A funny little story

Now here's a funny little story...

When Larry/Dad/Gpappy and I were in Rochester for his appointments on Wednesday, we ran into some acquaintances from St. Peter who were there because one of them had a check-up. These are people we've known over the years because one of their daughters and Elisabeth were high school friends, so it was nice to see them and chat for a few minutes. I knew they were at the Clinic because Kathy said so on Facebook, and I'd read it about a half an hour before. But that's not the funny little story.

Here it is, but first I need to go back in time...

On a visit to the Mayo Clinic a couple of months ago, Dad/Gpappy/Larry saw and chatted with Garrison Keillor while both were waiting to be called for blood draws. Yesterday, Garry wasn't there, but Larry had another coincidental meeting, this time with the phlebotomist who drew his (Larry's, not Garry's) blood.

Why is that coincidental, you ask? Isn't a phlebotomist the person who SHOULD take his blood? Yes, indeed. Larry and Rhonda, the aforementioned phlebotomist, were chatting while she looked for a vein that would work well. Larry asked her where she was from (originally Spring Valley), which opened up the conversation about my family living there at one time, too. When she found out my pre-Potts name, Rhonda revealed that she had my mom for her 6th grade teacher, and my dad as a math teacher in high school. It's not terribly unusual to meet someone from Spring Valley who had one of my parents as a teacher, but the funny part of the story is that she remembered taking baton lessons from me when she was a kid and I was in high school. A twirler from Spring Valley. Imagine that! She came out into the waiting area with Larry, and we reminisced--quickly, so she wouldn't lose her job.

I don't have a photo of Rhonda as a baton twirler or as a phebotomist, so this one from the time period will have to do. 

Mary Jo, age 10 (part of a group of girls her age who took baton lessons from my predecessor); Mark, age 14 (drummer in junior high band); me, age 16 (first summer as a majorette with the h.s. band, and a few months before I taught baton lessons to Rhonda and other little twerps). Twirling a baton was much more fun than marching while playing a squeaky clarinet.

I have no idea why my dad, the likely photographer, took this photo of the sky and three of his children in this particular ratio of sky-to-people. That will remain a mystery. It may have had something to do with being a math teacher. I do know that I was hot from marching in the Memorial Day parade, and therefore I was quite irritated to have to line up by height (also a math teacher thing to do) with my siblings to have my picture taken. Looking back, I'm glad we have this photo. It's the only one taken of the three of us in parade dress at the same time!

(Mark and Mary Jo, if you read this, we are standing on the upper sidewalk in front of our Hillcrest house. Dad is at the bottom of the steps on the lower sidewalk. Was he being artsy, or did he just take the picture in a hurry so we wouldn't get away? Mike, you were only 4, and weren't a member of any band at the time!)
---------------------
Fast forward 24 hours. Here are responses to an email I sent my siblings asking what they remember about the photo.

Mark says: 
I remember it as being taken by the high school, in that open field that is now a parking lot, we were in 7th and 9th or 8th and 10th grades and Mary Jo in 4th or 3rd.  I remember my uniform didn't fit and that you and Mary looked fancy.  That's about it

.....I have that same picture on my computer and it pops up every day as I have my computer set to run through all my pics, somebody asked if those were my grandkids.
  
Note to Mark: The junior band wore old high school band uniforms. We'd just gotten some snappy black, white, and red uniforms with the white and red majorette version. I think the red one you were working has a doorman look about it.

Mary Jo says:
I do remember this picture. It was taken in the front yard on the hill by the front door of the house. I must have been about 10 or so. We were all going to a parade for Memorial Day or 4th of July? You were head majorette, Mark played drums in the band, and I twirled baton. I guess Mike took the picture? Ha ha ha.....I loved that outfit I wore. I remember it well! It was satin with the fringe thing going on! Let me know how accurate I am!  Love ,  Mary Jo 

Note to Mary Jo: The outfit you wore was a kid version of the outfits the senior band majorettes wore a few years before I was involved. I think Mom made it, or at least sewed on the fringe. I remember bringing a bag of that fringe home for the outfit. I don't think I was head majorette yet-- not until the summer before my senior year. I couldn't keep in step, so I was terrified to do that important job! The only reason I was chosen is because of my height. All the rest of the majorettes were short and the drummers couldn't see them.

Mike says:
I remember it well! It was the year the Music Man came to SV! No? Is that Mort Mortrud in the middle?

The one thing think I do know is where it was taken. I’ll guess in the front yard, you guys are standing on the upper sidewalk and the photo was taken from the lower sidewalk in front of the planter that used to be there.

We’ve got trouble right here in River City!!

Note to readers:  Vern "Mort" Mortrud was our band director. His band director uniform fit about as well as Mark's fit in this picture.