BEGGARS NIGHT

Beggars night was a tradition in our Skokie neighborhood while I was growing up. When you mention this to people from other parts of the country they hadn't heard of it. We would dress up in costume and get a jump on the treaters who followed the traditional timeslot. As we were often rejected by traditionalists we had to resort to tricks. Nothing too maliscious but the dog poop in a flaming paper bag on the front porch was a classic.
Last night Dolores and I took the train to Palatine to go to dinner with Rod Bartels and Jan Jacobs Warsaw. We met Var and Carol Lordahl at Biagis and had a very nice dinner. Back on the train revelers in costume dominated the ride in very colorful costumes, heading to the city for parties. They were still sober and harmless and we could only hope that their evenings ended in safety, although we did hear of a couple of party-related tragedies.

INTERNATIONAL LAW

Today I sat in a class on International Law at Northwestern University School of Law. I didn't know what to expect since I hadn't been in a classroom or lecture hall for over 40 years. This was a smaller lecture hall with tiered desks and comfortable leather chairs. There were about 20 people there mostly early 20's, one dude in his 50's and me. They discussed hate speech vs. freedom of speech. US law didn't classify hate speech as illegal whereas the European community did. They brought up the illegality of denying the Holocaust. About half of the students participated with 3 doing most of the talking and I sat there with my muzzle on trying not to say anything. This was quite enjoyable and I plan on doing it at least once a week. Next will be The School of Medicine.
At the start it took the professor 10 minutes to find a time to have a cancelled class made up. He chose 15 different dates until he found one where all but 1 student could attend. Sounds like our committee meeting planning.

NOTHING

I got nothing today but I'll write anyway. They're selling an apartment in my daughter's building for $40,000.00. It is bank owned but this devalues all of the other apartments in the building.
I walked to Office depot this morning and bought a filebox to store our papers. Woohoo
I talked with my friend in Las Vegas. He is a professional gambler. He told me he is playing $1-$2 no limit holdem. He buys in for $100.00 and that is the most he might lose. He plays about 10% of the hands and waits for the good one. We will visit him and his wife wile we're out in Palm Desert.
Dolores is volunteering at The Anti-Cruelty Society dealing with adopted dogs. I told her not to come home with 2 dogs under each arm (our building doesn't allow dogs). She also is volunteering at S.O.A.R. (Streeterville Organization for Active Residents). I have to look into doing something. When our reunion is over I will have even more open time. I can only walk so far in a day before my feet fall off.
Haven't heard from Donna Miller Hitchins in quite a while, hope she's OK.
I hope this has enlightened you today, let's hope tomorrow is more exciting.

GHOSTS ON THE STREET

As we walked home from the train on Saturday evening we would move at a brisk pace to cover the 2 mile distance. I was carrying a take home bag from our dinner with Lloyd and Joan. Silently we would be approached by a homeless person who would ask for the carryout. I felt bad in denying him (in fact several hims) and for selfish reasons. I wanted that sweet and sour pork for lunch the next day. They would ask and then fade into the crowd to ask another. Sometimes I would turn around after denying them and they were gone. This homeless phenomenom is not uncommon to any major city or even smaller cities. I would like to stop and talk with them to find out what had caused their paths to be lost but I'm afraid that would be a waste of time. They probably don't know why they are there or what led them to this place in their lives. I do know one homeless person, John, up in Waukegan who was a quality control engineer until alcohol took over his life. He lost his wife, his job and his home in a short period of time. When I see a homeless person I think of John.

A CENTURY

This morning I went for a walk on the lakefront. What a beautiful morning it is with temperatures reaching to 77 by noon. My sister (Lynne Anderson Valentine '59) and I are taking a bus to Humboldt Park today and having our picture taken in front of Leif Erickson's Statue. Our grandfather (A.I. Peterson and his brother E.I. Peterson) stood in front of that statue exactly 100 years ago and I will post both pictures on the website this afternoon. I wonder if I'll feel the vibes while standing there.
The warmup party in Southern California went quite well from all reports with 14 classmates attending. Chuck Scharf is sending me pictures and names soon. Gotta go and meet my sister, more later.

I'm Back

I know it has been over a year since my last blog. Plenty has happened since then. We formed committees for the 50th reunion and have held 4 or 5 meetings. The list of found classmates has grown to over 850 with less than 70 on the lost list. We settled on a venue, The Standard Club in Chicago, and we instituted a donors club to assist with the extra costs surrounding the event.
Dolores and I put our Northbrook home on the market and much to our surprise it sold on a week. This precipitated our move into retirement sooner than expected. We moved downtown to our tiny loft and gave up most of our furniture. Going from a 5 bedroom, 3 bath home with 2 cars to a 1 bedroom, 1 bath loft with no cars has been an adjustment. We walk and take buses and trains everywhere. We took a 1 month trip to visit our son, Bret, in Seattle and left him with our last car and flew home. We are planning a 3 month stay in Palm Desert, CA to avoid the Chicago winter for the first time in 67 years. When this reunion is completed I will have to find another hobby to fill up the time regularly spent on the computer running the website. I had lunch with classmate Steve Schada the other day and he mentioned that this will probably be the last opportunity to have a large reunion from our class. I'll try and write more often.

I could learn to like this

This past week I took off from work since our plant was closed until Jan. 4. Dolores still had to work Mon.-Wed. so I became house husband. We recently watched Julie and Julia which prompted me to buy Julia Child's book. Monday night I started with a potato leek soup followed with Supremes De Volaille A Blanc or chicken breast with cream. Also Petit Pois in mushroom sauce. I must have used a whole stick of butter along with a pint of whipping cream. Last night I prepared the dough for the shell to be used in Quiche Lorraine. I prepared the quiche this evening and it was fantastic. It also had butter and heavy cream. We had enough left over for 3 more meals. Tomorrow we head downtown for and evening at Bandera Grill followed by going to the roof at our loft's building and watching the Navy Pier Fireworks at midnight.
Getting back to the time off idea, if I felt that I could make the break and hang it up, I would but we plan on at least another year and a half until Dolores qualifies for medicare.
Happy New Year to both of my loyal readers and I hope to supply you with more offerings next year, Keith

The art of conversation

This morning we were getting ready for work, preparing breakfast and lunches. Dolores was slicing carrots for a soup she would throw in the crock pot. As she chopped she had the unwanted parts to dispose of and she had to scrape them into the sink with her left hand because the garbage disposal was on the right side sink. She wished that we would have put the disposal on the left side and I commenced to explain that you want the disposal in the smaller sink because you use the larger sink for hand washing and ---boom she stops me and says she understands and doesn't need a whole dissertation on the problem. I, of course being wounded, had to mention that her stories tend to drag on where she uses 10 minutes to describe a 1 minute situation. This leads to the eternal problem between men and women. In my observations of our species the female loves to talk and they can go on and on where the male sees a problem, analyzes it and solves it ba-dah-bing, ba-dah-boom. I guess if we left it up to the men there wouldn't be much conversation at all.

The Ugly Duckling

Lincoln School was my home for 7 years. I met many of my friends of the future during that period. Emil Lazar, Chuck Worthington, Bob Zender, Bruce Mau, Bronson Davis, Fred Denkman, Denny Crosby, Jim Boosales and many more. As you notice they were all of the male persuasion. I was so shy around the female species that I can't recall ever talking to one girl. Not that I didn't want to. It was an awkward age for me. I hadn't hit my growth spurt yet and I was missing a front tooth right in the middle of my chubby cheeked face. Thanks to heredity and Dr. McLean (Orthodontist) I turned that ugly duckling into what I am today. In talking to so many old classmates I found that I wasn't alone. Many had image problems and insecure feelings about themselves. With age comes the confidence that so eluded me in my youth. Lincoln School and I still stand after 66 years and now I can talk to Rosanne Schiff, Susan Seedorf, Lynda Doner and several of the other girls from our class with a relaxed feeling. Maybe this evolution of Keith was purposeful. It saved me for my lovely and wonderful wife (Dolores) and allowed us to raise two wonderful children who we have watched grow into fine adults. All of you have your stories which I can't wait to hear. A 2 day weekend reunion won't be long enough.

Nice Weekend

We took the train downtown for a nice weekend. September in Chicago, you can't beat it anywhere in the world. We arrived at Union Station and walked to the ShoreLine Water Taxi. Floated down the river to Michigan Ave. and walked to Dominicks to pick up some provisions. On to our loft and up to the roof deck to grill some sausage and burgers. The view was spectacular from north on Lake Shore Drive past Grand Ave. Beach, Navy Pier and on south toward the Planetarium. We went out to the show and saw Extract. A light comedy with Jason Bateman that was enjoyable. Saturday morning we went to Milleneum Park where Dolores participated in a group Yoga class outside while I walked on to the Aquarium. Next we stopped for breakfast at Rock n' Roll McDonalds. Then on to The Sliding Door company to look for room dividers for the loft. On our way back we went into Room and Board to buy some Jake chairs to go with our Bent Leg dining room table. Then on to the hardware store for some odds and ends. Back to the loft and then after charging our batteries we went to Grant Park for the Celtic Fest. Some nice music and dancing followed by a trip over to Buckingham Fountain to see the beautiful colored lights. On our way back we stopped at a nice Italian Restaurant for dessert. We were exhausted by then after walking over 15 miles and so we missed the fireworks. Back to Union Station on Sunday morning and home. Now I am waiting for the Bears game to come on and then back to work tomorrow.

The Soul-Heirs big night

When Emil and I were 24 he was teaching in Cabrini-Green and I was still chugging through college at North Park. To earn a little side money we started a Blues band which at the time seemed fine but looking back on it what Blues did we experience growing up in white, semi-affluent suburbia. Emil had been playing around with the Blues Harp (harmonica) and he talked me into buying a bass guitar and amp.We formed a group called "The Soul-Heirs." Through a few transitions of players we ended up with a black drummer, a drug addicted guitar player and then Emil and me. We auditioned at "The Cheetah", formerly and currently The Aragon, and somehow won the audition. The headliners were Wilson Pickett and also Arthur Connelly. There were over 5000 people in attendance and we got to open the whole program. This was quite a thrill that I'll never forget.

Dolores and Keith The Gypsy Wanderers

I wonder if this would work. We sell our house and stay with my classmates for the next 20 years or so. So far we stayed 1 night with Ron Hauser and 1 night with Pat Rice Foss. We have a few nights lined up with Bill Fisher in March. If there are around 900 living classmates, deduct about 6 couples who were both in my class, deduct everyone in the Chicago area ( who wants to stay here), deduct the mean and nasty ones who don't like anyone, deduct David Silverstein in Kenya (Dolores doesn't like coups), deduct the classmates who never did like me, deduct my old girlfriends (again Dolores) and finally deduct the 250 people we just can't find. That leaves maybe 3 to 6 people. Divided by 365 days we will have to stay with you at least 2 months and maybe 4 months a year. I hope the 3 to 6 of you know who you are and we do prefer tempurpedic mattresses. If you need references please contact Ron and Pat, ( well maybe not Ron I didn't mean to drink all your beer). I'll leave a list at the bottom of this entry. Please hurry we are booking up fast.

CHICAGO

Whatever you have heard about Chicago and it's colorful mayor is probably true but his tactics and the city council members make this beautiful city work. Sit down sometime with a group of people and try to agree on any issue. You know there will be several opinions and by the time the meeting is over nothing is done. I don't agree with the payoffs and kickbacks allegedly happening but without some lubricant to grease the wheel it grinds to a halt. You can be sure that the mayor has this city's interest squarely in his sites. I walk down the lakefront to Adler Planetarium or Shedd Aquarium every Saturday morning and enjoy every step entranced by the skyline views and sailboats floating in the harbors. For you that have moved away from this area plan on a return, in the summer or fall preferably, and see what I see.

Dear Diary-Hooray for us

I can't write nearly as often as Jack Spatafora. Too many distractions with work, travel and going to our new loft downtown on the beautiful Chicago summer days.
Recently I sent a general information e-mail to our 39 committee members, half of whom live away from the Chicago area. The response was overwhelming, informative, humorous and warm. The wealth of knowledge in just that small sample of our group really impressed me. We all have more to offer having gone through 66 years of life and this seemed to be the focus of the conversations. Not a run of the mill, cookie-cutter reunion but a more open weekend where reconnecting is the keyword. There will be traditional activities such as a meet and greet gathering on Friday, a nice dinner on Saturday and some sort of a Sunday brunch and farewell gathering. Between those events we will have tours, golfing and tennis tournaments, seminars revolving about our life experiences and much more. By 2011 I would imagine most of us will be retired and not confined by specific days of availability. This could lead to more visiting before and after our planned reunion. There will be updates as we plan our great event.

Dear Diary-How did they get there

We were in downtown Chicago today and every corner had at least one homeless, pathetic person begging for a few coins to feed themselves. So sad and I wondered how they got to that awful place in their life. They were young once, like us, and probably went to a decent school. Enjoyed rather normal homelifes but something went wrong. Some traumatic event sent their world to a dark place. It might have been the war or a divorce or alcoholism, who knows. My first reaction wold be "suck it up and get back on your feet" but that may not be an option for them. I wouldn't be surprised with a class our size that we have some members of that terrible group. The 600 people we have found are fine but the 300 we can't find may have gotten lost on their trip through life. I applaud groups like The Salvation Army and PADS for their work in trying to help them. There will probably never be an answer to this problem but in our relatively short timespan on this earth I am very grateful to have a nice family, good friends, wonderful classmates and a decent place to live.

Dear Diary

We were in the Ozarks at Bull Shoals, Arkansas last week visiting with Dolores' relatives. They have met there every Memorial Day for the past 30 years. Aunts, uncles, cousins and their children attended with the oldest being 90 and the youngest 4 months. I really blew my diet with some outstanding food. we played basketball, volleyball, horseshoes, badminton and a little fishing plus the boating on the lakes. Then at night we had a bonfire which we sat around. Very relaxing. On our way home we stopped at Ron and Mary Hauser's place and, along with Jim Copeland and his wife, reminisced about the old days at Nilehi. Ron is a very good artist and we bought a horse lithograph to match one that we bought last year. Jim and I went way back to grammar school and Boy Scouts. Now we're home and getting back into the groove. Hopefully by this time next week we will be closing on a small loft condo downtown that we will use on weekends. On June 10th we will fly to Denver and attend a wedding in Estes Park at the Stanley Hotel (The Shining). On our way to Estes Park we will visit with Pat (Rice) Foss. More later.

Dear Diary

I had breakfast this morning with Howie Moldofsky, Larry Fisher and Rod Bartels. While we were there at "Once Upon A Grill" in Northbrook I noticed other tables of people meeting with old friends and for that moment living back in a time we all remember so fondly. Since our table was all guys the topic of this girl and that girl came up, (don't tell our wives) and we covered issues of finance, politics, business and old friends. Amazing how much you can catch up on in such a short time. If I didn't have my honey-do list and the hockey game I could've stayed for another couple of hours. As we reflected on the past we discussed current issues briefly, mid-life issues briefly and families briefly but the focus seemed to always go back to high school. We are not alone. My friend, Emil Lazar, has always said "you can make new friends but they will never replace your old friends" and that is true. This reconnecting is a rather contagious thing. When I do my phone calling for the most part, even though they may not remember me, we talk freely like we have been friends for 50 years. Life challenges come up and how those challenges were met. I hear the joy in their voices as a new, old, name come up. Modern technology has made everything so accessible and that includes e-mailing an old friend and after that a phone conversation.As we are approaching the end of our lost classmate list I find more time to enjoy who we have found. I predict that we will have located everyone form our class by the end of the year and I hope we don't find any more in that purple box.
This has been a rather bland entry but give me a break, I didn't walk today and walking is my idea factory. My wife cringes every time I take off on a walk for fear of what new idea pops up.
My new ending is "The Best Is Yet To Come"

I HATED HIGH SCHOOL WITH EVERY BONE IN MY BODY

This was a recent comment I heard while doing one of my phone sessions trying to discover long lost classmates. I felt bad that such resentment still festered in a person 48 years after we graduated. This classmates's complaints seemed to center around the cliques which were prevalent then and still are today in schools. There were the beautiful people, the athletic people, the extremely intelligent people and the people with outgoing personalities. Some of our classmates were lucky enough to have more than one of these attributes and this was how the groups were formed. I, unfortunately, was not in any of those categories but I had my friends and we had fun. Everyone wants to be noticed and be included but that was not to be. I tried to convince this person to give it another chance since years have passed and our group of diverse personalities have melted down to a common ground where all we think about is how to enjoy our wonderful age of gold. I hope we are past that time that so divided us into castes and we can open up our arms to embrace everyone and enjoy with them the accomplishments, no matter how large or small, and just say "Hello Trojan".

I DON'T WANT TO BE LIKE HIM

Yesterday we went to a surprise 70th birthday party for a friend whom we've known for over 25 years. There were 30 people at the party and except for a few they were all old. I don't mean chronologically old but physically old. Bent over, balding, shaking, overweight. It doesn't have to be that way. Yes life takes its toll on us all but there are ways to slow things down. We have heard them all, diet, exercise, mind stimulation. Genetics enters into the picture but we can't blame all of our problems on mom and pop. Stress from work or tragedy add into it and the ease at which we can be so readily entertained without moving is also a factor. I haven't retired yet but I can see where that would lead to a sedentary lifestyle. The most exhilarating time of the day for me is while I am power walking to the health club and back. I might be tired after work but the walk refreshes me instantly. Irony would be me getting hit by a bus on my walk and he was on that bus riding to the casino.

$$$$$$ REVISITING CREDIT VS DEBIT $$$$$$$

A couple of weeks ago I proposed an idea to do away with currency and credit cards. I have been convinced by my friends that we will always need currency but if we ended the credit card usage and went to debit cards people would not be spending beyond their means. This move, though, would probably send us into another recession because buyers would stop buying if they had to pay directly from their checking accounts. It would be an adjustment but over time I'm sure we could make it work. This idea will get me off of the tip dependent workers hit list but onto the banks list. Why do we think that we deserve something that we cannot pay for. It has been an ideology started with the Diner's Club Card just because some fellow forgot his wallet at home and couldn't pay for his dinner.In 1949, Frank X McNamara went out to eat with two of his friends. At the end of the meal, McNamara reached into his pocket for his wallet so that he could pay for the meal (in cash). He was shocked to discover that he had forgotten his wallet. To his embarrassment, he then had to call his wife and have her bring him some money. McNamara came up with a new idea - a credit card that could be used at multiple locations. What was particularly novel about this concept was that there would be a middleman between companies and their customers. In 1950, McNamara started a new company - the Diners Club, which was going to be a middleman. The Diners Club was going to offer credit to individuals for many companies (then bill the customers and pay the companies). That one incident has blossomed into a multi-billion, nearly a trillion dollar industry. That is money that is, for the most part, fiat money (a promise to pay). You don't have it, they don't have it but you have their goods and services and they have your promise. Truth be told I have 2 credit cards and no debit cards. I think it is more of a bookkeeping issue with me. I will look into getting on the debit card wagon. Come and join me.