Teachers.

I remember many of my high school teachers. They made an impression which has lasted far longer than I would have ever dreamed.  Those I remember run the gamut from Leonard Hanstein who taught math, Dale Sallee who taught Drivers Education among other things, Marion Dierdorf who taught Spanish, to Fern Collier who taught history, and Harry West who was the Principal.  Unlike today, each one was respected for the job they did.  I was part of the first class that went all six years to John Marshall Jr Sr High School and graduated.  I moved from Britton Jr Sr High School when it was replaced by John Marshall.  It was about mid-term during my seventh grade year.  Britton High was later torn down and replaced by William Henry Harrison Elementary.  Britton High was a multiple story building with a swimming pool in the basement and a practice field behind it. Harrison Elementary was a single story building that covered the same space.

Math and American History were my strong suits, Spanish not so much.  Back then the school required two years of a foreign language before you could graduate.  I never got to first base with Spanish so it had to be German or not make my own graduation.

My first plane ride was in an open cockpit biplane (yellow!) owned by Leonard Hanstein.  It lasted about 15 minutes but seemed like forever. The Airport where we took off and landed was called Wiley Post Airport.  It was located parallel to lake Hefner and at the crossroads of Britton Road and May Avenue. The year was1952.

I started getting paid to work when I was about 12.  My first job was working for Pug Hawkins at the two Movie theaters he owned (The Ritz and The Britton Theater) (he also owned the Orchid Cleaners ).  I started out working in the concession stands and ushering, later I graduated to running the projectors. 

The first job that comes to mind after we moved to the village was with Humpty-Dumpty Super Markets as a package boy.  Roy Beard hired me, mainly because he and my father went to the same church. Bill Ulrich was the manager of the store.  I was just 14 and the store was brand new so we grew up together. I worked in the meat market and eventually became the produce manager in that store.  Summers were spent working full time for their managers while they took vacations.