Update 5-8-12

Hi,

Some updates on some old news and then a piece of nostalgia.

First, about Ralph Renna:

From Claire Brush Reinhardt:  I checked my 1960 yearbook, and Ralph Renna was indeed in that class.

From Danny Stellabotte:  After learning today of the passing of Ralph Renna, I have some information to share.  I do remember the name very well.  My sister Barbara dated Ralph for some time.  My sister and Ralph were in the same graduating class, the class of 1960.

From Bernie O'Brien:  Ralph was in the class of '60.  He was a hardworking and very respectful young man who didn't have a lot of athletic ability but really put forth the effort.

[Rich -- If that's what generous Bernie thought of hardworking Ralph Renna, I can only imagine what he thought of me:  Hated sports.  Couldn't climb a rope.  Wouldn't even try to catch a medicine ball if it was handed to him.  But, somehow, I had three junior high letters for managing two of Ralph Foster's teams.  Would've had four, but Ralph finally pissed me off.]

Next, about that room that was supposedly over the garage of Andy Dolich's childhood house:

From Jerry Bittman:  I was in the Dolich house a zillion times, and I don't recall an upstairs extension.  But, then again, at my age, I can't recall many things.  Is this the same South High School I went to in Evansville, Indiana?

From Stu Marshall:  Really???

Rich, writing to Jerry, Stu, Andy and Barbara Blitfield Pech:  All right then.  I just looked at a satellite picture of Andy's old house, and you're all obviously right -- there's no room above the garage.  Wow.  I wonder whose house I'm thinking about?  Maybe 3 Forest Road, but from the satellite picture of that house, it has a whole different kind of extension.  I wonder if they remodeled it.  Nah, that's not even worth thinking about.  Back to 2012.

From Barbara:  Whew -- one memory validation down.  Now, onto the other 40,000 things that I only think are right.  Let's start with that I believe it might have been the Kiviats' house at 5 Forest that had the cross-the-roof extension.  Then again...

[Rich -- Yep, it did and still does.  The Kiviats added a full second floor.]

From Andy:  What the satellite photos of my old house didn't capture was the underground LSD lab, the wine cellar, and the basketball court.  Looks can be deceiving.

From Barbara:  And they're all cleverly disguised as a fallout shelter.

From Jerry:  Or maybe the Dolichs did build an extension, and the new owners tore it down.  This concept will permit Rich to keep his sanity.

[Rich:  Sanity?  I can't even find my reading glasses.]

Finally, the nostalgia, forwarded by Paul DeMartino:  The Roy Rogers Museum in Branson, Missouri, has closed its doors forever.  It was previously in Victorville, California, near Roy and Dale's ranch, but it moved after Roy and Dale died.
    The contents of the museum were sold at a public auction because Roy had told his son that if the museum ever started operating at a loss to close it and sell the contents.  When it recently did, his son complied.
    Here's a partial listing of some of the items that were sold:
        Roy's 1964 Pontiac Bonneville sold for $254,500.  It had been estimated to sell for between $100,000 and $150,000.
        Trigger's saddle and bridle sold for $386,500.  The estimate, again, had been between $100,000 and $150,000.
        One of Roy's many shirts sold for $16,250, and one of his many cowboy hats sold for $17,500. 
        One set of Roy's boot spurs sold for $10,625.  Reportedly, he never used a set of spurs on Trigger 
        Pat Brady's Jeep, Nellybelle, sold for $116,500.  And don't go confusing Pat Brady with Pat Buttram.  Buttram was Gene Autry's sidekick.
        Dale's horse, Buttermilk -- stuffed -- sold below the estimate of $30,000 to $40,000 and only brought in $25,000.
        In contrast, Dale's parade saddle, estimated to sell between $20,000 and $30,000, sold for $104,500.
        Bullet, Roy and Dale's German Shepard -- also stuffed -- sold for $35,000, well above the $10,000 to $15,000 estimate.  Bullet was Roy and Dale's real pet.
        And Trigger -- famously stuffed -- sold for $266,500.  A side note:  in the 1938 movie The Adventures of Robin Hood, which starred Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, de Havilland rode Trigger.  He had been bred on a farm co-owned by Bing Crosby, and Roy bought Trigger on a time payment plan for $2,500.  Roy and Trigger made 188 movies together, and Trigger even outdid Bob Hope by winning an Oscar in the 1953 movie Son of Paleface.
    Happy Trails, of course.

The South '65 e-mail addresses: reunionclass65 . blogspot . com

The South '65 photo site: picasaweb . google . com / SouthHS65

Please take out the spaces.


Rich