70's Remembrances

Remembering the 1970's. . .

Subject:  Rocky Mountain High 5/18/2007
I totally wore out my welcome with the County Sheriff, City of Syracuse, and the Bville Gestapo by the summer of `72. I literally could not push my motorcycle down the street without being stopped and frisked. Those cops could roll an imaginary joint out of your navel lint. What I didn`t realize was that my cousin had just kicked the crap out of two Syracuse cops in a barfight, so anyone named Lavallee was way up on the radar. After promising the judge I was getting out of the Empire State, and after a very persuasive visit from her two brothers, I quickly married my first wife, Katie Hammel (Baker `70) and we immediately moved to Colorado Springs. Our first home was with our classmate Ed Hamm and his Army buddies stationed at Fort Carson. It was nonstop playing `spades` and partying. Steve Rice (`65) and his family were already in Colorado Springs, he had settled there after returning from Viet Nam. Dick Norton (`65) had been discharged from the Navy and he actually hitched a ride with me & Katie on the trip out west. Dick later married Katie`s best friend Sandy Ingersoll (`70) and they were our next door neighbors for a while. Steve Rice`s younger brother George (`70) came out later. We had many visitors from B`ville during those years - sometimes there were ten of us from B`ville at the same barbecue. It was great having all the hometown people together in Colorado Springs - it really was a Rocky Mountain High. Midwesterners (and Texans) remain my absolute favorite people in the United States.
- Dick Lavallee
Subject:  California Dreamin..!! 8/7/2007
In 1973, with 2 young daughters in tow, we made the move to Redondo Beach. CA (home of the Beachboys..!!). Rented a condo on the PCH and Prospect, for a small town girl this was a big city education, fast !! We loved living a block from the Pacific. In 1975, I decided I really needed to go back to school. I majored in Biology and Chemistry ( am sure Mr Dresser would have been surprised !!) and finally graduated from Ca. State Univ. in 1978.
- Karen P. Carter
Subject:  On the Road 8/7/2007
After my experiences in the late 60`s and early 70`s I had to get away from the whole scene in Cortland/Ithaca so I put my thumb out and hit the road for a few years. Spent time in Arizona tending bar at a place called Minder-Binders by the ASU campus. Stayed in northern CA for a while along the Russian River near Mendocino. Very beautiful up there. Wandered back to Cortland around early `76 and met a beautiful girl with wanderlust like me. She wanted to see the USA to celebrate the bicentennial year so we took off with her dog hitch-hikng to FLa, went to Jamaica, out to California, up the coast to the Columbia River. Ended up in Coer d` Alane (sp) Idaho on the 4th of July. An amazing adventure. Eventually got back to NY. I blew that relationship and was broken-hearted again. I decided to try to go back to college again up at Oswego State. Almost graduated. Got tired of school and decided to try and get a real job finally. I went back to Cortland and was lucky enough to get a start in the telecommunications industry with Rochester Tel around 1979. Got married to an old girlfreind and started a long 20 years of working very hard to catch up after goofing off for so many years. I was pretty successful - see 80`s and 90`s.
- John Mann
Subject:  The adventure continues 9/11/2007
Our oldest, Renee was born in Merced in Dec `70, and the day she turned four weeks old, we set out for our new duty station at Lackland AFB, SanAntonio, TX to cross train into electronics. In Dec ’71, we were stationed in Manchester, NH at Grenier AFS. We were there only six weeks when we got the news that the base was closing. With 20 month old daughter and dog in tow, July took us to Tehran, Iran, where Charlie worked at a remote radar site. I never knew where he was or what he was doing, but we felt perfectly safe and loved Tehran. One day when my parents were there for a visit, we were driving through the Golestan District (Where the palace of the Shah was), and my mother yelled that she had seen Bob Widger (’67) on a street corner. While I explained that we were half way around the world, she insisted that we turn back, and sure enough, there he was! Iran was an experience I would not trade for anything. I taught high school at the American School, had a maid to clean my house ($70 per month, 6 days a week-AND you could eat off the floors!!), and LOVED the culture. I attended the Univ of Tehran, studied Farsi, and wished I could stay there for many years. In 1974, I had a heart attack while 7 months pregnant with our son and was sent by flying hospital to Weisbaden, Germany. We then went to Andrews AFB, where Tobin was born in May ’74 with not apparent problems. Charlie was stationed at Griffith AFB in Rome, NY, and we bought the house where he grew up in Lysander. He got out of the service and went to college. Elizabeth was born in Oct ’75. Charlie graduated on Tobin’s 3rd birthday with a job in South Windsor, CT, so off we went again. We bought a great old farmhouse in Enfield, CT complete with dairy barn and right next door to the kids’ school. I opened a Christian Nursery School in Broad Brook , CT and loved it. We put in an inground pool and lived the good life for about 5 years.
- Martha Rauch Edmonds

Where were you in the 1970's? What do you remember from the decade that brought us white belts, leisure suits, and disco? Add your 70's remembrance here:

Subject: Rocky Mountain High	5/18/2007
I totally wore out my welcome with the County Sheriff, City of Syracuse, and the Bville Gestapo by the summer of `72. I literally could not push my motorcycle down the street without being stopped and frisked. Those cops could roll an imaginary joint out of your navel lint. What I didn`t realize was that my cousin had just kicked the crap out of two Syracuse cops in a barfight, so anyone named Lavallee was way up on the radar. After promising the judge I was getting out of the Empire State, and after a very persuasive visit from her two brothers, I quickly married my first wife, Katie Hammel (Baker `70) and we immediately moved to Colorado Springs. Our first home was with our classmate Ed Hamm and his Army buddies stationed at Fort Carson. It was nonstop playing `spades` and partying. Steve Rice (`65) and his family were already in Colorado Springs, he had settled there after returning from Viet Nam. Dick Norton (`65) had been discharged from the Navy and he actually hitched a ride with me & Katie on the trip out west. Dick later married Katie`s best friend Sandy Ingersoll (`70) and they were our next door neighbors for a while. Steve Rice`s younger brother George (`70) came out later. We had many visitors from B`ville during those years - sometimes there were ten of us from B`ville at the same barbecue. It was great having all the hometown people together in Colorado Springs - it really was a Rocky Mountain High. Midwesterners (and Texans) remain my absolute favorite people in the United States.
-	Dick Lavallee

Subject: California Dreamin..!!	8/7/2007
In 1973, with 2 young daughters in tow, we made the move to Redondo Beach. CA (home of the Beachboys..!!). Rented a condo on the PCH and Prospect, for a small town girl this was a big city education, fast !! We loved living a block from the Pacific. In 1975, I decided I really needed to go back to school. I majored in Biology and Chemistry ( am sure Mr Dresser would have been surprised !!) and finally graduated from Ca. State Univ. in 1978.
-	Karen P. Carter

Subject: On the Road	8/7/2007
After my experiences in the late 60`s and early 70`s I had to get away from the whole scene in Cortland/Ithaca so I put my thumb out and hit the road for a few years. Spent time in Arizona tending bar at a place called Minder-Binders by the ASU campus. Stayed in northern CA for a while along the Russian River near Mendocino. Very beautiful up there. Wandered back to Cortland around early `76 and met a beautiful girl with wanderlust like me. She wanted to see the USA to celebrate the bicentennial year so we took off with her dog hitch-hikng to FLa, went to Jamaica, out to California, up the coast to the Columbia River. Ended up in Coer d` Alane (sp) Idaho on the 4th of July. An amazing adventure. Eventually got back to NY. I blew that relationship and was broken-hearted again. I decided to try to go back to college again up at Oswego State. Almost graduated. Got tired of school and decided to try and get a real job finally. I went back to Cortland and was lucky enough to get a start in the telecommunications industry with Rochester Tel around 1979. Got married to an old girlfreind and started a long 20 years of working very hard to catch up after goofing off for so many years. I was pretty successful - see 80`s and 90`s.
-	John Mann

Subject: The adventure continues	9/11/2007
Our oldest, Renee was born in Merced in Dec `70, and the day she turned four weeks old, we set out for our new duty station at Lackland AFB, SanAntonio, TX to cross train into electronics. In Dec ’71, we were stationed in Manchester, NH at Grenier AFS. We were there only six weeks when we got the news that the base was closing. With 20 month old daughter and dog in tow, July took us to Tehran, Iran, where Charlie worked at a remote radar site. I never knew where he was or what he was doing, but we felt perfectly safe and loved Tehran. One day when my parents were there for a visit, we were driving through the Golestan District (Where the palace of the Shah was), and my mother yelled that she had seen Bob Widger (’67) on a street corner. While I explained that we were half way around the world, she insisted that we turn back, and sure enough, there he was! Iran was an experience I would not trade for anything. I taught high school at the American School, had a maid to clean my house ($70 per month, 6 days a week-AND you could eat off the floors!!), and LOVED the culture. I attended the Univ of Tehran, studied Farsi, and wished I could stay there for many years. In 1974, I had a heart attack while 7 months pregnant with our son and was sent by flying hospital to Weisbaden, Germany. We then went to Andrews AFB, where Tobin was born in May ’74 with not apparent problems. Charlie was stationed at Griffith AFB in Rome, NY, and we bought the house where he grew up in Lysander. He got out of the service and went to college. Elizabeth was born in Oct ’75. Charlie graduated on Tobin’s 3rd birthday with a job in South Windsor, CT, so off we went again. We bought a great old farmhouse in Enfield, CT complete with dairy barn and right next door to the kids’ school. I opened a Christian Nursery School in Broad Brook , CT and loved it. We put in an inground pool and lived the good life for about 5 years.
-	Martha Rauch Edmonds

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