Alumni Sandstorm ~ 06/24/15
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7 Bombers sent stuff and Memorial INFO today:
Rex HUNT ('53), Steve CARSON ('58)
Janet FORBY ('60), Frank WHITESIDE ('63)
Jim HAMILTON ('63), Bill SCOTT ('64)
David RIVERS ('65)
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BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Craig KING ('71)

BOMBER LUNCH: '63 & '64 Girls, 11:30am, Spudnut Shop (Last Wed) 

BOMBER CALENDAR: Richland Bombers Calendar
    Click the event you want to know more about.
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>>From: Rex HUNT ('53)

Re: Peas

I worked the peas summer of '52 & '53. In '52 I started out
feeding a pea viner at a small frozen food in Milton-Freewater,
OR where the drinking age seemed to be 16 as I bought my first
beer over an open bar there.

Think I earned $1.35/hour...7/12. In '53, I drove truck for
William H. Steen co. hauling peas to the Umatilla canning Co..
again 12 hours a night 7 nights a week. was too hot to sleep in
day time so we chased girls at the local park. (never too hot
for that). There the pay was $1.42/hour with a 5 cent an hour
bonus if you stayed the whole season. Was hard, dirty work...
the only fond memories where the girls... Bless their hearts.

Oh and College Place, OR. had a 7th Day Adventist college.
Religious it may have been but the girls were heavenly.

-Rex HUNT ('53) ~ from lovely Hanford, CA   where the temps 
      dropped all the way to 98° yesterday.  brrrr
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>>From: Steve CARSON (Championship Class of '58)

Re: Good memories of working the Pea Harvest on the late '50s

Worked the night shift at Rogers cannery in Milton Freewater. 
7 to 7, 7 days a week. $1.65/hr. but 4 hrs at per day, time and
a half for day 6 and double time for day 7. Had to find our own
living space. Dave SHINE ('58), Phil GROFF ('58) and a couple
others rented a garage one year and a house in Walla Walla
another year. A great experience. Are Richland kids still
working the harvest?

-Steve CARSON (Championship Class of '58)
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>>From: Janet FORBY Padgett ('60)

Re: Class of 1960 - 55 Year Reunion Planning 

Friday morning, June 26th, 2015, at 11:00 at Rosy's Diner in
Richland. Rosy's is located next to the Hampton Inn south of
Howard Amon Park. This is an earlier time than previous
meetings. We have the $ results of the Yard Sale as well as the
costs of preparing and mailing the "skinny notice" of the Dust
Storm to the Class of 1960. The attention to details to make our
weekend a success will be worked out at this meeting. Join in
with this great group of alumni to help make our 55 year
gathering a lot of fun.

Our theme for Saturday afternoon is "Eat Dessert First". If you
can not attend the meeting and you plan to attend the Saturday
afternoon reunion event and are available to help in other ways
contact me

jjpadgett@msn.com    

"Eat Dessert First" activity, photo, and Class pamphlet can be
paid for at the door. 

Details will follow.

-Janet FORBY Padgett ('60)
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>>From: Frank WHITESIDE ('63)

To: Tim SMYTH ('62)

I saw your article regarding the peas. Just wondering what you
told your fellow classmates to have one refer to us as "bad
guys." As I recall, we spent most of our time working, sleeping
and drinking beer. The long hours were very painful…especially
after a 12 hour shift and being assigned to come in early the
next day. Day and night became pretty much the same after
awhile. Sometimes they broke up the shifts, and I remember
taking naps outside of Libby's because it was too much trouble
to go back to the "boarding house." I think we made a bit over
$2 an hour which seemed pretty good when the minimum wage was
$1.25 an hour (in 1963). I remember small Spanish-speaking kids
passing the house and taunting us with short phrases that we
were sure were curse words although none of us knew for sure.
Today I imagine most kids would refuse to do the grueling work
that we did. I don't recall any real "entertainment" other than
teasing each other and goofing off. QUANE ('63) remembered a lot
of the other guys. I think most of us passed each other on the
way to and from work on different shifts. I had several jobs.
One was operating a big can-dumping machine. Being extremely
tired could have resulted in an accident. Luckily, I didn't have
any. We had one big kitchen at the house... don't remember what
we ate... probably mostly canned goods. Maybe some of the other
guys remember some specific events. Tony ('63) and Pitts ('63)
may recall a few things.

-Frank WHITESIDE ('63) ~ Presently suffering from a lot of very
      red, itchy fire ant bites... especially on my legs. Down 
      here you really have to watch where you are standing at 
      all times... good thing it was a small mound.
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[Red ants -- the best reason to NOT garden "down here"... I 
think they don't bother kids as much as adults... I've seen 
all three g-kids -- at about age 2 -- get into an ant hill...
INITIALLY they cried, but in following days they just play like
nothing happened... for some stupid reason, I decided to move 
my big strawberry planter one day and got bites all over both 
hands & arms... I'd been watching in the grass for them, but
didn't expect them in a planter.   -Maren]
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>>From: Jim HAMILTON ('63)

Having come from a canned Hormel chili family, I didn't know 
any better, but the Chili at Spout Springs was the best I'd 
ever tasted. Maybe the 1.3 million price might be a bargain, 
if they include the recipe for Pete's chili.

I now know better, but it was really tasted good to this eighth
grader.
			-jimbeaux

-Jim HAMILTON ('63)
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>>From:  Bill SCOTT ('64)

Re: Pea Harvest

I, too, worked the pea harvest in the early '60s, but unlike
others who have written, I worked in Dayton, for Green Giant
(or, as it was sometimes referred to, The Green Weenie). My
industrious mother, never one to let grass grow beneath MY feet,
let me sleep in a few hours after being up all night at the
Class of '64's graduation party at the old bowling alley above
Howard Amon, then hustled me off, still tired, to Dayton to sign
up with the Green Giant. Was I ever scared. From the insular
world of Richland deep into a whole different culture,
surrounded by Mexican Nationals, as they were referred to, from
Texas. If memory serves, Tracy RUPP ('64) and David Miller were
there with me. At first, I slept in the ramshackle worker huts
near the plant, then "graduated" to a house in town, where I
rented a bed on a second-floor landing next to the stairs. I
remember some old guy had this scratchy old recording of
"Cotton-Eyed Joe" he kept playing. Hard to get a good night's
sleep on the landing.

Like the rest who wrote, I worked 12-hour shifts seven days a
week, but I was fortunate to have day shift. First season worked
as a loader operator making $1.25 an hour, then the next summer
('65), graduated to swather tractor driver, making the princely
sum of $1.58 an hour. Never made enough money to even talk about
there, but it was a valuable lesson in persistence and courage.
The swather driver job came about thusly: I was waiting in the
early hours at job dispatch when the call went out for a swather
driver. "I'll go," I said. So off they sent me to the field. I
arrived, got on the tractor, and began to fumble around. How do
I drive this thing? I'd never been on a tractor in my life, and
this one had the transmission reversed, since it was operated
backwards. The cranky field boss came over and said, "I thought
you told dispatch you could drive this thing." "Nah," I said, 
"I just said I'd come". He gave me the evil eye and stalked off,
whereupon I quickly figured out how to drive it. But he never
did like me after that.

-Bill SCOTT ('64 --- writing as B J Scott)
   http://www.bjscotthistoricals.wordpress.com
   http://www.amazon.com/author/billjscott
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>>From: David RIVERS ('65)

Re: Oh my

Well the sellers of Rooster pills are back at it... now they've
got couples in the Bomber Bowl on blankets who don't want to
"take time" to take a pill once the "feeling" hits... they are
swimming and hot to trot... they are even flying around in
parachutes... Now it seems to me, when we were kids it was
described as "wild hormones"... and toe fungus... when did toe
fungus become such a huge problem... no don't tell me... I don't
wanna know... .

Reminding you Kats and Kittens that the '65ers are in town again
for CDNs... Friday nite at Cecilia BENNETT's for SPECIAL
presentations (if you were there for mine you know what I'm
talking about... if not I can't spill the beans yet)... and car
watching kitty corner from the Uptown ... Saturday nite we'll
gather at Myra WEIHERMILLER'S ('67) for more festivities...
Can't wait to see what car Roger GRESS ('61) brings (that's a
friendly joke Roger!) for CDNs... plenty to keep us all busy and
running for the whole weekend... I will try and find out what
the date is for MLW's ('63) "Housewives of Orange County"...
Doug HAWKINS ('62) and I will finally meet face to face after
all these years... don't be a sit-at-home... Be there! You can
call me for addresses if ya ain't got 'em!

-David RIVERS ('65)
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NOT a Memorial - only INFO today

Re: Leo HANNAN ('47-RIP)

from the Legacy.com website:

 A military service will be held today, at 3pm, at the 
Ft. Richardson National Cemetery (JBER/Richardson exit off 
the Glenn Hwy). There will also be a Celebration of Life 
reception at the Bayshore Club House, 3131 Amber Loop in 
Anchorage, from 6pm to 9pm.
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That's it for today. Please send more.
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