<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Is there a pivotal year in one\u2019s four years of high school? \u00a0Freshman year is always a swirl of new activities and if one keeps their head down and eyes open, one can learn a lot from those mature upperclassmen. \u00a0Sophomore year is less of a mystery because at least some of the school stuff is more routine. \u00a0Driver\u2019s Education followed our sophomore year so that marked the end of what had been a pretty good year for me and the transition into what was (for me, at least) a \u2018year of the big changes\u2019. \u00a0\u00a0I don\u2019t think it registered with me at the time, but looking back, I can see a lot of life changing moments rolled up in my junior year.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The summer before grade 11 was memorable because our Driver\u2019s Ed program lasted a full six weeks. \u00a0The classroom part was done after school for an hour during the last six weeks of school and the driving instruction took up June and part of July. \u00a0It was one of those memorable summers because it was wet, cold, and foggy for most of my driving segment. \u00a0It didn\u2019t help that I signed up to drive first thing in the morning, but I maintain to this day that driving in rain and fog doesn\u2019t rattle me because there was plenty of it during the practical part of our DE program. \u00a0On day one of the driving sessions, Mr. Coombs asked if any of us had driven a car before. \u00a0When I raised my hand, he asked, \u201cWhen and where?\u201d \u00a0I explained that my dad had taught us how to drive an old beater truck at camp, my driving was confined to the logging roads in the hills around our camp, and that I was eleven when I learned to drive. \u00a0\u201cStandard or automatic transmission?\u201d he asked. \u00a0When I replied that it was a standard, he said, \u201cWell, there ain\u2019t no clutch on our Driver\u2019s Ed car.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We spent the first driving day looking at the engine compartment, learning where the oil dipstick was, how to check it, and driving around the high school parking lot . . . backwards.<\/span><\/p>\n Yep, Mr. Coombs was a firm believer that one had to learn to drive backwards before they tried going forward. \u00a0Having pegged me as a know it all (for admitting I had already driven a vehicle), \u00a0I was given mop up duty after everyone else had their turn backing around the lot. \u00a0It should be mentioned that two of our six drivers had never even put a key in a car ignition before. \u00a0\u00a0As far as we could tell, all the other DE cars were going forward and not backwards on the first day. \u00a0From then on, yours truly got promoted from \u2018mop up\u2019 detail to be the \u2018demo boy\u2019. \u00a0First one driving down the street (forward) – \u00a0check. \u00a0First one given a rolling quiz as to where to look at night to avoid night blindness from approaching cars and what to do at railroad crossings – check and check. \u00a0First one to parallel park – check again. \u00a0Everyone was terrified of parallel parking. \u00a0\u00a0I was just too dumb to realize that he tried to rattle me on my first attempt on Third Street, having me park behind a beer truck of all things. \u00a0Third Street was a one way street back then and he had me park on the left side of the street, making all the spotting instructions used in parallel parking rather moot. \u00a0Whether it was luck or skill, I haven\u2019t a clue, but I nailed it the first time and never had to parallel park again for him or the driving examiner from the license bureau. \u00a0When I showed up for my \u2018last day of Driver\u2019s Ed solo driving exam\u2019 fully expecting to have to parallel park blind olded with one arm tied behind my back, Mr. C surprised me saying, \u201cAh, you know what you are doing. \u00a0Head out on the Big Bay Road and maybe we can find some cooler air.\u201d \u00a0With a September birthday, I managed to start my junior year out by having an actual date to the Halloween Dance, giving me leverage for my first official request to use the family car. \u00a0\u00a0It was a dark and rainy night, but in light of my summer of dismal weather driving, I was ready! \u00a0Dodging trick or treaters on the way to the dance wasn\u2019t fun but we had the streets to ourselves at the end of the night. \u00a0In my mind\u2019s eye, I can still see the shiny wet pavement of College Avenue covered in equal parts with blowing leaves and scampering ghoulies and beasties.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The entries in the 1970 Tatler can be broken down in almost equal parts between \u00a0comments about our shared experiences in various classes, comments relating to me being a drummer, and advice on dealing with the opposite sex. \u00a0Dave\u2019s entry was pretty typical in the \u2018various class\u2019 area: \u00a0\u201cTo a cat that I had the misfortune of having in 3 classes. \u00a0I\u2019ll remember you as long as you keep calling me \u2018Pistol Pete\u2019\u201d (as in Pete Maravich the basketball player). \u00a0Wayne chimed in with, \u201c To my dear friend and fellow classmate (history and band). \u00a0It has been a very interesting year amongst all us finns (sic) – your fellow funny finn (sic) and big bad bass drummer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mike and Gene reminded me that we would be making a lot of music together as we got The Twig ready for paying gigs in the fall. \u00a0I must have been getting blisters from playing because Gene told me to shape up or I would be \u201coutta the band\u201d. \u00a0There were several comments on me being a great drummer but I should leave Tom alone (meaning future Sunstone drummer Tom Lyons who we may have hazed a bit (it happens to the newbies in all the sections)). \u00a0Peggy wrote: \u00a0\u201c Dear Mr Raisanen – I hate to write it because you\u2019re evil, but you are a fantastic drummer,\u201d but for the life of me, I can\u2019t remember that she even played in the band or why she thought I was \u2018evil\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0My buddy Mitch connected the \u201cdrummer\u201d and \u201copposite sex\u201d segments when he said, \u201cKeep pounding those drums and someday you\u2019ll be able to play (ha ha). \u00a0Remember Lee Anne and Jeanine (how could you forget).\u201d \u00a0Near the end of the school year, Mitch invited me to spend a weekend with his sister\u2019s family who lived just outside of Hancock in the Boston Location. \u00a0For some reason, his sister thought that she should hook us up on a blind date with a couple of girls from her church, which we didn\u2019t find out until we got there on Friday night. \u00a0Our introduction to the two young ladies came when we ended up hauling furniture most of Saturday as one of the girl\u2019s family was moving into a larger house. \u00a0Once we were completely tuckered out, we decided to have dinner and go to a movie. \u00a0For some reason, the girl\u2019s were fasting, but consented to have a salad any way. \u00a0The movie we saw was <\/span>Anne of a Thousand Days<\/span><\/i> at the Pic Theater in Hancock. \u00a0There was a teen dance being held at the old Waterworks building at the foot of the Portage Lake Lift Bridge but we decided that was one too many things on top of our already busy day. \u00a0Before we left on Sunday, one of the girls called Mitch to tell him that not going to the dance was a great idea as some of their fellow Houghton school acquaintances wanted to beat up the Marquette boys \u00a0for daring to date \u201ctheir girls\u201d. \u00a0While we had fun, I did find that a blind date was a little too stressful for me, even before the threat of bodily harm. \u00a0I am not sure who told everyone at school about our adventure, but I got several, \u201cTake it easy on those Houghton girls!\u201d \u00a0comments in my yearbook.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Junior year found me making a second attempt to date the girl who dumped me after a few dates the year before. \u00a0The Four Seasons were coming to town so I made a split second decision to ask her if she would like to go. \u00a0She said yes, but then The Four Seasons cancelled and were replaced by Little Anthony and the Imperials (who were very good). \u00a0When she decided that we should \u201cjust be friends\u201d for the second time, I decided that the only girlfriend I would have in my Senior year would be The Twig. \u00a0Regardless of my intentions to stop looking for a girlfriend, I got one \u201cYou are the second coolest guy I know, and sometimes I think you are the first\u201d and one \u201cI will always love you\u201d declaration\u201d, but neither comment came from my double ex. \u00a0I wasn\u2019t signing up for the monastic life, but putting more time and energy in the band seemed to be a better outlet with less opportunities for disappointment. \u00a0I, for one, \u00a0was never \u00a0disappointed playing the drums and I never had a band tell me we should \u201cjust be friends\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The other two momentous Junior year events were my one year as a shot putter on the track team and our revamped band program. \u00a0Track was kind of done on a lark as fellow drummer Jim talked me into going out \u2018for the fun of it\u2019. \u00a0I wasn\u2019t a speedster, so I decided to try being a shot putter. \u00a0It turns out we did as much running as putting the shot during our training. \u00a0It was an unusually snowy spring so we ran on the streets until the track was clear,. \u00a0Pounding the streets in Converse All Stars gave me a wonderful case of shin splints that would bother me through four years of college and my first two years teaching. \u00a0Once we started training on the track, we were expected to run a certain number of timed 100 yard dashes and a timed 440 yard run before we practiced shot putting. \u00a0The 100 yard dashes were run with random groups who formed lines in each lane. \u00a0By pure luck of the draw, I ended up running in one heat with a bunch of freshman sprinters. \u00a0One could hear their egos crash to the ground when the coach pointed out that they had been beaten in a sprint by a shot putter. \u00a0It became a kind of game to swap places in line to try and match up with them on future sprint drills, but eventually, they would all make sure they were behind the shot putters. \u00a0My ego crashed later when a freshman named Pedro nicked my best ever throw of 35 foot something by an inch to claim third place at one meet. \u00a0That one inch cost me a varsity letter (I got a winged foot instead) and pretty much made me decide that pumping weights for my senior year to try and letter the next spring wasn\u2019t going to happen. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The second convincer (about a one year track career) was a senior who would be sent over to score points at shot put without ever training for it. \u00a0He was such a gifted athlete that he would walk over, take his five throws and place first, second, or third, then wander off to the other events he was signed up for. \u00a0On my best days, he could beat me by ten feet without warming up, but all in all, my one stab at participating in an varsity sport was fun. \u00a0Mike Graham lived near me so he offered me a ride home from time to time after track practice. \u00a0Years later, I found out he is related to the Grahams of Ontonagon county, but back in 1970, Ontonagon wasn\u2019t even a blip on my radar screen. \u00a0There are other sports related tales to tell, but they will have to dealt with another day.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Not taking a shot at playing high school football is the only \u201cI wonder\u201d thing that I think about from time to time (which will be covered in more detail in the above mentioned \u2018other sports related tales\u2019). \u00a0When band director Joe Patterson passed away, I spent way too much time trying to be in charge of the drum section. \u00a0\u00a0I also had The Twig in the back of my mind and knew where all my extra time would go in the next year. \u00a0My band attitude junior year is not on my list of the positive memories from that year. \u00a0It would take my senior year to remind me that band was a lot more enjoyable when I wasn\u2019t trying to be the Big Boss man.<\/span><\/p>\n Top Piece Video:\u00a0 Okay, a lot of the above deals with driving so here we go….1985 Sammy Hagar at Live at Farm Aid in Champaign, ILLINOISE (Sammy’s take on it) – bad 1980s hair and all (but still a great deal of fun).\u00a0 And yes, I ALWAYS drive the speed limit!