2009 Multi-Year CHS
By Tim Colley
Tonight we gather together
To remember
the days of our past.
Our time at
Those days that went by oh so fast.
Before I begin I remind you.
These memories are uniquely mine.
Remember I’m Class of 1967,
For us,
near the end of the line.
Of those decades before the 50’s
I’m afraid they’re beyond my lore.
But if there are any poets out there,
I’ll later gladly give you the floor.
So I’ll go back in time a “few” years,
To the time
when I was a tot.
When the football field was just weeds
and dirt,
And Mary Gessel
was “hot”!
Let’s look at the start of the school
year,
The time is the beautiful fall
And Bailie,
Hadley, Harper and Colley
Played
brilliant 8-man football.
I remember the grand old gym,
A building
of which we were proud.
And it didn’t take a lot of people
To make it
incredibly loud.
The seating included two stories.
Four rows of seating around.
I’ve often wondered since then
How’d they take the ball out of bounds?
The baseball field was in the corner
Opposing pitchers had to be on guard
For every hitter the Eagles sent up
Wanted to
put one in Jolly’s yard.
Remember I was just a kid
But my best memory of all
Was when I was nine and danced one night
With Linda Ambacher
at her Coronation Ball!
The old high school was really
impressive.
A full
three stories high.
But by the time that I got there,
It had become a junior high.
CHS was moved across town
To the west
of the PUD.
It’s still over there today
And I guess it always will be.
But CHS wasn’t quite finished.
Lunch was served off the back of a van.
Do you think the Health Department
Ever considered---issuing a ban?
The new school kept on growing
Our numbers continued to rise.
The fame of the Eagles grew wider.
Our athletes reached for the skies.
In basketball we made it to B State.
The Eagles achieved their dreams.
There were Dean and Neal, Billy and
Dave
All a part
of the teams.
Then we move to the Sixties
A time of
glitz and gloss.
Hank Copeland was the principal,
A man you didn’t want to cross.
Yes, the years were the early Sixties,
A time when
boys liked to play.
Who was that unlikely set of boys
Who put Brynteson’s
car on top of the hay?
We moved up in classification
We joined the Valley A
Our rivals were Marquette and Othello,
Could we beat them in every way?
Remember the victory bell?
We’d ring it when we scored.
And moving it to the football field
Kept many from getting bored.
Who can forget those pep rallies
They happened in the new gym.
The band would serpentine through the
halls,
Leading the
students in.
Next we should speak of teachers.
There are many we could name.
People like Hoon
and Gleason
Who earned a kind of fame.
And don’t forget Mr. Olson.
He seemed as old as ever could be.
It was quite a shock to me recently
When I figured out he was only as old
as me!
Miss Pond taught Home Ec.
And then came
Mr. George.
He led the Eagles in wrestling
A winning tradition he would forge.
It started with Augie
Rios
Continued with Reuben and Vard
The countless successes we continue to
have
Is a tribute to those who work hard.
Mr. Baker taught PE
And Mrs. Plastino, did German and
math.
While Mr. Eikum
and Mr. Bennett
Tried to
steer us on the right path.
Right paths are always tricky to follow
To find what you desire.
For many of us in the Sixties
It was the biggest Homecoming fire.
In hunting for wood for the fire,
Borrowing powers we sometimes abused.
We’re sorry about that
We didn’t know it was still being used!
A highlight of being a Senior
Was the
annual Senior Sneak.
We’d traipse off to
Some fun
for all to seek.
However, I do remember one time
Some mischief did manage to happen.
An earlier trip was made to hide beer,
But about that I won’t be rappin’.
Well, that about wraps up my tale.
The
memories that I’ve bared.
I know there are more
And I trust tonight they will all be
shared.
I’m proud to have been an Eagle
From the
Class of 1967.
My time at
Seems like a piece of heaven.
The years from post-high school have
passed
For me it’s harder and harder to bend.
But I look back with great affection
And I’ll cherish the memories to my
end.
A few years ago I had the honor
Of speaking at graduation
I quoted from John Denver
On that proud,
June occasion.
It was appropriate for those Eagles,
And true of we Eagles tonight.
Let me quote them once more and then I
will close,
They capture the spirit just right.
I am the Eagle, I live in high country
In rocky cathedrals that reach to the sky
And all those
who see me, and all who believe in me
Share in the freedom I feel when I fly
Come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops
Sail o’er the canyons and up to the stars
And reach for the heavens and hope for the future
And all that we can be and not what we are.