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Memories of the Class of 1956!
Written by Frank Tucker
Lake Lighting
(Names have been changed to protect the guilty)
Well, there are so many, it is hard to choose which tale is the best; but
here goes. Now, we have all gone down to the lake and “lit” the sulfur gas
that occasionally pops out of the artesian well, right?….but here’s the
granddaddy “Lake Lighting” tale of them all
Once upon a time (ha…ha), some mischievous wee lads decided to light up the
lake. T'was the night ‘fore homecoming when all was
asleep, that they crept like little mice from car to car siphoning gasoline
into several huge cans…using their Oklahoma Credit Card (a short piece of
garden hose). After filling the cans, the lone siphoner, who sucked the gas
from the tank to get it started had swallowed some in the process. He was
chased by a few of his compadres with matches as they were a-threatin’ to
light the dude up like a Bad Moccasin. Then down to the lake bridge they
flew with
two of the gang going below to the spillway….Buffalo Bill
and The Mother they were. Whilst the Kat and Wild Bill Pico stood watch for
oncoming traffic, Big Red did stand on the bridge to pass the “All Clear” or
“Whoa…Bubba” signal to the
two below. Now Buffalo Bill and Muhta (German for Mother)
dumped all the gas into the water running into the lake, which spread
further than all could ever have imagined….an eerie quiet settled in as all
was now set for a spectacular show…..all that was needed was to light the
gas. They struck match after match with no luck at all. Big Red was
a-getting’ anxious and mighty nervous as he yelled constantly to
“HURRY…HURRY…Man, we’re gonna git caught”. Finally, Muhta asks Buffalo Bill
to hold a book of matches as he lit the entire book…..and once it was a-blazin’,
Buffalo Bill tossed the flaming book toward the water. At that very instant,
Big Red leaned over the railing to shout “C’Mon….C’Mon”. Now, dear hearts,
let me tell ya….gas on the water don’t just go “whooof” gently and start a
wee blaze a-goin’…..noooooooooooooooo, it goes BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM with a big
blaze as high as a 2-story house. And, it then ROARS. Which, of course, did
scare the bejesus out of all and singed Big Red’s eyebrows and gaveth unto
him cute lil’ crinkly, black bangs. Ahhhh, t'wasn’t
the style for sure. The Muhta and Buff Bill raced up the bank only to find
an apparition afore them. Big Red was staring at them in a blinded daze….the
roaring blaze in the background gave his crinkly singed hair an eerie red
glow that outlined his head….his saucer-sized eyes were glowing, it seemed,
as he stumbled toward us with both arms extended. “Holy Mother, save me.”,
says I, feeling that an alien from outer space had been flushed from the
Lake….I was surely dead meat. Realizing finally it was just Big Red who had
just survived being roasted, we all raced to the getaway car….as we roared
away to the sounds of fire sirens, we watched the grandest lighting of the
Lake ever. Just look at the banner and imagine a 30 ft. fireball 100 Yds
wide and 50 Yds deep….and you’ll have to think:
Twas a “Lake Lighting” to be remembered and never outdone.
October 12, 2009
Memories of the Flood of '52!
I
know all will remember this unbelievable year…..1952……during that winter the
snow was stacked as high as the roofs on our homes (pictures?). Main Street was
single lane with tunnels to the stores. Got any pictures of that?
I am
posting one picture of that flood for all to see and bring back memories. My
favorite one was when I took a job working for Mr. Marso at their motel down by
the river. I was getting mud out of the rooms and cleaning tar off the
furniture, etc. Daphne would stop by and visit…in shorts….and I fell in love
with that beautiful girl. She was soooooooo beautiful and nice. She
stopped by about every day and, believe me…it did take my mind off the nasty
work we were doing.
OK…so
here’s the deal; Some of you have stories and pictures of that winter and the
flood. Help me get them online for all to enjoy…send your stories and pictures
to me….either digitally or by mail. I’ll scan your pictures and return them to
you.
Thanks…and see you in ’01,
Mother Tucker
October 20, 2010
When we had our
first child….I demonstrated male sensitivity at its peak. We took some
class on how to pop a kid out. The room was full of pregnant women with
their partners. The class was in full swing. The instructor was
teaching the women how to breathe and was telling the men how to give
the necessary assurance to their partners at this stage of the
pregnancy.
She said "Ladies, remember that exercise is good for you. Walking is
especially beneficial. It strengthens the pelvic muscles and will
make delivery that much easier." Just take several stops and stay on
a soft surface like grass or a path. She looked at the men in the room,
"and Gentlemen, remember -- You're in this together -- It wouldn't
hurt you to go walking with her.
The room suddenly got very quiet as the men absorbed this information.
I was with Ms. Judy at the back of the room & slowly raised my hand for
some clarification.
"Yes," said the Instructor as she pointed at me.
"I was just wondering if it would be all right if she carries a golf bag
while we walk??"
---- This kind of sensitivity just can't be taught
----.
How does a little brother ever get even with a big brother?
Well...you need patience.... us 'lil bro's have to wait for an
opening. To illustrate, the following is a true story:
I have a story about Chuck, my big brother, you might enjoy....he
had a heart attack (HA) about 10+ years back....it was a bad
one....they gave him about 10% to survive...all of us flew into Okie
City and to the hospital where the doctor told us that people with
HA's lose their short term memory for awhile....and, he told us,
that Chuck may recognize us one moment and not the next and....that
he would not know what happened to him...in fact, he would conjure
up a story that made sense to him. Well, Chuck thought he had been
in a car wreck. The doctor told us not to argue with him as that
would just confuse him and slow down the recovery process (i.e. get
his memory back). He would ask me things like "Is my wife OK?" "Is
the car totaled?" In his room, the A/C vent was directly across from
his bed and one day the A/C came on and was blowing cold air up
under his sheet. He had punched the button for a Nurse for some
reason....he looked at me and said "Hey, Frank....I think my
privates are showing...could you pull the sheet down before that
Nurse gets here?" I got a sad look on my face and said "Hate to tell
ya this....Bub....but ya lost them in the car accident."
And...damn...he started crying! I mean
big
'ol tears. His wife came out of her chair...a wee bit peeved at me.
But after we convinced him I was just kidding...he and I laughed and
laughed and laughed. After all those years...I finally pulled a good
one on
him...instead of the other way around....
April 24, 2006
Speaking of George Leonard.....I remember one 4th of July, George
got his Dad's brand-spankin' new car for the evening. He picked up
Jim Erickson, myself and Beuchler....we bought a bunch of fireworks
at a local stand and headed to a party at Farm Island....on the way,
we lit some firecrackers and were tossing them out the window (at
folks)...somehow, some sparks got into the fireworks laying on the
floorboard in the back seat and it all started going off....inside
the car...at night. Bottle rockets, firecracker strings, cherry
bombs, et al were flying all over inside the
car...making one heck of
a lot of noise and also blinding all of us....plus it just down
right scared the heck out of all of us. Fortunately, George drove
off the road into the ditch....w/o hurting anyone or the car. T'was
a 4th to remember. We expected George’s Dad to be very angry, but he
was more concerned about us than his car. My Dad was less
forgiving. In truth......we all still have a spankin' a'
comin'.
February 24, 2006
Welcome to "Tales from
Frank
and Picotte"...True stories from the
Dakotas---->
Frank
and Picotte
went camping in the Black Hills. After they got their
tent all set up and a few beers, both fell sound asleep. Some hours
later, Picotte wakes Frank
and says, "Kemo Sabe, look towards sky, what
you see?" Frank
replies, "I see millions of stars." "What that tell
you?" asked Picotte. Frank
ponders for a minute then says,
"Astronomically speaking, it tells me there are millions of
galaxies...billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that
Saturn is in Leo. Timewise, it appears to be a quarter past three
in the morning. Theologically, the Lord is all-powerful and we are
small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a
beautiful day tomorrow. What's it tell you, Picotte?"
Picotte
replies: "You
dumber than buffalo dung. Someone stole the
tent."
December 04, 2010
Mother Tucker’s Chocolate Pie
My Mother
owned a café in Pierre, Dixie’s Bus Depot Café, which was
popular with the kids back then. Many worked there….all of her 6
kids (including me) worked there. I did everything from waiter,
to chief cook and bottle washer. So, there are a lot of kids who
know about the café and the food, which was super (the main cook
was a fabulous lady named Tony….she was a tremendous cook). This
chocolate pie is a recipe from that era. Mom and Tony would just
make things like chocolate pie w/o any recipe, they’d just make
dough, roll out the crust, get a pot, drop in Vanilla flavoring,
some milk, egg yolk, sugar, flour, Hershey’s chocolate powder
and boil it to perfection. I would have to watch and write down
how much of this and that was used. When you asked either for a
recipe, you’d get something like “Well, put some Hershey’s
chocolate in the pot…” I’d interrupt with “Yeah…but how much?”
And the reply would be “Why…that depends on how chocolaty ya
like it”. That would happen for every ingredient!
BTW…Tony had migrated to the US from Bohemia…and hated to be
called a “Bohunk”. I would walk up behind her, kiss her on the
back of the neck and say “You are my most favorite Bohunk”. Tony
would grab a huge butcher knife and chase me out of the Café
fake-yelling nasty things she was gonna do to my body…scaring
the hell out of startled customers who were new to the routine.
Sometimes the police would be there having their coffee…they’d
just laugh. It was fun.
Mother Tucker’s Chocolate Pie
Mix Dry Ingredients
• 1 heaping cup sugar (or Splenda)
• ¼ heaping cup flour
• 2 T cocoa
Mix Wet ingredients
• Separate 3 eggs (Save egg whites for meringue)
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup whipping cream
• ¾ stick butter
• 2 t vanilla
• ½ t of Hazelnut syrup
Mix wet and dry ingredients.
Cook in sauce pan until thick and pour into cooked pie shell
Add fresh strawberries and raspberries and Pecans (optional)
Cut 6 to 10 strawberries into slivers and insert in chocolate.
Insert 12 raspberries into chocolate.
Add and cook meringue or place Pecans
Whip egg whites and cover top.....brown in oven @ 375 degrees F.
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