Remember when...
        (Some photos can be clicked for a larger image)

AUGUST 1965
The summer of '65 was winding down and we were rapidly approaching the first day of - finally! - our senior year. It seemed like

The football team started practice for the upcoming season, while at the same time the marching band was practicing their music and moves at band camp, and the cheerleaders, led by seniors Susan Dick, Kay French, Vivian Peavyhouse and Becky Ziesmer, were perfecting their leaps and "Go Team". And you could see a lot of THS classmates at the Clark County Fair, which opened on Tuesday, August 17th.

The movies that were playing at the Park Layne Drive-In that month were The Sandpiper starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte with Bette Davis, the Elvis Presley movie Tickle Me - and Mary Poppins, believe it or not! Located just up the road at the intersection of Routes 69 and 40, you could stop and have a mug of root beer at the Frostop. Or you could stay at home and watch the summer re-runs of Combat!, Bonanza, Ozzie and Harriet, The Patty Duke Show, The Munsters, 12 O'Clock High or The Flintstones on TV. 

Jack Mefford Ford in Springfield was selling new '65 Ford Falcons for only $1700, or you could get one of the cool new '65 Mustangs for just $2150.

Unfortunately, not everything in our lives would stay so innocent and peaceful, because on July 28th President Lyndon Johnson had announced that he was increasing the number of U.S. troops in South Vietnam, and on August 11th the Watts riots started in Los Angeles. But on July 30th,1965, LBJ also had signed the legislation establishing Medicare and Medicaid - and we'll soon be glad about that!

SEPTEMBER 1965
The first day of school our senior year was, as it usually was back then, the first Wednesday after Labor Day - September 8th. While all of us were trying to remember where our classes and lockers were (and the locker combinations) and some of us were trying to figure out Mr. Constable (Yogi!) and Mr. Reynolds, Coach Stan Ely already had the football team fired up for their first game of the season that Friday evening, Sept. 10th. And of course the mighty Arrows won, beating Greenville 16-8 at home, with Randy Trostel scoring all of the points on 2 touchdown runs and two 2 point conversions. The next week the opponent was Dayton Stebbins, but the best that our guys could do was a tie, 12-12. Gary Amburgey scored both of the touchdowns in that game, one on a 4 yard run and the second on a 5 yard pass from Dave Finfrock. But in the last game of the month, the Arrows ran into a tough Miami East team and came out on the short end, 22 to 6, with Amburgey again scoring the lone TD.

The big movie at the theatre was Help with The Beatles. It had premiered at the end of August at the Regent Theatre in Springfield, but it hadn't made it to the Park Layne Drive-in yet. Instead Park Layne was showing Shenandoah with Jimmy Stewart and the 'blockbuster' She starring Ursula Andress (does anybody really remember that one?). Help also started out September as the No. 1 song on the music charts, but it was soon passed by The Eve Of Destruction by Barry McGuire. By the end of September a song by an Ohio group had jumped to the top of the charts - Hang On, Sloopy by The McCoys! And The Beach Boys also had a hit too with California Girls. Some of the brand new TV comedy shows that debuted for the first time in September 1965 were I Dream Of Jeannie, Green Acres, Get Smart and Hogan's Heroes. Other notable new shows that fall were The FBI with Efrem Zimbalist Jr., The Wild, Wild West with Robert Conrad,  and I Spy starring Robert Culp and Bill Cosby.

When it was on sale at Kroger, IGA, Fulmer's or Albers, you could buy a carton of six 12 oz. glass bottles of Pepsi for only 29¢ - but of course that price didn't include the bottle deposit. Kroger had a contest going on that your mom could enter to win up to 100,000 Top Value stamps, while some other stores gave you S&H Green Stamps with your purchase. And at Federal's the guys could get their White Levi's for $4.25 a pair during the Back To School sale. McDonald's on E. Main Street in Springfield, the only one in Clark County (and there were no drive-thru windows back then), also had a Back To School special - a free book cover when you bought a hamburger, french fries and "creamy" milk shake, all for 52¢.

On the day before Labor Day 1965, the Springfield News-Sun had a story and map outlining the proposed future construction of the Clarence J. Brown Dam and Reservoir, just east of Springfield. That weekend there was also the Grand Opening with 5 model homes to tour of a brand new subdivision in north Springfield - Northern Estates. And on Sept. 30th construction began on the I-70 bypass, south of Springfield from South Vienna to Enon. The bypass was expected to be completed in Sept. 1967.

And in national news, on Sept. 9th Hurricane Betsy hit New Orleans, breaching the levees, causing massive flooding and over a billion dollars in damage - the first billion dollar hurricane!    

OCTOBER 1965
On Oct. 1st our Tecumseh football team returned to winning ways with a 20-6 victory at Northeastern to raise its record to 2-1-1. Gary Amburgey again scored 2 touchdowns, one on a 9 yard pass and the second on a 20 yard run after a lateral from Dave Wiles. Unfortunately, the Arrows came out on the short end the following 2 weeks, losing to Covington 34-6 and on Homecoming, Oct. 15th, to Shawnee, 12-6. Jim Hobbs scored the touchdowns in both games on pass receptions of 25 and 49 yards. At halftime Vivian Peavyhouse was crowned our Homecoming Queen, while Anna Donnan and Beth Wagner were the Senior Attendants. Our team came back the next Friday to defeat Graham, 24 to 6. Amburgey scored 16 points on 2 TD runs and 2 PAT runs, Dave Finfrock ran for a touchdown, and Hobbs had a PAT catch. And in the final game of that month, the Arrows shut out the Northwestern Warriors, 14-0, to improve to 4-3-1. Amburgey had a 49 yard touchdown run, and Finfrock returned an intercepted pass 23 yards for the other TD.

In other sports, the Tecumseh girls' field hockey team, led by Nancy Clements, finished with a 1-1-2 record. And the girls' volleyball team began its new season with a victory over Greenon. Also a new boys' sport in the fall of 1965 was the cross country team, which would go on to win the Mad River Valley League title with a 9-3 record.

One of the biggest days in Tecumseh Marching Band history occurred on Wednesday, October 27th, when the band performed for Vice President Hubert Humphrey, who was visiting in Springfield that day. After their performance, Vice President Humphrey honored the band by signing the THS big bass drum.

At the Park Layne Drive-In, October began with The Sons Of Katie Elder starring John Wayne and Dean Martin, followed by Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Psycho, Cat Ballou with Jane Fonda, and ended with Harum Scarum starring Elvis Presley. Or you could have probably gotten closer to your date that weekend by going to the Stardust Drive-In to see a "classic" double feature of Frankenstein Meets The Space Monster and Curse Of The Voodoo!
 
The top 2 songs of the month were Yesterday by The Beatles (FYI - it has the most recorded versions of any song ever written) and A Lover's Concerto by The Toys ("How gentle is the rain..." - Remember?). 1-2-3 by Len Barry was also a big hit during that month. On TV, Shindig (our version of MTV) was on twice a week, on Thursday (before The Donna Reed Show) and Saturday at 7:30 PM, and its rival, Hullabaloo, was on Channel 2 at 7:30 Monday evenings. Both shows featured the top groups and singers of the day performing their latest hits. 

While cruising around (in a car without seat belts), you could have pulled into a Sohio or Bonded "service" station and filled up for just 30.9¢ a gallon (before there was 'unleaded' gas) - pumped for you by an attendant, who would wash your windshield and check your oil too! (How many times did you get just a dollar's worth of gas???) And most stations had an actual mechanic on duty who could do auto repair work if you needed something fixed.

In the Springfield Daily News was the Grand Opening on Oct. 8th of a Vic Cassano and Mom Donisi Pizza King in Springfield. And for dinner, at A&P ground beef was on sale for 45¢ a pound, a package of 8 hamburger buns was 27¢, and Idaho potatoes were 7¢ a pound. Burger Chef also had an ad for a special on their Fish Sandwich and French Fries for 35¢. And for those who liked to read the comic strips, there was still Mutt and Jeff, Li'l Abner and Henry in the newspaper every day to enjoy.

In national news, on Oct. 14 the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Minnesota Twins in the World Series, 4 games to 3, with Sandy Koufax pitching 2 shutouts. And on Oct. 28th the 630 foot tall Gateway Arch in St. Louis was finally completed.

NOVEMBER 1965
On Nov. 5th the football team ended its season with a 33-8 victory over Greenon to finish with a winning record of 5-3-1. Jim Hobbs scored a touchdown on a 23 yard pass reception and Royce Michael and Gary Amburgey both scored 2 rushing TDs each. Seniors who received MRVL All-League recognition were Gary Amburgey (Defensive End), Jerry Chapman (Defensive Tackle), and Jim Hobbs (Offensive End).

However, the girls' volleyball team, while giving their best effort, didn't fare quite as well, finishing the season with a 1-4 record.

The big social event of the month was the Sadie Hawkins Dance, when the girls got to ask the guys for a date for a change. And, as an experiment in the democratic process, there was a school-wide election of the Student Council President and Vice President, with David Stuller and Ray Snell emerging the winners.

And on Friday, Nov. 26, Coach Doug Chaffins had our THS Arrows basketball team ready when they opened the new season with a victory at home against Vandalia-Butler, 60-57, featuring very balanced scoring with 5 seniors in double figures. Larry Robertson and Gary Amburgey led the way with 12 points each, Randy Trostel and Gale Calloway both scored 11 points, and Dave Finfrock had 10 points.

At the top of the music charts in November were I Hear A Symphony by The Supremes (their 6th #1 hit in 15 months!), Get Off Of My Cloud by The Rolling Stones, Everybody Loves A Clown by Gary Lewis & The Playboys, and Rescue Me by Fontella Bass.

On TV the Huntley-Brinkley Report was the top rated evening news show (Walter Cronkite on CBS wouldn't pass them in the ratings until 1968).  And on Nov. 8th a new daytime soap opera debuted - Days Of Our Lives (and it's still on!). Some big stars were on the screen at the Park Layne Drive-in that month - Cary Grant in Father Goose, Sidney Poitier starring in the Bedford Incident, and Bob Hope in I'll Take Sweden. Other movies that debuted in November were The Cincinnati Kid starring Steve McQueen and The Hallelujah Trail with Burt Lancaster.

On the front page of the Springfield Daily News on Nov. 26th, there was a local story about the latest fashion trend - the mini-skirt! The story's headline was "Sold but not seen", and reported that mini-skirts were being purchased in local stores, but it did not appear that women were wearing them in public. One local store manager was quoted, "My stock will never include the very short skirts because they won't sell." Also in the local news was the fact that International Harvester had passed $1 billion in sales for the year, setting a new world record for truck sales.

Some of the advertised specials were Campbell's Tomato Soup, 11 cans for $1.00 (Kroger), Banquet TV Dinners 29¢ each (IGA), and a carton of six 12 oz. bottles of Frostie Root Beer for 19¢ (IGA). And Ontario had Cannon Jumbo Bath Towels on sale for just 69¢ each. And for Thanksgiving (which was on Nov. 25th), Kroger had turkeys on sale for 29¢ a pound. There was also an ad for building lots available at the new Lake Choctaw development, east of Springfield - with a lot purchase, you also got a free pony! 

In national news, on Nov. 9 was the first Great Northeast Blackout, affecting New York City, stranding people in skyscrapers and subways, and all of the New England states. And on Nov. 27th the Pentagon told President Lyndon Johnson that the number of U.S. troops in Vietnam would need to be increased from 120,000 to 400,000.

DECEMBER 1965
A unique thing about the fall and winter of 1965 was that, while there had been a few light snow flurries, there was no measurable snowfall until December 20th - and then less than an inch, which was gone the next day due to warmer temperatures and rain. And there was no more snow through the end of 1965 either.

While some of our senior girls were practicing their future secretarial talents in Mrs. Lovett's shorthand class, some of the senior guys were perfecting other job-related skills in Mr. Davis' Industrial Arts class. But on Dec. 19 there were photos in the Springfield Daily News of the construction of the new Joint Vocational School (JVS) scheduled to open Oct. 1, 1966, where future Tecumseh students would go to learn some of those career skills.

The THS wrestling team, under Coach Nedeff, had started its new season, as had the girls' basketball team, led by Kathy Brock (the girls were still playing the "two court game" where only 2 players on each team were allowed to cross the center court line to play the entire length of the court, while the other players were required to stay on either the offensive or defensive ends of the court - girls' rules changed to the standard full court game in 1971).

On Dec. 3 the boys' basketball team topped Greenon, 75-59, with Gary Amburgey scoring 18 points and Randy Trostel 17. But the next week the Arrows fell for the first time to Fairborn, 74-57, with Larry Robertson scoring 18 points. The team rebounded on Friday, Dec. 17, with a win over Dayton Stebbins, 66-54, with Trostel leading the way with 23 points. The following week the opponent was Spfld. South, and although leading after 3 quarters of play, the Arrows finally fell victim to foul problems and South took advantage to win 76-66. 5'8" Dave Finfrock was the top Arrow scorer in the game with 19 points, and he also out-jumped South's 6'4" Jody Finney for a jump ball (Finney would be All-Ohio and go on to be a starter at Ohio State). To finish out the December schedule, our Arrows improved to a 5-2 record by winning the Troy Holiday Tournament at the Hobart Arena with victories over Miami East and Milton-Union, with Gary Amburgey being named the tourney's MVP.

In other area sports news, on Dec. 9 the Cincinnati Reds traded Frank Robinson to the Baltimore Orioles because he was an "old 30" - and it's still the most controversial trade in Reds' history! The University of Dayton Flyers, led by Don May and 7 foot Henry Finkel, started the year with a 7-0 record. The Cincinnati Royals were also still around, with the "Big O" Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas and Tecumseh-grad Wayne Embry. And on Dec. 15 Governor James Rhodes pledged his support to Paul Brown to help bring a professional football team to Cincinnati.

Some of the top new songs that December were Turn, Turn, Turn by The Byrds, Taste of Honey by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Let's Hang On by The Four Seasons and 5 O'Clock World by The Vogues (which was later the "theme song" for The Drew Carey Show). At the movies the fourth James Bond film, Thunderball, debuted at the Regent Theatre, and That Darn Cat starring Hayley Mills was playing at the State. The Park Layne Drive-in, along with the other local drive-ins, had closed for the winter at the end of November. On TV, Bonanza, on Sunday evenings at 9 PM, continued to be the highest rated show in prime time for the second year in a row. And A Charlie Brown Christmas was broadcast for the first time, and it has become a Christmas classic shown every year since then. 

Christmas break started for us on Weds., Dec. 22, and classes wouldn't begin again until Monday, Jan. 3. You could buy "fresh-cut" Christmas trees for just $3, but the Boston Store had 7 foot artificial Scotch Pine trees available for $12.88. And Kresge's had 12 rolls of holiday gift wrap paper on sale for only $1.

A popular Christmas gift for the guys was Jade East or Canoe cologne. And Carmen's was advertising Levi's Sta-Prest pants for $5.98. For the girls the Vogue Shop had sleeveless shell tops on sale for $5, while Wren's had girls' sweaters for $5.90 and baby dolls (sleepwear) 2 for $7. Other gifts on sale for Christmas were GE 3 speed record players at Clark's for $24.99 or Royal portable typewriters with "easy pressure keys" for $44.88 at the Boston Store (who thought back then that those things would become obsolete antiques!).

One "hot" new toy for Christmas 1965 was the Kenner Easy Bake Oven for $9.88. And Lionel train sets were on sale at the Sears 'Toytown' from $10.99.

JANUARY 1966
While we were getting ourselves prepared for mid-year exams, something occurred on Wednesday, January 12, 1966 unlike anything that had ever been seen on television before...

"Pow!" "Bam!" "Crash!" BATMAN! That extremely popular TV series debuted in the middle of our senior year. It was on 2 nights a week on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and in the weeks that followed Bat-mania swept the country and just about everyone was saying things like "Holy Cow, Batman!" and "To the Batmobile!". And the Weds. show would always end with Batman and Robin in a precarious situation and the words..."Tune in tomorrow — same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!"

During this time boys' intramural basketball also started in the evenings after school (and we were wondering why couldn't someone invent the VCR so we wouldn't miss Batman!). A couple of the more "memorable" teams playing were the Grundy Gnus and the Bushwackers, who ended up winning the championship.

One of the required "rites of passage" for the senior guys was that they had to register for the draft when they turned 18. Of course the one advantage to that was that it was then possible to legally buy 3.2 beer (the bottles with the red caps) - which, for some of us, then led to other "rites of passage".

Our Arrows basketball team reeled off 6 straight victories that January, topping Northeastern 66-61 and Covington 73-65, followed by close and hard-fought wins over Tipp City 64-61, Shawnee 63-59 and Graham 64-61, which gave Tecumseh the outright lead in the Mad River Valley League, and then they ended the month with a 70-50 thrashing of Spfld. North. That streak improved their record to an outstanding 11-2.

In other sports, on Jan. 2nd Green Bay defeated the Cleveland Browns for the National Football League Championship, 23-12. (No one had even heard of The Super Bowl then - the very first one would be played the next year.) Alabama, led by Coach Bear Bryant, was named the National Champions in college football. On Jan. 9 Arnold Palmer won the Los Angeles Open to claim the winner's check of $11,000. Ted Williams was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Jan. 19. And heavyweight boxing champion, Cassius Clay, was trying to get sports reporters to use his new name - Muhammed Ali - but they weren't.

The local stores were trying to get everyone prepared for when winter would finally show up - Ontario advertised battery chargers for $2.99 and snow tires $8.99 each, Bargain Barn had snow shovels for $1.79, Richman Bros. advertised "fine quality hats" for $5 (remember when gentlemen wore real hats that didn't have logos?), and Robert Hall was selling women's 'cuddle carcoats' with zip-out liner for $12.80. Also Montgomery Ward had brand new 23" black & white televisions ("receives all channels - UHF and VHF") on sale for $199.95.

And winter did show up! On Jan. 7th there was the second measurable snowfall of the season, but just 1" with a low of 5° and a high of 18° that day. But then old man winter finally made its arrival with a vengence - on Jan. 22nd we got 6" of snow, followed by a low on Jan. 23 of -3°. And the frigid temperatures stayed through the end of January, with lows of -11° on Jan. 27 and -8° on Jan. 29. Brrrrr!

The new top songs that cold January were the Sounds of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel, We Can Work It Out and Daytripper by The Beatles, and Barbara Ann by The Beach Boys. At the theatres the new movies were Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines, Do Not Disturb starring Doris Day, and Boeing Boeing with Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis.

Locally, in the Springfield News-Sun on Jan. 7 was the announcement that the Trostel Funeral Home and Chapman Memorial Home in New Carlisle had merged to become Trostel-Chapman Funeral Home. On Jan. 13 was a news story about a 400 home development to be called Silver Lake Estates built off Lake Road in New Carlisle on the former 110 acre Funderburg Farm, with new homes priced in the $14,000-$20,000 range. And on Jan. 23 the intersection of Route 69 (now 235) and Gerlaugh Road near Medway was picked as the 25th most dangerous rural intersection in the state of Ohio.

FEBRUARY 1966
On Friday, February 4th, our Arrows basketball team lost for only the third time to Northwestern, 65-56. But the next week they got back on the winning track again with a 98-64 blow-out over Greenon, with Dave Finfrock leading the way with 22 points and Larry Robertson adding 21. They followed that with another victory the very next day, Sat., Feb. 12, over Catholic Central 65-62, with Randy Trostel the top scorer with 24 points. They then ended the regular season with another big win over Miami East, 90-53, Finfrock again topping all scorers with 20 points, followed by Trostel's 18. That gave Tecumseh a super 14-3 record, and they were co-champions of the Mad River Valley League, tied with Northeastern. It also earned our guys the No. 3 seed in the Troy AA District Tournament. Unfortunately, the tourney trail ended with the first game against Urbana. Although leading 60-57 with a little over 2 minutes left in the game, foul problems again hurt our Arrows, and they came out on the short end of the 70-62 score. But it was still an exciting season that the basketball team and our school could be very proud of. And all 4 starting seniors - Gary Amburgey, Dave Finfrock, Randy Trostel and Larry Robertson - were selected to the MRVL All-League team, with Amburgey receiving First Team honors. 

In national sports, Willie Mays, the 1965 National League MVP, signed the biggest baseball contract ever - $125,000! (Compare that with what baseball players make now!) On Feb. 17, boxing's heavyweight champ, Cassius Clay/Muhammed Ali, had his draft status changed from 1-Y to 1A, making him eligible to be drafted into the Army. And on Feb. 19 Jim Brown of the Cleveland Browns stated that he might retire from professional football, after a 9 year record-setting career. (And later on July 14th, while making the movie The Dirty Dozen, he did retire.) Also on Feb. 19th Joe Paterno was named the new head football coach at Penn State University - and he's still coaching today (as all real OSU fans know) at the age of 79! And little Texas Western College, starting 5 black players (and the subject of the recent movie Glory Road), had a record of 20-0 by the end of February and had risen to the No. 3 ranking nationally in college basketball.

On Feb. 22, it was noted in the Springfield Daily News that the Tecumseh FFA, with Dave Luginbuhl as President, had crowned junior Linda Molen as their FFA Queen. And for those who remember her, Cheryl Skillings' photo was also in the newspaper the very next day, after being named the Northwestern FFA Queen.

On. Feb. 27, the New Carlisle Fire Department officially moved into its new firehouse on Church Street (where they still are today) from its previous location on W. Jefferson St. And in other local noteworthy news, on Feb. 3rd. the very first truck rolled off of the production line at the brand new International Harvester assembly plant north of Springfield. That truck was then delivered to the Taggart Building Supply Co. of Springfield.

The wintry weather of January continued into the first week of February with over 5" of sleet and snow on Feb. 1st. But the next week there was a tease of Spring with highs rising into the mid 50's for a few days. Then winter returned once more with temperatures 5º to 10º below normal for the rest of the month.

Some of the songs moving up the charts that February were Lightning Strikes by Lou Christie, My Love by Petula Clark, These Boots Are Made For Walkin' by Nancy Sinatra, and California Dreamin' by a brand new group, The Mamas and The Papas. And on TV, you could see Nancy Sinatra and Petula Clark performing their songs live on The Ed Sullivan Show (on Sunday evening from 8-9 PM, right after My Favorite Martian) along with other live performances that month by The Rolling Stones, The Supremes, The Animals, The Dave Clark Five, and Gary Lewis & The Playboys. (If you don't mind some reading, this site brings back some really vivid memories of The Ed Sullivan Show.)

At the movies, the new releases were Our Man Flint starring James Coburn, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold starring Richard Burton, The Nanny with Bette Davis, and Disney's newest offering The Ugly Dachshund featuring Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette.

Woolworth's idea of a nice Valentine's Day present that February was a "colorful Hawaiian-styled" Mumu, which they advertised for $1.99 each. But the more traditional gifts available at Super X were Brach's (1 lb. heart box) or Whitman's (1/2 lb. heart box) chocolates, your choice for $1. And Walgreen's had Chanel #5 on sale for $5.

Other advertised specials in the Springfield Daily News that month were 5 loaves of bread for $1 at Albers, Kleenex Tissues 5 boxes for $1 at Super X, Textured Seamless Nylons 3 pairs for $1 at the Boston Store, Kroger Apple Pies for 39¢ each, and Gleam toothpaste for 59¢ at Walgreen's.
 
And in world news, the space race really heated up when the Russians' unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft made the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon.

MARCH 1966
The THS wrestling team wrapped up an outstanding season with a 9-4 record, capturing the MRVL championship (and adding to the list of league championships by Tecumseh that year). Seniors Curtis Fett, Doug Tritle, Derry Ray and Dick Moyer all were league champions in their respective weight classes, with Doug Tritle advancing to the state competition and tying for 7th in Ohio. In other THS sports news, on Tuesday, March 1st, there was an "exhibition" basketball game between the Tecumseh faculty and the winners of the boys' intramural league, the Bushwackers.

Following reports on March 24 of UFO sightings in Michigan, there was some excitement locally when a number of people in Enon, including the Police Chief, stated that they saw a "bright orange light" during the evening of March 28th. And then on March 30, a "burned" spot was discovered in a wheat field northeast of Springfield, suggesting that a UFO had landed there! The owner of the field was quoted, "I don't want to say that it was one of those UFO things, but what in the deuce would cause something like that?" (It was in the newspaper - it must be true!) In other local news, it was stated in the Springfield Daily News on March 6 that the Clark County Engineer had determined that there was no need for a traffic signal or 4 way stop to be placed in Medway. And that same day it was also reported that the price of gasoline in Springfield had increased by a penny, to 32.9¢ a gallon for regular gas, 36.9¢ for premium - the first change in gas prices in months!

There was no more snow that March, after the wintry weather and cold temperatures of Jan. and Feb. And the second week of the month brought temperatures 10°-15° above normal, reaching into the upper 60°s, before they dropped back down to slightly below average for a few days. The first "electrical" storm of the year was noted as passing through the area on March 21st, followed by a high of 76° on March 22nd. But then the weather again cooled off with highs in the low 50°s.

The Park Layne Drive-in was the first of the area's drive-in theatres to open again on Friday, March 4, with The Money Trap and When The Boys Meet The Girls. Later during the month at Park Layne were Girl Happy starring Elvis Presley, Disney's That Darn Cat, Love & Kisses with Rick Nelson, Made In Paris starring Ann-Margret, and Take Her, She's Mine with Sandra Dee and Jimmy Stewart. Other "classic" movies that debuted at other theatres that March were The Great Race with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis and The Silencers starring Dean Martin as secret agent Matt Helm.

Moving up the music charts were Daydream by The Lovin' Spoonful, 19th Nervous Breakdown by The Rolling Stones, Ballad Of The Green Berets by SSgt. Barry Sadler, and Gloria by The Shadows of Knight. And on March 4th in an interview for a London newspaper, John Lennon of The Beatles made his infamous statement, "We're more popular than Jesus now." But it wasn't until 5 months later when the quote was re-printed on the cover of a U.S. teen magazine that it became the huge controversy that it did.

On TV, IF you could get Channel 22 on your set, on Tuesday nights there was something to appeal to just about everyone. Primetime started with the World War II action drama, Combat, followed by the comedies McHale's Navy (its last season) and F Troop. At 9:30 was the popular serial Peyton Place (on 3 nights a week that year - Monday, Tuesday and Thursday) and the evening ended with The Fugitive.  (You may have forgotten - the series conclusion of The Fugitive in 1967, when they finally catch the one-armed man, was the most watched show of any series EVER at that time! And it held that record until the final episode of M.A.S.H., 16 years later.)

The biggest sports story that month was in college basketball when little Texas Western (see February for more details about this) defeated No. 1 ranked powerhouse Kentucky on Saturday, March 19th, 72-65, to win the NCAA Basketball Championship (long before they started calling it "March Madness"). And Cazzie Russell of Michigan was named the AP College Player of the Year.

In baseball news, Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, the star pitchers of the Los Angeles Dodgers (and both now Hall of Famers), together staged a contract hold-out throughout spring training, threatening to sit out the entire season. They both finally signed on March 30th, Koufax for $120,000 and Drysdale for $105,000 (and Koufax would then retire after the 1966 season). Jim Maloney of the Cincinnati Reds also held out too, finally signing for $46,000, making him the highest paid pitcher ever in Reds' history. On March 7th, the Reds announced that Pete Rose would move from his 2nd base position to play 3rd base during the 1966 season. And on Saturday, March 19th, the Houston Astros and Dodgers played the first (exhibition) baseball game ever on a new synthetic grass surface called "Astroturf", which had been invented for use in the Astrodome.

In economic news, the State of Ohio announced that the minimum wage for women and teenagers would be raised to $1.25 an hour, the same amount that men received. Excluded from that though were restaurant workers, part-time workers and "learners". Adding to the "boom" times was a report from the Dept. of Agriculture that stated that the annual income (after production costs) of the average farm's operations in 1965 had risen to $4280 - an all-time high!

With all of that prosperity, lots of people probably considered rushing out to purchase an RCA 21" color television on sale at Dawson-Ripley, Inc. for just $2.95 a week - and no down payment. And Jack Mefford Ford had new Ford Mustangs on sale for just $2395. Pic-Way Shoes also advertised a sale on women's, teen's and children's shoes, 2 pairs for $5.

In other national news, on March 5th the Studebaker Motor Corporation announced that, after 64 years, they would no longer produce Studebaker cars (remember the Lark, Hawk and Avanti?). And on March 26th there were demonstrations and draft card burnings in New York City protesting the Vietnam War.

APRIL 1966
We were beginning to count down the days left until graduation, but there were still plenty of school activities going on that kept a lot of us busy...

On April 1st and 2nd, the THS Choir, under the direction of Mr. Constable and Mr. John Sipe, gave wonderful performances of Tecumseh's major stage production of the year, South Pacific, with senior Susan Dick in the lead role. Other seniors with featured parts in the musical were John Parr, Sue Zann Lampert, Linda Ross and Steve Behnan, with many other seniors in the supporting cast and crew.

And also on April 2nd it was reported in the Springfield Sun that seniors Becky Ziesmer and Jeann Hempstead had been selected as Tecumseh's candidates for the Clark County Home and Sports Show Queen at the Clark County Fairgrounds, with their pictures appearing in the Sunday newspaper on April 10th.

During the first week of April the Tecumseh baseball, with Coach Bob Davis and featuring seniors Larry Robertson, Gary Sanger and Fred Mundey began its season, as did the THS track team led by Coach Roger McClean. And the girls' softball team also got under way, hoping for a successful season. But a number of the early games and meets had to be postponed or cancelled due to inclement weather, which even included snow flurries on April 5th.  

On April 22, six proud seniors - Becki McFarland, Linda Jenkins, Marcia Funderburg, Sherry Dicken, Marilyn Rivenburgh, and Nancy Maupin - were inducted into the National Honor Society to join the other seniors who had already been selected in 1965.
 
A favorite gathering place after any of the school events and games was the Frisch's in Fairborn, where you could get a Big Boy, French Fries and Coca-Cola. But some of the older senior guys had discovered a little oasis called The Lantern, located on the western edge of Springfield, where they would sometimes "unwind" with some other beverages. (At least, that was the rumor.)

In local news, after all of the "UFO sightings" that were reported in the area in March, on Sunday, April 3, the Springfield News-Sun ran a reassuring story with the headline "Don't Worry About Flying Saucers, Even If You See One Of Them". It went on to state that the Air Force said that it was just the planet Venus that everyone had seen, along with some other possible explanations for the recent phenomena. And the story ended with the suggestion, if a UFO should hover over your house, "Just relax and enjoy it."

An interesting fact (and probably the cause of some confusion) about that April was that Springfield and Clark County remained on regular Eastern Standard Time, while 240 other Ohio communities, mostly in the eastern part of the state, went to "fast" time to observe the new Daylight Savings Time. It wasn't until the next year that the entire state as a whole would be required to change to Daylight Savings Time in April.

In sports news, although the Cincinnati Reds were picked by many "experts" to win the National League that year, it might have been a bad omen when their entire 3 game opening home series was rained out - the first time in their history that had happened! They then proceeded to have a 3-10 record in April, including 6 losses in a row, digging a hole for themselves that they never recovered from. On April 10th, The Masters golf tournament ended in a 3-way tie, with Jack Nicklaus finally claiming the $20,000 winner's check the next day for his second Masters victory in a row (in 2005, Tiger Woods got a check for $1,260,000 for winning the same tournament). And on Thursday, April 28th, the Boston Celtics, led by Bill Russell and John Havilchek, won their 8th consecutive NBA Championship, over the Los Angeles Lakers, with stars Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. (Now the NBA playoffs go on until June!)

That April the top new songs were Kicks by Paul Revere and The Raiders, Secret Agent Man by Johnny Rivers, Good Lovin' by the Young Rascals, and The Mamas and The Papas' second hit, Monday, Monday.

On TV the last original episode of The Flintstones was shown that month on Friday, April 1st. It was the first primetime animated television series when it debuted on Sept. 30, 1960, and was originally aimed at adults as the first season was sponsored by Winston cigarettes.

The Park Layne Drive-In started the month of April with the spy-spoof, Our Man Flint, and ended it with a spy double feature with the stars of The Man From U.N.C.L.E TV show appearing in their own movies - The Spy With My Face (with Robert Vaughn) and To Trap A Spy (with David McCallum). At other local theatres, the Oscar-winning My Fair Lady finally debuted, as did the 4th re-release of Bambi, The Singing Nun starring Debbie Reynolds, and Paul Newman in Harper. James Stewart had also had a couple of new movies - The Rare Breed and The Flight Of The Phoenix. But maybe the most intriguing of all of the movies was The Ghost In The Invisible Bikini, starring Tommy Kirk, at the Stardust Drive-in.

In preparation for Easter on Sunday, April 10th, there were Easter sales at Wren's, Rike's and The Boston Store with Mens' suits from $33, Womens' wool coats from $15. and Womens' rain coats for $10, Easter hats from $3.99 at Mitzi's Fashion Store, and Clark's had Easter baskets on sale, "filled with candy and toys", from 84¢ each. And both IGA and Payless Discount Foods had Easter hams on sale for 48¢ a pound.

And possibly the most amazing event of the month occurred on Thursday, April 21, when Dr. Michael DeBakey successfully implanted a newly designed artificial heart inside a 65 year old man in Houston, Texas. Dr. DeBakey's work and research was instrumental in laying the foundation for many of the advances in heart surgery that are available today.