VFW Hall – Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian

This being the first Friday Photo Flashback of the New Year, I went looking for a New Year’s Picture. It seems like I was always doing something for New Year’s Eve. Usually, we’d hang out at the VFW hall with my folks. There was always cheap drinks, good music and good people.

When I got married to my ex, I recall spending one NYE at a Mason Lodge. It was right downtown and they did fireworks at night. There were a few years where we’d get a block of 3-4 hotel rooms. My ex’s sisters would each get a room for their family. We’d all bring a dish to pass and play board games. When the hotel thing became too expensive, one of the sisters hosted. There were plenty of game nights as I recall.

One year, my best friend Jeff was dating a mutual friend of my sister-in-law. So he came over that NYE. Everyone was to wear one piece pajamas that night. It was ridiculous, but fun. They had this Can-Jam game that we played in their basement.

I had quite a few photos from those various events to choose from. However, I found one that I treasure, despite the way I look. The photo was probably taken NYE 1996 or 1997.

This photo of my mom and I was taken at the VFW Hall. I am sure that my dad was DJing the party. If I had to guess, my Uncle Tom was probably there, as well as many of the other veterans. These parties were so much fun.

I love this picture because we both look happy as ever! I see that my mom is wearing what we called a “Brooks and Dunn” shirt. My dad was probably wearing one, too. They were big into line dancing at the time. I’m sure there were plenty of those played that night. I have “gone country” in the picture, too. You can see that by the silly “tie” I am wearing.

The simple joy of being together is on both of our faces. This is how I always remember my mom. Healthy, laughing and smiling. It is a perfect capture!

Time for another edition of the Friday Photo Flashback. Today, we go back to May of 1987 to the annual Band Banquet.

I stumbled on the above photo in a stack of pictures from my dad. I realize that the photo is a bit blurry, but if you look carefully, you will see that I have a conductor’s baton sticking in my shirt collar. This was just one of many things our band director, Tom Shaner, used to do.

If you are not familiar with the story, I blogged about it when Mr. Shaner passed away. Here is an excerpt from that blog:

My junior year of high school, the band officers were discussing the agenda for the annual Band Banquet. We needed one more speech, so I said I’d get up and do an imitation of Mr. Shaner. That night I was nervous. I got up and started my speech by saying “The longer you’re in band, the more Mr. Shaner starts to grow on you…” with that I ducked under the podium and threw on a bald cap. I then put a baton in the back of my shirt collar like he did. I “yelled” about how nobody practiced, talked about retiring and some of the other things he used to say. As the laughter died down, I realized I hadn’t written an “out”. I went on to thank Mr. Shaner for the many times he opened his office to listen to me talk about life, and issues I was dealing with. I don’t recall all I said, but I got pretty emotional and ended by telling him I loved him. He got up and we hugged. Somewhere I have a picture of that moment.

I actually found that photo, too!

Back to the first photo. We did our band banquets at this little VFW Hall every year. I remember the sound system being just awful. If you touched the microphone the wrong way, it became all static and no one could understand what you were saying. The set up for the banquet was pretty much the same every year. The officers all sat up front and each of us had a responsibility. Some gave out awards, others gave out letters, some introduced speakers, etc.

As I look at this photo, Joe is wearing sunglasses to my right. I can’t remember exactly why he was wearing them. He may have had his eyes dilated or something. To my left is our band president (who sadly just passed away unexpectedly) Ingrid. You really can’t see her, however, it looks like she is covering her face. I guess I’d like to think she’s covering her face saying to herself, “Oh my gosh, why did we let him talk!?” To her left is Ron, our second drum major. I love that he is cracking up in the picture. His laugh was so boisterous!

This is one of those times I wish I still had the video of this, or at least a panoramic picture of the officer’s table. There was a lot of laughter that year, and Mr. Shaner waited a full year to get me back. You can read about that and him here:

I’m Gonna Miss You, “Sir”

These two photos remind me of such a fun time. Those band banquets were such fun. After dinner and all of the awards and speeches, there was a live band that played music all night. There was plenty of dancing and many laughs. It was always a very special night for us.