Attending West Tampa and Memorial Junior High The completion of my elementary years was lots of fun, as I had the pleasure to attend two great schools. My first was Cuesta Elementary (which now has been torn down). I attended grades one, two, and four there. The second school Desoto Elementary is where my father worked and retired as a teacher. I enjoyed the warmth and comfort of being with my dad for three years. After my last year at Desoto (finishing the sixth grade), I began Memorial Jr. High School (Bulldogs) for seventh grade. After school, I would wait on the corner, of Martin Luther King Avenue (up in a tree on the corner) or at a friend’s home nearby until Dad would pick me up. These were long waits, as Dad would work late and I could not get home until he arrived. I had Osgood Slaughters Disease (during seventh grade) in which I outgrew my knee cap and they had to put a cast on my entire right leg. Summer was approaching, so it was hot, itchy, and sweaty. We still lived on Saint Louis and I had to take a shower with one leg hanging out of the shower. My biggest regret having a cast on was this was soccer time. I have and never was a huge sports person in my life, but soccer was something that I really connected with! My doctor sent in a note telling the coach that I could not dress out or play during that time; I was so intrigued with the sport that on several occasions, I went out to the field in order to play even though I still had my cast on. The coach became so disturbed with me that he made me stay in the locker room. I didn’t blame him, as it was dangerous for me (as well as others), but I never got over the fact that I might have enjoyed that sport! Due to the fact my friends and I spent much of our time riding and chasing go-carts in the neighborhood, I was able to run for miles without tiring and soccer was easy for me.
Returning from lunch one day (with my cast on), I was threatened by older kids as they tried to pick on me due to me wearing a cast. They became physical and I defended myself by using my cast as a weapon as there were two of them. I slung my cast around hitting them and they stopped. After that, they left me alone and I never heard from them again. Other than that, seventh grade was a pleasant experience. There was one student, Bill McCullough, I “hung with” and we had much in common. Years later, when building my own family’s first home (on Manor Oak Drive), as in all homes they would fall behind schedule. There was a carpenter who framed out our back porch on a weekend. He recognized me and I thought what a small world and realized it was Bill McCullough.
Memorial Jr. High was a great experience! The people were friendly. I wore glasses. I realized how bad my eyes were and how much I had missed, including not being able to see the board. The movie, “The Pink Panther,” was popular then and my first picture on my notebook was “The Pink Panther.”
My first big report using the library was on Kenya. I spent many hours in the library and for the first time I felt I was learning how to make a report. The classes were good and I enjoyed many of my teachers. My hardest class was drafting as it was difficult for me to see the angles that were required in order to make the drawings. In PE, we had to “dress out” and shower. I was modest and avoided taking the shower, but later learned how to deal with it.
In eighth grade I continued at Memorial, but realized waiting after school for Dad or riding my bike, took too long before I could get home. So my parents decided I could attend West Tampa Jr. High (Greyhounds). My first experience there was different; as I had lost contact with many of my younger elementary friends. I guess had been sheltered much of my younger years at Desoto with Dad because this was the first time school seemed different to me; although, Memorial seemed to be a good fit.
Not knowing any better the first few days of “dressing out,” I wore my Memorial PE clothes. I wasn’t wearing the proper uniform and I had no clue that students were “loyal” to their mascot. I would eventually get the “proper dress out clothes”, but was still involved in learning the procedures and what had to be done.
This was my first “wakeup call”, as my gym shorts were stolen after a couple of days. I was shocked, but learned that “school spirit” was the reason for it.
I asked a girl in the hallway for a reason, as she was walking next to me to the next class and she said, “I should not have worn those gym clothes!” Moving in the middle of a grading period, I was assigned to a “lower ability class,” which placed me in a room full of misfits for that year. This presented me with more problems than I expected, but learned to deal with them.
West Tampa Jr. High no longer exists, but is now an elementary school. The last building on the right was the shop area, and the building in the middle was the cafeteria. Cuesta Elementary School was on the opposite side (in front).
I remember students in my class telling the teacher I did not belong there (as I would answer questions,) but as time went on; I learned to just stay quiet. But by doing that, I did not get moved up and it was a wasted year. PE continued to be a bad time for me, as many students would gather and try to make fun of me. I was quiet and failed to say much as I was very embarrassed by my teeth. One day a group of them gathered around me and began chanting and making fun. On that day, I had enough and retaliated by picking up the largest boy I could find (which happened to be the star football player) and I slung him a few feet. The coach was impressed and he never punished me for defending myself. The ring leader’s name, Joe Ramos, had failed once or twice. I was surprised when the coach just snickered with what I had just done. After that, I was left alone and people asked why I did not play sports (for which I did not reply). I was lucky in the fact that even though I never played sports, there were many years of working in our grocery store; putting up stock and
hanging cattle, enabled me to develop, as if I had been working out for years.
My eighth grade shop class was a disruptive! Not that anyone ever picked on me, but the fact that students behaved badly to the shop teacher bothered me. By the end of the eighth grade, the instructor either quit or was fired. Another teacher, who was stricter, took over. He was a good shop teacher, as was the other one they let go, but he was small and the students just ran over him! This was the point of transition and from then on, it was much better in shop class. I remember that before this transition, I would pray that everyone would make it through the day; as it often became very violent in shop.
Before the transition, the most common item made was (supposedly) table legs of which tables were never made, but the legs made were used as billy clubs. I made them too, along with salad bowls that I gave to my parents and grandparents. One of the bowls exists today and can be found in my Dad’s old dresser that I still have. The final project made in shop (after the new teacher arrived) was a “modern cat” made from wood placed on a board to be hung as a decoration. (The date it was made should still be on the back of it.) It still exists and can be found in our storage room.
Here is a picture of Bode (6th grandchild) holding the salad bowl I gave to my parents.
Middle School was a time of transition, but yet I still did not make many friends at school. Most of my friends continued to be those found in the neighborhood, or from elementary school. I was not popular (as I had been during the elementary years) and very withdrawn. I did not really attend many school functions due to being bashful and working after school. I feel the appearance of my missing two front teeth had lots to do with it.
Even though I did not play sports, this is the field where we would play. On the far end, we would sometimes play softball.
There was an occasion (as I was lucky at hitting the ball) when students from the second floor ran out to the windows to see me hit. It surprised me to know that others were watching. I feel I was able to hit so hard, due to the many years of working at the store. It was not talent, just force!
During Jr. High, I did attend dances and other events with older friends and my two cousins (Joe and Jr.) These events included ice skating, shows, roller skating, and dances. The Rockers at Letter Carriers Hall and the Palladium (which was a college dance) are some of the places my cousins would take me. You had to be in college to enter, but they had a way of getting me in, as I looked older than my age. It was fun to dance with college students! All of them were fun and I loved to dance and never felt shy while attending these events. I always went out with older students as I felt more comfortable with them.
A recent picture showing the inside of Tampa Letter Carrier’s Hall. I attended dances there during school. Later on in years, Carol and I attended New Year’s celebrations there when we were first married.
I attended events at different places; therefore, I did not know who was a couple or not. One of the times at McFarland Park, I asked a girl to dance and on the second dance I realized another boy must have liked her as he pulled a knife on me. Luckily for me, there was an officer on duty and nothing happened as he “kicked him out” of the dance. Another time in North Tampa, I asked someone to dance and sat down to talk. Another jealous boyfriend came up to me and wanted to fight, (he did not realize I towered over him) and when I stood up he backed down. Of course, I did not bother asking the same girl to dance again! These incidents were rare and most of the time the dances and events were fun, (just part of the teen years)!
I think my most memorable moment was at the Letter Carriers Hall, where The Rockers performed.
While still attending West Tampa, I sat next to a cheerleader that I talked to before class, (we were always sitting down), and so we never realized how tall I was compared to her.
One day I asked, Linda Gonzalez, if she would be going to the dance and she replied, “Yes.” It was not a date (other than asking if she would be there.) I thought it would be great to have someone I knew to dance with. So we danced “the twist and shout” which was very popular during that time and just talked.
Everything seemed to be fine, until there was a slow dance. That is when I realized I towered over her (she was short and I was so tall)! Being teenagers and the way teens acted, a crowd stood around us looking and cheering as they always did. I was embarrassed and never asked her to dance again. Being that I was so shy, I had a hard time socializing during this period of my life. The students did this as a normal thing, but for me it was embarrassing!
Jr. High was not my favorite time! The assemblies during the last period on Fridays were my chance to get away! I’d walk home or go to the store as this is where I felt more comfortable.
The time was not all “bad” and I really enjoyed the times we went ice or roller skating and dancing, but I never enjoyed the two years at West Tampa Jr. High. It was a part of my life I wanted to move on with.
This group made up the Rockers during Jr. High and High School and later on played during New Year’s Celebrations…They still continue to put on one show a year and can be found in May at the Letter Carriers Hall in Tampa.
Memorial Jr. High School
Memorial Middle School is in the heart of historic Seminole Heights near busy downtown Tampa. It was first built in 1925. It underwent a number of changes through the years, first as a junior high school, then as an adult education center, and finally as a middle school.
Not Hypnotized!
During this part of my life, I was spending more time with Albert Hale than Wayne or Fanno.
We enjoyed go-carts and motor bikes and spent our times together at each other’s houses. He too was adventurous! Albert was older than me and he lived across the street from what was then Leonard’s Bar. The owner would purchase hamburger meat and a few other items from my parents’ store.
Not only did they have great hamburgers, but made delicious devil crabs! It was always a “treat” to buy the devil crabs from them.
Albert, who had no connections with the owner, decided to float firecrackers in the men’s restroom, which was not a good idea! Using a cigarette as a fuse, he placed them in the toilet and went home to listen for the explosion. No damage was ever done, but the loud noise frightened people! This was the worse trouble I can remember him getting into and I was not around when he did this. I suggested that he shouldn’t do this, as it could present problems. He also got into mischief at a canning plant called Stokley’s Van Camp Canning Plant. He showed me on Sundays (when the plant was closed) you could climb up to the top of the building, enter through a small door in the corrugated aluminum siding, and ride the conveyor belt near the ceiling of the plant. I always worried if at the end of the ride we would be “canned”! It was like going to an amusement park, but better as it did not cost us anything to ride; just a little adrenalin rush and some guts! Lucky for us we never got hurt. They also had a loading ramp located on the side of the building. Even before knowing Albert, many of my friends (including Louis Motto) would ride our bikes down the ramp as a jumping area. It was a fun-filled time where we spent many hours and again no one was hurt during the jumps.
Albert’s father was a hypnotist and had many books on the subject. I read them and one of the topics was how to relax. I used some of those procedures later on in life, when I could not sleep and it seemed to help. I taught myself how to relax; which allowed me to fall asleep sooner. Later on in high school, the method worked great for me when learning the names of our muscles and bones. I would use the technique by (starting at my toes), naming all the parts of the foot, and then slowly moving up until I would fall asleep. One day, Albert Hale unexpectedly asked his father to hypnotize me if I were in agreement. I did not want to, but thought it would be fun to have his father try. I saw many comedies on television at the time and thought it would be a fun adventure. Albert’s father tried, but failed! His father explained you had to be submissive in order for it to work. I knew I was not the type to be submissive, but it was fun to have him try.
My First Motor Bike
One of my friends, Wayne Floyd, who lived on Saint Louis St. was around thirteen years of age. We were in “junior high” and needed transportation to school. His parents purchased a Cushman Motor Scooter for him, but Mom was “dead set” against me riding with him. I rode it a few times, but the most haunting time was when he decided to take it to school and I rode on the back. We headed down St. Louis Street where I saw Mom and I’m not sure if we became startled but I fell! She became very distraught and I don’t remember riding it again. Albert Hale, who I talked about earlier, attended Catholic School and took shop. While he was in shop, he created a platform to attach on a bicycle that converted it to a “motor bike”. Before this time, we both had go-carts and would ride them all over the streets of West Tampa. We would change them over to direct drive, experiment with different engines, and remove the clutches to have direct drive in order to make them go faster. We also experimented with different braking systems, so that they would be able to stop faster.
Going back to the bike, Albert Hale said for shop fees (of which at the time were just a few dollars), I could convert my bike into a motor bike. So, I had him do it! At the time I had a Lawson 2 horsepower lawnmower engine that I mounted to the bike. I used a 10 inch pulley on the back wheel and by drilling a series of holes in the pulley was able to use nuts, bolts, and washers to attach the pulley to the wheel. The accelerator was a simple string that went from the carburetor to the handle grip on the steering wheel. The handle grip was “bored out” some so it would turn. A small hole was drilled into it and by twisting the handle grip it would open up the carburetor and make it go faster or slower. Since it was only a two horsepower engine there was never much power, but by experimenting with the pulley ratios and by peddling to start off; we were able to reach speeds in the high twenties which at the time were good for getting around. The other big advantage was it was a lawnmower engine, which never burned much fuel. Gasoline at the time averaged around eighteen cents per gallon. In those times there were “gas wars” and many times gas would go down (to the low teens) in price. What a great time to live in! I loved the fact that we could create things we enjoyed and use them for fun and practicality.
Although this is not representative of our bikes, the mechanics were similar. We experimented with gear ratios, in order to have enough power to push us along with a speed that we could be satisfied with.
At one point, I hit 30 mph with perfect conditions. The mid-twenties were more in line with what you could expect out of them.
The shop fees were around $5.00 and the remaining parts came from using our go-carts and imagination. But for the price they each provided many years of fun and experiences as well as knowledge.