Nov 25, 2008
Current mood:
nostalgic
Where are they now-all my 4-H Friends?
When I was 8 years old, I had been a member of a Brownie Girl Scout troop. This type of activity really didn’t interest me much. I finished out the year, learned my Girl Scout pledge, earned my pin and moved on.
My next endeavor was 4-H. I joined my “local” 4-H club – I believe the name was the Parkland Raiders (not 100% sure on that one!). Now this was very cool to me! I could register for many different types of activities and learn many new things! I will have to say, the best part of 4-H was the summer camp!
Come on, where else could you do archery, polar bear every morning, arts and crafts, swimming and sports all in one week?! Oh it was so fun to see which cabin you were assigned to and what new friends you’d meet! I remember my first camp experience, I was really nervous. For those of you who didn’t know me back in Elementary School, I was a very shy, quiet girl (what the heck happened, right?). So for me, camp was a very nerve racking experience! The positive was that a few of my friends from my Club would also be going and being that we were the same age, we would be in the same cabin together! Oh, I had so much fun! I was hooked! I went to camp every year after that. Met alot of new friends and created bonds that would span quite a few years.
After I had reached the age requirement to be a camp counselor, I jumped on it! Come on…camp counselors were cool, we all looked up to them! Wow, this was by far the most fun I had EVER had in 4-H! I remember playing Capture the Flag, singing campfire songs – Mr. Bojangles, The Bear Song, etc., Flag Ceremonies (I still remember how to properly raise, lower and fold a flag!) and the after bedtime shenanigans the counselors did!
In addition to being a Camp Counselor, I also got to participate in other 4-H trips. I traveled to State 4-H Congress in Madison in 1984 and 1985. We stayed on the campus of UW-Madison. I made a couple trips down to the Wisconsin State Fair and spent a week out on Wisconsin Point participating in the Superior Experience in 1983. Each of these trips brought new friendships, crushes, love interests and experiences that I will treasure forever! Remembering all this has pointed out to me that I have forgotten some of the things that I loved so much…photography, drawing and sewing. My State Fair trips were due to the fact that I had placed so well with my sewing and photography that I won a trip to present my goods there. Wishing now that I had more time to pursue the things that once brought me such joy.
It is funny how I can remember distinctly taking a group on a nature hike at camp with Jon Dauplaise and singing Do Wah Diddy Diddy Dum Diddy Do, having to walk across stage and speak to a group of 1000 people at 4-H Congress, walking from the dorms to Memorial Union Hall in my 3″ heels, my very first kiss-Darrin Falk (sigh), the Bambino and Schleptowski “Families”, punching (literally) Mickey Erickson in the chin, a long, dark walk out to the lighthouse on the point and orienteering in canoes in the bay. I remember some good times outside of 4-H with Jean-Marie Dauplaise going to watch Zen Identity (band) play and meeting my future husband at a party she and I had gone to together. Haha, I even remember listening to Adam Ant’s Desperate But Not Serious song with her… but I cannot remember half of the things I do in my current life!
Well, I’ve gone on enough…here is to all those that made my teenage years so much fun! You all hold a special place in my heart and I miss the friendships we had!
Mickey (Lawrence) Erickson, Darrin Falk, Dawn Falk, Jon Dauplaise, Jean-Marie Dauplaise, Greg Johnson, Clete Strak, Ronda Granquist, Sheila Richardson, Matt Markon, Dave and Steve Teikippe, Scott Harvey, Marty Arneson, Mike Arneson, Buffy Luostari, Linda Nett, Diana Mullikin, Jaydee Larson and the one person that was taken from our lives much too soon…Terry Larson.
For those of you who have fallen to my drones of not drinking and driving, Terry is the reason why. He died in a head-on car accident after he had been drinking. The accident happened within 1 mile of his home. Terry was engaged to be married and was to enter the service the day after he passed away. I had talked to Terry about a week before he died…he and I had some great conversations. I never got to say goodbye and our last phone conversation didn’t end on a happy note. I regret that to this day. I love you and miss you Terry! November 25, 1969 – March 12, 1989
Terry would have turned 39 years old today.
