Art In The Round 1968

High School Woods, Dirt Bikes & Officer Lurch

We used to have all night dirt bike camp outs in the high school woods. I think it would be fair to say our camp would be where what now be the right hand east bound lane of the Golden Gate Parkway, somewhere close to where TGI Fridays stands today.

This night it was Marty S, John Z, Jeff B & Larry F, Sid S & I, plus Joey G who showed up later in his VW Bug. We would set up camp & have a real good time until around midnight when someone would come up with, we’re bored let’s go spin donuts on the baseball diamond. So we all hop on our dirt bikes & commence to a donut convention on the baseball field. About half an hour into this I decided to take a break & rode over to the football field fence & just leaned on the fence & left my motor running. I’m watching everyone else spinning circles with orange dust billowing up in the headlights clouds of dust flying everywhere & everyone laughing like a pack hyenas.

Next thing I know I see car headlights come on in the middle of the field & I’m thinking wow someone else is gonna join the fun. Boom police car lights come & I about die! I throttle the hell outta there & everyone hits the main trail to the woods at the same time you wouldn’t even notice anyone next to you. We all haul ass midway thru the woods & ditch the bikes in an irrigation ditch & ran back to our camp. The whole time Larry F is missing Joey ran to his car & took off down the rail road tracks Sid kept going like we all should have. So like a dumbass I take my helmet with me back to our camp & toss it in the bushes. A while later we see flashlight’s & up pops Officer Lurch & he starts asking questions. BIG QUESTION: Do ya’ll boys have motorcycles? Answer: No sir we’re just camping, Lurch to Marty you’re gonna tell me your dad owns a whole shop of motorcycles & your not riding one? Answer: No Sir:):)! Lurch snoops around & finds my helmet in the bushes with my name inside it & we’re BUSTED then he says go get your motorcycles.

On the walk back to the police car that was parked on Fleishmann he’s going thru his whole Clint Eastwood spiel I can spot an ants ass at 100 yards & pick it off a fence post. That night it was a full moon & as we’re walking back & listening to him go on & on he walks right by our motorcycles all the chrome gleaming in the moonlight. He almost tripped over the damn things & never saw them. We caught up with Larry F the next day & Officer Lurch blocked the HS woods entrance & Larry slid into the police car & Lurch just picked him up by his shirt & pants & through him in the police car. Another funny part of the story was Jeff B, he would always go camping with us but would never have a motorcycle. But he always had this HUGE military duffle bag full of everything you could imagine. Rubber alligators, pots & pans, matches, candles. It was always hysterical but when he came along you KNEW there was gonna be some kind of action, Jeff was never a dull moment I miss him, what times those were just a bunch of kids having the time of their lives…..

I can still see Jeff on the back of Johns 250 Enduro with that duffle bag it hardly fit between them. And as usual Marty would be riding on his back wheel I doubt he ever replaced his front tire due to lack of wear.

PS: There were never no charges filed & we weren't arrested BUT we weren't doing anything against the law to begin with.

Don't Forget To Register For The Reunion!

Email this blog for a .pdf file of the registration form!

And What Would Naples Have Been Without...

Jungle Larry & his Tiglons.

That's All She Wrote!

The "Big" Storm Audio Part Three (Final Part)

Two Locals Take IGFA World Fishing Championship

Chrisse's Ol' Man takes world title!
Follow the links.
http://www.igfa.org/2008_Offshore/Day_4/Day_4.asp
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/may/16/fishing-naples-collins-salley-part-winning-team-ig/

Hurricane Donna Pier (What Was Left Of It)

The "BIG" Storm Audio Part Two

The Pier After Donna

I guess the funny part these days are the RULES & Regulations signs would probably cover both of these restrooms.

My favorite Naples recipes!
Naples Hotdog
1. Boil Publix hot dog (preferably from Publix #76) in water.
2. Fork & stick on bun.
3. Smother with Publix mustard (preferably from Publix #76)
4. Kick back & down that sucker!
Watch this blog for more of my favorite Naples recipes!

The "BIG" Storm Audio Part One

Whatta Ya Want For Nothin'...

Another Wooden Nickel?

Nickel courtesy Marty "Double Agent" Schrednitz

Silver Panther Press Last Page

Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels!

But you'll take a wooden beer token for THE DOME in Bonita! This is as strange as the Anchor Key Chain I've never even heard of such a thing.

Token courtesy Charlie Brady

Silver Panther Press Page Seven

Candy Cane City

NO Teen Center post can go without a photo of CANDY CANE CITY! Everyone has a story about these 2 places they went hand in hand its like they were made to go together. Not to mention the small patch of woods at Saint Ann's the BEST place to stash your beer! We used to visit (not trespass) Boat Haven on Friday nights people would load their boats full of beer for the weekends. We would borrow the beer & usually return it along with dinner (Monty's 25 cent french fries) to Candy Cane City. I don't think the city ever paid for fertilizer there it must have been a mess come Monday morning. When I moved back I went to Boat Haven & apologized to Chrisse for my misdeeds she said oh, don't feel bad everybody did that. So anyway to any old time boaters thanks for the beer sorry if I ruined your weekend!

The "REAL" Norris Community Center (under construction)

But I've always called it the Teen Center, where do I start here probably too many stories to cover. Best spot in the house was the west outside sliding glass doors to watch people cut the rug. There was one girl & I'm not naming names (I've caught WAY TOO MUCH grief for that already) that could dance without moving her head. It was the opposite of those bobble head dolls but her head & hair would never move I still can't quite figure that move musta wore out some mirrors perfecting that one. Then there's (occupant/resident) greaser story if you remember they (GREEZERS the "REAL" ones not us part timers) would gather down at the east end of the driveway toward the police station. They would congregate on that Norris Community Center concrete plaque/monument. There was a Coke machine at the Fire Department & it was the only place to get something to drink other than beer or water. So (occupant/resident) knowing better would walk all the way around the block to there just so he wouldn't have to walk by them so they could have a field day calling him a candyass & hold him upside down & shake him down for his money. We were tallking about how Marty was the ultimate in candyass/greaser double agent. His dad Mal owned the motorcycle shop so nobody dissed Marty or your repairs could drag on for months. Hands down the funniest early Naples head game...

Crayton Cove Without The Inn

Growing up here I always heard the name Kenny Shryver he developed the Cove Inn. But his name always popped up here & there since I've lived here. So I'd hear the name for like 35 years but never met or have seen this person kinda like hearing about Area 51 you knew it was there but no one knew anything about it. So anyway my family had a piece of land for sale in Bonita & one day I was up there putting in a for sale sign & up pulls this big Lexus. Out hops this man & starts asking questions about the property & introduces himself as Kenny Shryver. I shook his hand & started to laugh & told him I thought it was just a name everyone dropped to fit into a conversation I had no idea he was actually a real person. He got a real big laugh out of it & then I asked him about any Naples memorabilia & he said most of his was lost in hurricane Donna. Kenny died a few years back just another part of the story gone forever...

Back To Lowdermilk Park

David Frank lifeguard.

Pre Hurricane Donna Pier

Probably this most interesting color photo of the old pier I've come across. Don Spicer told me the 1st year he moved here in 1958 his whole family went down to the pier on Christmas Day & went swimming. All of the old timer's on the pier stared at them like they were crazy because to them it was winter & only damn yankees swam this time of year. The next year the Spicer's went down to the pier on Christmas Day & stood on the pier & stared at all the damn yankees making like fools swimming in the wintertime. Nowadays all anyone bitches about is their driving..........

Wanna Little Sand With That Hotdog?

Silver Panther Press Page Six

Class of 1970 6th Grade Lake Park

Erickson's BIG Haul!

Mike Erickson battles one up from Candyass Canal! Probably had to haul it in quick before the Ski Parade came splashing thru later on that day. I'm starting to think Royal Harbor was the place to be..........

Photo courtesy Janet Macdonald Erickson

An ABSOLUTELY mind blowing PHOTO!

This one is a segway from the Banana Factory photo! God, can't you almost hear them playing there? It's Lowdermilk Park you can see all the way to that church on Mandarin Road & Orchid Drive up by 41! This picture is MAJOR ex-lax for your brain & one of the most stunning photo's I've come across.

PS: David Loach class of 1970 passed away this week he was a great guy. Cindy Bell threw a pool party once (she lived on South Golf Drive at the Beach Club Golf Course). Anyway I was always told NEVER mess with the golf course caretaker he packs a piece & he'll shoot you. So I'm at that party & David & I think Bruce Griffin decide I'm going in the pool & I'm saying adios amigos! Took off across the golf course at night & thinking well I might get shot full of holes but I'm not getting wet. Teenage logic never makes too much sense as you age does it? Urban Legends, do you remember that old Naples Motel between the Beach Store & the Pier everyone would go I'll give you a dollar to run through the hallway of that old building. I'm still a dollar poorer for that one....

The Banana Factory

Probably one of my favorite local gigs of all time. They played under the pavilion at Lowdermilk Park probably sometime in the late 1960’s. It was the 1^st time I realized the beach could be used for something other than skin cancer. The only one I really remember was Vince Wood (oh crap, what a liar I am the girl singer was a MAJOR BABE!) mostly because you’d always see him somewhere around town. It’s a little too late but thanks Vince you made growing up here pretty special.

Port Royal Postcards

5th Avenue Postcards

Silver Panther Press Page Five

I wassa cuttin' da rug, down atta place called the Jug......... well there were 3 others dudes cuttin' it a little better than me, but I probably stepped outside & blew lunch, and returned to BREAKDANCE the night away!

From The Class Of 1971

We're planning at small tribute at the reunion to class members of the class of 1971 that have passed away. This is a list of ones we're aware of but don't want to forget anyone. Please contact nhsclassof71@gmail.com if you know of anyone we might have overlooked.

Scott Kepp
Vicky Harris
Debbie Garland
Georgette Shepard
Jay Steiner
Neill Davis
Bob Buschmann
Wally Green
Jody Hill
Marilyn Fry
Johnny Frye
Tony Hunter
Allen Hamn
Jeff Barber

Four Corners, Center of Where?

Believe it or not one of these buildings is still standing can anyone guess which one? It's that little church to the north of city hall on 8th Street same side of the street as Rexall Drugs its to the top left of the B&W photo.

Silver Panther Press Page Four

Did you make the cut?

4 Walls, 2 Balls Just A Bunch of Gr”EEE”zers………….

When you were a teenager you always remember being embarrassed by your parents you know the old “Fossils Belong in Museums” thing. And the Saturday night Teen Dance was no different with, that’s OK dad you can just drop me off at the Cambier Park baseball diamond. I’ve gotta meet some friends & we’re gonna walk to Monty’s by the post office for a 25 cent “BAG” of french fries. So my dad was the City of Naples traffic man you know the stop lights & street signs thing. So one day I come home & this sign is in my FRONT yard & I’m going Oh S**T how am I gonna deal with this, ain’t no greezer gonna live this down. ANYTIME anyone gave me a ride home it was NO that’s OK drop me off @ the end of the street & I’ll walk home. No one ever fell for it, no that’s OK we’ll drop you off @ the door & I never got used to the feeling of Candyassdom, this must be how those kids that lived in town felt 24/7. These days I contemplate getting another one made for Wall Crib it’s Jeannie & I and our 2 animals & I’ve become that nutcase GEEZER that lives in that teardown @ the end of the street.

I never got to thank David Whitehead (in his white ’57 Chevy) & Janet Macdonald for a ride home after chugging down 13 seasick pills BUT I don’t remember the ride home either………….

PS: In Tennessee I lived next to an old couple named BALL (the 2 Balls) & it was still Jeannie & I & our 2 dogs. And I thought to myself, Huh 1 sign for my yard & 1 for theirs……..

Original 2 Lane West Gordon River Bridge

By the Fish House interesting side note the concrete railings are still around. Bottom photo the original railings today that line the lake at Lowdermilk Park.

Mooringline Bridge & Gulfshore Blvd.

I had a conversation with Emily Creason & she was telling me that Lake Parkers even had trouble with Moorings kids. The more I hear about different neighborhoods & their dislike of other "hoods" I almost find it funny that anyone had any friends. And the whole time I thought it was an East Naples thing. Seems everyone I've talked to about this blog has a Mooringline Bridge story......
If you click on the photo you can see 2 people on the bridge wonder if they jumped?

Bindle Stiff Menu

The "Bindle Stiff Tavern" (2 words) was in existence somewhere in the time frame of 72, 73, 74 (its a little fuzzy) when the legal drinking age was 18. It was basically a beer & wine joint that served a little food. Those that remember, know that it shared a property line on the north side of the "Open Hearth Lounge" (nee "Nick's Domino Club" [briefly] and originally the "Port Hole". It was done in the motif of and old railroad station complete with real RR rails for bar rails. Friday & Saturday night there were no less than 4 bartenders, 2 floor walkers, and 2 door men revelers stood 5 deep at the bar, Laurel & Hardy and the Marx Brothers movies were shown on the wall, and there were all the free peanuts you could eat.

Menu courtesy Charlie Brady

1971 30 Year Reunion Photos

Download from Sendspace a 61.03 mb .pdf file
http://www.sendspace.com/file/lle25x

1966 Naples Junior High Band

Silver Panther Press Page Three