NUTZ NOTES

(MOST of this ran originally 3/22/04 on our old site)

NEWS FLASH! For those who live out of town, White County Memorial Hospital is buying Central Hospital ‘long ‘bout November. Sales price around $15 million. I hate to see this. We’re going back to being a one hospital town, and that is not good. –tlp-

Anita Hart Fuller

Why didn't any of our classmates go to Echo Dell? Or did they, but unbeknownst to me? I was jealous when I saw Mildred with Peggy, but then later the correction that it WASN"T Echo Dell. So...when was it discovered, and come on, Class of '54 and '53: did y'all know about it and go there? I don't remember our going to any place like that. And yes, I do remember girls bleaching their hair - usually just a streak in the front - with peroxide and sunshine. I did! Really thought I was "cool".

Tom Pry (9/17/05)

Has anyone been in touch with Anita and Bobby Scott lately? Have not heard from them and can’t get a reply to my e-mails. What’d I do wrong?

Dan E. Randle

It's funny how reading the many stories on your site triggers memories I have forgotten over the years. While reading Harold Sullivan's recollections of his experiences at John Davis' TV repair shop, it jogged my dusty memory channels.

My introduction into the realm of TV repair started one Saturday in 1956. I had reported for my first day of work. Upon entering the backroom, I noticed a number of TVs in various stages of repair. "What do you want me to do?" was my first question. Mr. Davis was not there at the time, only two of the repairmen. One of them (their names are lost to my memory, perhaps because they weren't worth remembering) pointed to a TV with the back off and said, "That one needs the picture tube replaced; go ahead and remove the old tube and put that new picture tube in." They gave me the tools required to remove and replace the picture tube.

The set was on at the time, so I turned it off and unplugged the power cord from the back of the set. I next looked inside the cabinet to determine where to start. I noticed a thick wire connected to the side of the picture tube, with a big rubber boot on the end going into the tube, which would have to be removed before you could take the tube out. Unknowingly, I reached in and grabbed the point of contact with the picture tube. Star Trek had another 23 years before they came out with teleportating around but, that day, I invented Teleportation. One second, I was reaching into the back of a TV set and, the next second, I found myself across the room. It took a few seconds for my eyes to quit spinning and my brain and hearing to start functioning again. When I could hear and see again, the first sight and sound I perceived were of two people laughing their heads off. When they could stop laughing, they showed me how to discharge the picture tube using a long screwdriver against a ground point of the TV and then placing the tip under the rubber jacket covering the point of entry into the tube.

Why? Well, I also found out that the picture tube acts as a capacitor, a kind of high class battery. It stores an electrical charge of between 30,000 and 50,000 volts when the set has been running and has just been turned off. It packs a wallop when done the way I did it, but is harmless when discharged properly. Believe me when I tell you I never made that mistake again!

I think that was their way they weeded out the wannabes from the ones who’d make it. It you did the same dumb thing over and over again, you’d never make it as a TV repairman: you probably wouldn’t live long enough.

I went on to study electronics in the Navy, became an amateur radio operator and, in 1974, one of the businesses I owned was a full line electronics repair shop. I didn't do the repair work, only managed it, along with a full line Music store I purchased in 1974. This also ties in with Tom's piece (03/21/04) on why this site is composed mostly of band members. If not for the experiences and training received while attending SHS, I would never have thought of having those businesses. The training received from Al English enabled me to help and work with the band directors from the many towns located up and down the Oregon Coast. Band directors are a different breed, and are a joy to be around.

My statement to those schools that have removed the teaching of music from their grammar, junior and high schools: Shame on you! Music develops manual dexterity, hand/eye coordination, timing, and an ear for being in tune. Playing in the band gives you the thrill of being a small part of producing beautiful music and being part of an exclusive team.

The trips you get to go on are a plus, also. Having made many trips while playing football in the 9th grade, track and FFA, the band trips win hands-down, because we had girls in the band. Much more fun, especially if one of the girls just happened to be your girlfriend!

Those were trips you never forget.

Ann Shannon Snodgrass (9/17/05)

In Ann, we get it all wrapped in one package: educator, musician, and a father who was probably the best TV repairman in town, back in the 50s. She wrote, just the other day:

Just read your account of talking with Suzie regarding the preponderance of former band students who write to the site. Very interesting.

I read a newspaper account on a recent piece of research that identified a portion of the brain which triggers emotional response to classical music.This helps account for the shiver, or physical thrill, or eyes' tearing that some of us experience when listening to a symphony.

The research itself examined a brain that had suffered strokes and pair edits damaged areas with a lack of response to classical music. Fascinating reading. Wish I'd kept a copy.

So, do you think band kids experienced a shared emotion? And, we also solved a puzzle together by working toward a common goal--playing the pieceboth beautifully AND correctly?It's hard to beat the combination of visceral and mental satisfaction. That's a tool used by the really good teachers.