The Class of '57 Had It's Dreams

The Class of '57 [Had Its Dreams]

1-25-2003

I've always enjoyed the music of the Statler Brothers, but it wasn't until just a few years ago that I realized that I was a part of "The Class of '57" they were singing about. Although I spent my senior year at US Grant High School in Portland, most of my school years were spent in Sweet Home.
I never dreamed that Sweet Home would grow to the size it has, especially with all of my friends moving away. There are at least three former residents of Sweet Home now living here in San Diego! There were four. If you read my "I Remember..." series, you know that we lost my brother Douglas November 6, 1997.
Oh! One of the other people who followed me to San Diego is a fellow we had for a teacher in Jr. Hi - James Crakes. Who would have dreamed that they would tear down that old building.

(Mr. Crakes with some of the class of '57 in 1953)

I never dreamed that I would join the US Navy and travel to so many parts of the world that I learned about in the classrooms of SHUHS. It's one thing to read about the Parthenon in Athens, and quite another to climb up the Acropolis to it. I don't remember Mr. Bill Johnson teaching anything about the smog destroying this building.

(Mr. Johnson, from the 1955 TIMBER ECHO)

(Bill in retirement at his home on Green Peter Mountain circa 1972)

I wonder how many people know that this man built a log cabin on his Trail's End Ranch. He added bedrooms to it as his family grew. Little did he dream that the log cabin would become so large, and eventually replaced by a very large "A" frame house.
I'll bet Russell Sims never dreamed that the Santiam River would be dammed at Foster, putting the area where he lived for so many years under water - permanently.

(Russell in the 3rd grade 1947)

I'll bet that Bob and Mel Walker never dreamed that they would stay in Sweet Home and sell used cars. Wonder what they'll do when they grow up?

( [l to r] Bob, me, and Mel in 1952-54)

( [l to r] Bob and Mel in 1998)

In the 1950's there were not too many TV sets in Sweet Home, and not many high school kids had cars. (Little did I dream that I would end up with 11 TV's and 3 cars in 1998!) So without TV and cars the class of 57 (in my opinion) was better off than today's teens.
Little did Royce McDaniel dream that sports would take him where they did. Or that in 1998 I would get a call from a telemarketer in Vermont who knows who Royce is! Little did Archie Vibbard dream that he would be managing a condo in Toppenish, Washington. Or that I would find him there in 1997, via a search on the internet with Yahoo!

Royce is on the left, Archie on the right; 4th grade 1948)

Mark Musgrave 1939 - 1985

There was no drug problem in Sweet Home during the years I lived there. I don't recall guns and knives being brought to school. Teen pregnancy was almost unheard of. I'm sure that the rest of the class of 57 will agree that we never dreamed we would see what's happening in schools today!
There are many more "I never dreamed of's" for the class of '57 that I have not mentioned, and I trust you will forgive me for not including them in this short article. Permit me one more; I never dreamed I'd be doing this.
So the next time you hear the Statler Brothers sing about the class of '57, plug in the names of people you know who fit the situations mentioned in the song.

"Things get complicated when you get past 18; but the class of '57 had it's dreams."

The Story

part 2

part 3

part 4

part 5

part 6

part 7 The Pictures

Cecil Houk, USN Ret.
San Diego CA
SHUHS Class of '57
e-mail to: cchouk@cox.net