the legend

I received this email from a fellow alumni:
“Happy Friday,
I found this sketch (?) at the West High Alumni Hall of Fame page.
I stole it. I wonder what the story is behind it?





Here is what I know.


Legend has it that in 1964, just as work was getting under way on the new school, the work site was vandalized. Quite a bit of lumber was taken as well as some of the concrete foundation around the gym area was destroyed. No one was ever caught. When the workers returned to the site they had to clean up and arraignments were made to repour the foundation. Well one of the workers during this repair work had a heart attack and died. It was said that the heat that day was nearly unbearable and that had the workers not had to make up the day laying new concrete he might not have had the heart attack.
During the dedication ceremony for the school the Superintendent honored this man and his family for their loss and called upon the Norse Gods to watch over the school from that point on so that a tragedy like that would never happen again. From that day on the god Frehihg has been said to watch over West High. Frehihg is the Norse god of justice, peace and truth. Over the years at West there have been people who have said they could see spirits reflected in the windows and in the clouds over the school. One report I’d heard was after one of the custodians had washed off the senior quad the water mark appeared in the form of the image of Thore. In my many years at west as a student and coach, there was one incident that made be a believer. It was when they were putting up the lights on the field. The band was out having a rehersal when they turned on one of the bank of lights. I happened to be up in the press box and the shadow I saw on the field was in the clear shape of a Norseman looking figure, much like this:






I know it sounds weird but that’s what I saw. From then on I believed in the legend. I believe there is a force looking over all those who attend and maybe attended West High.
I was, a few years ago, packing up equipment on the field after broadcasting a football game when there were gunshots. You may remember the shooting at Taco Bell. The cars zoomed down past the field with shots ringing out but no one was ever hurt.
The sketch you found may be someone’s experience with a vision they saw or their interpretation of the legend.

Musical Tastes

I was picking out some CDs the other day to put in my car and my kids ganged up on me to put in Toto. Now, my house is filled with music. For any of you who knew me in high school this should come as no surprise. We listen to everything from classical to opera, jazz and New Orleans funk. We also listen to a bit of old and new rock and roll. For the most part I was not a fan of the 80’s. Most trends in music I could just not stomach (sorry Waist High). I can usually be heard saying there was nothing good out of the 80’s. I confess though, that is not all true. I was influenced in my drumming quite a lot buy drummers and bands from the 80’s, bands like Toto, Genesis, ELO, and the Police. Funk bands like Earth, Wind and Fire, Wild Cherry, and Tower of Power can be heard throughout my playing. My oldest daughter has been bugging me like crazy for tickets to AC/DC since it was announced they were going on tour.
How many of you have kids or nieces or nephews that are into the same bands you were ?

22 Questions

I'll go first.


What did you do last night?
Played pool with my wife after we got the kids in bed.
What do you usually eat for breakfast?
Cold cereal.
How many hours a night do you sleep?
Usually 7.
Are you a day person or a night person?
I’d say a night person. I have more energy once I get past fatige
from the work day.
Where do you live now?
I live in Bako.
Why did you move there?
Never really left. Althought the way things are going it seems to be
a good idea.
What did you do after high school?
I went to BC for two years and started working for KERO TV as
an editor. Stayed there for 10 years.
What relationships are you in? Family?
Married? Kids? Partners?
I am married (Kelly Howes) and have 3 kids: 2 girls – 11 & 10, boy-7
What do you do for a living?
I am a producer/director for Bright House Networks.
Is your job in the same field you though it would be when you were in high school?
For the most part yes, my vision has changed a bit but I had decided
somewhere mid high school that I wanted to work in some form of
production.
If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?
This is a tough one, it would either be making movies or
or playing drums without having to leave my family for
Tours.
What was your happiest day last year?
I would have to say my two greatest moments of the past year were
performing at the Rose Bowl for DCI World championships and
receiving my M.A. in Media Studies.
What is one of your favorite memories from high school?
One of my favorite memories would have to be winning the soloist
Award at the Wasco Jazz festival my Junior year.
Who was your best friend?
My two best friends would have to have been Kelly Howes (now
my wife) and Mike Crossman (who I reconnected with for our
band reunion.
Who have you kept in touch with?
Kristin Rabe, Mike Crossman, Stacey Barkofsky, Mike Moore,
Several people from ’86 and ’84.
Who would you like to reconnect with?
I’d like to know what happened to Danny Baily, and Ray Reina but
but I’m also interested in what happened to everyone. That’s why I
started this blog.
Who was your favorite teacher?
I’d have to say my favorite teacher was Archie Rader.
He was new to the band world and was willing to learn with us as
well as teach us
Who is your favorite band, then and now?
I’ve been listening to Dr. John a lot lately as well as Pink Martini.
Back in high school I was in to more jazz like Yellowjackets, or
Stan Kenton also the Police.
Any tattoos?
None.
Any piercings?
None.
What super power would you like to have?
Well, like any guy I could deal with invisibility but I think Superman’s
power’s would be very cool.
What is your favorite food?
Italian. – Nick’s Sausage & Pasta from Uricchio’s
And I can’t pass up Café Med pita bread!

Who's next?

Mike Crossmen: events of 85

Rats! Seems Mike beat me at my own game and posted first.
This is from Michael Crossmen, my clowning compatriot.


Kevin,

What a great idea. I am not much for writing but I do love a list.

To put things in perspective, this is what was happening in 1985 (The sad thing is I don’t remember most of it)

January 1 - The first British cell phone call is made (by Ernie Wise to Vodafone).
January 7 - Saturn Corporation was founded as a "Different Kind of Car Company."
January 20 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan is privately sworn in for a second term in office (publicly sworn in, January 21).
January 20 - The San Francisco 49ers win their 2nd NFL Championship in 4 years by defeating the Miami Dolphins 38-16 in Super Bowl XIX at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California.
January 28 - In Hollywood, California, the charity single "We Are the World" is recorded by USA for Africa.
February 7 - "New York, New York" becomes the official city anthem of New York City.
February 14 - CNN reporter Jeremy Levin is freed from captivity in Lebanon.
February 19 - William J. Schroeder becomes the first artificial heart patient to leave the hospital.
March 4 - The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for AIDS, used since then to screen all blood donations in the United States.
March 6 - Mike Tyson makes his professional debut in Albany, New York, a match which he wins by a first round knockout.
March 11 - Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party and de facto leader of the Soviet Union.
March 25 - The 57th Academy Awards are held at in Los Angeles, California with Amadeus winning Best Picture.
April 19 - The U.S.S.R performs a nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan.
April 23 - Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. (The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than 3 months.)
May 11 - The FBI brings charges against the suspected heads of the 5 Mafia families in New York City.
May 15 - An explosive device sent by the Unabomber injures John Hauser at UC Berkeley.
May 23 - Thomas Patrick Cavanagh is sentenced to life in prison for attempting to sell stealth bomber secrets to the Soviet Union.
June 13 - In Auburn, Washington, police defuse a Unabomber bomb sent to Boeing.
June 24 - STS-51-G Space Shuttle Discovery completed its mission, best remembered for having Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a Payload Specialist.
June 26 - Walt Disney World Resort Monorail Gold catches fire on the EPCOT beam around 9:00pm due to friction from a flat tire.
June 27 - Route 66 is officially decommissioned.
July 13 - Live Aid pop concerts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and London raise over 50 million for famine relief in Ethiopia.
July 19 - U.S. Vice President George H.W. Bush announces that New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe will become the first schoolteacher to ride aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.
July 24 - Commodore launches the Amiga personal computer at the Lincoln Center in New York.
September 1 - A joint American-French expedition locates the wreck of the RMS Titanic.
September 29 - MacGyver Pilot episode aired on the ABC network.
October 18 - The Nintendo Entertainment System is released in US stores.
November 15 - In separate events, mail bombs kill two people in Salt Lake City, Utah; a third bomb explodes the next day, injuring career counterfeiter Mark Hoffman. The ensuing police investigation leads to the arrest of Hoffman for the two murders.
November 18 - Comic strip Calvin and Hobbes Debuts in 35 newspapers
November 19 - Cold War: In Geneva, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet for the first time.
November 20 - Microsoft Corporation releases the first version of Windows, Windows 1.0.
December 1 - The Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable are released for sale to the public.
December 16 - In New York City, Mafia bosses Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti are shot dead in front of Spark's Steak House, making hit organizer John Gotti the leader of the powerful Gambino organized crime family. During the shootout Andrew Bearse was born in the middle of the street. His mother was hit by a stray bullet which forced her into early labor. He survived and currently resides in Detroit, Michigan.
December 27 - American naturalist Dian Fossey is found murdered in Rwanda.


Wow, I’m with ya on not remembering all of those.
One that surprised me was the Unabombers’s bomb. I’m guessing that was his first?

Great list, and thank you for the first contribution.
If you would like to contact Mike he has added this email address. (I will withhold email addresses unless otherwise instructed.)

Michael Crossmen: mecrossman@gmail.com.

Welcome

Welcome to the class of 85 blog.
I've seen a couple of other classes do this and it seems to work out pretty well, so I thought I'd give it a try. I thought this would be a good way to get some sort of an up-to-date contact list for our class, as well as a way to keep in touch. I'm not quite sure how to go about managing this blog but for now if you want to post something just email it to me and I'll post it with your name.
I would like to invite everyone to contribute so we can have a new article every week or so. Let me know if you have any suggestions.