Humorous Class Stories

Another Crazy Band Story . . .

Those are no drumsticks; these are drumsticks!

For all of us classmates that were involved in Pipestone High School Senior band, specifically the marching band; you might remember this little morning episode.  Always felt bad for the people that lived around the High School, because in the summer our awesome band would line up in formation in the street (5th street SW) at 7:00AM, getting ready to practice marching with drums beating and marching songs being played – like a huge alarm clock!

Once in formation in the street, Al Opland would come out of the south door next to the band room, standing in rigor military-like posture inspecting the band formation lines to see if he approved.  He always reminded me of General George Patton reviewing his troops! Remember one morning we were getting ready for a big multi-mile parade in Sioux Falls that particular week and Mr. Opland would say he wanted us drummers to play louder than we did the last parade, as he wanted the drums to keep the cadence rhythm loud and clear for the marching band. Play louder I thought? That got me thinking of a funny stunt to pull for the next morning’s marching practice.

Being involved in wood shop all throughout High School, and having an old wood working lathe at home, I thought the great image stunt to pull was to make huge custom-made wood drumsticks three feet long (See photo – Yes, I still have them), and show up the next morning holding those in the street before Mr. Opland made his inspection appearance of the band.  Kind of my version of a Crocodile Dundee take off. . .” Those are no drumsticks; these are drumsticks!”  Well, when Mr. Opland came out of the south school door that next morning and did his normal General Patton inspection of the band formation, he saw me standing there with these monster drumsticks. He chuckled a bit and then said, “Ok Smith, now you are going to play with them this morning too!”  Yikes I thought, that was not in my playbook, but it added some unusual fun and memories to the morning!  The drummers always had to play the entire parade route and I can still remember and can play the entire old six-part PHS drum marching cadence – it is like it is permanently burned in my brain cells!

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The Square Speeding Bike Pullover

The Square Speeding Bike Pullover

A number of you have had an interest in hearing this story. Carolyn Keyes Alfus and I laughed about it at the 50^th reunion dinner at the Hiawatha Club, as she was one of the classmates driving around the Square the very night, I got stopped speeding on my customized chrome plated 18-speed bicycle. Remember seeing Carolyn Keyes Alfus, plus Jana Jensen Munita driving by in their cars, going east cruising the famous Square that night, honking their horns and waving as the cop had me pulled over; squad car lights blazing – hilarious now thinking back on it!  Steve O’Connor and I would often ride bikes together circling the Square over and over chatting about school stuff, but that night I was doing a “solo” run.  I was heading west just passing the underpass when I heard the squad car bull horn bark out “Pull over!”.  Scared the "you know what out of me", and remember thinking “Pull over . . . where?"  I was already riding next to the curb 😉!!  Obviously, I stopped and put my bike up on the boulevard grass about three blocks east from the Dari King. That was when the “Square cruising crowd” saw me standing next to the cop with his squad car lights blazing – would have made a great short video 😊.  Remember the cop telling me it was just a verbal warning to obey the speed limit even while riding a bike.  Also remember him chuckling a bit when he told me he was actually quite impressed that I was going nearly 45 miles per hour on a bicycle!

First got this bike back in 1965 when I was just 13 years old (Photo). Back then it was simply a 10-speed steel-framed Columbia bike that was painted gold.  It was the only 10-speed bicycle in Pipestone back then that I knew of; previously I drove an old English 3-speed bicycle.  Quickly started driving the bike often around the Square until it became almost a fixture in town as other people started doing it too.  Remember when I first decided to create an 18-speed bicycle out of my 10-speed Columbia – was in my junior year in High School. Also dreamed of having an entirely chrome plated bicycle.

The Bike Project Starts: During my junior year in High School, I stripped down the bike to just the frame components in order to remove the gold paint from the frame and polish it in preparation for plating. Had the frame triple plated: copper plated, then zinc plated, then chrome plated just like a car bumper.  Then came the change to from 10-speed to 18-speed project.  Machined the large 60 tooth front crank gear out to fit the bicycle crank in the school metal shop under the guidance of Mr. O’Connor - another great story about that later. Then purchased a six-sprocket rear gear cluster to replace the normal five gear ones of the day. Had to play with both the front and rear gear derailers to work with the three gears up by the pedals and now six gears on the rear wheel (3 x 6 = 18) – lots of tinkering back then way before the mega gear new bikes came out that we have today. Had a wheel driven generator light system on the bike and even customized twin rear red taillights, which some of you might remember.  To complete the “All Chrome” look; I ordered chrome plated spokes – my dream all chrome bicycle was now complete! Still have this famous bike today 57 years later, and it looks brand new! The other bicycle photos are roughly circa mid-1980s.

Speed time! With the new large 60 tooth third gear up by the pedals driving the smallest 12 tooth gear on my new rear gear cluster on the rear wheel – a pretty insane gear ratio, that gave me the potential to exceed the 30 MPH speed limit around the Square, hence the rest of the story as Paul Harvey used to say!

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Still some more fun Lange's Cafe stories from Myrna 

Myrna Dressen Griffin Story - The Lange’s Cafe Class website pictures reminded me of the fun times I actually had there working. First year I was a dishwasher, then moved up to being a waitress my 2nd year. I guess I was in 10th grade because my mom still had to drive me to work. I did the 6-2 shift on the weekends. Debbie Litka worked with me, and we would have that juke box blaring first thing in the morning. There was a cook by the name of Loretta, but we called her Ruby. Then we played "Ruby don't take your love to town", over and over again! Ridiculous fun!

Gayle Carstensen Robinson – Oh my gosh . . . Remember when a regular of the cafe was sitting at the counter and when they would turn their head you would give them more toast and they would kinda scratch their head thinking “Now where did that come from?”  More people thought they were losing it HA HA HA😂😂😂

Carolyn Keyes Alfus - those were the days! Good memories for you . . .

Sally Curtis Gadbois - Myrna you were a rascal from day one! No wonder it's always so much fun hanging out with you!

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15 Years later, another fun story at Lange’s Café from Nikki Edwards

Another Lange’s story circa 1981 . . . I was back for the 10^th class reunion and there were classmates also home from a number of other years. This Lange’s Café gathering was following our tenth-class reunion party gathering in 1981. As the reunion party dispersed around midnight, my husband Jon went home to my parent’s home, and I went with a bunch of theater kids to talk some more at Lange’s.

There were about eight of us theater people that ended up at Lange’s telling stories, reminiscing and sharing what we were doing at that time in our lives. Around about 3:30am in the early morning, I got paged over the intercom at Lange’s. In all my previous years at Lange’s, I had never been paged before, even in all the years I was a teenager working there.

I went to the phone, and it was my husband Jon, he and I were married in May of 1981. He had gone home from the class reunion party when we all went on to Lange’s to talk some more. Jon was just making sure I had a ride home. After the call, the people all got a good chuckle from it, as Jon called me three hours after we had initially gone to Lange’s. Jon and I were not married then. I think I remember that Joe Keyes, Susan Lange, Mary Opland, Mary Rauk, Ginger Riffel, Sally Stager and more were all at Lange’s that night, but I am really not sure of all the people that were all there that night . . . that is a bit fuzzy. But I do remember Joe Keyes was there because he was going to be doing stand-up comedy in Minneapolis in the next few months and Jon and I went to see him perform.

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Four funny stories from Nikki Edwards about working at Lange’s Cafe Circa 1966:

Susan and I were only 13 when these stories happened and Steve, Susan’s brother, called me Nikita Khrushchev ;)

Story 1) Susan and I thought it would be fun to do dishes at Lange’s. After the Hatfield crowd it would be swamped and the dirty dishes just piled up, so we offered to help! I asked my parents, and their words were, when you start to earn money, you can never quit. They couldn’t make up the difference ~ even though it was $.79 an hour. But we had fun and then when it quieted down ~ they let us have anything we wanted to eat. I always had a malt, broasted chicken and fries. 

Story 2) I eventually started waitressing and our uniforms were soooo short. But I learned quickly that I could flirt in the uniform and the tip would be bigger! Those theater lessons worked!

Story 3) My mother did not like salad dressing, so when, seldom, we had lettuce we ate it with salt and pepper. That’s it! So when people ordered a certain dressing, they would be lucky to get the right kind from me. 

Story 4) Then I started cooking and oh boy ~ I knew nothing but eventually figured it out. I also learned how to clean a chicken and help make those delicious pies. I very seldom worked with friends unless it was super busy such as on Holidays. But we were so busy there was no time for funny business. Time flew on your shifts. Always something to do. 

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Paul Benz Lange’s Cafe Story:

It was another night of too much drinking and carousing in the Junior year of Paul Benz - but as often, but not all the time, we would end up at Lange's Cafe.  But one night I just got too rowdy with playing the little wall mounted music boxes and going from table to booth thinking it was our own playroom - to the point where the lead cook had had it after telling me to "Pipe down or I'll throw you out".   In my drunken state I probably talked back using some foul language or whatever - but bottom line is she ended up chasing me out with a butcher knife raised in her hand.  Fortunately, Greg Lindner and Arlen Kirkeby (class of 70 and old drinking buddies for a while) whisked me away in the car before she called the police . . . A narrow escape!!!!

Lots of good memories we all have had at Lange's Cafe that we hope stays open and viable for years to come . . .

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Paul Benz Chemistry Class Story

Jim Long (farm neighbor and class of 72) shared with me when we were back there for the 50^th Class reunion at the Stonehouse gathering, that in a joint chemistry class (Juniors and Seniors) Mr. McCoss said during a class session “who in the ‘heck’ (Or alternate word) cut one. . . it really stinks!” No one in the class said anything, but Jim said I was the only one smiling in the class! Told Mr. McCoss “Just sharing some of my mother’s good home cooking!”  Busted 😉

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