George Emerson

I am sad to learn of Judi Reason’s death nearly 20 years ago.

I loved that girl from the 7th grade on — never had the nerve to approach her because my appearance (broken teeth, school yard accident) and my socioeconomic position at the time inhibited me.

Judi was kind to me when many were not.

Not a popular guy; drove an old 1960 Ford sedan for a time; self-conscious (broken front teeth) and very shy.

Later in HS I drove a '64 Malibu followed by a '67 Camaro— both were considered a poor man’s car at the time! One girl, Dorothy Roberson, described the Malibu as "boxy". John Travolta drove one in "Pulp Fiction".

Joe Mindel’s 1970 Torino was the hottest car around as I recall. Joe and his lovely first wife, Dorothy (mentioned above), have passed.

There was the old Shoney's Big Boy on Pembroke near the NN city limits and the Peninsula Auditorium just down the road heading away from the darkness of NN. The guys would bring their dates; see and be seen; show off their polished automobiles; hamburgers served by pretty girls on roller skates; and then peel off -- a Parthian shot as it were. I did all that too but without the peeling.

There was the old "Burger Chef" on Mercury Blvd where guys and gals would go for school lunch to see and be seen. It was also a night spot like Shoneys.

There was "Chin's" laundry on King Street near the Langley entrance where shirts were starched stiff as a board for 30 cents each. That was high to me so I did it at home.
There was the annual bonfire. A small mountain of cardboard boxes would be gathered in front of the gym, then taken to Gosnold's Hope Park ( I seem to remember) and set afire with the fire department on hand. They stopped doing that after awhile. It occurred to me at the time that all that cardboard near the gym doors was dangerous. No one paid any attention to me!

There was WGH AM radio; DJ's Dick Lamb and that other guy.
And there was the comical super hero "Chicken Man" on the radio.
There were three TV channels + UHF. One had the horror late show where the actor rose up from the casket saying,"welcome to my humble abode" and viewers were treated to the "Creature from the Black Lagoon" and other campy films.

More recently; Is that little DUI drunk putz "road warrior" still employed by Wavy TV? Andy something...

I look back at this time (late 1960's) to be the last of the waning muscle car and "American Graffiti" era.

From poverty and ignorance (my parents left school in the 6th grade) in the Virginia / NC mountains, we moved to Hampton. Three younger siblings became drug users and ruined their lives as well as damaging those around them.

Attended Buckroe JH and KHS then enlisted in the Air Force; trained as an electronics technician; stationed in Europe. Draft lottery number was close to 300 but joined anyway.
As a civilian, I worked for the DoD as a Comm / Tacan repairman at a naval air base in Florida.

Owned horses and drove a '77 280-Z and a Harley-Davidson all through the 1980's (pre-mid life crisis). Owned and operated a health food store.

Divorced an ungrateful / unfaithful wife. I have observed that some people cannot handle success. She's been on welfare for years now.

Earned an accounting degree in Ohio. Retired from the workforce and now own a few rental properties.

Trump supporter and an “Oathkeeper”. I have faced more than one Antifa/Communist/Socialist/ BLM protester here in Tucson. They hang out on 4th Ave and public parks. They always approach me or my group to cause trouble.

One young turk threatened to knock my MAGA off and "F" me up! He figured the old man would not fight. The spineless snowflake called the police......

I don't recall anything like this growing up in the south.

(Well, there was social-engineering busing in 1969 that brought trouble to Kecoughtan from the blacks. I had a few incidents with those racists)

We have a stockpile of food / water -- enough to last many months which is reminiscent of the "duck & cover" atmosphere of the Khrushchev era. I remember the drills at John B. Cary elementary school. I also remember the announcement of JFK's assassination in my sixth grade class.