THE ORTEGA BELLE OF THE BALL (Riverside Memories)

"THE ORTEGA BELLE OF THE BALL"

04/07/2010 RHK

While looking at the image I had wondered what the old girl had been like in her prime and just how long had she been the center of such ongoing attention ? Now showing the weathering of age she looked tired beyond her years, but there was character yet to be seen as captured in John Ropp's fine portrait. Yes, I am told that there was not another one like her, well not in Jacksonville, anyway. In the late 1920s some of our own parents were even coming across town on the trolleys or squeezing into Ford coupes as teens from Springfield to keep her company in style at her dances. But surely she was not always a dance hall queen in her early times. It seems as though everyone had known her over those years, but who had she been before ? Was there not , beside the Ropp drawing, at least one photograph of her to be found somewhere in all those archives ? Perhaps at some earlier time she had been catering to the elites of the early steamboat tourist trade, perhaps as a fine wayside restaurant there on the scenic Ortega river-front, perhaps.

Why would someone have built a large covered wharf at that location at that time ? Would she have been built as a shipping storage or packing house for the various products of an early plantation on the Ortega island, like the Sadler sugar mill ? Jack Gaillard relates how Florida historian Dena Snodgrass even wrote of her. Dena and our classmate historian Jimmy Ward had described the early use of the peninsula-shaped Ortega as a cotton plantation and also of the milling of local cypress logs for roof shingles. There was a clay pit and brick kiln from around the eighteenth century McQueen era which site is near to where the Bryan residence is now located. Susie tells us, " Its interesting that our house is where they used to dig clay to make bricks for the Kingsley Plantation. Sandy had found some near our bulkhead and took them out there."

Following the leads of Gaillard and Bill Ketchum who had heard of my quest, I was introduced to long time Ortega resident Mr. John Corse who steered me to the Florida Room of the Jacksonville public library and to the definitive newspaper article on the Ortega Pier dance pavilion and its creator, builder and owner, Mr. George Boutwell. The article by Staff Writer Cynthia Parks had been published in the August 8, 1990 edition of the Florida Times Union,. It was a George Boutwell biography to celebrate his 100 birthday and it was titled, "The leader of the band". And then, through the interests of another friend, Don Reedy, I was introduced to Fontaine Boutwell a granddaughter of the man himself. She has filled in many of the gaps in the story and provided some very interesting insights into the family, the Pier and the community.

George Boutwell, a native of California was an orphan who, as an industrious young man also possessed a God-given talent for music, especially when playing the clarinet given to him by a benefactor, the doctor at the orphanage in San Rafael. This was near San Francisco where he saw the 1906 San Francisco fire from across the bay. He left the orphanage at age 15 to work as a cowboy in the Colorado area and on the weekends he would play at the local dance halls. He said he made more money working one night playing music than working all week as a cowboy. When he was about 18 he met and married Lucretia there in Colorado and then they headed East, working on a circus train meandering even up into Canada and eventually arriving to pitch the big tent at the Big Apple, New York City. I would suspect that beside being in the circus band, he was also involved in the other carnival- like activities. From there he and his wife would board a Clyde Line steamer to Florida, where in 1913, they became owners of a 20 acre farm near Ocala where he grew yam potato crops. Fontaine tells us , " She was in training as an opera singer and he was that cowboy musician. They had made their way to New York City because Memaw, my grandmother got a job as an understudy at the Met. Pop played in the orchestra. The reason they moved to Florida was my Memaw's father wanted to move there and she bought the land for him." He was still living back west and was wanted, I mean he wanted a , er, a quick change in venue, if you care to read between the lines.

Soon George was again literally handed the opportunity to demonstrate his musical talent among a band of local musicians and consequently he would form his own small orchestra which played in theaters for the silent movies. When they moved to Jacksonville, he formed a band to perform at the Gibbs Co. Shipyard during WWI. Their performances then expanded into Hemming Park for the tourists, onto the City streets for parades, to playing classical music on WDAL radio, and in 1921 the smartly uniformed, marching Boutwell Band led the historic opening procession over the new Acosta Bridge as they played ,"Over There". Years later the Boutwell ensemble would be playing concerts at the Florida and other theaters and in out of town engagements. It has not been said whether Lucretia Boutwell ever sang with the band.

John N.C. Stockton and his partners including Charles C. Bettes had begun the real estate development of the Ortega and in 1908 the Ortega Company constructed a wooden bridge carrying a streetcar line across McGirt's Creek ( Ortega River) The Bettes mansion was built in 1910 on Ortega Point. ( It was ravaged by a fire in 2009. The magnificent, sprawling ancient oak tree on the property survived and there is hope for the restoration of the mansion.) The streetcar line connected the new Ortega development to the rest of Jacksonville passing through Riverside via. Herschel St. to Aberdeen and then connected with Jacksonville Traction Co. at Five Points. That original bridge structure would be replaced with the current Ortega River Bridge in 1927. By then the trolley line had already been extend from the Ortega Village and through Yulee to the US Army and National Guard camps Johnston and Foster at Black's Point which would later become the US Naval Air Station. This extension would connect the troups with their payrolls as quickly as possible to the awaiting establishments of Jacksonville. The last Jacksonville streetcar was run in 1936. The last tracks were removed during WWII.

Band leader and businessman George Boutwell purchased the first lot subdivided on the Ortega Point because it was adjacent to that old wooden Ortega Bridge with its trolley and than moved his family there. In 1923 Boutwell built a 110 ft. long pier out into the Ortega River supporting the large dance pavilion - a place for his band to perform, especially on Saturday nights. Lucretia sold tickets and the 30 piece George Boutwell Band played for the hilarious opening night of the new Ortega Pier. That story was elaborated by the Florida Times Union in June 1999 and is to be seen archived online.

It was a "happening" - a well publicized dance marathon "exhibition". Actually, there was another dance pavilion of that earlier time, the Shad's Pier , owned and operated by Jimmy Trotter , but it was way over there at Pablo Beach. Coincidentally, Trotter was producing a dance marathon the same weekend that Boutwell was producing his, but according to another newspaper recollection, "The Ortega affair appeared the classier of the two, relatively speaking." The elites of the region apparently viewed marathon endurance dancing contests to be outlandish behavior - one step down from the Roller Derby culture, er, relatively speaking. For instance, "There are those who contend marathon dances should be outlawed altogether,'' editorialized the Jacksonville Journal. ''And yet it is not the marathon dance itself that is viscous in itself; it is the lack of proper care and supervision that is the real evil.'' However, Boutwell at the the Ortega and Trotter at the Pablo did provide the doctors and other medical attendants if needed for anything from resuscitation to foot massages.

Boutwell was offering no cash prizes to the Ortega dancers. No prizes here, it was all in the challenge - a thing of honor, er, relatively speaking. Boutwell the promoter had announced that his dancers were seeking a World Record - - right here folks, yes, see it right here at this brand new Ortega Pier - -. I suspect that his intrinsic skills as a business entrepreneur had been well sharpened by his earlier circus carnival experience. It went on for (about) four days, sixteen hours and fifteen minutes. The juke box was played while the Boutwell Band took its breaks. But soon after it had started - it had to be quickly convert to a portable endurance dance marathon exhibition. Duval County Sheriff Ham Dowling had also been announcing publically that he would , "- - shut down the dance at midnight Saturday because it wasn't right for people to behave like that on a Sunday. It is a morbid curiosity that attracts people to marathons,'' so he had said. Well, when the dancers over at Pablo quit on time, but the Ortega dancers kept on hoofing it, Sheriff Dowling, true to his word and enforcing the local Sunday Law, escorted George to the slammer where he was quickly bonded out for $100. Dowling also made the still dancing partners (and a few solos) move along to another jurisdiction which they promptly did.

The Ortega contestants did the two-step all along the way atop a flatbed truck while reroute to Clay County. Accompanied by the dance judges and a portable music box the determined dancers were denied use of the Orange Park pavilion, so they just did the flat bed shuffle off to a private home. Then they fox trotted on the ten -wheeled dance floor back again to the cheering crowd of the Ortega that early Monday morning, soon after midnight. Finally at 3:30 AM on Tuesday morning , at the insistence of an attendant doctor, Miss Bobbie Grigg and her partner Ralph Moore were declared the couples marathon champions. There was no further mention of World -wide acclaim, but who cared. Everybody had fun and the Ortega Pier had made its well- publicized debut. George would later grin and chuckle that the whole flat bed truck idea had been a set-up arranged with his friend, Ham. He also mentioned that he had slipped some long green favors to a newspaper employee to keep the story in the public eye a few extra days. But the real winners would be the two generations of teens and young adults who would dance at George Boutwell's the Ortega Pier during its subsequent and varied 49 year history.

During part of the Great Depression the Pier was closed to public dancing while Boutwell took a job performing on radio in Indiana. He reopened the Ortega Pier in 1931 and the dancing continued into the 1960s when it was also rented to private parties and social clubs from all over town. Fontaine Boutwell tells us that, " the only changes he made over the years was the addition of a floating dock at the end of the pier and of course, to keep it painted. It had a rolled green roof and the shutters were painted the same shade of green, the body of the pier was weathered brown and CocaCcola painted their logo along the side of the building. He had made little square tables and bought bent wood ice cream pallor chairs, the stage had a dark red velvet curtain and the juke box was made of glass mirror tiles. It was rustic with trapping of class. There was a red ice cooler so long you could sleep in it with the same CocaCola emblem down the side. He had row boats and two person sail boats that you could rent to take your girl on a moonlit ride on the Ortega. We Boutwell children caught blue crabs off of the Pier and put them on ice in that big Coke cooler that Pop Boutwell had used for soft drinks. We helped clean -up after the dances and he would let us keep the balloons. Pop, my grandfather, use to say, 'Stay away from musicians as we are a randy bunch."

The Boutwell Pier remained a popular place especially for the students of Robert E. Lee High School. The City of Jacksonville even rented it for square dances, but never on a Sunday. John Pringle remembers the Ortega Pier , "I used to pass by it twice a day going to school. It had "Fuller Fun Club" painted in big letters on the side. I also knew Mr. Boutwell very well. He was the first Band Director at Lake Shore Junior High School and I was in his band. After practice twice a week he would give me a ride home. Our Band photograph with him is in the the 1947 Highlights yearbook.

The Ortega Pier with the Band, and teaching were not the Boutwell's only business activities. Among them were included extensive real estate enterprises, her operation of the Roadside Ritz Restaurant there in Ortega and of another popular restaurant downtown at the courthouse where several valuable friendships were formed. George Boutwell was also the long-time head of the local Musicians Union.

George Boutwell's last musical dance performance was at a New Years party in 1955 up in Savannah. But then Lucretia Boutwell was in her early eighties when she died from complicatios resulting from being struck by an automobile. George then continued to manage the Pier rental and other varied family interprises and also revived his agricultural skills by producing a notable vegetable garden along side his old friend, the Pier. The Boutwell garden was a large multi-leveled terraced arrangement contained by cedar planks and old pilings which he then filled in with river bottom silt. The Ortega / Boutwell/ Pier/ Pavillion was removed sometime in 1972 while the clarinet, saxophone, oboe player, the band leader who had provided his extended community with so much enjoyment, the 100 year-old Mr.George Boutwell continued happily tending to his prized tomatoes until the age of 105. His children and grandchildren made him a funeral wreath using the verdant produce from his beloved garden..

Jacob Ostner, the dad of our schoolmate Louise (Neese) Goodling owned a vacant lot next to the Boutwell Pier property and generously made it available to the area Boy Scouts. Jack recalls how, "The neighborhood kids also used it for swimming, fishing and boating. The ‘Scout's Dock’ there was built from wreckage we had salvaged from pieces of other docks that had been wrecked by storms and hurricanes and which had washed into the swamp on the west side of the Point. That prime real estate locale had been partially filled - in for a few more residential sites until the River People stepped in. A rite a passage for the younger boys was to swim across the Ortega River from there at the Pier ; for the older guys, it was to swim from the Ortega Bridge to the new Roosevelt Bridge." While then playing next to and around the Boutwell Pier, these youngsters would soon be dancing on it.

Jan Baumgartner Strickland , now of Orlando, tells us, " I grew up in Ortega and my mother was secretary at the Ortegal Elementary school. My father H. L. (Sonny) Baumgartner owned United Amusement Co, that owned the "juke box" that was located on the Ortega Pier. He furnished the current popular records and also rented and serviced the pinball machine. He and Mr. Boutwell were friends and I remember several parties on that pier when I was in high school in 1956-1959. A big old fashioned Coke cooler that sat near the big door close to the river. Seems like there was also a NeHi cooler by the bar in the back where you came in. My father had permission to shrimp off the Pier and began taking me with him when I was in elementary school. There was more dock out on the front, beyond the enclosed part, but it was too rickety for more than one or two people. My dad used to ease out there to throw his shrimp net and when he threw it the whole dock part wobbled. One of my fondest memories was him teaching me how to throw a shrimp net and then tying me with a bit of rope to one of those dock pilings and letting me throw the net and pull it in to find the shrimp in it. That shrimp bait was the most awful smelling stuff. Most of us who lived close to Ortega Bridge would go up to the grocery and get meat bones that they would throw away and catch blue crabs off the Pier on the north side and under the bridge or at the boat yard on the south side of the bridge. Those were thrilling times for me both inside and outside the Pier."

Gaillard further recalls that, "It's likely that the Boutwell Pier rested on cypress pilings just as did the wharf of old Gress family saw mill just up and across the Ortega River. It had been operating at the creek where the Roosevelt Mall is now located. The last vestige of that saw mill was removed to make way for the condo construction. Still later the cypress pilings on which the mill's loading wharf had sat were extracted to make room for the marina. When the tide was high, those pilings had not been visible as a number of errant boat captains discovered to their dismay. I had been told by Sandy that those 52 pilings were as pristine as the day they were driven." The Ortega Pier framing itself may well have been cypress construction, which explains why those two generations of us 'dancing fools' couldn't shake it down." The sturdy old girl was put to various other uses than dancing in her later years - one was as a temporary storage shed. As Peter McCranie relates, "In our day the structure always looked like it was going to fall apart, but the Pier survived the 1964 Hurricane Dora and was still strong enough to support the Gaillard station wagon. It is remembered that it finally fell into disrepair and was dismantled."

And along the way the members of the George Boutwell family had also removed themselves from residing in the Ortega so the Boutwell families currently residing there are of no relation. They had always stayed pretty much to themselves socially because of the elder residents of Ortega who had never had much good to say about them - most of them disapproved of the Pier, and the dancing and the music. But those residents were not like we are, they were those "old people".

Peter also recalls how, "The Ortega Pier was a very important part of the fraternity and sorority life. Every Saturday afternoon, on a rotational basis, one of the Panhellenic group would sponsor the dance, provide the chaperones and refreshments, and collect the small fee. The freshmen members of the "Greeks" were required to be present and had to dance. It was a great debut for most of us, who were still very awkward socially."

Sarah Towers Van Cleve recalls that some of her both happiest and most dreadful experiences occured at the Ortega Pier Sorority Tea Dances." Boys and girls both asked the other to dance or to "break". Like all of the other Freshmen who stood around with their eyes glued to the dance floor, I was too timid to ask a boy to dance. But if a Senior member of the sorority motioned with their little finger to come and break, you had to watch carefully and comply or you would get "rat court" at the next meeting. (You would be called in alone to face the wrath of a room full of older girls who would have you sing or some other humiliating task.) Once I had to break in on a boy to whom I had given a wide berth ever since I had seen him kiss every girl he could grab on New Year's Eve. Don Davidson, a senior and captain of the football team who lived next door and was my idol broke in on me and saved the day. The pier is gone leaving behind those memories for many people."

Jerry Knight remembers that , " Uncle Jack was my Mom's main baby sitter. He would wait until she was out of sight and toss me in the rumble seat of his supped- up, thirty nine Ford and away we would go to the most fascinating night spot in town , the Ortega Pier parking lot on a Saturday night. I would sit in that rumble seat , the ideal spot to see the better show, which was everything else that was happening off of the dance floor. I would sit there being happy with the cold drinks Jack would keep me supplied with and knowing that no one knew I was there in that rumble seat. I learned the facts of life by watching that older group who would become some of our city's finest citizens - our leaders and professionals doing their young thing. It was a great place to see and hear the many propositions- some which worked and the more that didn't by the best schemers of the day as they plied their persuasive ploys to win over the fine young women of that time. The music coming from the pier was great and from hearing it over and over I still remember most of the words of those great songs that filled the neighborhood until the wee hours. The girls ( woman) of that time and the guys were special and I must admit that I fell in love with those older girls for they were special in their own way. "

Tyler Potterfield, ever the romantic, muses, "My memories are getting dimmer and you guys are relighting the torch for me. My strongest memory is dancing with some exquisite young gal to "Dance Ballerina Dance" Vaughn Monroe [vocalist] coming from the juke box. By the way, every gal was exquisite and "good , better and best" was how they were valued. No question, my romantic hormones were fully in charge. What a great time of our lives !"

However, Tom Ingram has other hormonal recollections of , " - - the Ortega Pier as the site of the epic battle between me and George Gibbs, III, fighting for the favors of a young lass while the strains of "The Tennessee Waltz" and "Racing with the Moon" wafted out as we did battle in the dirt parking lot. We both lost as we never really resumed our teenage friendship." Hey, Tom, while you guys were out there fighting , she was in there dancing with Tyler.

Whenever there is a discussion of anything Ortega, the spectre the infamous "Gangster House" house on Grand Avenue arises. (See, it just did.) It was not far from the Pier and so that leads to an amusing musing of whether some wise guys might have shown up at the Ortega Pier from time to time " to do da tango". If they did, it is pretty certain they did not take "da trolley". But now we have the rest of the story as recently related to Fontaine Boutwell from her dad Ted Boutwell who currently resides across the Ortega. Ted had been one of the all-time great football players at R.E. Lee as an All South Quarterback in the 1930s. He also was a highly decorated Marine pilot seeing duty in WWII, Korea and Viet Nam before retiring as a Colonel. At 90 years Mr. Ted Boutwell is among the few remaining of that Greatest Generation of American heroes.

" It was not Machinegun Kelly, or Ma Barker, but Al Capone that moved to the Point. The house he bought with cash was the vanilla stucco with the blue tile roof (somewhat) across the street from the pier. Pop said he met him when Al came over and asked if he knew of a place where he could drive up and get food. Back then there was no such thing as a drive in restaurant or fast food. Pop told him he would make a call as his wife, Lucretia, owned a restaurant called the Roadside Ritz. Pop arranged for Al's men to go by the Ritz at a specific time and the food would be brought out to the car. Al only wanted only my grandmother to bring the food out to the car. When she gave the food to the man in the backseat of the car she saw a machine gun on the floor. Pop said they were a secretive, quirky group and he suspected they were going to be up to no good sooner or later. Being as he and the Sheriff ( Remember Ham Dowling ?) were pals, Pop gave him a call and shared his observations with him. The Sheriff did some research, then went by the house and told the men they had one week to get out of town. They quietly left."

The Pier was demolished in 1972 after the Ropp drawing was made in 1971. A much earlier photograph had indeed been made and a large framed copy was recently located in the lobby of the First Guaranty Bank in Ortega. It had been there all along. In June 2009, it was then shared with us all by Hickory Fant and that is the one shown here. That elusive photo had also been included in that archived 1990 Times Union article indicating a 1960s photo date. Tyler has commented about those two Pier images which both show it all closed up. " At dance time she came alive and all those closed shutters on the sides were propped open. It somehow created a wonderful effect- adding to the romance of the place and making it breezy enough on the sultry Saturday afternoons of Summer for us to put our hearts into the dancing."

If that old photo image of the cypress dance hall queen not been so elusive, there would not have been such a protracted and obviously well- supported quest for it. And we would not have been reward with the renewal of these cherished and obvious well - shared memories.

Raymond H King, Jr. Ocala, Fl, 04/07/2010

The author herein claims no copyright and assigns no copyright to the text.

RIVERSIDE MEMORIES - Fishweir, Bolles

For "FISHWEIR AND BEYOND" ,, RHKing, text with photos, B&W or color at cost :
contact Inky Fingers Printing , Jacksonville, Fl , 904-384-1900
Also see earlier draft color verson at www.Janusgroup.com/RiversideMemories/
amended and published by Tyler & Meredith Potterfield. The draft arrangement is not quite as neat, but many of the photo presentations are superior to the final. It too is non-copyright as is the final edition. See the Lee High School Class of 1950 web site for references to "Fishweir and Beyond" and also "The Ortega Bell of the Ball "(Ortega Pier)
* * * *
"BACK AT BOLLES " (draft) RHKing last edited 02/26/2009
(Herein the author neither claims nor assigns copyright - rhk 02/26/2009 )

These are our memories as former students at the Bolles School during the early 1950’s, primarily the class of ‘52 +/ -. ( Right now they are heavy on the football and baseball , but with other input that can be remedied.)
From J.B. Waters - Our Senior class (of 1952) began in Sept. 1945 (sixth grade) with Henry McClellan, Dickey Hardin, Bruce Norman, Neil Presser and myself. Bill Richardson came the second semester in Jan. 1946.
Ray King writes - At that time it was an all -boys, private, tuition-based high school having a uniformed military culture. There was also a “Lower School “ having the sixth and seventh grades. I do not recall how the arrangements were made with the eighth graders in sports and academics. The 50 (?) acre campus is located on the southeast side of Jacksonville, on the St Johns River and was entered from San Jose Blvd. There were about 200 cadets in the high school and about 65 in the lower. Of the total corps about 70 were local commuting day students (Day-boys) while the rest lived on campus. When some of us began in the Fall of 1949, there was a new academic classroom building ,Schultz Hall, and the older classroom building was uesd for the lower school. There was a combined canteen and book store, a gymnasium, a staffed infirmary and a general locker room next to the pool.
Most of the teaching staff lived in on-campus dwellings or in apartments in the main building. The main building had been a fine resort hotel facing the River. Its upper floors of guest rooms also comprised the barracks facility for the boarding students. There was a large dining hall which also served as auditorium and as a dance floor (unless the large lobby was used.) There was a large dock and boathouse on the river, a baseball field, tennis courts, a football practice field with bleacher-type seats where intramural games and a few varsity football games were played, and a large field used for military drills and sports. (This is where the current football field and track is located.) The enclosed rifle range was behind the gym.
The military culture comprised a battalion having three companies, the Army or Military, “A” Company and the Naval, “B“ Company. The lower school or Junior School was “C” Company . Each company had three platoons. One platoon in each company comprised the “day boys” while the other platoons comprised the boarding students. The student or cadet leadership/disciplinary hierarchy was set-up where officers of the battalion, the two companies and six platoons were appointed by the school administration. Student leadership in the Junior school came from the high school. Cadets from all three Companies comprised the, er, Band. Those guys had guts.
Periodically there would be a Sunday afternoon marching parade and review of all cadets and there was an annual marching drill competition.
In 1952, our senior year, R.D. Saunders was Battalion Commander, Charles Kern was Adjutant, Bobby Paul was “A” Company Commander, Jim Tyson was “B” Company Commander and Larry Moshell was “C” Company Commander.

The academics were arranged so that classroom activities were all in the mornings before the lunch break. These classes and the curriculum were set up according to the normal grade levels and with the same courses found in the accredited public schools of Florida. The academic periods were totally independent of any military culture except for the uniform military dress. Class sizes were from eight to maybe fifteen students. Bolles was one of six Honor Naval Schools in the USA and as such could appoint three students each to both the US Naval and Military Academies.

Following lunch there was either a military marching drill with working rifles, military skills or classroom periods. The Naval drilled with Springfield, bolt action rifles and the Army Company drilled using M-1’s. The Army actually fired Springfields on the rifle range and cadets could earn sharp shooter medals. I believe there was inter-academy marksmanship competetion. There was an annual in-school Manual of Arms Competition with one cadet winner
The Army usually won the annual precision marching competition while the Navy sang derisive songs at them during the lunchtime assemblies as we marched to the mess hall. AARrrr Matey !! It was all to the tune of “Sound-Off” from a popular movie at the time,“Battleground” . Lyrics by Lcdr. Nelimark and Jim Tyson who sang the solo part. The marching Company pitched in during the (chorus).“Company A is mighty shot, the stuff it takes they just ain’t got.“Their turns are slow, their step is bad; They march just like my old grand dad.(Chorus)“ Sound- off, (One, two) , Sound -off (Three, four) Cadence- count, (One, two, “three, four ; one, two ; threefour !)”.

Military training time was followed by team sports. Seasonal intramural sports involved all students not already involved in varsity sports. This was a great program and was set up according to the Companies with two teams each , designated the Blue, Green, Red and Yellow teams. Later the teams were set-up by the six platoons. Intramural and varsity coaches for each team came from the academic teaching staff. The Lower School had its own sports league.
The military and naval programs were dropped in 1962 and Bolles subsequently became co-educational. Several years later the Bartram school for girls was incorporated into the Bolles system and than a third campus added in Ponte Vedra.

The rest is a collection of internet notes, mixed recollections and stories from several former Cadets of the old school.
To John (Dykers) : you had mentioned your Midget Team (photo 1951 Annual) game against Fernandina Beach. My friend Bob Sanders who was our age went to Lee High School. The Lee B-team played the Fernandina varsity. ( Lee was a comparatively big school). Bob said that there were no lights on the field, and for night games the parents would park their cars along the sidelines and turn on the headlights. This confirms your recollections of covert hand-offs on the dark side. Considering the location of that fishing town I suspect they also scheduled their games by the almanac for when the tide was out.
Bob said that Fernandina had a fullback named "Bull" York. I had heard of him. His actual name was Marion York. Having a name like Marion and living in a N.E. Floeida fishing town, you had to be tough. Anyway he went to the University of Florida on a scholarship "to do da football” (and probably to work in the maintenance shop changing truck tires with his bare hands) . The story goes that one Fall afternoon there were a pile of Georgia players stacked up in front of the Florida bench. The Florida coach said, " York, you only have to tackle them; you don't have to bring them to me." I do not recall anyone at Bolles ever talking about making Mr. Marion "Bull" York's "acquaintance" on the high school gridiron. It could be possible that any such traumatic experiences had been mercifully suppressed into the subconscious of a few cadets. R.D. Saunders mentions that York did play against Bolles. I'll also inquire of Dr. Dean Gordon about it next time I see him. (I finally asked Dean Gordon about York and he did recall one brief and painful encounter on a kickoff.) I believe our coaches expected everyone to be a “ Bull ”. Well, the beef finally showed up our senior year.

We played at Fernandina our junior year one night. We beat them on the field, but not on the scoreboard. Bill Roll had a pass interference call on the goal line and they then scored the next play. It was a really bad call. Then Bill had a long run called back for going out of bounds. It had rained before the game ( maybe the tide had been in) and the sideline marks were nearly gone. The referee made a home town call. It was right in front of our bench. The final score was 19/20. Our senior year we defeated them handily at the Fletcher ball field when I scored my one career varsity touchdown late in the game on a short pass/ log run. It was a new experience for me. When I broke into the clear I thought, "Where did everybody go ?" Fortunately I did not stop to find out. Bob Wimberly was our quarterback on that pass play. I stayed in to block for the point and was all pumped up after scoring. I was looking for somebody to pop and they did not even rush. That visiting team had quit. Maybe that is why I scored. Wimpy became the second string QB when Donnie Edwards got hurt. Donnie's parents and grandparents had come down from Syracuse to see him play in the St. Paul’s game in the Gator Bowl Stadium and he broke his leg in practice a couple days before the game.
Lou Stark handed the ball off to me in that St, Paul's game. I believe we were ahead 76 1/2 to nothing and so Coach Chubby Simmons believed it was safe to put me in. During the huddle Lou Stark had said, " Be careful, Ray , they are trying to strip the ball." I nodded knowingly. On the next play Lou handed off to me and they stripped the ball. We upset Ocala our Junior year and Ocala upset us our senior year. I believe that both years Lake City ( Columbia High) won the Northeast Conference. They were a perpetual football powerhouse and remained so for a while. (Is that statement redundant ? - help me, Prof. Kern.) An outstanding player named Gene Cox who was our contemporary later became their long-time , State- renown championship caliber coach.
Lou, next time you see Ron Rosecrans, ask him if he had an ancestor who visited Chattanooga for a little while in 1862.
Paul Herlowski came to Bolles with an already broken nose. It was somewhat inclined about 16 degrees to the west. ( Paul was a big boy and did not have a right or left, but compass directions.) Anyway, one night he came out of the game and his nose was tilted about 27 degrees farther to the west. The next day he was in my Dad's office to get it fixed. Dad did not know that it had been previously broken and he tried to "straighten " it. Poor Paul. I am really glad that Paul was not a vindictive fellow; really, really glad.
I recently (Nov 2008) watched the TV coverage of Bolles (TBS) winning their division of the state football championship again by 49 to 20. Florida has incorporaed a "Mercy Rule" in that if one team gets ahead by 35 points, the clock does not stop. Our senior year Coach Chubby Simmons employed his own version of the mercy rule. He just put King and Spragens in the game.
The next year someone on the athletic staff or administration of Bolles brought in a ringer ( or two or three). Because we had finally defeated Fletcher our senior year with the "Syracuse boys" , Coach Ish Brant of Fletcher was infuriated. He had never lost to Bolles. He did his homework the next year and uncovered the ringer. (I believe this “boy” was 24 , had three kids and probably had been cut from the N.Y. Giants.) The morning after it hit the papers, the "boy" was gone and so was Chubby. I sincerely believe that Chubby took the fall for someone. Rosecrans and Warren Watrel and Joe Romano, John Cosey, John Withers & Edwards had returned for that year. That bunch of guys would have done just fine without the adult cheating. That bunch included Dick Thalleen who was team Captain with Wimberley, Keith Palmer, John Hill, Randal Thompson and others. That someone thought that they needed a ringer was an insult to them and a sorry blotch on the reputation of Bolles. (Recheck Thalleen’s yearbook for the rest of the names)
Jim Tyson who was our Captain in ‘52, lettered three years. He was all Conference End. Jim held our Conference High Hurdles record for a while; went to the Citadel , probably on scholarship.. Bill Roll was named, "Mr. Dependable" by Bradley for his basketball (State Championship Team with Lou and Tyson, Paul, Donnie, Withers, Mainland, Abarca, Gregory, Denny),and it applied as well to his football as well as to Lou. Bill went to West Point and made a career in the U.S. Army. Ray

From Charlie Kern - Reading about the your football experiences was a blast. I never had that opportunity, and I feel somewhat diminished as a result. Running the school newspaper was not comparable. One matter of possible interest is that Capt Bergen was a member of the 1922 Princeton "Team of Destiny", as it was called by the New York sportswriters of the day. I believe that he played center. Their last and climatic game was played against the University of Chicago, then coached by the celebrated Amos Alonzo Stagg. Princeton came from way behind to win by 21 to 18. For years afterward this was described as the greatest collegiate game ever played. Out of this experience came the Capt Bergen we all knew. He was responsible for my choosing Princeton.

From Dykers - I also got to play safety on defense and filled a hole on a goal line stand to stop the other team from scoring and beating us. A career of ONE game and that at age 15 and that was the last time I was in REALLY good condition. Swimming a mile a day in your 40's is good conditioning, but not the same ! And I never got to play (varsity) at Bolles - it was devastating to a teenage, especially a skinny one! Capt. Bergan was our (Midget Team ) coach (our Junior year.). He also taught math and had been the Head Football Coach before Chuck Lamb and before Major Bradley decided to upgrade and go out and recruit Lou Stark , Dick Jackson et al. It was wonderful ! My brother was quarterback for Bolles, but in the single wing where the position was a blocking back. I remember when he played his senior last game and they got to play in the municipal stadium that eventually became the gator bowl. We were having the whole team over to the house for a cookout after the game. I was 4 or 5 and given the choice of going to the game or taking a nap and staying up for the party; I opted for the game and then conned my way into the party, but only for a little while. I wish I hadn't been so skinny. I really enjoyed playing on the 145 pound team. Then I get sick on the day of the only game we play at home at Bolles. I made it to the one road game - same team - was it at Fernandina Beach. The Lights went out on one end of the field and the referee came to me as Captain and quarterback to ask if we could play the whole game on the lighted end - I said no, we'd play our T offence in the dark end with more advantage than their single wing. We won. My fakes were very tricky in the dark. John Dykers.

To John - Ah, Yes, the old hidden ball in the dark -ploy. Quarterbacks are there for their brains, obviously, not their brawn, obviously. The best ball handling quarterback I have ever seen was a high school kid from Church Hill, Tennessee one night 45 years ago in Kingsport. He and the backfield actually executed the fakes and it was indeed difficult to know who had the ball. We executed fakes at Bolles. A fake is as good as or better than a block. And the QB has to sell it too. That indecision on the defender can make the play work. Running backs and QB's need to have a little ham actor in them. John, we would have made a great duo. ( It chaps me to see those illustrous pro. QBs looking back at the fellow he just handed - off to. But perhaps that is a self-preservation tactic on their part, " Get him; I don't have the ball any more.") Ray
George Kramer was the football Capt. in 1950. Man-boys like him do not come along very often. R.D. Saunders was also a load. He lettered three years, but he ran out of eligibility and had to watch during his senior year, otherwise he would have lettered four years. Boy, now that must have been frustrating. Ray

John D. wrote: Remembering Bolles and Major DeWitt Hooker - How extraordinarily shrewd to make R.D. the Battalion Commander! He had to channel all that leadership capability into the school instead of his classic high jinks! Still managed a few.
Ray wrote: You can say that again. During the B-Club initiation our senior year, someone in a leadership capacity (not to be named) had the idea of having Ron Rosecrans take a ride down the inclined, tracked "sled"? used to haul boats out of the water. It was located on the embankment on South corner of the waterfront. Well Rosie did not want to get his clothes soaked so he stripped down to his skivies and along came Major Hooker ! ! Now I would really like to get a confirmation on this one. It may have involved a few more initiates; I do not remember if anyone actually took the ride or not. Hopefully we can hear from Ron himself. I have asked Lou to quiz him on it. Lou might remember it himself and Bill Slye might remember too because they were all initiates that year. (I forgot to ask Slye during our fiftieth.)

Freddy Blume , a sophomore was a small stick of dynamite on the defensive side of the ball. He had huge potential both ways. Fred had already played in varsity games as a freshman . He went elsewhere his junior year after I graduated from Bolles and I lost track of him. ( Freddy moved to Madison where he was a multi-sport phenom. A football practice knee injury his senior year ended the scholarship opportunities of which where were many and ruined the likelyhood of a professional career. He resides in Alabama and plays golf with Bill Coats.) Ray ,Dec 2008

During my Junior year, Billy Head of Fletcher High School, a senior, was their star football player. Well, the preceding week we had upset Ocala and I had somehow impressed our coach with my defensive play ( dropped would-be interception and all). Anyway Coach Lamb assigned me to defend against the All- Conference, All- County, All- State , Mr. Head one-on -one the next Friday night. Bad news ; scared me to death, but the Coach was obviously desperate. So Coach told me, "King, go in there and watch Billy Head" . Well, Billy scored a couple touchdowns. Coach Lamb said, "King, I thought I told you to watch Billy Head." I said, " I did, Coach and he's just as good as you said he is." Billy was in the Marines in Korea, played service ball , raised a family in Hawaii, coached and taught in the public schools there . He competed in iron men contests, and sprinted in seniors track meets. William P. Head was a champion his whole life, but ironically died at age 71 with ALS . In that marathon 14 year battle he was likewise a champion.

Dean Gordon (‘51) was the player that Coach Lamb should have used as the one-on-one against Mr. Head. But for some reason, unknown to me, Lamb did not like Dean. He was really a good ball player much better than me, a junior at the time. He, sat on the bench for nearly his entire senior year. What a frustration and what a foolish waste. He went on to play some college ball. Dean is a still, semi-practicing Oral Surgeon here in Ocala. By the way, Chuck "Zero" Fielding was Fletcher's renown linebacker with the physique of a fire plug and the on-field disposition of the rottweiler who just pissed on it.

I cannot confirm this story, but somebody might. In the manual of arms drills there is a procedure called "Inspection Arms". We all remember it and can probably demonstrate it to the whippersnappers. Anyway someone supposedly slipped a blank round or two from the rifle range into some of the rifles and when the cadets did not actually look into the chamber- when the "Order Arms" command came - KAPOWIE !! (The blanks would have been empty shell casings that still had live primers.) Ray
Ray, I think I would have heard about the rifles going off in a manual of arms drill. I'm still disappointed at being put out of the manual of arms competition because I snapped my foot too much going to parade rest !!! - Dykers

Bill Breese and his friend Johnny Dent , a Bolles student managed to "appropriate" a 30 cal machine gun from a U.S. Navy Corsair they found which had crashed way out in the woods toward Cecil Field (on the West side of town). After some reconditioning work , they took that weapon down to the river, set it up and fired off a "burst" (or two). Johnny , the Bolles cadet had "acquired" the 30 cal. rounds and some clips from the rifle range. It was swapped back and forth until Bill took it to school one day for "Show and Tell" . He put it across the handle bars of his bicycle and peddled it to school thru the city streets and showed it to the class. Not long afterward two austere gentlemen were sitting in his parents living room discussing the weapon. One was from Naval Intelligence (the definitive oxymoron) and the other was from the FBI. "Ahem, now, we just don't want anyone to be hurt by that gun", they said. ( But, I believe that what they really wanted was for Bill and Johnny to help them find the rest of that airplane.) "Oh, but that gun is all broken-up; it doesn't work", replied Bill's Mom. About that time Bill walked in. " Oh yes it does", said Bill. The two "thunks" were Bill's parents' jaws hitting the floor. The gun was taken back to the Navy. Told to Ray by Tyler Potterfield and Bill Breese

I began a zoology project in Biology Lab. I was intending to make a real skeleton -you know, like the dinosaurs in the big museum ? But just a little bit smaller. So I made a trap and caught a squirrel in Boone Park next to my house and dispatched it without damaging the bones. Then I skinned it and cooked it at home to soften the meat. I got it about half stripped and then brought it to Bolles to work on it every day, but then we went on Spring break. Upon return to the biology lab Mr. Board once again said, "What's that smell ?” Ray

Mr. Board blowing up the biology lab was really something. Lt. Harvey Wood was Physics teacher and also our tennis coach before Jerry Teeguarden came our Junior year. One day the class question was to calculate the change in the distance between the ends of railroad rails of a certain length with a temperature change of so many degrees, using, of course, the coefficient of expansion of that kind of steel. He got the answer book out to show me I was wrong, but he had changed the answer in the answer book. (He had forgotten that there were two rails, one on each side of the space and that the space was diminished by the expansion of both rails not just one ! I did not get to play much tennis for his team! Sure was glad when Jerry showed up ! I do recall our tennis trip to Ft. Lauderdale and Coach Jerry Teagarden coming up to our table on the hotel patio and singing, "It's 3 oclock in the morning"! Of course he was the one who had been carousing around FT. Lauderdale, but we were the ones supposed to play winning tennis the next day and who had to sheepishly retire for the night. - Dykers

John, you had mentioned that Mr. T. was a ladies man. Maybe we could have learned something "more valuable" from Teagarden if we had just known. And I can see why the facing R.R. rails would slip-up on a textbook writer. However that is no excuse to doctor the answers. Maybe that is another one of the other lessons we learn in class, and the earlier the better. But now, I am now disappointed in Lt.. Wood. - Ray

WE RENINISCE ABOUT THE SPORTS, BUT WE USE THE EXPERIENCES OF THE CLASSROOM - SUCH AS :
"The product of the means equals the product to the extremes.", Lamar Du Bose on setting -up ratios.
"Read the weekly news magazines. History is occurring now.", James Ball
"An 'A' in History if you can tell me what Washington 'SAID' as he crossed the Delaware" , James Ball on outside reading. (See story-later)
"Do I smell Gas ?" Mr. Board just before lighting one up in the new science lab and - - - - demonstrating group levitation.
And probably the most important of all, "The book is wrong", Cadet Bill Slye.

That the book can be wrong is an important lesson some people never learn and others fortunately learn early by experience. Somewhat similar to the case with Lt. Wood which John relates, this was an issue of the book saying one thing and the printed answer sheet on a test being marked wrong in an obvious typo. I showed the book passage and the identical multiple choice answer quoted verbatim to Mad Bomber Board and he would not admit the answer page had indicated the wrong choice. I had made a 95 and I wanted my 100. So Slye just said, "the book's wrong" and, in his off-handed wisdom, let it go at that. Bill and I came within 0.01 points of having the highest average science grades for three years so we both received the Bausch and Lomb Science Award at graduation. I believe Harvey Wood presented it to us because he was the Dept. Head.

From Lou Stark - It's great to hear from you! I sure do remember you (but) not being stripped of the ball. You are way too modest. And tell Dick Thalleen that he was a Hell of a Guard , when you see him! I still have such great memories of Bolles today and was thankful that I had the experience of being there and playing ball with such great guys. I didn't remember about Paul's broken nose. It was always so crooked you didn't know which way it would be from day to day. He's still doing well and I see him occasionally. I'll send your best wishes his way when I see him again. I see Ron Rosecrans and he's doing well also. I see him more often and stay in touch more because of that. He stayed on at Bolles for another year and remembers Chubby's leaving at that time. Again, Thanks for the memories! Best Always, Lou
To Lou : The fumble story really is true, even your quote. In the Fletcher game, Bill Roll scored our first touchdown on the wingback reverse. Dick Jackson scored the second. I saw it all from my usual vantage point. Dick Thalleen made All-City guard his senior year. Dick is still in South Jacksonville with Sandra and is semi-retired.
I went to Auburn, then graduated from Florida, in 1957, lived in East Tennessee 39 years employed as a Mechanical Engineer for Eastman Chemical. Reared six children. Retired 1996, moved to Ocala ‘97. Widower twice: Helene ('69) and Grayce ('03). Please give Ron my regards too, and then get him to tell you about the B-Club initiation prank down at the riverfront . Ray
Oh yes, Lou, I remember my only TD, but it was late in the Fernandina game( as usual). We were playing them in the Fletcher stadium. I also remember the missed tackles on Mr. Head and the dropped almost interception in our upset of Ocala the year before, that St Pauls fumble, and also the chop-down block in St Pete so Freddy Blume could score at Farragut and one in Live Oak so Lou could advance a punt. So it balances out. It bothers me that I was and yet am still supposedly some fine ball player and I was definitely not. I was OK. I was second string and for good reason. Rosie was a whole lot better, no doubt about it. Sure I would have liked to have played more, but who wouldn't ? But I got to play according to the game situations and the needs and Chubby knew what he was doing. I had already seen much better players than I sitting on the bench the previous year while I played.
In Live Oak we were warming-up before the game and the home crowd started laughing. “What are they laughing at ?“ I turned around and saw Coach Lamb and Chubby walking across the field. I guess they never saw a real fat man before. -Ray

From Lou- It looks like you caught my old man itis. My memory is like yours, I guess. I do remember beating Fletcher in Football, and it was a great win. Even for us Yankees! We also beat them in Basketball. I went to Syracuse University, and graduated as a Physical Education teacher. I taught and coached in the Syracuse City Schools for 32 years and enjoyed it immensely. We have 4 children, and 5 Grand children. I've been retired now for 11 years and have been getting down to Florida more in my later years and we expect to start down that way in the next week or so. We'll start in NYC to see our grand kids there, then mosey our way down south. I've tried to find some of you Rebels, but you're like the Swamp Fox. Ha! In any case, lets' stay in touch, okay ? Best, Lou

The 1951 Swimming team won Conference and State Championships. I expect the ’52 team did too. I believe the exceptions would be for Garces- coached swimming teams to not win. The Spring sports typically did not appear in the yearbooks until the next year for any school, even colleges. The '53 Eagle will show the '52 spring sports. The Bolles swimming tradition, begun with Coach Garcis is unprecedented. Now Bolles has won so many State Championships in swimming and diving they have to use scientific notation to write the number.
We did not have a track and some of us ran “dirt”. My Mom shuttled us to a real track across town to practice. I lettered only because I was the Captain and my Mom provided the transportation. I gave it to her; she earned it more than I did. I should have been swimming. If we had had any kind of coaching some, like Julian Jackson, Don Sistrunk and others may have excelled, but track was a throw-away. However, Jim Tyson, Conference High Hurdles in 1951 and Dick Jackson, State 100 Yard dash were champions on ability, coaching aside. Dick both swam and ran in the Spring beside being All State football and Jim was on the State Championship basketball team.
The most surprisingly versatile athlete was Paul Herlowski the 240 pound All- Star football tackle, also member of the champion basketball team, also baseball player and also on the swimming team (probably not as the diver.). The “Mad Russian” even had earned a respected reputation as a dancer.

In the 1951 class there were three sets of twins, Arroyo, Connery and Permenter.

A few Bolles quotations - more later. -
Charlie (Kern): As Stu Gregory turned the crank on one of the windows in Capt Hochheim's Latin classroom, a low growl: "Gregory, I'll regulate the draft in here."
A John Dyal expression: "Ad nauseum."
Dyal to Major DuBose: "That's knuckle- fudging."
Major DuBose on a set of college math problems: "You ought to be able to knock these right off." Jug Wilson: "Major, have you ever knocked it right off ?"
John Dyal: "Capt. Keating always stimulates -- like a good dose of Ex-Lax."
H.O. Myerston to Major DuBose: "What do you think about the two-platoon system, Major?" DuBose: "It's good -- if you've got two platoons."
Paul Herloski: "The girls in Syracuse were too big for us." Charlie Kern: "Who made them that way?"
Bill Slye: "The 'e' is silent, like the 'p' in swim."
Bob Brady hauls his pow'ful frame to a standing position and says "Give me more Cheerios." Henry McClellan: "Well, hot buttered corn. Don't go bejerk over it."
Major DuBose: "What's T-P ?" McClellan: "T-P ? Wigwam."
The time purple ink was put in Capt Hochheim's sacred rubber seat cushion.
Stu Gregory: "That's what I know, that's what I like."
Capt. Keating: "What was Geoffrey Chaucer's first name?"
Neil Presser: "You say Chaucer was a Good Humor man?"
Announcement: All Cadets will have their passes in in time for Capt. Horton to have a weekend. I haven't had a weekend in so long that I've forgotten what one looks like. I would appreciate your having your passes in by 11 o'clock. Signed: Capt.Horton
John Dyal: "Cheating has its pros."
Frankie Brown, a vibrant personality. Every time the wind blows, he vibrates.
Capt. Keating: always said "commer" for "comma".
Major DuBose: "Hundreds, thousands, millions, trillions, even billions."
Dick Hardin to Capt. Todd: "Ever heard of O. Henry? Well, I'm O. Dickie."
Capt. Todd: "What was "sun" to Louis XIV?" Neil Presser: "Louis XV."
Lt. Wood, "I've had the same cook for forty-two years."
Lt. Wood: "Now if we all put in a buck apiece . " McClellan: "We could buy a new cook."
Lt. Wood on football: "If we get a good team all kinds of boys will come here."
Charlie Kern: "We have all kinds now."
Capt Keating: "Why do you want to be excused?" Stu Gregory: "You want me to put it bluntly? " Keating: "Yes" Gregory: "I'd like to take a piss."
Duval County Sheriff Rex Sweat, 1949 was quoted in the local paper at the time saying, "I can get a conviction from anyone with a rubber hose". JB

At a Bolles recollection: on a Sunday afternoon, on the parade grounds, the Battalion assembled, and out of nowhere comes Tesch Brundick in his convertible, kicking circles on the parade ground with Major Hooker, hands furiously placed on hips, fuming. - Peter McCranie

Kern - I can remember that Keating's idea of teaching English literature was to have us memorize the names and dates of early plays. There were numerous opportunities for humor, such as Henry McClellan's solemnly asking Keating to explain the meaning of "Lay on, McDuff!" in Macbeth. I also recall a grammar lesson in which the illustrative sentence was "The squirrels were storing their nuts for the winter."
Charlie, there is one you just reminded me of with the Macbeth note. I think it involved Major Trusdell my sophomore year. I know it was not Keating nor Andrews. Anyway he was reading the account of an ancient duel where one of the combatants "braced himself and awaited the blow". Ray
Another interesting expression, from Hamlet Act III, scene 4, is "Hoist with his own petar." I used to think that this had scatological possibilities, but petar (or more commonly in French, petard) turns out to mean a small bell-shaped bomb used to breach a gate or wall, so the idea here was having someone blown into the air by an explosion. This fits the context, spoken by Hamlet. Kern
From Ray- There is another one, maybe attributed to DuBose, "The truth is like a rubber band; it will only stretch so-far." I heard it from Fred Thellman (2008).
Hector Myerston was a wit. I remember that he was, but unfortunately I cannot recall any of his many quips, but there is one quoted in his Class Will in the yearbook.

So was Roy Lang a very funny fellow, but with a different style. Football coach Coach Lamb had looked down his nose at tennis players (the Bull York syndrome) and Roy was a fine one. One night in Live Oak, Dick Jackson got kicked out of the game in the first quarter for protesting some rough treatment after a play. It was obviously one of those set-ups you hear about. Then Roy Lang came out onto the football field and filled- in admirably for the All-State halfback by scoring two touchdowns. Roy also had a couple more TD’s and some interception run backs during the season. Not bad for a "sissy tennis player".

Maj. Gildersleve, English, also sat as the Study Hall monitor. The room had two doors, one on the side and one in the rear. He would go out the side door and shortly he would sneak back in the rear door, quietly sit down and start taking the names of talkers. One of the cadets was in the rest room when the Major made his scheming circuit. The cadet came back in, looked around and loudly said, "Where's Gildey-boy?" He was answered by an omnious voice from the back of the room.
One of Frank Martin's teachers at Bolles, during study hall, (not Gildey-boy) reached casually into his desk drawer intending to lean back and peruse the prurient publication known by a few of the cadets to be kept there. But instead he pulled out a live, brown water snake. I will leave the rest to your imagination. Frank had become an amateur herpetologist and had an extensive collection of slitherers from the creeks near his home in West Jacksonville. But he and one of the McCranie boys probably got this one out in front of the school.

Col. E.S. Ligon wore a hearing aid. According to Bob Gryder (dec.) and Jug Wilson their small class would start to recite in ever reducing volume and the Colonel would adjust his device. Then they would suddenly talk loudly.
Capt. Tom Horton, mathematics, told us about the "googol' which he said was nine to the ninety-ninth power. Or else it is ten to the one hundreth power. However, the nine power-power expression is the largest number that can be written with three digits. In either case, some Bolles alumni have probably found both expressions quite helpful in doing their taxes or in filling-out alimony checks. Long and lanky Capt. Keating, English, wore his trousers pulled way-up. He would lecture with his thumbs stuck in his arm pits. If he had ever also stood on one foot some hunter would have shot at him through the window. -Ray

I remember Col Ligon's hearing aid. Keating teaching public speaking class! Doing the survey of the campus layout was a great adventure that Col Ligon reveled in each year. I had some kind of hall duty sitting at a desk outside his office. I spent most of the time there working on the literary magazine, and I don't recall what it was called - was it the Phoenix ? - John Dykers

No Bolles recollections can be complete without mention of Capt. Snyder and the Bolles marching band. Whoever wrote, “Music hath charms that soothe the savage beast” obviously had not been around that campus on certain Sunday afternoons. But on the other hand, was that really music ? - Ray
My sophomore year was my first at Bolles. I was in Garces 'Spanish class wherein were some notable seniors, namely Ellis (Ghost ) Crosby and Arthur Canaday. One morning Arthur asked if we knew the difference between a rich man's bed and a poor man's bed ? Well he explained that a rich man has a canopy over his bed while the poor man has a can -o- pee under his bed. Har Har. Then someone asked if that would be a can -a- day ? For some reason I remembered that joke and decades later my wife and I were touring the fancy old homes in Savanah when I noticed a large canopy bed and -and (you are way ahead of me - ) and yes, there was a can-o- pee (chamber pot) under it. Some people have it all. I just had to take a photo.

This is Steve (Jerry) Spragens weighing in.This walk down memory lane evokes a lot great experiences. I entered Bolles in the Fall of 49 from Cocoa, FL, following in the foot steps of such luminaries as Ed and Lewis Andrews, Tommy and Bobby Keniston, Charlie Kern, etc., etc. To follow on with some of the previous recollections My first year at Bolles I roomed with Joe Lopez who was a year ahead. Joe was a great guy and we had many good time together. One of my most memorable experiences was flying in is father V Tail Bonanza aircraft form Jacksonville down to Coral Gables for the weekend. This was my first flight in a private aircraft and greatly reinforced my love of aircraft and flying. Joe Lopez Sr. was a very successful and dynamic man who had grown weary of seeing Bolles mopped up at virtually every football field in the state of Florida (with Admiral Farragut being the exception) He was a graduate of the University of Syracuse and came up with the ideal solution. He imported a football team, the rest is history. As I recall my senior year the Bolles line outweighed the U. of Florida's line. These Yankees were (are) some of the best of the best. (that includes you too, Lou). I loved the game of football (still do) and had played midget football in Cocoa and as I recall I was on the intramural or B team my first year at Bolles. My second year things were looking up and I did get substituted into several games. The Bolles Bugle described me as, "a guy with a lot of desire". (thanks Charlie) I had high hopes of seeing some serious action my senior year. Unfortunately (for me, not for Bolles) I did not measure up to the "big guys" from Syracuse. I did get to play in a number of games. I recall playing against (Ocala I believe) on the kick off I dropped this guy he got up and started chasing our guy with the ball. I dropped him again, he got up again. I should have stopped there, because he turned his back to me on the third hit and the ball was called back for “clipping“. This episode did not do a lot to advance my football career at Bolles. Somewhere along the line I was forgiven and had several notable successes. The Fletcher game is one that we all remember. As I recall Zero Fielding was their "big gun" , but we won and Maj. Hooker gave us the day off.
A memorable occasion. I do hold one sports distinction or record that will never be broken or equaled. I am the recipient of three Ann R. Lewis medals. Do any of you know what that was for or who Ann R. Lewis was ?
I most certainly remember Mr. Board walking into the new science lab on the second floor of the recently completed Schultz Hall. Smelling gas he preformed a very effective test, he lit a match blowing out all of the windows and the door. Pete Manos ended up down in the court yard below. He was a miracle that no one was killed. Manos almost lost his eyesight , but as I recall had an almost complete recovery.
The episodes of the "requisitioned" naval machine and also of the supposed firing the of blanks during drill reminded me - -. Major Davis decided that we should stage some mock battles on the Bolles campus. We were divided into two groups, aggressor - defenders. I ended up on the BAR team and my partner (don't remember who) had a clip (20 rounds as I recall) loaded with blanks. In an effort to take out as many aggressors as possible I did some quick thinking (Da) "let's see the BAR is a gas operated gun, if we plug the barrel we might be able to get more than one round off at a time"!! Well folks it worked for several rounds until the stick blew out of the end of the barrel. I will never forget Maj. Davis running across the parade field wondering what "knucklehead" had gotten a hold of "live" ammunition. So much for some of my exploits at out dear olde alma matter - The Bolles School. Steve
Good to hear from you, Steve. I especially like the BAR story and also the insights regarding Mr. Lopez. So who put-up the tuition money grant for the "imported' football team, did Mr. Lopez ? Or did it even happen that way ? Lou would probably know. And the story about the machine gun at John Gorie Jr. Hi with Bolles School ammo, stands confirmed on its own. It was a couple years removed from our time. But the story about the rifle firing during the “inspection arms” may be anecdotal.

O.K., Steve, who/what was Ann R. Lewis ? ? Ray
From SteveHi Ray, I do not have any first hand knowledge of what "arrangements" were made between the school and/or the football players that transferred to Bolles from Syracuse so I will not speculate. We were lucky to have them and having a winning (football) team did wonders for the school. The three Ann Lewis medals that I won were for small bore (22 cal.) indoor rifle competition: standing, sitting, kneeling and prone. This event was held every year and as I recall 15 to 20 Bolles cadets participated. It was an annual event separate from the varsity rifle team. I learned how to shoot at an early age (there wasn't much else to do in Cocoa, Fl.) and have always enjoyed and respected fire arms. However, I was not on the rifle team. Steve
Steve relates that Major (Johnny) Davis initiated Lewis the award in memory of Ann V. Lewis who had been the Bolles Nurse. According to Bruce Norman she was on the campus from 1941 and was murdered in the Spring of 1949 . Major Davis had founded the Rifle Team and was the perennial coach until he was temporarily replaced as the coach by Capt. Love when Davis was assigned to active duty in Korea in 1951/52. The 1950/51 team went 15-0 in regular competition. The Eagle photo indicates they used the 03 Springfield rifles. I suppose the sharp shooting competitions and rifle team were all discontinued in 1962 along with the military .

Ray To Steve The real winning team that year was the 1951-52 State Champion basketball team. However, basketball does not seem to have the variety of experiences and emotions as do football and baseball, at least, no one yet seems inclined to talk about it. The consistent winners were the Garces-coached swimming teams so often taken for granted. Ray

Johnny Davis passed away in Feb. of 2006 I just received a letter from his daughter, Lisa indicating that both Johnny and Betty (his wife) were no longer with us. I always had great respect for him; to me, he was a real patriot and a tough , but fair man ! Steve
Capt. Garces has authored a memorial to William H. ( Johnny) Davis which appears on page 101 of the Summer 2006 issue of the "About Bolles" magazine. Lisa Davis the Major’s daughter, has contributed part of his autobiography here below which has also been forwarded to the Bolles Alumni office. She also assisted Capt. Garces in the magazine memorial. Ray
* * * *
William H. Davis-experience at Bolles
"The agency advised me of a teaching position in Jacksonville, Florida at the Bolles School. I met Col. Painter, the Headmaster of Bolles in Savannah, Georgia. He offered me $1200 a year plus board and room. This was really a good offer and I accepted it. "I had gone home for the summer. Betty’s Uncle Clarence and Aunt Mary were visiting in Missouri. They invited me to ride to Jacksonville. I met Clarence in Kansas City. Betty was with him. I have fear that I didn’t pay more attention to her when we met there. "As soon as we arrived in Jacksonville, Clarence took me out to Bolles. I settled there quickly and soon felt welcomed and comfortable. I was assigned to a room. Other teachers began to arrive. Some were new, others old timers. The bachelors soon found each other. Among these was Vernon Jones. He and I hit it off immediately. We were offered $130 each if we would room together. This would free a room for a student. Vernon had lived in New York City.
"My first assignment was to teach mathematics. I took upon myself to assist with the military training. I was sell able to assist with most of the military subjects. I was soon designated as the assistant Professor of Military Science and Tactics. I had the advantage of being quite familiar with tent pitching, rolling a pack, rifle marksmanship and other subjects that were taught to military cadets. I coached the rifle team and boxing. I had always been interested in foreign languages. I had taken Spanish at the Teachers’ College. Many of our students were from South America and spoke no English when they arrived. We sent to their countries and got copies of the math books in Spanish. This allowed me to work with these students more easily. I got so that I could teach the math classes in Spanish among the many things that happened at Bolles. The Sunday parades, the teas following the parades were quite pleasurable. The 128th Artillery was stationed at Camp Blanding. It was customary to invite a high-ranking officer in to review the parade. I invited Col Barkshar who commanded the 128th Field Artillery to conduct the review. Not only did he review the marching cadets but checked out the building as well.
"A favorite meeting place on Saturdays was Dutche’s Tavern in Jacksonville. The bachelors would go to the Palace Theater to see the vaudeville shows. I had a date with one of the girls. She was a nice girl and nothing happened. During the war, the Navy would send over a large boat and take us all to Sunday church.I had two good friends contact me while there. Glade Bilby came by to see me. He had the rank of Lt. Col. at 25 years old. He was a fighter pilot and had seen action in Africa. JesseTaylor, who commanded a torpedo plane squadron, met me at one of the hotels in town. He invited me to come out to Mayport air station to fly with his squadron. Eddie Abbot contacted me and I met him at a bar in the city. He was later killed during the war."Occasionally the school bus would take the students to the beach for a swim. It was the first time that I had seen the ocean. "During Christmas time in 1941, I with two others went to Cuba. It was quite interesting. Guy Mitchell and Guinn were with me. They took me down Calle Crespo where all of the prostitutes lived. They would hiss at us and try to get us to come in. I, being a Missouri farm boy, was quite shocked by this behavior. We went from Santiago by bus. Somewhere on this ride, I ate some fruit and, as a result, had some real stomach problems."At Bolles, I was appointed from 1st Lt. to Major in the state militia. In the Army Reserve, I was promoted from 2nd Lt. of field military to captain staff specialist. In a short time, I was appointed Captain of Field Artillery." * * * *Lisa Davis adds that : “he dated and married my mother and she moved to Bolles also during that period of time. She also worked on the switchboard. They also bought their house and property, the place I now live, and moved out of Bolles during that time.”

Interesting about nicknames: "Johnny" is William H. Davis. Also: "Tavi" is Octavo S. Garces; "Casey" is James D. Ball; "Chubby" is Ralph E. Simmons. And "Smokey" is Winfred Stover, "Jug" is Charlton Wilson, "Jerry" is Steven J. Spragens; "Squeeky" is Lewis Marvin; "Moose" is Jackson Denny: "Kayo" is Durwood Foshee; "Dickie" is Ellington Hardin.

To Steve: I have told others this story. (And Charlie Kern has always corrected my history- as below ) You remember that Col. James Ball had a long-standing agreement with his American History students that if anyone could tell him what George Washington "said while crossing the Delaware", he would award them with a very generous boost in their class grade. The summer after I graduated from Bolles I read two books on the American Revolution. One was "Revolution 1776" and the other was "Oliver Wiswald" which was about the Revolution from the point of view of a Tory. I do not recall which book it was in ( Kern will remember) but the book's image of the crossing was quite different from the popular patriotic painting showing the grand General standing in the boat, heroically posed while draped in the American flag.( The flag would not come into existence until a couple years later and the painting was done many decades later as most historic, patriotic paintings are.)
Anyway, this was a sneak attack at night and everybody was supposed to be quiet. In the same boat with Washington was John Knox who was the artillery officer and a later Secretary of the Treasury (?) . Knox was somewhat broad in the ,er, beam and was sitting at the side of the boat, causing it to list quite a bit. The Father of our Country said, " Shift your arse Knox and trim the boat", to which the other men started laughing and nearly gave away the surprise. About ten years later my wife Helene and I visited with the Balls who were still residing at the Bolles campus . I recited to him what I had read and that was indeed the passage he had been looking for all along. It was too late for the grade, but to see his delight as a teacher in finally knowing that one of his students had done the extra reading was worth more. His joy has been one of my fondest memories. I am sure some others had done the reading too, but had not had the opportunity to tell him about it. ( How about that , Charlie.?) Ray

From Charlie Kern (edited)Ray, that's a great Colonel Ball story. I wish I had been in the room when you told him. Knox was in fact quite weighty and a definite risk in a rowboat. He was also a close friend and advisor to Washington, commanded the Continental army artillery throughout the war and was present at virtually all of the major engagements.
The Kenneth Roberts book is a wonderful read, as are his many other books about American history. However, the story about Knox's “arse” must have come from the other book , Revolution 1776. The Emanuel Leutze celebrated painting of the crossing event is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. About three years ago I visited Washington's Crossing, Pennsylvania, with Chris, our oldest son. We were amazed to find that the Delaware is less than 200 yards wide at that point, so the popular image of Washington and his men traveling a great distance over the water is false, although in December 1776 it was surely icy enough.(However,) Knox became our first Secretary of War; the Secretary of the Treasury, of course, was Alexander Hamilton. (And) It was Henry, not John, Knox. (And) The Roberts book is, Oliver Wiswell, (not Wiswald) Regards, Charlie
( See, I told you so. He did it again ! Kern did it again ! - Ray)

Thanks for the memories. I won the Ball History Medal one year, I think the Jr. rather than Sr. year, but am not certain. I remember having to take notes in class, that being maybe the only one where we did so and Col Ball telling us he was getting us ready for college! I still have the notes somewhere. Will have to look. But we did not like doing so anyway! John Dykers

Col. Ball had us recite from memory the previous night's reading assignment. He would begin class by paraphrasing the text from the beginning of the chapter. Then he would say, " Mr. Paul, would you please continue." After a minute or so he would say, "Mr. McCranie why don't you pick up the story." By the time the class period was over, nearly everyone had had an "opportunity". If any homework was to be done, the American History reading assignment would be it. Every Friday we did the same thing, except it was about current events. He used Time Magazine as the main reference source. James Ball was a tough and fair educator. One night (I boarded during football) I was on staff duty or something like that and it was an unusually busy night and I was being sent all over the place. Col. Ball was on duty too. When it was my "opportunity" the next day in class, he gave me a pass because he knew I had had little time to do any studying. Ray

From Larry Moshell I enjoyed the long list of memories. A couple of my own. Yes, Bull York did play for the University of Florida. He was a fullback in high school, but he was converted to a linesman as a Gator. I think he was an offensive guard who was great at pulling out to block on end runs. Jim Tyson played end for Citadel and I think I'm correct in saying that he led the Southern Conference in scoring one year. Also, I know that Stu Gregory played basketball for Florida State. He may have been on their first boys varsity team since it was about this time that the school became coed. It had previously been the state's teachers school. I lost track of Dick Jackson after graduation. Several years later I was looking through a football magazine and saw an article about Colgate. Or Cornell? It mentioned something about..."due to the graduation of Dick Jackson"...he had made his successful mark in college just as he had done at Bolles. ( Larry, following your comment I sent an inquiry to the Colgate Athletic Department requesting a check of their Football archives. Their archives are temporarily unavailable due to a move. Later I found that the Jackson mentioned was another fellow. If Dick played at Syracuse he would have been overshadowed by some running back named Jim Brown. Ray) Speaking of intramural football, I (Larry) remember a game when we were down a touchdown with the ball at mid-field. I called an end around play and handed the ball off to Jug Wilson. He made it to the one yard line. Even though we didn't score, Coach Baggott was so excited over the play call that he acted like we had won the game. Richie Klahr was on the team. On one play, I was suppose to hit him on a short, quick pass over center, but, for some reason I didn't throw it. He broke downfield and I just lofted it in his direction. He caught it and I think he ran for a touchdown. Don't really remember - I just remember not throwing the ball on the quick hitter and the surprised expression on Richie's face. That same year during a B-team game, I remember breaking into the open on a quarterback sneak with only a defensive corner in the way. I guess I was trying to overcompensate for my size by running over him rather than around him. We collided, I stayed up, but was spun around and was caught from behind. I still replay that scene, wondering if I had tried to fake him out rather than playing Paul Herloski if I'd have scored. Yes, I also remember practicing (B-team with the varsity) one day as a middle linebacker (stop laughing) and attempting to tackle Ron Rosecrans coming up the middle. At least I slowed him down a little. Isn't it great that sports are fun when you're playing them and replaying them years later.
George Kramer, the big lefty first baseman, saved many a bad throw by me from third base my sophomore year. George had a hotrod Ford coup with a swan emblem on the hood and gutted mufflers. He didn't know how to drive at normal speeds! Bubber Williams, who went to the Citadel, was one of our star hitters and pitchers that year. He played third when he was not pitching. When he was pitching I played third I didn't get many hits over my three years of varsity so I can still picture the few I did get. One was a curve ball from star pitcher Bobby Waites of Lee that I lined over second base (about as far as I could hit it), the cleanest hit of my high school career. Roth let me play because I got a lot of walks. I got a lot of "take" signs. I miss it and wish I could play it all over again. One of the prized possessions sitting on my office bookshelf is a ball signed by George, Bubber, Jack Joiner, Jose Abarca, Tommy Taylor, J. C. Newton, Harry Robertson, Bobby Paul, Jim Tyson, Ray McColl, Isaac Foinquinos, Charles Benbow, Pete Manos, Howard Andrews, John Boyd, Gene Stapler, and Coach Emile Roth. Some of my fondest memories were playing in the games and beating Lee, and Landon and Jackson High Schools in baseball. It was abig deal to beat these large public school teams. We went to the state baseball championship tournament my senior year. Pitching for a participating team was a young phenom named Herb Score. He pitched a no-hitter during the tournament but lost. He went straight to the Major Leagues and was a super star for the Cleveland Indians for years.

My son never played an inning of baseball nor a down of football. He was, however, selected as "player of the year" in SC soccer his senior year of high school when they won the first of Irmo High's 17 state championships. Several years ago I ran into Bob Wimberly at a baseball game in Columbia, SC. He was living here at the time, but I think he may have moved. I wish you all well, Larry "Mighty Mo" Moshell

Hi Mo, Wimberly‘s home town is Columbia.We both knew of Bobby Waites when we were in Lake Shore Jr. Hi. I believe that he was a year behind us (?) He was a naturally gifted, multi-sport athlete. My junior year I played one game with the Bolles B-team. You were the QB and we played Fletcher. We beat them 14-0. That was the most fun I ever had playing football. I replay that game or one like it in my ego-fantasy dreams. However, I do not dream about trying to tackle Rosie or Dick Jackson or of trying to block Moose Denny in practice.

For the record, FSU became co-ed in May 1947 when the flood of returning servicemen on the GI Bill needed somewhere to attend. Univ. of Fla. probably became co-ed that year by the same legislative act to balance things out.When Stu entered ( if in the Fall of 1952 ?) it would have been Co-ed for five years. However, with Stu on their basketball team, it was probably the first time they amounted to anything.

Larry, what were the baseball umpires ‘field rules ’ regarding the extensive bamboo which terminated the right and center fields at Bolles ? There was no outfield fence. If a player could shoo-away the snakes, could he retrieve and play the ball ? And there was also a hole in the bamboo in right-center. Would the opposing players run in there after the ball, or did Coach Roth have someone hiding out in there dressed in a gorilla suit just in case ? You didn’t mention it, but didn’t Roth have you wear baggy pants and kind of squat down at the plate when you were at bat ? - Ray
Ray, I don't remember any balls being hit that far. Maybe Big George did it. When we played at Live Oak, the left field boundary was a railroad track. That will stop you dead in your tracks...no pun intended. (Yes it was. - Ray)I have two memories of the few occasions Coach Roth had me play in the outfield. I caught a fly in short left field with a runner tagging up at third.I figured I was close enough to try to throw him out at the plate. I let 'er rip and threw it over everyone. I can still hear the loud moan coming from the bleachers that lined the third base line. Once in right field, a guy caught a hold of one and sent it deep. I was able to get a pretty good jump on the ball and caught it over my shoulder running at a upbeat jog for the third out. It actually was not all that difficult, but it must have looked good because the guy who hit it spoke to me as I headed to the bench. He said, "You caught that ball ?" Kind of a dumb question since he was out and heading back to his defensive position when I passed him ! That's the reason I remember the catch...his comment, plus that was perhaps the only time the crowd applauded my error-prone defensive play.
Like I said, I wish I was still playing. What great fun ! -Larry
Larry, you ARE still playing and so am I. Isn’t it great ! - Ray

To RD, Your lettering in a varsity sport as a Freshman was quite an accomplishment. What was your Freshman year like ? Do you remember the infamous York fellow from Fernandina ? - Ray
From R.D. Saunders Yes, I believe Bolles played Fernandina while Bull York was there. My freshman year I remember being home sick, smelling that awful paper mill and the cold weather. It was still a good year I was able to meet some wonderful people. After Bolles I attended The Citadel. I served in the Military Police at Fort Hood,Texas and Germany. I returned home in the Fall of 1955 and married the former Joan Cook of Miami Shores. I went to work for Burdines in Miami for five years. In 1960 I joined the Palm Beach Company,Cincinnati, Ohio. They transfer us to Dallas in 1962. Worked in sales and was prompted to Vice President in l972. I retired in l993 after 33 years. We moved to Tyler, Texas. We have been married 51 years, have two married daughters and seven grandchildren. - RD

Ron Rosecrans returned my phone call and he may be sending us some of his recollections after he reads what we have so far. A copy was mailed. Drat !! I forgot to ask him about the B-Club initiation prank.
Emailed Ramon Abarca a copy of this edition, today (10/25/06).
Ray Dec 2008

This edition is as of 02/26/2009 rhk