Growing up in Chilliwack............1955
Don Reimer and I sat in front left two rows in social studies class in grade 12...I found everything he did immensely funny and he felt the same way.....Mr. Foubileer was our teacher...I always thought he was kind of like a robot......a robot with egg on his tie.....he always had egg on his tie.. ..we used to howl about that....we could see what he had for breakfast.....and in a brown suit......it was hard to be serious in that class....and Fooby did not seem to notice.....just teach the lesson ...gaze out into the class.....like he had done a thousand times......needless to say our marks were not great......That is where we came to the idea to start the car hoppers club.....After school we always went to the Twin Peaks...that was part of a tradition established long before we were in grade 12......and kept up with every senior grade following....at 3:45 school was out......into the parking lot....Don had a 33 ford and my car was a 33 Chevrolet....they were both painted blue.....Don's dad had painted them both...I guess he had lots of blue, they both looked great........people would pile in till there was no more room.......we thought that a ride had to be worth something so we hatched out an idea for the Car Hoppers Club...we made cards up to that effect.....Honorary member.... etc.....it would appreciated if holder would contribute 10 cents towards the gas for a ride in this can... ....well the idea was great....but the results sucked...it worked at first but membership quickly dwindled......so we just had to whine and hope someone would cough up once in a while........the cafe was packed after school....kind of like "Happy Days".....the Wurlitzer could be played from the booths at the song selector.....5 cents for a song....6 for a quarter.....the selector had double sided pages that could be turned to look at the selections.....This was pre Elvis Presley times.......Johnny Ray was big with..... Little white cloud that cried.....and..... It's Cherry pink in apple blossom time....Silhouettes in the shade ......16 Tons.....Mr. Sandman.....we jived to big band music......the new music explosion came in 1956 when Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis , Johnny Cash and the Everly Brothers.... a whole bunch of people livened things up a little........anyway.......The Twin Peaks....coffee or a coke was 10 cents.....We usually didn't buy much more than that.....I guess money was tight...we could eat at home for free......we carried loose leaf binders in high school...our school world was kept in there...the subjects sectioned off..........Girls packed a Seagram's whiskey bag for their personal stuff if they could get one......it is a purple felt bag with yellow trim drawstrings......long plaid wrap around skirts with a huge silver safety pin in them were in style........also bobby sox and saddle shoes. If she was wearing a ring on a necklace she was "going steady". Guys wore trousers or jeans.....white corduroy pants were popular, V neck sweaters.......lots of plaid shirts. Guys wore shoes....runners were for Gym.
On night in the fall, Mervin borrowed his dad's car and he drove Russ and I to a basketball game ....we decided to go out for a smoke.....to the corridor between the high school and the Gym....It was one of those pitch black nights, you really could not see your hand in front of your face........We had been out for about 5 minutes.......I guess there was no tell tale burning butts by then and I was standing , minding my business waiting for these two guys to go back to the game.......all of a sudden something was biting my leg.....geez.....It was burning.......I slapped at it....a couple of times and "hey"...it was Mervin......he was standing 2 inches away from me and he was peeing all over my leg.....Hey....!#$%^#* look..*^%$!# at.....all ........over me ....O man..........Mervin had no idea.....but he caught on fast....and of course it was the funniest thing he had ever done....Russ was roaring.....oh gawd ...I guess it was funny....but I was not laughing .........I went and sat in it the car and waited ...after the game they came to the car with tears in their eyes......then they went to the Twin Peaks......I sulked and waited patiently in the car..... fuming ... ...then finally a ride home to a bath and clean pants......they thought that was pretty funny........they still do.
