very 1st rodeo red with white fringe.  I have a picture of me in it standing in front of the fence of the arena.  I was also in the parade wearing it. My girlfiend Abby Paschel's folks managed or took care of the Anthens Hotel. Abby and I got to see and talk to all of the stars while at the hotel. They moved to a hotel in MN--do not remember the date. After that I did not get to see or talk with any stars.  I had a lot of pictures signed by most of the early stars, but my mom threw them all way.  Can not remember when though.  I have been to some of the rodeos since my daughter works at the hospital and gets free tickets for Wed night.  Been awhile though. Sounds good to me to have the 60th reunion during Rodeo weekend.

Nan Nelson (Hays)

Joyce...wonderful seeing your post.  Glad you got out of some of the brutal temps we endured. We were relieved it didn't last long. 

Enjoyed your memories of the rodeo. I loved going to the rodeo as a kid, starting with Gene Autry. Last one I went to was Tana Tucker.  I, too, think having our 60th reunion at rodeo time would be great!  

Nancy

Sharon Tincher (Scholl-Nabulsi)

Hi it’s me again! Bill, congrats on your son! I’m sure you are proud of all he’s accomplished! By the way sounds like you keep really really busy yourself!

Joyce, you are definitely on the message forum! Good to hear from you! By the way I am always at the Wednesday night rodeo so maybe this year I will see you! I’m also up in the Suites as I’m a Director on the Board  Great River Entertainment (aka) Catfish Bend Casino and we have a Suite right down from the hospital! Glad you had some winter time in a warm climate!I’m getting great responses from the class and it seems that everyone likes the idea of the reunion at Rodeo time! So we will see!

Nancy, good to hear from you too! Glad to know you’ll have a March luncheon! I hope to make the April luncheon!😀 I talked to the ticket chairman of the Rodeo and she said she might even be able to give us VIP seats if we come on Thursday night! I’m thinking since we are mostly  retired that might work! We will see! Later, kids! ❤️❤️

Charlie LaFrenz

Yesterday, I ran into Ted Holland again at the post office.  I told him about our web site and we would all be interested in hearing from him.  He said he didn't have a computor and he also mentioned his brother Bob had died of a heart attack.  I do not know the details.