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Bushy Tales Dedicated to all who attended London Central High School in Bushy Park, London England from 1952 to 1962 |
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| Issue #12 | February 2003 |
Volume #2 |
Gary Schroeder (55), Editor gschroeder_uscgaux@email.msn.com |
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Bushy Tales Dedicated to all who attended London Central High School in Bushy Park, London England from 1952 to 1962 |
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| Issue #12 | February 2003 |
Volume #2 |
Gary Schroeder (55), Editor gschroeder_uscgaux@email.msn.com |
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| 1953 - Jackie (Brown) Kenny
JKYKNY@aol.com 1954 – Betsy (Neff) Cote JPACOTE@aol.com 1955 – Nancie (Anderson) Weber nanciet@inland.net 1956 - Glenda F. Drake gfdrake@swbell.net 1957 – Celeste (Plitouke) Brodigan Mbrodi1939@aol.com 1958 – Pat (Terpening) Owen nemoamasa@worldnet.att.net 1959 - Jerry Sandham Jerry.Sandham@aig.com 1960 - Ren Briggs renpat1671@uneedspeed.net 1961 - Betsy (Schley) Slepetz sbslepetz@erols.com 1962 - Dona (Hale) Ritchie DonaRitchi@aol.com On the Bushy Park Web Site that Wanda (Castor) DeVary (60) maintains for us, she has a page titled “Then and Now”. It has pictures of our classmates from school days and now. She has the ones from school, how about sending her a picture of you now. She has put a lot of work into this site so lets not let her down. Send your picture to http://www.bushypark.org/ Roster Changes
Edward D. Hopkins (55) Carol Albert (57) Tony Taylor (58) Carol Eckels Willburn (60) Mike Hoyt (60) Stuart "Lee" Alton (61) Julene Church Suttles (61) Frank Schriber (62) NEW ADDRESS The email addresses for the following people are not good. Please remove them from the roster. Stanley Deuel (61), Mike Mortensson (61), George Burson (62), Robert K. Isbell (62) Look Who We Found
Bill Grimes (56) Wrg71542@comcast.net Rudy Williams (59) rudy.williams@uncp.edu Barbara Bond Waites (59) Darby Grimes Wyatt (60) dcwyatt42@yahoo.com Robert Burdick (59) robert_1941@msn.com Terry Williamee Sandry (60) tlrcsand@fullnet.net Kathleen Kelly O'Neill (61) Kon@adelphia.net
Patrick Wollaston (61) patwoll@attbi.com
Sue Carol Petterson Sharp (62) Msthom@pacbell.net Classmates
Who Have Transferred To The Eternal Duty Station Our love and prayers go out
to the family and friends of our classmates who have gone on before us.
We will miss them, yet we can find comfort in knowing that
one-day we all will join them for the greatest of all reunions. From Nancie (Anderson)
Weber (55) nanciet@inland.net One sad thing ... Joel Brown died 29 Nov 2000. Last
resort, I found him on the California Deaths list. It's definitely him
(this is where knowing those HI TIMES birthdays comes in handy), and I
was bummed on learning that he didn't live all that far from here. His
name was just too common to pin him down before though I was next to
positive he was in California. Memories of Bushy Bill Grimes (56) Wrg71542@comcast.net Over the years I have wondered about CHS and the
people I knew-figured since it was England, etc. it would be highly
unlikely I would know. The only person I ever ran into was Bob Stark
(also basketball) and that was in Saigon, late '65, I think, he was
flying jets. Forgot, I should say that when my Dad left England he was
stationed at Griffiss AFB in New York and Lindsay Ervin and Doc Ferguson
were also there, although I was at the U of Oregon at the time, but I
did come home in the summer. Briefly, I live in Camp Hill, PA, just outside Harrisburg. Married, with 3 grown children (I should tell Marshall (Kremers) that our boys are twins), and am still working. I still remember Tithe Farm, the Dilly, and the rest of the good life, as well as the countless hours in the South Ruislip gym. Bill Grable Rees (57) Brees01@attbi.com We have now found the 56 basketball team. Harold Dilley, West Virginia Frank Kirby, Colorado Marshall Kremers, South Carolina Bill (Grable) Rees, Michigan Bill Grimes, Pennsylvania How about that? Frederick Clough (61) CloughF@sbbt.com Many thanks to you and Gary for Bushy Tales, I look
forward to reading it each month. It
brings back a lot of old memories.
I have a memory of Bushy that I think the Bushy Park alumni would
find interesting. In the spring of 1962, the movie Lolita was being
filmed in London starring James Mason and Sue Lyons.
One of the scenes in the movie is a high school dance in which
James Mason and his wife are chaperones.
Of course, Mason is closely watching Lolita who is there with her
date. Although this part of the movie was being filmed in London, the
setting was supposed to be in the US.
The producers of the film realized that it would be impossible to
use British teenage boys and make them look like American teenagers.
Therefore, they recruited boys from the junior and senior classes
at Bushy Park to be extras in the movie in this high school dance scene. Of course, I was pretty excited about the prospect
of being in a movie. However,
my father soon ended my dreams of movie stardom.
He considered Lolita to be an immoral movie and didn't want his
son appearing in it. He did
give me the 36 pounds that I would have been paid.
However, many of my friends did not experience the same parental
prohibition. If you rent
the video of Lolita you will see in the dance scene the following Bushy
Parkers: Bob Overton (61), he was Lolita's date, Jim Hollister (61),
Tom Dixon (62) and others. From Charlie Besancon (59) frbesce@ngic.army.mil
The stories of how other CHS’ers got to England
jogged my memory. I guess it was August 1956 when we boarded the MSTS
Hodges for our all expenses paid cruise to England. Our trip had started
in June at March Field, California. We were six people in a ‘50 Chevy
with a roof rack, one-wheeled trailer and trunk lid up because of the
dog box crate. We must have looked like dust bowl refugees returning
home after going bust in the Promised Land. We traveled on US 70, blvd
of Chenille bedspreads and Stuckeys, towards New York. As we sailed down the New York Harbor waterfront, we saw the SS United States at her berth. We also saw the SS Stockholm with her bow ripped away. She had collided with the Andrea Doria, which had sunk, only two weeks earlier. That was enough to make us wish the band had not played “Now is the Hour” as we pulled away from the pier. The SS United States passed us in mid-ocean (a great sight) and passed us again on her way BACK to New York before we even got to Southampton! We did eventually disembark amid what seemed like thousands of people on bicycles. We flew back to the U.S. in’59. I was homesick for England but the thick slices of toast in Newfoundland where we refueled helped put me in a better frame of mind. I’ve got plenty of good memories of CHS such as
soccer, hot corn flakes for breakfast, Wednesday afternoon trips into
town (if we kept our rooms clean and our grades up). I also remember one
winter’s night trip over the wall to Kingston to buy some VP wine. We
bought a bottle of orange squash too, poured it out and poured the wine
in. We went back over the wall, proud of ourselves until the APs tracked
us through the snow and nabbed us. They grabbed the squash bottle,
examined it, and handed it back to us shaking their heads at three guys
that would jump the wall just for a bottle of orange squash. After
telling us our fathers would hear about it through their chain of
command, they let us, and the bottle, go. That was some of the best wine
we ever tasted. My mind is fuzzy about who were my two partners in
crime. There are memories of Camp Mohawk and working on the Camp Staff. Jimmie Davis sang and played the guitar each night until he got frustrated and threw the guitar out the tent door (it happened every night). And gunwale-jumping canoe races on Saturday evenings after the campers left. And the infrequent trips to a little pub near Tisbury to drink rotgut apple cider. And the night a gas lantern exploded and burned a tent down. We sure had some great times! As for me, after leaving CHS I managed to get my BSME from the Univ. of South Carolina in 1964 and SGT. From the USMC in 1968. I then worked in Naval Ship Construction in Tidewater VA, got married and raised two great kids. Charles is a grunt in the USMC and Becca is an imagery analyst for a Government Agency in DC. I’ve lived in Charlottesville, VA since 1983, working for the U.S. Army. The job has sent me over a lot of the civilized (and uncivilized) world, but never England! I am now married to a Lovely Lady named Sue. We both retire this year and plan to do some traveling. San Diego in October is on our list. We’re also looking around for a place to retire to. Anyone know where we can find some beautiful sunsets over the ocean on our poor, retired civil servant’s pittances? Dave Anderson (59) DAnder3734@aol.com My family went to UK on the SS Washington in Sep
'52. We were senior family so we had great quarters. Seems to me the
Lund sisters were on the ship also. We returned on the Buckner in June
'55 missing the United States by one day. The United States left the day
after we did. Went to Germany then passed us 2 days later reaching New
York 2 days before we did. Reunions
Ren Briggs (62) Renpat1671@uneedspeed.net Regarding "The Gathering" to be held in San Diego in October 2003. Any and all classes are welcome to join us. If any classmates from other years would like to come, please let us know. Basically, it's for the 58' to 62' classes as this is not a formal REUNION. The class of 1957 has asked to join us and we're looking forward to having their group there. You can contact me (Ren Briggs) at Renpat1671@uneedspeed.net or Jim Davis (60) at Jimmyd@sdcoe.k12.ca.us. We (the committee) are getting together in Las Vegas on the weekend of February 1st and 2nd. All information will come out after that. We will have all the data required in the March or April Newsletter. We will also send out the information to the slow mail people. Good News We Want To Share From Jim Baker (57) jimglo@compuvision.net My wife, Gloria, and I were finally blessed with our first grandchild, Mason James Herbel, who currently resides in Houston, Texas with parents Ryan and Betsy (our youngest
daughter). We think Mason is the original Gerber baby, but then again
what grandparent doesn't say the same about theirs?? We had to wait 63+
birth years and almost 38 married years to get this little bundle from
heaven. Life is good!! Cheers to all and a prosperous 2003. From Craig Barnes (54) CBarnes355@aol.com For the record, and for the fun of it, Bushy Park
gets a mention in my recently published memoir, Growing Up True, Lessons
of a Western Boyhood. (Fulcrum
Publishing, 2001.) The book
won the Colorado Book Award this fall and was selected by the
Independent Booksellers Association last spring as one of their
"Picks," so even though it is not mostly about Bushy Park
people might find it easy on the mind and good for the heart. Thanks too, to our time in together London, the
endless bus rides past the Tower and the ads in the tube for Beefeater's
Gin, I wrote a play, Elizabeth I, which was performed here in Santa Fe
during the summer of 2001. A
second play, The King's Yellow, which is also set in Elizabethan
England, a tale of passion, poison and power, is to be performed this
summer, again here in Santa Fe. England
is having its continuing effect. Growing Up True; Lessons from a Western Boyhood, a
Craig Barnes memoir of Colorado wheat country, horse races, county fair
and lambs in the kitchen is available at your local bookstore or Amazon
or call Fulcrum Publishing, 1-800-992-2908. Do You Remember?
From Nancie (Anderson) Weber (55) nanciet@inland.net Re the photo on page 7, January issue of the
newsletter ... That's not Jackie McCloud, and that's not during a TAC
function at Winfield House. It's our class '55 graduation in June. From
left: Sherry Johnson, [never have identified that guy], Ruth's sister
Diana Lund, Tommie Schuman, Phil Creasor, and Joyce Ford. Happy New
Year. Pam (Fogg) Kirk (61) Pkdesign@aol.com I have five -(yep 5!) grandchildren scattered on
the East coast. I leave Dec
22 to go to VT to be with my son and wife and three very frisky, very
funny children. It is the
best! I just finished a visit in early Nov to NC to see my other
son and his two little daughters –32 months and 16 months.
It was wild!! I am not sure how to write a piece for Bushy Tales, but I can confirm several things. Bushy Park was indeed Eisenhower's headquarters during WWII and the D-Day Invasion was planned at that location - possibly even in one of the Quonset huts where our classes were held on occasion. Hampton Court Palace was built by Henry the VIII (I
believe) situated along the banks of the Thames River and did have a
huge maze on the grounds. I attended Bushy Park only for my Senior Year
(October 1960 – June 1961). Does anyone remember where our senior prom
(1961) was held? I think it might have been at the Dorchester, but I am
not sure! Does anyone remember "Dirty Dicks"? This was a cult
Pub with dead cats hanging from the ceilings etc.
I tried my first gin and orange there – made with bitter
orange. Yuck. It was
awful. Possibly that
explains my affinity now for wine and champagne! I have loads of memories - quick shots - etc.
Here are a few! We rented a furnished house in Surbiton and the kitchen had a
"fridge" – a luxury in 1960! The ice cubes were the size of
caramels and the " fridge" itself was mini bar size. We
learned to use the larder and my mother shopped every day at the green
grocers. Because we were civilians, we did not have the PX available to
us. I absolutely loved the "sweet shoppe" and Cadbury's
Chocolate Flakes! High Tea
was a wonderful tradition - but what I most recall were the many little
wooly headed old ladies sipping tea in the hotel salon accompanied by
their small dog perched in a wicker basket. (We lived at the Oatlands
Park Hotel for a month before moving into our house) I also remember -
what I thought was a hysterically funny TV show - called Bootsie and
Snudge! Do You Know Who
Lives Close to You And Also Went To Bushy? We've located 840 of the approximately 2300 students who attended Bushy
from 1953-62. Of these - it
is unknown where 23 live - we only have e-mail address or state; 72 are
deceased. Classmates live
in 48 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia; apparently no one
wants to live in North Dakota or Vermont.
We also have classmates in the following countries:
Australia, Belgium (2), France (2), Ireland, Singapore, UAE,
Japan, England (6), Canada and Bulgaria.
California has the most with 135 living there, Texas has 88,
Florida has 58 and Virginia has 51. Editors Note:
We now have the Lists of who lives in each State ready to go.
Each list shows Name, the City they live in and Class Year.
They do not have the street address or email addresses listed,
but if you can’t find them elsewhere Pat Owen or I, will try to get
them for you. We
have one Master List with everyone on it by State or Country, and
separate lists for each State with the exception of the Northeast States
that are all on one list since they are small.
We also have a list of all our classmates who live in other
Countries all on one list. If
you would like to have a copy of the Master List, or any State(s) please
send Pat or me an email requesting your choice of the lists. This and ThatFrom Patricia Owen (58) nemoamasa@worldnet.att.net Something I'd like to ask
is that the 'girls' include their maiden names when sending information.
It's so much easier to try to figure out who they are (know we
should know who everyone is, but we don't), when we put the information
together. From Jerry Berry (55) jlberry@athos.avigne.org I thought I would add my comments on the various
ways folks got to Europe. My family went over the Christmas of 1952.
We sailed on the USS America, not in first class as I recall. I
was not paying that much attention, though.
My Dad was already in France at Toul Rosierres AFB, so my mother
had to convey me, at 15, my younger brother, even younger sister, and
baby brother to Europe. She
drove the Studebaker Land Cruiser -ah, fond memories, from Cheyenne to
Fort McGuire in December, through snow and sleet.
I remember sliding through a tee intersection somewhere in New
York State, thoughtfully unoccupied by other motorists, and whumping
into a large snow bank sideways. The voyage was uneventful for fully 6 hours, until
we cleared the breakwater that night, at which time my mother and sister
became seasick, maintaining that attitude the rest of the voyage.
The dining room was only half occupied from the first morning to
the time we docked in Bremerhaven. It fell to me to guide my brother Sam
(Gerald Berry, CHS 53-55, graduate Heidelberg '57) and baby Mike around
the decks. Mike was on a
leash and I was, as I recall, quite unconcerned that he might slide off
the rolling deck into the ocean. My memories of the voyage are composed mostly of
early tea, then breakfast, mid-morning cocoa, luncheon, afternoon tea,
dinner, and late evening snacks. The
mobile Berry boys went from one food event to another. Dad met us at the debarkation point in a toy car, a
Citroen of 48 Cheveaux. I
don't think I had ever seen anything smaller than a full-size Detroit
vehicle before that vehicle drove up.
We and our hand-carry all had to, and did, fit into or onto that
miniature vehicle and drove across the German and French countryside to
our leased "Le Chateau de Manocourt", a cold and drafty stone
edifice reminiscent of the spate of starter castles going up around
Colorado these days. A huge
open-to-the-outside central courtyard, with a baronial walk-in
fireplace, complete with ox spit. I spent a glorious semester as a dorm student at
the Frankfort AHS, two months at the new and muddy Kaiserslautern AHS,
and then we were RIF-ed and transferred to Ruislip via three weeks at
the Rochefort AHS, a dreary, rain-soaked and communist infested city,
with barbed wire around the school grounds and armed GI's to escort us
to the PX, before arriving in cheery, civilized old London in time for
the first trooping of the colors by the new queen.
But that's a story best saved for a later telling. Nancy Reed Robinson (56) NRobinininin@cs.com I had a delightful trip to India. In the Indian
ashram I did a meditation program called pilgrimage to the heart which
was very peaceful. After some sightseeing I returned on December 21. From Ken Robie (56) klrobie@att.net To Jerry Berry (55) I not only know who wrote the
"Night Before Christmas", by Pete Laughlin but I happen to
have a copy of High Times 12/17/54 in which it is published. I will see
what I can do about scanning it for you... BUT it will cost ya! Comments
From You Our Readers From Patricia Owen (58) nemoamasa@worldnet.att.net We've heard from some of you about getting the
'Spam' (not sure I like that word, but can't think of anything else
right now) messages from Nigeria, etc. soliciting money.
They are able to get our e-mail addresses from several areas, one
of them possibly being this newsletter.
We have no way of preventing them sending you the messages, and
they are a nuisance. One
suggestion is to block the messages if you can, otherwise delete them.
We've discussed not putting e-mail addresses, etc., into the newsletter,
but don't feel that would stop someone who really wanted the info.
If anyone has any suggestions for others, please let us know and
we'll publish in a future edition of the newsletter.
There is an address you can complain to, but it's our
understanding that it doesn't do any good to do so, and doesn't stop the
messages. From J. Murphy (57) MSarge2383@aol.com I read that there is going to be another reunion in
October in San Diego; however, I noticed that it is for the years 58 to
62. Since I am from the class of 57 I was wondering if there will be
anyone there from my class. Please
let me know if anyone from my year signs up to attend. Pat Terpening Owen (58) nemoamasa@worldnet.att.net Received the following from Terry Dilley (58)
terrydilley@hotmail.com
when I asked him about the recent earthquake that hit Alaska. Hi Pat, thanks for your concern. Fortunately the quake was in a very remote area so no one was
hurt. Apparently there was
some damage to roads and minor damage to the trans Alaska oil pipeline.
I heard that an elderly woman fell on the steps during the quake
and broke her arm. That is the only reported injury that I know about.
Thank the Lord. Imagine what a quake like that would be in a
populated area. Our house swayed enough to make us feel dizzy, and I guess
there were some fairly large waves a few miles north of town along the
coast, but no real damage here that I've heard about.
I guess Fairbanks got rattled pretty well according to a friend's
son who goes to college there. I'll let you know if anything more
transpires. Maggie O'Neill O'Reilly (60) maggieo1@comcast.net Loved reading a year’s worth of Bushy Tales today
and am filled with memories, which I may get around to writing down.
Thanks for your efforts with the group. Doug Eskra (60) Doug.Eskra@southwestern.cc.il.us I had heart surgery in late November 02 having an
artificial valve replaced (it was headed south). My new valve is
clicking away and I will be resuming my duties Spring semester at
Southwestern Illinois College Jan. 10. Boy, do I love the newsletter, incredible.
The amount of incidental information one picks up is phenomenal.
I learned, among other things that two students from Bushy, whom
I had the pleasure of knowing, were deceased, one killed in Nam and the
other through a crash in his private plane.
While it wasn't happy news at least it gave “closure" to
that nagging question, I wonder what happened to .... Thanks for all
your splendid work. Julene Church Suttles (61) Julenems@yahoo.com I enjoy and appreciate the newsletters so much.
Thank you for all the work you put into bringing and keeping
"the brats" together. From
Thyra Caldwell (61) Thyra_C@msn.com Just finished reading newsletter - thanks so much
to you for all your hard work - we all really do appreciate it!!!! Penny Ohrman Bernstein (61) premierevent@charleston.net I finally was able to sit down and digest the
wonderful newsletter. Although I was at Bushy Park for 8th grade and
then Bushy Hall in 9th...did anyone go there or remember it? I like the
feel that in the end, no matter who we knew or where we were in
school...we are connected by our overseas brats roots. From John Percy (60) jrpercy@worldnet.att.net I
still enjoy the newsletter very much even though I have not contributed
to it. The older I get, the
less time I seem to have. You
have done a great job keeping track of everyone and producing a great
newsletter. Thanks for your effort. Darby Grimes Wyatt (60) dcwyatt42@yahoo.com I was in the hospital when (my brother Bill) sent the info to me as I am once again fighting cancer. I was in having chemo and have another session to go and then will be having a stem cell transplant in the next month or so. This is not my first fight with cancer but it had better be my last. Especially now that I'm retired I have things I want to do. I live in Keizer, OR was part of Salem until 1982
when it incorporated. I
just retired Dec 31 from the State of OR. where I worked for about 24
years. My husband is
retired and we are hopefully going to be doing some traveling as soon as
this battle with lymphoma is done. From Pat Brady Thurman (60) Patnmco@aol.com Thanks a million for trying so hard to make sure
that we all get the fabulous newsletter!! This
is the first time I have actually been able to download an issue and
read it! What fun!!!!!! I will try to think of something that might amuse the other
Bushy Parkers and contribute...... Also, exciting news about the reunion in San Diego!
We will have to give that some serious thought.
We are getting ready to head to Colorado and the ski slopes. Geneva Miller (60) genevalmiller@terragon.com Just a quick note to let you know my e-mail address
is still the same. I have been gone for a couple of months, visiting my
daughters in Colorado Springs and Illinois.
Had some work done on my computer while gone so I had my service
off to save a couple of bucks. Also must tell you that I got the pleasure of visiting with
Jan Rodemeyer Witmer (58). They were on vacation passing through Grant's
Pass, OR, so we connected. Had
a wonderful time thinking back. She
had a stroke when she was in her 30's and suffers from the effects, but
is just as sweet and cute as can be.
She has a wonderful hubby. Said
she would like to attend the next reunion.
She doesn't do computers because it's too hard for her, but her
hubby does for her. Keep those monthly letters coming.
I love them. Robbin Ladd (61) Docladd@earthlink.net I live in Redondo Beach with my partner, Sharon,
and three standard poodles. I
teach in Women's Studies at California State University, Long Beach.
Sharon and I plan to attend the reunion in San Diego.
I have some pictures from dorm life.
I'll scan them and send them on for Bushy Tales over Christmas (I
have all of one week since I've been talked into teaching the two week
intersession). Farmer and
Dallas and Mel are some of the prominent "bad girls."
Later, Robbin Glenda Bentley Butcher (61) ebutcher@pe.net I have loved the Bushy Tales and feel a real connection to my past. People who have not been military don't understand what it's like to finally reconnect after these many years. I have now been able to find both of my past
roommates!!! Shirley
(Shirley) Lewis lives here in Riverside and we found each other many
years ago. My new connection is Paula Harrington, who lives in Cave
Creek, AZ and we've emailed and had a wonderful long phone call
recently. We were roommates
my Sophomore year. I've
passed the word about the Bushy Tales and your database and we are all
three planning on being at the Oct. reunion in San Diego.
Great Fun I'm sure. Again,
thanks for all the work you put into keeping us connected. Susan Miller Dahlberg (62) Wolfpaw81@aol.com Nice job, Pat and Gary.
I've had three wonderful emails from classmates just from this
issue alone. Happy New Year to you both.
Through your efforts, you bring a little of our youth back to all
of us. Anita (Hardy) Johnson (60) anita42phil@msn.com I love the newsletter! We all appreciate everything you're doing. P.S. I'll
be sending a short article for publication in the newsletter under a
separate note later on. Sue (Petterson) Sharp (62) mrsthom@pacbell.net I was Sue Carol Petterson and graduated from Bushy
Park in 1962. My married name is Sharp. I am sorry to say that my senior
year a Bushy is kind of a blur - I'm not sure why. I remember only a few
people. From Wanda (Castor) DeVary (60) mumszie@tampabay.rr.com In response to someone asking about High Times.
I have one issue that Don Miller class of 54 sent to me.
I have posted it up on the website.
However, it is going to be difficult to read because it was too
big to scan by page so the pages had to be scanned in half.
I will as time permits re-type the entire paper and post it at
the bottom so people can read it but this will take time.
It would be nice to get some other issues.
For the link just scroll down the left side until you find High
Times button and click on the button. |
Don’t’ forget to check the Guest Book on the Bushy Park web site at:
