I Want One.

I need one.

80's Child Star Corey Haim Dead at 38

I'm watching internet updates literally scroll down my Google search page for "corey haim" right now.  Any fan of 80's pop culture would want to know the breaking news.
 
Eighties-era teen actor Corey Haim was found dead Wednesday in what is being termed an accidental overdose. See a photo journal by the Washington Post here.

We all remember him from great movies like Lost Boys, Lucas, and Dream a Little Dream.  Here's a video compilation of Corey Haim & childhood friend Corey Feldman.

Read the USA Today write up here.  Fox News has a slide show here.  And MTV's write up and video tributes can be found here.

Sheridan Football has New Website

Be sure and check out the new website for Sheridan Football.  Just go to sheridanfootball.com where you'll find this year's schedule, photos, videos, info on the new coach and much more!

In Memory of Belinda Reynolds

It has been over twenty years now since we lost our classmate, Belinda Carol Reynolds Ellis. She and her husband, Eddie and their 3-month-old son, Brian Keith, died in an automobile accident on this day in 1998.

Please visit her memorial page on our 88 website to read her obituary, see photos and leave your thoughts/comments. Anniversaries like these are always an opportunity to write or call the family, if you're still in touch with them (Belinda's parents are still living in Sheridan), to let them know you're thinking about them.

This is also a time to be thankful for life and family and to remember how our days are numbered.

In Memory of Detra McMurtrey

Today marks the 10th year of the death of our classmate, Detra McMurtrey. She died on Sunday, February 13, 2000.

Please visit her memorial page at our 88 website to read her obituary and leave your thoughts. If you are still in touch with the family, perhaps an encouraging card or phone call might be appropriate, just to let them know you were thinking about them.

My desire is to remember our deceased classmates throughout the year on the date of each of their deaths to keep their memory fresh in our minds & give us all a reminder to number our days.

ValentiMe's Day

This will be the third time I've posted these pics on the Sheridan88 blog.  And honestly, I'll post them every year around this time.  They're just such GREAT photographs and represent wonderful memories of our childhood.  
I sent two of my children to school today with their bag of obligatory valentines for their classmates.  They'll be having their parties today just like we did over 30 years ago.  Something tells me though that they just won't realize the memories they're making.  Not for a long time.


When you find some gems like the ones below, submitted by Mandy (Jester) Martindale, you can't fully appreciate them by just watching them click by in a slide show. There's no way. I'm telling you - as an "unofficial" nostalgia expert, I don't think I've ever seen a set of pics that have stirred up so many memories than these. I mean, you can't help but be time-warped right back into 1979's fourth grade year when you look at these.

So, let's have a look then. And remember - you have to click on each of these to enlarge them and study them. There is MUCH to be appreciated here. I'll try to talk you through it.

This is Mrs. Rundell's fourth grade class party. Pictured above are Mandy Jester, Shari Rupe, Kim Derrick and Susan Averitt. Now just take a look... go on... what do you see?
I see four ten-year-old girls giddy over goodies received in Valentine's Day bags. All but Shari are oblivious to the camera... they're too busy taking inventory of the 20+ cards that we all had to deliver out of obligation to everyone in our class. Whether it was the cootie monster or the cutie pie, you HAD to send them a valentine. Careful thought was given as we decided which card to use. You dare not make the mistake of sending someone an innuendoed Minnie Mouse card instead of a safe, neutral Goofy card. This could make the last 3 1/2 months of your fourth grade year pretty uncomfortable.

Now take a look at Shari - check out her vintage Mickey Mouse ringer tee. Wait... I guess it wasn't vintage back then.

Now what do you see in the background? Yep - valentine crafts hanging on the wall... AND... is that a SLIDE PROJECTOR! If you're quiet, you can hear the small cooling fan humming in the dark as we watch film strips about the origin of Thanksgiving. I've got more on film strips for a later post. Let's move on.



The photo above was taken from the same position, only the camera man (probably a mom) raised the camera to catch the other side of the room, which reveals another mom sitting smack dab in the midst of the kiddies... and some body's little brother too. Who invited him?
Notice everyone has matching Valentine sacks. [SIGH] So much for personal expression and creativity. Never mind though, Jody Wiggins and Robert McClung - like the rest of us - never judge a bag by it's decor - but by the delicacies waiting inside!
I also see Kim Vailes at the bottom of the picture - you can just barely see her head with the tiara on top. Hmm. A tiara. Not sure about that... did Mrs. Rundell select a Valentine King & Queen? If so, then who was the King? And where is his crown? This is indeed a mystery.

Another shot - again rotating the camera instead of raising it. It must've been unseasonably warm this February since the classroom door is propped open.
In the first row on the right, by the open door is George Tompkins, Christian Sandoval, and Jason Moore. The next row, in the middle, has Michael Hix, Steven Coleman and Brett Cato. The far left row shows Robert McClung and Lee Shaw in the flannel shirt. That could be Pam Wells walking in front of the camera.

And last, but not least... hey wait a minute - I think I see what's going on here - the guys are on one side of the classroom & the gals on the other. Interesting.
So in the photo above we see, L to R, Lee Shaw, Jeff King, Scott Herron, Brett Epperson, Ricky Whitaker, Steven Coleman and Brett Cato. Nice hair boys! Can you say "MOTORCYCLE HELMET?"
Couple of other observations... if you enlarge this pic, you can almost see the photographer's reflection in the mirror of the girl's bathroom. Since these photos belong to Mandy, the photographer is most likely her mother. Also, I'm seeing some decorated shoe boxes on many of the desks. Were these the recepticles for the valentines... or the strict, uniform, non-variant and consistently decorated sacks? I'm confused! Could it be that this class was privy to TWICE the treats on this celebratory day of love!!??
This would be unfair to the rest of us.
I demand an explanation! Someone from Mrs. Rundell's class please let me know!

We Are The World... The Remake

So I'm sitting here at the Crain Ford dealership waiting on the family wagon to get some recall work done and on the tv I hear a story that catches my all-things-80s ear.  It appears that, in an effort to raise funds for Haiti relief, a group of musicians and actors/actresses have gathered to record a new version of "We Are The World."

I only recognize a few of the names in this new cast, and frankly, of the names I do recognize, I couldn't tell you a single song they sing.  Perhaps as my children grow older I'll end up with some 'Lil Wayne or Jonas Brothers on my iPod.  But I doubt it.  Here's what I do know about the remake.

1. The lyrics remain the same.
2. The music, for the most part, remains the same (some 21st century liberties are taken, I'm sure).
3. Not ONE of the original 1985 singers were invited back for this remake.  None.
4. Many of those who did participate in the remake weren't even BORN when the original was recorded!  That'll make you feel old.
5. The honor  of singing of the opening line was given to the pop-star... Justin Bieber from Canada.  Huh?  He's fifteen years old.
6. The song was recorded in the same studio, with the same producer (Quincy Jones) and co-writer Lionel Richie - exactly 25 years later (well, give or take 3 days).

There are no public videos of the recording yet, but my guess is that they'll be popping up soon.  For now, here's rapper 'Lil Wayne commenting on the news that he would be singing Bob Dylan's line.  [SIGH]

MTV Shows

Where Are They Now? 70's Stars

Have you ever wondered what might've happened to Laverne & Shirley... or Chachi... or the Partridge family?  Ok - maybe not the Partridge family.  Fox News has a fun slide show featuring over 20 then & now photos of some of our favorite stars from the 70's.

The Memories Ad Up

I found these simple ads from our high school newspaper that easily brought back lots of memories.

Many of the guys would order their prom tuxes here or flowers for their sweetheart. Toward the end of our high school years - or perhaps it was after our graduation - this florist was owned by Brand & Neal Moon's mother.

Owned by Kelley Erstine, the science teacher's husband (and now my cousin-in-law) and then owned & operated by Mandy Jester's family.

The Midget Market. What can you say?

Elementary Textbooks

On Wednesday morning, August 16th, 1978 I walked into the 2nd door on the third row of buildings on the Sheridan Elementary School campus to begin my third grade year.  Most of us had our moms in tow, to not only meet our new teacher (mine would be Mrs. Pyle), but to sign the card above legally binding them to pay for any damage their careless 8 year old kid might cause to the stack of books he/she was about to receive.
I have since begun a very small collection of some of our grade school books - mostly readers.  So now I'm really wishing we would've taken better care of them.  It's hard to find a 40 year old school book in decent shape.
By the way - I'd like to have a set of the old spelling books we had in grade school.  Remember those?  Each year's cover was a different color, but all of them had a pattern of letters on them something like this:

If you happen to find any of these - lemme know.

So anyways... I'm not sure what the process is now-a-days - if they even have to sign for textbooks at all.  I do know that in some high schools, they're moving from textbooks to MacBooks!  I doubt they even have a damage waiver like we did - because if you damage these hi-tech toys, you can just buy them at the end of the year - for a dollar.

A-Team

Just saw the trailer for the new A-Team movie coming out in June.



You can watch some of the original episodes here and here.

Just Hear those Sleigh Bells Ringing

Over the next few days leading up to Christmas, I'd like to try to re-post some fun stuff that I originally posted last year in a series called "12 Days of Christmas."

Here are four songs from the 1983 Junior (middle school) Band Christmas Concert. We were in the 8th grade, so this would be our last year in junior band. If you listen to the first song, you'll hear just a bit of Mr. Ed Grissom introducing the songs.

What Child is This?
Of course, there are no lyrics sung to any of these band performances - you'll have to find some archived choir recordings for that - but did you know that there are two "missing" verses to "What Child is This?" that you've probably never sung in church - or anywhere else for that matter? If you can endure these four songs, I'll show you the two missing verses at the end of the post.


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Title Unknown
That first song wasn't too bad, was it? This next song is fun to listen to, but I don't know the title. A special prize goes to any former Jr Band member who can tell me!

**UPDATE: I was just listening to this again & it hit me - the title is something like, "Santa's Toyshop".


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All I Want For Christmas
(Is My Two Front Teeth)
This song is dedicated to those awkward tooth-losing years.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, just look at our 2nd grade yearbook!


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Holiday Sleigh Ride
If you were ever in concert band, then you'll no doubt remember how much fun this song was to play. Just think of how enjoyable it is to listen to (well, maybe not when a bunch of 13 year olds try to belch it outta their horns...) and you can imagine why it's so fun to play. One fortunate percussionist each year would get the honors of doing the whip crack SFX by using a couple of 2x4's hinged together. When the music called for it, you'd slap the two boards together to make a loud "crack". You were really cool if you could split the 2x4's by slapping them too hard.


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Missing Lyrics:
Below are all three verses to "What Child is This", one of my favorite Christmas carols. Traditionally, we sing the last half of the first verse "This, this is Christ the King..." as the "chorus" to all three verses. However, there's really not a chorus to this carol at all, just three verses. I've highlighted the two "missing" portions of verses 2 & 3.
A quick bit about the song itself - notice in verse one that the first half is a question, "Who is this Child?", and the answer in the last half "This is Christ the King..." Verse two asks another question - "Why is He here in such a humble place?", answer: He now pleads silently from the crib, but will soon scream from the cross. And the last verse is an explanatory imperative (i.e., because of what's just been said about Him, do this for Him...), and it calls & commands all to worship the Christ child.

What Child is this who, laid to rest
On Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh,
Come peasant, king to own Him;
The King of kings salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
Raise, raise a song on high,
The virgin sings her lullaby.
Joy, joy for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

Words: Will­iam C. Dix, The Man­ger Throne, 1865.