July 1 – July 7 (2013) – Wally On The Web

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

THEM SKEETERS IS BIG! One of South Dakota’s giant mosquitoes had its way with me on the back of my leg! (ITCH ITCH SCRATCH SCRATCH!)

While I was driving around South Dakota, Kelly Clarkson’s “Breakaway” came on my i-Pad. I’ve always enjoyed this song and particularly the lyrics, but while driving around your hometown in South Dakota when you’re on vacation from your home in Los Angeles, the lyrics seem particularly poignant!

Monday the 1st – PRESSED BETWEEN THE PAGES OF MY MIND! – At 11:30am central time I was up and at ‘em! We had an appointment for a family photo at the local JC Penney. I got all dolled up, but first I made a quick stop back at B&G Milky Way for a few more sloppy joes! Unfortunately I saw the same girl who took my money make my sloppy joe without the benefit of plastic gloves. Hmmm…I’m pretty sure that’s a health code violation. Oh well. The family photo went very well, and when we finished I went back to my room to change into summer clothes. Then it was back to the ol’ Fry’n Pan to meet up with two of my aunts, my folks, my sister and her kids. I picked up my pal Scott and we headed to Gary’s Gun Shop to do some shooting. He rented a gun there at the store and I, of course, had along my trusty Walther PPK. After I shot numerous holes in a target of a zombie pizza delivery guy, we went next door to get some salads and relax. Then it was time to head back to the Sioux Falls airport and pick up Edi, who was flying in that evening. All went well with her flight, and we sped off to Granite City to have drinks with my ol’ pal Darwin Wolf. He played rhythm guitar in my Elvis band in high school, but now he’s an accomplished bronze sculptor. But we had a blast talking about the old days. But I learned something I had never known. I told Edi that our Elvis band was driven to play the 1978 high school talent show because Elvis had just passed away six months earlier. And it was important that we do a good job. Darwin said, “You were the only one who cared about that. The rest of us just wanted to play.” But he made a good point. Here was a band of about 10 high school kids who had goofed around in their garages with their instruments, with no hopes of ever playing a real show. But then the Elvis act formed and the kids were delighted that they were actually going to do a real stage show! Whatever the individual motivations of the members were, it all came off flawlessly. I told Darwin I had an audio tape of the show, and he asked that I send it to him. I know the talent show was videotaped, but I’ll be darned if I know where it ended up. Maybe I can do some investigative work when I’m in Aberdeen in a few days. We bid Darwin farewell, then went to Walmart to get some supplies and snacks. Then we met Scott and Patti, and my folks for dinner at Carino’s. It was family night, so when the food arrived it was served in a cauldron! The helpings were enormous! We got Edi’s luggage unloaded and then we took a dip in the Jacuzzi. It really helped my rib pain immensely! And even though it had improved, it was still present. But now because I was adjusting to accommodate my rib pain, my back started to hurt between my shoulder blades. I just couldn’t win! But the Jacuzzi helped that quite a bit too.

Tuesday the 2nd – THE HUB CITY! – I’ve been looking forward to visiting my old home town of Aberdeen, South Dakota for quite a while now. Though I get back to Sioux Falls frequently, I hardly ever get the chance to go to The Hub City. Aberdeen is called the Hub City because of where it sits on the map in relation to the train lines. All tracks converge in Aberdeen. I moved there just before third grade, and stayed until after my junior year in high school. So my formative years were in Aberdeen. I woke up on my own around 6:30am. I was too excited. Edi and I left for Aberdeen around 9am, and we got there around noon. The scenery on the way was very picturesque. Lots of green fields, and tons of lakes. Apparently they had gotten quite a lot of rain there recently. Our first stop was the Twist Cone. Another mom & pop ice cream stand with the most delicious delicacy called “Italian ice.” It’s a slushy type of treat twisted in with vanilla ice cream. And they had my favorite flavor that week…strawberry butter! YUM! So after a twist cone, we went to the office that used to house KABR, the radio station I worked at as a kid. It’s now a chiropractor’s office, but nobody was there at the time. So we couldn’t get in. Close by was KABD radio. I had been in touch with Mike the Program Director via e-mail in the past, so I wanted to meet him in person. It’s a great facility and he’s a great guy. But we had to take off for a tour of the old Aberdeen Central High School facility. The school I attended is now basically a museum, but it still houses a few offices and art rooms. There’s a brand new Central High that was built on the south side of town several years ago. In the Alumni Room they have my old Elvis costume on a mannequin I sent them awhile back. He’s still there, amidst some photos and articles about the Eaglean Follies talent show from February 9th, 1978. But much to my surprise Lynn Hanson and some of the others who run the Alumni Room had a few of my old friends waiting to see me! What a gas! Kirk Schaunaman, Chuck Hausman and Greg Maisch were there. Greg also brought along his mom who used to feed us pizza and candy during our many sleepovers at Greg’s house. It was good to see them again. And a few of my favorite teachers even showed up! Mr. Weigel used to show us Laurel and Hardy films in history class, and Mr. Ochs was my radio and TV teacher! What a trip! But right in the middle of a heavy nostalgia trip, modern-day duty called. My agent Vinnie called from L.A. asking if I could do a promo session. I immediately called Mike at KABD and booked some studio time. As much as I hated to dart out, I had to. But only for a short time. We got back to the station, established contact with the producer in L.A., and I did the promo. The voice tracks would then be sent to L.A. through a server. I sped back to Central High and got a tour of the facility. It was fun seeing the old vocal room, and particularly the theatre. It sure brought back a lot of great memories of doing plays like “Charlie’s Aunt,” “You Can’t Take It With You,” “Anything Goes,” and of course doing the Andy Kaufman act and Elvis act at the talent shows. When the tour was over we still had a lot of daylight left. So I took Edi around Aberdeen and showed her places I used to frequent. We grabbed another twist cone and headed over to the old KABR office. Luckily Dr. Hopfinger was in and let us in to look around. I had brought several photos from the 70’s on my i-pad to show him how the station used to look. We compared them to how the office looks today. Even though it’s changed a lot, there are still certain little landmarks that help you make a decent comparison of how the facility looked in the two eras. I sped over to the Hampton Inn to check into the room, and we got cleaned up for dinner. Mr. Coyle was not only my neighbor in Forest Acres, but also a teacher of mine. He and his wife, and Mr. Weigel and his wife, met Edi and I for steaks at Maverick’s. It was a great time reminiscing and laughing about all the stuff we used to do. When we finished up, Edi was exhausted and headed to the room to sleep. But I was on pure adrenaline! So as it got dark, I drove around Aberdeen listening to music and reflecting about those formative years. I enjoyed one more twist cone before calling it a day. I got to the hotel, took a dip in the Jacuzzi and turned in. The next day was going to be awesome as well!

Wednesday the 3rd – OLD HOME WEEK IN MY OLD HOME! – My eyes darted open at 7:30am, and we were off and running. First it was Walmart to get some supplies for the road, then off to the Aberdeen American News newspaper facility to meet up with J.J. the editor and Jeff the entertainment reporter. Jeff had published a very nice article a month ago and I wanted to stop by and thank him in person. J.J.’s a big fan of the Arkham games. He gave Edi and I a tour of the building, even showing us the enormous four-color press! I told him that even though I had carried the American News as a paperboy for years, I had never seen the inside of the building until now! Then Jeff came in and sat with us for a little while until it was time for us to scoot. I took Edi through some of the neighborhoods on my old paper route, and we stopped by my old Junior High School. Simmons Jr. High was virtually leveled a few years ago because of its unstable condition. A new “Middle School” was erected in its place. Though a few hallways of the old Simmons still exist. As we were driving by Simmons, my old pal Charlie Hausman was pulling out of the driveway. Apparently he wanted to see the old stomping grounds too! He told us to go inside and look around. So we did. I loved seeing the old hallways and envisioning my younger self speeding down them to get to class on time. But when I went to the vocal room I got very nostalgic. It looked almost virtually the same as it did in 1975. And I could visualize Mr. Zimmerman with his baton conducting our chorus class. I got a little sad remembering all the fun we had under his direction. He even taught me how to play bass guitar for one of our musical numbers. I took Edi over to the gymnasium. I told her about something called “Old Clothes Day,” which was held on the last day of school. Everyone would wear the oldest, rattiest clothes they could find, and there was a big assembly and talent show held. Well, on the second to last day of school in the spring of 1976, all of our classes were finished. So we went outside to play softball. A radio was playing the hits of the day. Being a radio junkie I knew all the words to almost every song. But then “Shannon” by Henry Gross played. When the high falsetto chorus came on, I sang along with it as a joke. On the final day of school, I was emceeing the Old Clothes Day assembly with my pal Brad Kusler. We performed Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s On First” routine. When we finished the girls in the audience yelled, “Sing Shannon!” I said, “What?” They repeated, “Sing Shannon!” I realized they wanted me to sing the high falsetto chorus from the song we had heard on the radio the previous day. So I did, and the girls went nuts. From then on I was hooked. I knew what I wanted to do for a living! I finished telling Edi that story and we went back to the Toyota Rav 4 to take off. I started the car and what song do you think randomly came up on my Blue Tooth i-Pad? RIGHT! “Shannon” by Henry Gross! I couldn’t believe my eyes! I showed Edi the title of the song on the display and she couldn’t believe it either! It’s just one of those one-in-a-million moments that will never happen again! Astounding! In the same neighborhood as the Junior High is my family’s old house. Carmen, the present owner, invited us in to have a look around. It was great seeing the old house, but lots had changed. The few things that hadn’t changed, however, was amazing to see again. Like the closet doors, and the doors on the bathroom cabinets. Carmen said they are about to remodel the bathroom, so I asked her to send me one of the cabinet doors when they’re getting ready to trash them. I’ll keep it around for old times’ sake! But it sure was neat to see the same old wallpaper and doors again. I remember it like it was yesterday! I stopped by to say goodbye to Mr. Coyle and his family, and then we went back to the Junior High to take photos and video. But before leaving town for good, we had one last Twist Cone sloppy joe and ice cream cone for the road. We stopped at KABD and said goodbye to the crew there, then took a quick drive around Wylie Park. Then we hit the 281 south to Mitchell, South Dakota…where my grandparents used to live for many years. The way to Mitchell was slow-going, since 281 is only a two-lane highway. But we stopped for a snack in Redfield, and even drove through a drive-in movie theatre. It looked pretty run down, but apparently it’s still operational. There were little signs blocking the driveways in, but it was easy to simply drive around them. We drove all over the property, looked at the concession stand (which desperately needed a coat of paint) and even looked at the old-fashioned speakers which clip on your car window. But we had to head on down the road some more. We drove through Wolsey, South Dakota but I slammed on the brakes when I saw a sign that said, “Schumacher Custom Boots and Saddles. We can make anything.” Pastor Bob at my church has always dreamed of owning cowboy boots. But his feet are long and narrow, and he’s unable to find any that fit him on the shelf. So Edi and I went into talk to the bootmaker about getting a pair made for Pastor Bob. I phoned him to ask what his size was and he said 13B. The bootmaker assured me he could make them, so I took his brochure and headed down the highway. After a few hours of travel we made it to I-90 and headed to Mitchell. But because of road construction some of the interstate was down to two lanes. I had arranged to meet my Aunt Marlene in Mitchell so I could get my mom’s birthday gift. She had been admiring my Aunt’s Samsung tablet, but my dad already bought her a new digital camera for her birthday. She was convinced she wasn’t going to get one this year. But I had my Aunt Marlene buy her one as my treat. That way if mom has any questions about it, she can always ask Aunt Marlene. While we waited for my Aunt to arrive Edi and I started talking to some travelers who had stopped for a while to take a break. Reverend Roger and his family had traveled from Minnesota, out to the Black Hills, and now they were on their way back. Roger’s mom was in the passenger seat, and she was in her 90’s, but was clearly loving the trip. Their dog Luther was there too, and he was having the time of his life. We enjoyed talking to them, and when my Aunt Marlene showed up she invited them to come to the horse races in Shakopee, Minnesota sometime. My aunt trains race horses and is at the races all the time. I got the tablet from her and she said her niece had already set it up with all of the things mom will need. Aunt Marlene said she’s excited to Skype with my mom when she gets it all set up. As I sat in the car waiting for Edi so we could drive around Mitchell, I recorded a video message for my mom on the tablet saying ‘Happy Birthday.’ I had brought along a Micro SD card that contained all of her favorite music and some great family photos. So it’ll be plug and play! When mom saw me using my i-Pad she kept saying how much she really wanted one, but I pretended not to hear. Until finally I said, “Well mom, maybe dad will get you one for your birthday next year.” But on the 4th of July she’ll have her very own tablet! I drove Edi around Mitchell, showed her my grandparents’ old house, and took her to Hitchcock Park where I used to play all the time. We got out of the car and got on the merry-go-round, and even played on the swings! FUN! Then we went to visit the world-famous Corn Palace. We took a tour and bought souvenirs. Edi said the whole experience was amazing and she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. Then it was off to the place I had been anticipating going for months. The Starlite Drive-In Movie Theater! Unlike the one in Redfield, this one was in GREAT shape and had been very well maintained. We arrived so early that we were the second car there! I met Adam the manager and we talked for a little while. They had miniature golf that you could play before the movie, swings and a slide for the kids, and even a kid named Noah who cleaned your windows! After driving hundreds of miles on the South Dakota highways, our windows needed cleaning BADLY! We parked front and center and put the speaker on our window! Even though the theater broadcasts the movie’s audio on a low-power FM frequency, the first two rows have the old-fashioned speakers for the nostalgia buffs. Adam the manager said I could start the movie! Too cool! We went inside and bought Starlite t-shirts and a cap. We got hot dogs, pizza, nachos, soda, popcorn and candy. I REALLY miss this experience! As I was waddling out to the car with my hands full of drive-in theater delicacies, I met Starlite owner Jeff Logan and his wife Linda. They showed me the projection booth. Come to find out, Jeff and Linda’s daughter lives in L.A. and is involved in film work! I told him I would donate my 35mm reel of “Snack Canyon” for his theater’s nostalgia reel. But it’s a Coke ad, and Jeff’s theater is a Pepsi establishment. (Remember “Snack Canyon?”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYUKt2zfBlk ) Just before the movie Jeff took the mic and introduced me to the audience. I said a hi to everybody and thanked them for the amazing experience, and then the fun began! I turned down the big knob which lowered the lights, and then hit the button marked START. And the projector started right up! We were off and running! Jeff runs a half hour nostalgia reel containing commercials peppered with the old “Only 5 minutes to go until show time” films. What fun! Edi and I ate our snacks while watching the old nostalgic films. But once the movie started the day started to wear on us. We slunk down in our seats and got very relaxed. I think I nodded off for a little bit, but then jarred myself awake when I realized I still had an hour to drive before we were back in Sioux Falls! I ran back and said goodbye to Jeff and Linda, and we took off down the road. We were exhausted, but what a trip!

Thursday the 4th – HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA! – After a whirlwind trip up and down South Dakota, I decided to sleep in today. I didn’t get up until 1pm! Edi and I went to see Grandma Hazel and bring her some flowers. Then we dashed off to get some fireworks. $300 later, we came out of Hot Shot Fireworks with a wide array of stuff any pyromaniac would be proud of! We drove to a town just outside of Sioux Falls called Tea. Tea LOVES its fireworks! There are fireworks, HUGE displays, everywhere you look out there. And on every block! Everybody contributes. So after my brother-in-law Roger cooked us up some awesome steaks, we unloaded the fireworks and got ready. My nieces and nephews joined in as well. But my nephew Johnny got caught by surprise. Apparently a firecracker he was handling had a shorter fuse than he expected, and it blew up in his hand! Luckily it was a small one, but it burned nonetheless! He spent the rest of the evening walking around with a plastic bag of ice water on his hand. We started off by lighting some fireworks that only make noise. Those are the kinds you blow off before the sun completely sets. Then you wait until it’s dark to break out the big daddy fireworks! We finished lighting off our daytime fireworks, so Edi and I took a break before the main event. Luckily in Tea, just a few blocks from my sister’s house, is another B&G Milky Way! So we went over for a few sloppy joes and a malt. When we got back it was dark enough to blow off the biggies. It was an amazing display. The weather was perfect (albeit a little windy) and there weren’t many mosquitoes. Remember I said MANY mosquitoes. But we still encountered our fair share. We lit one off that had a small plastic parachute man attached. After he was launched, a gust of wind caught him and blew him way down the street. My niece ran after it, but it just kept going. In fact, it blew all the way down into a distant neighbor’s back yard. I told her if she got it and brought it back I’d give her a dollar. She did too! We had a great time, but it was time to clean up and head back. We swept the street and got as much of the debris off as we could. But many of the neighbors were just getting started. Our drive back to Sioux Falls was accompanied by a flurry of overhead fireworks! We got back to Sioux Falls and met up with my old pal Dave Baumeister at his house. We visited for a while, then went back to the hotel. Edi got packed up because her plane leave Friday evening.

Friday the 5th – ADDICTION IS AN UGLY THING! (UNLESS IT’S B&G SLOPPY JOES!) – I met up with my pals Dave, Steve “Hutch” Hatt, and Todd Starz for lunch. After we got all caught up, Edi and I drove over to see Grandma Hazel one last time. My folks were there, as was my sister and some friends of hers. I gave Grams a kiss goodbye, and like last year, I made her a deal that if she was still here for her 102nd birthday, I’d be here too. And like last year, we shook on it. Given her good health, I may need to stop making these deals. I could be committed to coming back to Sioux Falls every 4th of July for the next 5 years! On the way to the airport I drove Edi past the old radio station I used to work at, the playhouse I used to hang around at, and the mighty Sioux Falls. But first we went to B&G Milky Way to get a few more sloppy joes. Like me, Edi is now addicted to them too! I got her to the airport just in time and got her checked in. Then I went back to the hotel room to get ready for dinner. The entire family (with the exception of my sister Bonnie’s family who were at a water park) met at Godfather’s pizza. I really miss Godfather’s pizza. But after having it I realized that their recipe is so vastly different than it was in 1980, it doesn’t even really taste like the Godfather’s I remember so well. But it was a fun experience anyway. At 6:30 I looked at the clock and said, “Well, Edi’s in the air by now.” But at 7:30, just as we were finishing dinner, I got a text from Edi that her plane had been on the runway for an hour. The plane had engine failure and the passengers needed to deplane. Luckily for Edi, she had the wherewithal to call the 800 number on her ticket right away and get rebooked on another flight leaving Saturday at noon. Thankfully I still had the suite, so she had a place to crash. Even if the plane was able to take off at 7:30, she would have most likely missed her connection in Denver, thus stranding her overnight at Denver International. Having been stranded there myself back in 2007, it’s no picnic! So I went back out to get her, and luckily they were able to pull her luggage off so she had a change of clothes. We got back to the hotel and Edi needed a drink. So we sat at the bar with Dave and Scott and chatted. My flight was leaving Saturday around noon, so Edi and I would be leaving around the same time but on different flights. Mine went through Denver, but her replacement trip had her going from Sioux Falls to Chicago, then from Chicago to L.A. ! Kind of a backwards way to do it, but under the circumstances anything will do. She just wanted to get home! No matter how great a vacation is, it’s tough when you’re all psyched up to go home on a particular day and you encounter a delay like this. Edi went to decompress in the Jacuzzi, while Scott, Dave and I sat outside and talked while listening to the surrounding fireworks. It was a nice, cool, breezy South Dakota summer evening. The kind I remember fondly. I bid Scott and Dave adieu, and went inside to pack up my luggage. I also needed to repack my FedEx box so I could ship some stuff back home. It’ll be good to be back, and I can’t wait to see how my bathroom turned out!

Saturday the 6th – HOME AGAIN! – Like clockwork, my eyes shot open at 8am. I leapt from the bed, and started throwing last-minute stuff into my suitcase like a madman. I took the box to FedEx and got it shipped. I took a box of stuff to my parents’ house to leave with them until my next trip. And I got showered and ready to fly. Edi and I threw our stuff in the Rav 4, I dropped her off at the front of the airport so she could check in for her 11:30 flight. I parked the rental car and went inside to return it. Then I got checked in for my noon flight. I declared my gun in my checked luggage, got my paperwork straightened away, and I was off to security to be screened. I walked by Edi’s gate and saw her there, so I stayed until she boarded her long flight. Then I went down a few gates and prepared to board my flight. I slept almost all the way to Denver. And once I got there I had a three hour layover to contend with. I leisurely strolled through the airport to kill time. As luck would have it, my connecting gate was just a few doors down from my arriving flight. Isn’t that the way it always is? When you have a short connection, your connecting gates is miles away. But when you have a long layover, your connecting gates is just a few gates down. Sheesh! I had a nice, leisurely lunch at Elway’s in the airport, I fiddled around with my i-Pad on the restaurant’s wi-fi system, then I went to my gate to board the plane. I wasn’t tired, so I watched a DVD documentary about the Aurora monster model kits. FUN! We landed in Burbank right on time, and I was glad to see that the weather in L.A. had leveled out to seasonal norms, and the heatwave was over. Sara picked me up at the curb and she drove me home. When we opened the door my dog Roxy looked at Sara and followed her into the house. She didn’t even notice me! After being gone for a week, I guess she forgot me! But eventually she realized it was me and jumped all over me. Strange dog. I set up for movie night and welcomed friends over to watch “Earthquake” on Blu Ray. But midnight rolled around and I was really tired. Normally I’m not that tired after a movie night. But I realized that I got up at 8am CENTRAL time…which was 6am PACIFIC time! No wonder I was tired! I had been on the go 18 hours straight! No Saturday Night Saint for me! I went straight to bed! And it felt good!

Sunday the 7th – BACK IN THE GROOVE! – I slept from midnight Saturday night to noon Sunday. I needed it! I walked Roxy over to Rusty’s Pets for a bath, then walked back home. The bathroom construction had left dust everywhere, in my house, in my garage, everywhere! So I drove my Mustang to the carwash to get it cleaned. I met Sara there and had some lunch while my car was being cleaned. Then I got my car gassed up, and I went to the hardware store to get some plastic for my car. If the workmen had a few more days’ worth of work to do, I wanted to make sure my clean car was protected. I got ready for evening church, walked over to get Roxy and Rusty’s, then walked her right over to church. Edi and Ems came to church too and they brought their little dog Bunny. I gave Pastor Bob his custom cowboy boot brochure, and he was elated. He said it was the answer to a prayer! He’s FINALLY going to get his boots, and they’re going to fit perfectly! I walked home and met up with Amanda and Nancy, and we all walked over to Studio Café for dinner. It was a nice evening, and even nicer to be home! I got back home after dinner and Amanda, Nancy, Sara and I took a dip in the Jacuzzi and a brief swim. Then I went inside to do an audition and get ready for a brand new week. It’s always good to get away for a vacation, but it’s also equally good to get back home to those you love.

And how was your week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

Does this lady look 101 years old to you? Me either. But here is Grandma Hazel enjoying some cake and ice cream for this monumental occasion!

My sisters and I pose with the birthday girl.

Sara, my niece, looks like she’s had a little too much cake and ice cream! Sugar high!

As I drove down Western Avenue in Sioux Falls, South Dakota…what a surprise! My pal Bruce Kulick on the billboard right above my old stomping grounds!

My sister Bonnie and her family after their baptism in Catfish Bay!

The day I visited the old Aberdeen Central High School Building a few old pals dropped by! What a surprise! From left to right: Mr. Jerry Ochs: my former radio and TV teacher, Kirk Schaunaman: a guy I’ve known since gradeschool (he was always better at kickball than I was!), Charles Hausman: Or Charlie, as he was known around the Forest Acres ‘hood, Mr. Robert Weigel: my history teacher who used to “make” us watch Laurel and Hardy films in his class!, and another gradeschool pal Greg Maisch. What a day!

Once again I took to the boards of the old Aberdeen Central theatre, but looked out into an empty house!

In the Alumni Room, my donated Elvis costume stands amongst photos and articles about our 1978 talent show act.

A little darling we met in our travels…Bella the dog!

Edi enjoys her very first Strawberry Butter Twist Cone! MMMMM!!!

In Redfield, South Dakota, we stopped into a broken-down old drive in movie theatre. Apparently they still show films there, but the theatre is in deplorable condition. But this shot is so picturesque, it may bring back a few memories for you.