So what was the big news story as we entered our freshman year?

     The one story that overshadowed all other topics for most of us was the on- going saga of the mighty Cougar football team. The 1960 varsity football squad was, without a doubt, the greatest high school football team the city of Dayton has ever produced. Pound for pound, they dominated each and every opponent and would win the city football championship over our archrival, the Chaminade Eagles. The championship game was played at Welcome Stadium before a cheering crowd of over ten thousands fans. At the end of the game the scoreboard lights would read Colonel White 32 Chaminade 14. These now legends of the gridiron would set a benchmark for all future Cougar football squads to endeavor to achieve.

     As for me - and I can imagine many other newbie's - the trepidations surrounding our chosen extracurricular activities loomed large in our minds. I was taking up organized football for the very first time and I didn't know any of the nuances of the game. Let me illustrate this point. When I tried out for the freshman basketball team, my coach asked me “why my knees were all cut-up and back and blue.” He sarcastically asked “didn't you wear any knee pads during football season?” I immediately fired back “of course I did.” (Knee pads what were knee pads?) I was so new to the game of football I didn't know we had been given any pads to protect our knees.

     My football naiveté would be equally match by my gullibility on the basketball court. I had been raised by my Dad, a local sports legend, to play hard and practice good sportsmanship. Well, the value of good sportsmanship would be truly tested during a freshman basketball game at Kaiser High School . Kaiser had an outstanding guard who was killing us, and the hostile crowd loved his every basket. In the second half, our coach had a sudden epiphany. He strolled down to the end of the bench (my traditional spot) and sat down next to me. He put his arm around me and said “Jim, I want you to go into the game and guard number 12” (a future all-city basketball star I might add). My heart soared, because my game was playing hard-nose defense. I had been given a golden opportunity to prove my worth to my teammates. And then to my utter dismay and chagrin, he instructed me in a very direct and forceful manner to “do whatever it takes to get him (Kaiser's scoring machine) out of the game.” I looked at him with an unbelieving stare. Somehow I got up the courage to ask coach “what he meant?” He angrily said “do it or else!” I understood what that implied, “I would never play for him again.” As I reached the scorers table to report in, I looked up at my Father, our eyes met for a fleeting moment and I knew I couldn't do what the coach demanded, even if it meant, not playing for the rest of the year. After the game (by the way we won) the Kaiser super star came over to me and said “great game 15” and I replied back, “you too 12!” How could I ever imagine, in a few years, we would become best friends? And to this day, each time we get together, we always reminisce back to that freshman basketball game at Kaiser High School . He still insists that Kaiser won that fateful day. Maybe we both won that day.

     So as school began in September of 1960, so did our journey of discovery. The 60's would prove to be a decade of challenge and trial, anguish and achievement for us as individuals and our nation.

     Quite possibly the 1960's would prove to be one of the most significant times in American history. The traditional worlds of music, dance, theater, fashion, sports, politics, human rights, and family values were being seriously tested and challenged by our generation. As we look back on our high school days some 47 years ago, we are left with a kaleidoscope of memories. We now have only fleeting memories that have become just transient glimpses back on those formidable years at Colonel White High School .

     In the world around us the “Cold War” raged and continued to become colder. Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe on a table at a U.N. meeting shouting “we will bury you.” A Soviet Sam missile shoots down a United States U2 spy plane with Francis Gary Powers taken prisoner. Senator Kennedy first suggests the idea for the Peace Corps . The U.S. Supreme Court upholds a Federal Court ruling that Louisiana 's segregation laws are unconstitutional . The United States announces that 3,500 American soldiers are going to be sent to Vietnam . The American Heart Association links smoking to heart disease and death in middle aged men.

     The sexual revolution took its initial step with Hugh Hefner opening his first Playboy Club in Chicago . I know each time we take a shower we re-live the scene from the 1960 movie Psycho. The now famous Kennedy and Nixon first TV presidential debate takes place. We were all dancing to Chubby Chequer's new dance called the “Twist”. Topping the Rock and Roll music chart was the “King” himself-Elvis with “It's Now or Never” and “Are You Lonesome Tonight . ” Do you also remember these oldies but goodies “ Alley Oop ,” “ Cathy's Clown , ” and my all time favorite " Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini ?” On a much sadder note, no longer would we hear the familiar voice of Buffalo Bob saying “Say Kids, what time is it?” for Howdy Doody was taken from us and replaced with a new kids show - “Sesame Street.” A boxing legend will come in to his own with Cassius Clay, telling the world “I am the greatest,” while winning a gold medal in the 1960 Rome Olympics. Wilma Rudolf dazzles the sports world by winning three track gold medals becoming one of the greatest female athletes of all times. Ohio State wins the NCAA National Basketball championship. Aluminum cans would be used for the first time and to the future delight of the beer drinking world.

     One memory I have cherished for a lifetime, came during my study hall class, when I heard Bill Mazeroski of the Pittsburg Pirates, with one swing of his bat, had won the World Series; beating the New York Yanks 4 games to 3. My father, a former minor league baseball player for the Pirates, had told me with the greatest of confidence, that the Pirates would win the seventh game of the World Series. Every time I see the news clips of Mazeroski's fateful homerun, I fondly recall my Dad, who never ceased to amaze me. He truly was my hero.

How much did things cost back in 1960:

•  Average cost of a new house $12,700.00

•  Average cost of a home $2,530.00

•  Average monthly rent $98.00

•  Gas per gallon 25 cents

•  Average cost of a new car $2,600.00

•  Loaf of bread 20 cents

•  Movie ticket 69 cents

•  Stamp 4 cents

•  Milk 41cents

• Can of Beef Ravioli 30 cents

What were the top ten TV shows of 1960?

•  Gunsmoke

•  Wagon Train

•  Have Gun Will Travel

•  The Andy Griffith Show

•  Candid Camera

•  The Untouchables

•  The Price is Right

•  77 Sunset Strip

•  My Three Sons

•  The Ed Sullivan Show

1960 would be the year that launched the Colonel White Class of 1964 on its long journey of discovery.

What would 1961 bring?

1960-1964

     I was asked if I wanted to write an article for our website. I said yes, knowing it would be a labor of love trying to come up with something interesting to write about. I loved my high school experiences, but hate to write. Now, you must know something about me and writing/reading.

     First of all I should have been writing this article for the class of 63, because I was retained in the third grade at good old E.J. Brown Elementary. As with all kids (like me) on the last day of school, I picked up my report card, briefly glancing at it, and began to race home to start my long summer vacation. Hell, I didn't even know I was retained because I couldn't even read much of the report card.

     When I got near my house my big brother Bob, with a big smile on his face, snatched my grade card from my hands and in front of all his friends informed me, I had failed third grade. Years later I told myself, I really didn't fail; I was retained in the third grade for a second go around. How much more comforting that sounds, rather than being labeled a failure!

     Twenty years ago I would have been diagnosed as a student who had learning disabilities or in the educational jargon of the day an LD-student. However today, I would be sent to a doctor who would pronounce me a prime candidate for Ritalin, in other words, I was would have been diagnosed as having ADD or more likely ADHD. Current educational wisdom refrains from failing or retaining students with initials. It's bad for the student's self-esteem. Just my luck to be educated before initials!

     My writing/reading odyssey faired only slightly better in high school. I was passing English and Literature with C's and B's - God only knows how? I happily graduated from Colonel White High School and was accepted by Wright State University in 1964. After passing freshman English on the third try, my college resume began to pick up. You might be asking how did I ever pass college English? Well I had a little help from my big brother Bob, who was also attending WSU. Bob my childhood tormentor, became my mentor.

     Keep in mind he was a published author of poetry, short stories, a college literary magazine contributor and future outdoor editor for a local newspaper. Now it didn't hurt my English grade either, when my brother Bob became good drinking buddies with my English professor. You don't have to be Sherlock Homes to figure out how I passed freshmen English.

     My educational odyssey gave birth to a passion to teach. Since leaving the hollowed halls of Colonel White High School and graduating from WSU – I have been teaching American History for 37 rewarding years. Who would have guessed?

     I have always tried to be a positive role model to my students proving to them that learning obstacles can be surmounted. I have learned that students don't care how much you know, they only want to know how much you care.

     So now you know why writing is such a labor of love for a person who was born before educational initials. I plan on writing a few articles for our web page that chronicles the years 1960 through 1964. The articles will focus on some of the major events during our high school years. The topics will range from sports to politics and everything else in between. Let's see how much you and I can recall of the events that shaped our lives, our fortunes, and our destiny.

     Please write in to the web site and share your thoughts, recollections and experiences while at Colonel White.